Showing posts with label homage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homage. Show all posts

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Kickstarter for the Louise Brooks - inspired Dixie Dugan novels

I realize this is last minute, but longtime Louise Brooks Society supporter Beth Ann Gallagher just alerted me to an incredible Kickstarter campaign to bring three Louise Brooks-inspired Dixie Dugan novels by J.P. McEvoy back into print. More about this Kickstarter campaign, which runs through January 18th, can be found HERE.

As Brooks' devotees may know, Show Girl was the first novel to feature a major character or story-line inspired by the actress. First serialized in Liberty magazine in 1928 (and quickly published in book form by Simon & Schuster), Show Girl told of the life and adventures of a character named Dixie Dugan. That novel and its two follow-up books, Show Girl in Hollywood and Show Girl in Society, proved especially popular. So much so that they spawned a long-running comic strip which lasted into the 1960s, "Dixie Dugan," as well as a stage play, Show Girl, and two movies which unfortunately did not star Louise Brooks.

Here is a wonderful newspaper ad for the novel's serialization in Liberty magazine, when the visual identity of Dixie Dugan was closely aligned with the look of the actress. (A few of these illustrations, as well as some of the early comic strips, were based on films stills from Brooks' first films, such as The American Venus.)


Nevertheless, I pledged $29.00 toward this worthy campaign, for which I will receive a copy of the book and have my name listed on an acknowledgements page. I already own vintage copies of these books, including one signed by McEvoy, but am looking forward to receiving this omnibus edition. Yowza, yowza, yowza.


Here is some more information about this Kickstarter campaign from it's page.

"Between 1928 and 1932, J. P. McEvoy published six ingenious novels that unfold solely by way of letters, telegrams, newspaper articles, ads, telephone transcriptions, scripts, playbills, greeting card verses, interoffice memos, legal documents, monologues, song lyrics, police reports, and radio broadcasts. Three of them, collected here for the first time, record the wild career of a jazz baby named Dixie Dugan (modeled on actress Louise Brooks, whom McEvoy knew). The best-selling Show Girl tracks Dixie's zigzagging path to success on Broadway; in Hollywood Girl, she heads out West for further risqué adventures, and impulsively marries a rich playboy; in Society, Dixie mingles with high society both in Europe and the U.S. before returning to Hollywood to resume her show-biz career."

"Beneath the novels' hellzapoppin' energy and jazzy lingo, however, McEvoy exposes the dark underside of the times: sexual predation, tabloid journalism, political corruption, the rise of religious fundamentalism, and the fatuous lifestyles of the rich and famous. But it's the blend of humor and bite, of success and failure, of ridicule and irony—shaken and stirred with linguistic and formal ingenuity—that makes The Dixie Dugan Trilogy "a madcap, mordant masterpiece," as critic Steven Moore writes in his informative introduction. Out of print since the 1930s, these "avant-pop" novels deserve a revival."


 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.

Thursday, September 7, 2023

A chocolate Louise Brooks appears on UK TV

News broke the other day when a chocolate Louise Brooks showed up on "Bake Off: The Professionals," a UK television show.

According to an article in the Daily Mail, "The chefs wowed the judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden during the 1920s themed week, delighting them with their chiffon pie as well as their enormous showstopper centrepiece."

Check out the above linked article for even more images of this delicious piece, which must be seen tasted to be believed.

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.

Saturday, March 4, 2023

New Louise Brooks graphic novel forthcoming - Dark Star: Louise Brooks in Berlin

Louise Brooks has been the subject of a number of comic strips and graphic novels over the years, from the long running Dixie Dugan / Show Girl strip beginning in the 1920s to Valentina in the 1960s and Louise Brooks Detective in 2015. There have been others. The latest is Shane Filer's Dark Star: Louise Brooks in Berlin, which is due out later this year. 

Here is some info from the author's press release.

LOUISE BROOKS BIOGRAPHY/COMIC: DARK STAR

A new graphic novel featuring iconic silent film star Louise Brooks is set to launch on Kickstarter in April/May. "Dark Star: Louise Brooks in Berlin" is written by Shane Filer and illustrated by Aulia Rachmatulloh.

This four-issue series takes readers on a wild ride through the life of one of the most enigmatic figures of the 20th century, Louise Brooks. Set in 1920s Berlin, Louise drifts through a single night, seeking a mysterious gift and encountering the city's present and future inhabitants. Through flashbacks of her past and flash-forwards into the unknown, Louise confronts herself and the demons that have haunted her throughout her life.

This is not a biography, nor is it entirely fiction, rather a darkly re-imagined biographical fairy tale. "Artists use lies to tell the truth," Alan Moore famously wrote, and "Dark Star" aims to do just that.

Shane Filer, the writer behind "Dark Star," previously published a novel (Exit) and wrote scripts for the long-running UK comic "Commando." One of his issues in this most male dominated comic, featured a very rare female heroine based visually upon Louise Brooks and brought to life by veteran Spanish comic book artist Carlos Pino.

Filer aims to tell compelling stories that resonate with readers, taking inspiration from comic classics like "Love and Rockets," "Maus," and "Concrete," along with influential comic book writers like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, authors like Haruki Murakami, Milan Kundera, and filmmakers like David Lynch, and Michelangelo Antonioni.

Illustrator Aulia Rachmatulloh, a talented Indonesian animator and artist, brings the story to life with beautiful, detailed artwork that fits the era. Art assistance is provided by artists Alessandro Saccotelli and Samuele Giannicola.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to explore the life of the iconic Louise Brooks in this unique graphic novel series. Support "Dark Star: Louise Brooks in Berlin" on Kickstarter, coming this April/May.

For more information, sign up to the project's newsletter.

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.

