Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society.

Silent era classical music

I recently picked up a copy of Aubert: Orchestral Works, a collection of five shorter works by Louis Aubert (1887 - 1968). I had not heard of this French composer, but I stumbled upon this CD and was drawn to the cover (which depicts Charlie Chaplin) as well as the interestingly titled second work on the disc, "Cinema, six tableaux symphoniques." According to the liner notes, this symphonic suite is taken from a ballet first staged in 1953, and each movement or episode in the work depicts a moment in the history of film. The movements are titled "Cinéma, six tableaux symphoniques Douglas Fairbanks et Mary Pickford," "Cinéma, six tableaux symphoniques Rudolph Valentino," "Cinéma, six tableaux symphoniques Chaplin et les Nymphes Hollywoodiennes," "Cinéma, six tableaux symphoniques Walt Disney," etc.... This music is charming and easy to listen to, and will appeal to those who may like Debussy or Ravel.



The liner notes refer to another French composer with whom I was not familiar, Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), and his "Seven Stars Symphony." According to the Wikipedia entry on Koechlin, the "Seven Stars Symphony" (1933) was "inspired by Hollywood" and "He was fascinated by the movies and wrote many 'imaginary' film scores and works dedicated to the Hollywood actress Lillian Harvey, on whom he had a crush. He also composed an "Epitaph for Jean Harlow." This webpage contains additional information on Koechlin. And this English-language Russian webpage has some really interesting material.

One doesn't often come across classical music inspired by the early cinema, especially that dating from the time. Is anyone familiar with this composer or their filmic compositions? I would like to track down some of Koechlin's work.

Louise Brooks Society is on Twitter @LB_Society

The Louise Brooks Society is on Twitter @LB_Society.

 As of today, the LBS is followed by more than 3000 individuals. Are you one of them? Why not join the conversation? Be sure and visit the official LBS Twitter profile, and check out the more than 3,800 LBS tweets! For those who like to follow the flow, the LBS twitter stream can also be found in the right hand column of this blog.

And that's not all. 

RadioLulu ♪♫♬♪

also has a Twitter account at @Radio_Lulu. 

           As of now, RadioLulu is followed by more than 3000 individuals, and has posted more than 175 tweets!This recently established account tweets about Louise Brooks and music as well as additions to

RadioLulu - the long running online radio station of the Louise Brooks Society
at live365.com/stations/298896 Check them both out! 

And for those who want to, check out the Twitter account of Thomas Gladysz, founding director of the Louise Brooks Society, at @thomas_gladysz 

A poem from Cuba about Louise Brooks

Since Cuba is in the news of late, I thought to rerun this post from the past: A webpage from Cuba once featured a handful of poems "about" eary film stars, including one "about" Louise Brooks! There were also poems "about" Theda Bara, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, Mae Murray, Charlie Chaplin and others. The poems are by Carlos Esquivel, a contemporary Cuban writer. Here is the Brooks' piece (whose title translates as "A Love Letter to Louise Brooks").

                                                      UNA CARTA DE AMOR PARA LOUISE BROOKS

Nada me une a ti sino lo que está más lejos:

el padre que no pude decir abrácense hijos,

esta sequía que ya aburre

 y junta las hebras de dormir con las de estar muertos,

ese perro recién nacido por los golpes y la fragilidad

de los apostadores,

y el trueno que no nos deja un águila viva.

Nada une como secar la pólvora en que hemos estado a salvo

mientras guardan en los sepulcros las hachas húmedas por la sangre

de otras muchachas.

Condenado a ser un hombre triste,

como un mensajero que se acoda

en la tribu enemiga, viviendo fuera de los muertos que le pertenecen,

doloroso y elegido en esta religión de olvidarte,

en la tierra que huele a abalorios, a coz,

advenedizo ante el oráculo y el agua áspera de las consignas.

Pero no soy quien cae de rodillas

y echa fuera de la armadura su presagio de vejez.

Sólo soy quien declara su amor como el prisionero

apostado a soñar con lo imposible.

Ya la madre no pensará en nosotros,

y en las misas los tambores llamarán a la fornicación,

heridos por el ácido de las absoluciones

y por los peñascos de quienes vaticinan

una zona blanca para los esqueletos amados.

Bienvenidos, dirán los niños,

y rezaremos ardiendo los sepulcros,

vueltos a callar en la carne y en la madera,

derribados por el coraje y la orina con que el hijo nos condenaba.

La sangre debe unir todo lo que en mí se hunde.

Debajo de esta barba de príncipe, mi corazón intacto

a las arrugas y a los zarcillos,

derramándose por las moras y los herbolarios,

húmedo de las concubinas que  habrán cobrado mi locura.

El corazón cercado,  como el tonto pájaro de Atamelipa.

Nada me une a ti sino lo que ruedea devolviéndose.

Augurar también que nos pregunten,

que en el vientre y los muslos un hijo nos pertenezca.

