Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts

Monday, January 8, 2024

Yes, the Louise Brooks Society really does exist

Believe it or not, but there is a person on the internet who is suggesting that the Louise Brooks Society doesn't exist -- not really, kinda, perhaps, maybe; or they wish it didn't exist, or something. But since we live in a fact based universe, let me take a few minutes and prove that it does exist by using the historical record.

Some of the earliest efforts of the LBS at reaching fans of the actress was through posting messages on various bulletin board systems (BBS), listserv’s and newsgroups (Usenet), as well as on AOL and Prodigy, back when those platforms were dominant. The earliest archived & dated newsgroup post mentioning the Louise Brooks Society, from October 27, 1995 (click to show), announces the website. Another, a query from the LBS asking about a screening of Pandora’s Box in Poland, dates to January 29, 1996. Another, from December 31, 1996, announces the move to its domain at pandorasbox.com, where it has resided since. Each of these posts are now part of the independent Google groups / Usenet Archive.

The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, an independent nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996, it allows users to go "back in time" to see how websites looked in the past. It is pretty cool. The earliest Wayback Machine capture of the Louise Brooks Society dates to April 11, 1997 (click on the link to verify), while the earliest LBS homepage captured by the Wayback Machine which includes a © copyright symbol dates to June 27, 1998. That's also worth noting.

Notably, the earliest Wayback Machine captures contain a statement noting that the website was launched under that name "Louise Brooks Society" in August 1995. That's my demonstrable claim, which also shows first use of that very specific term.

One of its very first media mentions and earliest dated print reference to the LBS dates to May 23, 1996, when it was named a USA Today “Hot Site” and mentioned in the newspaper’s syndicated “Net: New and notable” column. See the clipping below, which notes the site’s early URL. If you think this clipping is fake, then go look it up in a newspaper archive.

Since then and up to the present, the Louise Brooks Society has been mentioned in a number of newspapers, magazines and books published all around the world. The "In the News" page on the LBS website contains a long list of media mentions, many of which are linked to their source. 

The LBS has been called "an excellent homage to the art of the silent film as well as one of its most luminous stars” by the New York Times (August 29, 2002), and praised by the likes of Leonard Maltin (August 1, 2005), and the Irish Times, who pointed to the website's "extraordinary day-by-day chronology of her life" (June 2, 2018). In 1998, acclaimed journalist Steve Silberman wrote the first feature story about the LBS for Wired magazine. In "Fan Site Sparks Biopic," he called the LBS "an exemplary fan site" (April 10, 1998). In 2000, syndicated film critic and friend to Brooks, Jack Garner, wrote an article for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle which stated the Louise Brooks Society is “A fine example of a fan page, a thoughtful, artful site devoted to the life and times of a fabled silent movie legend.” (September 12, 2000). That’s high praise coming from someone once close to the actress. 

I mention these media mentions not to humblebrag - as the "LBS denier" has suggested, but to demonstrate that the Louise Brooks Society exists as part of the historical record.... And for the record, some of the books which contain a mention, acknowledgement, or thanks to the LBS include Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel (Pantheon, 2015), Sirens & Sinners: A Visual History of Weimar Film 1918-1933 (Thames & Hudson, 2013), Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever (Rizzoli, 2006), Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston (Universe, 2006), German Expressionist Films (Pocket Essentials, 2002), Film ist Comics (Filmarchiv Austria, 1999), Geheimnisvolle Tiefe G.W. Pabst (Filmarchiv Austria, 1998), and others. 

Yours truly, Thomas Gladysz, the author of this very blog, was asked to write the entry on Louise Brooks for the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains (University of Nebraska Press, 2004). It can be read online HERE.

Since its founding, the LBS has developed and grown and become a recognized website devoted to just about any film star — silent or sound. The Encyclopedia of Associations, a standard reference work found in many libraries, contains an entry on the Louise Brooks Society in editions of the book published in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2017. (There may be others, but I haven't yet come across them.)



the 2013 book
the 2013 entry

What is the Louise Brooks Society? The Louise Brooks Society is a fan site. Or, as I have long claimed, a "virtual fan club in cyberspace." See the website's ABOUT page for its mission statement and history. And also see its ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS page for a list of the community of individuals who have aided the LBS over the years.

The "LBS denier" has made a point of stating that there are other fan clubs (yes, their are other webpages, Twitter accounts, and Facebook pages focused on Brooks), and also suggested there was a fan club that dates back to the 1920s (that's news to me). I recall once seeing fan club membership cards dating back to the silent era for various stars, such as William Haines, but never one for Louise Brooks. If a formal group existed back then, I would sure like to learn about it -- as well as see some proof that it did exist. The "LBS denier" has also repeatedly claimed that the group of friends around Louise Brooks during her years in Rochester formed the first "Louise Brooks Society." That is a nonsensical, ahistorical claim - or in other words, a real stretch.