Monday, December 5, 2022

An Interview with Alexandre Lobao about his Louise Brooks story, A Caixa de Pandora

Back in 2000, the Brazilian writer Alexandre Lobão published one of the earlier works of fiction to include Louise Brooks. His book was titled A Caixa de Pandora (Pandora's Box and other stories). I remember hearing about it sometime around then, and even obtaining a pdf copy of the Portuguese-language book. I never had the chance to really connect with the author until recently, when we "ran into one another" in Instagram. I sent Alexandre, who is now a successful author, a message asking if he might answer a few questions about A Caixa de Pandora, his first book. He agreed.

 The 2000 edition                          The Author - Alexandre Lobão                        The 2015 edition     

Louise Brooks Society: Your first book, A Caixa de Pandora (Pandora's Box and other stories), is a collection of stories; it was first published in Brazil in 2000, and has been described as a work of "fantastic reality." What would you like readers to know about it?

Alexandre Lobão:
This book has ten short stories, and it’s still being published nowadays, 22 years later - which is unusual, at least in Brazil. Most of the stories have some kind of fantastic or magical element. The main (and longest) story, “Pandora’s Box,” is about a writer who is researching Louise Brooks in order to write a book, and every new piece of information he gets about her, he finds her more and more appealing, until the point that he realizes he is in love with her. Knowing that there is little more information about her, after all the research he did, he becomes more and more uneasy, lonely and abandoned, until he goes one last time to the local university library to see if he can uncover anything else. At the library he experiences a strange moment, a dream that leads him to a small recess he never saw in the library, an old video cassette library where he finds some tapes about Louise. To his surprise, he discovers that the tapes are not movies, but instead they allow him, for a limited time, to talk with Louise Brooks using his TV.  It’s a blessing, but also a curse, because he has only a few hours to talk to her. In the end (which was a surprise even for me, when I first wrote) he manages to help Louise and help himself to go on with their lives, leaving the past behind and knowing that each other are fine.

Louise Brooks Society: When and how did you first discover Louise Brooks?

Alexandre Lobão: I first saw Louise in the video clip of the O.M.D. (Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark) song “Pandora’s Box.” I was in my twenties, in a train station during my first trip around Europe, and was mesmerized by her appearances in the video.

Louise Brooks Society: In the title story, you appear as a character in love with Louise Brooks. The narrator details your encounters with the actress. What lead you to write this story? Were you inspired by any other story or writer?

Alexandre Lobão:  After 25 published books, “Pandora’s Box” is still the story that most resonates with me. When I returned to Brazil after my trip, I started to look for information about her (which was rather difficult, because there are no internet back in 1991) out of curiosity. I started then to hunt around in libraries, and discover that Louise was also inspiration for the Dixie Dugan comic strip (1929, by J. P. McEvoy) and other works beyond the movies, and after some research the idea of writing a book about a writer that researches & searches for her came to me. By then, I was only published in magazines and short story collections; “Pandora’s box” was my first short novel (60 pages). The inspiration of it was only Louise and my own journey in discovering how amazing she was.

Louise Brooks Society: Is Louise Brooks very well known in Brazil?

Alexandre Lobão:  Not really. I found some people that know her, some that love her, but she’s not a pop culture icon here – although many people would recognize her bob hair style.

Louise Brooks Society:
What does she mean to you as an actress, or as a person?

Alexandre Lobão: Tough question! When I first found out about her, I fall in love as we usually do, loving not the real person, but the idealized person we have in our minds. After a while, I knew her flaws, her problems, the details that are not so lovable; but I still love her as a person. Nowadays my feelings for her are more like an old passion that, after the right time, became more like an ember that never fades away than a huge fire that burns bright and ends fast. I love seeing her movies, of course; I believe she was the greatest artist of her time, although she unfortunately hasn’t followed the evolution of the movies industry and language.

Louise Brooks Society:
You have written fiction, as well as books for young readers, comics, and screenplays. You have written in may genre's. How can someone find out more? 

Alexandre Lobão: All my books and movie scripts and comics are on my web site, www.AlexandreLobao.com. I have some works published in English and Chinese, but only technical stuff – the rights for publishing my fiction works on other countries are currently available. 😉

* * * * * 

Pandora's Box and other stories is a book of short stories with varied themes, mostly containing fantastic elements. The tales present stories that take place in different times and places, in Brazil and abroad, from the past to the future, and have a common point in a personal, intimate view of each story, making the reader feel as if they were listening to a friend's story, the kind friends share around a campfire, when the lack of television increases interaction between people. The last story, “Plain”, subtly creates a link between all the stories, where the character has visions about situations that happen in several other stories in the book. More about Caixa de Pandora (Pandora's Box and other stories) can be found on the authors website. 

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, November 26, 2022

Louise Brooks painting found in Sacramento

Yesterday, my wife and I and my sister-in-law spent some time at the Crocker Holiday Artisan Market, an event held annually at the Scottish Rite Center in Sacramento, California. This three-day bazaar is a benefit meant to support participating artists, the Crocker Art Museum’s exhibitions and educational programs, the Creative Arts League of Sacramento, and other community programs. While browsing among the 100+ artists, vendors and creators, I came across a rather charming portrait of Louise Brooks.


This small painting is the work of Grass Valley artist Cheryl Wilson, who kindly allowed me to photograph her booth. I like her work, and really like her portrait of Louise Brooks, though I did not purchase it as I am budgeting for other Louise Brooks stuff. It was priced at $100.00, should anyone want to contact the artist.

I spent a little time perusing the artist's blog and found she has painting portraits of Louise Brooks in the past. HERE is a blog post to a 2021 blog post showing another portrait. And HERE is another blog post from 2019 which depicts another portrait of Louise Brooks. And, HERE and HERE are two more portraits of Louise B. If you like this work, I would encourage everyone to check out the artists blog (at https://cherylwilsonstudio.blogspot.com/), which features other portraits of other early film stars such as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Leila Hyams and others.

