I found this hard to resist. It is an article, seemingly program notes, about a 1930 stage production at the Lobe Theater of Frank Wedekind's Lulu. The Lobe Theater was in what was Breslau, Germany but is now Wroclaw, Poland. At the time, according to Wikipedia, Breslau was a "known as a stronghold of left wing liberalism" - which is interesting because director G.W. Pabst was also known to be left-leaning liberal, and this play was staged about a year after Pabst directed Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box. The woman depicted in the woodcut sitting on a man's head would be the character of Lulu. Doesn't she seem to have a certain Brooksian flair?
A cinephilac blog about an actress, silent film, and the Jazz Age, with occasional posts
about related books, music, art, and history written by Thomas Gladysz. Visit the
Louise Brooks Society™ at www.pandorasbox.com
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Frank Wedekind's Lulu staged in 1930
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Friday, January 11, 2013
Poland anticipates Prix de Beaute
Here is a 1929 clipping from a Polish newspaper listing films in production or scheduled for release in the near future - a kind-of "something to look forward to" piece. The 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de Beaute, is listed a couple of entries above Charlie Chaplin's City Lights.
A number of Louise Brooks' films were shown in Poland. I have newspaper advertisements for Pandora's Box, A Girl in Every Port, It's the Old Army Game and Beggars of Life clipped from Warsaw and Krakow newspapers.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Fantasio, Prix de Beaute in Spain, mainly
Besides Iceland and Turkey (see previous post), the 1930 Louise Brooks' film, Prix de Beaute, was also popular in Spain, where it showed in various cities. Depicted above is a newspaper advertisement for the film.
Louise Brooks herself was also apparently somewhat popular. Below, she is depicted for no apparent reason on the cover of La Prensa, a major daily newspaper. This clip is from 1928. Louise Brooks is described as an "American Artist." Wow.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Movie Legends - Louise Brooks (Showgirl)
Another YouTube video :: Movie Legends - Louise Brooks (Showgirl)
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Louise Brooks stars in Prix de Beaute, from Iceland to Turkey
Louise Brooks starred in Prix de Beaute, a French production released in 1930 which was sometimes advertised or promoted under an alternate title, Miss Europe. It is a terrific film, and proved to be popular enough to have been shown all around the continent - just like Brooks' two German films, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl (both 1929).
Recently, I came across two advertisements for the film. The first is from Iceland. It appeared on the front page of this Icelandic newspaper in 1931.
I also came across an advertisement for Prix de Beaute in a Turkish newspaper, also from 1931. This ad is only one of a handful of Brooks' related pieces which I have come across from a Middle Eastern or Arabic country. (I have uncovered a few instances of the actress' films being shown in French north African colonies. I also have an undated clipping of The Canary Murder Case from Egypt.) If any reader has any knowledge of or lead toward uncovering any other instances of Brooks' films being shown in a Middle Eastern or Arab country, please contact me.
Recently, I came across two advertisements for the film. The first is from Iceland. It appeared on the front page of this Icelandic newspaper in 1931.
I also came across an advertisement for Prix de Beaute in a Turkish newspaper, also from 1931. This ad is only one of a handful of Brooks' related pieces which I have come across from a Middle Eastern or Arabic country. (I have uncovered a few instances of the actress' films being shown in French north African colonies. I also have an undated clipping of The Canary Murder Case from Egypt.) If any reader has any knowledge of or lead toward uncovering any other instances of Brooks' films being shown in a Middle Eastern or Arab country, please contact me.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Pandora's Box plays in Latvia - Louise Brooks stars
The 1929 Louise Brooks film, Pandora's Box, played in just about every country in Europe. Some of the recent posts here on the Louise Brooks Society blog show as much. Pandora's Box also played in Latvia, one of the Baltic states.
Recently, while doing some research, I came across a number of clippings in the German-language Latvian newspaper, Rigasche Rundschau, which was published in Riga, the capital and largest city of the then newly formed nation. Apparently, Pandora's Box, a German film production, was something of a big deal in this small country, which included a sizable German-speaking population. I found this feature photo in Rigasche Rundschau. It dates from March, 1929 and notes that Brooks - a junior Paramount star - is featured in Pandora's Box. The film had premiered in Berlin only the month before.
To me, what's interesting about this clip is that it shows just how far and wide Brooks' films were distributed. [I also found clippings and advertisements for a few of her American silent films, as well as the German made Diary of a Lost Girl.] Also, I don't think I had ever seen the image on the left, of Brooks leading a German Shepard. It is, in all likelihood, a rare German publicity photo.
Pandora's Box debuted in Latvia in March, 1929 at the Splendid Palace theater in Riga. It debuted as Die Büchse der Pandora (from Wedekind's Lulu), as can be seen in this newspaper listing of movies playing in town.
However, two-and-a-half months later it returned to Riga under a different title, Die Gottin der Sunde, which translates as The Goddess of Sunday. This is new to me! I have never seen Pandora's Box promoted under any other name, except for Lulu. Perhaps alluding to the mythological under-pinnings of Wedekind's story, The Goddess of Sunday may refer to the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, or to a well known Romanian folk tale. Does anyone know anything more about this alternative title?
[ 01/09/13 Addendum: I have been told that Die Gottin der Sunde may translate as The Goddess of Sin, which makes sense.]