Oh, and then there is the suggestion that I don't write this blog, or that I employ ghostwriters, or that I didn't write the four books which have my name on them..... none of which, he admits, he has read. These books, by the way, which were published in 2010, 2017, 2019, and 2023, carry the phrase "a publication of the Louise Brooks Society."

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

It has taken me 24 years to get ahold of this clipping

Just recently, I was updating the history of the Louise Brooks Society. The ABOUT page on the Louise Brooks Society website contains the story behind its launch in 1995, how I chose its name, its mission statement, and some of the things the LBS has achieved over the years. I was doing so because there are people on the interweb who suggest the Louise Brooks Society doesn't really exist, and that I am not its founding Director. Sounds ridiculous, I know. (BTW, I call myself its director because "director" is a movie term. It's not a grandiose moniker, and certainly more fitting than anything else I could come up with.)

While working on what I could remember of the history of the LBS, I was going through some old clippings about or mentioning my website. The Louise Brooks Society website was launched in August, 1995. The first media mention and its earliest print reference dates to May 23, 1996, when it was named a USA Today “Hot Site” and mentioned in the newspaper’s syndicated “Net: New and notable” column. Sam Vincent Meddis wrote in USA Today, "Silent-film buffs can get a taste of how a fan club from yesteryear plays on the Web. The Louise Brooks Society site includes interview, trivia and photos. It also draws an international audience."

Some of the other early mentions appeared in the Noe Valley Voice (September 1997), Wired magazine (April 10, 1998), Melbourne Age (April 16, 1998), San Francisco Chronicle (May 3, 1998), and Atlanta Journal-Constitution (May 5, 1998). I have print or digital copies of each.

One of the other early clippings appeared in the February - March 1999 issue of bLink, a magazine published by EarthLink. I knew this piece existed, because I had been contacted by the person who wrote it for a quote. However, I never got a copy of the magazine, and more or less forgot about it. Time passed.... until recently, when I was going through some old clippings about or mentioning my website. I wondered what ever happened to that magazine, and if they had an archive online. They don't. But my search turned up an eBay listing for the very copy I needed. Wowza. I put in a bid, and won!

And so, after 24 years, I am glad to have this nifty clipping, which appears on page 20 of this issue. Like the Wired magazine and San Francisco Chronicle pieces, it acknowledges the role the LBS played in inspiring TCM to go ahead with the Emmy-nominated documentary, Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu. But more importantly, this clipping is another bit of proof that the Louise Brooks Society does in fact exist (and did so in 1999), and that I am its founding Director.

It was cool to see this piece, especially since it includes a screen grab of the old look of the Louise Brooks Society website.

BTW, for the record, the earliest Wayback Machine capture of the Louise Brooks Society at it’s current domain, www.pandorasbox.com, dates to April 11, 1997. But before that, the earliest archived newsgroup post mentioning the LBS, from October 27, 1995, announces the website. Another, a query from the LBS asking about a screening of Pandora’s Box in Poland, dates to January 29, 1996. Another, from December 31, 1996, announces the move to its new domain at pandorasbox.com, where it has resided since. Each of these posts are part of the Google groups / Usenet Archive.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sunday, September 20, 2020

Louise Brooks Society marks 25th anniversary

Earlier, at the beginning of this year, I was looking forward to this summer. I was looking forward to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Louise Brooks Society. But now, with all that has happened in 2020 — things I could not have imagined in January or February, I am resigned to merely marking the occasion. [The pandemic, and Trump's failure to help the nation get through it, has certainly sucked the air out of the room. Who feels like celebrating when one is only trying to get by....]

In the summer of 1995, I posted my first webpages about Louise Brooks and proclaimed the formation of a society dedicated to the silent film star. That was 25 years ago, at the beginning of the internet. The Louise Brooks Society was a pioneering website. It was the first site devoted to Brooks, one of the very first about silent film, and one of the earliest related to the movies. I am proud that I have kept it going to this day, making the LBS one of the older websites around.

Why did I do it? Since first becoming interested / fascinated / obsessed with Louise Brooks, I have always appreciated meeting others who shared my enthusiasm for this singular silent film star. Early on, I searched for some kind of fan club — but found none. Over time, it occurred to me that I might form my own group. The idea of starting the Louise Brooks Society coincided with my growing interest in computing. That was in the early to mid-1990s. And that’s when I realized there would be no better way of forming a fan club than over the internet. A fan club (in the traditional sense) would be a way to share information and “meet” other like-minded individuals. Thus, enabled by the world wide web, by email, by bulletin boards and listserves, and by all the mechanisms of the internet, the Louise Brooks Society was born.

