Category: Louise Brooks

  • Louise Brooks – Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

    Louse Brooks – Pandora’s Box / Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

    The Three Mesquiteers:
    Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

    Overland Stage Raiders is perhaps most famous for being the last film that Louise Brooks appeared in.

    Louise Brooks on John Wayne:
    “This is no actor but the hero of all mythology miraculously brought to life… John was, in fact,
    that which Henry James defined as the greatest of all works of art – a purely beautiful being.”

    IMDB Trivia:
    “This was the final film of Louise Brooks. NOTE: Contrary to popular belief,
    this was not intended to be her “comeback” film;
    she made it because she needed the money. She was paid $300 (equal to $5180,
    adjusted for inflation in 2017) for the film.
    Not long after it was released, she was found working as a salesgirl at Saks Fifth Avenue
    at a salary of $40 (equivalent to $690 in ’17) a week.”

    Much could (and has) been written about Louise. Let’s say was a beautiful and controversial Star
    and still has a large following of admirers.

    The 3 Mesquiteers (1938 Edition) John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune with Louise Brooks

    It puzzles me that Overland Stage Raiders plays so loosely with
    Western Movie traditions by using buses and planes, etc.
    but then fail to exploit Louise Brooks immense charisma and sex appeal???
    But lots of things puzzle me.

    “I have been taking stock of my 50 years since I left Wichita. How I have existed fills me with horror for I failed everything. Spelling, arithmetic, writing, swimming, tennis, golf, dancing, singing, acting, wife, mistress, whore, friend, even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of not trying. I tried with all my heart.”
    – Louise Brooks

    If there’s any one thing you could say about Louise it was that she had an incredible
    amount of that mystical substance called Charisma.

    1906 – 1985

     Judge for yourself.

    I could easily post about 100 pics of Louise.

    Her short bobbed hairstyle was her trademark sensation.
    Imitated by many – achieved by few

    “A well dressed woman, even though her purse is painfully empty, can conquer the world.”
    – Louise Brooks

    She starred in seventeen silent films and eight sound films.

    On February 6, 1932, she filed for bankruptcy and began dancing in nightclubs to earn a living.
    By 1946, she had to take a $40-a-week job as a sales girl at Saks Fifth Avenue to make a living.

    “Love is a publicity stunt, and making love – after the first curious raptures –
    is only another petulant way to pass the time waiting for the studio to call.”
    – Louise Brooks

    Was close friends with IT Girl Clara Bow.

    Many photos of Louise have been colorized,
    but I think the monochromes are still the best.

    “The great art of films does not consist in descriptive movement of face and body,
    but in the movements of thought and soul transmitted in a kind of intense isolation.”
    – Louise Brooks

    She left her home at age 16 to join a modern dance company.

    “I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you, it’ll be with a knife.”
    – Louise Brooks

    “In my dreams I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance,”
    – Louise Brooks

    Dance she did.

    And still does.

  • John Wayne Filmography: The Three Mesquiteers: Overland Stage Raiders (1938) Part 1


    Cowboy Rhythm / Patsy Montana / 1938

    The Three Mesquiteers:
    Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

    1938

    The Great Depression is ending.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt is US President.
    Hitler’s Third Reich marches into Austria.
    Howard Hughes flys Round the world in 3 days.
    Orson Welles’s broadcasts The War of the Worlds.
    Seabiscuit beats War Admiral at Pimlico.
    A gallon of Gas costs 10 cents.
    Douglas Fairbanks dies.
    Evel Knievel is born.

    The 3 Mesquiteers (1938 Edition) John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune with Louise Brooks

    The Three Mesquiteers: Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

    Consider this a review. I know these B grade Serial Westerns are often looked back on with fondness by some folks. But not by me. As an 8 year old kid watching Westerns every Saturday morning in 1956, I gotta tell ya, this is the last thing I wanted to see. They seemed to contain everything that I figured shouldn’t be in a Western: Dolled up Cowboys wearing little kerchiefs; often singing with some sappy sidekick; cars! trucks!! buses!!! airplanes???!!!!; and Ventriloquist dummies! MY GOD! What kind of Western is that!! ?? Turned my stomach. I wanted to see Rory Calhoun or Randolph Scott or Audie Murphy. Anybody but this stuff. This definitely wasn’t the Golden Era of Westerns.

    Fortunately!!! this would soon be coming to a merciful end 1939 when Director John Ford Directed Stagecoach (Starring John Wayne). Ford saw that Westerns could be legitimate Art. So he did it. And created some Classics: Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, … This changed everything. Oh Yeah things still occasionally fell back in formula pulp, but there was more than enough good stuff on the way.

    Next Overland Stage Raiders / Louise Brooks. 

4 responses to “Louise Brooks – Overland Stage Raiders (1938)”

  1. Peter Miller Avatar
    Peter Miller

    The lady in the photo above the Paris Vogue is Clara Bow.

    1. jcalberta Avatar

      I believe you’re correct. I’ll fix that.
      Thank you.
      Done.

  2. Cindy Bruchman Avatar

    What a great tribute to Lousie! I love her. I know they say Clara Bow was the “it” girl, but I do believe it was Louise who did it first. What sex appeal. What a true trendsetter with that bob. Awesome.

    1. jcalberta Avatar

      Although she had a Cultured upbringing, it was hardly ideal childhood. But she was a survivor. I think she had a bit of mission to challenge the conventions of her day. Which got her blacklisted. She had admirable qualities apart from her obvious beauty. Quite a lady.

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