Nada me une más a ti que lo que no existe,

una espalda que imagino como única mentira,

y una muchacha con su cuerno de caza terminando la historia.

Quién sabe con qué esperanza tendremos el alcohol,

y la garganta hará un incendio para hacernos olvidar,

para sentarnos ante el poema

e inventar un grito.

Happy holidays from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy holidays from the Louise Brooks Society.

Herb Weidner Cold Times

Darkness, Fog and Despair ... from the movie "Lulu" by G.W. Pabst with Louise Brooks. Music f. Oboe in d-minor .742a. Merry Christmas.

Francis Lederer: Recipe for Ginger Beef

Francis Lederer co-starred with Louise Brooks in the German-made film, Pandora's Box (1929). In the 1930's, Lederer moved to Hollywood, were he acted in many films and developed a following. Lederer had enough of a following over the years that he was asked to contribute to a booklet of the time, What COOKS in Hollywood (1949). Also featured in the book is Claire Trevor (who co-starred in King of Gamblers), Bing Crosby, Loretta Young, Lucille Ball, Gary Cooper, Kirk Douglas, Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Sinatra, Shelley Winters, Roy Rogers, Warner Baxter, Joan Crawford, William Holden, Joan Bennett, Betty Hutton, and Fred MacMurray, among others.

Presented here is Lederer's recipe for Ginger Beef, alongside Dorothy Lamour's recipe for Chipped Beef Rarebit. Lamour can be heard singing, not cooking, on RadioLulu. Enjoy, and bon apetit.

Louise Brooks - Egyptian advertising flyer

Here is a recently acquired treasure, an advertising piece from Cairo, Egypt circa 1930. This is only the second instance the LBS has come across of an image of Louise Brooks in Egypt from the silent or early sound era. The Cinema Jardin theater lasted at least into the years of the second World War (see theater ticket below), while a Cafe Cinema Jardin is in business in Cairo today. This bit of ephemera was bought on eBay from an Egyptian dealer.

Louise Brooks, flappers, and evolution

It's not unsual, while looking through newspapers and magazines of the 1920's, to come upon articles about flappers (of which Louise Brooks was considered a prime example). Incredibly, flappers (young women with a decidely modern outlook) were seen as a "threat" to society. (As was "evolution" and the idea that humanity could be related to apes and monkeys.) Many of the articles I have come across about flappers are of the finger-wagging variety.

I couldn't help but notice "Flapper Monkey Too Untrained for Matrimony; Her Three Babies Died." This is certainly one of the most ridiculous pieces I have ever read.

Louise Brooks inspires character in new mystery novel

According to Canadian author Caroline Kaiser, Louise Brooks was a major source of inspiration for the beautiful ghost Constance in Kaiser's recently released mystery novel, Virginia's Ghost (Lavaliere Press). Here is a description of the book drawn from Amazon.

Antiques specialist Virginia Blythe of Gable & Co. Auctioneers is working late one night when she hears mournful wailing. Following the sound to its source, she gasps in astonishment: a breathtakingly beautiful flapper who looks like a refugee from an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel is lingering in the shadows of the company’s basement. Later the disconsolate young woman returns to offer Virginia her diary, written in 1928. It reveals she’s the ghost of wealthy Toronto socialite Constance Pendleton. What is Constance trying to tell her? Intrigued, Virginia curls up with the diary and begins dipping her toes into the elegant opulence of Constance’s Jazz Age world. But suddenly things go terribly awry at Gable & Co. Just as Virginia’s preparing for a blockbuster auction, some valuable porcelain mysteriously goes missing and her job is on the line. 

The worst, however, is yet to come. A shocking murder spins the eccentric world of the auction house into chaos. Struggling to make sense of it all, Virginia turns increasingly to the secrets of the diary. Virginia’s Ghost is a tale of ghastly crime, euphoric love, and devastating betrayal in which two women transcend time to affect each other’s lives in startling ways.

Louise Brooks Society supports Net Neutrality

An important message worth repeating: The Louise Brooks Society supports Net Neutrality. Without it, the LBS and other small websites and content providers would be lost among the wilds of cyberspace. Read more about net neutrality at http://www.whitehouse.gov/net-neutrality

Nameographs: Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford and Mae Murray

Nameographs from 1928: Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford and Mae Murray and others.

Flapper Clothes: 1928 Perspective

Mark Tansey painting features Louise Brooks?

Back on December 12, 2004, the New York Times ran a half-page spread on the highly regarded contemporary painter Mark Tansey and a recent work of his entitled "West Face." (Click here to read the article and see an image of the painting.) 

According to the article, " 'West Face' appears to be a suavely rendered picture of a band of hikers trudging up a snowy mountainside. But look closely, and you'll find a landscape treacherous with puzzles, paradoxes, hidden images and allusions." 

Among the hidden images, reportedly, are portraits of various philosophers, and, of Louise Brooks. I see the portraits (including the one that is supposedly Brooks), but I don't quite recognize the actress. What do you think?

