splash  Based on two plays by the acclaimed German dramatist Frank Wedekind, the 1929 film Die Büchse der Pandora (or Pandora’s Box), tells the story of Lulu, a lovely, amoral, and somewhat petulant showgirl whose behavior leads to tragic consequences. Louise Brooks plays Lulu, a singular femme fatale. As Brooks’ biographer Barry Paris put it, her “sinless sexuality hypnotizes and destroys the weak, lustful men around her.” And not just men. . . Lulu’s sexual magnetism had few bounds, as this once controversial film features what is thought to be the screen’s first lesbian character.

Before the film premiered in February of 1929, critics and the movie-going public were somewhat dismissive of the much anticipated work. The very idea of the film had been rejected by some who claimed “Lulu is inconceivable without the words that Wedekind made her speak.” Hoping to deflect such criticism, director G.W. Pabst conducted a well-publicized search for an actress who was just the right type: according to one film journal of the time, Pabst’s search was a topic of considerable interest, and “Everywhere one went one heard ‘What about Lulu?’ and ‘Is Lulu found yet?’” (Later, a worldwide publicity campaign echoed the public’s interest when it asked “Wer ist Lulu?”) Once the part was cast, Germans objected to the little known Brooks in the role, doubting an American actress could play what was thought to be an essentially German character.

Gloria Palast
Though it was an independently produced film, Pandora’s Box opened at the UFA owned Gloria-Palast, as seen in this newspaper advertisement.

The G.W. Pabst-directed film premiered at the Gloria–Palast theatre in Berlin on February 9, 1929. (Brooks was not in attendance at the premiere, as she had already left for the United States.) On the 11th of the month, reviews and articles began appearing in Berliner Tageblatt, Berliner Morgenpost, Die Welt, Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Neue Berliner Zeitung / Das 12 Uhr Blatt and numerous other publications. As a psychological study, some found Pandora’s Box a disappointment, while others regretted Pabst’s seeming retreat from the social and political engagement of his earlier works. Some critics — as well as censors, were taken aback by what was then considered a rather frank portrayal of sexuality. Even from afar, the poet H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), writing in the English / Swiss film journal Close Up, noted the controversy when she stated the film had only “passed by the German censors after a stormy discussion of several hours duration.”

One brief anonymous review in the tri-lingual journal Der Film stated, “A film has been produced on the basis of Wedekind’s drama of the same title, but which neither comes up to the spirit of Wedekind nor excels in direction, performance or manuscript. The film leaves one cold and cannot even be described as an entertainment film, although it was given a big show in Germany at the premiere. Technique is satisfactory. With regard to business prospects, this journal does not take the liberty of offering an opinion”.

Pabst’s choice of Brooks as Lulu was thought by many to be a mistake, and her acting came under fire. German critics stated she looked attractive but appeared unconvincing. Siegfried Kracauer, writing in Frankfurter Zeitung, thought Brooks not enough of a prostitute, or whore, while another called Brooks “an inanimate dummy.” (This latter comment came at a time when “dummy” might translate to something like mannequin, which once was analogous to the term model, as in fashion model = nevertheless, the sentiment is akin to calling someone “pretty but dull” or “pretty but stupid”.) The critic for Tempo put it this way: “… Lulu, in the delightful guise of Miss Louise Brooks from Hollywood, clearly demonstrates that she has nothing whatsoever to do with the events around her. Her smiling disinterest makes the hustle and bustle around her completely incomprehensible. This charming American movie actress barely has two different nuances of expression for the primal force of Lulu.” Likewise, Variety’s correspondent in Germany chimed in with a critique hardly more sympathetic, “Louise Brooks, especially imported for the title role, did not pan out, due to no fault of hers. She is quite unsuited to the vamp type which was called for by the play from which the picture was made.”

