A cinephilac blog about an actress, silent film, and the Jazz Age, with occasional posts
about related books, music, art, and history written by Thomas Gladysz. Visit the
Louise Brooks Society™ at www.pandorasbox.com
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Happy Halloween: Louise Brooks as Death
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Louise Brooks & Rina Ketty - "J'attendrai"
A great song: Rina Ketty sings "J'attendrai" to images of Louise Brooks.
For more French music like this, be sure and tune in to RadioLulu, the online radio station of the Louise Brooks Society, at http://www.live365.com/stations/298896
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Libba Bray's The Diviners: a near Louise Brooks cover
Libba Bray's The Diviners, as published in Italy. |
Libba Bray's new young adult / teen novel, The Diviners, is set in 1920's New York City. It's story centers on Evie O'Neil, and features speakeasies, movie palaces, glamorous Ziegfield girls, rakish pickpockets, and a rash of occult-based murder.
Kirkus Reviews said of The Diviners, "1920s New York thrums with giddy life in this gripping first in a new
[series] from Printz winner Bray...The intricate plot and magnificently
imagined details of character, dialogue and setting take hold and don't
let go. Not to be missed."
The book contains a couple of references to Louise Brooks. One character, a Ziegfield girl named Theta Knight, is described as having "jet-black hair" cut into a "Louise Brooks shingle bob with bangs." Later, it is mentioned that Hollywood scouts were backstage and on the look-out for the "next Louise Brooks or Eddie Cantor."
The book has been published in a handful of countries, including Italy, where its cover (pictured above) features a Louise Brooks look-alike contemporary model sometimes mistaken for the actress. Thanks to Italian Brooks-scholar Gianluca Chiovelli for pointing this out! (He described the cover as "not Brooksian;
Brooksiesque.") Here the book's American promotional video.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
LBS featured on LAMB
On October 19th, the Louise Brooks Society blog was featured on LAMB, the Large Association of Movie Blogs, the premier movie blog directory - "a one-stop shop for readers and bloggers alike."
Thank you LAMB!
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Monday, October 22, 2012
Dressing up like Louise Brooks (for Halloween)
Thinking of dressing up or looking like Louise Brooks for Halloween? On eBay and other sites, you'll find Louise Brooks wigs - little black bobs, retro-looking dresses said to be like those Louise Brooks would have worn, and even a Louise Brooks mask.
On YouTube, you'll also find a handful of video's which instruct viewers on how to apply makeup to effect a Louise Brooks' look. I have watched some of them and think this is the best. Take a look.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Saturday, October 20, 2012
More on Sid Kay's Fellows
Earlier this week, I received an extraordinary email. It
was from Israel, and it came from Dr. Uriel Adiv, the grandson of
Shabtai Petrushka (Sigmund Petruschka), the noted German musician and composer and a co-founder of the Sid Kay's Fellows. That jazz combo seen in the Louise Brooks' film, Pandora's Box (1929).
Dr. Uriel Adiv wrote in response to an earlier LBS blog, "Music in Pandora's Box: Sid Kay's Fellows." He sent images
and information, and promised to send more.
Here are a couple of the scans which he sent, the front and reverse of a vintage flyer promoting the group. Dr. Uriel Adiv wrote, "You can see my grandpa playing the trumpet on the upper right side as well as playing the accordion on the middle of the right side."
Not only does its collage design (by Umbo, a Bauhaus artist) reflect a modernist aesthetic, but its also contains valuable bits of information about the widespread popularity of this group (which I had not known) who performed for various stage, film, and dance productions. Also of note is the fact that the group was managed by impresario Hanns Wollsteiner, who helped promote Marlene Dietrich early on.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Sunday, October 14, 2012
New for sale page
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Sophie Kinsella - Twenties Girl
A few years back, British novelist Sophie Kinsella wrote a book called Twenties Girl. Published in the United States in 2009, it tells the story of a friendship between two young women. One is a twenty-something contemporary woman, the other the ghost of a 1920s flapper.
In an interview from the time, Kinsella, the popular author of Shopaholic novels, said "I've always loved the glamour and spirit of the 1920s, and the idea
came to me of a flapper ghost. A feisty, fun, glamorous girl who adored
to dance and drink cocktails and get her own way. I wanted her to be a
determined character who would blast into the life of someone with no
warning and cause havoc. I then decided she should haunt a thoroughly
modern girl, with all the culture clashes and comedy that would bring."
"Having
come up with this idea I loved it, so it then remained to plunge myself
into 1920s research, which was no hardship at all, as I find the era
fascinating. I researched vintage make-up, vintage dresses, read fiction
from the period, investigated 1920s slang, and tried to channel as
much I could of those feisty flappers who cut their hair short (shock!),
smoked cigarettes in public (shock!), had sex (shock!) and generally
rebelled in all the outrageous ways they could."
This book has only recently been called to my attention, that's why I am writing about it now. However, what's striking is the book's visual allusion to Louise Brooks, especially Eugene Richee's pearls portrait. The allusion to Brooks is even more noticeable on the cover of the Italian edition.
Would love to hear from anyone who has read this novel.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
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