Showing posts with label Kansas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kansas. Show all posts

Monday, November 14, 2022

Happy birthday to Louise Brooks BOTD in 1906

Happy birthday to the dancer, silent film star and 20th century icon Louise Brooks, who was born on this day in 1906 in Cherryvale, Kansas. Not surprisingly, little (Mary) Louise Brooks started getting press from the day she was born. The first image shown below, a clipping dated November 14, 1906, comes from the Cherryvale Daily Republican. It is followed by another clipping, from the Cherryvale Daily News, which appeared that same day on the newspaper's front page.

 

And a few years later ....



The Louise Brooks Society blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society. (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2022. Further unauthorized use prohibited.

Saturday, September 3, 2022

Overland Stage Raiders to be shown at the Cherryvale Historical Museum

Louise Brooks last film, Overland Stage Raiders (1938), will be shown on September 3 at the Cherryvale Historical Museum, 215 E. Fourth St., in Cherryvale, Kansas. The a 55-minute western, which stars John Wayne and the Three Mesquiteers, will be shown on the lawn outside the museum beginning at about 7:45 p.m. 



Tuesday, January 11, 2022

On this day in 1922 in the life history of Louise Brooks

Nineteen twenty-two was a pivotal year in the life of Louise Brooks. It was a whirlwind year. Brooks was a teenager, just 15 at the beginning of the year, and she was following her passion for dance while performing in local theaters and before clubs and civic organizations in her hometown of Wichita, Kansas. By the end of the year, she was a member of the prestigious Denishawn Dance Company, touring the United States and performing alongside such dance greats as Martha Graham, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn. This blog commences a new series of posts documenting significant happenings in Brooks' life on this day one-hundred years ago.

* * * * * *

On this day in 1922 in the life history of Louise Brooks . . . . Brooks, along with other students from the Mills-Fischer School of Dance and Dramatic Arts, attends a performance in nearby Hutchinson, Kansas by dance legend Anna Pavlova and her Ballet Russe. The Mills referenced in the name of the dance school was none other than Alice Mills, who was immortalized as "The Chaperone" in Laura Moriarty's splendid novel of the same name which centers on Brooks and events in her life in 1922.


What a remarkable happenstance -- the coming together of two iconic figures of the 20th century. Its only equivalent was when Ruth St. Denis took Brooks and the other Denishawn dancers to see Isadora Duncan perform.

In case you are not familiar with Pavlova (or Pavlowa), she was one of the great dancers of the 20th century. Her Wikipedia entry begins, "Anna Pavlovna was born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova (12 February 1881 – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev. Pavlova is most recognized for her creation of the role of The Dying Swan and, with her own company, became the first ballerina to tour around the world, including performances in South America, India and Australia." Her likeness and legend are commemorated in artwork all around the world. 

Monday, September 20, 2021

Myra Brooks, leading Wichita book reviewer

Like her daughter Louise, Myra Brooks was a reader of books. And what's more, she was also a reviewer of books. On and off from the mid-to-late 1930s through the early 1940s, Myra appeared before various groups in Wichita speaking about new and recent releases. She also spoke about the news of the day, classical music - especially Richard Wagner, and other topics of interest. Myra's talks were given in local halls and auditoriums, hotel meeting rooms, restaurants, and in private homes.

The clipping shown here, from March 1941, notes Myra would talk about Art of Living, by the noted French writer Andre Maurois. The book is an inspirational title, not unlike some of the other books Myra read and reviewed. Evidently, Louise's Mother decided to review this book after Maurois, a famous novelist at the time and someone still read today, spoke in Wichita a month earlier in February.

The article goes on to state that Myra is a popular book reviewer known throughout Kansas. This was at a time when daily newspapers like the Wichita Eagle did not, generally speaking, review books. (One notable exception back then was the New York Times.) If one wanted to learn about new books, one might have to subscribe to a magazine that ran reviews, or, attend a local book club or study group. Myra, in fact, was a member of a few different groups, including the Study Guild which discussed the news of the day, as well as the Saturday Afternoon Musical Club which discussed opera and classical music.

Based on newspaper clippings which I recently came across, here are some of the titles and topics Myra Brooks spoke about. (A few clippings noted Myra would speak, but did not specify which book or topic. Lacking specifics, I didn't list those happenings.) Myra Brooks got a fair amount of press in Wichita, which must have been gratifying, as her contract as a speaker with the Redpath Chautauqua had not renewed back in 1927. She was also popular, and held her own against the competition, as th clipping below shows. What is also notable is the quality of books Myra Brooks spoke about. Like Andre Maurois, many of these authors are still known and  read today.

January 1934  reviews The Meaning of Culture by John Cowper Powys for the R.E.D. Club (at the Y.M.C.A) 

April 1934  reviews Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain for the Tuesday morning book review club

November 1934  reviews Nijinsky by Romola Nijinsky for the Social Order of Beauceant

December 1934  reviews Nijinsky by Romola Nijinsky for the Twentieth Century Club

December 1934  reviews Nijinsky by Romola Nijinsky for the R.E.D. Club (at the Y.M.C.A)

December 1934  reviews Stars Fell on Alabama by Carl Carmer for the Current Book club

January 1935  reviews The Life of Nijinsky by Lucy Moore for the Leal Book club

January 1935  reviews The Biography of Richard Wagner for the Sedgwick County Medical auxiliary; Brooks also played some of her records of Wagner's music

February 1935  reviews Heaven is My Destination by Thorton Wilder for The Current Book Club 

