At one point, Norma, the chaperone (Elizabeth McGovern), says to Louise, the young lady who is in her care (Haley Lu Richardson), ‘I can’t believe you told me that last night’. I had no idea what Louise had told her, because this is one of those movies in which it’s all too easy for your mind to wander. But though you might drift off, it’s just as easy to channel back into what is happening, for the story is uncomplicated and warmhearted, with sympathetic characters. The famous silent-screen actress Louise Brooks grew up in Wichita, Kansas, but all she ever wanted was to study dance in New York. When offered a place at an academy in the Big Apple, her mother hired Norma, whose marriage was floundering after she had learnt of her husband’s long-running peccadillo, to look after her teenage daughter. The ambitious, confident Louise was hurtling towards a glittering future, whereas the Norma was retracing her past, in which she was raised by nuns in a home for ‘friendless girls’. The rapport between the two actresses is the secret to the film’s success – the starlet’s prettiness and cheekiness contrasting perfectly with the older woman’s prim provinciality. Physically, Richardson does not quite convince as a dancer, and at times McGovern’s amazed expression at every performance she sees comes across as extremely twee, but I liked them both and quickly grew fond of their company. Romance arrives in the form of Joseph (Géza Röhrig), the mumbling WWI refugee whose little girl is being raised by the same nuns who were responsible for Norma’s upbringing. With a screenplay by Julian Fellowes Downton Abbey, Gosford Park, among many others), you know that you are going to be gently guided towards emotional crises rather than prodded with a pick, and it is a softly-softly approach that proves to be ideal for his subject matter. It’s an undemanding but charming movie, with an upbeat postscript to make you happy for the way Louise Brooks’s career panned out.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling.
If you are a local business owner help us and in turn we help you. All The Echo asks for is advertising, not a free ride. It is every advert in The Echo and on www.echo.net.au, which creates the space for all the stories and coverage of community events, happenings and concerns.
If you are a reader you can become a sponsor of The Echo. Your support keeps the us independent.
Even a small one-off or regular donation from you will help keep the echo’s independent voice alive and strong.
Support Us
Become one of the supporters who helps keep independent, local journalism alive in the Byron Shire by contributing anything from as little as the cost of a coffee each month.
You’re supporting The Echo, thank you
Your contribution is keeping independent, local journalism alive in the Northern Rivers.
Because of supporters like you, we can keep every story free for everyone — no paywall, no exceptions. Your money goes directly to funding our newsroom of 40-odd local workers covering the stories that matter to this community.
Tell us what you think, give us your opinion
The Echo loves your letters and comments and is proud to provide a community forum on the issues that matter most to our readers and the people of the NSW north coast. So don’t be a passive reader, email us your epistles at editor@echo.net.au.
The letters deadline for The Echo is noon Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. The publication of letters is at the discretion of the letters editor. Please remember to include your full name, address and telephone number.
Online comments are no longer available.
