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The mystique and stunning beauty of Louise Brooks are on glorious display in Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), Brooks's second historic collaboration (after Pandora's Box) with director G.W. Pabst. In a restrained performance that a lesser actress would've taken over the top, Brooks strikes a resonant note of innocence, tenacity, and worldliness as Thymian, the idealistic daughter of an unscrupulous pharmacist, who is raped by her father's lecherous assistant. Forced to leave her child with a midwife, she escapes from a hellish reform school and is drawn into a brothel as if her fate were predetermined. Pabst tells her story (from Margurethe Bohme's novel) with lurid flourishes, especially in his encouragement of leering, grotesque performances from Thymian's ruthless exploiters. Mature even by modern standards, this lurid melodrama spans a full spectrum of emotions, expressed with subtle nuance by Brooks, who casts her spell in close-ups that will take your breath away. --Jeff Shannon
Special Features
This DVD also includes the 1931 comedy short "Windy Riley Goes Hollywood," costarring Louise Brooks. Hollywood largely rejected Brooks after her star-making exodus to Germany, leaving her to play in low-budget features and independent two-reelers like this one, directed under a pseudonym by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who likewise never recovered from his own Hollywood scandal. "Windy Riley" is typically innocuous fare, with Brooks playing "the girl" in the tepid tale of a cross-country auto racer (Jack Shutta) who gets mixed up in Hollywood high jinks. Picture and sound quality are poor, but this remains a rare and fascinating artifact from Brooks's declining career. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By bernie
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
Black and white silent movie with English subtitles. Sound track relevant to the story. Original title "Tagebuch einer Verlorenen"
Thymiane (Louise Brooks) not aware of the relationship her father had with another of his housekeepers Elisabeth (Sybille Schmitz) and is confused as to why the housekeeper had to leave and intimately why the housekeeper committed suicide. The pharmacist Meinert (Fritz Rasp) downstairs is more than willing to show her what happens when one gets too friendly and doe so when Thymiane faints.
This results in an offspring. The father pays the pharmacist's debt in exchange for making an honest woman of Thymiane. However she reneges and holds out for love; naturally this is unacceptable so she and her diary are sent off to a correctional institute for lost girls. Her offspring is handed over to a midwife.
Will her father come to his senses or is he falling pray to his latest housekeeper Meta (Franziska Kinz?)
Will she break out of the oppressive institute or just learn evil ways?
Will her old friend Count Nicolas Osdorff (André Roanne) come to her rescue?
Or will he have problems of his own when he is out cast?
We find our selves sitting on the edge of our seats, kibitzing even if we saw the movie before.
We are reminded that with a little more love no one on this earth has to be lost.
Thymiane (Louise Brooks) not aware of the relationship her father had with another of his housekeepers Elisabeth (Sybille Schmitz) and is confused as to why the housekeeper had to leave and intimately why the housekeeper committed suicide. The pharmacist Meinert (Fritz Rasp) downstairs is more than willing to show her what happens when one gets too friendly and doe so when Thymiane faints.
This results in an offspring. The father pays the pharmacist's debt in exchange for making an honest woman of Thymiane. However she reneges and holds out for love; naturally this is unacceptable so she and her diary are sent off to a correctional institute for lost girls. Her offspring is handed over to a midwife.
Will her father come to his senses or is he falling pray to his latest housekeeper Meta (Franziska Kinz?)
Will she break out of the oppressive institute or just learn evil ways?
Will her old friend Count Nicolas Osdorff (André Roanne) come to her rescue?
Or will he have problems of his own when he is out cast?
We find our selves sitting on the edge of our seats, kibitzing even if we saw the movie before.
We are reminded that with a little more love no one on this earth has to be lost.
By Quilmiense
Format:DVD
Great quality picture dvd. A great movie for those for are afraid to venture into the silent category. The direction, the story, the acting done by Ms. Brooks is superb.
Mr. Pabst's movies need more recognition. When "Pandora's Box" on dvd?
Louise Brooks reminds me of the recent actress in Amelie. Not that they look alike, but because of their radiance, the tremendous impression they make on the viewer. Ms. Brooks's interpretation is so realistic it makes you feel you are really there in the room with her.
By D. Nguyen
Format:DVD
And she can act. Louise Brooks's restrained but affecting performance elevates what would have been to me a shamelessly sensational and sordid melodrama into moving and compelling entertainment. I am docking this half a star for the abrupt (albeit somewhat positive) ending, and some embarrassingly hammy (and creepy)overacting by several of the key supporting actors; in contrast, all of the supporting actresses did a fine job: notably the hausfrauses playing the former-housemaid-turned-"evil"-stepmother and the kindly brothel madame.
And Ms. Brooks, ah...she can even make the simple act of drinking liquer out of a glass look deliriously fetching and artlessly natural at the same time. I must say, after not being all that taken with oft cited past candidates for most lovely screen actresses of all time (including Gene Tierney, Rita Hayworth, and Hedy Lamarr), I think I have found the face that launched my thousand ships. But really, it's also a very good movie.:)
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bittersweet and tragic
"Diary of a Lost Girl" (1929) shows us Louise Brooks at her best. It is the bittersweet tale of a young girl's loss of innocence. Read more
Published on Feb 13 2003 by Emiliano Moreno
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Film, Great Brooks
Louise Brooks, in the finest meaning of the word, does not act in this film. What this means is that when the emotions are true to life, Brooks' performance is absolutely perfect. Read more
Published on Sep 2 2002
4.0 out of 5 stars
Silent Gem
I enjoyed the DVD of "Diary of a Lost Girl", Louise Brooks' second collaboration with G.W. Pabst, although not as much as "Pandora's Box". Read more
Published on Aug 17 2002 by E. Dolnack
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well made, but very slow moving!
This film is pretty good in general. Louise Brooks really is versatile and talented. Too bad this film moves so darn slow! Read more
Published on Jun 4 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
LOUISE BROOKS IGNITES THE SCREEN
In the era of the silent cinema, no one ignited the screen like Louise Brooks. In the still shocking "Pandora's Box," and in the lurid, 1929 melodrama "DIARY OF A... Read more
Published on Dec 9 2001 by Robin Simmons
5.0 out of 5 stars
New Kino DVD
This new Kino DVD version of DIARY OF A LOST GIRL contains footage that has been added, re-edited, and even RE-SHOT, compared to Kino's 1990 VHS version. Read more
Published on Nov 21 2001 by keviny01
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh boy!!!!
WOW!!! I never in my wildest dreams thought this silent film classic starring Louise Brooks was coming to DVD! I thought for sure Pandora's Box (Ms. Read more
Published on Oct 28 2001 by Ed N
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