Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts

Saturday, March 16, 2024

A follow up to Louise Brooks and Los Angeles: Getting the facts straight about London and Paris

In the previous post, Louise Brooks and Los Angeles: Getting the facts straight, I pointed out one of a few  factual errors found on the Louise Brooks Wikipedia page.

As I note, the Wikipedia page on the actress states, "Brooks began her entertainment career as a dancer, joining the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts modern dance company in Los Angeles at the age of 15 in 1922." I pointed out that this statement is INCORRECT. In my post, I point out that Brooks went to New York City (not Los Angeles) to study at and then join Denishawn. History records as much, and Brooks herself said so in Lulu in Hollywood, one the sources incorrectly cited to support the incorrect Wiki statement. 

I am writing this post to point out yet another incorrect statement on the Louise Brooks Wikipedia page. The two sentences which follow the incorrect statement reads: "The company included founders Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, as well as a young Martha Graham. As a member of the globe-trotting troupe, Brooks spent a season abroad in London and in Paris." The first sentence, regarding who else were in the company, is correct. However, the second sentence is NOT. This sentence is supported by a reference to the same piece cited by the previous incorrect sentence, "Just a Prairie Flower," a 1926 Picture-Play article by Malcolm H. Oettinger.

The paragraph in "Just a Prairie Flower" which, apparently, is being cited reads, "One learned that the Brooks career had been given over generously to glob trotting. There had been a season in London at the Kit-Kat, and in Paris at the Casino, as a member of the Ruth St. Denis troupe." All I can say is ... don't believe everything you read, especially in a fan magazine. 

During Brooks' two seasons with Denishawn, the only globe trotting the troupe did was to perform in a few of the bigger cities in Canada, like Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kingston, and London, Ontario. (The Louise Brooks Society website features a short history of Louise Brooks and Denishawn, as well as the complete itineraries of her two seasons with the company.) While Brooks was in Denishawn, the dance company never went to Europe. And there was never a season in London and Paris.

After Brooks left Denishawn, she joined the George White Scandals, a Ziegfeld Follies like review in New York City. She was with them for just a few months when Brooks and her then best friend, Barbara Bennett, decided to take off for Europe. Brooks would spend about three weeks in Paris before heading for London, where a job for her was waiting not at the Kit-Kat club, but at the Cafe de Paris. A detailed account of this European adventure (mostly spent on her own, as Bennett soon returned home) can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website on the page titled, Louise Brooks at the Cafe de Paris in London. It contains some never before seen material, including the only known clipping from a London newspaper mentioning Brooks' appearance at the Cafe de Paris.

(In my research into Brooks' time in Europe at the end of 1924, I have never found that she was employed or worked while in Paris -- likely she had little money and was hanging out in hotel lobbies hoping someone might come along and help her -- which is what happened.)

Why did Malcolm H. Oettinger (a furniture salesman and sometime free-lance writer) state in 1926 that Brooks had spent "a season in London at the Kit-Kat, and in Paris at the Casino, as a member of the Ruth St. Denis troupe." He likely got his facts mixed up, or thought it sounded a bit more glamorous then Brooks' actual account. 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

A Significant Discovery - Louise Brooks First Ever Pic in a European Publication

Lately, I have been updating, revising, and adding pages to the Louise Brooks Society website. One of the pages I just added, "Louise Brooks at the Café de Paris in London",  focused on the few months the future actress spent in London, England in late 1924 and early 1925. I thought the page was done, and that nothing more might be added, when I made a significant discovery -- thanks to the assistance of my super sister-in-law, Becca. (Becca is not only my wife's sister, but she is also a longtime contributor to & member of the Louise Brooks Society. You can find her name on the LBS website, and in the acknowledgements of the four books I have authored.)

Following her suggestion, I decided to take one more look at the British newspaper databases, something I have looked at a few times before, but not recently. And BOOM, there it was, a mention of Louise Brooks' debut at the Café de Paris in London. This captioned photo appeared on the back page -- the picture page of the Monday, October 20, 1924 London Daily Chronicle. I was bowled over, as this marks the earliest mention and earliest depiction of Brooks in any European publication. Wowza!

