User Reviews

Louise Brooks gives a wonderful performance in this well-made French melodrama. She plays a typist named Lucienne who, despite being in love with a man named Andre, dreams of rising above her position in life. She sees opportunity in a beauty contest for Miss Europe, but Andre is furious when he discovers that she's entered, then demands that she withdraw. She tries to take back her entry only to discover that she's already been chosen as Miss France and will now go on to the main pageant.

This is a story of love, loss and decision played out to its passionate end. The movie is very energetically filmed by director Augusto Genina and cinema tographers Rudolf Mate and Louis Nee. The filming style is more like modern movies than the Hollywood flicks of the '30s, and shows the different style employed by Europeans. There are many fast cuts and traveling shots, mostly done with great skill and verve. The high energy of the movie's first third dwindles a bit in the middle but picks up again in the last 15 minutes.

The performances were very good by all the principals, but that of Louise Brooks is especially memorable. Louise leans heavily on her silent screen skills even though this is a talkie, but because her silent style had a surprisingly contemporary, understated feel, she makes the transition to talkies very well. The long early scene at the fair was especially poignant as Louise used her remarkably expressive eyes to convey her growing sense of misery and alienation, of being trapped in a life she no longer wants. I doubt it's ever been done better.

The film builds to a superb finale, artfully shot, powerful and stylish. This is really some of the best stuff of the early days of film. And the tragic storyline only underscores the greater tragedy that this is the final starring role for Louise Brooks. She wasn't just a great beauty who looked fantastic in a swimsuit, she really was a major acting talent who basically threw it all away. We are all the poorer for that.

This movie is less well known than her German films with G.W. Pabst, but I think it's a better one. I think this crew is just better at storytelling than Pabst, and while Prix de Beaute may lack the deep moral complexity of the Pabst films, it's much easier to follow and is overall a more streamlined, focused piece of work. And it doesn't hurt that Louise's singing parts are done by Edith Piaf, either.

Bottom line, this is a classic Louise Brooks film well worth looking for.

I just saw MoMA's restored print of the silent version of Prix de Beaute. FAR better than the sound version, which is badly post-synched, shorter, and poorly paced. Bravo to the crew of restorationists who've given us back this fine film! (Trivia: The contract that Lucienne receives from the movie studio says on its letterhead, "Films, silent and talking" - an indication of how some studios were still hedging their bets in 1929-30.)

Brooks' performance is very much of a piece with her work in the Pabst films, but takes it in some interesting new directions - whereas Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl are about the demimonde, Prix de Beaute is about a humble young woman's introduction to the bright, shiny new world of the media, modern technology, and the fame machine that they created.

The collaboration of Pabst and Rene Clair on the screenplay is every bit as intriguing as it sounds. The first half, centering on Lucienne and her friends at the newspaper (she's a typist, her beau a linotype operator), is the Clair part - showing a fascination with recording equipment, movies, and the way the media manufactures icons. There's a sense optimism and a tremendous vigor to the life of working Paris portrayed here.

The second half is the Pabst part, where everything turns dark as Lucienne's fairy tale as a beauty queen ends and she faces life as a working class housewife. She makes her escape only to have that life catch up with her. The ending is unforgettable, forcing the viewer to consider the ways that illusion and reality become confused in modern life, sometimes tragically. Clear through, the film shows a fine sense of class distinctions - how modern life can break them down and the traps they still set. Aside from Pabst's and Clair's own films, Prix de Beaute calls to mind Dreiser's novels, particularly An American Dream and Sister Carrie. Sunset Boulevard is anticipated as well. Makes one regret all the more American studios' indifference to Brooks - there was so much she could have done with any number of classic American roles.

Brooks' work here is easily as good as her performances in the Pabst films, and Mate's and Nee's cinematography renders her stunning to look at. What a supremely expressive face! Too bad that this would be her last great film - not a full-blown classic, but a real gem.

Originally shot as a silent but a dubbed version was also released (I saw the dubbed version). It was clearly a big budget picture, which mainly shows in the shots of the beauty pageant and some of the female costumes.

Louise Brooks' performance is the main reason to see the film. Also interesting for views of the time, for example, seeing a Linotype machine in action.

