Happy Birthday to Matt Frewer (aka Max Headroom)

Happy Birthday to Matt Frewer, the American-born Canadian actor and comedian who for a time also lived and worked in the UK. Frewer has a notable list of film (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) and TV appearances (Star Trek: The Next Generation) to his credit, but may be best known in certain quarters for his portrayal of Max Headroom in the 1985 TV film and 1987 television series of the same name.

Apparently, if I am reading things correctly, before Max Headroom became an American TV series in 1987, it aired in the UK on Channel 4 in 1985. And, notably, it was on episode 10 of season 1 of the original Max Headroom in which the video for "It Hurts", the last single by The Lotus Eaters, appeared. This LINK contains most of episode 10, but without the Lotus Eaters video, which has been removed for copyright reasons. Other music videos included on that same episode include Ultravox - "Love's Great Adventure",  Squeeze - "Is That Love", Go Go's - "Vacation" (also removed for copyright reasons), and Queen - "Radio Ga Ga".

For a time, an excerpt from that particular UK broadcast, showing the Lotus Eater's video with its Max Headroom intro and outro, was floating around YouTube, but now it seems to have disappeared. I recall seeing it online. (I also recall seeing the Max Headroom show on American broadcast TV ever so long ago.) But still, the Lotus Eater's standalone video for "It Hurts" can still be viewed elsewhere. It is a great song. Take a look and you will see why it caught my attention.

"It Hurts" was released in 1985, and charted at number 87 on the UK charts. Nineteen-eighty five was the same year that Louise Brooks passed away, which makes this new wave musical tribute one of the earliest rock / pop tributes to the actress. I am not saying that the song is about Louise Brooks, but certainly the video depicts her.

Notably, this video predates the similar effort by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), whose 1991 recording and video, "Pandora's Box," is clearly inspired by and is about the actress. Watch that video HERE.

. . . . All this by way of saying all roads lead to Louise Brooks, and happy birthday to Matt Frewer. 

long live Matt Frewer,

Long live Max Headroom. 

Long live the Lotus Eaters. 

And long live Louise Brooks!

Long live Lulu!

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.

Are you a fan of Louise Brooks? Take this pop quiz

Do you consider yourself a fan of Louise Brooks? Are you a BIG fan of Louise Brooks? How much do you know about the actress? How many of her films have you seen? Take this quiz and find out.... Give yourself a point in answer to "yes" for each part of each question. Record your number, and tally a total. And have fun!

1) Which of the following films have you seen at a public screening (in a theater or at a festival)?

The Street of Forgotten Men (1925)
It’s the Old Army Game (1926)
The Show-Off (1926)
Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em (1926)
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
Beggars of Life (1928)
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
Pandora’s Box (1929)
Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
Prix de Beauté (1930)
Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

2) Which of the following films have you seen on TV or on home video (VHS / DVD / Blu-ray or even LaserDisc)?

It’s the Old Army Game (1926)
The Show-Off (1926)
Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em (1926)
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
Beggars of Life (1928)
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
Pandora’s Box (1929)
Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
Prix de Beauté (1930)
Windy Riley Goes Hollywood (1931)
God’s Gift to Women (1931)
Empty Saddles (1936)
Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

3) How many of the following documentary films have you seen?

Film Firsts: Louise Brooks (1960) – USA television short
Memories of Berlin: Twilight of Weimar Culture (1976)
Lulu in Berlin (1985)
Arena: Louise Brooks (1986) - UK television
Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu (1998)
E! Mysteries & Scandals: Louise Brooks (1999) – television

4) How many of the following books have you read? (Give yourself one bonus point if you own different editions of any one book.)

Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, by Thomas Gladysz
Dear Stinkpot: Letters from Louise Brooks, by Jan Wahl
Louise Brooks, by Barry Paris
Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever, by Peter Cowie
Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star, by Roland Jaccard
Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star, by Thomas Gladysz
Louise Brooks and the "New Woman" in Weimar Cinema, by Vanessa Rocco
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
My Afternoon with Louise Brooks, by Tom Graves
Now We're in the Air: A Companion to the Once Lost Film, by Thomas Gladysz
Pandora's Box, by Pamela Hutchinson
Pandora's Box (Lulu): a film, by G. W. Pabst
The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond, by Thomas Gladysz

 
5) How many of these other books or plays have you read? (double points)

The Show-Off, by George Kelly
Beggars of Life, by Jim Tully
The Canary Murder Case, by S.S. van Dine
Pandora's Box (Lulu), by Frank Wedekind
Diary of a Lost Girl, by Margarete Bohme

Louise Brooks, Detective, by Rick Geary
The Chaperone, by Laura Moriarty

6) How many of the following have you done?

Bought a piece of vintage Louise Brooks memorabilia
Bought a modern Louise Brooks postcard, photograph, or poster
Collected articles and / or images of the actress
Visited the Louise Brooks Society website
Tweeted, blogged, or posted about the actress

7) A few more bonus questions. Give yourself a point if. . . .

You have read The Parades Gone By by Kevin Brownlow.

You have read another book about silent film or a silent film star.

You have watched a documentary about silent film or a silent film star.

You have watched a silent film starring Clara Bow, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Colleen Moore, etc....

Bonus question: name the photographer
of this magazine portrait of Louise Brooks.

  * * * * *

If your scored 10 or few points, it's time to get serious.

 

If you scored 10+ points, consider yourself a fan.

 

 If you scored 15 or more points, consider yourself a BIG fan.

 

 If you scored 20+ points, consider yourself devoted.

 

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.

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society. Here's a 'swonderful picture of Louise Brooks in a celebratory mood.

A follow-up to my previous blog post, which I hope everyone will check out, highlighting the top Louise Brooks news & stories of the year. It concerns the word of the year. Merriam-Webster went with “authentic” (a brilliant choice IMHO) and the Oxford University Press named “rizz,” a riff on charisma. 

I wish to put forth my own suggestion, "achievement." I think those top ten selections all represent forms of achievement, the efforts and the dedication and the hard work of various individuals and organizations. Is there an antonym to achievement? I think so. I would suggest bloviate.

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Top Louise Brooks News & Stories of 2023

Like me, you may have noticed some of the annual "top news stories of 2023" features showing up in newspapers, magazines, and on TV. I saw one the other day, and that got me to thinking about the top news stories of the year regarding Louise Brooks. I decided to come up with my own list, my own top 10 list. 

These news stories include the release of a new DVD-Blu-ray, a book, a few screenings and other happenings. I've ranked them based on what I perceive to be their relative importance. I also included three items with which I was directly involved. That may not seem objective to some, in the journalistic sense, but as the legendary radio broadcaster and author Wes "Scoop" Nisker once said, "If you don't like the news, go out and create some of your own."

1) Lulu in Hollywood included on the Hollywood Reporter's list of the 100 greatest film books of all time (October 12, 2023) -- read more

2) Pandora's Box released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK (October 30, 2023) -- read more 

3) The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond published (August 7, 2023) -- read more

4) Earliest known image & mention of Louise Brooks in a European publication found (December 26, 2023) -- read more

5) The new restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men screened at the Museum of Modern Art in NY (August 7, 2023) -- read more

6) An article, "Sin Lust Evil' in America: Louise Brooks and the Exhibition History of Pandora’s Box,"  published by Film International (April 23, 2023) -- read more

7) The rarely shown Hugh Hefner funded restoration of Pandora's Box screened at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California (May 6, 2023) -- read more

8) Arena: Louise Brooks, a 55 minute 1985 BBC documentary is screened on BBC Four for only the second time since its broadcast in 1986. (December 7, 2023) -- read more

9) The Diary of a Lost Girl, with a musical accompaniment by harpist Elizabeth-Jane Baldry, is shown at the Stroud Arts Festival in the UK (October 29, 2023) -- read more

