Two book reviews

Two reviews of the excellent new book by Peter Cowie, Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever, were published today. A long, appreciative piece by Wayne Meyers appeared in the Oneida Daily Dispatch (from Onedia, New York). That piece can be foundon-line. A shorter, and even more enthuisiastic piece by Leonard Maltin appeared on his website. (I believe Maltin will also be mentioning the book on one of his television shows.)

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has gotten the book. Please post a reply comment and let everyone know what you think.

BTW: The Booksmith in San Francisco is nearly out of autographed copies, though I think they still have one or two or three left. (Any remaining signed copies will likely be for sale at the Castro Theater this Saturday.) Hurry up and get one from whatever source. . . . they are going like hotcakes. And with a bunch of reviews starting to hit, there will probably be a run on them.

Silly Symphonies / Chicago this Saturday

This Saturday, December 2nd at the Castro Theatre here in San Francisco, the good people at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival are showing the original filmed version of the great Broadway hit CHICAGO, starring Phyllis Haver as tough-as-nails Roxie Hart; and a rarer-than-rare 35mm presentation of a bunch of Walt Disney's pioneering SILLY SYMPHONIES - great cartoons, and great examples of how a silent-era filmmaker met sound head-on in a dazzling display of music, creativity and imagination. I am very excited. I will be there!

SILLY SYMPHONIES (one show only at 1:30)

Straight from the Disney archives, a program of SILLY SYMPHONIES, the famous cartoon series set to a madcap mix of classical, popular and folk music. Disney and his team of talented animators make skeletons, frogs, devils and trees dance in time to music with delightful originality – thus trailblazing the transition to sound. The host and expert guide to this tribute will be Russell Merritt, silent film historian and co-author of two invaluable studies of early Disney animation: Walt in Wonderland and Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series. The shorts to be shown are:

THE SKELETON DANCE (1929, Walt Disney)
HELL'S BELLS (1929, Ub Iwerks)
NIGHT (1930, Walt Disney)
THE CHINA PLATE (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
EGYPTIAN MELODIES (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
THE UGLY DUCKLING (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
FLOWERS AND TREES (1932, Burt Gillett)
MUSIC LAND (1935, Wilfred Jackson)
Following these special screenings . . . 


DUCKS, DEVILS, DOWNBEATS AND DISNEY: An Animated Conversation On Animation
Right after the films, Russell Merritt will moderate a lively talk with Disney scholars and animation experts, including: Leslie Iwerks (granddaughter of the legendary animator Ub Iwerks), Neal Gabler (author of Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination), Jere Guldin (UCLA Film & Television Archive, Preservationist) and J.B. Kaufman (co-author of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series).

CHICAGO (one show only at 7:30)

There may be other versions – Bob Fosse’s 1975 Broadway musical, and the 2002 adaptation that took the Academy Award for Best Picture – but you haven’t seen CHICAGO until you’ve seen the original! Based on the true story of two women who dealt with their no-good lovers by gunning them down in cold blood, CHICAGO features an explosive, riotous performance by Phyllis Haver, who throws everything she’s got – and more! – into the role of two-timing, morality-free jazz baby Roxie Hart. Fast-paced, hard-boiled and sin-soaked, the 1927 CHICAGO is  the real thing: a straight-up portrait of Roaring Twenties madness, straight out of the Twenties! Presented in the long-lost roadshow version, now completely restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, with pulse-pounding live accompaniment supplied by the BAKER–MEHLING HOT FOUR, purveyors of authentic 1920s jazz!
I will be at the book table in the lobby before and after each program hosting book signings with Neal Gabler, Russell Merritt, John Bengtson (author of Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin) and Jack Tillmany (Theatres of Oakland). Visit the San Francisco Silent Film Festival website at www.silentfilm.org for further information or to purchase tickets.

Pandora's Box DVD reviews

A number of reviews of the new Criterion DVD of Pandora's Box have started appearing in newspapers and magazines around the country. Here are links to some of the on-line versions of these reviews:

The New York Times ran a long article in today's paper (11-28-2006) of the new DVD. It's especially good on the American history of the film. Here is the link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/movies/28dvd.html?ref=arts    

And, a couple of days ago, on Sunday the 26th, the Boston Globe ran a review. The link to that piece by Ty Burr can be found athttp://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/11/26/dvd_report/?page=2

And a few days before that, on the 24th of November, a piece by Justin DeFreitas appeared in the Berkeley Daily Planet. That review can be found at http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=11-24-06&storyID=25727

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Times ran a capsule review in today's newspaper:

"Pandora's Box" (Criterion, $40): Superlative two-disc set of G.W. Pabst's seminal 1929 German silent starring the iconic Louise Brooks as the tragic heroine, Lulu. Brooks never looked lovelier in the high-definition digital transfer. Extras include four different musical scores that run the gamut, including cabaret and orchestral, and enthralling commentary from film historians Thomas Elsaesser and Mary Ann Doane, both of whom have studied "Box" for years; a well-crafted 1998 TV documentary, "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu"; a fabulous 1984 documentary "Lulu in Berlin," with a rare filmed interview with Brooks; and an interview with the director's son, Michael Pabst.