Lulu (Louise Brooks) works as a typist and is missing something in her life. She enters a Miss France contest against the wishes of her boyfriend Andre (Georges Charlia) and she wins. She sets off for the Miss Europe title leaving her boyfriend behind. She wins again but returns home to Andre because he has asked her to. Once back together, her life becomes mundane again so one night she writes a note to him and leaves to experience the fame that is waiting for her as Miss Europe. Andre follows her.....

This film is a silent film with a piano music-track all the way through. It is also sped-up in parts so at times everything seems too fast. Limited dialogue has been added on afterwards and it is very phony. The cast are alright bearing in mind that it is a silent film. The best part of the film comes at the end but the story goes on a little too long. After watching this, I'm not really sure what the big deal was over the looks of Louise Brooks - she has a terrible haircut that makes her face look fat. The film has a memorable ending that lends itself to another viewing.

Artisticly shot, actors portray exactly their role. You get a real feeling watching Lucienne ascend from poverty to the most beautiful girl around. A sense of tragedy to triumph to tragedy again. All in all I have seen this film at least 10 times. And can VERY well say that Prix De Beute' (the Beauty Prize, Miss Europe) is a MAJOR favorite in my silent film collection. The expressiveness of Louise Brooks is perfect and I recommend this film to ANYONE who appreciates artistic beauty coupled with a tragic story line.

With lots of sunshine, gauzy light and shadow filtering through windows and into rooms, tracking shots moving through crowds with hand-held camera, quick-paced editing and extreme close-ups here and there, the photography is the thing in this interesting, artistically done film.

The plot of this film starts out as a bit of fluff about a beauty contest. The film begins on a warm Sunday at the local swimming pool, where we meet the lovely Lucienne aka Lulu (played by Louise Brooks) - a bit of a show-off in front of the gawking men by poolside, she soon decides to enter herself to represent France in the Miss Europe beauty contest, much to the chagrin of her very jealous, stick-in-the-mud fiancé (a pretty annoying fellow, really). Strutting down the runway the ten contestants display themselves in swimsuits, while the winner is chosen as the contestant who receives the longest applause (I was wondering, couldn't the girls just walk slower to prolong their length of time - and thus applause - on the catwalk?!). Lulu is soon being chased by a Prince and a Maharaja, but her hot-headed beau doesn't like the attentions paid to her by other men or her adoring public, for that matter (I guess he just wants her in his house, cooking his meals, and staying out of sight, eh?!).

Louise Brooks is beautiful and charming, her presence helps enhance this film, but it's really the way it is photographed that held my interest the most. A bit distracting is the odd dubbed sound, which is a bit off. The print on this version looked very clear and full of nice contrast though. Watching this I just tried to overlook the sound problems and watch the film visually, and I found the movie to be excellent, well worth seeing.

Please Note: I see from the various posts that there was an original silent version and also a sound version of this same film. I saw the sound version and it was esthetically yicky. Considering some indicate that the original version was LONGER and without crappy dubbing, my review must be read with this in mind.

Although I know that Rene Clair has a lovely reputation as a film maker and Louise Brooks has a bit of a cult following as well, this is in many ways a technically poorly made film. While Hollywood had already pretty much switched to sound mode around 1929, up through the early to almost the mid-30s, a lot of famous French films were essentially silent films--with some dialog and sound effects very poorly slapped over top the film. The lip movements in many, and in particular this film, don't even come close to matching what is being said and this would explain why an American like Ms. Brooks could do a French film. This is just sloppy and I would have preferred they had just made a silent film--and as a silent film this is would have been an average film--with excellent camera work (at times) and some decent silent-style acting.

The problem I also found with the film was the overly simplistic plot. For a silent morality play circa 1920, it would have been fine, but by 1930 standards the plot is a bit hoary (that means "old"--not "slutty"). A lady wins a beauty contest and her macho fiancé can't handle it. She gives it all up, temporarily, but is lured back to the fancy life and this spells her end! A tad melodramatic, huh? And also a bit simplistic and underdeveloped.

Finally, the character of the fiancé's friend(?) I found very disturbing and unreal. He looked like Harold Lloyd and spent much of the movie being abused and picked on by the friend and everyone else. As he just took it throughout the movie and no resolution came about, his character seemed superfluous and the treatment he received mean-spirited. Were audiences supposed to laugh as he was abused? This seems to me that's what is implied and I don't like it at all.