Over the next number of months, Pandora’s Box opened across Europe (except in those places where it was banned). When shown, it was censored according to local standards and similarly critiqued as it had been in Germany and Austria. In France, for example, censors thought it indecent for a father and son to vie sexually for the same woman. Their solution was to tinker with the titles and convert Alwa from Dr. Schön’s son to his male secretary. In England, where the film was given an “adults only” rating, the critic for the London Observer suggested the “chaotic” film suffered from being cut. Other changes were made for other reasons in other countries, especially Russia. Nevertheless, over the next year or two, the film would be shown in north Africa, in the Caribbean and South America, and even in a few countries in Asia. In Japan, where Brooks was a cult star nearly as popular as Clara Bow, the film was heavily promoted.

Brooks in Prague
Louise Brooks’ name in lights in Prague at the time Pandora’s Box played in the Czech capital.

In the United States, Pandora’s Box suffered a similar fate both in terms of censorship as well as criticism. When it debuted in America in late 1929, a substantial amount (perhaps as much as 20 minutes) of the film had been cut. The 55th Street Playhouse in New York City, the small art house that debuted the film, projected a statement lamenting that the film had been censored. The theater also apologized for the “added saccharine ending” in which Lulu joins the Salvation Army. (For more on the film’s battle with censors both in Europe and the United States, see the Louise Brooks Society webpage Pandora’s Box – Censorship Records.)

Quinn Martin, critic at the New York World, wrote “It was the privilege of a few reviewers to see Pandora’s Box shortly after it was received by its American exhibitors and before the New York censors got at it. In the beginning it appeared to this one to be a rather harmlessly lewd little exhibition with misery and murder and a touch of abnormalcy along other lines, but at that time, at least, it told a sort of story. Now, it is recommended principally, if at all, for its striking photographs of Miss Louise Brooks, the American actress. At least, the persons who have charge of our film morals have seen fit to leave Miss Brooks’s back, legs, and haircut as they pictured at the outset. Miss Brooks, therefore, retains all of her original charms. . . . It does occur to me that Miss Brooks, while one of the handsomest of all the screen girls I have seen, is still one of the most eloquently terrible actresses who ever looked a camera in the eye.”

Billboard magazine had a similar take, “This feature spent several weeks in the censor’s board’s cutting room: and the result of its stay is a badly contorted drama that from beginning to end reeks with sex and vice that have been so crudely handled as not even to be spicily entertaining. Louise Brooks and Fritz Kortner are starred, with Miss Brooks supposed to be a vampire who causes the ruin of everyone she meets. How anyone could fall for la belle Brooks with the clothes she wears in this vehicle is beyond imagination. . . . This is a silent production that has no business playing anything but guild theaters.”

Photoplay, one of the leading fan magazines of the time, noted “When the censors got through with this German-made picture featuring Louise Brooks, there was little left but a faint, musty odor. It is the story, both spicy and sordid, of a little dancing girl who spread evil everywhere without being too naughty herself. Interesting to American fans because it shows Louise, formerly an American ingénue in silent films, doing grand work as the evil-spreader.” Mordaunt Hall, critic for the New York Times, famously countered when he wrote, “Miss Brooks is attractive and she moves her head and eyes at the proper moment, but whether she is endeavoring to express joy, woe, anger or satisfaction it is often difficult to decide.” Variety put the nail in the coffin when its critic opined “Better for Louise Brooks had she contented exhibiting that supple form in two-reel comedies or Paramount features. Pandora’s Box, a rambling thing that doesn’t help her, nevertheless proves that Miss Brooks is not a dramatic lead.”

Regina Crewe, writing in the New York American, said “But not even the censors may be blamed for all the film’s deficiencies – the acting, for instance, and the rather absurd melodramatic story. . . . Unlike Anna May Wong, and other Hollywood actresses who have blossomed into skilled players under European influence, Miss Brooks doesn’t seem to have improved since her departure. She is comely as ever, but her pantomimic abilities are sadly limited. . . . The picture is one of the less deserving efforts and was received with apathy by the audience.”

But was it? Despite poor reviews, the film was widely written about (for a limited release) and did well in its New York debut. The New York Sun reported Pandora’s Box “ . . . has smashed the Fifty-fifth Street Playhouse’s box office records. It will therefore be held for another week.” At a time when most new or first-run films played only one week, a two-week run was considered noteworthy, and above average.

