Beggars of Life with Louise Brooks screens in Madison, Wisconsin on December 1

The University of Wisconsin Cinematheque is featuring an image of Louise Brooks at the top of their homepage. That's because the Cinematheque is set to show the sensational 1928 Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life, on Friday, December 1st. This screening is part of the Cinematheque's "Silents Please!" series of great movies from before the dawn of sound. This 7pm event will take place in 4070 Vilas Hall in Madison. More information about this screening can be found HERE.

BEGGARS OF LIFE

USA | 1928 | DCP | 81 min.

 

Director: William A. Wellman

Cast: Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen

A year after picking up Hollywood's first Oscar for Wings, legendary director Wellman turned to this rollicking saga of hobos on the lam. In what was probably her finest Hollywood feature, the magnificent Brooks hops freight trains with Beery and finds romance with Arlen. A recently restored DCP, featuring a score by the Mount Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, will be screened. 

It has been a great year for the film Beggars of Life. This Spring saw the release of my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, and this Summer saw the release of a new DVD / Blu-ray of the film from Kino Lorber. And better yet, each received great reviews!

Be sure and check out the University of Wisconsin Cinematheque blog, which features a piece by me, Thomas Gladysz, on Beggars of Life. Should any readers of this blog attend this event, I would love to hear your impressions. Please post something in the comments field below.

San Francisco Silent Film Festival winter event on December 2

Here is the line-up of films for the upcoming San Francisco Silent Film Festival winter event, which is taking place at the Castro Theater in San Francisco on December 2. It is a terrific line-up of movies. The link to ticket information can be found HERE.

I will be attending part of the event, and for those interested, I will be signing books, including the RECENTLY released Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film and the NEWLY released Now We're in the Air, following the showing of The Last Man on Earth (at approximately 1:15 pm or so). I will also have a few copies of my DVDs and the "Louise Brooks edition" of The Diary of a Lost Girl on hand.

This promises to be a special signing, as it will be taking place in the very theater were the "once lost" Louise Brooks film, Now We're in the Air, was first premiered earlier this year. Joining me will be Robert Byrne, who uncovered the film and wrote the foreword to this new book.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed)

10:00 AM (72 min)

The first full-length animated feature ever, Prince Achmed is loosely based on tales from The Arabian Nights. This enchanting film tells its story—an evil sorcerer trying to best the princely hero—entirely through cut-paper silhouettes against tinted and toned backdrops. Director Reiniger’s exquisitely expressive cutouts depict magical scenes of adventure involving flying horses, Aladdin, the Witch of Fiery Mountain, and the beautiful Princess Pari Banu, among others! A treat for all ages!

The Last Man on Earth

12:00 PM (70 min)

This gender-bending 1924 comedy imagines the year 1954 when an epidemic of “masculitus” has wiped out the male population, except for one sad sack, Elmer Smith (Earle Foxe). Gertie the Gangster (Grace Cunard) discovers the hermit Elmer and sells him to the government—for a hefty $10 million—where his fate will be decided in a boxing match on the floor of the US Senate!  

Tol'able David

2:00 PM (94 min)

D.W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms made Richard Barthelmess a star, but it was Henry King’s Tol’able David that cemented his place in the silent firmament. Barthelmess is the sensitive young David forced to confront brutal Goliaths in King’s rustic American coming-of-age tale. David’s serene Appalachian childhood comes to an end when a trio of outlaws terrorizes his town, crippling his brother and causing the death of his father.

The Rat

4:30 PM (78 min)

Set in the criminal underworld of Paris, this 1925 British box-office smash hit features the beguiling Ivor Novello as the apache Pierre Boucheron, aka The Rat. Novello would go on to star in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger (1926) and Downhill (1927), but it was The Rat that made him a Valentino-like sensation. Novello’s knife-throwing Rat (a role he created for himself on stage) is dangerous to men, irresistible to women—especially to slumming aristocrat Zélie de Chaumet (Isabel Jeans). Director Cutts does a splendid job bringing Belle Époque Paris to life in his London studio. 

