A cinephilac blog about an actress, silent film, and the Jazz Age, with occasional posts
about related books, music, art, and history written by Thomas Gladysz. Visit the
Louise Brooks Society™ at www.pandorasbox.com
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The glance
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Monday, May 26, 2008
A reason for the bob
About every review of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull has mentioned the haircut worn by Cate Blanchett's character - a severe bob a la Louise Brooks. (Similarly, many reviews of Christina Ricci's role in the recent Speedracer also mentioned her Brooks-like bob.) Well, those references to Brooks and her famous haircut are just that, references. No big deal - they show up on my "Louise Brooks news alert."
Well, it turns out there is a reason after all for Blanchett's (aka CB) hairstyle. In a recent interview with Cinematical, director George Lucas (aka GL) revealed his regard for Louise Brooks.
Well, it turns out there is a reason after all for Blanchett's (aka CB) hairstyle. In a recent interview with Cinematical, director George Lucas (aka GL) revealed his regard for Louise Brooks.
Was that hairdo an homage to somebody specifically in the fifties?I wish I had known. I once went to the Skywalker Ranch north of San Francisco. And I was impressed by the silent film movie memorabilia on display. None of it was Brooks related, but there was stuff belonging to Rudolph Valentino, the Keystone cops, etc..... George Lucas wasn't there at the time. But had I known of his interest in Brooks, I would have left him a LBS button. George, write to me . . . . I have an idea for a film.
CB: Well, Vidal Sassoon. ...
GL: I'm a big fan of Louise Brooks, a big fan of the bob, and I couldn't resist. I just had to get that in a movie.
CB: I didn't resist.
GL: Just something that had to happen.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
Microsoft announced Friday that it was ending a project to scan millions of books and scholarly articles and make them available on the Web. It's expected that it's book search site will be taken down sometime this week. So far, Microsoft said it had digitized 750,000 books and indexed 80 million journal articles. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may . . . .
Both Microsoft and Google have been scanning older books that have fallen into the public domain, as well as copyright-protected books under agreements with some publishers. I have used both sites in researching Louise Brooks, Frank Wedekind, silent film, and Jazz Age topics. And, I have found a bunch of stuff - including vintage reviews of Brooks' films in obscure trade journals like Educational Screen. I was also able to download a whole lot of early books on film. It's a pleasure to have Movies and Conduct, a book from 1933 about the effect of the movies on youth. (Louise Brooks is mentioned.)
Admittedly, I am an information junkie. Microsoft's discontinuation of this project is a sad thing.
Both Microsoft and Google have been scanning older books that have fallen into the public domain, as well as copyright-protected books under agreements with some publishers. I have used both sites in researching Louise Brooks, Frank Wedekind, silent film, and Jazz Age topics. And, I have found a bunch of stuff - including vintage reviews of Brooks' films in obscure trade journals like Educational Screen. I was also able to download a whole lot of early books on film. It's a pleasure to have Movies and Conduct, a book from 1933 about the effect of the movies on youth. (Louise Brooks is mentioned.)
Admittedly, I am an information junkie. Microsoft's discontinuation of this project is a sad thing.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Unusually unusual
Here is something you don't see everyday - as a matter of fact, it's a somewhat uncommon image. A copy is available on eBay.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Pandora's Box on cable
Pandora's Box, the 1929 German film starring Louise Brooks, will be shown on the Ovation cable channel tonight at 8 and 11 pm. Check your local listings. Follow this link for a bit more information from the Ovation website.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Friday, May 16, 2008
RadioLulu update
I regret to report that broadcasters still have not been able to reach agreement with SoundExchange over an acceptable performance royalty rate for internet radio stations like RadioLulu. Fortunately, supporters in Congress are getting frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations and are finally taking action.
This Thursday, May 15th, Senator Sam Brownback will be offering an amendment to include the Internet Radio Equality Act (IREA) provisions into legislation being considered by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. As you may remember, IREA was a bill introduced last year to cap royalties at 7.5% of Internet radio revenues.
A fair and reasonable royalty rate is needed now more than ever. Together with Live365, RadioLulu and 6,000 other small webcasters are streaming hundreds of diverse musical artists and genres that simply can't be heard on AM/FM dials. But unless the royalty rate is lowered to the same rate as other radio media, we will always be at a competitive disadvantage with higher costs and fewer listeners.
RadioLulu needs your help to support the IREA bill. So, please take a minute and go to www.savenetradio.org to fire off a quick email or phone call to your Senator. Unless we all raise our voices, the corporate greed of major labels will triumph over small webcasters that broadcast diverse musical genres and talent.
Help protect RadioLulu and internet radio for small webcasters!
This Thursday, May 15th, Senator Sam Brownback will be offering an amendment to include the Internet Radio Equality Act (IREA) provisions into legislation being considered by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. As you may remember, IREA was a bill introduced last year to cap royalties at 7.5% of Internet radio revenues.
A fair and reasonable royalty rate is needed now more than ever. Together with Live365, RadioLulu and 6,000 other small webcasters are streaming hundreds of diverse musical artists and genres that simply can't be heard on AM/FM dials. But unless the royalty rate is lowered to the same rate as other radio media, we will always be at a competitive disadvantage with higher costs and fewer listeners.
RadioLulu needs your help to support the IREA bill. So, please take a minute and go to www.savenetradio.org to fire off a quick email or phone call to your Senator. Unless we all raise our voices, the corporate greed of major labels will triumph over small webcasters that broadcast diverse musical genres and talent.
Help protect RadioLulu and internet radio for small webcasters!
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sincerely
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)