Hey Mark Tansey, did you put Louise Brooks face in your painting?

Early Modern Dance: Denishawn Images

There is a real nice collection of Denishawn images on Flickr. These images are exotic, erotic and visually very interesting. How I wish someone would publish a pictorial book devoted to Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, and the Denishawn Dance Company. By the way, Louise Brooks can be seen in at least two of the images gathered on Flickr.

Save up to 25% on The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition)

Celebrate the season with 12 days of super holiday savings. Click the link below for a chance to win incredible savings of up to 25% off all print books, including The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition).  Scratch to win now! Happy holidays from your friends at Lulu.com and the Louise Brooks Society

Scratch and Win Now »

Louise Brooks: Time for a winter coat

Louise Brooks suggests its time to get out your winter coat

New DVD features 1931 Louise Brooks' film Windy Riley Goes Hollywood

Alpha Video has released volume 3 in its DVD series devoted to "Ultra Rare Sound Shorts." This installment, which retails for only $7.98, is described as a "collection of hilarious sound shorts from the vaults of Hollywood."

I haven't seen this recent release yet, though I hope to get a copy sometime soon. The three films found on this budget release are:

Love Your Neighbor (1930): Mrs. Brown is admitted into a leading social club whose motto is "Do A Good Deed A Day." During her acceptance speech she manages to make mortal enemies with the wife of her husband's biggest client. Starring Charlotte Greenwood, Lloyd Hamilton, Wilfred Lucas and Dot Farley. Directed by William Watson.

One Yard To Go (1930): Red Gable All-American sits on the sideline during the big game because his coach thinks he's too love sick over his recent romantic break-up to play. With the game on the line, coach relents and sends in Red to save the day. Rushing for the winning touchdown he suddenly fumbles the ball when over the loudspeaker comes the voice of the very girl who broke his heart! Starring Bobby Vernon, Marjorie Beebe, Frank Eastman, Cyril Chadwick and Dot Farley. Directed by William Beaudine.

Windy Riley Goes Hollywood (1931): Race promoter Windy Riley kidnaps a movie star to create a publicity scandal and win himself a job in a Hollywood studio. His ill-conceived scheme goes terribly wrong. Starring Louise Brooks and Jack Shutta. Directed by William Goodrich (Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle).

Please note: This product is made-on-demand by the manufacturer using DVD-R recordable media. Almost all DVD players can play DVD-Rs (except for some older models made before 2000) - please consult your owner's manual for formats compatible with your player. These DVD-Rs may not play on all computers or DVD player/recorders. To address this, the manufacturer recommends viewing this product on a DVD player that does not have recording capability.

Silent film actress Rosalind Byrne

Lovely silent film actress Rosalind Byrne was born on November 30, 1893 in New York City. She acted in 9 movies between from 1923 - 1930, (mostly in bit parts, and usually uncredited), and is best remembered today as the hat-check girl (pictured above) in Buster Keaton's Seven Chances (1925). Byrne also has roles in Flaming Youth (1923), The Fast Set (1924), Harold Lloyd's The Freshman (1925), Casey at the Bat (1927) and Children of Pleasure (1930). She died on October 20, 1960 in Clackamas, Oregon.

Though her film career was brief, Byrne is also remembered for her attractive bob hair style. A search on Google will turn up a few additional images.

Not real but still true

Berlin - Louise Brooks was there . . . .

Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition) on sale

Get Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition) at 15% off through with this special offer.

Thanksgiving is almost here! At the Louise Brooks Society, we’re thankful to have you as a friend and we want to offer you a discount as a sign of our appreciation. Now through November 27, use code GIVETHANKS to get 15% off Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition). It’s a great time to share this book with family and friends, or grab a new copy to read. Shop Now! Happy Thanksgiving from the LBS.

Shop Now »

Diary of a Lost Girl on Blu-Ray

The 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl, has just been released on Blu-ray by Eureka in the UK. This is the film's first ever Blu-ray release. I haven't seen it yet, so can't speak to the quality of the film's presentation nor its accompanying booklet. [An extensive critique can be found here.] The following text comes from the Eureka website.

"A masterwork of the German silent cinema whose reputation has only increased over time, Diary of a Lost Girl [Tagebuch einer Verlorenen] traces the journey of a young woman from the pit of despair to the moment of personal awakening. Directed with virtuoso flair by the great G. W. Pabst, Diary of a Lost Girl represents the final pairing of the filmmaker with screen icon Louise Brooks, mere months after their first collaboration in the now-legendary Pandora’s Box [Die Büchse der Pandora].

Brooks plays Thymian Henning, an unprepossessing young woman seduced by an unscrupulous and mercenary character employed at her father’s pharmacy (played with gusto by Fritz Rasp, the degenerate villain of such Fritz Lang classics as Metropolis, Spione, and Frau im Mond). 

