Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark sings of Louise Brooks in Chile two years ago today

Two years ago today -- which seems like an eternity, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark played a concert at teatro La Cúpula in Santiago, Chile. During their show, they performed a bunch of their greatest hits including the much loved "Pandora's Box." That 1991 song, a tribute to the silent film star Louise Brooks, is known far and wide. As can be seen in this 2-2-19 concert clip, OMD fans in Santiago sing along in English to this song of Lulu. 


O.M.D. LIVE IN CHILE - Pandora's Box (Saturday, Feb. 2nd 2019)

It is worth noting that more than a handful of fans of Louise Brooks in the United States and England and Canada and elsewhere around the world have told me that their path to discovering the actress began with this OMD song. That is also the case with this Portuguese fan, who said as much during the recent listening party on twitter. 


 

A few days before OMD performed in Chile, they gave a concert in Lima, Peru at Domos Art, Costa Verde. And again, the crowd sang along in English.

  

OMD en Lima Peru "Pandora's Box"
( The Punishment of Luxury Tour )

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Remembering Chile

The earthquake which struck Chile earlier today is a terrible thing. Hundreds have died, and there is much damage in this thin strip of a country which hugs the western coast of South America. In our minds, and in our imaginations, Chile may seem far away. But it is not.

Even Louise Brooks' films played there. Here is a newspaper advertisement for the 1928 film, Beggars of Life. It showed at the Imperio theater in Santiago, Chile in December 1929 as Mendigos de la vida.

Remember Chile in your thoughts and prayers. And please donate to earthquake relief. Chile is our neighbor in the world.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

From Santiago, Chile

Returned to Berkeley today, where I went through more microfilm. This visit, I scanned two years (all of 1926 and 1927) of El Mercurio, a daily newspaper from Santiago, Chile. Things started slow. I went through six months and found nothing. My eyelids were growing heavy. I was fidgitting. I didn't feel well. And I thought about giving up when I came across a slew of material onLa Venus Americana. Wow. I was saved. El Mercurio ran illustrated articles (with incredibly long titles), like the one pictured above, three days in a row. A couple of other brief articles followed. As with the material I found in O Estado de S. Paulo ( link to earlier entry ), Brooks' second film seemed to be hot stuff in South America. I also found some typical theater advertisements, like this one.



From what I gathered, the Victoria was one of the main movie theaters in Santiago. This July 23, 1926 ad features La Venus Americana as the main attraction. The supporting film is La Calle del Olvido, better known to American audiences as The Street of Forgotten Men. I wonder if any patrons noticed the spunky, bobbed brunette who appeared in both films? (Who knows, perhaps Pablo Neruda was in the audience. I came across an article about the poet in my search through this Chilean newspaper.) My look through 1926 and 1927 also turned up a little material on two films featuring Adolph Menjou and Louise Brooks, Figaro en Sociedad (1926) and Las que no aman (1927). Can you guess the titles?

I plan to return to Berkeley once, perhaps twice more this month. Parts of the library are either moving or closing while the library building undergoes earthquake repairs.

Here is another interesting item I happened to spot. It's from El Mercurio from June, 1927. The name "Lulu" caught my eye. I have tried to figure out what film this might be, as Willy Fristch and Lucy Doraine were both European actors. (Is it a film, or a stage performance?) Does anyone have any idea what this is? I'm curious.

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