By late 1929, however, sound had arrived and poorly reviewed silent films from abroad were little in demand. Although exhibition records of the time are far from complete, the film was seldom shown in America in the years following its New York debut. Pandora’s Box was shown at the Little Theater in Baltimore (January 1930), Acme Theater in New York City (May 1930), Little theater in Newark, New Jersey (May 1931), and 5th Ave. Theater in New York City (December 1933). The film’s last known public showing in the United States (prior to its later, post WWII revival) was a one-off screening at the Sunday playhouse at Taliesin, the Wisconsin estate of architect Frank Lloyd Wright (May, 1934). [A more detailed account of the early screening history of Pandora’s Box in the United States can be found in this Film International article from 2023, “Lulu in America: ‘Sin Lust Evil!’ and the Lost History of Louise Brooks and Pandora’s Box.”

After that, Pandora’s Box fell into obscurity, and was more often than not referenced in early film histories as a failed film by an otherwise noted German director. It took decades for historians and audiences to rediscover the work. In his 1989 biography of Brooks, Barry Paris put it this way: “A case can be made that Pandora’s Box was the last of the silent films—not literally, but aesthetically. On the threshold of its premature death, the medium in Pandora achieved near perfection in form and content.”

Additional information and images related to Pandora’s Box can be found on the following LBS web pages: Movie Posters  ||  Promotional Material  ||  Newspaper Advertisements  ||  Censorship Records  ||  Miscellaneous Documents || How Louise Brooks Came to Play Lulu  ||  Pandora’s Box in Close-Up  || Pandora’s Box – Reception in Russia  ||  Pandora’s Box – Reception in Asia

Pandora's Box movie poster featuring Louise Brooks

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STORY SYNOPSIS:
Lulu is a beautiful young woman who all men find irresistible. She is being kept by the rich industrialist, Dr. Ludwig Schön. She is his mistress, and he is engaged to be married to a respectable woman of his own class. To be rid of her, Schön arranges for Lulu to appear in his son’s musical revue, but the son too falls for Lulu’s charms. When Schön and his fiancée go to see the revue, Lulu gets upset, Schön attempts to calm her, and the two are caught in a compromising situation. The elder Schön now feels he must marry Lulu, knowing full well it will ruin his reputation. On the wedding day, everything comes to a crisis. Schön’s actions (spoiler alert) cost him his life, and Lulu is tried for manslaughter. She escapes with the help of her old cronies, and together, they flee the country and begin a seemingly inescapable downward spiral toward destitution and further tragedy … and Jack the Ripper.

PRODUCTION HISTORY:
Die Büchse der Pandora was in production in Berlin at the Nero-Film Studio between October 17 and November 23, 1928.

CAST:
Louise Brooks
 Lulu
Fritz Kortner
 Dr. Peter Schön
Franz Lederer
 Alwa Schön
Carl Goetz
 Schigolch
Krafft-Raschig
 Rodrigo Quast
Alice Roberts
 Countess Anna Geschwitz
Gustav Diessl
 Jack the Ripper
Sig Arno
 stage manager (uncredited)
Daisy D’Ora
 Charlotte M.A. von Zanik, Schön’s fiancée (uncredited)
Michael von Newlinsky
 Marquis Casti-Piani
Hans Casparius chef / cook
Karl Etlinger defense lawyer ?
Paul Falkenberg
Sid Kay’s Fellows wedding musicians (uncredited)
CREDITS:
Studio:
 Nero-Film AG
Distributor:
 Süd-Film
Producer:
 Heinz Landsmann and Seymour Nebenzahl (uncredited)
Production manager:
 Georg C. Horetsky
Director:
 Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Assistant Directors:
 Mark Sorkin and Paul Falkenberg
Writing Credits:
 Ladislaus Vajda (screenplay), adapted from the plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora by Frank Wedekind
Cinematography:
 Günther Krampf
Film editor:
 Unknown (mistakenly credited to Joseph R. Fliesler, the distributor of the 1929 American print)
Art Direction:
 Andrei Andreiev and Ernö Metzner (uncredited)
Title cards:
 Marcel Tuszkay
Music:
 Willy Schmidt-Genter (composer) / ???? (conductor)
Costumes:
 Gottlieb Hesch (also known as Bohumil Heš)
Format:
 Silent – black & white
Running Time
circa 1929:
 usually given as 9 reels (10,676 feet), or 131 minute; according to Reichsfilmblatt, Der Film and other German film journals, the film was 8 reels, 3265 meters long – elsewhere reported as 3029 meters in The Netherlands; 7,100 feet in the United Kingdom; and 8 reels in the United States
Approval Card:
 No. 21540, issued in Germany on January 30, 1929
Premiere:
 February 9, 1929 (Gloria–Palast in Berlin, Germany)
Country of Origin:
 Germany