After Thymian gives birth to his child and rejects her family’s expectations for marriage, the baby is stripped from her care, and Thymian enters a purgatorial reform school that seems less an institute of higher learning than a conduit for fulfilling the headmistress’s sadistic sexual fantasies. 

The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this glorious restoration of an iconic German film for the first time anywhere on Blu-ray."

• New high-definition 1080p presentation of the film on the Blu-ray
• Original German intertitles with optional English subtitles
• Piano score of Javier Pérez de Aspeitia
• New and exclusive video essay by filmmaker and critic David Cairns
• 40-PAGE BOOKLET including writing by Louise Brooks, Lotte Eisner, Louelle Interim, Craig Keller, and R. Dixon Smith

Louise Brooks Society supports Net Neutrality

The Louise Brooks Society supports Net Neutrality. Without it, the LBS and other small websites and content providers would be lost among the wilds of cyberspace. Read more about net neutrality at http://www.whitehouse.gov/net-neutrality

Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition) on sale at 30% off

      Get Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition) at 30% off through this special limited offer.

One last chance to save

Get Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition) at 30% off.  Today through November 24, get 30% off all softcover books with code FLASH30 and 50% off all hardcover books with code HC50. Shop now!

Shop Now »

Early environmental cartoon features Mother Earth with a Louise Brooks' bob

This early environmental cartoon, from November 20, 1926 features Mother Earth with a Louise Brooks' bob!

Kickstarter coloring book includes Louise Brooks

 

A new Kickstarter campaign coloring book, Illuminating the Stars Vol. 1, will feature 33 stunning pen & ink drawings of Hollywood stars by Portland artist Alicia Justus. This 36-page, 9"x12" coloring book will have a beautiful full color cover, 34 black & white coloring pages, and will feature the following stars!

    Buster Keaton
    Olive Thomas
    Florence Lawrence
    Larry Semon
    John Gilbert
    Mary Pickford
    Fatty Arbuckle
    Mabel Normand
    Nina Mae McKinney
    Lya de Putti
    Martha Mansfield
    Lon Chaney
    Anna May Wong
    Mary Nolan (Bubbles)
    Lou Tellegen
    Roszicka and Jancsika Dolly
    Karl Dane
    Jeanne Eagels
    Louise Brooks (Lulu)
    Charlie Chaplin
    Lottie Pickford
    Jack Pickford
    Alma Rubens
    Bela Lugosi
    Thelma Todd
    Ramon Novarro
    Mayo Methot
    Tom Mix
    Rudolph Valentino
    Natacha Rambova
    Juanita Hansen
    Myrtle Gonzales
    Russ Columbo
    Clara Bow

It is pretty cool looking. For more illustrations and more, check out the Kickstarter campaign page at  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/947849256/illuminating-the-stars-coloring-book-volume-1

Louise Brooks large photographic canvas

Louise Brooks fan Elizabeth sent in this photo of a large (homemade, non commercial) photographic canvas installed in her home. This is very cool. Elizabeth, thank you for sharing!

Universal Lulu: "Eloise Brooks"

As found on YouTube..... "Eloise Brooks" special effects video set to OMD's "Pandora's Box"

Happy birthday Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks was born on this day in 1906. Happy birthday Louise!

Here is a mini biography from Who's Who in Hollywood 1900 - 1976, by David Ragan. It's a bulky, 860 page encyclopedia style work with zillions of entries on just about everyone. As a reference work, its nice to have around - though it has been superseded by the internet and other contemporary reference works. The entry on Louise Brooks (written while she was still alive) is especially curious - it is respectful, but riddled with errors.

Jack Finney's novel, Marion's Wall

A few years ago, upon Kevin Brownlow's recommendation, I read Jack Finney's 1973 novel, Marion's Wall. Recently, I've just reread it. And still like it. The story starts a little slow, but picks up and finishes with a flourish. Anyone who likes silent film will like this novel.

Set in San Francisco in the early 1970's, the story involves a young married couple whose bodies are taken over by two long-dead silent film stars. The story moves forward as the couple comes to terms with the ghosts/personalities who have taken them over. Eventually, the couple makes their way to Hollywood, where they encounter a very different film industry and individuals from their long ago past. Throughout, various silent films and actors are referenced.

Brownlow mentioned the book to me while we were talking about literary homages and allusions to Louise Brooks. The actress does not make an appearance in this book, nor is she mentioned. Nevertheless, I would suggest that the books' main character - a blonde named Marion Marsh - brings Brooks' map cap spirit to mind.

Has anyone else read this novel?

[ Finney wrote a number of other nostalgic novels involving "time travel," such as Time and Again, as well as The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He lived just north of San Francisco, and a few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting his daughter. We talked about Marion's Wall.]

Hear Pola Negri sing!

If you love music of the 1920's and 1930's, you will want to check out RadioLulu or the Weimar Rundfunk Music website. You can even hear Pola Negri sing!

