A gathering of silent film articles, part two

I've been writing for examiner.com for 5 years. In that time, I've written hundreds of pieces about film and film culture culture in the silent and early sound era. To mark my fifth anniversary as the San Francisco Bay Area silent film correspondent, I've put together this checklist of some of my favorite pieces. Hopefully, you'll like them too. Here is a selection published from 2019 through 2010.

Early films selected for National Film Registry
December 28, 2010

Sherlock Holmes vs Herlock Sholmes, etc….
December 24, 2010

Revamped website celebrates Nita Naldi
December 17, 2010

Local film preservationist does his bit, and more
December 15, 2010

Two new books offer portraits of early film stars
December 9, 2010

Silent film DVDs: Best new releases of the year
December 8, 2010

Ten best silent film books in 2010
December 6, 2010

Early film star Baby Marie dies at age 99
November 17, 2010

A Century Ago: The Films of 1910
November 11, 2010

Vernon Dent shines with new book, screenings in Niles in November
November 4, 2010

Mystery of the Charlie Chaplin cell phone user, solved?
October 28, 2010

Once lost Northern California film now found
October 26, 2010

Early Warner Bros. Studios
October 12, 2010

Evelyn Brent: The Life and Films of Hollywood’s Lady Crook
October 4, 2010

Rudolph Valentino: The Silent Idol, His Life in Photographs
September 16, 2010

Six questions with novelist Glen David Gold
September 13, 2010

First Ever Oscar to a Film Historian Goes to Kevin Brownlow
August 27, 2010

Chaplin, Chaplin, and more Chaplin
August 19, 2010

Some of the many facets of Polish cinema
August 3, 2010

The art and history of coming attraction slides
July 28, 2010

Six questions with Donna Hill, author of a new book on Rudolph Valentino
July 13, 2010

George O'Brien - a man's man in Hollywood
July 10, 2010

The return of Norma Talmadge
July 5, 2010

Major discovery of silent films announced
June 7, 2010

New encyclopedia of German Cinema
May 19, 2010

Six Questions with . . . now silent film composer Stephin Merritt (of the Magnetic Fields)
April 27, 2010

Georges Méliès - Cinemagician of the early movies
April 23, 2010

Starstruck stunning
April 21, 2010

New book on silent mystery and detective movies
March 23, 2010

Edison's Frankenstein - It's Alive
March 18, 2010

Silent-era actress Dorothy Janis dies at age 100
March 12, 2010

Mack Sennett's fun factory
March 9, 2010

Robert Birchard's universal history
February 23, 2010

Silent film star Karl Dane revealed in new book
February 15, 2010

Kevin Brownlow's Photoplay Productions now online
February 9, 2010

Early Western films featured in new book
January 21, 2010

New book on Portland theaters joins illustrated series
January 1, 2010

Best DVDs of 2009
December 21, 2009

Best film books of 2009
December 15, 2009

Francis X. Bushman - King of the Movies revealed in new book
November 6, 2009

Celebrating Carla Laemmle and early Universal
October 28, 2009

Sad tale of Oakland comedian told in new book
October 8, 2009

Six silent films not on DVD that should be
August 27, 2009

Silent films among new Warner Archive offerings
August 23, 2009

Six questions with . . . film historian Jeffrey Vance
July 9, 2009

Reviving the art of silent film, one note at a time
May 25, 2009

The Silent Cinema in Song
May 19, 2009

Cinematic new novel depicts Charlie Chaplin and silent film era
May 12, 2009

Chaplin biographer to speak in San Francisco
May 8, 2009

When Hollywood came to town
April 28, 2009

Father of JFK recalled as Hollywood mogul
April 10, 2009

A gathering of silent film articles, part one

I've been writing for examiner.com for 5 years. In that time, I've written hundreds of pieces about film and film culture culture in the silent and early sound era. To mark my fifth anniversary as the San Francisco Bay Area silent film correspondent, I've put together this checklist of some of my favorite pieces. Hopefully, you'll like them too. Here is a selection published from 2011 through 2014.

