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Louise Brooks, late of the Follies, has startled Broadway with an
injunction suit to restrain John De Mirjian, theatrical photographer, from
further distribution of nude portraits which he has made of her.
The tiny bit of
symmetrical perfection who so enthralled Charlie Chaplin on his last visit
that they were seen together everywhere, is now a budding moving picture
actress, which explains many things, among them her desire to turn back the
leaves of the volume of her life that include some score of pictures in the
'all together'.
Such publicity 'encouragers'
are all right for Follies girls, she believes, but not for future stars of
the screen.
In her apartment in the
fashionable and expensive Marguery, 20 Park Ave., Louise yesterday gave in
no uncertain words her opinion of the growing fad of 'undressed photography'
to which she subscribed as a necessity in the climb up the theatrical ladder
of fame.
"I
intend to be married eventually" Miss Brooks explained "and
what do you supposemy husband would say if every time he picks up a
newspaper or walks up Broadway he is confronted with a photograph of his
wife clad in only a lacy shawl?"
"When
I was in the last Follies I understood that part of my job was to have these
more or less draped things scattered all over. I was never crazy about the
idea, but was told that it was necessary to get to the front. So I consented.
I went to several photographers many times".
"Now
that I have signed a reasonably long-term contract with Famous Players I
consider that the necessity is past, so I wish the widespread distribution
of those photographs discontinued. The screen public is a curious animal. It
likes you to have a pretty form and to show it to advantage during the
unraveling of a screen plot, but to see nude stillsof a favorite does not
suit everyone's fancy".
"I
bear no animosity toward Mr. De Mirjian. He is nice and a real artist. When
I went to his studio on 48st and Broadway he made the photographs himself,
instructing me to forget that there was a man in the room and to lose myself
in an artistic thought. I did. I pictured myself in the Louvre trying to
imitate various works of the old masters".
"Mr.
De Mirjian was very kind, and as the poses necessitated the gradual removal
of the kimono I had brought with me, he very delicately replaced it with
other drapes, which he hung about my body".
"I
was in the studio for about two hours and a half, and when I was dismissed,
hurried into my clothes and felt none the worse for my experience".
(...)
Miss Brooks wants it
clearly understood that her rise has been solely through her own efforts.
She resents the report circulated at the time Chaplin was here to the effect
that they promised to become more than just good friends. She admits that
they saw a great deal of each other, but that she was only acting in the
capacity as his guide about the supper clubs. (...)
"I
understood it to be a necessity in surmounting the first rung in the ladder
to success. Now I am on another rung". (...)
Anonimo,
Follies girl, now in films, shocked by own pictures, "Daily Mirror",
November 30, 1925. L'articolo è desunto dalla biografia
di
Barry Paris, pp. 114-116. Si ignora se sia ivi riprodotto nella sua
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