April 1935  reviews The Life of Nijinsky by Lucy Moore for the Monday Book Review club

April 1935  speaks on the operas of Richard Wagner at a concert honoring the composer at the University of Wichita; news reports state the auditorium was filled

May 1935  reviews Phantom Crown by Bertita Harding at a tea party held for the Girl Reserves

May 1935  reviews The Biography of Richard Wagner for a local chapter of the Daughter of the American Revolution; Otto Fischer plays Wagner on the piano

May 1935  speaks on the operas of Richard Wagner at a concert at the University of Wichita


October 1935 
reviews Mary, Queen of Scots by Stephan Zweig for the Social Order of Beauceant; preceding the review, Myra Brooks spoke for 20 minutes on current events 

December 1935  reviews A Personal History by an unknown author for the Social Order of Beauceant

January 1936  reviews an unknown title for the pledges of Alpha Tau Sigma

February 1936  reviews A Women's Best Years by W. Beran Wolfe for the Social Order of Beauceant 


March 1936  reviews The Dupont Dynasty by John K. Winkler for the Social Order of Beauceant 

April 1936   reviews The End of Summer (a play) by S.N. Behrman for the Social Order of Beauceant; preceding the review, Myra Brooks spoke for 20 minutes on current events  

April 1936  reviews an unknown book for the members of the Osteopathic Women's club

April 1936   participates (as a numerologist) in a numerology coffee put on by the Iota Mu chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha

April 1936  talks on a "Biography of Cosima Wagner" at The Current Book Club

May 1936  reviews Sparkenbroke by Charles Morgan for the Social Order of Beauceant 

November 1936  reviews Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell for the Iota Mu chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha (at the Lassen Hotel); at least five to six dozen attend the event

November 1936  reviews I am the Fox by Winifred Van Etten for the College Hill P.T.A. (at the College Hill School auditorium)

December 1936  reviews Inside Europe by John Gunther for the Iota Mu chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha (at the Lassen Hotel); at least five to six dozen attend the event

January 1937  performs selections from The Ring of the Niebelung with Otto Fischer on the piano at a meeting of the Kansas Bar Association

February 1937  reviews The Street of Fishing Cats by Jolán Földes for the Iota Mu chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha (at the Lassen Hotel)

February 1937  gives a lecture recital about Cosima Wagner, assisted by Otto Fischer on the piano at the Twentieth Century Club (the Wichita Eagle reported that Myra Brooks wore a "stunning floor length gown of black satin"

March 1937  reviews Phantom Crown by Bertita Harding for the Iota Mu chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha (at the Lassen Hotel)

March 1937  reviews The Street of Fishing Cats by Jolán Földes at a meeting of the Oxford Art Club

October 1937  Myra Brooks and Otto Fischer perform in Coffeyville at the Coffeyville Matinee Music club 

October 1937  Myra Brooks and Otto Fischer perform a program of music by Richard Wagner at Friends of Contemporary Music in Wichita

November 1937  give a lecture recital with Otto Fischer of music by Richard Wagner at a meeting of Job's Daughters (at the York Rite Temple)

November 1937  Myra Brooks and Otto Fischer perform a two-piano transcription of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Niebelung at The Current Book Club

December 1937  Myra Brooks and Otto Fischer give recital of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Niebelung at the University of Wichita

December 1937  gives a presentation of a number of current biographies at the Wichita Art Association

March 1938  reviews The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang at an art class at Wichita Art Museum

April 1938  reviews The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang at The Current Book Club

March 1939  reviews Prohibiting Poverty by Prestonia Martin at The Current Book Club

November 1939  reviews My America by Louis Adamic at The Current Book Club

January 1940  speaks on "music in the European capitals since the outbreak of World War II" at the Saturday Afternoon Musical Club

March 1940  reviews an unknown book at the Wichita Art Museum

April 1940  gives a lecture recital about Cosima Wagner, assisted by Otto Fischer on the piano, at the Study Guild

May 1940  lectures on Pagliacci, an Italian opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo, at the Music Study Group 

July 1941  lectures on the Ring Operas, specifically Die Walkure, at which she played recordings including Wotan's Farewell sung by Lawrence Tibbett, at a Study Guild meeting (at Droll's English Grill)

September 1941 lectures on "What Every Woman Wants to Know" at a Study Guild meeting (at Droll's English Grill)

November 1941  reviews The Voyage by Charles Morgan

January 1942  reviews From Many Lands by Louis Adamic at The Current Book Club 

 ++++++

Louise Brooks returned home to Wichita in August of 1940. Around that same time, Myra Brooks' book reviewing began to taper off. Myra, who shared her interests and passions with her daughter as well as the he people of Wichita, passed away at the age of 60 in 1944.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

A follow-up to Louise Brooks and the mystery of missing time

In my last post, I wrote about two little documented periods in the life of Louise Brooks. One of them was the couple three weeks Brooks spent in Paris, France in the Fall of 1924. She had gone there with Barbara Bennett, and not long after their arrival, Bennett decided to return to the United States. Suddenly on her own, and with little money, the 18 year old Brooks was at loose ends.

According to Brooks, she was sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Edouard VII (39 Av. de l'Opéra) in Paris when Archie Selwyn encountered her. The well connected American producer persuaded her to go with him to London, where he got her a job dancing at the Cafe de Paris in London. According to the International Herald Tribune, Selwyn was reported to be in Paris as of October 14; he was in Paris with his wife and staying at the Hotel Claridge (37 Rue François), working to secure a contract with the Spanish singing star Raquel Meller, who is performing in Paris to great acclaim at the Palace.