The Louise Brooks Society website (which was just a few pages at first) was launched in the summer of 1995. Since then, the LBS has become one of the leading websites devoted to any film star — silent or sound. It has also received a fair amount of media attention. Just a year after I launched my website, In May of 1996, USA Today named the LBS a “Hot Site,” noting “Silent-film buffs can get a taste of how a fan club from yesteryear plays on the Web. The Louise Brooks Society site includes interviews, trivia and photos. It also draws an international audience.”


I remember how excited I was when I received an email from a fan telling me they noticed something about my website in the paper! That sent me to my local library library to get a look at a back issue of USA Today, and hopefully photocopy the mention. (The USA Today piece was syndicated to various newspapers, including Florida Today, which is pictured below. Thank you Sam Vincent Meddis, where ever you are.)


More press followed. In the summer of 1996, the LBS was named one of five best sites devoted to actresses in a UK computing magazine, Net Directory. In March of 1997, there was a passing mention of the LBS in another British publication, the Times Literary Supplement (TLS)! And in September of 1997, the society was profiled in the Noe Valley Voice, a neighborhood newspaper located in San Francisco, California, where I then lived. That profile, by Fontaine Roberson, was titled "Flapper Has 'Virtual' Fan Club in Noe Valley."

Something was in the air, and the following year, 1998, was a big year for both Louise Brooks and the Louise Brooks Society. That was the year Hugh Munro Neely directed Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu, the Emmy nominated documentary which debuted on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in May. My Louise Brooks Society website helped "inspire" its production. That's according to an article in Wired by Steve Silberman. In his April 10th piece, "Fan Site Sparks Biopic," Silberman wrote, "TCM spokesman Justin Pettigrew says the level of interest in the Louise Brooks Society, the most in-depth Web site devoted to the once nearly forgotten star, convinced the network to go ahead with the documentary and a mini-festival of Brooks' work.... 'The Web presence for Louise Brooks was overwhelming. It was definitely a driving force in convincing the network to produce this documentary," Pettigrew went on to add.

Other pieces followed. In 1998, there were mentions of the Louise Brooks Society in an Italian magazine, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and in the Melbourne Age, a newspaper in Melbourne, Australia. I appeared on cable TV on the Louise Brooks episode of "E! Mysteries and Scandals," along with Roger Ebert, Hugh Hefner, Barry Paris and others. And there was a big write up, "Lovely Lulu Lives Again," in the San Francisco Chronicle which discussed the documentaty and my website. In 1999, when Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu aired in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post wrote "The voiceless Internet has been the perfect medium for reviving the image of one of the greatest icons of the silent movie era. Louise Brooks, with her trademark raven 'helmet' hair style, adorns many a Web site. The renewed interest in her, fueled by the cyberspace Louise Brooks Society, prompted Turner Classic Movies to fund the television profile Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu (World, 10 pm)."

Over the next few years, other mentions and praise would follow in San Francisco Examiner and, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, as well as the Stuttgarter Zeitung and London Sunday Times. In 2002, the New York Times noted, "The Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com) is an excellent homage to the art of the silent film as well as one of its most luminous stars." And in 2005, when the Louise Brooks Society was turning ten years old, Leonard Maltin wrote "Not many sites of any kind can claim to be celebrating a tenth anniversary online, but that’s true of the Louise Brooks Society, devoted to the life and times of the magnetic silent-film star and latter-day memoirist. Thomas Gladysz has assembled a formidable amount of material on the actress and her era; there’s not only a lot to read and enjoy, but there’s a gift shop and even a 'Radio Lulu' function that allows you to listen to music of the 1920s. Wow!"

The Louise Brooks Society has come along way since then — since those early days.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

A Refurbished Louise Brooks Society blog - check it out!

The 17-year old Louise Brooks Society blog -- located at http://louisebrookssociety.blogspot.com/ -- has been recently refurbished, brought up-to-date, and made spick-and-span. Notably, new functionality has been added to the right-hand column, including links to other silent film sites, additional blog subscription options, a "recent visitors" widget, a Patron button, and more.


This LBS blog has more than 240 followers, while dozens of others subscribe to posts through  BLOGLOVIN and other services. Which one do you use?

