‘Now We’re in the Air’ is a silent comedy released in 1927, starring Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton. Louise Brooks plays twins, one raised French and the other raised German, in a supporting role. The following year, Wallace Beery and Louise Brooks starred in the taut drama Beggars of Life, an early sound film well received. Hatton also starred in films with Beery’s older brother Noah Beery. Despite being popular in its day, the film was not as well-received as the earlier military farces from Beery and Hatton.
Louise Brooks was one of many promising starlets groomed for more incredible things in the late 1920s, at the peak of her Hollywood career. Under contract to Paramount, she worked with W.C. Fields, Richard Arlen, Evelyn Brent, Adolphe Menjou, and William Powell. Additionally, she worked for a number of the era’s top directors, including Malcolm St. Clair, James Cruze, Howard Hawks, and William Wellman. Brooks was viewed behind the scenes as temperamental, but no more than many of her colleagues. The future looked bright for Brooks. However, just as talkies hit Hollywood, she departed for Europe, where she starred in two films in Berlin for director GW Pabst and one in France. She was unable to restart her career when she returned to Hollywood in 1931, and she never again appeared in a leading role in quality production.
