Books about Louise Brooks from the Louise Brooks Society

Want to learn more about Louise Brooks and her life and films? Looking for something interesting to read, or the perfect holiday gift? To date, the Louise Brooks Society has published five books. Each is the product of considerable research, and each features dozens of images. The books shown below may be purchased online (via amazon.com, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, etc…). More about these and other publications of the Louise Brooks Society may be found on the acclaimed LBS website.

Additionally, autographed copies of each of these titles may be ordered directly from author Thomas Gladysz, the Director of the Louise Brooks Society. To place an order for a signed book, please send an email to louisebrookssociety AT gmailDOTcom  Thank you for your interest. Your purchase helps support the Louise Brooks Society™. 

The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond
by Thomas Gladysz
(softcover) published in 2023

— The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond is a deep dive into the history of a single film – its literary source, its making, its exhibition history, critical reception, and, most surprising of all, its little known legacy. This 380 page book tells the story of the Louise Brooks’ first film in rich, historical detail. As it also shows, this forgotten gem is exemplary of film making & film culture in the mid-1920s. Along with vintage clippings and unusual images – including rare production stills and location shots, this book features all manner of historical documents including the short story on which the film was based, the scenario, a rare French fictionalization, newspaper advertisements, lobby cards, posters, and more.

 

This film, considered a provocative stab at realism, was described as “strange” and “startling” at the time of its release. The Street of Forgotten Men was directed by Herbert Brenon, who is best known for Peter Pan, The Great Gatsby, Beau Geste and other early classics. The film was shot by Harold Rosson, one of the great cinematographers whose credits include Gone with the Wind and Singin’ in the Rain. And, it features a stellar cast (Percy Marmont, Mary Brian, Neil Hamilton) which includes a future screen legend at the very beginning of her career (Louise Brooks). The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond includes dozens of illustrations and images and features two forewords; one is by noted film preservationist Robert Byrne, whose restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men saved it from undeserving obscurity. The other, by acclaimed film historian and Academy Award honoree Kevin Brownlow, is an appreciation of director Herbert Brenon which reveals little known details about the movie drawn, in part, from his correspondence with Louise Brooks.

 

Buy The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond online from Amazon (USA, UK, and around the world) | Bookshop.org |  Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

 

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Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star
by Thomas Gladysz
(softcover) published in 2019

— This 296 page book brings together 15 years work by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society. Gathered here are a selection of articles, essays, and blogs about the silent film star. The actress’ best known films — Beggars of Life, Pandora’s Box, and Diary of a Lost Girl — are discussed, as are many other little known aspects of Brooks’ legendary career. These pieces range from the local (“Louise Brooks, at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue and 16th Street”) to the worldly (“Making Personas: Transnational Film Stardom in Modern Japan”), from the provocative (“A Girl in Every Port: The Birth of Lulu?”) to the poignant (“Homage to George W. Lighton of Kentucky, idealistic silent film buff who perished in the Spanish Civil War”), from the quirky (“Louise Brooks’ First Television Broadcast”) to the surprising (“A Lost Girl, a Fake Diary, and a Forgotten Author”). Also included are related interviews with actor Paul McGann, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, and novelist Laura Moriarty, author of The Chaperone…. with dozens of illustrations.

“Historian Thomas Gladysz has put together a number of his articles and essays from the past 15 years for the book Louise Brooks: The Persistent Star. Gladysz is the director of the Louise Brooks Society, and his detailed essays will be fascinating reading for any fan of the iconic actress.” — Lea Stans, Silentology

“… this (fully illustrated) book proves that ‘the persistent star’ is a perfect accolade.” — Tara Hanks, author of The Mmm Girl and Wicked Baby

Buy Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star online from Amazon (USA, UK, and around the world) | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million
 

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Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film
by Thomas Gladysz
(softcover) published in 2017

