A new group of pages on the Louise Brooks Society website, Lulu by the Bay, has just been been completed. This new section on the LBS runs 26 pages. As is mentioned on the website, these pages are part of an experiment in local film history.
Some years ago, I started work on a book about the films of Louise Brooks which was to be called Lulu by the Bay. It took a different approach. Instead of the usual look at Brooks films and their reception by national magazines and newspapers like Photoplay and the New York Times, I thought to focus my history through the lens of the local. Since then, on-and-off, I have continued researching the topic -- the films of Louise Brooks in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond -- and found dozens and dozens of articles and advertisements which document where and when the actress' films were shown.
Lulu by the Bay presents a record of each documented screening of a particular Louise Brooks film in Northern California, from the time of its release through today. Recorded here are which city and at what venue and over what period of time (one week, three days, one day, etc…) any particular film was shown. Additionally noted are those occasions when a film was shown as part of a double bill, if there was a special guest appearance, or some other unusual circumstance, such as a benefit screening.
Over the years, I have come across some really remarkable material. Here is just one example, the time when Brooks made an in person appearance prior to a screening of Evening Clothes. Why did she do so? Because her and James Hall were in town filming Rolled Stocking! (BTW: this is one of only two documented times Brooks made an in-person appearance prior to the showing of one of her films.)
If interested, please check out Lulu by the Bay. A bunch of newspaper advertisements have been added to the various pages. And if interested, please check out my Substack piece, "Lulu by the Bay: Some notes on an unfinished book."
THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2025. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. <
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