10) A chocolate Louise Brooks appears on "Bake Off: The Professionals," a UK television show. (September 6, 2023) -- read more

* * *

Interestingly, four of these items involve England. I guess Louise Brooks has a following there, just as she does in France and Germany. There were other candidates for my list of top Louise Brooks stories of 2023 -- such as the Chicago screening of The Show Off on January 10th, the Beggars of Life screening at the Film Forum in New York City on January 22nd, the rare screening of A Girl in Every Port down under at the Majestic Theatre in Pomona, Australia on August 12th, or the airing of LouLou (aka Pandora's Box) on French television on October 18th. DidI miss something? Let me know.

All in all, it was a good year for fans of Louise Brooks. Next year, 2024, looks to be as promising, if not more so....

I know of at least one new book which will be published in 2024, and possibly two or three. A book I plan on completing and publishing next year is Lulu in America: the Lost History of Louise Brooks and Pandora’s Box. This forthcoming book explores the film’s rich, textured and improbably undocumented history; it is based on the long article I wrote for Film International, "'Sin Lust Evil' in America: Louise Brooks and the Exhibition History of Pandora’s Box (1929)". Here is a draft cover design.

Fans of Louise Brooks can also look forward to at least one or likely two DVD releases. In the wings is the already announced William Powell / Philo Vance Collection from Kino Lorber Classics. It includes the 1929 Louise Brooks film, The Canary Murder Case. I am looking forward to this release, which I briefly blogged about back in August.

Another release forthcoming in 2024, with which I am involved, will include a disc of (previously unreleased on home video) film(s) featuring Louise Brooks !!! as well as other shorts and fragments featuring the actress which have not been screened in public for nearly 100 years !!! Admittedly, I was gobsmacked when I saw what is planned - as I had never seen some of this material before. I can't and won't say more about this project, as it has not yet been announced. But let's all look forward to 2024 and what good things may come. Happy new year from the Louise Brooks Society.

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

A Significant Discovery - Louise Brooks First Ever Pic in a European Publication

Lately, I have been updating, revising, and adding pages to the Louise Brooks Society website. One of the pages I just added, "Louise Brooks at the Café de Paris in London",  focused on the few months the future actress spent in London, England in late 1924 and early 1925. I thought the page was done, and that nothing more might be added, when I made a significant discovery -- thanks to the assistance of my super sister-in-law, Becca. (Becca is not only my wife's sister, but she is also a longtime contributor to & member of the Louise Brooks Society. You can find her name on the LBS website, and in the acknowledgements of the four books I have authored.)

Following her suggestion, I decided to take one more look at the British newspaper databases, something I have looked at a few times before, but not recently. And BOOM, there it was, a mention of Louise Brooks' debut at the Café de Paris in London. This captioned photo appeared on the back page -- the picture page of the Monday, October 20, 1924 London Daily Chronicle. I was bowled over, as this marks the earliest mention and earliest depiction of Brooks in any European publication. Wowza!

After having researched this period in Brooks' life in every which way I thought I might -- from perusing British newspaper databases to visiting the British National Library while I was in London -- I never thought I would find any mention in a British publication of the future actress. After all, as others have pointed out, she was merely an American chorus girl who luckily landed a job in London as a supporting act at an up-and-coming nightclub. Though well known now, the Café de Paris had opened only a few months before Brooks landed there.

My webpage,"Louise Brooks at the Café de Paris in London", details how Brooks got there, and a little of what her life was like in London. On the page, there is another early picture of Brooks which mentions the Café de Paris, which was published in a German magazine in January, 1925. It is Brooks' second mention/depiction in a European publication. Remember, at this time, Louise Brooks hadn't yet appeared in a film, let alone stood in front of a camera.

I looked through the London Daily Chronicle for the next few days, hoping to find some kind of mention as to how things went at the nightclub -- even without a mention of Brooks -- but could find nothing. Here is a screen grab of the page on which Brooks appeared.

