Last call: Seeking your Louise Brooks story of discover

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Louise Brooks Society is soliciting short essays from the actresses' many fans asking them to describe how and when they first came across Louise Brooks, and what the actress means to them. The length of the piece is up to the writer, with the only requirement being that it be detailed and individualized. Pieces that range from short anecdotes to full fledged compositions are welcome.

Selected submissions will be run here on the Louise Brooks Society blog, and the best piece (in the eyes of the LBS) will be awarded some Louise Brooks swag - like the just released KINO Diary of a Lost Girl Blu-ray bundled together with a signed copy of the Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl (PandorasBox Press). The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2015 with the prize awarded later that month (before Christmas). Send submissions to LouiseBrooksSociety@gmail.com

AND STAY TUNED FOR TOMORROW'S VERY SPECIAL PIECE ! 

Met Brings New Production of Lulu to Theatres on November 21

A live performance of The Met's new production of William Kentridge's staging of Alban Berg's opera, Lulu, will be shown in theaters across the United States and Canada on Saturday November 21st at 12:30pm ET. Lulu is screening as part of "The Met: Live in HD," which reaches more than 2,000 movie theatres in 70 countries around the world. For more information on local times and participating theatres, visit metopera.org (for the United States) or cineplex.com (for Canada).

Acclaimed artist and director William Kentridge applies his unique theatrical vision to Alban Berg's Lulu, one of the most important, not to mention notorious, stage works of the 20th century. Based on Frank Wedekind's stage plays, Berg's notorious femme fatale shatters lives, including her own. Soprano Marlis Petersen has excited audiences around the world with her portrayal of the tour-de-force title role, a wild journey of love, obsession, and death. Susan Graham joins a winning cast, including Daniel Brenna and Johan Reuter.

There is a bit of Louise Brooks found in this production. For more information on local times and participating theatres, visit metopera.org (for the United States) or cineplex.com (for Canada).

Play about Louise Brooks in Denver

Louise Brooks is a character in a new play which will be given a public reading in Denver, Colorado on Monday, November 16th. The reading, at the Café Max (2412 E. Colfax Ave.), is part of the And Toto Too Theatre Company Reading Series.

Lost Creatures, by Melissa McCarl, centers on the meeting of Brooks and the British drama critic Ken Tynan. The play "follows the evening in May of 1978 when British theatre critic Kenneth Tynan met his long time cinematic idol Louise Brooks. He travels to her dingy little apartment in Rochester, NY where she has sequestered herself for many years. He is there ostensibly to write a profile on Brooks for the New Yorker, but he discovers that they are kindred spirits, and in spite of an age gap of twenty years, theirs becomes an unlikely love story discovered through a marathon dialogue about sex, philosophy, art, and criticism.  There is also a silent third character, Lulu, (based on Louise’s role in her most famous silent film Pandora’s Box) who drives the action of the play."

Lost Creatures stars Billie McBride, Mark Collins, and Erica Sarzin-Borillo, and is directed by Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski.

The event is free, though patrons are asked to purchase something at the restaurant  has donated his space to this performance. More information at www.andtototoo.org/the-reading-series/ and on Facebook.

Happy birthday Louise Brooks

Happy birthday to Louise Brooks, who was born on this day in 1906 in Cherryvale, Kansas.

Happy birthday to Louise Brooks, whose one and only French film, Prix de beaute, is among her best. Louise Brooks celebration in San Francisco: more info at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-gladysz/louise-brooks-celebration_b_8549624.html

Louise Brooks Society event in San Francisco on November 14

A special event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Louise Brooks Society and the release of the new KINO DVD and Blu-ray of The Diary of a Lost Girl will take place in San Francisco at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 14th. (Which also happens to be Louise Brooks birthday.) The event will take place at Video Wave, a video rental business of special significance to the history of the LBS.

Video Wave is now located at 4027 24th Street in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. Recently, the San Francisco Chronicle featured the business. Read the article HERE.

Mark your calendars. This a meet and greet event. There will be NO screening, as reported in an article in the Noe Valley Voice. Thomas Gladysz, Founding Director of the LBS will be present signing copies of the new Diary of a Lost Girl DVD / Blu-ray (which features Gladysz's audio commentary) along with copies of his earlier book, the "Louise Brooks edition" of The Diary of a Lost Girl. Each will be for sale.