There are FAR better French films of the era (Le Million, La Femme du Boulanger, Fanny, Regain, and others) as well as better silent films. I just can't understand this film's high rating.

If it were not for the absolutely terrible script, this film could have been a big hit in 1930. The actors do an outstanding job, as does the director. The cinematography and editing are first-rate. But ultimately, the actors have to speak. And what they say is produced by writers. In this case, the writers fell down on the job. WIth just a bit more effort, a decent screenplay could have been created, but what we get instead is hack writing. Maybe an enterprising, talented writer in this decade will take this plot and make it into a successful film. The plot of a girl winning a beauty pageant and disturbing the love life of her boyfriend has great comic potential. However, that potential was not realized in this version.

Cult icon Louise Brooks was never better than she is in this early French talkie, which turned out to be her last staring role.

While Brooks' two German films, "Pandora's Box" and "Diary of a Lost Girl" are far better known in the US, "Prix" is clearly just as good a film, in my view much better than the butchered "Diary."

"Prix" tells a simple story of a working class French girl who dreams of a better life and sets out to get it by entering a beauty pageant. Rising all the way to the position of "Miss Europe," she then gives it all up for the working class man she loves. But she finds that life as a housewife in a dreary walk up flat is killing her soul, as is her jealous husband, and eventually she walks out when she gets a chance at a film contract. But her husband won't let her go and the film builds to a tragic ending that is still considered one of the best climatic scenes in film history.

This film features strong direction, extremely exciting location photography by famed cinematographer (and later director) Rudolph Mate and an intelligent,Spartan script by Rene Clair.

But the wonder of the film is Brooks herself. Although her voice is dubbed by a French actress (Brooks didn't speak French) the film was initially planned as a silent and in large chunks of it, her character doesn't speak, anyway. But Brooks' fortune was her face and what she could do with it and there are few in film history who could do more. While there are some echos of silent film technique in her work, she was so far ahead of her time that most of her performance seems as fresh today as it did in 1929. Whether she is the unhappy girl being dragged by her boyfriend through a working class mob at a carnaval, or the depressed housewife staring into a canary's cage and feeling just as trapped, Brooks is a revelation.

But it is when she is happy in this film that Brooks simply leaps off the screen at you. In most of the still photos she shot over the years, Brooks doesn't smile, apparently because she'd promised herself not to ever wear one of those pasted on grins found on showgirls on stage. But when called upon in a film to express happiness, no one ever exceeded Brooks, who may be the most magnetic actress in film history.

While "Pandora's Box" will always be her signature film, "Prix de Beaute" ranks a close second in my mind as the best film work of her career.

It is often only after years pass that we can look back and see those stars who are truly stars. As that French film critic, whose name escapes me, said: "There is no Garbo. There is no Dietrich. There is only Louise Brooks"; and there is, thank heavens! Louise Brooks! This is the third of her European masterpieces. But it is also an exceptional film for being one, if not the, first French talkie, for following a script written by famed René Clair, for reportedly being finished (the direction, that is) by Georg Pabst, and for incorporating the voice of Edith Piaf before she was well known! So much talent working on and in a film, how couldn't it turn out to be a masterpiece?! And that's what this film is. It's a shame Louise Brooks was blackballed by Hollywood when she came back to the States--so much talent cast so arrogantly by the wayside! In the film, in addition to getting to watch Louise Brooks in action, it's great to see pictures of Paris ca. 1930 and to hear Piaf's young voice. I never get tired of this film!

