Monday, October 30, 2006

The Blue Church

I live in a part of San Francisco called Noe Valley. It's a mostly working class neighborhood. Just down the block from me is a blue building which was once home to a movie theater. It is one of the oldest movie theaters in San Francisco, though it has for some time been home to a church.   According to an article about the building in the current issue of the Noe Valley Voice (the local neighborhood newspaper):
Demolition of the church would drop the final curtain on a building that started life as a one-screen temple to Hollywood. The theater opened in 1916 as the Searchlight, according to Cinema Treasures, a web site devoted to movie preservation. The theater, which showed German and Russian films in the 1930s and later on American movies, was also known as the Empress, the Lux, the De Lux, the Isis, the Princess, the Church, and the Rita. The Rita moniker eventually gave way to the Del Mar - until 1965 when the Holiness Temple in Christ purchased the building.
I thought it interesting that this small neighborhood theater showed "foreign films" in the 1930's. And I wondered if they ever might have shownPandora's Box ? According to Jack Tillmany's book, Theaters of San Francisco, there is no known photograph of the building as a movie theater. Thus, I offer this image which I took just minutes ago using my digital camera.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

The LOUISE BROOKS event not to miss!


"Celebrating Louise Brooks: An Evening of Rare Films"
with PETER COWIE
a talk, film screening & book signing for "Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever"
Sunday, November 12 at 7:30 pm
at the Balboa Theater (3630 Balboa Street) in San Francisco

On Sunday November 12th, world renown film critic and biographer Peter Cowie, author of the just published "Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever," will give a talk as part of "Celebrating Louise Brooks: An Evening of Rare Films" at the Balboa Theater (3630 Balboa Street) in San Francisco. Rare Louise Brooks films, special guests, door prizes, Louise Brooks give-aways and more will round out the program, which starts at 7:30. A book signing will follow.

With her distinctive haircut and classically drawn features, Louise Brooks is, without question, one of the great icons of world cinema. Her role as Lulu in "Pandora's Box" has gained her film immortality. This month, the world celebrates her centennial with the publication of Peter Cowie's much-anticipated new book, "Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever," an insightful and lavishly illustrated portrait of the actress and the legend.

Peter Cowie is a world famous film historian and the author of some thirty books including "The Cinema of Orson Welles," "John Ford and the American West," and "Revolution!: The Explosion Of World Cinema In The Sixties," as well as acclaimed biographies of Ingmar Bergman and Francis Ford Coppola. Cowie will be joining us from his home in Switzerland.

This special event, co-sponsored by The Booksmith ( www.booksmith.com) and the Louise Brooks Society ( www.pandorasbox.com), will take place at the historic Balboa Theater (3630 Balboa) in San Francisco. Tickets are $8.50 and can be purchased in advance onwww.BrownPaperTickets.com  

 BUY YOUR TICKETS SOON, AS THIS SPECIAL EVENT IS EXPECTED TO SELL OUT.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Interview article

There is a full page article about Louise Brooks (and her bob) in the current issue of Interview magazine.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever

Today, I received my copy of Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever by Peter Cowie. (Copies are not due in stores for about a week.) It is absolutely gorgeous! It is a book every Brooks fan will want to own . . . .  I had written my review for Publisher's Weeklybased on page proofs (an early version of the book which was sent to me by the publisher). This finished copy is so much more appealing. The images look really stunning. Wow!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

G-Swing

A recently released French compact disc with Louise Brooks on the cover, Swing for Modern Clubbing, has been called to my attention. (Thank you Pascal.) Is anyone familiar with this CD or the music? More info here. (Brooks also appears on an interior illustration.)

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Philippe Boussemart

A French artist by the name of Philippe Boussemart has painted a handful of works featuring Louise Brooks - and Charlie Chaplin. I am not sure what it all means - but you can check out his website at http://philippe.boussemart.com/peinture/creations/

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Monday, October 23, 2006

This being detail

Another swell image of Louise Brooks - this being detail from a film still from Love Em and Leave Em (1926), which is for sale on eBay. The seller is located in Portugal, where the film was shown under the title Amá-las e deixá-las.
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