ALTERNATE TITLES:
Under its German title, Die Büchse der Pandora, documented screenings of the film took place in Austria, Danzig (then free city-state now known as Gdańsk), Slovakia (then part of Czechoslovakia), Latvia (then part of the U.S.S.R), Luxembourg, Ukraine (then part of the U.S.S.R), and the United States. (Notably, the print shown in the United States, which was sometimes advertised under its original German title, featured English-language intertitles.)

Outside Germany, Die Büchse der Pandora was exhibited or written about under the title Loulou (Algeria); La caja de Pandora and Lulu (Argentina); Le boîte de Pandore and Loulou (Belgium); A caixa de Pandora (Brazil); Кутията на Пандора (Bulgaria); La caja de Pandora and Lulu (Chile); Lulu La Pecadora (Cuba); Pandořina skříňka or Pandořina skříňka (Lulu) and Umrít Büchse der Pandoru (Czechoslovakia) and Pandorina skrínka (Slovakia); Pandoras æske (Denmark); De doos van Pandora (Dutch East Indies – Indonesia); Pandora’s Box (England); Pandora laegas (Estonia); Pandoran lipas (Finland); Loulou and Le boîte de Pandore (France); Λούλου and Lulu- το κουτί της Πανδώρας (Greece); Pandóra szelencéje (Hungary); Lulu and Il vaso di Pandora and Jack lo Sventratore (Italy); パンドラの箱 or Pandoranohako and The Box of Pandora (Japan); Korea (Box of Pandora); Pandoras lade and Pandoras Kaste (Latvia); Pandoros skrynia (Lithuania); Lou lou La Boite de Pandore (Luxembourg); La caja de Pandora (Mexico); De doos van Pandora (The Netherlands*); Pandoras eske (Norway); Lulu and Puszka Pandory (Poland); A Bocéta de Pandora and A caixa de Pandora (Portugal); Cutia Pandorei and Lulu and Pandora szelenceje (Romania); Lulu and Pandorina skrinjica (Slovenia); La caja de Pandora (Spain); Pandoras ask (Sweden); Meş’um Fahişe and Meş’um Fahişe (Lulu) (Turkey); Dzieje Kokoty Lulu (Ukraine); Box of Pandora and Pandora’s Box (English-language press) and Pandora szelencéje (Hungarian-language press) and Ящик Пандоры (Russian-language press) (United States); La caja de Pandora and Lulu and El alma de la herrera (Uruguay, sound version); Lulu or Лулу and Iashchik Pandory or Ящик Пандорьі (U.S.S.R.); La caja de Pandora (Venezula).

Since the late 1950s, numerous screenings of the film have been taken place around the world, including first ever showings under the title Pandora’s Box in Australia, Canada, India, Israel, Northern Ireland, Dubai and elsewhere. In 2016, a first ever showing of the film took place in Turkey under the titles Pandora’nın Kutusu and Pandora’nýn Kutusuö. (read more) The film has also been shown on television in a few countries in Europe as well as in Australia, Canada, the United States.

* The film’s Approval Card (No. 21540) allowing for exhibition in Germany was issued on January 30, 1929. With the rise of Nazi party, the Approval Card was rescinded on April 9, 1934 and film was banned in Germany between 1934 and 1945. According to other European censorship records, the film was banned in Finland (1929), Norway (1929), Sweden (c. 1929/1930), and The Netherlands (1930). The film was also banned in Portugal between 1936 and 1945. For a more detailed history of the film’s history of censorship, see the LBS webpage Pandora’s Box — Censorship Records. Additionally, after having been shown in the early 1930s, Pandora’s Box was withdrawn from circulation (for ideological reasons) in the U.S.S.R. in 1932. For a more detailed history of its reception in the old Soviet Union, see the LBS webpage Pandora’s Box — Reception in Russia.