So, now we know how Brooks got to London (where she lived at 49A Pall Mall) and how she got a job at the Cafe de Paris (3-4 Coventry St.), at which she began dancing on October 20. On October 21, 1924, Variety reports that Brooks was "cordially received upon opening last night at the Cafe de Paris cabaret," and that Layton & Johnstone have returned to the establishment for an extended engagement.

From January 1925, the first depiction of Louise Brooks in a European publication. As this early portrait doesn't show up in American publications, I am going to assume it was taken in London.

News sometimes travels slow, especially in small-town Kansas. On November 6th, the Burden Times from Burden, Kansas reported that the Cherryvale Republican reports that the Wichita press reports that Brooks was in Paris, France. The Burden paper notes, "Her departure from France was sudden and her parents have not received a letter from her since her arrival in Paris." Unfortunately, the Cherryvale Republican is not available for 1924, and I am not sure it is even extant. Thus, I cannot trace the lineage of the reportage mentioned in the article pictured here.


Friday, September 3, 2021

An account of Louise Brooks 1940s Wichita interlude

This post is the third in a series highlighting newly available material uncovered as more issues of the various Wichita newspapers have come online. As mentioned, I have been systematically plowing through them, gleaming bits of new information, some of which I have been adding to my extensive three part chronology on the Louise Brooks Society website beginning at Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1906-1939. This material focuses on the early 1940s, when Louise Brooks returned to Wichita after giving up o Hollywood. For more on this period in Brooks' life, see Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1940-1985.

In early 1940, Louise Brooks was a resident of Los Angeles. She was living in a modest apartment, and trying to eek out a living. She and her business partner Barrett O'Shea ran a dance studio, which at best was only moderately successful. She and O'Shea also did occasional exhibition dancing, as when on April 20 they danced at the Arrowhead Spring Hotel in nearby San Bernadino. Things came crashing down when in June Los Angeles newspapers reported that Brooks and other "Hollywood folk" had been the victim of a con-man / swindler. Brooks lost $2,000, then a considerable amount of money.

With little seemingly to keep her (Brooks' acting career had come to a halt), the one time silent film actress left Hollywood and returned home to Wichita in August. By September, the Wichita papers were carrying stories about the Brooks new career, as a dancer and dance instructor. 

To Brooks, who had toured the United States as a Denishawn dancer and had been celebrated as an actress and screen beauty around the world, Wichita must have seemed a comedown. But still, she carried on. She also had to earn a living. 

The Wichita newspapers reported that Brooks and a new partner, Hal McCoy, had opened a dance studio. They also reported on their various engagements. On September 23, 1940, Brooks and Hal McCoy dance at the Crestview Country Club in Wichita, Kansas during a program sponsored by the College Hill Business association. On October 21, Brooks and Hal McCoy dance at the Young Republican meeting at the state's Central Republican headquarters. Hundreds turned out according to local press reports. The event celebrated National Young Voters for Wilkie Day, which was being observed throughout the nation. A broadcast speech by Wendell Wilkie was heard. On October 27, the Wichita Eagle reports that Brooks was enlisted by the Wichita Country Club to instruct locals on new dances including the Conga and Rumba, with the first such instruction taking place October 29.

On November 7, local newspapers report that Brooks is among the local talent participating in a benefit musical for crippled children for Wesley Hospital. On November 14 (her 34th birthday), Brooks speaks about and demonstrates new dances (the tango, rhumba, conga, etc...) at the Wichita Little Theater as part of its workshop program. And on November 24, a classified advertisement for Brooks' self-published booklet, The Fundamental of Good Ballroom Dancing, begins running in the Wichita Eagle. The ad runs nearly every day for a month.


All this activity likely didn't add up to much. We can't be sure how many dance engagements the Brooks - McCoy team had, but it wasn't likely very many. In January of 1941, Brooks ran an advertisement for what today may be called a life coach. The advertisement in the Wichita Eagle promotes private Tuesday morning classes in which Brooks offers "a rare opportunity to reap the benefits of her career among the most fascinating women of the theatre, screen, and society. Learn the way to grace and dominant sureness...." The depression was still on, and Brooks, likely in need of money, was trading on her onetime fame.


Brooks continued on continuing on. The second world war had begun in Europe. On March 28, Brooks participates in a benefit for Greek war relief at the Miller theater in Wichita. Brooks originated a comedy jitterbug number performed by locals Jim Kefner and Jack Walker. Advertisements for the event credit the Louise Brooks Dancing School. And on April 29, Brooks demonstrated ballroom and South American dances at Jubilesta, a fundraiser for the local P.T.A. and student council of the Wichita high school East. According to press reports, Brooks directed a student conga chain. Funds raised by the event went toward the purchase of a movie screen for the school.

For Brooks, the sky fell in again on May 21, 1941. According to Wichita press reports, Brooks was involved in an automobile accident when the car she is traveling in overturned after encountering an oil slick on South Hillside, just outside Wichita city limits. The car was badly damaged, and Brooks was treated at St. Francis Hospital. "Hospital attendants said that she suffered a three -inch laceration on the scalp and numerous bruises. Miss Brooks said attending physicians shaved a portion of her head to stitch the wound. 'I hate to lose my hair worse than to suffer the hurts,' Miss Brooks said." 

Reporting by then old news in her nationally syndicated gossip column, Dorothy Kilgallen wrote in June: "Louise Brooks, the silent screen star, suffered severe burns recently. Had all her hair singed off." In November, Kilgallen again gave a shout-out to Brooks, writing the actress was "stranded in Wichita, Kan. and s-o-s-ing friends for any kind of job."

