Thursday, December 28, 2006

New Beverly Cinema


New 35 mm prints of both Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl were screened at the New Beverly Theater in Los Angeles, California. Did anyone attend this double-bill?

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com). Its been a great year for all things Louise Brooks. (I will be away from this blog for a few days, but shall return with some notes and images from my recent trip to Detroit and Rochester.)

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Pandora's Box makes the Top 10

Pandora's Box was listed among the top 10 DVD's of 2006 by Jeremy Osgood in the Chattanooga Pulse, (the alternative weekly serving Chattanooga, Tennessee). The Pulse noted, "Louise Brooks is utterly seductive as Lulu in this film from 1929, proving you don’t need sound to be sexy." This disc has sure been getting a lot of reviews.

I have also heard from an individual that the two copies of the DVD that he bought on-line were defective. Has anyone had a similar problem ?

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Audiophile Audition

A review of the new Criterion DVD of Pandora's Box has appeared on the Audiophile Audition website. The review can be found here. The review starts by noting that G.W. Pabst's masterpiece of sexual suggestion "May be both most important film of the black-helmeted screen vixen as well as the most important German silent film."

Sunday, December 17, 2006

A couple of unusual images

A couple of unusual images featuring Louise Brooks have shown up on eBay. One is of Brooks on the cover of the Feb 23, 1929 issue of the Police Gazette. This publication was something like today's National Enquirer.



The other is a publicity pic featuring Brooks, Gary Cooper, and Thelma Todd. This is the first image I've ever seen which shows Brooks and Cooper together. (Cooper was then, like Brooks, a Paramount player.) I'm not sure who the others in the pic are.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Peter Cowie's book

Dennis Drabelle's short write-up of Peter Cowie's new book, Louise Brooks: Lulu Foreverappears in tomorrow'sWashington Post.
Louise Brooks looked so relentlessly modern. Still does, in fact: Photos of the movie star in her prime show an androgynous beauty with coal-black hair cut into both forehead and sidewall bangs, along with features that diverge not a centimeter from classic lines. Her career was short (1925-38) but varied (she starred in G.W. Pabst's German silent "Pandora's Box" and an American talkie called "The Canary Murder Case"). More than anything else, she was a symbol of no-nonsense sex appeal laced with intelligence.

Peter Cowie, who knew Brooks at the end of her life (she died in 1985), has told her story and assembled hundreds of photos of her in Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever (Rizzoli, $55). "I had to run away from the world of celebrities," she explained regarding the implosion of her career. "For years it was a terrible life in limbo without friends or security or approval." But her luck turned when film historian James Card persuaded her to move to Rochester, N.Y. -- "this darling little town," she called it -- where he revived her movies and made much of her. She became a film historian herself, writing articles and memoirs and showing a facility for the well-turned phrase. Here is how she summed up Humphrey Bogart: "When a woman appealed to him, he waited for her the way the flame waits for the moth."

Friday, December 15, 2006

A short cut to stardom

A long article on Louise Brooks appears in Sunday's Telegraph, the UK newspaper.
Louise Brooks was hailed as 'the greatest actress in the history of moving pictures', and yet her career lasted only as long as her famous bob. In the centenary of Brooks's birth, Anne Billson explains what became of her.
Check it out here.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Lulu returns to Chicago

Through December 23rd, the Silent Theater company will stage their version of Lulu (the Wedekind plays staged as a silent film a la Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box) at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois. Showtime is 8 pm daily - with an added show at 10:30 on December 16 and December 23.  If you haven't already seen this exceptional production in San Francisco, Chicago or New York City - here is your last chance to do so in 2006. It's received rave reviews everywhere it's played. Click here for more info