After having researched this period in Brooks' life in every which way I thought I might -- from perusing British newspaper databases to visiting the British National Library while I was in London -- I never thought I would find any mention in a British publication of the future actress. After all, as others have pointed out, she was merely an American chorus girl who luckily landed a job in London as a supporting act at an up-and-coming nightclub. Though well known now, the Café de Paris had opened only a few months before Brooks landed there.

My webpage,"Louise Brooks at the Café de Paris in London", details how Brooks got there, and a little of what her life was like in London. On the page, there is another early picture of Brooks which mentions the Café de Paris, which was published in a German magazine in January, 1925. It is Brooks' second mention/depiction in a European publication. Remember, at this time, Louise Brooks hadn't yet appeared in a film, let alone stood in front of a camera.

I looked through the London Daily Chronicle for the next few days, hoping to find some kind of mention as to how things went at the nightclub -- even without a mention of Brooks -- but could find nothing. Here is a screen grab of the page on which Brooks appeared.


I am still a but stunned by having found this image, even if it is just a little something. My quest to find anything related to Brooks time at the Café de Paris has been long in the works. Below is a picture of me at the British Library some ten years ago. It's followed by another of me at the now closed nightclub. Be sure and check out "Louise Brooks at the Café de Paris in London". Thank you Becca!


 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Thursday, June 9, 2022

Louise Brooks as Lulu in Pandora's Box screens 3 times in July

What's better than one screening of Louise Brooks as Lulu in Pandora's Box? How about two screenings? And what's better than two screenings? How about three screenings! In July, the British Film Institute in London, England will screen the classic 1929 film three times during the month, on Saturday July 2, Saturday July 16, and Saturday July 31. More information about these showings can be found HERE. (Tickets go on sale today, June 9.)

According to the BFI: "Louise Brooks dazzles as the dangerously appealing seductress in GW Pabst’s classic adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s Lulu plays."

Saturday 02 July 2022 15:10   NFT3
Saturday 16 July 2022 12:20 NFT1
Sunday 31 July 2022 15:20 NFT1
 
With Peer Raben score (2 and 16 July) or live piano accompaniment (31 July)

"GW Pabst’s celebrated adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s two plays about the unintentionally destructive actions of the effortlessly seductive Lulu centres on a rightly acclaimed performance by Brooks, who oozes careless vivacity and irresistible charm as Lulu captivates the Berlin bourgeoisie. But the direction is also brilliantly meticulous, making memorable use of Günther Krampf’s fluid camera and expressive lighting."
 
Of course, Pandora's Box was not always considered a classic in the UK. What follows are a few early clippings from around the time the film was first shown; it was variously censored ("chaotic form") and derided as "liberalistic" and "marxist".

London Observer 8-24-30




Daily Telegraph, 8-14-34
 
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2022. Further use prohibited.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Louise Brooks and the mystery of missing time

In researching the life and career of Louise Brooks, there are two brief intervals which remain something of a mystery. The first was Brooks' first visit to Paris in 1924. The second were the months following Brooks' marriage to Deering Davis when the couple was traveling and living in the American Southwest. I have wondered where she was exactly, and/or what might she have been doing? 

In compiling a chronology of her day-by-day activities, which can be found at Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1906-1939 and Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1940-1985, I have been frustrated in my attempts to locate any online records (i.e. newspapers articles, etc....) which might shed even a little light on Brooks' activities during these time periods. Until now....

1924 passport photo

On September 18, 1924, Brooks applied for and was given an emergency passport. On September 20, she left the United States aboard the RMS Homeric bound for Europe. The trip took a week. Brooks was traveling with friend Barbara Bennett (of the famous Bennett family), and we know they went to Paris. But we know little else, except that the boat landed in Cherbourg, France on the 27th. 

the RMS Homeric

Here is the clipping from the International Herald Tribune (the European edition of The Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News), an English-language newspaper located in Paris, which mentions Brooks' arrival. This is the earliest mention of Brooks in an European publication.