I am still a but stunned by having found this image, even if it is just a little something. My quest to find anything related to Brooks time at the Café de Paris has been long in the works. Below is a picture of me at the British Library some ten years ago. It's followed by another of me at the now closed nightclub. Be sure and check out "Louise Brooks at the Café de Paris in London". Thank you Becca!

 

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Happy Holidays from the Louise Brooks Society

 Happy Holidays from the Louise Brooks Society !

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

A BIG thank you to Robert Byrne, friend to Louise Brooks and the Louise Brooks Society

I wish to offer a BIG thank you to Robert Byrne, friend to Louise Brooks and the Louise Brooks Society and to all the silent cinema. On a recent visit to San Francisco and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, I met up with Byrne, a film preservationist extraordinaire, to thank him for writing the foreword to my recent book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. I also thanked him, on behalf of Louise Brooks fans everywhere, for restoring not only The Street of Forgotten Men, but also Now We're in the Air. Pictured just below if a snapshot of Rob and I taken after he gave me a limited edition giphoscope in recognition of my help in the restoration of Now We're in the Air.

Byrne has done a lot for anyone who likes Louise Brooks, as well as for those who are interested in silent film. He has worked behind the scenes and restored a bunch of worthwhile silent films, and, he has done so much else. His website devoted to coming attaction glass slides from the silent era is amazing. Among the films he worked on was The Spanish Dancer, a 1923 Herbert Brenon film starring Pola Negri which I just watched on Blu-ray and just reviewed for Film International. It is a new release from Milestone. Rob Byrne and I also talked about what each of us were currently working on, as well as some future projects.

One other reason we also got together was because Byrne told me he had something for me that he wanted me to have. That something turned out to be really nifty Canary Murder Case poster, which he gifted to me. Wow. I am gobsmacked. Thank you Rob!

The poster is for a three day, February showing of The Canary Murder Case at the Empire theater in Helston, England. In case you are not familiar, and I wasn't, Helston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom. This screening likely took place in 1930. Though the film was released in the United States in February of 1929, it usually took a number of months to a year for American films to come into circulation overseas, even in English speaking England. 

I tried my best to pin down the details regarding this particular screening, looking through Helston area newspapers for listings and advertisements, but I couldn't find anything related to The Canary Murder Case. That isn't surprising, as small theaters in small towns (in both the United States and overseas, including England), didn't always advertise their films. These locales were small enough that the locals came or didn't come to the theater based not necessarily on what was showing, but on their desire for entertainment.

Though I couldn't find anything about The Canary Murder Case, I did find a little something about the Empire. It still stands! And, movies are still shown there, although the 1914 theater itself has undergone significant changes and has a reduced number of seats. In case you are wondering, the movie showing there now is Wonka. Here is a snapshot I found online of what the theater looks like.

I will conclude this post by saying thank you to Robert Byrne and by posting a photo of my new poster hung on the wall, next to a department story display piece depicting William Powell (the star of The Canary Murder Case), and a large San Francisco Silent Film festival poster depicting Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box. It too was a gift from Rob Byrne. They make a nice trio. (My apologies for the glare.)

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

BBC broadcast of 1985 Louise Brooks TV Documentary

Arena: Louise Brooks, a 55 minute BBC television documentary will be screened on December 7 on BBC Four for only the second time since its repeat broadcast in 1986. More information about this special historic broadcast can be found HERE.  [Residents of the UK may stream this programme for the next year.]

According to the BBC website, this film explores "the life of one of the most celebrated icons of early cinema. Louise Brooks talks about her days in Paris and Berlin and the harsh retribution exacted by Hollywood."

The programme description reads, "American film actress Louise Brooks has become one of the most celebrated icons of early cinema. Her performance as unrepentant pleasure-seeker Lulu in GW Pabst's Pandora's Box made her a legend, and Brooks's own life had more than a touch of Lulu's reckless abandon about it.