Thursday, December 7, 2006

The Motor City

Just a brief entry, as I am about to take off for the City of Detroit where I will be visiting family and, over the course of the weekend, introducing Pandora's Box when it's shown at the Detroit Institute of the Arts. If you live in the area, please stop by and say hello and show your love of Lulu. I will be the nervous looking fellow near the front of the auditorium. For more info or tickets see http://www.dia.org/dft/item.asp?webitemid=868  ( An article about these screenings appeared in the Metro Times, the alternative weekly for the Detroit area. The illustration for the article is nifty. Check it out.)  Coincedently, there is a new book out on the historic movie theaters of downtown Detroit, some of which showed Louise Brooks films when they first played in town. . . . . After Detroit, I will be making a quick stop in Rochester, New York where I will be visiting the George Eastman House to see the Louise Brooks exhibit and do a little research, both at the GEH and the Rochester public library. See you all on the other side.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

RadioLulu updates & stats

Yesterday, I added a half-dozen new tracks to RadioLulu. (I just bought a bunch of mp3 files of interesting and obscure tunes - mostly contemporary music. There's the Clan of Xymox, a rock song about Clara Bow, an instrumental piece inspired by Kevin Brownlow's The Parade's Gone By, etc....) Please tune in and give a listen. Otherwise, here's a recap of the station's November stats:

Total Listening Hours
Last Month: 853
This Month: 1155

Total Station Launches
Last Month: 1400
This Month: 1480

Station Presets
Last Month: 1097
This Month: 1136

Favorite Station Designations
Last Month: 26
This Month: 26

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Detroit, MI: Pandora's Box

"Pandora's Box" (Germany / 1929), starring Louise Brooks as Lulu, will be shown at the historic Detroit Film Theatre, which is located in the Detroit Institute of the Arts in downtown Detroit. The film will be screened December 8, 9, 10.

From the D.I.A. website: "A cause for celebration is this newly restored print of the classic that New York Times critic A.O. Scott recently called “a tour-de-force of cinematic eroticism.” The legendary Louise Brooks stars as Lulu, the singular “earthly being” who, though endowed with irresistible animal beauty, lacks all moral sense. While devoid of outright malevolence, Lulu, in her pursuit of pleasure, does evil unconsciously, bringing men—and women—to their knees. In the course of the film, Scott writes, Lulu is “a music hall performer and a rich man's bride, a murderess and a victim, a fugitive from justice and an object of desire. The mercurial nature of the sexual appetite is explored in set pieces that are at once frenzied and meticulously controlled. Brooks's performance has rarely, if ever, been matched on screen.” (110 min.) Fri. & Sat. at 7:00, Sun. at 4:00"

Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com), will introduce the film. Gladysz will also speak about the actress, her centenary, and her connections to the Detroit area.  For more info or tickets see http://www.dia.org/dft/item.asp?webitemid=868

Additional information on the history of the the 1927 theater can be found at http://www.dia.org/dft/history.asp

Sunday, December 3, 2006

Wichita Eagle articles


There is an article about Louise Brooks in the current issue of the Wichita Eagle. The article, "Late actress still shockingly modern," focusses on Peter Cowie's new book, Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever. The article can be found atwww.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/movies/16150398.htm?source=rss&channel=kansas_movies   There is also a second, shorter piece on the upcoming mini-festival of Brooks' film in Wichita. That piece can be found atwww.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/16150399.htm?source=rss&channel=kansas_entertainment

Saturday, December 2, 2006

Chicago (1927)

Tonight I saw Chicago - the silent version from 1927 starring Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart - and let me tell you, IT WAS TERRIFIC. Haver was really, really good. She played a kind of American Lulu. And, interestingly, this film was actually directed by Cecil D. DeMille. (It is generally creditted to Frank Urson.) The director gave up his screen credit because he was also then directing King of Kings and was concerned that Christian groups would boycott that film if it was known that he had also directed the rather racy Chicago. If you should ever have the chance to see this Jazz Age morality tale - check it out.

Friday, December 1, 2006

BBC radio program on Louise Brooks

A ten minute BBC radio program about Louise Brooks, "Louise Brooks: Silent Film Star and 20th Century Icon" aired on the BBC today. The program features a discussion between British actor and Louise Brooks fan Paul McGann and Erica Carter, the curator of a month-long retrospective of Brooks films at the National Film Theatre. The BBC website has a page about the program at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2006_48_fri.shtml  

The archived radio program can be listened to at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/ram/2006_48_fri_01.ram

More about the Brooks "season" at the NFT can be found at http://www.bfi.org.uk/incinemas/nft/seasons/brooks/   Interestingly, one of the films being shown is The Street of Forgotten Men (1925). Brooks' first screen role was in this once thought lost minor masterpiece directed by Herbert Brenon.

