If 1926 was a breakthrough year for Louise Brooks, then 1927 was a pivotal year for the actress. At the direction of her studio, Brooks left the familiar confines of Paramount’s East Coast operations for the wild, wild west of Hollywood. This move west marked Brooks first visit to California. The studio, believing they had a star in the making, decided to try and remake the actress — not only by casting her in slightly different kinds of films, but by even going so far as to change her look. Brooks made only four films in 1927, two less than she made the year before, but these four were somewhat higher profile projects. Additionally, Brooks’ standing in these four films improved; by and large, she left behind the supporting roles she had played in the past and now received second billy, regarded as a co-star or in one film, the star.
Brooks first film in Hollywood was Evening Clothes, a romantic comedy about a gentleman farmer who — spurned by his bride, goes to the big city in order to loose his rustic ways and win back his new wife. As with the similarly-themed A Social Celebrity, Brooks was once again paired with leading man Adolphe Menjou. However, what made this film different was Brooks’ new look. At Paramount’s suggestion, the actress no longer sported her signature bob hairstyle. Instead, she sported a head full of short loose curls. Louella Parsons of the Los Angeles Examiner noted, “When you see the show girl, Louise Brooks, cavorting about with a frizzled top you will see why Famous Players Lasky is grooming her for bigger and better things.” However, despite the studio’s good intentions, the experiment in changing Brooks’ appearance lasted only for one film.
Brooks returned to form with Rolled Stockings, a popular drama set among a group of college students. It was one of a number of similarly-themed films aimed toward the youth market of the 1920s. Besides Brooks, who was then 20 years old, its cast included a few of Paramount’s other “junior stars” — then up-and-comers Richard Arlen, James Hall, Nancy Phillips, and the slightly older El Brendel. Brooks plays the love interest of two brothers, one a fop, the other an athlete. Based on it’s many positive reviews, Rolled Stockings seemed to be a cut above most of the other motion pictures about and aimed toward the younger generation. What also set the film apart was the fact Brooks,more often than not (but not always) was given top billing in the film.
Now We’re in the Air is a comedy about two fliers (a pair of “aero-nuts” called “looney Lindberghs”) who wander on to a World War I battle field near the front lines. The film was one of a number of aviation-themed stories shot in 1927 (following Lindbergh’s historic solo flight across the Atlantic), as well as one in a popular series of “service comedies” pairing Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton. Brooks plays the unusual role of twin sisters, one raised French and one raised German, named Griselle & Grisette, who are the love interest of the two fliers. Brooks’ dual role drew a good deal of attention, and the film was a hit.
Brooks’ next and last film in 1928 was something different. The City Gone Wild is a terse crime drama, with gangsters, gangs, and gunfights, in which a criminal lawyer turns prosecutor to avenge the death of a friend. As she did in The Street of Forgotten Men, Brooks plays a moll, this time the deliciously named Snuggles Joy, the “gunman’s honey.” Critics took notice not only of Brooks’ hard-boiled character, but also the edge she brought to the role. Once critic wrote, “Louise Brooks is in the cast and that is something to grow ecstatic about…. she is the most entrancing crook that ever pulled a Holt. No wonder the city went wild.”
Until just a few years ago, each of the four films Brooks made in 1927 — near the peak of her American career — had been considered lost. In 2017, some 20 minutes of Now We’re in the Air were found in the film archive in Prague, the Czech Republic. With it’s discovery, the only “lost” Brooks film so far found, we can see something of what American movie goers saw nearly a century ago.