Scroll down the right-hand side of the blog and you'll find comprehensive hyperlinked lists to other blogs devoted to early film, as well as early film podcasts & message boards, film festivals & venues, and silent film websites. (The "silent film links" tab at the top of the page contains even more links, to websites devoted to early film actors and actresses, as well as a set of links to Jazz Age sites.) There is also a "In the News" link list  and a tab devoted to the media the Louise Brooks Society has received over the years IF YOU KNOW OF ANY DESERVING SITES NOT ALREADY INCLUDED ON THESE LISTS WHICH YOU THINK SHOULD BE LISTED, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL AND WE'LL TAKE A LOOK.


One new addition is a PATRON button for those who would like to support the Louise Brooks Society and it's many activities. I started the Louise Brooks Society website back in 1995, and have been running it as a labor of love ever since. But heck, I could sure use your support. If you don't wish to support the LBS at even a dollar a month, how about treating yourself and showing your support by buying a one of the books issued by the Louise Brooks Society. They are pictured in the right-hand column; there is also a "Books for Sale" tab with even more goodies.
I appreciate all the web traffic this blog receives. Each post receives visitors numbering in triple, and since I installed a blogger hit counter ever so long ago, this blog has received more than 1,300,000 visitors. One of the most fascinating new items in the right-hand column is the "recent visitors / flag counter" widget.

Free counters!

What I love about it is how it shows that individuals from around the world have visited this blog, including many from Australia and Great Britain. There are also numerous visitors from Italy, France, and Canada, as well as a few from India, Ireland, Korea, Greece, and Norway. If you are reading this blog, I expect your country is represented.

I've also tinkered with other bits and pieces of this blog, including tidying up the various tabs.  Please explore all that this blog has to offer. It is one point of entry into the 'swonderful world of silent film which exists both on the internet and in the world itself.


I would also like to encourage everyone to follow the Louise Brooks Society on Twitter. To date, more than 4,900 individuals have done so. The LBS Twitter account is located at https://twitter.com/LB_Society, and there are follow buttons in the right-hand column.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

New Louise Brooks Society in the works


To celebrate 20 years online as the leading source for all things Lulu, a new Louise Brooks Society website is in the works! Until its launch, the domain www.pandorasbox.com is under construction. Please check back as a new and improved website is made ready. Contact info is pictured here.






Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Louise Brooks Society celebrates 19 years online

The Louise Brooks Society celebrates 19 years on the internet. Since its launch in August of 1995, more than two million people have visited this pioneering website. The New York Times said, "The Louise Brooks Society is an excellent homage to the art of the silent film as well as one of its most luminous stars." The LBS has also been praised in the pages of USA Today and other newspapers and magazines.

The LBS was founded as a fan-site, and over the years has evolved into a comprehensive on-line archive and hub for "all things Lulu." This 250-page site features an array of information about the actress including a filmography, commentary, links, bibliographies, vintage articles and memorabilia, portrait galleries, and contributions from fans from around the world. The LBS has a long-running blog (with 2000+ posts), Facebook page, new YouTube presence, active Twitter account, as well as its own Louise Brooks themed radio station, aptly named RadioLulu.

The mission of the Louise Brooks Society is to honor the actress by stimulating interest in her life and films; by fostering and coordinating research on her life, films and writings; by serving as a repository for related material; and by advocating for the preservation and restoration of Brooks' films. To date, the LBS has co-sponsored screenings and events (including one with Barry Paris), mounted exhibits, "inspired" a documentary, published a book (The "Louise Brooks edition" of The Diary of a Lost Girl), and generated wide spread media interest in the actress.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

She was just seventeen: Louise Brooks Society has an anniversary

This month, the Louise Brooks Society celebrates its 17th anniversary. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society was one of the very first websites devoted to silent film. The earliest archived LBS webpages - housed on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine - dates to December 20, 1996 and April 11, 1997. The earliest archived newsgroup posts (remember those?) mentioning the Louise Brooks Society date from October 27, 1995 (announcing the website) and January 29, 1996 (a query from the LBS regarding an European screening). These posts are part of the 20-year Usenet Archive which contain hundreds of millions of messages.

In the early days, the LBS also earned its fair share of web awards (remember those?). Here are a few that the LBS received. I was especially proud to be recognized by the Encyclopedia Britannica website!
  usa today       hollywood site of the week       open directory      Britannica Internet Guide  

The LBS (www.pandorasbox.com) has grown over the years - and so has its recognition as a world-wide resource for fans of Louise Brooks. The LBS has been referenced and cited in a handful of books, as well as in publications of all sorts all over the world. Here is a select bibliography of magazine, newspaper and web articles about the website. (Unfortunately, some of these articles are no longer online, or have disappeared behind a pay wall.)