Lady Windermere's Fan

7:00 PM (90 min)

Silent Oscar Wilde! If any filmmaker in history could convey the wit of the audaciously verbal Wilde in purely visual terms, it was the audaciously clever Ernst Lubitsch, aided here by a superb cast: May McAvoy as Lady Windermere, Ronald Colman as Lord Darlington, and Irene Rich as the notorious Mrs. Erlynne. Wilde’s biting comedy of social affectation and hypocrisy finds perfect expression under Lubitsch’s deft direction. The two masters shared an ethos, voiced here by Wilde’s Lord Darlington: “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it.” 

Sex in Chains (Geschlecht in Fesseln)

9:15 PM (92 min)

William Dieterle, who would go on to direct Hollywood classics like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Portrait of Jennie, started his career as actor/director Wilhelm Dieterle in Germany. Despite its lurid English translation, Sex in Chains is actually a message film about the human cost of imprisonment—for the imprisoned and society—that argues for prison reform. Dieterle himself plays the protagonist Franz Sommer, in jail for involuntary manslaughter, who turns to his cellmate for companionship. The film’s depiction of prison homosexuality was far ahead of its time, and so bold as to acknowledge that it could even lead to love.

Fans of Pandora's Box may recognize someone in this still.

Pandora’s Box (Pandoran lipas) with Louise Brooks screens in Helsinki, Finland on November 27 and December 1

The National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) in Helsinki, Finland will screen Pandora’s Box (Pandoran lipas) on November 27 and December 1, 2017 as part of their ongoing Louise Brooks series.

Brooks is the focus of the four film series at the country’s National Audiovisual Institute, which is set to show Beggars of Life on October 12 and 15, Diary of a Lost Girl (Kadotetun päiväkirja) on October 19 and 21, Prix de beaute (Miss Europa) on October 27 and 29, and Pandora’s Box (Pandoran lipas) on November 27 and December 1.

Here is some further information from the KAVI site. Times and ticket availability for each film may be found HERE.

Louise Brooks, kimaltava tähdenlento

12.10.2017 - 01.12.2017

Louise Brooksin elokuvauraa voi luonnehtia tähdenlennoksi, sillä hänen aktiivinen elokuvauransa kesti vain vuosikymmenen. Parhaimmat elokuvansa hän teki Euroopassa G. W. Pabstin kanssa. Hollywoodin Brooks jätti sopimusrikkojana, eikä paluu unelmatehtaaseen enää onnistunut.

The following is from the KAVI website:

Ohjaaja: G. W. Pabst

Henkilöt: Louise Brooks, Gustav Diessl, Fritz Kortner

Maa: Saksa

Tekstitykset: English subtitles

Ikäraja: K16

Kesto: 134 min

Teemat: ELOKUVAN HISTORIA

KINO KLASSIKKO

LOUISE BROOKS

Kopiotieto: 2K DCP • Deutsche Kinemathek (restauroitu laitos 2009 George Eastman House, in cooperation with La Cinémathèque française, Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, Narodní filmový archív, Deutsche Kinemathek)

Lisätieto: Franz Wedekindin näytelmistä • sonorisoitu • uusi musiikki Peer Raben

 

G. W. Pabst löysi hehkuvan Lulunsa Howard Hawksin elokuvasta A Girl in Every Port. Pandoran lippaassa (Die Büchse der Pandora, 1929) Brooksin amoraalinen roolihahmo on viaton ja sensuelli – nainen, joka ei tunnusta rajojaan. Elokuva perustuu Franz Wedekindin näytelmiin, joissa ekspressionismi yhdistyy melodraamaan. Pabst tutki totuutta kuitenkin viileästi uusasiallisuuden hengessä, realistisesti ja vähäeleisesti tuoden samalla esiin yhteiskunnallisia epäkohtia ja kaksinaismoraalia.

 

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Kreikkalaisessa mytologiassa Pandora on kuolevainen nainen, jonka jumalat lähettivät kauneudella ja muille naiselle tärkeinä pitämillään ominaisuuksilla varustettuna kostamaan Prometheukselle tulenryöstön. Mukaansa Pandora sai lippaan, jonne oli kätketty kaikki inhimilliset synnit ja pahuudet. Tietenkin Pandora meni uteliaana avaamaan lippaan, ja ilkiömäisyydet karkasivat maailman turuille. Jumalat pääsivät sammuttamaan kostonjanonsa.