STATUS:
The film is largely extant, though footage cut by various censors following the film’s release is missing and considered lost. There is no complete copy nor a “director’s cut” of the film known to exist. Over the years, a few differing versions of the film have been released both theatrically and for home video on VHS, Laser Disc, DVD, and Blu-ray in Europe and the United States. Versions found on YouTube are either pirated copies or poor copies of earlier, inferior releases. The best commercially released copies of the film are the Criterion Collection release from 2024 (USA), and the Eureka Masters of Cinema series release also from 2024 (UK). Otherwise, one noteworthy difference between the various commercial releases is the music which accompanies each release. None is original to the film, whose 1929 musical accompaniment compiled by composer Willy Schmidt-Genter is presumed lost.

Pandoras Box index cards
Ever so long ago, back when I first started researching Pandora’s Box, photocopies of microfilmed index cards was about as much as one could find.

FURTHER: SELECTED ONLINE DOCUMENTS, BOOK EXCERPTS, VIDEO & AUDIO CLIPS, etc…
Along with the Barry Paris biography of Louise Brooks (Chapter 12: “The Legend of Lulu”) and Brooks’ own Lulu in Hollywood (“Pabst and Lulu”), two other books which provide a good deal of information on the film are Pandora’s Box (Lulu) (published by Lorrimer / Simon & Schuster in 1971), and Pamela Hutchinson’s Pandora’s Box (published by the BFI in 2018). Information on each of these titles can be found on ESSENTIAL READING. Additionally, the Pandora’s Box bibliography here on the LBS website additional contains links to a number of newspaper and magazine articles which are available online. Otherwise, here are some related pieces of interest, each of which can also be accessed online.

anonymous. Die Büchse der Pandora, circa 1929.
— five pages of undated German censorship notes, not just the inter-titles as stated

Kracauer, Siegfried. From Caligari to Hitler : a psychological history of the German film, 1947.
— short passage on the film

anonymous. “Pandora’s Box.” National Film Theater (London), n.d. (1961 ?)
— two pages of program notes

Card, James. “Psychological Masterpieces: Pandora’s Box.” University of California, Los Angeles, 1962.
— four pages of program notes from the UCLA series

Pandora’s Box (Lulu): a film. Simon & Schuster, 1971.
— contains the shooting script of the film, cast listing and credits, and dozens of stills, as well as a brief introduction by Brooks, an article by the actress entitled “Pabst and Lulu,” and an essay by film writer Lotte H. Eisner entitled “Pabst and the Miracle of Louise Brooks.”

anonymous. “G.W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box.” Janus Films, 1973.
— two pages from an early Janus Films catalog

Card, James. James Card introduces Pandora’s Box at the Pacific Film Archive, 1978.
— audio recording of Eastman House curator James Card, with an introduction by Tom Luddy

Bloch, Judy. “Restored treasures of German expressionist cinema from the Munich Film Archives: Pandora’s Box.” Pacific Film Archive, 1981.
— four pages of notes

anonymous. “Pandora’s Box.” George Eastman House, 1980s?.
— one page of program notes

Merritt, Russell. “Pandora’s Box.” San Francisco International Film Festival, 1995.
— one page of program notes

anonymous. “Die Büchse der Pandora.” Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin, 1997.
— two pages of program notes in German, French and English

Ebert, Roger. “Great Movies: Pandora’s Box“. RogerEbert.com, April 26, 1998.
— this essay, first published in the Chicago Sun Times, was included in Ebert’s 2002 book, Great Movies

Hoberman, J. “Opening Pandora’s Box.” Criterion Collection, 2006.
— booklet essay which accompanied the Criterion DVD released in 2006 and 2024

Kizirian, Shari. “Pandora’s Box“. San Francisco Silent Film Festival, 2006.
— program essay

Hagopian, Kevin. “Pandora’s Box.” New York State Writers Institute, n.d.
— film notes