Meddis, Sam Vincent. "Net: New and notable." USA Today, May 23, 1996.
--- "Silent-film buffs can get a taste of how a fan club from yesteryear plays on the Web. The Louise Brooks Society site includes interview, trivia and photos. It also draws an international audience."

anonymous. Net Directory, issue 7, 1996.
--- named one of five best sites devoted to actresses in UK computing magazine

anonymous. "NetSurf." HotWired, 1997.
--- mention on Wired website

Roberson, Fontaine. "Flapper Has 'Virtual' Fan Club in Noe Valley." Noe Valley Voice, September, 1997.
--- article in San Francisco monthly

Silberman, Steve. "Fan Site Sparks Biopic." Wired, April 10, 1998. 
--- feature article about the LBS (reference a few weeks later by Roger Ebert)

Farrant, Darrin. "Programs - Sunday." Melbourne Age, April 16, 1998.
--- mention in Australian newspaper - "She was far more than just a pretty face .... The Louise Brooks Society has an exhaustive web site about this fascinating siren."

Bentley, Rick. "Ahead of Her Time." Fresno Bee, April 30, 1998.
--- article in Fresno, California newspaper - "Internet users have embraced the actress for years. Web pages and various sites have dealt with this actress, whose fame started in the silent films era and exploded in the information age. Her career and her life off the set have become a source of interest unparalleled by many other film stars. And those bits and bytes of information were a catalyst for this TV special."

Evenson, Laura. "Lovely Lulu Lives Again." San Francisco Chronicle, May 3, 1998.
--- mention in newspaper article

anonymous. "NetWatch." Atlanta Journal and Constitution, May 5, 1998.
--- mentioned as exemplary website in Atlanta, Georgia newspaper

anonymous. "Fan Site Profiles." bLink. February, 1999.
--- article in magazine for Earthlink subscribers

Garner, Jack. "Movie buffs can find trivia, reviews online." Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, September 12, 2000.
--- "A fine example of a fan page, a thoughtful, artful site devoted to the life and times of a fabled silent movie legend, with rare articles from the '20s and superb photos."

Roether, Barbara. "Three Make Their Mark: Lulu Lives at Booksmith." Publisher's Weekly, November 20, 2000.
--- mention in trade journal 

Douglas, John. "Online with you." Grand Rapids Press , March 26, 2001.
--- "There has never been a more interesting actress in the history of movies or a more beautiful woman than Louise Brooks, who made a name for herself in American and German films. This Web site at www.pandorasbox.com, created by The Louise Brooks Society, is crammed full of photos of the lady with the page boy bob. It also has biographical material and still shots from her movies plus posters and links to other Brooks sites."

Anderson, Jeffrey M. "Thirteen great film sites." San Francisco Examiner, November 29, 2001.
--- "This San Francisco-run site pays tribute to one of the greatest and most underappreciated stars of all time, Louise Brooks, who played numerous bit parts and starred in only two films during the silent era. It contains tons of info, pictures and history."

l., tk. "Ins Netz gegangen Pandora Brooks." Stuttgarter Zeitung, July 14, 2002.
--- described as "vorbildlichen website" in this German newspaper

O'Connell, Pamela Licalzi. "Dreaming Celebrities and the Earth's Eye Candy." New York Times, August 29, 2002.
--- "The Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com) is an excellent homage to the art of the silent film as well as one of its most luminous stars."

Pattenden, Mike. "An era of glamour." Sunday Times, April 27, 2003.
--- mentioned in London newspaper - "She bucked the system to make movies in Europe, notably Pandora's Box, which lends its name to www.pandorasbox.com, dedicated to her remarkable life."

Watson, Dave. "Basking in the Glow of On-Line Info Flow." Straight.com, July 15, 2004.
--- "She's not well-known anymore, but Louise Brooks was one of the biggest stars of silent and early-sound cinema. Naturally, there's a home for her fans on the Net (www.pandorasbox.com), but the site also has a lot of incidental information about that era of moviemaking as well."

Dufour, Nicolas. "Louise Brooks, l'adoration perpétuelle." Le Temps, December 23, 2004.
--- referenced in French newspaper

Melton, Wayne. "That '20s Girl: Lulupalooza celebrates the work of a screen goddess." Style Weekly, July 20, 2005.
--- mentioned in article in Richmond, Virgina weekly " . . . a weekend-long festival of the silent-screen goddess presented by Yellow House Productions and the Firehouse Theatre with the assistance of the Louise Brooks Society."