Ekspressionistina tunnettu Sveitsin saksalainen näytelmäkirjailija Frank Wedekind hyödynsi Pandora-myyttiä kahdessa näytelmässään Erdgeist (1895) ja Die Büchse der Pandora (1905), joiden päähenkilö edusti niin avointa seksuaalisuutta ja moraalista alennustilaa, että näytelmien esitykset kiellettiin Euroopan eri kolkilla lähes tyystin.

Saksalaisen Georg Wilhelm Pabstin (1885-1967) tunnetuimpiin saavutuksiin – läpimurtoelokuvan Iloton katu (1925), Brecht-sovituksen Kerjäläisooppera (1931) ja työläiskuvauksen Toveruus (1931) ohella – kuuluu edellä mainituista Wedekindin näytelmistä yhteensulautettu eroottinen melodraama Pandoran lipas (Die Büchse der Pandora, 1928). Ennen Pabstia oli aiheeseen tarttunut kameran avulla jo Leopold Jessner vuonna 1922, jolloin Lulua esitti tanskalainen supertähti Asta Nielsen.
Pabst suunnitteli ottaa elokuvansa päärooliin nuoren Marlene Dietrichin, kunnes hän päätyi Howard Hawksin ja William Wellmanin mykän kauden varhaistöissä näkemäänsä amerikkalaiseen näyttelijään ja tanssijaan Louise Brooksiin, ”amerikkalaiseen Venukseen”, jolle Pandoran lippaan Lulu muodostuikin uran tärkeimmäksi saavutukseksi.

Pandoran lipas on mustanpuhuvan romantiikan ja tunteellisen ekspressionismin täyttämä traaginen tarina naisesta, joka pyrkii olemaan täysin vapaa. Pabstin tulkinnassa Lulu on lapsenkasvoinen viettelijätär, luonnonvoima, joka kulkee sekä viattomana, että rikoksiin syyllistyen kohti tuhoaan viiltäjä-Jackin kynsissä. Lulu vaihtaa yhteiskuntaluokkaa kuin paitaa, ampuu ikääntyneen aviomiehensä tohtori Schönin (Fritz Kortner), joutuu oikeuteen murhasta syytettynä, mutta karkaa tohtorin pojan Alvan kanssa, vaeltaa orgioista toiseen, leikittelee miesten intohimolla ja päätyy lopulta prostituoiduksi.

Pabstin perusnäkemys on enemmän yksilöpsykologinen kuin yhteiskunnallinen protesti. Ihmiselle on annettu vapaus valita, mutta hän ei osaa käyttää sitä. Lulu osaa kyllä rakastaakin, mutta hän tuhoaa samalla kohteensa. Suunta onkin koko ajan valosta pimeyteen: elokuvan alun kuulaat, joskin häilyvät kuvat muuttuvat vähitellen saksalaiselle ekspressionismille ominaisen hämäriksi, pölyisiksi ja bordellinkatkuisiksi. Elämän visva on synnyttänyt hirviöitä, Pandora on avannut lippaansa.
Pandoran lipas on täynnä voimallisia symboleja, esineitä, asentoja ja eleitä, jotka saavat melkeinpä unohtamaan elokuvan mykkyyden. Pabst ei ole pelännyt groteskeja, häpeilemättömän osoittelevia kuvia, missä seikassa piileekin tämän klassikon kestävyyden kivijalka. Ollaan kaukana nykyelokuville tyypillisestä innostumattomasta taltioinnista. Lisäksi Louise Brooks on hahmo, jonka olemus hyvittää jopa murhankin.

– Antti Lindqvist, Katso 29/1984

Happy birthday to Christy Pascoe - Louise Brooks Society book designer

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Christy Pascoe (aka site bilder), the designer of the covers of the three books issued (so far) by the Louise Brooks Society. Not only is Christy my wife, she is also my companion in my work. I love her so.

Here is a look at the front and back covers of the three books we've worked on. I think she has done a terrific job. And I am proud to have my name on such good looking books. BTW: More are in the works!