Here is a listing for the event which ran in the UK on the Brenton Film website: http://www.brentonfilm.com/event/louise-brooks-society-20th-anniversary-celebration

A Trip Through the Paramount Studio (1927), with Louise Brooks?

Only recently have I come across a reference to A Trip Through the Paramount Studio (1927), a short promotional film produced by the Paramount Studio. The 9 minute short reportedly includes Louise Brooks, along with a number of other well know stars of the time. The existence of the film is referenced on both IMDb and Silentera.com

Unfortunately, I am having trouble tracking down any information on this previously unknown (to me) film. I could not find any information about it searching through the trade journals of the time. Nor does there seem to be a copyright record for it.

A Trip Through the Paramount Studio was reportedly released in August 1927. Among those reportedly seen in the film (according to both of the above mentioned websites) are Richard Arlen, Mary Astor, Clarence G. Badger, George Bancroft, Wallace Beery, Sally Blane, Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Mary Brian, Betty Bronson, Clive Brook, Louise Brooks, Chester Conklin, Gary Cooper, Dolores Costello, Shirley Dorman, Fanchon, W.C. Fields, Victor Fleming, Raymond Hatton, Lloyd Hughes, Emil Jannings, Doris Kenyon, Fred Kohler, Blanche Le Clair, Mervyn LeRoy, Harold Lloyd, Dorothy Mackaill, Arlette Marchal, Marco, Frank Morgan, Gene Morgan, Pola Negri, Zasu Pitts, William Powell, Esther Ralston, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers, Milton Sills, Thelma Todd, Josef von Sternberg, Erich von Stroheim, and Fay Wray.

The source of the this impressive line-up of stars in unknown. According to Wikipedia, "Paramount later released A Trip Through the Paramount Studio (1927) in response to MGM's MGM Studio Tour (1925)." The only other reference to the film which I have been able to find is that it was shown in 2009 at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, California -- along with a few other short films of the time.

Does anyone know anything about this film? Has anyone scene it? I wrote to the Library of Congress asking after the film, as they are listed on SilentEra.com as having a copy of the film. I received the following affirmative response (along with an invitation to make an appointment to view the film in Washington D.C.).

"We have a 35mm print of the Paramount short in our collection:

A TRIP THROUGH THE PARAMOUNT STUDIO (1927, 9 minutes)

FEA 6141; FPB 1240

MAVIS: 1913678

AFI/Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History

Summary: Promotion reel shown solely to exhibitors during the West Coast Greater Movie Season. Featuring: Clara Bow (“That Million Dollar Girl” promotes Hula) W.C. Fields, Fay Wray, Esther Ralston, Richard Arlen, George Bancroft, Betty Bronson, Chester Conklin, Mary Brian, Clarence Badger, Fred Kohler, Arlette Marchal, Fanchon & Marco, The Rube Wolf Band, Sally Blane, Blanche Leclaire, Shirley Dorman."

Alas, no mention of Louise Brooks - but that doesn't necessarily mean she is not glimpsed in the film. The search goes on.

Louise Brooks (left) with other Paramount stars of the time. This is not a still from the film, or is it?

A Louise Brooks celebration on November 14th

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival has long been a supporter of the Louise Brooks Society. Way back in 1997, their newsletter, Intertitle, ran a brief mention of the LBS in their very first issue! And today, some 18 years later, the SFSFF email newsletter mentioned the LBS again.

LOUISE BROOKS DAY!

Celebrate Louise Brooks's birthday (and the 20th anniversary of the Louise Brooks Society) on Saturday, November 14 at Video Wave on 24th Street. Thomas Gladysz will sign copies of the just-released Kino Lorber DVD/Blu-ray of The Diary of a Lost Girl with his commentary. Gladysz came to Kino Lorber's attention after he edited the 2010 "Louise Brooks edition" of Margarete Bohme's 1905 bestseller -- the basis for Pabst's 1929 film. The party starts at 2:00 pm. There will be treats!

Thank you San Francisco Silent Film Festival. I am looking forward to their upcoming Winter event, as should you. It is a full day of silent film on December 5th at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. Don't miss it. There will be great films and special guests a plenty.

The Louise Brooks Society is celebrating its 20th anniversary: here is a link to a piece about the event in the local Noe Valley Voice newspaper. Please note: there will NOT be a screening, just a meet and greet with candy treats, and a booksigning, a DVD release party, and who knows what else? Like pinback button giveaways (while supplies last).

Here are the links to the event on Brenton Films (out of the UK), and on Facebook and Eventbrite.