Just recently, I came across a brief mention of the trip in the Wichita Eagle. On October 12, 1924, the newspaper reported Brooks is in Paris, France, noting, "Her departure was sudden and her parents have not received a letter from her since her arrival in Paris. She went abroad as a member of a company expecting to appear in the French capital." 

A comment and an observation. First, how did the Wichita Eagle know Brooks was traveling to Europe? My guess is that one of her parents likely told the paper - this being a time when locals traveling abroad or even just visiting the next town over made the news. And if her parents did alert the paper, they likely did so because they were worried about Brooks and had not heard from her; this might have been their way to find out something, anything, via the newspapers of the day. Secondly, Brooks did not travel to Europe with a company of performers, as the Wichita Eagle says. She went on a "vacation" with a wealthy friend. The Wichita paper was likely misinformed, or told something that wasn't exactly true. Perhaps Louise herself told or suggested to her parents that she was traveling to Europe to work, when in fact that wasn't her intention. I wonder what Brooks did in Paris for the couple three week she was there. I have searched the Parisian newspaper of the time, but have never found any mention of the budding performer.

By October 19, 1924, Brooks was in London, England living at 49A Pall Mall. And on October 20, she began dancing at the famous Cafe de Paris nightclub in the heart of the English capital.

= = =  = 

Here is another mystery. Why did Louise Brooks marry Deering Davis, a decidedly unglamorous looking Chicago playboy?


The other brief period of time that is something of a mystery is interval following her more-or-less sudden marriage Davis in October 1933. As Barry Paris writes in his thoroughly researched biography, "The Associated Press reported that, for a honeymoon, the Davies would go by car to a ranch in Tucson, via Colorado Springs. Davis liked the Southwest and wanted to settle there, but it was too close to Kansas for Louise's comfort. Nothing is known of their three months traveling, except that Davis and Louise - with the aid of a Victrola and the odd nightclub here and there - had plenty of time of time to work up their dance act." The underline is mine for emphasis.

What we know is this: on October 10, 1933, Brooks (age 26) married wealthy Chicago playboy Deering Davis (age 36) at City Hall in Chicago, Illinois. The ceremony was read by Judge Francis J. Wilson, and witnessed by Davis' brother and sister-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. Nathan S. Davis III. After a few days, the couple left for a three month honeymoon in Tucson, Arizona, where they were expected to "live on a ranch." The marriage made news across the country. On October 11, the two newspapers in Tucson carry stories reporting Brooks would soon come to reside on a ranch near the Arizona town. I recently came across those two Tuscon clippings. Here is one of them - they are both very similar.

News of the Deering Davis - Louise Brooks wedding ran in newspapers across the country for the next few days. All of these stories, which were mostly captioned photos on the picture page, said pretty much the same thing.

And then that's it until February of 1934, when the couple reemerges in Chicago and perform as dancers on a few occasions. I know they were on their honeymoon, but I have wondered why they otherwise dropped off the radar. Too me, it doesn't make sense. Certainly, a celebrity couple driving around the Southwest would have made the news in local papers in Colorado or Arizona. Did they pass through Kansas? Did they in fact live on a ranch in Tucson, Arizona? I wonder if something else was going on.

If they did live on a ranch, which ranch was it? What kind of ranch was it? Was it a "dude ranch"? Or was the ranch the kind individuals with a drinking problem spent time at in order to dry out or pull themselves together? I think we know Brooks was unhappy at this time in her life. In 1932, she declared bankruptcy, and couldn't get work in films. And the United States was in the grips of the Depression. This stretch of three to four months was about the longest I have found (for the 1920s and 1930s) for Brooks not to have had her name in the papers. There was always something, a mention in a gossip column, an appearance at a restaurant or nightclub or theater. But for three or four months, they was nothing. Who knows? Perhaps Brooks and Davis were just practicing their dance routine.


