Louise Brooks and The Chaperone in the news

This post begins with a reminder that the Louise Brooks-inspired film, The Chaperone, debuts on television this Sunday at 9 p.m. The film is set to air on PBS as part of Masterpiece. Check your local listings. The Chaperone will air again on Thanksgiving afternoon, with many stations across the country listing a 2 p.m. start time. Check your local listings for the time and channel in your area of the United States or Canada. (I also noticed at least one or two other PBS stations have scheduled repeat broadcasts of The Chaperone for other times during the week. Again, check your local listings.)

Because it is scheduled for broadcast, The Chaperone and "Louise Brooks" has been popping up on my news feed again and again. One article that caught my attention was John Anderson's November 21st piece in the Wall Street Journal, "The Chaperone Review: Traveling Companions With Baggage." It begins by placing Brooks in a larger context:

The year 1922 was the Big One for Modernism. "Ulysses" was published. So was "The Waste Land." Brecht's "Drums in the Night" had its stage debut and Joan Miró finished "The Farm." Meanwhile getting on a train in Wichita, Kan., to join the modern dance company of Ruth St. Denis was actress-to-be Louise Brooks—"the most seductive, sexual image of Woman ever committed to celluloid," as the British critic Kenneth Tynan described her in 1979. Brooks was a wonder, a sex symbol of disturbing volatility, but what's also evident now in her silent movies—specifically "Diary of a Lost Girl" and "Pandora's Box"—is how she occupied the space between her medium and her audience, creating a unique kind of screen acting, a way of existing on film that still seems new today.

Anderson's thoughtful reading of the film shines a light on a few of the film's actors and "two astounding performances. One is by Blythe Danner, who is on screen for mere minutes. The other is by Ms. McGovern. I'm not an Elizabeth McGovern completist, but it may be the best thing she's ever done." Haley Lu Richardson, the young actress who plays Brooks, is described as "always wonderful."

Newsday also ran a very brief piece on The Chaperone, as did a number of PBS station websites across the country. One that caught my attention was WKAR in Lansing, Michigan. I used to watch this station during my college days at Michigan State University, and the rush of memories compelled me to write a piece about Louise Brooks into the comments section.

When I attended Michigan State ever so long ago, I watched WKAR.... and when my news feed brought your write-up of The Chaperone to my attention, I immediately recognized your call letters. I now live in California, and am the Director of the Louise Brooks Society, as well as the author of four books on Louise Brooks, the dancer and silent film star. I wish to recommend The Chaperone to everyone in your viewing area. The film is a spirited depiction of the early life of a 20th century icon, and Haley Lu Richardson, as a teenage Brooks, gives an Oscar worthy performance.

Your viewers may be interested to know a little something regarding the film's local connection. As The Chaperone shows, a teenage Brooks left home in the summer of 1922 to go to New York City to study dance at Denishawn, then the leading modern dance company in America. That's where The Chaperone story ends..., but Brooks' story was only just beginning. After little more than a month, the 15-year old dance prodigy was asked to join Denishawn's touring company, whose members included not only legendary founders Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn (each are characters in the film), but also dance greats Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weideman. As a member of Denishawn, Brooks toured the United States for two seasons, playing in hundreds of cities and towns, including a number in Michigan. During Brooks' second season with Denishawn, the company came to Lansing, where on March 19, 1924 they danced at the now demolished Gladmer Theatre (231 N. Washington Avenue). At the time, there was considerable buzz around the event, which was sponsored by the local Zonta club, an organization of business and professional women. In fact, the Lansing State Journal ran a series of seven articles prior to the performance, each of which helped build local interest by naming the dancers and describing the costumes and music locals could expect to see and hear. The long review which appeared the following day suggests the performance was rapturously received; the Denishawn Company was said by the Lansing State Journal to "thrill the audience," and the newspaper noted a crowd remained to applaud the Denishawns until Ruth St. Denis made a curtain speech.

As depicted in The Chaperone, Brooks was an unruly teen. She was dismissed from Denishawn in May 1924. Within a year, however, she found work in the movies. A July 22, 1926 article in the Lansing State Journal titled “Little Louise Brooks Is on Way to Success” pointed the way to her eventual stardom. Within months, she was featured in films shown at the Gladmer as well as the Strand (211 S. Washington Avenue) and Capitol (204 N. Washington Avenue) theaters in Lansing. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Even though I have seen it three times already, I am looking forward to watching The Chaperone again on Sunday night, and in between Thanksgiving day preparations and celebrations, perhaps once again. How long does the turkey take to cook, with homemade stuffing?

BTW: The Chaperone is being released on DVD on Tuesday, November 26th.Click HERE is buy a copy. My brief amazon.com review, "A richly detailed period piece," reads "I like this film, and not just because it centers on a young Louise Brooks -- brilliantly portrayed in an Oscar-nomination worthy performance by vivacious Haley Lu Richardson. I like it because it is a worthy and richly detailed period piece which viewers of today can relate to -- just like Downton Abbey."

This post concludes with a reminder that the classic Louise Brooks' film, Pandora's Box, will be screened on Saturday, November 23 in San Diego, California - with live musical accompaniment. The San Diego Symphony Orchestra will screen the 1929 film at Copley Symphony Hall to mark the 90th anniversary of the San Diego Fox theater, which opened in 1929. The San Diego Symphony Orchestra will not appear as part of this performance, but instead, the film is accompanied by a live soundtrack performance on the Fox Theater Organ by Russ Peck. More information about this event can be found HERE.