Gladysz, Thomas. “Pandora’s Box“. San Francisco Silent Film Festival, 2012.
— program essay

Poljakowa, Natalja. The Distribution, Censorship and Reception of German films in Soviet Russia of the 1920s, London University, 2015.
— Ph.D thesis with significant material on Pandora’s Box

Arroyo, Jose. “In Conversation with Pam Hutchinson on Pandora’s Box.” 2018.
— podcast

Kermode, Mark. “Kermode Uncut: Pandora’s Box.” BBC, May 2018.
— video commentary from the UK critic

Stiasny, Philipp. “Die Büchse der Pandora.” January 11, 2019.
— notes for a 2019 screening

La Compagnia Cinema. “Lulù – Il vaso di pandora” di G.W.Pabst (1929) – Introduzione al film,” August 18, 2020.
— brief video commentary in Italian

Boucles d’escarpins portés par Louise Brooks dans « Loulou » (G.W. Pabst, 1928) September 14, 2021
— La Cinémathèque francaise page on the shoe buckles worn in Pandora’s Box!

anonymous. “Pandora’s Box.” Janus Films, 2024.
— online press kit with links to press notes, stills, trailer and poster (the press notes contain a few factual errors)
British Film Institute, 2018 Janus Films trailer, 2024

TRIVIA: about the film

—  Adaptions of Wedekind’s Lulu plays had been filmed twice before. The first film version was LouLou (1918), a Hungarian film directed by Mihály Kertész. (Kertész, later Michael Curtiz, went on to direct God’s Gift to Women, with Louise Brooks.) The second film version was Earth Spirit (1923), starring Asta Nielsen. (Nielsen appeared alongside Greta Garbo in Pabst’s 1925 film, Die freudlose Gasse, or The Joyless Street.) It is not known that Brooks ever met Nielsen or was aware of either earlier version at the time she came to make Pandora’s Box in Germany in 1928. However, we do know that on June 15, 1959 Brooks viewed the 1923 film, starring Asta Nielsen, at Eastman House in Rochester, New York.

— When Pabst’s Pandora’s Box debuted in Berlin in 1929, an orchestra accompanied the film. This musical accompaniment — in the form of either a formal score or informal arrangement of pre-existing compositions, was attributed to Willy Schmidt-Genter. And notably, it was written about in at least a couple of publications, namely Lichtbild-Buhne (on February 16) and Reichsfilmblatt (on February 23, 1929). Each expressed reservations concerning Schmidt-Genter’s approach. Besides it being an orchestral accompaniment, little else is known about the music except that it included musical passages from two noted German composers, Richard Strauss (the third main theme from Don Juan) and Gottfried Huppertz (a passage from the music for Fritz Lang’s Der Nibelungen).

— The jazz combo playing during the wedding scene was an actual group known as Sid Kay’s Fellows. Founded in 1926 and led by Sigmund Petruschka (“Sid”) and Kurt Kaiser (“Kay”), Sid Kay’s Fellows were a popular ten member dance band based in Berlin. Notably, they performed at the Haus Vaterland (a leading Berlin night-spot) between 1930 and 1932. And in 1933, they accompanied the great Sidney Bechet during his recitals in the German capitol. Sid Kay’s Fellows also accompanied various theatrical performances and played in Munich, Dresden, Frankfurt, Vienna, Budapest, Barcelona and elsewhere. The group’s inclusion in Pandora’s Box predates their career as recording artists. In 1933, when the Nazis came to power, Sid Kay’s Fellows were forbidden to perform publicly. They disbanded, and transformed themselves into a studio orchestra and made recordings for the Jewish label Lukraphon. For more about the group, see the April 29, 2012 Louise Brooks Society blog “Music in Pandora’s Box: Sid Kay’s Fellows” and the October 20, 2012 blog, “More on Sid Kay’s Fellows“. [Notably, director G.W. Pabst included a different jazz combo, lead by Juan Llossas, in his next film, The Diary of a Lost Girl.]