A wonderful surprise! I've always heard that Louise Brooks' follow-up to her two star-making hits with G.W. Pabst was a pleasant but inconsequential swan song. I thought it was very good, with an absolutely brilliant performance by Brooks. Co-written by Pabst and Rene Clair, this is basically a silent movie with overdubbed sound. Thus, the director is able to avoid the stodginess that comes with early sound filmmaking. He uses a very intimate, fluid style with the camera drifting through crowds to discover the beautiful Ms. Brooks' face. The one big problem the film has is that Brooks' love interest (Georges Charlia) is so totally unworthy of Brooks from the start that you can never come close to sympathizing with him. But that's not that important, really. Brooks plays Charlia's fiancée. He forbids her from entering the Miss France contest, but she's already done so. When she wins the opportunity to compete for Miss Europe, she chooses to disobey him. When she wins the competition, the fame and male attention drives her back to Charlia. But poor, married life soon seems much worse to her. The film is extremely worthwhile just for the expressions of Brooks' face alone. Though she has words, as dubbed in by a French actress, she doesn't need them. Her smiles seem created by a filmmaking Leonardo, and her pains are ours. Lulu could never have survived in the talkies (and I've seen the proof, a short film she made with Roscoe Arbuckle shortly after this one), and perhaps the loss of Brooks is the greatest of the talking picture era.

"Prix De Beauté" is billed as Louise Brooks' first talkie, yet it is seems to have been shot primarily as a silent: it has the sped-up frame rate which is most common with silents, and nearly all of the dialogue and sound effects appear to have been dubbed in the post-production stage. All of this wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but the story itself, though not entirely uninteresting, is rather trivial, and the film fails to make full use of Brooks' legendary mystique, although she does have some flattering close-ups, and she is certainly beautiful enough to be believable as Miss France, Miss Europe, Miss Everything. ** out of 4.

BEAUTY PRIZE (Augusto Genina - France 1930).

Louise Brooks' last starring role in a feature, and her only film made in France. It's the story of Lucienne, a high-spirited Parisian typist who leads a mundane life with her fiancé, André, and a number of friends. While André indeed loves Lucienne, he has conventional expectations for their future together. When the Miss Europa beauty contest comes to town, he warns her to "not even dream" of entering it. Lucienne ignores his advice, and from there on, she struggles for independence and happiness, but André is overcome with jealous rage...

I just watched "Prix de Beauté" in the sound version on the Kino Video DVD-release. The film was shot as a silent and Louise Brooks voice was badly dubbed by a French actress. The post-doctoring of this silent film into a talkie was badly done in the first place, and, on top of it, the transfer to the DVD is pretty shabby as well. Sometimes too light, then too dark, too fast, too slow. It's a mess. A mediocre film that might have worked as a silent but is no comparison to earlier films Louise Brooks made with G. W Pabst, "Pandora's Box" and "Diary of a lost Girl." I watched this for the obvious reason of Louise Brook's last starring role, but it's only worth it for Brooks-aficionados or completists. Watch the silent version or turn of the sound, and make the best of Louise Brooks' intoxicating presence. The five stars are hers.

Camera Obscura --- 5/10

"Prix de Beauté (Miss Europe)" (aka "Beauty Prize") (1930) is an outstanding example of where the participants - the actors and actresses, the director, and especially the cinematographer and editor - outdo the material by a very large margin. This French film was released as both a silent and a sound film; had a scene or two goat-glanded, and also was overdubbed (in the original language!) disgustingly! My version is in an okay print, but the version is a sound version with dubbing that I turned down low enough so that what I saw was a silent with minuscule jingles of sound and intrusive (but needed) sub-titles which were not "sub" but thrown up largely in the middle of the picture! I had a difficult time getting into the show for the first few minutes, and they're the few minutes that really should be the ones that WOW someone into watching. Louise Brooks peels off her outer clothes to a bathing suit, and she goes into the water. She's certainly not difficult to watch! What was surprising to me was the fact that this film was written by René Clair.

This was the third in the trilogy of films Louise Brooks made in Europe before returning to fail in a career that had been rocketing - at least it appears that way looking backwards. She'd appeared in "Pandora's Box" (1929) in Germany, then went to Poland to appear in "Diary of a Lost Girl" (1929) for a German company, then appeared in this film for director Augusto Genina in France.

Also in this film are Georges Charlia as André, the fiancé of Brooks' character, Lucienne Garnier; Augusto Bandini; Jean Bradin; Yves Glad; Gaston Jacquet; and many others. The film begins by showing the relationship between Lucienne and André. They are typical working class Parisian lovers, with André a linotype setter for a newspaper and Lucienne a typist. André is rather naïve, and figures that with marriage he can control - and that's the operative word - Lucienne and be a very dominant husband. Lucienne, on the other hand, also quite naïve, but wanting to explore the world on a much grander scale, thinks she loves André, but may have needs he can't supply. She enters a beauty contest, becomes Miss France, and then goes on to become Miss Europe. The entire complexion of the story and the relationship between the two changes. I could give away the rest of the story, but that would be spoiling the climax. Suffice it to say, that for Americans who've plodded through enough episodes of "The Closer" or "Law and Order" on television, the ending is, well...that hint should suffice...