Lulu heading to Iowa

The Silent Theater company will stage their version of Lulu at the North Scott High School Theatre in Eldridge, Iowa.  The company of young actors - many of whom I had the great pleasure of meeting - is currently making their way back home to Chicago on their unique Pandora's Bus. They had been in San Francisco, where they enjoyed a three month run at the Victoria Theater.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS VEHICLE ON AN AMERICAN HIGHWAY? 


Once they return to Chicago, the company will stage Lulu at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts on December 11 - 23. Visit this link for more info.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Two book reviews

Two reviews of the excellent new book by Peter Cowie, Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever, were published today. A long, appreciative piece by Wayne Meyers appeared in the Oneida Daily Dispatch (from Onedia, New York). That piece can be foundon-line. A shorter, and even more enthuisiastic piece by Leonard Maltin appeared on his website. (I believe Maltin will also be mentioning the book on one of his television shows.)

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has gotten the book. Please post a reply comment and let everyone know what you think.




BTW: The Booksmith in San Francisco is nearly out of autographed copies, though I think they still have one or two or three left. (Any remaining signed copies will likely be for sale at the Castro Theater this Saturday.) Hurry up and get one from whatever source. . . . they are going like hotcakes. And with a bunch of reviews starting to hit, there will probably be a run on them.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Silly Symphonies / Chicago this Saturday

This Saturday, December 2nd at the Castro Theatre here in San Francisco, the good people at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival are showing the original filmed version of the great Broadway hit CHICAGO, starring Phyllis Haver as tough-as-nails Roxie Hart; and a rarer-than-rare 35mm presentation of a bunch of Walt Disney's pioneering SILLY SYMPHONIES - great cartoons, and great examples of how a silent-era filmmaker met sound head-on in a dazzling display of music, creativity and imagination. I am very excited. I will be there!


SILLY SYMPHONIES (one show only at 1:30)

Straight from the Disney archives, a program of SILLY SYMPHONIES, the famous cartoon series set to a madcap mix of classical, popular and folk music. Disney and his team of talented animators make skeletons, frogs, devils and trees dance in time to music with delightful originality – thus trailblazing the transition to sound. The host and expert guide to this tribute will be Russell Merritt, silent film historian and co-author of two invaluable studies of early Disney animation: Walt in Wonderland and Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series. The shorts to be shown are:

THE SKELETON DANCE (1929, Walt Disney)
HELL'S BELLS (1929, Ub Iwerks)
NIGHT (1930, Walt Disney)
THE CHINA PLATE (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
EGYPTIAN MELODIES (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
THE UGLY DUCKLING (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
FLOWERS AND TREES (1932, Burt Gillett)
MUSIC LAND (1935, Wilfred Jackson)
Following these special screenings . . . 


DUCKS, DEVILS, DOWNBEATS AND DISNEY: An Animated Conversation On Animation
Right after the films, Russell Merritt will moderate a lively talk with Disney scholars and animation experts, including: Leslie Iwerks (granddaughter of the legendary animator Ub Iwerks), Neal Gabler (author of Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination), Jere Guldin (UCLA Film & Television Archive, Preservationist) and J.B. Kaufman (co-author of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series).


CHICAGO (one show only at 7:30)

There may be other versions – Bob Fosse’s 1975 Broadway musical, and the 2002 adaptation that took the Academy Award for Best Picture – but you haven’t seen CHICAGO until you’ve seen the original! Based on the true story of two women who dealt with their no-good lovers by gunning them down in cold blood, CHICAGO features an explosive, riotous performance by Phyllis Haver, who throws everything she’s got – and more! – into the role of two-timing, morality-free jazz baby Roxie Hart. Fast-paced, hard-boiled and sin-soaked, the 1927 CHICAGO is  the real thing: a straight-up portrait of Roaring Twenties madness, straight out of the Twenties! Presented in the long-lost roadshow version, now completely restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, with pulse-pounding live accompaniment supplied by the BAKER–MEHLING HOT FOUR, purveyors of authentic 1920s jazz!
I will be at the book table in the lobby before and after each program hosting book signings with Neal Gabler, Russell Merritt, John Bengtson (author of Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin) and Jack Tillmany (Theatres of Oakland). Visit the San Francisco Silent Film Festival website at www.silentfilm.org for further information or to purchase tickets.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Pandora's Box DVD reviews

