Louise Brooks, a popular actress of the silent era, began her showbiz career as a dancer with a prominent dance troupe, Denishawn Dance Company. But after a while she was dismissed from the company, as her growing popularity threatened the career of the company's co-founder. A blessing in disguise, it paved the way for her entry into films, after being signed by Paramount pictures; she debuted in ‘The Street of Forgotten Men’. She represented the flappers, a generation of brash young women of the time who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, and rebelled against the accepted social norms. She made the bobbed hair stylish - a style statement. Her choice of films was reflected by her attitude. She was cast in two films by the German director Pabst– ‘Pandora's Box’ and ‘Diary of a Lost Girl’. Both these films were not appreciated at the time of its release, but are now considered classics and two of the most influential films of the period. She broke up with Paramount Pictures, and rejected a lead role in the ‘The Public Enemy’. The film could have revived her sagging career. She was condemned to do small roles and soon retired from films. A spendthrift and an alcoholic, she found it hard to support herself.