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.

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Two brief interviews regarding the Timelock rerelease of Louise Brooks


The Dutch rock band Timelock has re-released its 1992 debut album, titled Louise Brooks, as a remastered, expanded double CD. I wrote about it in my previous post, which can be found HERE. This new release also features new cover art by Dutch artist Corné Akkers, which is eye catching to say the least.

Louise Brooks [2022 version] features the original album, newly remastered, along with three additional tracks from the early 1990s. As well, one track from the original release, "The Seance," has been fully rerecorded by the current band. The second CD contains a full concert the band performed at Planet Pul in Uden on 10 June 1995. Follow THIS LINK to the album's Bandcamp page, where you can learn more and listen to various tracks including the 6:40 title track from the reissue. Everyone is encouraged to check it out.

A few days ago I sent slightly different sets of questions (via email) to Timelock singer Ruud Stoker and to cover artist Corné Akkers. Both are big fans of Louise Brooks. Both answered in impressively good English, which have been very slightly edited for readability. Here are their responses. First up, Timelock singer Ruud Stoker.

Timelock singer Ruud Stoker (via Facebook)

LBS: When and how did you first come across Louise Brooks?

RUUD STOKER: The first time I was inspired by Louise Brooks was in 1991. We formed the progressive rock band Timelock. I often write songs about little known subjects or persons. I was in a bookshop in The Hague and saw the book LuLu in Hollywood. I had never heard of her but recognized her hairstyle in pictures I had seen. So I bought this book and another book about her written by Barry Paris and that led me to honour this lady in a song we then wrote. I also thought it would be a good idea to name the album after her.

LBS: Is Louise Brooks well known in The Netherlands?

RUUD STOKER: I think she is not well known in The Netherlands. She is known only by those 'insiders' who love movies from the twenties and thirties. But now and then you see women with bobbed hair and I  imagine that is a sort of legacy of hers to the women of today.

LBS: Have you seen many of her films? Or read her book, Lulu in Hollywood?

RUUD STOKER: I read LuLu in Hollywood and the book by Barry Paris. When I got more and more interested in her I saw many trailers or pieces of her movies on YouTube. I have not seen a full length movie of her.

LBS: The band's Facebook page says you have a "soft spot" for Louise Brooks? What does she mean to you?

RUUD STOKER: Louise Brooks is very special to me. I always think she is a sort of mystery. She wasn’t as big as Garbo or other great actresses of her time. But she shines when she appears in the movies she made.

LBS: What led you to name a song and your 1992 album after the actress?

RUUD STOKER:  I think I was inspired by her looks and by the way she moves. You can’t mistake her appearance. It is a shame that her life did not turn out the way she wanted. I think she gave the movie world, and especially the people who saw her movies and fans, something special.

LBS: The original 1992 release of Louise Brooks features a photograph of a young women with bobbed hair who only resembles the actress. Your new re-release features a colorful painting of the actress herself. Why the change?

RUUD STOKER: We wanted to have a real picture of her since it was the 30th anniversary of the CD. And because the song is still mentioned in magazines and played on radio stations, we felt we could not have a women who merely resembles the actress on the front cover.

LBS: How did you find Corné Akkers, the artist who did the cover art?

RUUD STOKER: Thanks to our label FREIA Music we got in touch with a fellow townsman and Louise Brooks admirer, Corné Akkers, a 53 years old artist from The Hague [NL]. Just like us, he is fascinated by the life story of Louise. In the 1920s she was already more modern than many women and behaved and dressed as such. She was always on her own and at one point said goodbye to Hollywood. Corné finds that very inspiring. From an art perspective, Corné likes images from the 1920s and 1930s (art deco). The high level of chiaroscuro (light/dark in art deco) also provides beautiful contrasts for a painting or drawing, which somehow reflects Louise's ambivalent nature. In 2014, Corné made an oil version of a study in pastel of Louise Brooks. Eight years later this painting made it to the cover of the remastered Timelock album Louise Brooks.

LBS: Have you met other fans of Timelock who are also fans of Louise Brooks?

RUUD STOKER: Yes, they know her by name but never saw a movie of hers. The fans have become interested in the mystery of her - her movies and person. Especially when I wrote about her in my lyrics.

LBS: Your 2002 album, Circle of Deception, contains a track titled "Louise Brooks Revisited". Will it also be re-released?

RUUD STOKER: Yes, the re-release will be in spring 2023.

Dutch artist Corné Akkers (via Facebook)

Corné Akkers is a Dutch artist who has been drawing and painting since he was a child. He sites cubism, impressionism and surrealism as some of his many influences. And like Timelock singer Ruud Stoke, Akkers is also a longtime fan of Louise Brooks. His website, which is well worth checking out, contains a few different artworks featuring Louise Brooks. Here are the answers to the questions I sent him via email.

LBS: When and how did you first come across Louise Brooks?

CORNE AKKERS: I have the feeling I have known about her for all my life. It must have been as early as the 1970s when I saw Pandora’s Box as a young child.

LBS: Do you think Louise Brooks is well known in The Netherlands?

CORNE AKKERS: She might have been in the past but you might as well ask young people who Fred and Ginger are. Many won’t know celebrities from the 1920s and 1930s. She has earned herself a cult status though. That’s for sure. Quite a lot of my art students know her and have portrayed her.

LBS: Have you seen many of her films? Or read her book, Lulu in Hollywood?

CORNE AKKERS: Not many but the ones that I saw left an unerasable mark on my memory. I haven't read her book. I want to buy a copy one day.

LBS: What inspired you to paint your portrait of Louise Brooks. When did you paint it?