Evidently, Brooks attempt to establish a career as a dancer & dance instructor in Wichita had fizzled. In August of 1942, Brooks was hired as a sales girl at Garfields, a department store in Wichita. Brooks works the accessories counter. By the middle of September, Brooks employment at Garfields had come to an end. That Fall, there was also a press report that Brooks helped students at Wichita University stage a skit for their forthcoming Spring Celebration. Brooks was once again at loose ends. 

In January of 1943, wealthy New York investment banker Albert Archer calls Brooks in Wichita, and she asks him to wire her the money to get to New York. Some four days later, Brooks departs Wichita by train, with a stop in Chicago. On January 15, she arrived in New York City. Her Wichita interlude had come to an end.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Little known 1931 interview with Louise Brooks uncovered

It's rare these days when a truly "new" (meaning little seen) image or magazine clipping about Louise Brooks comes to light. Many of the images which circulate online are "recycled" from past posts on eBay or Facebook or Pinterest or a blog or website, including this. But still, new material occasionally comes to light.

Just recently, additional years of the two main Wichita newspapers have come online. I have been systematically plowing through them, gleaming bits of new information, some of which I have been adding to my extensive three part chronology on the Louise Brooks Society website beginning at Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1906-1939 part 1

I was a bit gobsmacked when I came across a new-to-me May 1931 interview with Louise Brooks which appeared in the Wichita Eagle and which contains a new-to-me portrait of the star. The occasion for the piece, "Pajamas the Latest Thing in Hollywood, Wichita Star Says," was Brooks return to Wichita for a brief, three day visit. A reporter caught wind or her arrival, and spoke with the star at her parent's home.


 


 

Aside from a factual error, i.e., the fact that Brooks was a Paramount actress and not a First National star, what I find remarkable about this piece is Brooks' candor. The anonymous reporter asked about Hollywood trends and hairstyles, and after asking about pajamas, Brooks referenced Marlene Dietrich, her supposed rival for the role of Lulu. I wish she had said more.

Brooks seemingly refused to comment ("was non-committal") when asked to dish further Hollywood gossip, but she did let slip on hot Hollywood couple of the moment Estelle Taylor and Jack Dempsey, who she apparently said where having difficulty over money matters. And regarding Clara Bow, for whom Brooks had a genuine affection, she said the "titian-haired star" had suffered a nervous breakdown and was recovering in a sanatorium and "hiding away from blackmailers." To be sure, the marriage difficulties experienced by Taylor and Dempsey were reported on in the press, as was Bow's emotional distress and trouble with those who sought to exploit her. But that fact that Brooks mentioned them specifically suggests to me a personal awareness of those star's public difficulties.

At the time Brooks gave this interview, she was only 25 years old, yet she speaks like an old-timer pointing out the behavior of the young whipper snappers nipping at her heals. "Really life among the stars who are really big in their profession is as matter-of-fact as that of any prosperous and highly respected business man," Brooks declared. "Take a party in Hollywood, for instance," Brooks continued. "The kids and newcomers to the screen. who don't really amount to much, throw wild parties and get their names over the front pages, but the really worthwhile people there have dinner, play bridge and go home early so that they can be fit for the next day's work in the studios." Either Brooks or the reporter who transcribed this interview really liked the word "really."

The newspaper reporter was likely tasked with asking Brooks about something more than just Hollywood gossip. That newsworthy something was a concern shared by everyone everywhere in the country. In 1931, the one thing on everyone's mind was the depression then ransacking the nation. Brooks seems to have had a real awareness of the hurt everyday people were suffering, including those in the bubble known as Hollywood. The article notes, "The depression which has slowed down business over the United States the past year is just now being felt in the film colonies, Miss Brooks said. Several hundred workmen have been laid off in the various studios and the production of pictures has slowed down considerably in the last few weeks." The pieces continues, and Brooks exaggerates a bit to make a point. "Actors and actresses are also taking the depression more seriously than many suspect. Instead of rushing out and buying a couple of Rolls Royces out of one pay check, they save their money and invest it in something that will pay good dividends, she declared." Unfortunately, Brooks didn't act as cautiously as she said others did. She was something of a live-for-today spendthrift. In 1932, she declared bankruptcy.

By the time Brooks gave this interview, she had completed work on three films, each of which were released in 1931. It is interesting that Brooks said at the end of the piece that she would be out of pictures for a year, as she hoped to act on the stage. Her stage work, in a NYC production of Norma Krasna’s comedy, Louder, Please, came to naught. Brooks did not return to pictures for five years, when she appeared in the Buck Jones western, Empty Saddles.

By the way, Louise's pretty younger sister, June, who is pictured in the clipping above, never had the Hollywood career she had once hoped for and is mention at the end of the article. She ended up going to college at Wichita State University before eventually relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Friday, March 13, 2020

Louise Brooks and the Coronavirus of 1918 (an addendum)

Ace Louise Brooks researcher Philip Vorwald provided some additional information about Louise Brooks' mystery illness, as referenced in the previous LBS blog, "Louise Brooks and the Coronavirus of 1918." (See update below.)

In that blog, I described the Spanish Flu which ravaged the United States at the end of WWI, adding "Wherever this strain of influenza came from, it effected everyday life and must have been on everyone's mind, even little Louise Brooks, who was born in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906. By all accounts, she was a healthy child, but on November 29, 1917 the Cherryvale Republican newspaper reported that Brooks had been out of school for more than a month due to illness. The nature of her illness is not known, though given the historical context, one might suspect a serious case of the flu."