The photography was actually manipulative. It made the eye follow every movement of the camera, and then there'd be close-ups that made the brain think, then made the viewer feel. It was quite spectacular for 1931, almost documentary style following characters in a diary-like fashion. The direction was impeccable. But, what makes this film tick is the precision editing. The cut-tos and the change of plot point to another are as professional and perfect as I've ever seen. It's the story that just cuts this from 10/10 to 7/10 or 8/10. Too bad.

Don't be disappointed, though. If you can find a silent print of this in great condition, it will be a joy to watch. Brooks is such a superlative actress and the camera absolutely loves her like a bride. She's radiant!

That G. W. Pabst co-produced and wrote the script, from a story by René Clair, is no small get. This is more precious still as one of the surviving films of Louise Brooks, sporting her signature bob, even if she was dubbed over in post. Such involvement is perhaps even more noteworthy at the outset since the narrative in this feature takes its time to begin to show its substance, early humor is more blithely amusing than actively engaging, and all the while there are some scenes that aim to pad out the length with frivolous nothings more than to meaningfully serve the whole. This also rather shows its age with abundant instances of footage unnaturally sped up to enhance the mood, and some additional rough edges crop up every now and again. As one last difficulty, from start to finish we experience a huge, frankly jarring tonal shift which comes off as someone having a hard time finding balance in the storytelling; flippant and mirthful to begin, well before the end we're taken somewhere very different. Yet for all this, while 'Prix de beauté may be imperfect, it steadily gathers strength throughout, and handily proves itself as a fine credit to all involved. In fact, despite flaws and a meager first impression, when all is said and done this is just about as fantastic as any of its best contemporaries, and highly satisfying as a viewer.

One of Brooks' great qualities as an actress was her deft nuance and natural body language, infusing performances with subtlety that was often lacking in the silent era, and for which she initially received some backlash (the risk of being ahead of her time). We see that trait again here, and the journey of Brooks' facial expressions and body language honestly do at least as much as the dialogue and scene writing, and probably more, to build the narrative as protagonist Lucienne progresses (notably, wittily, given the nickname of "Lulu"). Emphasizing the point: while on a superficial level the plot revolves around beauty pageants, the real core of the movie is in the development of Lucienne as a character, and of her relationships with other characters; the first real glimmer we get of that central thrust is late in the first act, and entirely thanks to Brooks' expressions. It's to the credit of filmmaker Augusto Genina that he seems to have built 'Prix de beauté' with Brooks' skill set in mind, for the best moments of the title stem from the feelings of the characters as the cast ever so tactfully communicate them, a tack that only ever becomes more significant.

I believe everyone gives a swell performance in turn, not least Georges Charlia, but without a doubt it's Brooks who stands out most. This piece may not have the same renown as 'Pandora's box' or 'Diary of a lost girl,' but as far as I'm concerned 24-year old Brooks demonstrates once again and just as surely what a terrific actor she was; I can only reflect how sad it is that her career waned hereafter. Kudos again to Genina as director for shaping this 1930 picture with a mind for finesse, and with a delicate hand, for that unquestionably contributes to its success as outstanding tiny details constitute the beating heart. Why, there are instances here of shot composition that are downright brilliant, and perhaps uncommon at this point in the medium's evolution. And yet Rudolph Maté and Louis Née almost threaten to upstage them all, for their cinematography is possibly the most lush and vibrant aspect of 'Prix de beauté.' The dynamic movement and piercing gaze of the camera's eye is an outstanding highlight at every point, luminosity that shines through even the more dubious examples of Edmond T. Gréville's excitable editing - while at the same time never being so prominent as to get in the way or feel out of place. The film has its faults, but by and large it was crafted with skill, intelligence, and care in distinct and important ways.