CORNE AKKERS:  Now, that’s a lengthy story. I will try to keep it concise. I guess readers of your website focus more on her personality, or acting performance. However, as an artist I always focus on visual aspects, such as lighting, composition, etc.... I always have had a preference for art deco and its photographic and cinematic expressions in particular. Back in the day people had a smashing feeling for the use of light and darkness. These hefty tonal variations in movies and photos always remind me to the use of chiaroscuro by Rembrandt, for example. The absence of color in movies might have been responsible for that. I drew Louise before, in black and white. Her portrait in color in 2014 was an attempt to transfer all my knowledge of color into a painting. Next to tonality it also became a study after color balance and saturation gradients. The reason for using this particular portrait for reference (Louise Brooks lovers know which one, of course) is the peculiar raising of her eyebrow. This induces a different facial expression than the right eye lets on. Beautiful duality!

LBS: How did you come to provide the cover art for the Timelock reissue?

CORNE AKKERS: Their management asked me if they could use my oil. They wanted to use a different cover than the original from 1992. So they searched on google and found me.

LBS: Have you made other images of Brooks, or other film stars?

CORNE AKKERS: In fact I have. I made a graphite pencil drawing in the same year (2014), a prestudy in pastel for this oil. Links to these drawings are in the art statement to the oil. I have also drawn and painted other stars, including Mary Pickford and Marilyn Monroe. You can see them here: https://corneakkers.com/sans-titre/

LBS: Will prints of the Louise Brooks portrait be for sale?

CORNE AKKERS: Yes they are. Printables and prints are available through the following link: https://corneakkers.com/2019/07/01/louise-brooks-26-10-14 

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

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Timelock rerelease Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks was originally released in 1992 as the debut album from Timelock, a prog-rock / neoprogger band from The Netherlands. The cover of the original CD release contained a black-and-white photograph of a young woman with bobbed hair who vaguely resembled the actress. Louise Brooks, the album, also contains a track titled "Louise Brooks." I got a copy of the Timelock CD sometime in the mid-1990s, around the time when I first discovered the silent film star and was searching out everything I could find.


Now, thirty years after the release of their 1992 debut, the Dutch rock band have rereleased Louise Brooks as a limited edition, remastered, redesigned,  and expanded double CD - and with a very groovy, very cool  cover. [The artwork on the cover was supplied by artist Corne Akkers. Like the band, Corne hails from The Hague, in The Netherlands. And like Timelock singer Ruud Stoker, artist Corne Akkers is also a "fanatic" of Louise Brooks. Read this illustrated blog post by him HERE.] 

Follow THIS LINK to the album's Bandcamp page, where you can learn more and listen to various tracks including the 6:40 title track from the reissue. It sounds great. I agree with former Timelock bass player Bert de Bruijne, who stated there is "more depth and sparkle" in the remaster. Notably, just last week, the reissue was reviewed by the Dutch journal Progwereld. Read that review (in Dutch) HERE. And HERE, as well, is a short write up (in English) which appeared in Front View magazine.

Louise Brooks [2022 version] features the original album, remastered by MHX Music, along with three additional tracks from the early 1990s. As well, one track from the original release, "The Seance," has been fully rerecorded by the current band. The second CD contains a full concert the band performed at Planet Pul in Uden on 10 June 1995.  

Dutch artist Corné Akkers (image via Facebook)

p.s. Louise Brooks completists should also be aware that Timelock's 2002 CD release, Circle of Deception, contains a related track titled "Louise Brooks Revisited." Below is some concert footage of the band playing that track. Listen for the spoken word intro.....


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

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Nitrate and Gin, a poem by Shawn D. Standfast

Longtime Louise Brooks fan Shawn D. Standfast sent me a poem "about Louise Brooks" titled "Nitrate and Gin." It comes from his 2019 collection Dark Passages: Moments of Transition, published by Sirens Calls Press. Copies of the book can be purchased through amazon HERE.

Nitrate and Gin


A dancer from Kansas
Cherryvale born and bred
Dancing gave you opportunity
Your ticket to New York City

You met the juggling man
Found The street of forgotten men
Dreams flickered on the silver screen
Seeped in nitrate and gin

A jazz baby moving with rhythm
Flowing lines with acting so sublime
A social celebrity in silk stockings
A Venus in evening gowns

Lost in a world of make believe
Choices made upon a whim
Going where boredom led
Not wanting to play their game

Speeding your way to Berlin
Leaving a beggar’s life behind
Fame and immortality waited
Lulu was your destiny

Returning to Hollywood full of hope
Only to find the marquee lights fading
Replaced by bit parts and empty promises
A lost girl imprisoned by Pandora’s Box


 









Monday, November 15, 2021

Some nifty videos gathered to the Louise Brooks Society YouTube channel

As I mentioned recently, I have recently been refurbishing the Louise Brooks Society's YouTube channel (as well as its Vimeo channel). In doing so, I have come across a bunch of interesting videos. In fact, I have come across some many worth bookmarking that I have organized a bunch of thematic playlists on YouTube which I would like everyone to browse. And please don't forget to like and subscribe. Two playlists I think everyone will like are "Louise Brooks - Documentaries and related material" as well as "Silent Film Era." There are 16 others to explore.

Here are a few other individual videos that I want to call to everyone's attention. I likes 'em.


"Buster and Louise" is a student film from 2009 by Jessica Polaniecki, who now works in the animation field. She once created and animated the Krampus puppet for a Christmas episode of Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations. I wonder if she knew Bourdain was a fan of Louise Brooks? BTW, Jessica has done a lot of cool work. Check out her webpage HERE.  ["Buster and Louise" can be found in the "Odds n Ends" playlist, along with 11 other videos of related interest.]

