This week at the SFPL

Two inter-library loans were waiting for me at the San Francisco Public Library. I looked through the Charleston Evening Post, where I found articles and advertisements for three of Louise Brooks films, as well as an article on the 1923 Denishawn performance in that South Carolina town. I also scanned a few months of the Buffalo Courier-Express, where I found three film reviews. This article also turned up in Courier-Express.

A couple of years ago, I went through back issues of Time magazine, which the SFPL has on microfilm. Back then, by scrolling through the years, I was able to uncover a few film reviews. Recently, however, Time put their archives online. These archives, which are searchable by keyword, date back to 1923. I took the opportunity to search for "Louise Brooks," "Denishawn," "George White Scandals," "Zeigfeld Follies," and various film titles. After noting the results (one has to pay to read the articles at the Time archive), I returned to the SFPL microfilm where I found a few more articles and reviews which were unknown to me. Among the more interesting items was a 1979 article regarding the Santa Fe Opera staging of Alban Berg's Lulu, which noted that "During rehearsals, the cast screened Louise Brooks' Lulu in the 1928 silent film of Wedekind's Pandora's Box."

Research trip notes (part one - Michigan)

My recent trip to the midwest (a combined visit home / mad dash from library to library) was the most complicated research trip I've ever taken. Over the course of six days, I visited five libraries in two states, while driving hundreds of miles and suffering freezing temperatures. (One day, the wind chill reached 15 degrees below zero!) All the while, I was terribly sick with an awful head cold. Nevertheless, except for getting lost on a couple of occassions while trying to make my way from city to city, things went off without a hitch. I hit all my marks - unearthing at least two hundred clippings - and returning home with a three-inch stack of photocopies! (I spent about $90.00 on copies.)

My first stop in Michigan was in a cold Ann Arbor, where temperatures were in the teens. I made my way to the University of Michigan's Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, and on the way, walked past Hill Auditorium - site of two Denishawn performances during the years Louise Brooks was a member of that pioneering dance company.

                                        

At the library, I spent about four hours in the microfilm collection. First, I looked through Detroit Saturday Night, a hard-to-get-ahold-of weekly entertainment paper published throughout the 1920's and 1930's. (This is the only city-based entertainment publication I know of - except for those published in New York. Does anyone know of others?) At the time, Detroit was the third largest metropolitan area in the United States, and Detroit Saturday Night covered the city's lively music, stage, and film happenings. I managed to find a bunch of brief articles about Brooks' films at the time of their Detroit showings.

Next, I dipped into the Michigan Daily, the student newspaper at the University of Michigan. The Michigan Daily was a goldmine of articles, reviews and advertisements for the two Denishawn performances. I was stunned by the extensive coverage - including front page articles, long reviews, and large, quarter page advertisements. Denishawn was big news in Ann Arbor in the early 1920's, and Brooks herself was mentioned in a few pieces. I have looked at a few other student papers from the time, and never found too much. However, this unearthing of valuable material will lead me to look more closely at other such periodicals.

The University of Michigan library also has a couple of French publications. The Petit Parisian was a Paris newspaper which yielded vintage articles on Diary of a Lost Girl and Beggars of Life from the time of their first French screenings in 1929 and 1930, respectively.

                                     

I also looked at more than a years worth of Cinematographie Francaise, a French trade journal. This weekly film magazine also turned out to be a goldmine of articles, images, and advertisements regarding Pandora's Box and Beggars of Life. There was a stunning full page advertisement for Diary of a Lost Girl, as well as numerous articles on Prix de Beaute. Brooks was on the cover of this publication on May 11 and June 8 of 1929.

Because I had run out of time (and needed to drive to Lansing that night), I was not able to sift through three German newspapers the U-M library has on microfilm. One day, hopefully, I will be able to return and look through the Kolnische Volkszeitung, Weimarische Zeitung, and Leipzieger Volkszeitung for material on the two Pabst films.

