Thursday, July 31, 2014

Truus van Aalten - a Dutch actress with a Dutch bob

Tomorrow's blog will feature a write up about Truus van Aalten (1910-1999), a once popular Dutch actress with a Dutch bob. Here are some picture postcard portraits featuring this charming actress.


























Truus van Aalten was so popular that there was even a song about her, sung by Lou Bundy (follow the link to listen). Otherwise, here she is filming Jenny's Bummel durch die Männer on Scheveningen Pier in Holland in 1929.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks in a snappy outfit

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks in a snappy outfit....


Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Giorgio Moroder - The Fading Image (short film about silent film)


A dated but interesting little film.... Giorgio Moroder's short documentary about the German silent films of F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. Moroder also talks about his long ago search for Metropolis footage, and how he created his own score.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Kylie Minogue as Louise Brooks

Found online: Singer Kylie Minogue as Louise Brooks as "The Canary" from The Canary Murder Case . . . . can anyone say when this portrait of Kylie was taken? I haven't been able to find much online.



And here is another image, Kylie Minogue adorned with feathers, continueing the Canary theme.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Pandora's Box with Louise Brooks on TCM July 27

Turner Classic Movies will air Pandora's Box on Sunday, July 27th at 12:15 ET.

The TCM website 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. Based on the plays of F. Wedekind."

Visit the TCM page to watch movie clips and learn more.

Friday, July 25, 2014

New book - Pola Negri: Hollywood's First Femme Fatale

Recently released by the University Press of Kentucky is Pola Negri: Hollywood's First Femme Fatale, by Mariusz Kotowski. This 320 page book is, I believe, the first English language biography of Polish-born silent film superstar. I am about half-way through it, and am enjoying it well enough. I hope to write a fuller eeview at a later time. [BTW: A few vintage recordings by Pola Negri can be heard on RadioLulu.]

From the publisher: "Pola Negri (1897–1987) rose from an impoverished childhood in Warsaw, Poland, to become one of early Hollywood’s greatest stars. After tuberculosis ended her career as a ballerina in 1912, she turned to acting and worked under legendary directors Max Reinhardt and Ernst Lubitsch in Germany. Negri preceded Lubitsch to Hollywood, where she quickly became a fan favorite thanks to her beauty, talent, and diva personality. Known for her alluring sexuality and biting artistic edge, she starred in more than sixty films and defined the image of the cinematic femme fatale.

Author Mariusz Kotowski brings the screen siren’s story to English-speaking audiences for the first time in this fascinating biography. At the height of her fame, Negri often portrayed exotic and mysterious temptresses, headlining in such successes as The Spanish Dancer (1923) and Forbidden Paradise (1924), before returning to Europe in the 1930s. The devastating effects of World War II soon drove her back to the United States, where she starred in Hi Diddle Diddle (1943) and pursued her vaudeville career before retiring from the entertainment industry.

Kotowski also illuminates Negri’s dramatic personal life, detailing her numerous love affairs—including her engagement to Charlie Chaplin and her romance with Rudolph Valentino—as well as her multiple marriages. This long-overdue biography not only paints a detailed portrait of one classic Hollywood’s most intriguing stars and the film industry’s original Jezebel, but also explores the link between Hollywood and European cinema during the interwar years."

-----

By and large, this is a full account of the Negri legend. It’s all here—from the jewels, the husbands, and the misadventures in Nazi Germany to the trumped-up feuds, the adoring fans, and the pet cheetah that, allegedly, was Negri’s companion at home, on the streets, and inside the studios. Kotowski tells the story with finesse. -- Leonard J. Leff, author of Hemingway and His Conspirators

"This is a very special book written on a very special movie star--the kind they don't make any more, and actually, the kind they never did make except for her. Mariusz Kotowski has done a fantastic job of bringing to life the full story, both on and off screen, of a wonderfully talented, colorful, and fascinating woman. His dedication to Negri's career deserves everyone's respect. Pola Negri deserves attention, and this book brings it in just the right way. Highly recommended."-- Jeanine Basinger, author of I Do and I Don't: A History of Marriage in the Movies

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Every picture postcard tells a story....

Every picture postcard tells a story.... For example, this French postcard was used in the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1931. The stamp, from 1926, depicts King Alexander I, also known as Alexander the Unifier, who was a prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia and later King of Yugoslavia from 1921–34.



Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Did Ronald Colman have a thing for Louise Brooks?

"Louise Brooks' eyes are marvelous. They are large and dark brown in color. They fascinate me." So, supposedly, stated Ronald Colman in the November, 1929 issue of Screen Secrets in an article by Bob Moak entitled "Ronald Colman's Dream Girl." What a couple they would have made. For more on this dashing actor, see www.ronaldcolman.com/

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Desperately Seeking Marie Prevost

I like to listen to music while blogging, crawling the web, or working on the LBS website. Today, I listened to Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe. I hadn't listened to it in long time. This Nick Lowe CD contains such great songs as "Cracking Up" and "Cruel to Be Kind" - as well as "Marie Provost." 

The song is about Marie Prevost (Nick Lowe misspells her name). It's lyrics read in part: "Marie Provost was a movie queen / mysterious angel of the silent screen / And run like the wind the nation's young men steamed / When Marie crossed the silent screen." 

It should be noted that Lowe's lyrics inaccurately recount the circumstances around Prevost's premature death, as gleamed from Kenneth Anger's flawed Hollywood Babylon. Don't know why this English pop musician wrote a song about a forgotten movie star, but he did. . . .

Marie Prevost was a Canadian-born film actress. Prevost began her career during the silent film era, and came to fame as a member of Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties. By all accounts, she was a fine comedic and dramatic actress. During her twenty-year career, she made approximately 120 silent and talking pictures.

 . . . . Speaking of Marie Prevost, there is a new book out on the actress, Desperately Seeking Marie Prevost (BearManor), by Richard Kirby. I recently finished reading it. This slim (104 page), poorly written book takes a look at the life and work of a beautiful, talented and ill-fated actress who was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the 1920s. Its unfortunate, because Prevost deserves better.
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