Pandora’s Box is the kind of movie that it would just be a waste of time to say its great because of this or that, going through an interminable list and checking off each of its component parts. It’s a waste of time, not because Pandora’s Box is a perfect movie (if there is such a thing) but, for example, what would it mean to say that Pandora’s box has a good story (as opposed to what, a bad story!?!). It’s a fairly simple, straightforward melodrama that could just as easily be the subject of a poor film as a good one. The most I can say about Pandora’s Box is that it works. The film has another quality too that contributes to, but is not the final word on, its greatness and lasting power. That is the performance by Louise Brooks. Like Renee Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc, or John Wayne in many films, she proves Howard Hawks’ theory that the camera, for some mysterious reason, just loves certain people. There is a relationship that they have with the camera that makes them absolutely magnetic to watch. They don’t even have to be doing anything active or interesting and yet you cannot take your eyes off of them. Its some magical force that goes much deeper than technique or method of performing. Nobody can say exactly how they do it or did it, only that they did. They’ve become iconic as a result, whereas someone like Brando (and I do like Brando), for all his suffering for his art, and brooding over the script and character, would never have been able, with all that training and education, to exist in the frame with a John Wayne, who didn’t even have any formal acting training. Once you meet Louise Brooks as Lulu you will never forget her. Pandora’s Box is a great movie. Any list of reasons for its greatness, as I consider them while writing this, just seem reductive. They say a lot about the movie but not what’s key. That remains a nebulous target to pinpoint. It’s great so lets leave it at that!