Garfield school building in 1913

In the previous blog, I also supplied the clipping from the Cherryvale newspaper, which actually ran twice, the first time on November 23, and the second time on November 29. The wording on each news bit was the same, even down to Louise's expected "return next Monday." The November 23rd clipping is shown below.


Philip Vorwald emailed with some additional details, including scans of Louise's report card from the time. Of course, they don't tell us from what the 11 year old suffered - scarlet fever has also been suggested - but they do show just how long Louise was out of school.


Philip wrote, "After I read your blog today, I went back to her report cards from elementary school in Cherryvale, and found the absent days in sixth grade, 1917-1918....

There are six "six week" periods of the 1917-1918 school year. Louise's report card shows her completely missing the "2nd" six week school period; no grades at all. Curiously, no absent days are recorded either though. If the "1st" six week period began at the beginning of September, then this missing "2nd" period would have begun in the third week of October, 1917, and run through November, which now matches the November 29 description of five weeks, and back to school."



Whatever caused Louise to be out of school for so long is uncertain, but it must have been worrisome for her parents. The Brooks family left Cherryvale for Independence in the summer of 1918. The Independence newspaper reported that Louise enrolled in school on September 8, 1918. (For more on LB's daily life at the time, see "Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1906-1939 part 1" on the Louise Brooks Society website.)


Despite a sense of normalcy, the flu effected daily life throughout much of 1918 and into 1919. Articles like this appeared in the local newspaper.


UPDATE: Documentary filmmaker Charlotte Siller has identified the illness which led to Louise Brooks missing school as typhoid fever.

Want to know how the Spanish Flu effected your hometown in 1918? If you have access to newspapers.com or newspaperarchive.com, or if your local library has digital access to the later, or a run of your local newspaper from the time - try doing a search using the year 1918 and the keyword "influenza."

Monday, July 15, 2019

An Early Glimpse at Louise Brooks' Wichita, Kansas

On May 1, 1924 Louise Brooks was in New Brunswick, New Jersey -- performing at the Rivoli Theatre as a member of the Denishawn Dance Company. Some five days later, she was dismissed from the company by Ruth St. Denis, bringing an end to a glorious beginning to her professional life as a dancer and actress.

Had she not left her home to join Denishawn in the summer of 1922, the 17 year old Brooks might have been among the crowds lining the streets to watch the Boys Loyalty Parade as it marched down Douglas Avenue in downtown Wichita on May 1, 1924.

A few days ago, the Wichita Eagle broke the news about a rare five minute film documenting that very parade, offering rare glimpses of the very streets a teenage Brooks knew as home. According to the Wichita eagle, the recently discovered "five-minute clip, now posted on the [Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum's] YouTube Channel, shows a snapshot of life in Wichita 95 years ago. In it, hundreds of people in dresses, suits and hats fashionable in the day are lined up along the 100 block and 200 blocks of East Douglas watching as men and boys in suit jacks, ties and page boy caps proceed down the street representing various groups, including schools like Hamilton, Allison and Horace Mann and groups like the Lions Club and Boy Scouts."

Something that jumps out to me are the handful of young women wearing bobbed hair and bangs, similar to the style Brooks wore while attending high school in Wichita. One young women in particular is readily apparent in the lower left hand corner of the frame through out the beginning of this appropriately silent film.



The description of the film on Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum's YouTube page reads: "Parade on the 100 block of East Douglas looking west towards the Broadview Hotel (view of the Holland Theater, 118 E. Douglas and the Rothenberg at 128) and looking East to the Eaton Hotel and beyond (including the Kress at 224 and Innes at 300). Officials view the parade from a viewing platform in front of the Kansas Theater (221) the Walk-Over boot Shop (219) and Taylor's Cafeteria (217 E Douglas). Groups in the parade include the American Indian Institute, Kiwanis and Lions Clubs, YMCA, Boy Scouts, Allison, Roosevelt, Hamilton, Harry Street, Ingalls, Horace Mann, and Cathedral schools, unidentified group of African American young men, and an unidentified girls and boys band. Most are on foot, but some ride bicycles. Street cars are in some scenes. Later footage shows the group swearing allegiance to the flag in what looks like a park.Boys' Loyalty Parade was sponsored by the Wichita Rotary Club."

I don't know that Brooks ever saw a movie at the Holland or Kansas theaters (mentioned above), or got a bite to eat at Taylor's Cafeteria  -- but she did go to Horace Mann school and was a member of the local girl scouts. This bit of film brings us that much closer to experiencing and understanding her early life. Here is a rare image of Louise Brooks, taken from her sophomore high school yearbook., followed by another rare image.


To learn more about the silent film star's early days, visit Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1906-1939 part 1 on the Louise Brooks Society website.

Sunday, June 9, 2019

Norwood Public Library hosts The Chaperone reading group on June 19

The Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts will host a reading group on June 19 to discuss The Chaperone. More information can be found HERE.

Turn the Page Book Group - The Chaperone
Wednesday, June 1910:00—11:00 AM Simoni Room Morrill Memorial Library 33 Walpole St., Norwood, MA, 02062

The Morrill Memorial Library’s monthly Turn the Page Book Group will meet on Wednesday, June 19 at 10 am and 7 pm to discuss The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. The library describes the book as "A novel about the friendship between an adolescent, pre-movie-star Louise Brooks, and the 36-year-old woman who chaperones her to New York City for a summer, in 1922, and how it changes both their lives."