— Rudi Feld, who achieved renown as a German art director, was responsible for designing the lobby of the Gloria-Palast theater, where the film debuted on February 9, 1929. Louise Brooks did not attend the premiere, as she had by this time returned to the United States.

— Pandora’s Box was shown now and then in Germany in the early 1930s. It was shown in Frankfurt am Main in September, 1933 at a screening attended by the composer Alban Berg, who would go on to write an opera, Lulu, based on Wedekind’s plays. (read more) And, it was one of the last films shown at the Camera theater in Berlin in 1934, as noted in an English newspaper of the time. (read more) With the rise of Nazism, the film was banned in Germany between 1934 and 1945.

— Joseph R. Fleischer was the Managing Director of Moviegraphs, Inc., a film distributor which ran the 55th Street Playhouse where Pandora’s Box was first shown in America. Max Goldberg was its treasurer. According to an article in Billboard magazine, the two were in Europe in June 1929 in order to secure the distribution rights to a “number of important European pictures.” Among them was Nana, The Italian Straw Hat, and Pandora’s Box. Erroneously, Fliesler is credited with the role of the film’s editor. He was not. He was, early on, its sole American distributor and the person largely responsible for meeting the demands of American censors. Somewhere along the way, perhaps as early as 1929, his name was appended to certain prints of the film.

— In 1933, the films of G.W. Pabst, in particular Pandora’s Box, were included in an exhibit about cinema at the newly opened Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore, Maryland. The exhibit, titled “The Film Till Now” (after the book by Paul Rotha), was organized by Herman G. Weinberg and was made up of photographs , books, and manuscripts from Weinberg’s private collection.

— In 1943, Lothar Wolff took Louise Brooks to lunch with Iris Barry, the founder of the New York Museum of Modern Art film department. Wolff and Brooks hoped to convince Barry, then perhaps the most important figure in film preservation, to acquire a print of Pandora’s Box for the MoMA collection. Barry, however, told Brooks the museum would not acquire the film, as “it had no lasting value.” In the late 1950s, the museum added a print of the film to their collection: an article in The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art noted a print was “Acquired through the courtesy of the Danske Film-museum and Cinema, 16. 16mm, 7 reels, Danish flash titles.”

— In 1953, Edith Zornow, then the film librarian of Brandon Films, wrote to the Motion Picture Division of the N.Y. Education Dept. requesting a copy of the title and dialogue sheets of six German silents, including Pandora’s Box. At the time, Brandon Films had been licensed by the Office of Alien Property Custodian to distribute the film.

— In the late 1950s, film archivist James Card of the Eastman House in Rochester, New York acquired a rare copy of Pandora’s Box from an archive in Europe. On June 9, 1958, he showed the film at the Eastman House in what was likely its first public screening in the United States following the conclusion of World War II. Many of the subsequent screenings of the film in the United States utilized Card’s print. Among these screenings was a first ever showing in California in Los Angeles in June 1962 followed by another in Monterey, California in August 1962.

— While living in Rochester, New York near the George Eastman House, Louise Brooks researched various movies, including Pandora’s Box. In 1959, Brooks’ viewed Earth Spirit (1923), an earlier film version of Wedekind’s Lulu starring Asta Nielsen. She was impressed, describing Nielsen in her notebooks as  “the most astonishing, unpredictable, fascinating, personality of the screen. Her wonderful costume sense, the opening Pierrot costume, the black winged costume, the tight wrapped, silver lame dress, the absolutely stunning affect of her face in close ups. It is fascinating to see what Mr. Pabst took from this series of impressionistic sketches and how he changed Lulu from the man eater to Lulu a force of nature.” Sometime later, Brooks created a  “score” for Pandora’s Box when she compiled a list of 78 rpm recordings selected to accompany the film.

— Pandora’s Box aired on American TV on Christmas Eve in 1977. The film was shown on Public Broadcasting Service stations as part of PBS Movie Theater, which featured classic cinema such as The Red Shoes, Metropolis, The Seventh Seal, Battleship Potemkin, The Blue Angel, etc…. (read more)

— In 2006, according to Variety, when a new 35mm print of the film was shown at Film Forum in New York, Pandora’s Box was reported to be the second highest grossing independent film in the United States.