Such excellence absolutely extends to the hair and makeup, costume design, and sets; even the use of lighting feels extra shrewd in many cases. While I think the opening is weak and the leap in tone could have been handled more smoothly, I also definitely think Clair and Pabst are to be commended for constructing such a smart, compelling tale. If uneven as it presents, the jolting transition from early gaiety to the final destination of the plot is part and parcel of what makes the feature so worthwhile. Slight but unmistakable signs point to the path it will take, and underhanded themes reveal themselves of gender dynamics, violence against women, men's sense of entitlement to women, and so on. And with such tremendous work poured into the title from pretty much every other angle - acting, direction, cinematography, all the craftsmanship from behind the scenes - the narrative is realized with thrumming, impactful vitality that's deeply gratifying.

This has problems that regrettably hold it back, and I want to like it more than I do. It says so much about how sharp every contribution is, however, that despite its flaws I can only sit back and think of how much I love 'Prix de beauté.' The issues that present leave a mark, but they certainly don't severely dampen the viewing experience, and the value this represents far outshines the disadvantages. I'm rather of the mind that this is just as deserving as most anything one might watch from the early days of talkies, and indisputably has a leg up on no few contemporaries. It may not be an absolute must-see, but whether one is a fan of someone involved or just looking for a good movie, I'm very pleased with just how absorbing and rewarding 'Prix de beauté' is, and it earns a solid recommendation for one and all.

Lucienne Garnier, a typist for the newspaper is engaged to André, one of the linotype operators at the same paper. We get used to them being happy at the sea and at meals and so forth. One day Lucienne gets this urge to enter her picture in a beauty contest. Little did she know at the time that jealous André was revolted at the idea? Whoops too late now she is Ms. France. On the very day, that Andre intends to propose she is wished off to Spain to become Miss Europe. You will have to watch the film to see how this plays out.

The story is not a new one, it was produced earlier at least once in 1922 and several times after this film. I have only seen the DVD version so I cannot comment on what might or might not have been cut out or what might or might not have been dubbed other than in this presentation.

Maybe it is sacrilege to Louise Brooks's aficionados, yet I had just as much fun looking at all of the technology of the time in this film. I was especially intrigued by the close-ups of the Linotype machine as I headset type by hand before and never had a chance to use one. Then there was the still camera with a 6-second exposure. I had seen Bakelite phones, but I never saw one of those hanging phones that they were using at this time. We get close-ups of unique train cabin amenities.

This presentation makes a good addition to your Louise Brooks collection.

This is a beautiful film, easy to follow the story even in the French language version without subtitles because of the great pantomime performance by Louise Brooks: her facial expressions and reactions to events tell the whole story from beginning to end. She submits her own photographs to the contest sponsored by the newspaper (or magazine) that she works for as a typist, but later tries to withdraw from, but then, surprise, she wins the title of Miss France and and is sent to Spain (wearing an ermine or chinchilla coat) for the bigger event of Miss Europe. Her fiancé for some reason is angry by the attention and misunderstands. When she unwraps the pears for the dinner table she is stunned to see a picture of herself in the crumpled newspaper. A motif that her growing fame is stalking her. There are several scenes with clocks behind Miss Brooks foreshadowing the climax. Very poignant is the scene when he takes her to a photographer for a family picture of them together, she is very sad (but tears are unnecessary and might have made the scene over sentimental). Her ironic scene with the canary is a cinematic allusion to her previous 1928 silent film The Canary Murder Case (in which her character was also murdered, another irony), for which she refused to return to Hollywood to dub her voice ... odd to note that a French speaking actress dubbed her few lines (Miss Brooks says one or two words, but several words in French are rapidly spoken). The most ironic scene of all is the private screening of herself on film. Incidentally, I recognized the unmistakable voice of Josephine Baker as the singing voice for Miss Brooks during three segments. When she sees herself on the screen for the first time her joy and fascination with the cinema version of herself is amazing; she is enraptured as if the beauty belongs to somebody else, and not her real self. When her hand is held by the man sitting next to her in the projection room during this scene, she is aware but her smile is not for him, it is for her screen image that she continues to stare at. This is the climax when her fiancé sneaks pass the guard to find her in the projection room, sees the ecstasy on her face and sees the man next to her holding her hand, which he misunderstands.