Monday, May 13, 2019

Diary of a Lost Girl starring Louise Brooks to show twice at BFI Southbank in London, England

The sensational 1929 Louise Brooks' film Diary of a Lost Girl will be shown at the BFI Southbank in London, England in June as part of the Weimar Cinema 1919-1933 series. Diary will be shown twice, on Thursday, June 13 and Saturday, June 15, 2019. More information about this event, including ticket availability, can be found HERE.


Diary of a Lost Girl / Tagebuch einer Verlorenen

Iconic silent movie star Louise Brooks plays a woman who suffers at the hands of men, but refuses to be victim.

Germany 1929
Director G.W. Pabst
With Louise Brooks, Fritz Rasp, Valeska Gert
113min / Digital / English subtitles
Certificate PG

Louise Brooks gives a performance of radiant vitality and real depth as a young woman who suffers at the hands of a grotesque assortment of men, but refuses – despite everything – to be a victim. Pabst scathingly depicts the poverty and hypocrisy by which women’s lives are routinely destroyed. A heady cocktail of lurid eroticism, knockabout humour and genuine pathos.

Print and permission courtesy Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.
With Javier Pérez de Azpeitia score (June 13), with live piano accompaniment (June 15).
The screening on Thursday 13 June will be introduced by film critic Pamela Hutchinson, author of a recent and rather excellent book on Pandora's Box.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Louise Brooks and I in London

A small part of my recent trip to London was devoted to silent film and Louise Brooks. How could I resist?

Memorably, I had the chance to visit with film historian Kevin Brownlow, and we talked about LB for two hours! He shared his memories of the actress, whom he interviewed twice. And, he also showed me some of the images and clippings he had gathered over the years. I told Kevin of my intention to track down Brooks' London residence, he and shared this item with me. The writing is Brooks, and the image of her London apartment building dates from much later, perhaps the 1960s or 1970s.



As most fans will know, Louise Brooks lived in London for a few months in late 1924 and early 1925. I went past Brooks' one time apartment building, which is located at 49A Pall Mall; the address no longer exists. (It has, seemingly, been absorbed into 50 Pall Mall.) Here is an image of the building today, along with one of me at that spot.




About a 15 minute walk  from 49A Pall Mall is the Cafe de Paris at 3 Coventry Street. LB danced there in 1924, and that's where where Picadilly with Anna May Wong was filmed (in part) in 1929. I was fortune enough to enjoy a private tour of the famed Cafe, which I guess looks a good deal like the place Brooks danced in long ago. Here is a picture of me outside the club, along with some interior shots.











Another highlight was visiting the Cinema Museum, which is housed in an old Lambeth workhouse where Charlie Chaplin one lived; the night we visited, Kevin Brownlow was introducing his print of Man, Woman and Sin (1929), starring John Gilbert & Jeanne Eagles. It is an especially good film. If you are ever in London, be sure and visit this fascinating place. Here are a few snapshots from the night we visited.







And, I did some Louise Brooks research at both the British Library and BFI (British Film Institute) library. At the British Library, I searched through microfilm of some issues of London Life from around the time Brooks was dancing at the Cafe de Paris. It was full of articles and images of London's nightlife, including showgirls, gossip and bits on movie stars. Though promising, I didn't turn-up anything on the then newly opened Cafe de Paris nor Brooks' tenure there. I one thing I did find was the issue of Boy's Cinema which features a fictionalization of Now We're in the Air, Brooks' 1927 film with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton.





I visited the BFI and the BFI library, where I did more research. I was looking for a handful of hard-to-find articles about Brooks published in various British, French and German publications. I managed to unearth a number of pieces which I found in rare issues of publications like The Astorian, The Stoll, Sequences, Film Dope, and Flickers. I wish I had had more time to explore their holdings, as I know I could have found more material.

I also noticed Brooks had something of a presence at the BFI itself. I spotted copies of both the Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl DVDs in the BFI giftshop, and, I noticed Brooks' image was included on some promotional pieces. I also purchased a copy of Mark Kermode's book The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex, which contains a few pages on Beggars of Life.