 
 
In this video short from FilmStruck, Alicia Malone discusses G.W. Pabst's storied career across his multitude of silent & talkie masterpieces - including the two films he made with Louise Brooks. ["Director G. W. Pabst" can be found in the "Director G. W. Pabst" playlist, along with 10 other videos of related interest.] 
 
 
Including this little gem, "Pabst Plays Pabst" from Filmarchiv Austria in which the grandson of G.W. Pabst, Daniel Pabst, is seen accompanying various films by his illustrious grandfather. ["Pabst Plays Pabst" can be found in the "Louise Brooks - Musical Accompaniment to Films" playlist, along with 19 other videos of related interest.] 
 
 
"Lulu - The Song" is one of the earlier musical tributes to Louise Brooks. Jen Anderson is an Australian composer, and this lovely song, which is part of a Pandora's Box soundtrack, dates from 1993. In 2006, I had the pleasure to meet Jen Anderson when she performed her soundtrack to the 1919 Australian silent film, The Sentimental Bloke, at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California. ["Lulu - The Song" can be found in the "Louise Brooks - Homage to Lulu (musical)" playlist, along with 26 other videos of related interest.] 
 
 
Frank Wedekind is famous as the author of the Lulu plays, as well as Spring Awakening. But did you know he had a sister who sang opera and made a handful of recordings? Her name was Erika; according to her Wikipedia page, she was one of the "first female coloratura sopranos in Germany and an outstanding representative of her field. She gave more than a thousand performances in Germany, Prague, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Budapest, Stockholm, Paris and London before becoming an internationally sought-after singing teacher between 1914 and 1930. From 1930 she lived in seclusion in Switzerland, where she died in Zurich in 1944 at the age of 75. Because she was so successful, she was able to help support Frank Wedekind, who often struggled in his career. ["Erika Wedekind sings Mignon Styrienne 1908" can be found in the "Frank Wedekind / Lulu" playlist, along with 25 other videos of related interest.] 
 
 
Another video on that same playlist is the Silent Theater adaption of Lulu: a black and white silent play, starring Kyla Webb as Lulu. I am so glad to have found this video, as I was fortunate to see this very performance at the Victoria Theater in San Francisco in 2006. And, I had the chance to meet Kyla. Lulu: a black and white silent play is well worth checking out - but remember, this unusual adaption is a stage play without dialogue, like silent film. 
 
 
When you can, check out the Louise Brooks Society's YouTube channel. And don't forget to like and subscribe.

Friday, November 12, 2021

Edinburgh artist Sarah E. Wilson creates Louise Brooks art

The other day, I was alerted to a small exhibit going on at an independent fashion boutique called Hoochie Coochie in Edinburgh, Scotland which featured -- among other things -- imagery of various movie icons such as Anna May Wong, Gloria Swanson, Audrey Hepburn, Jane Russell, and notably Louise Brooks. The pieces on display (at a space called Hoochie Coochie) are the work of a contemporary Edinburgh-based artist named Sarah E. Wilson. For those fortunate enough to live in the area and take in the show - which runs through November 28th, Hoochie Coochie is located in the Tollcross area of Edinburg at 48 Home Street, EH3 9NA. 


I had trouble finding out more about this show, which came to my attention through a press release and my google news key word alert. And so, instead, I went looking for information about the artist and found her website, which features a number of images of her work, including portraits of Brooks and other early film stars. Check it out at http://www.sarah-ewilson.co.uk/   Or, check out her page on Saatchi Art.

A statement on the artist's website reads, "My work and research centres round the subject of vintage glamorous film starlettes from an era when everything was just that little bit more fabulous. Scottish artist, painter, eco-friendly printmaker. Influenced by Picasso, Klimt, Schiele and members of the art deco movement."

Looking around her website, I found a handful of works depicting Brooks - see the "Paintings and Artworks" page. Among those I spotted were these two, which I found appealing. (I also like the green-tinted Swanson image on her homepage.)


 

There are other works which depict Brooks, so be sure and look around this artists's studio website. "A Fair Lady", which depicts Audrey Hepburn is also rather appealing, as is the Harlow piece. 

The "Sold" page contains that ravishing Swanson piece, as well as three other Brooks pieces - and nifty work depicting Evelyn Brent, Audrey Tatou, and others. The "Toyobo Prints" page contains an Alla Nazimova. 

I reached out to the artists to ask her about her interest in early films stars, in particular Louise Brooks, and how she came to find inspiration in their likenesses. But alas, I have not heard back.

Sunday, October 24, 2021

The enduring charm of Hailey Tuck - "the millennial's Louise Brooks"

It's no secret I adore Hailey Tuck, not just because she is darn cute and sports a swell bob, but also because she is a gifted jazz vocalist. Hailey is a singer from Austin, Texas who, in her own words, is "based in Paris & London in the 1920's." 

I have been spending a good deal of time on YouTube over the last few days (refurbishing the Louise Brooks Society YouTube channel) when I came across a 2018 interview with Hailey in which she mentions the impact Louise Brooks and Brooks' own memoir, Lulu in Hollywood, had on her life and career. I hadn't seen it before. My bad. And thought to post it here.

I have written about Hailey in the past, as have many other publications including Marie Claire, who once described her as “The millennial's Louise Brooks.” Back in 2015, Hailey contributed a piece to the Louise Brooks Society blog in which fans of the actress were asked to submit their story of discovery -- of how they first came across Louise Brooks and what the actress means to them. Before I reprint that piece, here is another 2018 video clip of Hailey's UK TV debut, singing "That Don't Make It Junk" on the BBC show, Later... with Jools Holland.


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Hailey Tuck's story of discovering Louise Brooks
by Hailey Tuck

When I was 18, I was working in a rare and out of print bookstore in Austin, TX and lazily attending a mess of random liberal arts classes at the community college across the street. I'd graduated from a Baptist military boarding school early, and subsequently 'suffered' two heart wrenching defeats in attempting to gain admittance to Julliard, and though I can look back on that malaise with the same wry smile as reading my self-aggrandizing childhood diaries, I do acutely remember looking at my options and feeling very "none of the above."