Ramona at San Francisco Silent Film Festival
May 24, 2014

Best Silent Film Books of 2013
December 30, 2013

Mary Pickford Scholar Speaks about New Book
January 29, 2013

Best Film Books of 2012
December 28, 2012

Jim Tully takes Hollywood, again
October 10, 2012

Ty Burr on Gods Like Us: On Movie Stardom and Modern Fame
September 27, 2012

An interview with Baby Peggy: The once and future darling of New York
September 5, 2012

Baby Peggy makes a comeback
September 2, 2012

Frank Thompson's The Commentary Track reveals film history 
August 19, 2012

Silent era screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas dies at age 111
January 8, 2012

Scrapbook novel depicts 1920s story
December 26, 2011

Best silent film books of 2011
December 11, 2011

Theaters of the San Francisco Peninsula highlighted in new book
November 19, 2011

Walt in Wonderland
August 11, 2011

David Thomson’s New Biographical Dictionary of Film
March 10, 2011

Sometimes I'm Happy - Red Nichols & His Five Pennies (and Louise Brooks too)

Here is "Sometimes I'm Happy" with Red Nichols & His Five Pennies. This video makes me happy all the time because it features Louise Brooks. The song was recorded in New York City on January 24, 1930 and features Red Nichols, c / Ruby Weinstein, t / Glenn Miller, tb, arr / Tommy Dorsey, tb / Fud Livingston, cl, as / Babe Russin, ts / Adrian Rollini, bsx / Jack Russin, p / Treg Brown, g / Gene Krupa, d.

Louise Brooks teenage dancer and choreographer

It is known that prior to joining the Denishawn Dance Company, a young Louise Brooks danced at local events in Kansas. These events were held at clubs, churches, and meeting halls. What has not been known until now is that Louise Brooks, still a teen, also choreographed a dance. The dance was titled "The Little Tin Soldier and the Little Rag Doll." This article appeared in the Wichita newspaper in March, 1922.

Louise Brooks & Anna Pavlova

As is known, Louise Brooks was a member of the Denishawn Dance Company (then the leading modern dance troupe in America). She joined the company at age 15, and danced with them as a junior member for two seasons while they toured the United States and Canada. Notably, Brooks' time with Denishawn brought her into close contact with a handful of the key figures in modern American dance, namely company founders Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, and dancers Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weideman.

Brooks had other encounters with other noted dancers. While touring with Denishawn, for instance, the company took the opportunity to see a performance by Isadora Duncan, an occasion Brooks later wrote about (commenting on Duncan's wardrobe malfunction at the time).

What hasn't been known till know is that Brooks saw a performance by Anna Pavlova, another great dancer. Pavlova (sometimes spelled Pavolwa) was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet as well as the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev. Pavlova is most recognized for the creation of the role "The Dying Swan" and, with her own company, became the first ballerina to tour ballet around the world. One of Pavlova's tours brought her to Kansas.

Abd that's when Brooks saw her dance. Prior to joining Denishawn, in January of 1922, Brooks and groups of Wichita dance students ventured to nearby Hutchinson, Kansas to see the famous touring prima ballerina. Here is a small article from the Wichita news paper noting the occassion, followed by an advertisement for the event.

Denishawn: Ruth St. Denis documentary & interview

Denishawn founder Ruth St. Denis speaks in five part video documentary, embedded below. Originally compiled for a presentation at the National Museum of Dance in 2006.

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Part five

Denishawn dance, what did it look like?

For two seasons, a teenage Louise Brooks was a junior member of the Denishawn Dance Company - then the leading modern dance troupe in America. During the 1922-1923 and 1923-1924 seasons, Brooks regularly performed alongside Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Martha Graham, Charles Weideman and others.

There is no film of Louise Brooks during her two seasons with Denishawn. And, as far as I know, there was little or no footage of the Denishawn Dance Company shot during the 1920s. All of which leads one to wonder what Denishawn dances looked like. Here is a video which give us something of an idea. Bonus points to those who spot Louise brooks in the still images in the second video.