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Poster Store Index
I C O N

July 2011:

I have always thought there would be a great market for reproduction posters at realistic and reasonable prices that spanned the career of one of the absolute icons actresses of the 20th-century, Louise Brooks. Hitherto that hasn't been the case and the ones that were on the market were at silly prices. Until now...more

PANDORA'S BOX, Promo Poster

ICON & ICONOGRAPHY

Of course, we are talking mainly about that film her name will be forever associated with but there are others. When all is said and that it really was a weird career though: the heights so early then a huge chunk of her life forgotten and in obscurity and, finally, towards the end of her life, a redemption, a world finding her again and placing her back to her rightful position as one of cinema's most enigmatic and captivating stars. More on that film, Pandora's Box, can be found here.

Yes, I know other stars have been lost and found again but I think with Brooks it's the depth of the wilderness, the length she was 'away', that makes it so unusual. What did she do in those lost years? We know some of the details about her apartments and existence (painting and writing) but I mean what did she really think about her life unfolding as it did. 20-odd films and she was gone. Fed up with it all. And then? And then...

I can think of 3 really great actresses from the 20th-century who achieved a kind of enigmatic iconography. Brooks is one. The other 2 from what I think of as a kind of Holy Trilogy are Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. Now Garbo retired early and spend the rest of her life preserving the mythology; Dietrich crept in and out of her retirement just enough to keep us captivated but the point is that their fame was consistent throughout their lives. They were prisoners of their fame but also the prison governors. Brooks' fame and unfame was completely different with its peaks and troughs and yet now she has arrived on the same high plateau as the other two. Pandora's Box is thought of at least as highly as anything the other 2 did.

These posters and what they recall show us how far we have fallen in terms of movie greatness. The 1920s had Louise Brooks; the 2000s give us Kelly Brook. Now which era feels short-changed?

Anyway, I've found a company called Pop Culture based in America who have the biggest selection of Louise Brooks film posters that I have ever seen. Span mainly the German years and are reproduction posters from film releases all over the world. When you browse through them you remember (well, I did) just how timeless her face and beauty is. It is still revelant today. Absolutely incredible images. And don't forget (and many have) just how important G.W. Pabst was in the creation of the mythology of Louise Brooks.

But even better than the selection are the prices ranging (as of July 2011) from around $3 - $20 per poster. $3! What does that buy you these days?

They sell through Amazon and I have created a page for each poster mainly to show the bigger scans on a page as they do look beautiful. Plus I wanted to show them against a black background as I think they look far more striking (the artist and architect Hundertwasser always advocated having his work shown against a black background). Each page can hold an even bigger scan of the poster so if you have any bigger of a particular poster just e-mail me it here and I'll place it on the page. I also want to use these pages as a kind of archive for Louise Brooks posters from her whole career and from around the world; even if the posters aren't for sale it would be good to have a place where they can be viewed. I can't do this without your help so if you want to share your scans then you know what to do.

You can also see Pop Culture's Louise Brooks Posters index page by clicking here.

I have put a link on each page to the particular poster at the bottom of each page so it is simple to order or find out more details.

Hope you enjoy the vast selection!

~ Paul Page, July 2011