The job itself was a total dream, and still my number one back up in case I didn't manage to become wildly successful in jazz. My grandmother was a bookseller and called in an old favor for her bibliophile granddaughter, and voila I became their only employee. The shop opened at noon (ideal) and I was mostly left to my own devices, or occasionally joined by my boss, Luke -- an obviously extreme literate, and general good time -- or one of the eccentric collectors who would come and have a whiskey, or tutor me in French. 

Like some sort of adult Montessori school, my browsing led me to a total cultural revolution for a curious 18 year old. After dully expressing my distaste for poetry, Luke pointed me to Pablo Neruda and Rainer Maria Rilke, and like a light-bulb I suddenly understood the art behind the subtlety of expressing something sensuous or painful without the directness or girth of literature. I pawed through sections on occult, anthropology, Swedish furniture. I bought the entire play section. I dated a professor from the university who slept in a soundproof, light proof box and cut off my black hair because I wanted to look like a New York art dealer in the 90's. And luckily, I picked up a book called Lulu in Hollywood because the illustration of the chick on the front had my hair cut. 

Reading, or inhaling rather, doesn't cover it. For once I felt I was reading a real story, and one that closely echoed my own -- sexual abuse, alcoholism, family troubles, and then looking at traditional success and saying, "Fuck that I'm going to make weird ass art house movies in Germany!" Some might view Louise's subsequent eeking descending fall into obscurity as a classic tragedy, however from my current vantage point as a young performer, I see someone who made deliberate u-turns based on a desire to be the most authentic version of themselves, regardless of the viability for commercial success. And most importantly, I saw myself, and felt steeled to seek out my own adventure, regardless of the wobbling uncertainty of ditching college, my father's approval, and the American dream. 

My newfound hubris manifested into a one way ticket to Paris. I should add that I also had the rare luck of a modest trust fund of sorts -- before you start gagging -- it was an insurance settlement. A lonely month or so later on the metro, this American girl complimented my vintage dress, and I asked her how she knew I spoke English, and she said, "I don't, I just speak to everyone in English!" 
 
For some reason it seemed entirely charming, and I asked her if she wanted to get off and have a glass of champagne together. She told me about her strange marriage to an older wealthy record producer (they have separate houses, and she collects dollhouses) and I told her that I was sort living in this squat and was too scared to tell my Dad, or he'd make me come home. She happened to be house sitting this beautiful apartment in Voltaire and offered for me to sleep on the red velvet fainting couch. One night later we were throwing a party and I was sitting on my bed/fainting couch and this completely decadent red headed American, in head to toe 1920's sat down next to me and I told her I'd been living there on this couch, then asked her the proverbial, "Do you come here often?" She looked at me sardonically, and patiently replied that this was her house. And her couch. After a second/hour or so of complete embarrassment I bumbled and mumbled my way through an explanation about being fresh off the boat, wanting to do acting or singing or something, and a few glasses of Prosecco later she had yanked off the music and had me singing Billie Holiday's "I'll Be Seeing You" on her dining room table. 

When I read Lulu in Hollywood I had this grand idea of what Europe might be -- cavorting with intellectuals and passing out at orgies at Rothschild mansions. But when I got there everything seemed garishly contemporary, and lonely. I just felt like an American at an overpriced cafe.

But whatever Sorrel saw in me on her dining room table was the catalyst for everything I could have imagined. I got upgraded from fainting couch to painting studio, introduced to a swath of filthy Italian phrases, chess on trains, regency balls, schooled on not offending Venetians at Carnival, posing nude in an Art Deco harem, literally physically force-dressing me for winter time, and above all encouraged and supported to sing at every single event, party, and opportunity possible until, like learning the other side of poetry, or understanding the inevitability of forever, I became the most true, authentic version of myself as a jazz singer trying to evolve and challenge myself in Europe, and of course offending Venetians and passing out at Mansion parties. 
 
I'm still sort of making wobbly guess-choices, but I do know that everything that has led me to where I am now feels right, and nothing about it seems like the beaten path to any real commercial success, and that feels great. And when Marie Claire did an article on me this year, I definitely felt a wry self-aggrandizing smile when reading the title "The Millennial Louise Brooks".
 
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In 2020, Hailey released another splendid album, Coquette. To keep up with Haily and her career, be sure and check out her website at haileytuckmusic.com/ or follow her on Twitter or YouTube. That's where I am headed now to watch a few more videos.


Friday, October 22, 2021

Drawing Louise Brooks - videos from the LBS YouTube Channel

Lately, I have been revamping (pun intended) the Louise Brooks Society YouTube channel. Among other things, I have created some new and different playlists of interesting and quirky things I have found on YouTube. Among them are a handful of videos of individuals drawing Louise Brooks, which I never knew was a thing. Here are a few examples of from my new playlist. If you have done one a video drawing, or know of one I have missed one, please let me know.

Writer/Artist Rick Geary draws a portrait of silent film actress Louise Brooks, who was a relative of his. Show here in time lapse . . . and one of my favorites. I have interviewed Rick Geary in the past. Read my interview HERE


Time lapse digital speed painting of Louise Brooks by Jeff Stahl done in Photoshop CS5 with Wacom tablets Cintiq 12wx and Intuos 4L. Real time: 1h16min.

 


The first video in a series from Bee the Artist titled "Bio-pics" - a mix between portrait drawing and film history. This video is a bit longer, and features multiple sketches.


 And lastly, a drawing of Louise Brooks by Gregory Roth, drawn in ArtRage. 