Monday, June 10, 2013

Another rare early image of Louise Brooks

Yesterday's Louise Brooks Society blog depicted a rare early image of Louise Brooks. Here is another. This is Louise Brooks' photo from her 1924 passport application. Notably, this was the passport that got her to London, where she would later find work as a dancer at the city's Cafe de Paris, and become the first person to perform the Charleston in the English capital (see yesterday's blog).


Apparently, Brooks applied for her passport at the last minute, on September 18th, 1924, in order to travel to England aboard the Homeric, which was scheduled to depart on September 20th. Her application request was granted over the telephone by a Miss Baukhages. Brooks went to London in the company of Barbara Bennett, the younger sister of the soon-to-be famous Bennett sisters. Bennett was Brooks' witness, and stated that they had known one another for 10 years (not true). On her application, Brooks stated that she was going to England and France to study and travel."Study and travel" was crossed out, and replaced by "visit relative & travel."

Both Louise and Barbara were only 17 years old at the time. Brooks' youth likely explains why a series of telegrams then flew back and forth between New York City and Wichita, Kansas and between the Department of State and Brooks' parents, who granted her permission to travel abroad.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

A rare early image of Louise Brooks

This magazine clipping depicts Louise Brooks. It is a rare image of the yet-to-be actress which I would guess was taken sometime in 1924. Brooks was either 17 or 18 years old at the time. The clipping sold for a modest price on eBay. The seller, based in Germany, said it came from a 1925 German newspaper or magazine. 


Little else is known about the clipping. The number 55 in the upper right hand corner suggests it came from a magazine, and not a newspaper. (Or it could have come from the photo supplement that newspapers at the time often ran on weekends.) The caption below the portrait tells us this image was a publicity photo tied to Brooks' December, 1924 appearance at the Cafe de Paris in London, where she famously became the first person to dance the Charleston in the British capital. The image could have been taken in London, or it could be a left-over publicity photo from Brooks' brief tenure with the George White Scandals in New York City earlier in the year. Whatever the case, it is a rare bit of publicity from Brooks' time in London.

Speaking of little seen material related to Brooks' time in London, I recently came across this passenger list which shows Brooks left England to return the United States on January 14th, 1925. Brooks is the last person listed on the form. She traveled aboard the Homeric, and gave her age as 19 - though she only 18. Her occupation is listed as dancer. And interestingly, she listed her London residence as 49 Pall Mall


Here is a look at 49 Pall Mall, London S.W., as it appears today. This apartment building is not far from Piccadilly. Perhaps these are the very same doors that a young Louise Brooks went in and out of in 1924 and 1925.


Update: Of course, I will try and track down the source of this clip. To me, it's especially interesting that this brief appearance in London by the then little known Louise Brooks received coverage on the Continent.... If you want to see what the Cafe de Paris looked like on the inside, be sure and track down Anna May Wong's wonderful film, Piccadilly (1929). It was filmed partly inside the famous nightclub.[And be sure and check out the June 10th blog for Another related rare early image of Louise Brooks.]

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Pandora's Box screens tonight at Price Charles Theater

Pandora's Box screens tonight at the Price Charles Theater in London, England with live piano accompaniment. The film, starring Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Franz Lederer, is listed at 132 minutes.  More info at this page.


 The theater listing reads: "G.W. Pabst's film that catapulted Louise Brooks to international acclaim and made her 'the' icon of the Jazz Age tells the tragic story of Lulu, the hedonistic dancer and prostitute. The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her."

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Louise Brooks celebrated in London, England

As fans know, Louise Brooks made her first big splash in England in 1924, when she became the first girl to dance the Charleston in London. That was at the city's famous Cafe de Paris, then only recently opened. Brooks, a precocious dancer and showgirl, was 17 years old at the time.

Now, more than 85 years later, the late, legendary silent film star is set to be the toast of London once more as two of her very best films are scheduled to be shown in the coming days.