As did the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Their staff review ran in today's paper as well:

Louise Brooks is one of the legendary actresses of the silent era -- a Kansas beauty with a "black helmet" of hair turned into a sex symbol by German director W.S. Pabst. In this defining role, the former Hollywood bit player and Ziegfeld Follies dancer plays Lulu, an innocent but sexually aggressive showgirl turned prostitute who leaves death in her wake and eventually ends up on a foggy London street with Jack the Ripper. The Criterion Collection release provides the 1928 silent with four stylistically different scores, a disc of extras including the documentary "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu" and a booklet with a chapter from her memoirs and Kenneth Tynan's essay, "The Girl in the Black Helmet." 109 minutes. Unrated.

The Los Angeles Daily News ran a short piece by Rob Lowman in yesterday's paper:

Criterion is releasing a remastered disc of one of the more daring films of the silent era, German director's G.W. Pabst's 1929 psycho-sexual melodrama "Pandora's Box," which stars Lousie Brooks. The American actress plays a showgirl named Lulu, whose unabandoned lifestyle sends her on a downward path that results in terrible end. Brooks was a fascinating figure in Hollywood, and that magnetic personality comes across on in the film. Her controversial life is examined in the 1998 documentary "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu," narrated by Shirley Mclaine is one of the extras, as well as commentary by film historians.

Brazilian article

Just back from a few days away for the holidays. . . . This long article on Louise Brooks in a Brazilian publication was brought to my attention. Check it out here. Embedded in the piece is a nifty video clip (featuring video from Pandora's Box and music by Clan of Xymox) from youtube.com. The music reminded me of Joy Division. Check it out.

Still keeping busy

Despite all that is going on lately in the world of Louise Brooks, I have been able to make it to the library pretty much every week over the course of the last month . . . as I am trying to keep up with my research. I am still requesting inter-library loans - and microfilm still arrives for me to look through. Lately, I have secured Louise Brooks-Denishawn material from the Sharon Herald(from Sharon, PA.) and Knickerbocker Press (from Albany, New York). I figure I have acquired material on about 95% of the Denishawn engagements with which Brooks was involved. Striving towards completion, I still have a couple dozen New York and Pennsylvannia dates to acquire

I also recently looked through the Atlanta Georgian (a Hearst newspaper), Knoxville Journal, Tulsa Daily World, Capitol Times (from Madison, Wisconsin),  and Waterbury American (from Conneticut). And in each of these newspapers I found a few more film reviews and advertisements. The pile grows. Slowly, I am also finishing up my gathering of film-related material from major American cities and towns. My goal has been to gather articles and reviews from the 30 or 40 biggest urban centers, as well as material from every region and state. To that end, I also recently looked at microfilm of the Arizona Republican (from Phoenix) and Santa Fe New Mexican, but I found nothing in either of those papers. Phoenix and Santa Fe were pretty small towns back then - and didn't seem to support much of a movie culture.

The most interesting material I came across concerned the Better Films Committee of Atlanta, Georgia. In the review I found for A Girl in Every Port (1928), the journalist reported that the local committee gave the film a rating of "A - G," which basically means it was deemed "very good" but for an "adult" audience. This was not a "general audience" rating that some of the other films playing in town received. I guess "A - G" might be the equivalent of today's "R" rating. Apparently, the local committee back then found the theme of "flirtation, fighting and friendship" a bit strong.

And, while looking through September issues of the Capitol Times for material on The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), I happened to notice the paper's radio guide included a listing for a live broadcast of the Atlantic City beauty contest. Wow - I never knew! That was the same contest which served as the backdrop for The American Venus (1926), Brooks' second film. I wonder if Brooks herself was there? Certainly, Paramount film crews were, as was Brooks' friend and fellow Ziegfeld Follies performer Dorothy Knapp. One can only wonder.

These are the sort of interesting things I find on occassion, and that's why I keep on looking. To be continued . . . .

Leaving things for fans

Lately, during my weekly research trips to the San Francisco Public Library, I have been paying a quick visit to the Louise Brooks exhibit which I organized and which is on display at the SFPL (on the 4th floor). The exhibit is titled "Homage to Lulu: 100 Years of Louise Brooks." It will remain on display through January 5, 2007. (See this LJ entry  for pictures, and this entry for a short description.)

And what I have taken to doing every week is leaving things for fans to pick up: so far, I have left a few Louise Brooks Society pinback buttons, programs to the Lulu play currently in town, a LB "Further Reading" handout, and some of the reproduction movie heralds created for the Peter Cowie event here in San Francisco. In the coming weeks, I will leave some more buttons, as well as Louise Brooks crossword and word search puzzles, as well as whatever else I have extra of or will create just to give away. Everything I leave will be on the comment book stand, so please do check out this little exhibit if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I had also rubber stamped the comment book with the Rick Geary images of Louise Brooks and Buster Keaton, and somebody responded with a little drawing of LB. Very cool!  And somebody else wrote that they had visited the show while visiting from Pittsburgh, PA. Thank you all for stopping by.

Long live Lulu - Lulu Forever.

Wichita screenings

Four of Louise Brooks'  films will be screened in Wichita, Kansas in early December. The Louise C. Murdock Center has announced that they will be showing Diary of a Lost Girl (on December 7), Pandora's Box (on December 8), and The Show Off and Prix de Beaute (on December 9).

The 20th Century Center, incorporating the Louise C. Murdock Theatre, is located at 536 N. Broadway in Wichita, just one block north of Central on Broadway. More info can be found at http://www.murdocktheatre.com/