Monday, August 23, 2021

Memoirs of a silent film loving bookseller, as told through "baseball" cards, part 1

This post is a kind of sidebar to a long and heavily illustrated piece I wrote called "One booksellers memoirs, told through 'baseball' cards." The piece is awaiting publication, when and if it is published, I will edit in a link.

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows that I once worked as a bookseller at the Booksmith in San Francisco, much of the time running the store's events program. As such, I worked with publishers in selecting authors, creating a monthly schedule, arranging for newspaper listings, and generally banging the drum to make sure someone showed up. I also hosted events – which meant setting up chairs and a podium, making sure there were books, bottled water and signing pens available, and most importantly, introducing the writer before an audience which might range between three and 300.

Author events can be highly competitive, especially in the bookstore rich San Francisco Bay Area. In order to make the series stand out, the Booksmith began issuing a series of promotional cards for most every author event the store put on. These author cards were similar to baseball cards or other like collectibles, except that these cards featured contemporary poets, novelists, biographers, historians and  more than a few pop culture celebrities. And because of my interest in early film and film history and especially Louise Brooks, there were also a handful of events related to authors in those areas who then recently had a book published.

The three authors I hosted who are most closely associated with Louise Brooks (among the approximately 30 related to early film) are Peter Cowie, Frederica Sagor Maas, and Barry Paris. There are stories behind each event, and each card. 

 

-- The event with screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas #302 took place on July 10, 1999, just four days after her 99th birthday. The event was held to mark the publication of Maas' The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (University Press of Kentucky).

One day in April,1999 I was roaming about the floor of the national booksellers convention in Los Angeles (or was it Anaheim). I was looking at new and forthcoming books and considering authors who I might like to have for an event. That's when I came across the booth housing the University Press of Kentucky, and met the charming Leila Salisbury. I visited the UPK booth because I had heard they were publishing books on film history, and I wanted to check things out. Leila and I struck up a conversation, and that when she handed me a advance copy of The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, the memoir of an early Hollywood screenwriter whose career began in the silent era. The author's name seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. I took the advance copy back to my hotel, and later, began reading it before I went to sleep. . . . However, I couldn't put it down as one fascinating anecdote followed another until I came across Louise Brooks' name and realized who the author of the book was -- Frederica Sagor, the author of the story that served as the basis for the 1927 Louise Brooks' film, Rolled Stockings! OMG.

When Leila first handed me a copy of The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, she casually mentioned the press would be holding a lunch with the author at Musso and Franks, the famous Hollywood restaurant. First thing the next day, I returned to the UPK booth and wormed my way into the luncheon. I simply had to meet the author, a then 98 year old woman who had known and penned scripts not only Louise Brooks, but also Garbo, Clara Bow, Norma Shearer, Erich von Stroheim and others. 

That fortuitous encounter in April led to Maas' first ever bookstore event at the Booksmith just three months later. Maas had just turned 99 years old, and was somewhat frail, nearly blind, and hard of hearing - but still mentally sharp. She wasn't able to stand and give a talk or read from her book, and so she and I sat down together in front of few dozen film buffs and I asked her a bunch of softball questions drawn from my reading of her anecdotal memoir. The crowd loved her, and hung on every word. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Maas told some dishy stories including one about Joan Crawford, who she met when the future star first arrived in Hollywood. Maas was assigned by the studio to greet Crawford (then Lucille LeSueur) at the train station, show her about, take her shopping, and teach her how to dress. Still mentally sharp and opinionated after nearly a century, Maas recalled not being impressed by the young Crawford, and thought the then aspiring actress little more than a “tramp.” The crowd giggled with delight.

After her presentation and book signing, my wife and I took Maas and her helper (her niece) out to dinner, and once again Maas told more stories of early Hollywood. I got to ask her about Brooks, and I was in heaven. The following day, I arranged for Maas to sign books at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, where she spoke briefly from the stage and again wowed a crowd of nearly a thousand. At the book signing that followed, everyone wanted to meet this witness to history. We ended up selling nearly 100 books! 

I have written about Frederica in the past here on the Louise Brooks Society blog. Those posts can be found HERE and HERE. The Shocking Miss Pilgrim did well, and even went into a second printing - pretty good for a memoir by a little know individual published by a university press. Frederica also endured, and became a supercentenarian, and one of the oldest surviving entertainers from the silent film era. In fact, Maas lived to the age of 111, making her at the time of her death the second oldest person in California and the eighteenth oldest in America, as well as the  44th oldest verified person in the world. If you haven't read her memoir, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, I would encourage you to do so.

-- The event with biographer Barry Paris #413 took place on November 14, 2000, on what would have been Louise Brooks' 94th birthday. The event was held for the reissue of the Paris biography of actress (University of Minnesota Press).

For a brief time in the late 1990s, both the Barry Paris biography of Brooks as well as Brooks' own Lulu in Hollywood had fallen out of print. (This was before the era of e-books, when little goes out of print.) I led a grass roots campaign to bring both books back into circulation, emailing and phoning and chatting with whoever might listen. Eventually, the University of Minnesota Press answered the call. They too were starting to publish film history. (My name and the Louise Brooks Society are acknowledged on the copy right page of each edition.)

In an unprecedented "thank you" for my efforts, the UMP flew Barry Paris from his home in Pittsburgh, PA to San Francisco, where he did an event at the Booksmith. I was thrilled, as were others. A good crowd turned out, with a few coming up from as far away as Los Angeles, hundreds of miles away. And again, we sold a good number of books. A year or two later, I stopped by the UMP booth at the annual bookseller's convention and ask how things were going with the book.  I was told the Barry Paris biography was still going strong, and in fact, it was among the university press' best selling backlist titles. Both books are still in print today.