A number of reviews of the new Criterion DVD of Pandora's Box have started appearing in newspapers and magazines around the country. Here are links to some of the on-line versions of these reviews:

The New York Times ran a long article in today's paper (11-28-2006) of the new DVD. It's especially good on the American history of the film. Here is the link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/movies/28dvd.html?ref=arts    

And, a couple of days ago, on Sunday the 26th, the Boston Globe ran a review. The link to that piece by Ty Burr can be found athttp://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/11/26/dvd_report/?page=2

And a few days before that, on the 24th of November, a piece by Justin DeFreitas appeared in the Berkeley Daily Planet. That review can be found at http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=11-24-06&storyID=25727

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Times ran a capsule review in today's newspaper:
"Pandora's Box" (Criterion, $40): Superlative two-disc set of G.W. Pabst's seminal 1929 German silent starring the iconic Louise Brooks as the tragic heroine, Lulu. Brooks never looked lovelier in the high-definition digital transfer. Extras include four different musical scores that run the gamut, including cabaret and orchestral, and enthralling commentary from film historians Thomas Elsaesser and Mary Ann Doane, both of whom have studied "Box" for years; a well-crafted 1998 TV documentary, "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu"; a fabulous 1984 documentary "Lulu in Berlin," with a rare filmed interview with Brooks; and an interview with the director's son, Michael Pabst.
As did the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Their staff review ran in today's paper as well:
Louise Brooks is one of the legendary actresses of the silent era -- a Kansas beauty with a "black helmet" of hair turned into a sex symbol by German director W.S. Pabst. In this defining role, the former Hollywood bit player and Ziegfeld Follies dancer plays Lulu, an innocent but sexually aggressive showgirl turned prostitute who leaves death in her wake and eventually ends up on a foggy London street with Jack the Ripper. The Criterion Collection release provides the 1928 silent with four stylistically different scores, a disc of extras including the documentary "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu" and a booklet with a chapter from her memoirs and Kenneth Tynan's essay, "The Girl in the Black Helmet." 109 minutes. Unrated.
The Los Angeles Daily News ran a short piece by Rob Lowman in yesterday's paper:
Criterion is releasing a remastered disc of one of the more daring films of the silent era, German director's G.W. Pabst's 1929 psycho-sexual melodrama "Pandora's Box," which stars Lousie Brooks. The American actress plays a showgirl named Lulu, whose unabandoned lifestyle sends her on a downward path that results in terrible end. Brooks was a fascinating figure in Hollywood, and that magnetic personality comes across on in the film. Her controversial life is examined in the 1998 documentary "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu," narrated by Shirley Mclaine is one of the extras, as well as commentary by film historians.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Brazilian article

Just back from a few days away for the holidays. . . . This long article on Louise Brooks in a Brazilian publication was brought to my attention. Check it out here. Embedded in the piece is a nifty video clip (featuring video from Pandora's Box and music by Clan of Xymox) from youtube.com. The music reminded me of Joy Division. Check it out.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Still keeping busy

Despite all that is going on lately in the world of Louise Brooks, I have been able to make it to the library pretty much every week over the course of the last month . . . as I am trying to keep up with my research. I am still requesting inter-library loans - and microfilm still arrives for me to look through. Lately, I have secured Louise Brooks-Denishawn material from the Sharon Herald(from Sharon, PA.) and Knickerbocker Press (from Albany, New York). I figure I have acquired material on about 95% of the Denishawn engagements with which Brooks was involved. Striving towards completion, I still have a couple dozen New York and Pennsylvannia dates to acquire

I also recently looked through the Atlanta Georgian (a Hearst newspaper), Knoxville JournalTulsa Daily WorldCapitol Times (from Madison, Wisconsin),  and Waterbury American (from Conneticut). And in each of these newspapers I found a few more film reviews and advertisements. The pile grows. Slowly, I am also finishing up my gathering of film-related material from major American cities and towns. My goal has been to gather articles and reviews from the 30 or 40 biggest urban centers, as well as material from every region and state. To that end, I also recently looked at microfilm of the Arizona Republican (from Phoenix) and Santa Fe New Mexican, but I found nothing in either of those papers. Phoenix and Santa Fe were pretty small towns back then - and didn't seem to support much of a movie culture.