Today: Pandora's Box screens in London

Once again the Phoenix welcomes the nationally renowned silent film musical accompanist Stephen Horne to play alongside GW Pabst’s Pandora’s Box (1929), which will be screened on 35mm film.

Pandora’s Box tells the story of Lulu, played by the brilliant Louise Brooks, whose eroticism leaves a trail of lust and rage which brings ruin to herself and her admirers. The film made Brooks a lasting icon of cinema, leading film critic Roger Ebert to eloquently say: ‘she regards us from the screen as if the screen were not there; she casts away the artifice of film and invites us to play with her.’

With projectionists becoming a scarcity and with multiplexes and digital cinema constantly growing, this kind of a cinematic event is a welcome rarity. To book tickets click on the date below:

Sunday 9th November at 1pm
The Phoenix Cinema
52 High Road, East Finchley, London N2 9PJ 

Louise Brooks screens in Toronto in 2015

Louise Brooks screens in Toronto in 2015 at the Toronto Silent Film Festival.

Comic book character modeled after Louise Brooks

The Comic Book Resources website ran an interview with Denis St. John, creator of the Amelie comic book. And in the interview, the artist was asked:

You mentioned that you wanted Amelia to look like a femme fatale or silent film star, and I kept thinking of Louise Brooks.

Yeah, Louise Brooks or Theda Bara. She starts off the book looking more like a normal person than when it ends. There's a physical and mental transformation that happens when you're around these objects. For some, you become a Nosferatu. Amelia starts the book wearing a hoodie and looking like a person you would interact with in the normal world, and she ends as a vamp.

This homage to Louise Brooks represents one of a number of comic book nods to the actress going all the way back to the 1920s.

Shirley MacLaine wants to make a film about Louise Brooks

In a recent interview with Shirley MacLaine in the New York Post, the actress was asked:

Anyone you’ve wanted to work with but haven’t?

Marlon [Brando]. I wondered what it would be like to work with someone who put his lines on the wall and the floor and the furniture in front of him. He thought it was more spontaneous. And Marty Scorsese. I really want to do a picture about Louise Brooks, the famous silent movie star. [Scorsese’s] obsessed with sex and death, and that’s what Louise was all about.

"At 80, Shirley MacLaine still talking — and not looking — back" appeared in the New York Post on November 1st.

Louise Brooks: For the Hell of It

On Thursday, October 30, the Irish Repertory Theater presented a staged reading of Louise Brooks: For the Hell of It, by Janet Noble. Here are the details.

Thursday, October 30, 2014
3:00 pm at the DR2 Theatre

Louise Brooks: For the Hell of It

 by Janet Noble

Louise Brooks: For The Hell Of It will be read by Quentin Maré* (Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Castle), Howard McGillin*
(Gigi, It’s A Wonderful Life) and Maryann Plunkett* (The Apple Family Plays, A Man For All Seasons )
*courtesy of AEA

Louise Brooks: For The Hell Of It is a ghost play, a cosmic encounter of this legendary silent film star with two men who figured prominently in her life: Jim Tully, the Irish American writer whom she met at the top of her Hollywood career while on location starring in Beggars of Life, the film adaptation of his novel; and James Card who met her much later and influenced her out of a bottle in NYC and up to the Eastman House film archive in Rochester where she was rediscovered and feted internationally by the likes of Henri Langlois at the Cinematheque Francaise and ultimately found a second career writing about cinema.

Janet Noble (Playwright): Janet Noble has enjoyed an adventurous life in the theater. As an actress she worked with repertory companies around the United States and at off-off-Broadway venues in NYC. She appeared as The Moon in The Grand Tarot with Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company and in many plays at The Irish Arts Center.  Her one-act plays have been included in The Ensemble Studio Theater’s annual Octoberfests. Her first 2 full-length plays were staged at the IAC: Kiss the Blarney Stone and Away Alone. Away Alone has been produced around the country and at The Peacock in The Abbey Theatre of Dublin. Ultimately, her film version of the play, Gold in the Streets, was produced by Noel Pearson and directed by Liz Gill. She’s had residencies at The Millay Colony for the Arts and Edward Albee’s William Flanagan Foundation for Creative People and was a recipient of a NYS Council on the Arts grant for and with which she wrote a radio play, Squirrel Stew.  She is a member of The Dramatists’ Guild and the Irish American Writers and Artists. Noble was born in Grovers Mill, New Jersey, fabled site of the Martian landing in Orson Wells’s radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds. She was in vitro at the time, while her parents played pinochle at the kitchen table ....and the radio played. She thanks Charlotte and Ciarán and she wishes you all a happy Halloween!

All Readings are FREE, but reservations are requested. Please call 212-727-2737 to RSVP.All readings are at the DR2 Theatre, 103 East 15th Street in Union Square.

 

The 2014-2015 Reading Series is underwritten in part by the members of our Patron's Circle.