This was my second Louise Brooks-research trip to Lansing. Last year, I visited the State Library of Michigan, where I gathered articles and reviews on all of the Denishawn performances in that state. I had, at the time, also scoured the leading Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Flint and Kalamazoo newspapers for vintage film reviews. This time, I concentrated on the Grand Rapids and Battle Creek papers, with a quick look through the Saginaw paper. I found a bunch of material in theGrand Rapids Press and the Battle Creek Enquirer and Evening News. However, I was not so lucky with the Saginaw Daily News, where I only managed to turn up some nifty advertisements. Here is a typical example.

                                     

I spent more than four hours at the State Library of Michigan, and now feel that I have largely completed by survey of major Michigan newspapers.

From Lansing, I made my way to the suburbs of Detroit, where a couple days later I took the opportunity to visit the Royal Oak Public Library. This suburban library holds the Daily Tribune - a typical small-town paper "serving Detroit's progressive suburbs." I didn't expect to find much, perhaps just some brief articles or advertisements. I found those, but was even more delighted to find an article on Brooks entitled, "Will Follies Grad Act with Funny Man." This March, 1926 article, if it can be believed, quotes Brooks as saying she didn't want to appear with W. C. Fields.

"Recently Paramount announced she was to have the feminine lead opposite W. C. Fields, also late of the Follies, in The Old Army Game. When interviewed, Louise flashed those eyes of her and said, 'They may think I'm going to do the part, but I won't. I'm not going to play around with a funny man.'" The articles goes on. "When, if ever, Pola Negri, Lya de Putti from Hungary, exploited as the 'rage of Europe' and the exotic Louise go to work on the same lot, there might ought to be no dearth of excitement around the Famous Players studio."

This unattributed article was not the only gem found. I also came across a syndicated March, 1928 feature photo of Brooks wearing clothes of 1900, 1912 and 1928. This is one item I have never seen before! Which goes to show, you'll never know what you'll find . . . .

                  

Referenced in Le Temps

Yesterday, the Louise Brooks Society was referenced in an article, "Louise Brooks, l'adoration perpétuelle," in Le Temps, a Paris newspaper. The reference reads "La Louise Brooks Society en ligne: http://www.pandorasbox.com."

Divine Dancer

Finished reading Divine Dancer: A Biography of Ruth St. Denis by Suzanne Shelton. I really liked this book, and would recommend it to anyone interested in Denishawn or early 20th century cultural history. Shelton's book is certainly is one of the most enjoyable biographies I have read in some time. It is well written, well researched, and full of interesting information.

St. Denis had an incredible life, and was acquianted with, or knew, many of the leading personalities of her day. St. Denis once performed on the same bill as W.C. Fields, danced for the painter John Singer Sargeant, and was friendly with the Nobel Prize winning Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. Rodin once sketched her, and she danced for King Edward VII. St. Denis had "special relationships" with the architect Stanford White (famous for his own special relationship with Evelyn Nesbit), the showman David Belasco, and the German writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was also rumored she had an affair with the painter Egon Schiele. In 1906 (the year Louise Brooks was born), St. Denis toured Germany, where she met the dramatist Frank Wedekind, author of the Lulu plays!

All of that is background to her incredible achievements as a dancer. She was a contemporary of (and personally knew) Isadora Duncan, Anna Pavolva, Maud Allan, and Loie Fuller. Both as a solo artist and as a founding member of the Denishawn dance company, St. Denis - perhaps more than anyone else - helped introduce modern dance to America. Hers was a truly singular life.

A footnote: my copy of Divine Dancer once belonged to the composer Lou Harrison. Like St. Denis, Harrison had a great interest in Asian culture. Whereas St. Denis was drawn to Indian dance (her nautch dance was well known), Harrison was drawn to the music of the Indonesian gamelan. I do not know that St. Denis and Harrison ever met, but I would not be surprised if they had, as their circles of friends may well have overlapped. Besides his considerable accomplishments as a composer, Harrison was also a music critic and calligrapher. My copy ofDivine Dancer bears Harrison's calligraphic ownership signature.