In this episode of Arena, first transmitted not long after her death in 1985, Brooks talks candidly about her greatest days in Paris and Berlin and the harsh retribution that was exacted by Hollywood. Featuring clips from her varied screen performances."

 

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Louise Brooks books from the Louise Brooks Society

Looking for something good to read? Want to learn more about Louise Brooks and her films? Looking for the perfect gift for the silent film buff or Louise Brooks fan on your holiday list? Check out one or more of these Louise Brooks Society publications.

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The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond (softcover 1st edition)
by Thomas Gladysz

-- The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond is a 380 page deep dive into the history of one film, the 1925 silent, The Street of Forgotten Men. A popular and critical success at the time of its release, the film is based on a story by a noted writer, made by a significant director, shot by one of a greatest cinematographers, and features a fine cast which includes a future screen legend at the beginning of her career (Louise Brooks)  The story of the film is told in rich, historical detail — not only the film’s making, critical reception, and exhibition history but also its surprising legacy. Along with dozens of rare images and vintage clippings, this new book contains all manner of documents from the story on which the film was based to censorship records to a French fictionalization of the film to detailed credits and trivia, and even a review by a candidate for sainthood.

The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond features forewords by Robert Byrne, whose restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men saved it from an undeserving obscurity, and film historian and Oscar honoree Kevin Brownlow, who revealed little known details about the film drawn from his correspondence with Louise Brooks.

AUTOGRAPHED copies available direct from the author @ $35.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA). To place an order via PayPal, please send an email to louisebrookssociety AT gmailDOTcom 

 

Or buy online from Amazon.com (USA) // Barnes & Noble // Bookshop.org // Books-a-Million

 

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Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star (softcover 1st edition)
by Thomas Gladysz

-- This 296 page book brings together 15 years work by the Director of the Louise Brooks Society. Gathered here are the author's best articles, essays, and blogs about the silent film star and her films—Beggars of Life, Pandora’s Box, and Diary of a Lost Girl—each are discussed, as are many other little known aspects of Brooks’ legendary career. With many rare 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

AUTOGRAPHED copies available direct from the author @ $22.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA). To place an order via PayPal, please send an email to louisebrookssociety AT gmailDOTcom

 

Or buy online from Amazon (USA) | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million 

 

Or, buy the English-language edition from Amazon Australia | Brazil | Canada | France | Germany | India | Italy | Japan | Mexico | Netherlands | Poland | Singapore | Spain | Turkey | United Arab Emirates | United Kingdom

 

The English-language edition is also available from Saxo (Denmark) | Open Trolley (Indonesia) | MightyApe (New Zealand) | Bol.com (Netherlands) | Archiwum (Poland) 

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Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film (softcover 1st edition)
by Thomas Gladysz 

-- This first ever study of Beggars of Life looks at the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. With more than 50 little seen images, tons of information, detailed credits, trivia, and a foreword by William Wellman, Jr. A must read for every fan. 

“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)

AUTOGRAPHED copies available direct from the author @ $13.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA) / A very few copies signed by both Gladysz and William Wellman Jr. are also available @ $75.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA). To place an order via PayPal, please send an email to louisebrookssociety AT gmailDOTcom

 

Or buy NEW from Amazon (USA) | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

 

Or, buy the English-language edition from Amazon Australia | Brazil | Canada | France | Germany | India | Italy | Japan | Mexico | Netherlands | Poland | Singapore | Spain | Turkey | United Arab Emirates | United Kingdom

 

The English-language edition is also available from Saxo (Denmark) | Open Trolley (Indonesia) | MightyApe (New Zealand) | Bol.com (Netherlands) | Archiwum (Poland)  | Waterstones (UK)
 
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Now We're in the Air (softcover 1st edition)
by Thomas Gladysz

-- This companion to the once "lost" 1927 film tells the story of the film’s making, its reception, and its discovery by film preservationist Robert Byrne. With two rare fictionalizations of the movie story, more than 75 little seen images, detailed credits, trivia, and a foreword by Byrne. A must read for the discriminating fan. Your purchase helps support the LBS.

