The Street of Forgotten Men (filmography page)

  The Street of Forgotten Men is an underworld romance set among fake beggars and their “cripple factory” in the slums of the Bowery in New York City. The film is based on an O. Henryesque short story by George Kibbe Turner which appeared in Liberty magazine on February 14, 1925, just two months before the film went into production. The film is notable as the first in which Louise Brooks had a role, that of a moll (companion to a gangster).

The Street of Forgotten Men was well regarded upon release, with star Percy Marmount singled out time and again for a fine dramatic performance often compared to the efforts of Lon Chaney. Director Herbert Brenon was also praised for his realistic depiction of Bowery life. Brenon, who the year before had directed Peter Pan (1924), went on to helm such classics as Beau Geste (1926), The Great Gatsby (1926), and Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928). His Sorrell and Son (1927) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director at the 1st Academy Awards.

The New York Daily News praised the film, noting “The Street of Forgotten Men dips into the dark pools of life. It shows you the beggars of life — apologies to Jim Tully — and in showing them it shows them up.”

Dorothy Evans of the Sacramento Union summed-up the feelings of many critics when she noted that the film’s “theme goes deeper than the average motion picture”. Roberta Nangle of the Chicago Tribune echoed her, “It is a startling tale of Bowery life, of the soiled, tawdry ladies and broken men of the underworld”. An exclamation point was added by A. F. Gillaspey of the San Francisco Bulletin, “For fine dramatic detail, for unusualness, for giving us a glimpse into a world we never see and into the other sides of characters we simply pass in pity on the streets, The Street of Forgotten Men is a photoplay revelation.”

Exhibitor’s Trade Review stated the film was tied for fifth among the year’s biggest “profit takers,” as reported by exhibitors. Commercial success was matched by critical acclaim. The National Board of Review named The Street of Forgotten Men one of the 40 best pictures of 1925; it was also picked one of the best films of the year by the Houston Chronicle, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, San Francisco Call & Post, Tacoma Times, and Topeka Daily Capital.

Though her role was small and she was not listed in the credits, Brooks received her very first notice for work in a film. In August, an anonymous critic for the Los Angeles Times wrote, “And there was a little rowdy, obviously attached to the ‘blind’ man, who did some vital work during her few short scenes. She was not listed.” At the time, this reference to Brooks was the extant of any attention she would receive for being in the film. Brooks, however, is depicted in at least two publicity stills issued by Paramount. Both show moments from the bar fight, a turning point in the film. Seemingly, neither of the stills were published in the United States, though both were published abroad, one in Brazil, and another in France.

STORY SYNOPSIS:
“Easy Money Charlie is a whole man who disguises himself as a cripple and makes his living as a professional beggar. When Portland Fancy dies, Charlie takes her child and sends the little girl to the country, providing her with a proper education and upbringing. Years later, the girl, known as Fancy Vanhern, meets and captures the heart of Philip Peyton, a young lawyer whose name is prominent in the social register. In order to secure Fancy’s future happiness, Charlie feigns death in an ocean accident; Fancy then prepares to marry Philip. Bridgeport White-Eye, a beggar who affects blindness, discovers Charlie’s secret and tries to blackmail Philip. White-Eye and Charlie fight, and White-Eye is indeed blinded. Philip marries Fancy, and Charlie takes over the care of White-Eye.”

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DATABASE LINKS:

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• AFI catalog
• All Movie Guide
• AlloCine (fr)
• BFI website (uk)
• Cinemacontext (nl)
• Filmvandaag (nl)
• Filmnavi (ru)
• Filmweb (pl)
• IMDb
• SilentEra.com
• Swedish Film Database (sv)
• TCM.com
• Wikipedia

NEXT Louise Brooks Film

PRODUCTION HISTORY:
Production began on April 6th and finished around June 6th. The film was shot at Paramount’s Astoria Studios on Long Island (located at 3412 36th Street in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens). Location shooting was done elsewhere on Long Island as well as on the streets of Manhattan, including on Fifth Avenue and at the landmark Little Church Around the Corner on East 29th. Brooks began work on the film on May 20, 1925. She appears in only one scene, in a barroom where a fight breaks out, near the end of the film.

ALTERNATE TITLES:
Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Australia (including Tasmania), Bermuda, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, New Zealand, Panama, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (including England, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In the United States, the film was presented under the title La Calle de los Olvidados (Spanish-language press), A Rua dos Homens Esquecidos (Portuguese-language press), and Az Elfelejtett Emberek Utcája (Hungarian-language press).

Elsewhere, The Street of Forgotten Men was shown under the title L’école des mendiants (Algeria); Die Straße des Grauens (Austria); De School der Bedelaars (Belgium); O mendigo elegante and Um mendigo elegante (Brazil); La calle del olvido (Chile); La calle del olvido (Cuba); Ulice zapomenutých mužu (Czechoslovakia); Tiggerkongen (Denmark); De Straat der Ellendigen (Dutch East Indies); De Straat der verlaten Wezens (Dutch Guiana); Varjojen lapsi (Finland); L’école des mendiants – primarily, but also on a few occasions as Le roi des mendiants and La rue des hommes perdus (France); Die Straße des Grauens (Germany); Konungur Betlaranna (Iceland); 或る乞食の話 or Aru kojiki no hanashi (Japan); L’école des mendiants (Luxembourg); La calle del olvido (Mexico); De School der Bedelaars and De Vakschool der bedelaars (Netherlands); Varjojen lapsia (Norway); Vidas Perdidas (Portugal); Улица забытых людей (Soviet Union); La calle del olvido (Spain); and Skuggornas barn (Sweden).

STATUS:
The film was once “thought lost,” in that it had been out-of circulation for decades. However, six of its seven reels were acquired by the Library of Congress around 1969. The only surviving original material for the film was a 35mm nitrate negative. This negative was duplicated for preservation in 1969, but not before the second reel had deteriorated completely. Since that time, decomposition of the negative has continued, leaving the duplicate as the only source for portions of the film.

As of 2021, the LOC had a 16mm exhibition print, and a 35mm preservation master positive. Among the surviving footage is an approximately four minute scene which includes the entirety of Brooks’ role, which occurs near the end of the film. The LOC print had not been released for home viewing, though it has, over the years, been screened a few times at festivals (including Pordenone in 1996 and Syracuse CineFest in 2012). I have viewed the surviving material on a few occasions and can state that the missing reel is reel two, not reel seven, as has been erroneously reported elsewhere. In early 2022, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival announced it had completed a major restoration of the film. The restoration included a filmic bridge – a reconstruction of the missing second reel based on stills and the surviving script. The restoration debuted at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival on May 10, 2022.

REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES:
“Strange Silent Film Screens in Syracuse” by Thomas Gladysz (Huffington Post, March 15, 2012).

“Restored Silent Film The Street of Forgotten Men Debuts Louise Brooks” by Thomas Gladysz (Pop Matters, March 31, 2022).

“Actors in Uncredited Bit Parts in The Street of Forgotten Men” by Thomas Gladysz (Louise Brooks Society blog, April 2022).
— a  four-part blog: Anita Louise | Lassie | Whitney Bolton | Louise Brooks

“San Francisco’s Street of Forgotten Men,” by Thomas Gladysz (San Francisco Patch, May 9, 2022).

“The Street of Forgotten Men,” by Thomas Gladysz (San Francisco Silent Film Festival, May 10, 2022).
— essay in festival program