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Friday, January 4, 2013
The month at Niles has Louise Brooks connections
This should be a big year for the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
in Fremont, California. In addition to the annual Charlie Chaplin Days and Broncho
Billy Film Festival held later in the year, Niles Essanay will mark the
100th anniversary of the building of the Essanay Film Studio. A century
ago, Niles hosted what was one
of the major studios on the West Coast. The venerable film museum also
celebrates its eighth year of showing silent movies every Saturday night
at its historic Edison Theater (which is also marking its 100th
anniversary).
Niles Essanay starts the new year with a great line-up of films in January. One highlight is Anna Christie
(1923), the first film adaption of Eugene O'Neill's famous Pulitzer
Prize winning play. Notably, it was produced by Thomas Ince (the subject
of a major new biography)
only two years after O'Neill's stage drama debuted on Broadway. That
film is part of the weekly series "Saturday Night at the Movies." There
is also the monthly "Comedy Short Subject Night" and "Laurel & Hardy
Talkie Matinee." Notably, each silent film is presented with live
musical accompaniment featuring some of the Bay Area's leading
accompanists. All together, it's a great month of early cinema in the
East Bay. Here's what's playing.
"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday January 5 at 7:30 pm
Today, we think of Wallace Beery as a memorable character actor who often played the "heavy" (as he did in the 1928 film, Beggars of Life). But in the 1920's he was one half of one of the most popular comedy teams of the silent era. His screen partner was Raymond Hatton, and together they appeared in a series of so-called service comedies (army, navy, air force, fire department, etc...) which included the now lost smash hit, Now We're in the Air (1927), which also featured Louise Brooks. In Behind the Front (1926, Paramount), Beery and Hatton join the army and head off to France to fight in this WWI comedy directed by Eddie Sutherland (Brooks' one-time husband). The film also features Mary Brian, Richard Arlen, Chester Conklin, and Gertrude Astor (all of whom appeared in a film in which Louise Brooks appeared). This seldom screened silent feature will be preceded by two shorts, One Is Business, the Other Crime (1912, Biograph) with Edwin August and Blanche Sweet, and Pink Pajamas (1929, Mack Sennett) with Billy Bevan and Natalie Joyce (the latter played in A Girl in Every Port).
"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Frederick Hodges at the piano
Saturday January 12 at 7:30 pm
In Power (1928, Pathe), William Boyd and Alan Hale are friends and rivals for the affections of the lovely Jacqueline Logan in this light comedy with wisecracks penned by future director Tay Garnett (best known for The Postman Always Rings Twice). Beauties Joan Bennett and Carole Lombard (who starred in the 1931 film, It Pays to Advertise, which included Brooks in a cameo), are also featured, as is the fluid camerawork of J. Peverell Marley. [See the previous blog entry for a bit more about this film.] The feature will be preceded by the comedic shorts Hale and Hearty (1922, Hal Roach) with Snub Pollard, and Many Scrappy Returns (1927, Hal Roach) with Charley Chase and Eugene Pallette (who was featured in The Canary Murder Case).
"Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee"
Sunday January 13 at 4:00 pm
This month's "Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee" is themed "The Sounds of Silents." It's comprised of four late silent short films originally released with Vitaphone soundtracks containing music and sound effects. Each of the four shorts -- Liberty (1928) and Bacon Grabbers (1929) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and Barnum & Ringling (1928) and Cat, Dog & Company (1929) -- will be screened with their original, vintage soundtracks.
"Comedy Short Subject Night" with Greg Pane at the piano
Saturday January 19 at 7:30 pm
If you love to laugh, then don't miss this monthly program of shorts featuring some of the most famous comedians of the silent film era. On the bill are The Pawnshop (1916, Lone Star) with Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance, The Paleface (1921, Comique) with Buster Keaton, Among Those Present (1921, Rolin) with Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis, and Putting Pants on Philip (1927, Hal Roach) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Judy Rosenberg at the piano
Saturday January 26 at 7:30 pm
Blanche Sweet and William Russell star in Anna Christie (1923, Ince), the first film adaption of Eugene O'Neill's play about a troubled young woman who comes to live with her estranged father on the New York waterfront. Anna Christie has been remade many times as a film, most famously with Greta Garbo in 1931. This earlier version features Eugenie Besserer, Chester Conklin and Fred Kohler (the latter two actors each appeared in a Brooks' film). The feature will be preceded by two shorts, A Ten-Minute Egg (1924, Hal Roach) with Charley Chase, and The Cry of the Children (1912, Thanhouser), starring future director James Cruze, whose credits include The City Gone Wild, with Kohler and Brooks). This latter short was based on a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
"Mary Pickford Short Film Program" with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday February 2 at 7:30 pm
Looking ahead to February, Niles Essanay celebrates Mary Pickford at the beginning of her career with a selection of her Biograph and IMP films in 35mm prints from the Library of Congress. Christel Schmidt will be on hand to talk about the films and sign copies of her big new book, Mary Pickford: Queen of the Movies (University Press of Kentucky).
For more info: The Niles
Essanay Silent Film Museum is located at 37417 Niles Blvd. in Fremont,
California. For further information, call (510) 494-1411 or visit the
museum website at www.nilesfilmmuseum.org/.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
More Pandora's Box ads from around the world
Here are a couple more vintage newspaper advertisements for Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks. This blog continues the series of recent posts featuring ads from around the world for the G.W. Pabst directed film. These two ads date from 1929 and 1930, respectively. First is an ad from Romania. Below it is an advertisement from Luxembourg.
For more about Zwei Hahne, with William Boyd, Alan Hale and Jacqueline Logan, be sure and check out Friday's post here on the Louise Brooks Society blog.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
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