 

“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

AUTOGRAPHED copies available direct from the author @ $18.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)

 

Or buy NEW from Amazon (USA) | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

 

Or, buy the English-language edition from Amazon Australia | Brazil | Canada | France | Germany | India | Italy | Japan | Mexico | Netherlands | Poland | Singapore | Spain | Turkey | United Arab Emirates | United Kingdom

 

The English-language edition is also available from Saxo (Denmark) | Open Trolley (Indonesia) | MightyApe (New Zealand) | Bol.com (Netherlands) | Archiwum (Poland) 

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The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition)
by Margarete Bohme (author) and Thomas Gladysz (editor)

-- 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 an 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 illustrations.

“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

NEW from Amazon (USA) | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | or in person at George Eastman Museum (Rochester, NY) | Larry Edmunds (Hollywood, CA)

 
Or, buy the English-language edition from Amazon Australia | Brazil | Canada | France | Germany | India | Italy | Japan | Mexico | Netherlands | Poland | Singapore | Spain | Turkey | United Arab Emirates | United Kingdom
 
The English-language edition is also available from Saxo (Denmark) | Open Trolley (Indonesia) | MightyApe (New Zealand) | Bol.com (Netherlands) | Archiwum (Poland)

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

It has taken me 24 years to get ahold of this clipping

Just recently, I was updating the history of the Louise Brooks Society. The ABOUT page on the Louise Brooks Society website contains the story behind its launch in 1995, how I chose its name, its mission statement, and some of the things the LBS has achieved over the years. I was doing so because there are people on the interweb who suggest the Louise Brooks Society doesn't really exist, and that I am not its founding Director. Sounds ridiculous, I know. (BTW, I call myself its director because "director" is a movie term. It's not a grandiose moniker, and certainly more fitting than anything else I could come up with.)

While working on what I could remember of the history of the LBS, I was going through some old clippings about or mentioning my website. The Louise Brooks Society website was launched in August, 1995. The first media mention and its earliest print reference dates to May 23, 1996, when it was named a USA Today “Hot Site” and mentioned in the newspaper’s syndicated “Net: New and notable” column. Sam Vincent Meddis wrote in USA Today, "Silent-film buffs can get a taste of how a fan club from yesteryear plays on the Web. The Louise Brooks Society site includes interview, trivia and photos. It also draws an international audience."

Some of the other early mentions appeared in the Noe Valley Voice (September 1997), Wired magazine (April 10, 1998), Melbourne Age (April 16, 1998), San Francisco Chronicle (May 3, 1998), and Atlanta Journal-Constitution (May 5, 1998). I have print or digital copies of each.

One of the other early clippings appeared in the February - March 1999 issue of bLink, a magazine published by EarthLink. I knew this piece existed, because I had been contacted by the person who wrote it for a quote. However, I never got a copy of the magazine, and more or less forgot about it. Time passed.... until recently, when I was going through some old clippings about or mentioning my website. I wondered what ever happened to that magazine, and if they had an archive online. They don't. But my search turned up an eBay listing for the very copy I needed. Wowza. I put in a bid, and won!

And so, after 24 years, I am glad to have this nifty clipping, which appears on page 20 of this issue. Like the Wired magazine and San Francisco Chronicle pieces, it acknowledges the role the LBS played in inspiring TCM to go ahead with the Emmy-nominated documentary, Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu. But more importantly, this clipping is another bit of proof that the Louise Brooks Society does in fact exist (and did so in 1999), and that I am its founding Director.

It was cool to see this piece, especially since it includes a screen grab of the old look of the Louise Brooks Society website.

