Over the years, I have had the opportunity to meet a number of people who share my interest / passion for Louise Brooks. Some are well known. I am thinking of individuals like the singer Rufus Wainwright, novelist Laura Moriarty (The Chaperone), Oscar honoree Kevin Brownlow, actor Paul McGann (Doctor Who), and the singer Linda Ronstadt, to name a few. Last night, I finally had the chance to see the recent documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice. Seeing that film led me to reminisce about the time I met the acclaimed singer.
Our meeting came about this way.... back when I lived in San Francisco, we had a common friend. She was someone I worked with. And as I was always blabbering on about old movies, this friend knew of my interest in silent film, and my regular attendance at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. One day, in 2014, Linda expressed interest in seeing Ramona (1928), a newly found film the Festival had just shown. The now retired singer couldn't make the event, but still hoped to see this early version of the classic California story which starred the Mexican-born actress Dolores del Rio.
Our common friend mentioned Linda's interest, and I offered to loan my review copy of Ramona. The disc was relayed to the singer, and inside I inserted one of my business cards so it might find its way back to me.
I hadn't known it then, but Linda was something of a devotee of Louise Brooks. As I was soon to learn, she had seen a few of Brooks' available films, and had also read the Barry Paris bio and Brooks' own Lulu in Hollywood, as well as the then recently released Brooks' inspired novel, The Chaperone. Seeing my Louise Brooks Society business card peaked Linda's interest, and she asked our common friend if we might like to meet.
I was thrilled. Linda invited me to her San Francisco home and we chatted about Brooks and her life and films for nearly an hour. We talked about Diary of a Lost Girl and Pandora's Box, and which we liked the best and how they effected us. We talked about how we first came across the actress, and the remarkable telling of her life story in the Barry Paris biography. I told Linda about the Louise Brooks Society, and about some of my related projects and some of the people I have met, like Barry Paris and filmmaker Hugh Munro Neeley (Louise Brooks Looking for Lulu). She told me about a NYC friend of hers who was writing a play based on Brooks, and about how she wore her hair in a bob inspired by the silent film star (see the portrait above), and how on Halloween she would sometimes dress up like a flapper a la Brooks! As comes across in Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, the singer is someone keenly interested in the world and culture, be it in music, art, people, or film. Linda told me she had seen other silent movies, and had even once met Lillian Gish.
Eager to see other Brooks' films and learn more about the actress, Linda asked to borrow a few DVDs as well as Peter Cowie's then out-of-print and somewhat hard-to-find coffee table book, Louise Brooks Lulu Forever. I loaned her some silent film DVDs, as well as the Cowie book. Linda liked the latter so much she asked me to track down a copy for her, which I did.
In the years since, Linda and I visited a couple more times, and have exchanged emails on a few other occasions. It has been a great pleasure to know her, if only just a bit, and to share a mutual enthuisism. That's is what the "Society" in Louise Brooks Society is all about. If you haven't seen Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, I encourage everyone to do so. It is terrific, entertaining, rather interesting, and even inspiring. In the words of the Hollywood Reporter, it "will make you fall in love with [Linda] all over again" and "will delight the singer's old fans and likely make her many new ones as well.” I really enjoyed it. And I think you will too.
Our meeting came about this way.... back when I lived in San Francisco, we had a common friend. She was someone I worked with. And as I was always blabbering on about old movies, this friend knew of my interest in silent film, and my regular attendance at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. One day, in 2014, Linda expressed interest in seeing Ramona (1928), a newly found film the Festival had just shown. The now retired singer couldn't make the event, but still hoped to see this early version of the classic California story which starred the Mexican-born actress Dolores del Rio.
Our common friend mentioned Linda's interest, and I offered to loan my review copy of Ramona. The disc was relayed to the singer, and inside I inserted one of my business cards so it might find its way back to me.
I hadn't known it then, but Linda was something of a devotee of Louise Brooks. As I was soon to learn, she had seen a few of Brooks' available films, and had also read the Barry Paris bio and Brooks' own Lulu in Hollywood, as well as the then recently released Brooks' inspired novel, The Chaperone. Seeing my Louise Brooks Society business card peaked Linda's interest, and she asked our common friend if we might like to meet.
I was thrilled. Linda invited me to her San Francisco home and we chatted about Brooks and her life and films for nearly an hour. We talked about Diary of a Lost Girl and Pandora's Box, and which we liked the best and how they effected us. We talked about how we first came across the actress, and the remarkable telling of her life story in the Barry Paris biography. I told Linda about the Louise Brooks Society, and about some of my related projects and some of the people I have met, like Barry Paris and filmmaker Hugh Munro Neeley (Louise Brooks Looking for Lulu). She told me about a NYC friend of hers who was writing a play based on Brooks, and about how she wore her hair in a bob inspired by the silent film star (see the portrait above), and how on Halloween she would sometimes dress up like a flapper a la Brooks! As comes across in Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, the singer is someone keenly interested in the world and culture, be it in music, art, people, or film. Linda told me she had seen other silent movies, and had even once met Lillian Gish.
Eager to see other Brooks' films and learn more about the actress, Linda asked to borrow a few DVDs as well as Peter Cowie's then out-of-print and somewhat hard-to-find coffee table book, Louise Brooks Lulu Forever. I loaned her some silent film DVDs, as well as the Cowie book. Linda liked the latter so much she asked me to track down a copy for her, which I did.
In the years since, Linda and I visited a couple more times, and have exchanged emails on a few other occasions. It has been a great pleasure to know her, if only just a bit, and to share a mutual enthuisism. That's is what the "Society" in Louise Brooks Society is all about. If you haven't seen Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, I encourage everyone to do so. It is terrific, entertaining, rather interesting, and even inspiring. In the words of the Hollywood Reporter, it "will make you fall in love with [Linda] all over again" and "will delight the singer's old fans and likely make her many new ones as well.” I really enjoyed it. And I think you will too.
No comments:
Post a Comment