The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition)
by Margarete Bohme (Author) and Thomas Gladysz (Editor, author of the Introduction)
Paperback – 2010
purchase on amazon // Barnes & Noble // Indiebound // Powells // ABEbooks // Alibris
also available at the George Eastman Museum store in Rochester, NY

 

Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film
by Thomas Gladysz (Author), William Wellman, Jr. (Foreword)
Paperback – 2017
purchase on amazon // Barnes & Noble // Indiebound // Powells //  ABEbooks // Alibris
also available at the George Eastman Museum store in Rochester, NY

Now We're in the Air
by Thomas Gladysz (Author),‎ Robert Byrne (Foreword)
Paperback – 2017
purchase on amazon // Barnes & Noble // Indiebound // Powells // ABEbooks // Alibris

TODAY: Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, screens in Bristol, England

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks as Lulu, will be shown in Bristol, England on November 24th. This special event, hosted by South West Silents, will take place at the Cube Microplex (BS2 8 Bristol, United Kingdom). Time and ticket availability may be found HERE.

This film will show from a 35mm film print from the National Film and Television Archive with live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney, and will feature an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson, author of just published BFI Film Classics book on Pandora’s Box. 

"G.W. Pabst’s 1929 silent masterpiece Pandora’s Box stars Louise Brooks in the role that secured her place as one of the immortal goddesses of the silver screen.

This controversial, and in its day heavily censored, film is regularly ranked in the Top 100 films of all time (including Cahiers du Cinema and Sight & Sound). Brooks is unforgettable as Lulu (Louise Brooks), a sexy, amoral dancer who creates a trail of devastation as she blazes through Weimar-era Berlin, breaking hearts and destroying lives. From Germany, she flies to France, and finally to London, where tragedy strikes. This stunning photographed film is loosely based on the controversial Lulu plays by Frank Wedekind, and also features one of the cinema’s earliest lesbian characters." 
 

The Louise Brooks Society all over the place....

The Louise Brooks Society was begun in 1995 as a gathering place for like-minded individuals from around the world.

The Louise Brooks Society is devoted to the appreciation and promotion of the life and films of Louise Brooks. The mission of the society is to honor the actress by stimulating interest in her life, films and writings, as well as her place in 20th century culture; by fostering and coordinating research; by serving as a repository for relevant material; and by advocating for the preservation and restoration of her films and other material.

The purpose of the LBS is to promote interest in the actress by offering membership in a society; by serving as a focal point for related activities; by disseminating accurate information including scholarly texts and bibliographies; and by offering individuals a variety of materials to aid in their appreciation of the actress. Above all, the LBS encourages the viewing of Brooks’ surviving films, and the fellowship of her admirers.

Future projects include the publication of new material about the actress (in the form of books and e-books), as well as the ongoing development of its website, its blog, and RadioLulu. The LBS also hopes to raise funds toward the restoration and release of an unavailable Brooks’ film. Other projects are on the drawing board.


Want to learn more ? Follow these links:

• LBS website
• RadioLulu
• YouTube
• Soundcloud
  
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn 
• Google+
  
• CafePress
• LBS wish list 
• Amazon Store

Visit the LBS page on LAMB

Louise Brooks and Louise Brooks-related books for sale

Looking for something good to read? Want to learn more about Louise Brooks and her films? The Louise Brooks Society has a small number of new & gently used books for sale of interest to the dedicated fan. Some are hard to find, some less so. Each are in very good or better condition. Your purchase helps support the LBS. To place an order via PayPal, please send an email to louisebrookssociety AT gmailDOTcom

Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star (softcover 1st printing)
edited by Roland Jaccard
-- scarce first book on the actress, contains hard-to-find writings by and about Louise Brooks and the Lulu character along with 90 illustrations, edited by the noted French film critic, novelist. This rare 1986 copy was AUTOGRAPHED in Paris by Roland Jaccard. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


Only one copy available
$250.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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The Chaperone (hardcover 1st edition)
by Laura Moriarty
-- The Chaperone is a captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922. Soon to be a major motion picture from PBS Masterpiece and the team that brought the world Downton Abbey. This copy AUTOGRAPHED by Laura Moriarty. Your purchase helps support the LBS (who supplied the cover image).