BTW, for the record, the earliest Wayback Machine capture of the Louise Brooks Society at it’s current domain, www.pandorasbox.com, dates to April 11, 1997. But before that, the earliest archived newsgroup post mentioning the LBS, from October 27, 1995, announces the website. Another, a query from the LBS asking about a screening of Pandora’s Box in Poland, dates to January 29, 1996. Another, from December 31, 1996, announces the move to its new domain at pandorasbox.com, where it has resided since. Each of these posts are part of the Google groups / Usenet Archive.

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Happy birthday Louise Brooks (1906-1985)

Happy birthday to Louise Brooks, who was born on this day, November 14th, in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906.

To celebrate Brooks' birth, I thought I would share a scan of my newest treasure, a tinted arcade card. The front and back of the card are shown below. In all likelihood, this card was obtained from a vending machine located in an amusement park, a store, or some similar venue where one might find other vending machines. And in all likelihood, it cost a penny, one cent.

Like the cherry red tinted Street of Forgotten Men arcade card, which has been shown previously on this blog and is depicted in my new book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond, this golden yellow tinted card was issued by the Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago, Illinois. The Street of Forgotten Men card was intended as a promotional item which could also be used as a postcard.

This newest acquisition had a different use, as is shown on its reverse. This card was a kind of coupon. Acquire 50 such coupon cards, clip the corner, and one could redeem a prize, such as an Imp bottle, trick pencil, 7" x 10" Tom Mix photo, or a Babe Ruth or Charles Lindbergh Lucky Pocket Piece. By sending in 100 coupons, one could obtain a Rubber Dagger, Referee's Whistle, or a Charlie Chaplin Squirter, among other valuable prizes. Wowza!

Here is the scan of my arcade card, showing the front and back. The card, obviously, has been clipped. I wonder what the original owner obtained in return? 

This item, which I acquired through eBay, was part of a grouping of other movie star arcade cards which included major or established stars like Pola Negri, Marie Dressler, Vilma Banky, Constance Talmadge,  Marguerite De La Motte, Lila Lee and Gertrude Astor.

There were also cards for up and coming actresses like Carole Lombard, Joan and Constance Bennett, and Ruth Chatterton. Since Lombard's image was printed on one of the cards, and since she didn't have credited roles in films until 1928 and 1929, I am going to guess and say these cards date from around 1929, perhaps 1930 - by which time Brooks fame in the United States was beginning to fade. 

Here is an informational page about the Exhibit Supply Company from the Made in Chicago Museum. And here are examples of a whole bunch of cards from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

If anyone knows more about these specific cards, I would love to here from you. Also, I would be happy to sell any of these cards, either individually or as a group, except for the Louise Brooks card. Make me an offer. My other cards are shown below. Except for the Pola Negri card, each is in very good, though clipped, condition. A few have pencil markings on the reverse.

 

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

John Wayne & Louise Brooks Night in Russiaville, Indiana

The Kokomo-Howard County Public Library has announced it will screen the 1938 Louise Brooks film, Overland Stage Raiders, on Sunday, November 12 at 6:00 pm. This rare public screening of Brooks last film will take place at the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library (315 Mesa Dr) in Russiaville, Indiana. More information about this free event can be found HERE.

The announcement on a local TV website, WISHTV.COM (Channel 8), states: 

"Join us for a showing of 1938 release "Overland Stage Raiders," starring John Wayne and Louise Brooks. (Republic Pictures). In honor of Howard County Reads book, "The Chaperone" by Laura Moriarty, we will be showing the movie "Overland Stage Raiders." To honor the two movie stars, dress in your western duds or dress like a roarin' twenties flapper!"

That is an unusual pairing! If you can't attend this event and would like to view this little seen film, please note that it is available on DVD and Blu-ray on amazon.com and other shopping sites.

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What Notable Women Are Wearing, including Louise Brooks

I am always researching Louise Brooks, and just recently, I came across a newspaper series titled "What Notable Women Are Wearing." From what I could gleam, this nationally syndicated series was authored by Marie Munneux, who was described as an International Illustrated News Fashion Authority. (Her name was not on every piece.) Typically, individual pieces include a feature photo of a well known woman wearing fashionable clothes of the time. 