A New York Times bestseller and the USA Today #1 Hot Fiction Pick, The Chaperone is a captivating account of the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in the summer of 1922. It was recently made into a feature film starring Elizabeth McGovern by the creators of Downton Abbey.

Copies of the book in a number of formats will be available to pick up at the Circulation Desk. Light refreshments will be served.

To sign up for either the morning or evening session, led by Patty Bailey and first-time guest host Geri Harrold, please call 781-769-0200, x110, or stop by the library Reference or Information desk. Well more than half of the seats are taken for this highly anticipated event.

#####

On a not unrelated note, author Laura Moriarty was recently on "One on One with Victor Hogstrom," a television show on the local PBS affiliate (KPTS Channel 8) in Wichita, Kansas. In the thirty minute show, Moriarty discusses the mission of her novels. She also talks about The Chaperone, the novel she wrote about a certain Kansas-born film star that has been made into a new movie.


Friday, May 31, 2019

Louise Brooks segment on "Positively Kansas" TV show

Louise Brooks can rightly be called a persistent star. And with the recent release of The Chaperone, this now more-famous-than-ever silent film actress is enjoying renewed attention. As Positively Kansas host Sierra Scott says, "She is once again a movie star more than 30 years after her death."



A segment devoted to Louise Brooks featured on a recent airing of Positively Kansas is now online. This episode of the Wichita TV show is worth watching, and not just because it includes your's truly, Thomas Gladysz, director of the Louise Brooks Society (via Skype), as well as local Kansas commentators.


Episode 509 of Positively Kansas was first broadcast on KPTS Channel 8, the PBS affiliate in Wichita, Kansas on May 31, 2019. The episode's descriptor reads in part, "See why a famous silent film star from Wichita is more popular than ever, decades after her death." The show gets most all of it's facts right, except for one glaring error. During the segment discussing Brooks' childhood, an image of a young girl is shown that is NOT Louise Brooks. This image has shown up elsewhere and is said to be a youthful Brooks, but it ain't. It's just a sweet looking girl with a dutch boy haircut.



Otherwise, the approximately eight minute segment devoted to Brooks has a good selection of images along with brief film clips from Pandora's Box and It's the Old Army Game.

Do all local PBS affiliates have their own local interest show? Has WXXI, the PBS affiliate in Rochester, New York done anything recently on the timelessness of Louise Brooks? Brooks lived in Rochester during the last decades of her life, and used to watch a fair amount of television, especially old movies, cultural programs, and informational shows like they might have shown on PBS in the 1960s and 1970s.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Louise Brooks inspired film The Chaperone shows in Lawrence, Kansas on April 18th

A special preview screening of the new film, The Chaperone, based on the best-selling book by  author Laura Moriarty and adapted by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, will take place at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, Kansas on April 18th. [The film opens in Lawrence the following day.]

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Lawrence author Laura Moriarty & moderator Laura Kirk. Books will be available for sale & signing. More information about the event may be found HERE.

This special event marks a return of-a-kind to Lawrence by Louise Brooks. As a member of Denishawn, Brooks danced in Lawrence on Friday, February 1, 1924 at the Bowersock Theatre, which was later renamed Liberty Hall. More background on the book and film can be heard on this Kansas Public Radio program featuring an interview with Laura Moriarty. Click on the LINK to listen.


Synopsis: Louise Brooks, the 1920s silver screen sensation who never met a rule she didn’t break, epitomized the restless, reckless spirit of the Jazz Age. But, just a few years earlier, she was a 15 year-old student in Wichita, Kansas for whom fame and fortune were only dreams. When the opportunity arises for her to go to New York to study with a leading dance troupe, her mother (Victoria Hill) insists there be a chaperone. Norma Carlisle (Elizabeth McGovern), a local society matron who never broke a rule in her life, impulsively volunteers to accompany Louise (Haley Lu Richardson) to New York for the summer.

Director: Michael Engler
Writers: Julian Fellowes (screenplay by), Laura Moriarty (based on the book by)
Stars: Haley Lu Richardson, Elizabeth McGovern, Miranda Otto
Genre: Drama
Rated: Unrated
Running Time: 1h, 43min
Doors open 1 hour prior to showtime.
For  more information on Liberty Hall, visit www.libertyhall.net/about

Liberty Hall (then the Bowersock Theatre) as it looked around the time Louise Brook danced there as a
member of the Denishawn dance Company


Liberty Hall in 1925, which was then showing the Colleen Moore film, The Perfect Flapper


Liberty Hall today, which will host the first Kansas screening of The Chaperone

Friday, November 18, 2016

Happy Birthday to Fave Rave Bruce Conner

Bruce Conner was born on this day in 1933 in McPherson, Kansas, and raised in Wichita, Kansas.

This great American artist, who passed away in 2008, is still renowned for his work in painting, drawing, sculpture, assemblage, collage, photography, and performance, among other disciplines. Though primarily a visual artist, Conner is perhaps best known for his work as a film maker. His short 16mm and 35mm experimental films like “Report” (1963-1967), “Breakaway” (1966), and “Crossroads” (1976) are each a mini tour-de-force. And so is his first work in the field, a 16mm non-narrative short titled “A Movie” (1958). In 1991, it was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.


Conner is currently the subject of a major retrospective exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (through January 22, 2017). The exhibit, "Bruce Conner: It's All True," opened at the New York Museum of Modern Art, where it received a rave review in the New York Times, which called it an "extravaganza" and "a massive tribute." Times critic Roberta Smith called Conner a "polymathic nonconformist" who was "one of the great outliers of American Art" and who "fearlessly evolved into one of America’s first thoroughly multidisciplinary artists."