Only one copy available
$85.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA) 

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Lulu (softcover 1st edition)
by Samuel Bernstein
-- This engaging novel tells the story of the "the laughing girl with the black helmet of hair and the sexy bangs." A good read. These copies are in like new condition and are AUTOGRAPHED by the author. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


A few copies available
$15.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Louise in Love (softcover 1st edition)
by Mary Jo Bang
-- In this highly praised collection of poems, Mary Jo Bang jettisons the reader into the dreamlike world of "Louise," a woman in love. AUTOGRAPHED by the poet. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Only one copy available
$25.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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The Diary of a Lost Girl (softcover 1st edition)
by Margarete Bohme (edited & with an introduction by Thomas Gladysz)

This new edition of the original English language translation brings this important book back into print in a glorious new edition, with more than three dozen vintage illustrations. The introduction details the book's remarkable history and relationship to the 1929 film. AUTOGRAPHED by Thomas Gladysz. Your purchase helps support the LBS.

Copies available
$27.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film (softcover 1st edition)
by Thomas Gladysz
-- This first ever study of Beggars of Life looks at the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. With more than 50 little seen images, and a foreword by William Wellman, Jr. AUTOGRAPHED by the author. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


Copies available
$13.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Now We're in the Air (softcover 1st edition)
by Thomas Gladysz

This companion to the once "lost" 1927 film tells the story of the film’s making, its reception, and its discovery by film preservationist Robert Byrne. With two rare fictionalizations of the movie story, more than 75 little seen images, detailed credits, trivia, and a foreword by Byrne. AUTOGRAPHED by the author. Your purchase helps support the LBS.

Copies available
$17.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Louise Brooks (hardcover 1st edition)
by Barry Paris
-- Simply put, a must read; the definitive biography of Louise Brooks and likely the best film biography every published. This edition, with illustrations, was published in 1989. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Only two copies available
$30.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Lulu in Hollywood (hardcover 1st edition)
by Louise Brooks
-- Brooks' own collection of autobiographical essays. This edition, with a photo insert, was published in 1982. Introduction by William Shawn. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Only two copies available
$25.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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The Show-Off  (hardback)
by William Almon Wolff
-- This hard-to-find novel is based on the acclaimed play by future Pulitzer Prize winner George Kelly, which was the basis of the 1926 Louise Brooks film of the same name. Scarce is dust-jacket, though a little worn. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Only two copies available
$85.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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The Diary of a Lost One (hardback)
by Margarete Bohme
-- A vintage American hardback edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl, published by the Hudon Press in 1908. In good condition without dustjack. Your purchase helps support the LBS.

Only one copy available
$85.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)

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The Canary Murder Case (hardback)
by S.S. van Dine

-- A photoplay edition of the classic mystery novel with stills from the 1929 William Powell / Louise Brooks film. In good condition, without dustjacket. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Two copies available
$12.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)

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Lulu in Hollywood (softcover)
by Louise Brooks
-- Brooks' own collection of autobiographical essays. This edition, with a photo insert, was published in paperback in the 1980s. Introduction by William Shawn. These copies are in very good condition. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


A few copies available
$12.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)

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San Francisco Silent Film Festival (softcover)
two programs
-- These illustrated 80-page+ programs each contain material related to Louise Brooks: The 2012 program with Louise Brooks on the cover (pictured left) contains an illustrated essay by Thomas Gladysz on Pandora's Box. The 2017 program contains a piece by Thomas Gladysz on Now We're in the Air.


One set available
$10.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Il Guanto Rosso (softcover)
by Tadeusz Rozewicz
-- A scarce copy of this 2003 Italian collection of poems by the acclaimed Polish poet, with an image of Louise Brooks on the cover (images supplied by and credited to the LBS). Text in Polish and Italian. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


Only one copy available
$40.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Lulu
by Alban Berg

-- This pair of items includes the softcover libretto for Alban Berg's opera, Lulu. Printed in German in Austria by Universal Edition. Also included is this now scarce 1994 CD, featuring the Lulu Suite by Berg, with Louise Brooks on the cover. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


Only one pair available
$40.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)