These notable women might include actresses - like Norma Shearer, Edna Purviance, Yola d'Avril, or Jeanne Eagels, or other famous or well known individuals like Lady Astor, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, or Belle Bart, a noted astrologist. A paragraph or two of text might tell who the celebrity is, where the picture might have been taken, and describe the clothes they are wearing. 

I found two entries in the series which featured Louise Brooks. Below, I've included two pieces which, although they feature the same content, have a slightly different layout. 

For fun, here are a few of the other entries in the series which I came across, including Joan Crawford, Aileen Pringle, Gertrude Olmstead and the great Pearl White.

I sure wish these late 1920s newspaper fashion pictures reproduced better, but what can you do.... Still, they offer a snapshot into the Jazz Age. The second paragraph in the clipping that follows
pokes fun at the era's fashions, which some thought too revealing.

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Pandora’s Box (Limited Edition Box Set) starring Louise Brooks due out October 30

Eureka Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, is due out on October 30th. This limited edition box set, which is limited to 3000 copies, is a UK release, which means it may not play on American Blu-ray players, i.e. you would need a region free player. (I ordered mine as soon as it was released, and just received my copy. I plan on writing a review next month.) More information on this new release can be found HERE.

The trailer for this new release, shown below, can be found on VIMEO. Otherwise, here is some information from Eureka: 

In a role intended at one point for Marlene Dietrich (The Blue Angel), 22 year-old Louise Brooks (Diary of a Lost Girl), with her fragile beauty and iconic dark bob hairstyle, gives a performance decades ahead of its time and immortalised her as an icon. Largely condemned and censored upon its initial release for its daring treatment of sexuality and female desire, Brooks’ understated yet erotically charged performance, endures as among the most modern of the silent era.

Adapted from a pair of plays by Frank Wedekind, Pandora’s Box tells the story of prostitute Lulu, a free spirit whose open sexuality breeds chaos in its wake. When Lulu’s latest lover, the newspaper editor Dr. Ludwig Schon (Fritz Kortner, The Hands of Orlac), announces plans to leave her to marry a more respectable woman, Lulu is devastated. Cast in a musical revue written by Schon’s son, Alwa (Francis Lederer, The Return of Dracula), Lulu seduces Schon once more — only to have their tryst exposed, and Schon’s plans for a more socially acceptable marriage shattered. Left with no choice but to marry Lulu, Schon meets with tragedy on their wedding night. Lulu stands trial for the incident, facing years of imprisonment. With the aid of her former pimp (Carl Goetz, Tom Sawyer) an infatuated lesbian countess (Alice Roberts, The Merry Widower), and Alwa, she flees toward a fate of increasing squalor and peril, finally crossing paths one Christmas Eve with Jack the Ripper.

Reviled and bowdlerised at its debut, Pandora’s Box has since been recognised as one of the masterpieces of early German cinema. A sordid melodrama made with great style, it affirms G.W. Pabst as a daring and important director and Louise Brooks as one of cinema’s most exquisite and distinctive performers. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present Pabst’s masterpiece in a new restoration on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Limited Edition Box Set - 3000 Copies
• Limited Edition Hardcase featuring artwork by Tony Stella
• Limited Edition 60-Page Book featuring new writing on the film by critics Alexandra Heller Nicholas, Imogen Sara Smith, and Richard Combs; alongside archival stills and imagery
• 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a definitive 2K digital restoration
• Optional English subtitles
• Orchestral Score by Peer Raben
• New audio commentary by critic Pamela Hutchinson
• New visual appreciation by author and critic Kat Ellinger
• New video essay by David Cairns
• New video essay by Fiona Watson

One earlier Eureka release in their Masters of Cinema Series is their duel-format edition (DVD & Blu-ray) of Diary of a Lost Girl (Tagebuch einer Verlorenen), which came out a few years ago. More information on it can be found HERE.

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 © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.