Caloudas, Constantine. "Louise Bobs Her Hair." Washington City Paper, July 22, 2005.
--- article in Washington D.C. weekly

Maltin, Leonard. "Links We Like." Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, August 2005.
--- "Not many sites of any kind can claim to be celebrating a tenth anniversary online, but that’s true of the Louise Brooks Society, devoted to the life and times of the magnetic silent-film star and latter-day memoirist. Thomas Gladysz has assembled a formidable amount of material on the actress and her era; there’s not only a lot to read and enjoy, but there’s a gift shop and even a 'Radio Lulu' function that allows you to listen to music of the 1920s. Wow!"

anonymous. "Louise Brooks Expert Speaks at Silent Film Fest." Noe Valley Voice, July 2006.
--- referenced in San Francisco monthly

Matheson, Whitney. "Happy birthday, Louise!" USA Today, November 14, 2006.
--- "My favorite Louise Brooks site belongs to the Louise Brooks Society, a devoted group of fans that even keeps a blog. There, you can find just about everything about the actress: articles, filmography, photos, links and more."

"Interview: THOMAS GLADYSZ, founder of the LOUISE BROOKS Society." SiouxWire, April 5, 2007.
--- interview on website

Stinnett, Chuck. "Louise Brooks had beauty that was decades ahead of its time." The Gleaner, September 22, 2009.
--- "Brooks remains a focus of remarkable interest...." - mention in Henderson, Kentucky newspaper

anonymous. "New Diary of a Lost Girl." Noe Valley Voice, July/August 2010.
--- mention in San Francisco monthly

Maltin, Leonard. "Silent Stars Still Mesmerize." Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, August 10, 2010.
--- mention in review

Couch, Christina. "Quiet riot." Time Out Chicago, August 28, 2010.
--- mention in article

Blackburn, Gavin. "Forgotten book by Margarete Boehme to be revived in US." Deutsche Welle, November 3, 2010.
--- article on English-language German news site

K., A. "Stoletni dnevnik prostitutke, oče avtobiografskih izmišljotin?" RTV Slovenia, November 4, 2010.
--- article on Slovenian news site

Rombeck, Terry. "A cut above: Local author’s novel generates national buzz." Lawrence News-Tribune,  June 10, 2012.
--- mention in article about Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone in Kansas newspaper

LaSalle, Mick. "Me at Book Passage." SFGate, August 4, 2012.
--- referenced in San Francisco Chronicle blog

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Louise Brooks Society updates (part one)


I have updated a few parts of the Louise Brooks Society. . . . Recently, I added about a dozen new tracks to RadioLulu (the silent film and Louise Brooks-themed online radio station of the LBS). There are now more than 160 songs on the station. And the current playlist runs 8 hours and 40 minutes! Please tune in.

Some of the vintage tracks just added to the station include a couple from the teens - Byron G. Harlan's "Let's Go In To A Picture Show" and Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan's "Those Charlie Chaplin Feet." There are also a few new tracks from the twenties like Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra's version of "Louise(which I think predates Maurice Chevalier's more familiar version)Ernest Hare & Billy Jones' rendition of "Don't Bring Lulu," and Marion Harris' wonderfully wicked jazz age song, "I'm A Jazz Vampire."Also, I couldn't resist "Pandora, Close That Box" by Billy Butterfield and His Orchestra, which dates from the 1940's.

Some of the contemporary tracks added lately include "Pandora's Boxby the Dutch goth band Clan of Xymox (I had added Louise, their other LB related song, late last year). Also new to the playlist is "Clara Bowby Cleaners from Venus, and "Buster Keaton Blues" by the Gomalan Brass Quintet.

There are a handful of other songs I am hoping to add in the near future. One is "Louise, You Tease" by Coon-Sanders Nighthawks, recorded in 1925. Another is "Clara Bow" by the San Francisco rock band The Vaticans, recorded just last year. And, I hope to add a track or two by Blanche Ring, a popular Broadway and vaudeville entertainer who happened to be Eddie Sutherland's aunt. Notably, Blanche Ring appeared along with Louise Brooks in It's the Old Army Game, which was directed by Sutherland (Brooks' first husband).

If you know of any contemporary songs - including rock n roll song or songs by a local band - about Louise Brooks or any silent film star, please let me know. I will consider adding it to the RadioLulu playlist.

Recently, I also revised and expanded the Louise Brooks Society gift shop at CafePress.com. The url is www.cafepress.com/louisebrooks There are a whole bunch of rather nifty new items for sale including a set of tiles, and a set of tile boxes which I call "Pandora's Boxes." There are a few new t-shirts, a new blank journal, some new postcards and more. Here are the new magnet designs.