The most interesting material I came across concerned the Better Films Committee of Atlanta, Georgia. In the review I found for A Girl in Every Port (1928), the journalist reported that the local committee gave the film a rating of "A - G," which basically means it was deemed "very good" but for an "adult" audience. This was not a "general audience" rating that some of the other films playing in town received. I guess "A - G" might be the equivalent of today's "R" rating. Apparently, the local committee back then found the theme of "flirtation, fighting and friendship" a bit strong.

And, while looking through September issues of the Capitol Times for material on The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), I happened to notice the paper's radio guide included a listing for a live broadcast of the Atlantic City beauty contest. Wow - I never knew! That was the same contest which served as the backdrop for The American Venus (1926), Brooks' second film. I wonder if Brooks herself was there? Certainly, Paramount film crews were, as was Brooks' friend and fellow Ziegfeld Follies performer Dorothy Knapp. One can only wonder.

These are the sort of interesting things I find on occassion, and that's why I keep on looking. To be continued . . . .


Thursday, November 23, 2006

Leaving things for fans

Lately, during my weekly research trips to the San Francisco Public Library, I have been paying a quick visit to the Louise Brooks exhibit which I organized and which is on display at the SFPL (on the 4th floor). The exhibit is titled "Homage to Lulu: 100 Years of Louise Brooks." It will remain on display through January 5, 2007. (See this LJ entry  for pictures, and this entry for a short description.)

And what I have taken to doing every week is leaving things for fans to pick up: so far, I have left a few Louise Brooks Society pinback buttons, programs to the Lulu play currently in town, a LB "Further Reading" handout, and some of the reproduction movie heralds created for the Peter Cowie event here in San Francisco. In the coming weeks, I will leave some more buttons, as well as Louise Brooks crossword and word search puzzles, as well as whatever else I have extra of or will create just to give away. Everything I leave will be on the comment book stand, so please do check out this little exhibit if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I had also rubber stamped the comment book with the Rick Geary images of Louise Brooks and Buster Keaton, and somebody responded with a little drawing of LB. Very cool!  And somebody else wrote that they had visited the show while visiting from Pittsburgh, PA. Thank you all for stopping by.

Long live Lulu - Lulu Forever.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Wichita screenings

Four of Louise Brooks'  films will be screened in Wichita, Kansas in early December. The Louise C. Murdock Center has announced that they will be showing Diary of a Lost Girl (on December 7), Pandora's Box (on December 8), and The Show Off and Prix de Beaute (on December 9).

The 20th Century Center, incorporating the Louise C. Murdock Theatre, is located at 536 N. Broadway in Wichita, just one block north of Central on Broadway. More info can be found at http://www.murdocktheatre.com/

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Love em and Leave em

A FREE EVENT: Tuesday - November 21st in San Francisco - A screening of the rarely shown 1926 Louise Brooks flapper comedy, "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em,'' at 6 p.m. at the San Francisco Public Library (Koret Auditorium), 100 Larkin Street in San Francisco. More info at (415) 557-4400 or http://sfpl4.sfpl.org.  And while you are there, take in the Louise Brooks exhibit, "Homage to Lulu: 100 Years of Louise Brooks," which is currently on display on the 4th floor.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Pandora's Box in Milwaukee

This is how the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes tonight's free screening of Pandora's Box on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus. So succinct!

German classic: Selfish behavior leads to tragic consequences in G.W. Pabst's 1929 silent film "Pandora's Box" starring Louise Brooks. 7 p.m. UWM Union Theatre, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd. Free.
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