BTW: to mark the appearance of Barry Paris at the Booksmith, I produced a limited edition autographed broadside featuring a brief quotation from the Paris book. It can be seen HERE.

-- The event with European film historian Peter Cowie #890 took place on November 12, 2006, just two days ahead of the Louise Brooks centennial. The Booksmith event was held to mark the publication of Cowie's Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever (Rizzoli), which was published to coincide with the centennial and the handful of events which were taking place around the country.

Sometime earlier that year, I had caught wind of the books' forthcoming publication. (I think Cowie had contacted me, as I am acknowledged in the book.) And once again, I was roaming about the floor of the national booksellers convention when I came across the Rizzoli booth. The press representative and I chatted, and he gave me a photocopy of the book's manuscript. Flash forward nearly half a year, and Cowie's publisher was putting together a small author tour in support of the publication of Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever. Rizzoli contacted me to gauge my interest, and of course I said yes. 

The Booksmith event was held off-site at the historic Balboa Theatre in San Francisco. I put together a slide-show of rare images and spoke briefly. Cowie spoke, there was a screening of a little seen Brooks' film, and Cowie signed books in the lobby. It was a memorable occasion. I even created a vintage looking handbill for the occasion which were given away to all of those who attended the event. 

I gave Peter Cowie one of the Louise Brooks buttons I made featuring a vintage caricature of the actress. He can be seen wearing it in the picture above. And, he can be seen wearing it in the centennial event held two days later in the Dryden Theater at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York.

Those are the stories behind the three cards pictured above (front) and below (back side of card). To be continued....HERE

BTW: the Booksmith card series began in 1993, and ran for 15 years; by the time it ended, the number of cards totaled more than 1000, making it, I would hazard to guess, one of the larger non-sport card series of the time. However, less than 30 cards relate to early film. An annotated checklist of all the cards can be found at www.thomasgladysz.com/booksmith-author-cards-a-checklist/

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985)

Remembering  Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985),
known professionally as Louise Brooks.


 From my collection of fan art.

"The Magic of Lulu"

by Ana Rosa 

acrylic on 11" x 14" board, 2003

Thursday, July 22, 2021

A Louise Brooks musical tribute from Rick Gallego & Cloud Eleven

Recently, I received a CD in the mail from independent recording artist Rick Gallego. His latest record is titled Pandora's Box (Kool Kat Musik). Rick enclosed a brief note that read, "Hi Thomas, thought you might find this interesting, since this was inspired by Louise!" Rick is right. I liked it a lot.

Pandora's Box is a melodic joy ride whose retro power pop influences include the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Todd Rundgren, Pet Sounds era Beach Boys, early solo Paul McCartney, and latter-day XTC. Rick has been putting out music since 1996. In short, he has a number of recordings to his credit, either as a solo artist or as part of Jiffipop and/or Cloud Eleven. He and his bands have received rave reviews, and had his music featured in TV shows on ABC, NBC and elsewhere. For more on the songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Rick Gallego and Cloud Eleven, be sure and visit his website and / or his Facebook page.

Some of the linear notes, which are printed over an image of Louise Brooks, explain how this, his latest effort, came about: "Pandora’s Box isn’t so much a ‘new’ album than a collection of previously unfinished song fragments that had been buried on old cassette tapes, plus some outtakes from other albums, and a few covers. During the lockdown of 2020, I would discover a stray chorus here, a verse there, and commence to completing the songs, then record them. In some ways, Pandora’s Box is Terrestrial Ballet part deux. Sometimes it just feels good to clean out that old junk drawer."

I emailed Rick about his new CD, and he wrote back, saying "I already had the song called "Pandora's Box" (dedicated to Lulu), so I decided to name the album that too." I asked Rick the question I ask everyone. How did you first hears about Louise Brooks? Rick answered, "In January 2020 I was doing a YouTube search for anything 1920's, as I have always been fascinated with that decade. I landed on a video (don't really remember who posted it) that reviewed various cultural attributes of the '20s, and it mentioned Louise Brooks as an icon of the period. I had never heard of her before and was really taken by her look, so did a Google search. It kind of snowballed from there into wanting to know everything about her. After seeing a couple of her movies (swoon!) and getting the Barry Paris book (the University of Minnesota Press 2000 paperback version - I ended up buying the first edition hard cover from you later on!), I was pretty much a big fan of hers by then. Since then, I joined your LBS page on Facebook, bought all of her movies on DVD/Blu-ray, and bought every book I could get my hands on, including of course, Lulu In Hollywood. There's a certain magical quality about Louise Brooks that just draws you in, kind of like the movie Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, where everyone is compelled with this 'thing' (Devil's Tower), but they don't know why. Louise Brooks is truly a fascinating person, not only beautiful, but intelligent and witty too. So very happy I found her!

The first track on Rick's new CD is titled "Pandora's Box (Schöne Lulu)." The linear notes for this track read, "This song began as a sort of Rundgren-esque synth jam and evolved into what we have here. Basic tracks were recorded in 2018 and completed in 2020. At the time of completion, I was absorbed into all things 1920s, including art deco, silent films, and specifically actress/writer/icon Louise Brooks. Her most memorable role was that of Lulu, in the classic 1929 German film Pandora's Box. This, my first ever instrumental (silent!) track, is dedicated to the lovely Lulu." Here is the video for that track. Just turn off your mind, relax, and float down stream.


And here is the video of the CD's second track, "Row Row Row," Cloud Eleven's version of the children's nursery rhyme. I really like this gorgeous recording. The song features a homage to the Beatles, while this video features a homage to a couple of Kansas icons. You can likely guess which ones.

And lastly, here is the video for one of my very favorite tracks on Pandora's Box, a mock garage rock cover titled "I Can Do Anything I Want!" I think Kansas-born artist Bruce Conner, a Louise Brooks devotee, would have liked this.


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