LB Magnet
LB Magnet
$3.99
 Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
$3.99
 Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
$3.99
 Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
$3.99
 Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
$3.99
 Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
$3.99
LBS Magnet
LBS Magnet
$3.99
 Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
$3.99
Lulu Magnet
Lulu Magnet
$2.99
 Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
$3.99
 Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
$3.99







p.s. The small mark-up I put on each item helps pay for the expanded CafePress shop (which costs $7.00 per month), as well as RadioLulu (which costs $10.00 per month to broadcast). Hopefully, I will sell a few items a month.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Satellite sites


A few satellite sites have been set up for the LBS. The one at MySpace can be found at www.myspace.com/louisebrookssociety   and the one at Vox can be found at louisebrookssociety.vox.com/   And there's one at www.xanga.com/Louise_Brooks_Society  

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Updates

The Louise Brooks Centenary page - listing Louise Brooks events happening around the world - has been updated. I've added a a few new happenings, as well as dates and details regarding other events which I have just learned.

I will be at San Francisco Silent Film Festival (one of the very few ALL SILENT film festivals in the world!) pretty much all weekend, and thus may not have time to post any entries to this live journal. Hope to see some of you there.

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Welcome to the LBS

The other day, the Louise Brooks Society welcomed its first member from Senegal. "mrcina" hails from Dakar, and is one of a few members from Africa. At last count, more than 1400 individuals from 49 (now 50!) countries have joined the LBS! From Australia to Zimbabwe, from Canada to Argentina, from the Canary Islands to the Czech Republic, LBS members comprise a truly world wide web of Louise Brooks fans and silent film enthusiasts.

Other new members include 
Sergio from Porto, Portugal, Daniel from Goteborg, Sweden, and Rodrigo from Uruguay. Terry from Los Lunas, New Mexico wrote to say, "I just saw the film, The Showoff.  I was surprised by the stunning beauty of an actress called Louise Brooks.  I had never heard of her before and went on the Internet and found your web-site." Louise from Alfreton, Derbyshire, UK wrote " I have been a Louise Brooks fan since I was 14 years old, I am now 37. Is that odd?" No, not at all. Welcome.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

A nice note

I received an email from a blogger by the name of sourduck who wrote: "I love your LiveJournal LB site. I link to it a lot at my linkblog.  At any rate, I came across this doing something entirely different but I thought you might appreciate this desktop wallpaper:  www.doctormacro.com/Images/Sylvie/Sylvie%20-%20Brooks,%20Louise_01.jpg  

(The page before it shows a number of desktop wallpapers: www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Star%20Pages/Sylvie/Sylvie.htm ).

" It's nice to hear that this blog doesn't put everyone to sleep. . . . At any rate, I wanted to pass along the urls to that wallpaper site. I especially like the Theda Bara image. The Jean Harlow, Ronald Colman, and Carole Lombard wallpapers are also quite attractive.


Thursday, September 1, 2005

LBS website

Due to a long planned overhaul of the website, large portions of the Louise Brooks Society are off-line. If all goes according to plan, pages and sections of the site will be brought back in the course of the next few weeks. The LBS homepage will remain on-line. Also still available is the message board, and a newly revised page of links, Lulu in Cyberspace. (Check it out.) The LBS gift shop at Cafepress.com, as well as Radio Lulu, and Louise Brooks Studies, are all still active. This blog - the LBS at LJ - will also continue during the site overhaul. I hope to get a lot of work done on the site over the Labor Day weekend. Check back throughout September for updates.

Tuesday, August 9, 2005

Louise Brooks Society Celebrates 10 Years Online

The Louise Brooks Society, the largest and most popular website in the world devoted to any silent film star, celebrates 10 years on the internet. Since its launch in August 1995, nearly two million people have visited this pioneering site. The New York Times said, "The Louise Brooks Society is an excellent homage to the art of the silent film as well as one of its most luminous stars."

The LBS was founded as a fan-site, and over the years has evolved into a comprehensive on-line archive and center for "all things Lulu." This 250-page site features an array of information about the actress including a filmography, commentary, links, bibliographies, vintage articles and memorabilia, portrait galleries, a message board, and contributions from fans from around the world. The LBS has a long-running blog, as well as its own Louise Brooks themed radio station, aptly named RadioLulu.

The mission of the Louise Brooks Society is to honor the actress by stimulating interest in her life and films; by fostering and coordinating research on her life, films and writings; by serving as a repository for related material; and by advocating for the preservation and restoration of Brooks' films. To date, the LBS has co-sponsored events (including one with Barry Paris), mounted exhibits, "inspired" a documentary, and generated wide spread media interest in the actress.