— This first ever study of Beggars of Life looks at the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. Based on Jim Tully’s bestselling book of hobo life — and filmed by Wellman the year after he made Wings (the first film to win the Best Picture Oscar), Beggars of Life is a riveting drama about an orphan girl (screen legend Louise Brooks) who kills her abusive stepfather and flees the law dressed as a boy. She meets another tramp (leading man Richard Arlen), and together they ride the rails through a dangerous hobo underground ruled over by Oklahoma Red (future Oscar winner Wallace Beery). Beggars of Life showcases Brooks in her best American silent — a film the Cleveland Plain Dealer once described as “a raw, sometimes bleeding slice of life.” With more than 50 little seen images, and a foreword by William Wellman, Jr. A must read for every fan, and the perfect companion to the KINO DVD

“I can say (with head bowed modestly) that I know more about the career of director William A. Wellman than pretty much anybody … but there are things in Thomas Gladysz’s new book on Wellman’s Beggars of Life that I didn’t know. More important, the writing is so good and the research so deep that even when I was reading about facts that were familiar to me, I was enjoying myself hugely.” — Frank Thompson, author of Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman

“This highly readable book will deepen your enjoyment and understanding of a silent Hollywood classic.” — Pamela Hutchinson, author of Pandora’s Box (BFI Film Classics)

Buy Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film online from Amazon (USA, UK, and around the world) | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

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Now We’re in the Air: A Companion to the Once Lost Film
by Thomas Gladysz
(softcover) published in 2017

— I helped with the preservation of this once-lost Louise Brooks film, and wrote this book afterwords. This companion to the once “lost” 1927 film tells the story of the film’s making, its reception, and its discovery in Prague by film preservationist Robert Byrne. This 130 page book includes two rare fictionalizations of the movie story, more than 75 little seen images, detailed credits, trivia, and a foreword by Byrne. Also considered is the surprising impact this otherwise little known movie has had on Brooks’ life and career. (Did you know that a promotion picture from Now We’re in the Air is shown in Pandora’s Box?) A must read for the discriminating fan. [This WorldCat page shows libraries that carry this title.]

 

“The absolute final word on the film from the world’s foremost expert on Louise Brooks. Thoroughly researched and expertly written, oh, and did I mention lavishly illustrated? If you love silent film and if you love Louise Brooks (and who doesn’t) you really should pick up a copy for your library.” — amazon.com review

 

Buy Now We’re in the Air: A Companion to the Once Lost Film online from Amazon (USA, UK, and around the world) | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

 

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The Diary of a Lost Girl “Louise Brooks edition”
by Margarete Bohme (author) and Thomas Gladysz (editor, introduction)
(softcover) published in 2010

— The 1929 film, Diary of a Lost Girl, is based on a controversial and bestselling book first published in Germany in 1905. Though little known today, it was a literary sensation at the beginning of the 20th century. By the end of the 1920s, it had been translated into 14 languages and sold more than 1,200,000 copies – ranking it among the bestselling books of its time. Was it – as many believed – the real-life diary of a young woman forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution? Or a sensational and clever fake, one of the first novels of its kind? This contested work – a work of unusual historical significance as well as literary sophistication – inspired a sequel, a play, a parody, a score of imitators, and two silent films. The best remembered of these is the oft revived G.W. Pabst film starring Louise Brooks.

This corrected and annotated edition of the original English language translation brings this important book back into print after more than 100 years. It includes a long introduction by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society, detailing the book’s remarkable history and relationship to the 1929 silent film. This special “Louise Brooks Edition” also includes more than three dozen vintage rare illustrations. [This WorldCat page shows libraries that carry this title.]

“In today’s parlance this would be called a movie tie-in edition, but that seems a rather glib way to describe yet another privately published work that reveals an enormous amount of research and passion.” — Leonard Maltin

“Gladysz makes an important contribution to film history, literature, and, in as much as Böhme told her tale with much detail and background contemporary to the day, sociology and history. This reissue is long overdue, and a volume of uncommon merit.” — Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran

Buy The Diary of a Lost Girl online from Amazon (USA, UK, and around the world) | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.