After having seen the exhibit in San Francisco, I wrote about it in the Huffington Post.

It's worth noting that Conner had a not uncritical nostalgic affection for old Hollywood. He obliquely appropriated imagery and themes from pulp and pop culture. Witness the works in "Bruce Conner: It's All True" with titles like "St. Valentine's Day Massacre / Homage to Errol Flynn" (1960), “Homage to Mae West” (1961), “Homage to Jean Harlow” (1963), and "Son of the Sheik" (1963), as well as others not includes in this retrospective. Granted, these works are not "about" the movie stars or films they reference, but that doesn't mean they are not an intentional oblique nod.


Conner also had a lifelong interest in his fellow Kansan, Louise Brooks. On more than one occasion, he told me so. They both grew up in Wichita. Conner was also familiar with the biography of the actress by Barry Paris.

Back in 1997, I mounted a small exhibit about Louise Brooks at a small neighborhood cafe here in San Francisco. Conner, who lived in the next neighborhood over, read about it in the local paper and visited the exhibit. (So did the artist known as Jess.) Conner must have appreciated my little exhibit, which was made up of film stills, vintage magazine covers, sheet music, and other ephemera I had collected. Conner even wrote a note in the guestbook. I was wowed, and flattered, to say the least, as I had long been interested in Bruce Conner's art. (I can't really fix a date on the beginning of my deep interest in the artist, but it could date to around the time I read Rebecca Solnit's brilliant 1990 book, Secret Exhibition: Six California Artists of the Cold War Era.) Well, anyways, here is that note.



Sometime later, Conner and I got in touch, at first by phone and then in person. Eventually we met, and he had me over to his San Francisco home, where at his kitchen table and in between phone calls from friends like Dennis Hopper, Conner told me of his "near encounter" with Brooks. Conner also told me of his involvement with early showings of her films in San Francisco. It was information, it seemed to me, he was desirous to pass on.

Their near encounter took place around 1942 (as best I can date it), after Brooks left Hollywood and returned to Wichita, where the one time world famous film star moved back in with her parents. It was not a harmonious scene, as Brooks was flat broke and the world (including gossiping locals) had deemed her a failure. As a former Denishawn dancer and Ziegfeld showgirl, Brooks knew how to move with grace, and so, she opened a dance studio in downtown Wichita in a half-hearted attempt to earn some money. Conner, still just a boy, was aware that a movie star was in town (there were articles in the local paper), and he told me he took to keeping on eye on her dance studio. Conner admitted to spying on the studio, watching Brooks come and go. Conner even drew a map of the area, marking the location of Brooks' studio in the Dockum Building on East Douglas and its relationship to the theaters where Conner would go to the movies.

via wichitaksdailyphoto.blogspot.com

Conner also told me how, at one point, he wished to take dancing lessons from Brooks, but his parents would not allow it. Conner told me that it was because of Brooks' scandalous reputation, something no doubt talked about by neighbors. If I recall correctly, he also told me that his parents and other neighbors or  friends knew Brooks' and her family, and that this social circle of friends and acquaintances once encountered one another at a Wichita party, and a punch was thrown. Conner himself never got up the nerve to make contact with Brooks, telling how he once almost rang her doorbell.

In 2006, the Louise Brooks centenary was celebrated by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival when they showed a restoration of Louise Brooks' most celebrated film, Pandora's Box. I was asked to introduce the film, and to introduce Bruce Conner; the artist spoke about what the actress meant to him and his near encounter with this singular silent film star. Somewhere, there is video of this occasion at the Castro Theater in San Francisco before a sold-out audience of more than 1400 people. Here, at least, is a photograph.


In a sense, Louise Brooks is one of the great outliers in film history. And her films, like the art of Bruce Conner, has touched many. John Lennon, a kindred spirit to both, once wrote to Conner, “You don’t know me but I know you and you are my fave rave.” Happy birthday Bruce Conner.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Buster Keaton Festival in Iola, Kansas on Sept. 23 and 24

Here is some information about the upcoming Buster Keaton Festival in Iola, Kansas. Visit the Buster Keaton Celebration website for further details.


And here is a little something fans of Buster Keaton (the other great silent film star from Kansas) might enjoy, a two page spread from a 1927 Japanese film magazine.


Sunday, February 7, 2016

Some silent films Louise Brooks saw before she left Kansas

My recent research into Louise Brooks' early life has turned up some of the silent films the actress saw before she left Kansas. Here they are, and on the exact dates she saw them. Dates in italics are approximate within a few days.

Nov. 15, 1919
Hosts an outing for friends, who take in the Dorothy Gish comedy I’ll Get Him Yet at the Best Theatre, followed by lunch at the Sunflower Pharmacy (in Independence).

Token from the Sunflower Pharmacy in
Independence, Kansas.
Jan. 5, 1921
Sees Once to Every Woman, starring Dorothy Phillips and Rodolph Valentino, at the Regent theater in Wichita. The film is heavily promoted in the local papers, plays a full week, and reportedly brought tears to the eyes of many patrons. Brooks critiques the film in her diary.

Jan 12, 1921
Sees Passion, starring Pola Negri, at the Regent theater, which Brooks records in her diary as being “wonderful.” Advertisements in the local papers claim this is its first showing outside of New York.