Pandora’s Box with live piano accompaniment in London Sunday 9th November

Once again the Phoenix welcomes the nationally renowned silent film musical accompanist Stephen Horne to play alongside GW Pabst’s Pandora’s Box (1929), which will be screened on 35mm film.

Pandora’s Box tells the story of Lulu, played by the brilliant Louise Brooks, whose eroticism leaves a trail of lust and rage which brings ruin to herself and her admirers. The film made Brooks a lasting icon of cinema, leading film critic Roger Ebert to eloquently say: ‘she regards us from the screen as if the screen were not there; she casts away the artifice of film and invites us to play with her.’

With projectionists becoming a scarcity and with multiplexes and digital cinema constantly growing, this kind of a cinematic event is a welcome rarity. To book tickets click on the date below:

Sunday 9th November at 1pm
The Phoenix Cinema
52 High Road, East Finchley, London N2 9PJ 

Add N to X: Do you see Louise Brooks?

From 1999, the cover of a 5 track CD of songs by Add N to X. Do you see Louise Brooks?

Add N to X's four-song Revenge of the Black Regent EP mixes science and fiction into a compact version of their inventive electronic rock. The majestically sinister title track is propelled by a toxic-sounding synth bass and Steven Claydon's unabashedly (or is that bashedly?) rock drumming, over which gooey, synthetic strings and Alison Goldfrapp's operatic super-soprano hover, recalling the diva at the Korova Milk Bar in A Clockwork Orange. The rest of the EP's tracks are similarly moogy and droogy; "Is That Alright FYUZ" adds more pummeling percussion to another piece of Avant Hard's synth fetishism, and "Old Lady Ealing Does Man Experiments" evokes a mad scientist's lab, replete with bubbling test tubes, buzzing electrodes, and robotic minions muttering non sequiturs. Finally, with its slightly eerie groove and cryptic French vocals, "The March of Pure Mathematical Evil That Ends and Results in War" recalls Stereolab, if they used their powers for evil instead of good. The CD is also enhanced with the very necessary addition of the group's hilarious video for "Metal Fingers in My Body," a cartoon depicting a Louise Brooks-esque flapper ordering and using the services of a robot gigolo. As with all of Add N to X's work, Revenge of the Black Regent uses quirky, unpredictable vintage technology to describe -- and celebrate -- the ghosts in the machine. ~ Heather Phares

Louise Brooks ~ Girlfriend in a Coma

Song ~ "Girlfriend in a Coma" by the Smiths, set to imagery of Louise Brooks. Its hard to resist.

Spectres from the Past ~ A spooky video featuring Louise Brooks

For Halloween.... Visions from a past, once forgotten...but now scarcely remembered. Courtesy of our "Dream Girl" Louise Brooks, of course.

"Pandora's Box," as depicted by Arthur Rackham

"Pandora's Box," as depicted by Arthur Rackham

Hair and make-up suggestions with Louise Brooks

Looking for a Halloween look? Here are some hair and make-up suggestions inspired by Louise Brooks.

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks, as saint or martyr

An uusual portrait of Louise Brooks, circa 1928.

Louise Brooks: as saint or martyr

RadioLulu, a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film themed online radio station

Don't forget to "tune-in" to the recently updated RadioLulu, a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film themed online radio station streaming music of the Teens, Twenties, Thirties, and today. RadioLulu's unique mix of programming features music from Brooks' film, recordings by Brooks' co-stars, along with the biggest hits of the Jazz Age, songs sung by silent film stars, music from early talkies, show tunes, novelty numbers, and lots, lots more.

RadioLulu has a Facebook page and a Twitter account @Radio_Lulu. Please visit each and "like" or follow each. Thanks for your interest and support, and thanks for listening!

So sad

The program for Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, or The Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). So sad.

Diary of a Lost Girl - A round up of reviews

Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, Louise Brooks' sixteenth film, was officially released on this day in 1929. Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, or Diary of a Lost Girl, is the story of a young girl who is seduced and sent to a brutal reformatory. She escapes to a brothel, comes into money, and changes her life.

The film stars Louise Brooks as Thymiane, Fritz Rasp as Meinert, Andrews Engelmann as Director of the reformatory, Valeska Gert as the Director's wife, Edith Meinhard as Erika, Josef Rovenský as Thymiane's father, André Roanne as Count Nicolas Osdorff, Sybille Schmitz as Elisabeth, the Governess, Vera Pawlowa as Aunt Frieda, Arnold Korff as Elder Count Osdorff, Siegfried Arno as a Guest, and Kurt Gerron as Dr. Vitalis. Also appearing in the film are Hedwig Schlichter, Hans Casparius, and Michael von Newlinsky.