On April 13th, the Classic Cinema Club of Ealing will screen Pandora's Box (1929) at the Ealing Town Hall. The film will be followed by a discussion.

And on April 29, Beggars of Life (1928) will screen at the Barbican center as part of its silent film & live music series. This screening will feature live musical accompaniment by The Dodge Brothers, with special guest Neil Brand on the piano.


Today, Brooks is best known for her role as Lulu in the German-made Pandora's Box, G.W. Pabst's late silent masterpiece. Pandora’s Box tells the story of Lulu, a lovely, amoral, and somewhat petulant show-girl whose flirtations lead to devastating encounters. Lulu was played by Brooks, an American actress especially recruited for the iconic German role.

Close Up, an English film journal of the time with an interest in adventuresome German cinema, noted "Louise Brooks is not chosen because she is Louise Brooks but because, for whatever reason, she looks likely to find it easier than anyone else might, to sink into and become a visual expression of Lulu in Pandora’s Box."

Brooks inhabited her character thoroughly and gives a great performance. Despite having appeared in 23 other films - some of them also very good, Brooks' role as Lulu is the one with which she is most identified. So much so, in fact, that it is not unusual for articles or web pages today to refer to the actress by the name of Lulu. If you haven't seen Pandora’s Box, don't miss this UK opportunity to see one of the great performances in film history on the big screen.

Little seen and long obscure, Beggars of Life is a film whose reputation is picking up steam.


Directed by William Wellman the year after he made Wings (the first film to win an Academy Award), Beggars of Life is a gripping drama about a girl (played by Brooks) dressed as a boy who flees the law after killing her abusive stepfather. On the run, she rides the rails through a male dominated hobo underworld in which danger is always close at hand. An American film magazine of the time, Picture Play, described the film as "Sordid, grim and unpleasant," though added "it is nevertheless interesting and is certainly a departure from the usual movie."

And that it is. But what's more, this special screening is a fine example of how invigorating the combination of a great silent movie and contemporary live music can be. The Dodge Brothers, an Americana-drenched roots music quartet featuring English film critic Mark Kermode on bass and harmonica, will accompany the film. When The Dodge Brothers accompanied Beggars of Life at the British Film Institute a years ago, they wowed a packed audience.

April will also see the release in England of a new novel inspired, in part, by Brooks early life. Laura Moriarty 's The Chaperone (Penguin) tells the story of Brooks' 1922 journey from Wichita, Kansas to New York City to join the Denishawn Dance Company, then America's leading modern dance troupe. Brooks was only 15 years old, and she was accompanied by a middle aged chaperone, whose story the novel also tells. We at the Louise Brooks Society are looking forward to its release in the United States next month.


Pictured above is the UK cover. Thanks to the great Meredith Lawrence for alerting us to
its publication "over there."

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Shop window in London features Louise Brooks likeness

Melanie, a Louise Brooks fan in Zurich, tipped me off to this image of a London store window which includes a pair of likenesses of Louise Brooks. (The image of LB is based on the now famous nude by Alfred Cheney Johnson taken in 1925.) The window display, at/for Zoot Allure, is the work of Emily Forgot, a London based graphic artist and designer.


According to the Emily Forget website, "Emily Forgot is the moniker of London based graphic artist Emily Alston. Having worked in the creative industry for the past 5 years she has amassed a diverse range of international clients. Embracing the odd, the everyday and the sometimes surreal, Emily Forgot’s playful visual language and image making continues to evolve and surprise. Turning her hand to anything from illustration, retail display, print design and visual identity she prides herself on approaching all briefs with creative thought, originality, humour and beauty in mind. . . . Along side commercial endeavors Emily produces personal work in the form of limited edition prints and ceramics. Her work has been exhibited both in London and abroad most notably in 2007 at the “Fragiles” show as part of the prestigious Miami Art Basel."
 
Seen a store window which features a likeness of Louise Brooks? Send your sighting to the Louise Brooks Society at LBS [at] pandorasboxDOTcom or silentfilmbuff {at} gmailDOTcom
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