Jan 25, 1921
Sees The Love Light, starring Mark Pickford, at the Wichita theater.

Feb. 21, 1921
Sees While New York Sleeps, starring Marc McDermott, at the Regent theater.

Feb. 24, 1921
See Worlds Apart, starring Eugene O’Brien, during its three day run at the Wichita theater.

The Princess theater in Wichita, Kansas.
March 10, 1921
Attends a line party with friends at the Wichita theater, where the group sees the locally popular film, Lying Lips, starring Florence Vidor and House Peters.

April 19, 1921
Sees Way Down East, starring Lillian Gish, in the company of her mother at the New Crawford Theater.

Sept. 13, 1921
Sees The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino, at the Princess theater. The film played a week, and its presentation featured an augmented orchestra.

Nov. 27, 1921
Sees The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino, at the Regent theater during its week-long run.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Alice Mills, The Chaperone, and Louise Brooks, the 15 year old dancer

Revealed here for the first time, pictures not seen in nearly 100 years, are two remarkable newspaper clippings. The first depicts Alice Mills, the Wichita, Kansas dance instructor who taught Louise Brooks and, as importantly, was the woman who chaperoned the 15 year old Brooks to New York City to study with Denishawn.


According to press reports from the time, Brooks was not the only local set to study with Denishawn; so did Mills. That may explain why Mills chaperoned Brooks, and not her mother, who was originally mentioned as the person who would accompany the aspiring 15 year old dancer. The stunning clipping shown below depicts Brooks shortly before she was to leave for NYC.


Tomorrow's post will contains some additional information on this turning point in Brooks' life, which is beautifully depicted in Laura Moriarty's novel, The Chaperone.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Louise Brooks in a two-act comedy, Mr. Bob, in 1921

On May 20, 1921, fourteen year old Louise Brooks played a lead role in a two-act comedy, Mr. Bob, which was staged in the auditorium of the Horace Mann intermediate school in Wichita, Kansas. Brooks played the role of Catherine Rogers.

Some 600 students attended the event. Below is a picture of the cast, which includes a seated, smiling Louise Brooks. She certainly stands out, at least in my eye, in the way she holds herself -- confident, relaxed.



I wasn't able to find much on Mr. Bob, except that it was royalty free and performed in a number of schools in the first few decades of the 20th century. I did a quick search, and managed to purchase an inexpensive copy from the turn of the last century. Here is a synopsis which I found online.







 
And here is a picture postcard of the Horace Mann school from 1920. Check in tomorrow for another blog post with another remarkable and little known image of the one and only Louise Brooks.



Wednesday, February 3, 2016

First known event advertisement to name Louise Brooks

Pictured here is what I believe to be the first newspaper advertisement to name Louise Brooks. This ad from May, 1919 states that Brooks -- then only 12 years old -- would appear in "The Progress of Peace," an allegorical pantomime featuring 50 characters. The ad notes that Brooks will perform a solo dance.

The event, held under the auspices of the local Y.W.C.A. under the direction of the women's committee of the Victory loan, was a benefit to further the sale of Liberty bonds, or what were known as war bonds. Vivian Jones, a childhood friend and the future actress known as Vivian Vance (of I Love Lucy fame), also took part. Jones played one of the "peoples of the world." Music was supplied by local Paul O. Goepfert and His Orchestra. And Eva Rude (Brooks' aunt) helped with costumes.

While living in Independence, Brooks studied gymnastics and aesthetic dancing with Mrs. May Argue Buckpitt, who wrote, directed and organized the pantomime. Brooks' contribution to "The Progress of Peace" was “The Gloating Dance of Destruction,” arranged by Mrs. Milburn Hobson, also from Independence.  According to press accounts from the time, a “large audience” turned out at the local Beldorf theater (pictured below).


According to the local newspaper, "The play dealt with Progress, rallying the peoples of the world to righteousness and truth, blesses them and gives them happiness. She is greatly perturbed by the coming of Destruction and Death" (played by Brooks). "Then the Peoples of the world are driven back and Progress is overcome. There is a call to arms and the Nations are mobilized. Belgium enters the fray and is back by the Allies, one by one. Columbia is supported by the Seven Assisting Organizations and the red Cross. The coming of Peace is represented in pantomime by the Allies and the Dance of the Dawn of Peace."

At the conclusion of the event, all of the cast as well as five old soldiers (Civil War? or from the Spanish American War?) and eight veterans of the then recent world war came on the stage.

This war/peace-themed event took place just 5 months after the end of the First World War, the "War to End All Wars." Admission to the benefit was 10 and 20 cents, which included an admission tax. I assume the admission tax was left over from the war, when movie theaters were taxed to raise funds for the war. (That tax continued into the 1920s; I have come across advertisements noting a "war tax" on performances by the Denishawn Dance Company while Brooks was a member.)



It's worth noting the ways in which the war in Europe impacted Brooks' youth -- both directly (like the two benefits she participated in), and indirectly (like the tax on movie theater admissions). As a bright youngster, she must have been very aware of the war and the many ways it affected daily life. As a youngster in Cherryvale, for example, Brooks had friends who came down with German measles, which during the war were known as "Liberty measles."

More importantly, Brooks knew a few men who served in the armed forces, among them neighbors in Cherryvale, as well as her cousin Robert Rude, of the 137th U.S. inf., Co. H., who was stationed at Camp Doniphan and who once visited the Brooks' family home while on a furlough.

Tomorrow's blog will look at another little known early Brooks' performance, and will include a rare image of Brooks not seen in nearly 100 years.
Powered By Blogger