This 8 real German silent film is drawn from a screenplay by Rudolf Leonhardt, as adapted from the famous book by Margarete Böhme. The director was Georg Wilhelm Pabst. The film was not as widely shown as Brooks' earlier Pabst directed film, Pandora's Box. Here are a few English language  reviews drawn from the Louise Brooks Society archive.

 
anonymous. "Diary of a Lost Girl." Variety, November 20, 1929.
--- "This time he has also been unfortunate in the choice of his heroine. Louise Brooks (American) is monotonous in the tragedy which she has to present."

anonymous. "Famous Hollywood Thrillers." London Times, March 9, 1961.
--- ". . . and the two films in which Pabst directed that now almost legendary star of the twenties, Louise Brooks" (announcement of screening of Diary of a Lost One and Pandora's Box at the National Film Theater in London)

Milne, Tom. "Das tagebuch einer verlorenen." Monthly Film Bulletin, December, 1982.
--- "And Louise Brooks, of course, is divine."

Kauffmann, Stanley. "Two Anomalous Careers." New Republic, October 10, 1983.
--- "Because Brooks's personal qualities completely suffuse the screen, a lot of critics have written a lot of nonsense about her acting ability."

Cosford, Bill. "A 'lost' actress found in 'Diary'." Miami Herald, November 14, 1984.
--- " . . . is thus a fascinating piece of evidence for speculation on the career that never was."

Christie, Ian. "Film Guide." Daily Express, February 21, 1986.
--- "Lovely Louise Brooks stars in G. W. Pabst's silent German classic about a girl who goes to the dogs after being seduced by a chemist."

Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide. New York: Signet, 1998.
--- "Pabst and Brooks' followup to their Pandora Box's is even more sordid, yet in some ways more intriguing: Louise is, in succession, raped, gives birth, is put in a detention home, then a brothel, inherits money, marries, is widowed... and writer Rudolf Leonhardt claims only the first half of his script was filmed. Fascinating nonetheless, with an explicitness that's still surprising; a must for devotees of German stylistics (and of course, Brooks). Fully restored version was reissued in 1984."

Thomajan, Dale. "Diary of a Lost Girl." TV Guide Online, circa 2001.
--- "Despite its conventional, abrupt, and unsatisfying ending, it is still valuable for its frequent audacity, its scathing dissection of bourgeois selfishness and hypocrisy, and its showcasing of the incomparable Louise Brooks in her prime."

Now We're in the Air - A round up of reviews

Now We're in the Air, Louise Brooks' tenth film, was officially released on this day in 1927. The film is a comedy about a couple of "aeronuts" who stumble into an air battle in France in World War I. The film stars Wallace Beery as Wally, Raymond Hatton as Ray, Russell Simpson as Lord Abercrombie McTavish, and Louise Brooks as twins, Griselle & Grisette. It is the only film in which Brooks played two roles in the same film.

The 6 reel Paramount film is drawn from a screenplay by Thomas J. Geraghty, adapted from an original story idea by Monte Brice and Keene Thompson, with titles by George Marion. The director was Frank R. Strayer. Here is a round up of a magazine and newspaper reviews and articles drawn from the Louise Brooks Society archive.

Woodruff, Fuzzy "Beery and Hatton Play Same Lively Tempo." Atlanta Georgian, October 19, 1927.
--- "Nothing however can take away from the roaring technique of the two stars, nor can any subject dim the luster of the beauty of Louise Brooks."

J., L. D. "At the Des Moines." Des Moines Register, October 24, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks, the charming black haired Follies girl who plays twin sisters in Now We're in the Air, came out of Kansas City to prove that the few screen stars who hail from that state are not mere accidents."

anonymous. "The New Pictures." Indianapolis Star, October 31, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks is the leading woman for the stars, playing a dual role. She is lovely and capable in the part, but has little to do."

anonymous. "Fight Pictures Prove Feature At The Strand." Portland Evening Express, November 1, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks is the young lady who is the charming m'm'selle, and she does add something to the picture although unable to lift it entirely from the gutter type of comedy to which it sometimes descends."

anonymous. "The New Saenger." New Orleans Item, November 6, 1927.
--- "The added feature of Now We're in the Air is the presence of Louise Brooks as the heroine. One of the cleverest of the new stars, she has immense ability to appear 'dumb' but like those early Nineteenth Century actresses, commended by Chas. Lamb, she makes the spectators realize that she is only playing at being dumb."

anonymous. "Beery and Hatton in Breezy Comedy Film." Philadelphia Inquirer, November 8, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks is clever in the double part of the twins."

anonymous. "New Films of Comedy, Romance and Melodrama on Photoplay Programs." Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 8, 1927.
--- "In a helping way, Louise Brooks proves to be the real thing and it is to her that a lot of credit must go for her for her sincere work in a dual role."

anonymous. "Beery and Harry Again." Washington Star, November 13, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks as the leading lady, too, was a happy selection, it is said. Young, beautiful and charming, in this picture she is doubly so, because she's twins, or in other words she has a dual role. She is French and German as well as clever and cunning."

anonymous. "At The Theaters." Providence Journal, November 14, 1927.
--- "They fall in love with twin sisters, one of whom has been raised a German, the other a French girl, and who can scarecely be told apart, which is not surprising, since Louise Brooks plays both parts."

anonymous. "Offerings at Local Theaters." Washington Post, November 14, 1927.
--- "Just for romance, there are twin sisters, economically and delightfully played by Louise Brooks."

