European creamer top set with Louise Brooks

From contemporary Switzerland comes this complete set of 30 creamer tops as issued by Floralp, featuring some of the most famous Movie stars of all time - including Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Mae West, Steve McQueen, Clara Bow, Jimmy Cagney, Humphrey Bogart -- and Louise Brooks! These are foil tops from the small plastic milk / cream pots used by restaurants.

Two Louise Brooks films online under different titles

It's kinda strange, but someone has posted two Louise Brooks films on the Internet Archive but under different titles. The two films are Beggars of Life (1928) - retitled The Lawless Train, and The Canary Murder Case (1929) - retitled The Voice from Beyond the Grave. The retitling is crudely done. The images below are not the videos themselves, just screen grabs of the retitled screens.

Louise Brooks on the Subway, by the Tombstone Teeth

"Louise Brooks on the Subway" by The Tombstone Teeth, from the full length album Bells of Orchids. Band personnel: Lord Claudius von Vile Silencer (keyboards, bass), C W Cobalt (vocals), Bread Morton (guitar), Djangus Khan (drums). Give it a listen.

Kickstarter documentary on Buster Keaton and Samuel Beckett

This Kickstarter campaign sounds pretty worthwhile. I have already made a contribution. Check it out, spread the word, and consider making a pledge.

Milestone Films presents NOTFILM, a feature-length exploration of FILM—a 1965 short written by Samuel Beckett & starring Buster Keaton. More info HERE.

“While the creation of most motion pictures requires an army of professionals, Notfilm is largely the brainchild of one remarkable filmmaker, Ross Lipman. But even auteurs need assistance and we have been thrilled to help Ross make this beautiful and challenging new documentary. Now with support from our friend Jonathan Marlow and his incredible team at Fandor (one of our favorite streaming sites for great cinema) and with your generosity, Ross will be able to complete Notfilm and we will get it out into the world!” — Dennis Doros and Amy Heller, Milestone Films

Louise Brooks in West Seattle newspaper advertisement

This 1929 newspaper advertisement from a West Seattle newspaper which promotes the Portola Theater and other local businesses includes Louise Brooks and a number of other film stars from the time. Brooks' segment is sponsored by the Ellenwood Apartments.

Maurice Chevalier and Louise Brooks - not quite

The French singer, actor and entertainer Maurice Chevalier is familiar to fans of Louise Brooks for his lovely cover of "Louise", the early vocal hit. The song peaked at number 3 on the American music charts in 1929. Though not about Brooks, it has come to be closely associated with the actress. Give it a listen here, or on RadioLulu, where version besides those by Chevalier can be heard.

This French Belgian candy card says it depicts Chevalier and Brooks, but it doesn't. Not sure who the look-alike actress is, but it ain't Brooks. Does anyone know? She looks familiar. The front and back of the card is shown.

BIG NEWS: Lost Louise Brooks related film found!

The big news from Ron Hutchinson and the Vitaphone Project is that the long missing First National silent feature, Show Girl (1928), has been found and is being restored with music and effects from its original Vitaphone disks. The Alfred Santell directed film stars Alice White as Dixie Dugan. It's expected the film will be shown at the Pordenone Film Festival in Italy in October.

As Louise Brooks fans know today, and as was known then, the Dixie Dugan character and the many works she appeared in were inspired by Brooks and her brief time as a show girl with the Ziegfeld Follies. (Show Girl author J.P. McEvoy had worked with Brooks in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1925.) When work began on Show Girl, many expected Brooks would be cast as Dugan. There were even reports to that effect in the Los Angeles newspapers.

Unfortunately, Brooks didn't get the part. Working against her was the fact that she was under contract with Paramount, and Show Girl was a First National film. (Despite the fact that its director, Alfred Santell, had already directed Brooks in a loan out in 1926, Just Another Blonde.) Brooks was never even tested for the part.

According to Ron Hutchinson, Show Girl features much of the same sort of hot dance music as Why Be Good?, the recently found and restored Vitaphone film starring Colleen Moore. Here is a sample. Notice that the record label indicates it is from the Show Girl motion picture.

Why Be Good? is terrific. If Show Girl is half as good, then it will certainly delight. And heck, Alice White is pretty darn cute and the film looks fun. Here are a couple three stills from the film, which I am looking forward to seeing someday.

For more, be sure and check out the Vitaphone website and Facebook page. And remember, silent film were never silent, and early talkies were often musical.

UPDATE: Also found was a Billie Dove feature The Man and the Moment (1929) with Rod La Rocque; both it and Show Girl discovered in the Milan (Italy) Archive. A few other titles uncovered were all First National Picture silents, have yet to be announced. Lets keep out fingers crossed for Just Another Blonde. or a Colleen Moore film.