In its first ten years, the LBS has been widely praised, having been written-up in publications from around the world including the Sunday Times (London, England), Stuttgarter Zeitung (Stuttgart, Germany), Le Temps (Paris, France), and Melbourne Age (Melbourne, Australia). The LBS has also received coverage in the San Francisco ChronicleGrand Rapids PressAtlanta Journal and ConstitutionRochester Democrat and Chronicle, and USA Today.

The site serves as home to the Louise Brooks Society - an internet-based fan club and the "first virtual fan club" in cyberspace. Most all club activities - including its newsletter, membership meetings, correspondence, and the participation of individuals - take place over the internet. At last count, its 1000+ members hail from 46 countries on six continents. Such a joining together by like-minded fans was only made possible by the advent of the world wide web.

The Louise Brooks Society - Highlights of 10 Years Online

1995 - The earliest pages of the Louise Brooks Society appear on the world wide web. The LBS is the first site devoted to the actress, one of the earliest devoted to any silent film star, and one of the earlier "fan sites" on the internet.

1996 - The LBS receives its first reviews. "USA Today" notes "Silent-film buffs can get a taste of how a fan club from yesteryear plays on the Web. The Louise Brooks Society site includes interviews, trivia and photos. It also draws an international audience." Later in the year, a British computing magazine, "Net Directory," names the LBS one of the five best sites in the world devoted to actresses.

1997 - Among its many web honors, the LBS is named a Hollywood Site of the Week and Celebrity Site of the Day. The LBS made Yahoo's Desert Island List and is named part of the Microsoft Network's One Click Away program.

1998 - Impressed by the popularity of the LBS, the television station Turner Classic Movies (TCM) gives the go ahead to a documentary on the actress. "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu" plays to great acclaim and is nominated for an Emmy Award.

1998 - Pages from the LBS are referenced in a book on G.W. Pabst (Brooks' director in Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl) published by the Austrian Film Archive.

1999 - Numerous schools (from the junior high to university level) adopt pages from the LBS as suggested reading. The LBS is named a recommended site by the online version of the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

2000 - The University of Minnesota Press publishes Lulu in Hollywood by Louise Brooks, and Louise Brooks by Barry Paris. Each book is brought back into print following a petition campaign organized by the LBS.

2001 - The San Francisco Examiner includes the LBS in an article "Thirteen great film sites."

2002 - The LBS launches RadioLulu, a Louise Brooks-themed radio station. This internet-based station features theme songs from the films of Louise Brooks, vintage jazz, recordings by the actresses' contemporaries and co-stars, as well as recent pop and rock music about the silent film star (by Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark, Soul Coughing, etc.).

2002 - Pages from the LBS are referenced in three books, German Expressionist Films (Pocket Essentials); Sex in the City (Universe); and Photoplay Editions (McFarland).

2003 - Site traffic continues to grow. Visitor logs show that individuals have visited the LBS from more than 60 different countries including every nation in Europe as well as countries scattered across Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and South America.

2004 - The bibliographies found on the website surpass 400 pages of printed material, making them one of the largest such collections of documentation so far assembled.

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

A Woman of Affairs

Just returned from seeing A Woman of Affairs (1928), with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. (This is the third Garbo film I've seen at the Garbo Festival here in San Francisco.) Also in the cast were Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Dorothy Sebastian, Lewis Stone and Johnny Mack Brown. I thought the film started slow, but it steadily picked up and finished with a bang. Garbo was lovely once again - a pleasure to watch. Fairbanks Jr. was also good - and his death scene was extraordinary in the way it was shot. William Daniels camera work was quite fine. The film was based on Michael Arlen's once controversial novel, The Green Hat. Local film critic Mick LaSalle - who writes for the San Francisco Chronicle and authored Complicated Women (a study of pre-code film) gave some interesting opening remarks.

------

A somewhat reworked Louise Brooks Society homepage is now on-line. Mainly, the page has been redesigned so as to accomodate higher screen resolutions used by the majority of visitors. (Nearly 58% of all visitors use settings of 1024 x 768 or higher. That wasn't the case a year or two ago, when the majority of viewers used 800 x 600.) The HTML on the homepage has also been cleaned-up, some images changed, and other things neatened and straightened. A "this day in history" javascript has also been added (thanx to Christy), which will change ever day. I hope to rework the rest of the site in the coming months. Comments? Questions?

Friday, January 7, 2005

This day in history

I have been thinking about putting a "This day in history" feature on the LBS homepage. But have not been able to find a script, or piece of PHP/SQL/HTML code, with which to do so. In theory, there will be 365 variables - such as "Louise Brooks was born on this day in 1906" or "Pandora's Box opened in New York City on this day in 1929" - which will reveal themselves on the appropriate day. Does anyone have any suggestions, know of any links, or have any readymade programming which I could implement?
Powered By Blogger