Feldkamp, Frances V. "Movie Reviews." St. Louis Globe-Democrat, November 14, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks is cast in a dual role of twin sisters, one sympathizing with Germany, the other siding with France in the conflict. She looks good in both parts."

Swint, Curran D. "Great Entertainment at St. Francis, Imperial and Warfield." San Francisco News, November 14, 1927.
--- "Both the hulking and ungainly Beery and the cocky little Hatton give goofingly good accounts of themselves. Then there is Louise Brooks. She's the girl - or the girls - in the case, for Louise is twins in the story, and about this fact much of the comedy is woven."

Waite, Edgar. "Beery, Hatton at St. Francis." San Francisco Examiner, November 14, 1927.
--- " . . . . may not be as screamingly funny as some, but it's certainly funny enough to please a great many people."

Warren, George C. "St. Francis is Offering Beery, Hatton." San Francisco Chronicle, November 14, 1927.
--- " . . . and they are disporting themselves and making big audiences scream with laughter."

anonymous. "Great Cast in Now We're in the Air." Appleton Post-Cresent, November 20, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks, the leading woman who has the dual role, playing twin sisters of different nationalities, which can only be done in a comedy, is one of the most popular young beauties of the Parmount organization. Her distinctive bob and charm appeared to advantage in Rolled Stockings, in the Adolphe Menjou picture Evening Clothes, and before that in The American Venus, It's the Old Army Game and A Social Celebrity."

Soanes, Wood. "Now We're in the Air Opens at American." Oakland Tribune, November 21, 1927.
--- "An effort was also made to inject a little romance into the manuscript by having Louise Brooks play twins so that both Beery and Hatton could get a wife without having to hire a pair of leading women."

Parsons, Louella O. "Now We're in the Air. Big Laughfest at Metropolitan." Los Angeles Examiner, November 25, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks, in a dual role, looks very young and very pretty even though she has very little to do. One would think playing a twin would keep her busy, but the whole film is Beery and Hatton."

anonymous. "Now We're in the Air." Photoplay, December, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks makes a pert pair of twins supplying two wives which the boys can't tell from one another."

anonymous. "Boob Aviators at Five Houses." Boston Post, December 5, 1927.
--- "You see there are pretty twin sisters, Grisette and Griselle, both played by the fetching Louise Brooks, who marry Wally and Ray, who cannot tell their wives apart except by their dogs, one a poodle, one a daschund."

Heffernan, Harold. "The New Movies in Review." Detroit News, December 5, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks plays twin sisters and aids greatly in decorating the proceedings."

Tinee, Mae. "Wallace and Raymond Take a Little Flyer in Aviation." Chicago Tribune, December 6, 1927. (United States)
--- "Louise Brooks as twins, is - are - a beautiful foil for the stars and if you think she doesn't marry both of them before the picture ends, why, cogitate again, my darlings."

M., E. F. "Films of the Week." Boston Evening Transcript, December 7, 1927.
--- (the film opened simultaneously in five theaters in the Boston area) "But they are persuasive fellows in their bustling way and most of the audience at the Washington Street Olympia this week were so moved by mirth that they were close to tears. Presumably the experience has been the same at the Scollay Square Olympia, the Fenway, the Capitol in Allston and the Central Square in Cambridge."

Cannon, Regina. "Louise Brooks Puts Snap in Now We're in the Air." New York American, December 12, 1927.
--- "Miss Brooks is the brightest spot in Now We're in the Air, for she may be always depended upon to be interesting, trig and snappy."

Harris, Radie. "Now We're in the Air Seen at the Rialto." Morning Telegraph, December 12, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks is seen as the feminine lead. She essays the role of twins. Which, if you know Louise, is mighty satisfactory. She is decorative enough to admire once, but when you are allowed the privilege of seeing her double, the effect is devastating."

H., J. K. "New Photoplays." New York Post, December 12, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks wanders in and out between gags. She is very beautiful. She is especially beautiful when seen beside Mr. Beery."

O., H.H. "Stage and Screen." Ann Arbor Daily News, January 3, 1928.
--- "And this time they actually win the girl, or girls, played by the charming Louise Brooks."

anonymous. "King Is Offering Big Laugh Show At 5th Avenue." Seattle Times, January 9, 1928.
--- " . . . an absurd thing filled with laugh-provoking gags."

anonymous. "Beery, Hatton on Capitol Bill." Sacramento Union, January 25, 1928.
--- "The qualities of the film are emphasized with the appearance of delectable Louise Brooks."