Return of the weekly research report

Yesterday, I returned home from my trip to Michigan and Ohio, where I had spent the last six days driving from library to library in search of Louise Brooks material. Research-wise, it was a very successfull trip! I unearthed at least two hundred clippings - all sorts of articles, reviews and advertisements related to Brooks' career and films as well as her time with Denishawn. I returned home with a three-inch stack of photocopies. Now, I'm in the middle of processing this new material. I will write detailed reports about what I found in the coming days.

(As I write this journal entry I am listening to Stare Kino, a CD I picked up while visiting a Detroit area gift shop which features Polish products. The compact disc, an import, features songs from Polish films of the 1930's. It's pretty good, though it does not feature my favorite Polish singer of the interwar period, Ordonka, aka Hanka Ordonowna.)

Today, not having to go into work, I ventured over to the San Francisco Public Library, where a few inter-library loans awaited me. I found a long Denishawn review which referenced Louise Brooks in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (from Fort Wayne, Indiana), as well as an article and some advertisements in the Greensboro Daily News (from Greensboro, North Carolina). I also dug through a couple of months of the Peoria Transcript (from Peoria, Illinois), where I found a bunch of advertisements, short articles and reviews for the two Denishawn performances in that mid-west town.

Off to the Midwest

I'm off to the midwest for six days, where I will be driving from library to library, from city to city, in search of yet more Louise Brooks material. Probably won't be able to post from the road. So, I will record the results when I return. In the meantime, Happy Holidays.

Louise Brooks gift items

Looking for that special holiday gift for that special Louise Brooks fan? Might we recommend the merchandise pages of the Louise Brooks Society, where you can find an amazing assortment of Louise Brooks DVD's, videos, and books (including hard-to-find foreign editions).

Also, be sure and check out the LBS gift shop at Cafepress.com, where you can find an equally amazing assortment of LBS merchandise including shirts, coffee mugs, stickers, postcards, tote bags and more. This unique shop features a "Diary of a Lost Girl" blank book (perfect for keeping notes or a journal), as well as a "Pandora's Box" wooden keepsake box with tile lid.

                                  

Other popular items include the LBS tote bag and sticker.

                                  

There is lots to be found at the Louise Brooks Society Gift shop. There are travel mugs, tile coasters, messenger bags, mouse pads, sweatshirts and other unique items. And what's more, use coupon "CPFESTIVE" to receive $10.00 off orders of $50.00 or more. (Offer expires December 20, 2004.)

Denishawn bibliography updated

I've updated the Denishawn bibliography. Citations were added - mostly from the New York Times and Washington Post - for a bunch of brief articles. Among the material added was a small article mentioning a previously unrecorded Denishawn performance in New York City. The performance (which was not part of their 1922-1923 tour) was a benefit, and took place in May, 1923. The article did not mention Louise Brooks by name, only that Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn and the Densiahwn dancers would be present.

In world news . . .

The Belfast Telegraph reported on December 3rd that Neve Campbell is still hoping to make a film about Louise Brooks. In an article about Campbell's recent activity, the Irish newspaper stated "Campbell produced as well as starred in The Company, and this is an experience she's keen to repeat. She plans to make a film about the silent-film icon Louise Brooks, and is keeping her fingers crossed over a project entitled The Mermaids Singing."

And in yesterday's Cape Times (from South Africa), film critic David Thomson wrote, "this is clearly Natalie Portman's breakthrough film - she is enchanting and lethal, childlike and eternal, in ways that made me think of Louise Brooks." While a day earlier in an article about the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the New York Times also evoked the actress: "Olivia Bowman wears a Louise Brooks-style wig and is the loner."

As did numerous other publications across the United States which carried a recent Associated Press review of Eve Ensler's new theatre piece, The Good Body. "The actress, sporting a Louise Brooks bob and a billowy, sleeveless pants suit, takes the audience on a 90-minute journey through her own and other women's observations about their bodies."  This sentiment was echoed by Newsday back in November, which stated in an article about Ensler, "She still has her shiny Louise Brooks hair . . . ."

(Louise Brooks trivia: Back on November 11, 2000 - both Eve Ensler and Louise Brooks biographer Barry Paris were guests on West Coast Live, a syndicated radio program from San Francisco. For a while, audio of the show was archived on the net, but no longer appears to be.)