Weekly report

No inter-library loans arrived today, so I took the opportunity to browse the stacks at the SFPL. I borrowed a couple of books, including Ted Shawn's 1960 autobiography, One Thousand and One Night Stands. Shawn references Louise Brooks in this look back at his career as a dancer. I also borrowed Jane Sherman's 1983 study Denishawn: The Enduring Influence. Sherman, a one-time Denishawn dancer, exchanged letters with Brooks regarding her time with the pioneering dance company. One of those letters is quoted in this book.

I also borrowed three videos, a documentary entitled Denishawn: The Birth of Modern Dance (1988), a video of dance recreations entitled Denishawn Dances On (2002), and another documentary, The Men Who Danced: The Story of Ted Shawn's Male Dancers, 1933 - 1940  (1986). I plan to watch all three within the week, as they are due back in seven days.

There were no inter-library loans on-hand because I requested only a few in December. (Once they are processed, loans take about four or five weeks to arrive.) My week long research trip to the Midwest, as well as the holidays, reduced the number of requests I placed last month. As well, a few of my requests came back "negative."

I had requested Narodni Osvobozeni, a newspaper from Prague. I was planning to scan the summer months of 1929 in hopes of stumbling across something / anything on Pandora's Box in this Czech newspaper. But no luck. I also requested Critica and Argentinisches Tageblatt, both from Buenos Aires. Pandora's Box showed there in November of 1929, and again, I was hoping to come across an article or review, especially in the later German-language paper. (I have articles and reviews from other Buenos Aires newspapers of the period.) Also put in requests for two American newspapers, the Selma Times-Journal (from Alabama) and Macon Daily Telegraph (from Georgia). In each of them, I was hoping to gather material on Denishawn performances in those Southern towns. My requests for each of these publications came back unfilled. Apparently, there is no library or archive in the United States which has these publications on microfilm for the period I requested - and which is willing to loan it.

On a related note: I found out yesterday that I will be travelling (for work) to New York City in early June. I will be returning to "the Big Apple" to attend the booksellers convention. (For those that don't know, I work in a bookstore in San Francisco.) While there, I plan to stay an extra three days. I figure on spending one whole day (from open to close!) at the New York Public Library, where I will continue my survey of New York City newspapers. I was in NYC a few years ago under similar circumstances, and at that time, I went through a bunch of micofilm at the NYPL. I also want to spend two full days at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. This library / archive is a goldmine for researchers - and the stuff they have there is often unique! Between now and June, I will draw-up a list of things I hope to find by looking through each library's online catalogs.

Roaring '20s Fashions

There is a recently released book out called Roaring '20s Fashions: Deco, by Susan Langley. Published by Schiffer, its a heavily illustrated survey and collectors' guide to clothing and accessories of the Jazz Age. And not surprisingly, the book includes a handful of references to Louise Brooks, as well as a couple of  pictures!

Victor McLaglen mentioned on PBS

One-time boxer and future actor Victor McLaglen was pictured and briefly discussed in Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, the new Ken Burns film on PBS. McLaglen, who would go on to star in the 1928 Louise Brooks film, A Girl in Every Port, was a boxer before he entered the movies. And at one point he fought Jack Johnson, who would go on to become the world heavyweight champion!

Post script: There is a sports bar on Geary Street in San Francisco called Pat O'Sheas. (I used to frequent the joint for the occassional college football game.) And on the walls - typical of such establishments - hang all kinds of sports memorabilia, including jerseys, pennants, photos, etc.... Among the items is a very old photo of a group of boxers - and among them is a youthful Victor McLaglen.

New Frank Tuttle book

Today, I received a copy in the mail of They Started Talking, by Frank Tuttle. As Brooks' fans know, Tuttle (1892 – 1963) directed three films in which Louise Brooks appeared, The American Venus (1926), Love Em and Leave Em (1926) and in part, The Canary Murder Case (1929). This new book, the director's memoirs, has not been published before.

Description of the book reads in part: "From Frank Tuttle, the director of Kid Boots, The Studio Murder Mystery, True to the Navy, Roman Scandals,College Holiday, and This Gun for Hire, comes a candid and lively backstage tour of the film industry from the 1920s through the 1950s. With a cast of characters that includes Jean Arthur, Mary Astor, Joan Blondell, Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Louise Brooks, Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby, Bebe Daniels, Alan Ladd, Angela Lansbury, Veronica Lake, Charlie McCarthy, Fredric March, Thomas Meighan, Adolphe Menjou, Osgood Perkins, William Powell, Robert Preston, Edward G. Robinson, Charlie Ruggles, Simone Signoret, Phil Silvers, Gloria Swanson, and Monty Wooley, They Started Talking is an affectionate Who's Who of the leading supporting players of Hollywood's golden age."

I've only skimmed the book, but from what I've read, Tuttle has some interesting things to say about Louise Brooks. The director discusses the actress in relation to the three films on which they both worked. (A lobby card for The Canary Murder Case is also reproduced.)  I am looking forward to reading They Started Talking by Frank Tuttle.  (The book is edited, and comes with an introduction, by John Franceschina. It is published by BearManor Media.) I will try and write more about the book at a later date.

A Louise Brooks haircut

This webpage on the stereolab-videos.com site has a nifty three minute real media video on how to achive a perfect bob or "Louise Brooks haircut." Not sure how this website relates to Stereolab (the band), but there does seem to be some overlap.

From the blogsphere

Some blogs from around the world that discuss or reference Louise Brooks. You may need to scroll down to find the mention:

From Iran: http://sam12345.persianblog.com/

From Brazil: http://raih.blog.uol.com.br/  

From England: http://ungwe.org/blog/2003/10/07/10:50/

From France: http://www.lapanse.com/pages/archive_blog/2003_10_19_archive_blog.html

From Mexico: http://blogia.com/tere/index.php?tema=7

Again from Brazil: http://www.meguimaraes.com/subrosa/arquivo/000558.html

Little things excite me

Little things excite me. (I know its a quirk - I know I am a geek - but I can't help it.) Today, at the library, I looked at two publications I hadn't seen before. A roll of microfilm of the now defunct Pittsburgh Leader arrived, from which I gathered some material on the October, 1922 Denishawn performance in that Pennsylvania city. However, by the time Brooks and Denishawn returned to Pittsburgh in December of 1923, this newspaper had folded. These newly uncovered articles and advertisements will mark the only appearance of the Pittsburgh Leader in the bibliographies of the LBS.

I also looked at some rolls of the London Free Press, from London, Ontario. I hadn't looked at any issues of this paper before, let alone any newspapers from a smaller Canadian city. From the rolls that arrived, I was able to gather some material on the two November, 1922 and four April, 1924 Denishawn performances.

The London Free Press interlibrary loan came from the National Library of Canada, which is located in Ottawa. I am very, very grateful they loan material across the border. Thanx to the National Library, I have been able to survey the various papers from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Winnipeg. My survey - which is a hunt for Denishawn material as well as film reviews - is on-going. Sometime this year or next, I hope to borrow other newspapers from smaller Canadian towns which Denishawn visited, such as Hamilton, Peterbarough, Galt, and Kingston. Anyone live near Ottawa ?

Google Print

I have been hearing about Google Print for some time. Last month, it was announced that Google would be teaming up to scan and put online the contents of a few major American libraries. That's millions of books - all, in theory, searchable by keyword. One article on this story read:

"As part of the years-long project, Google will scan the entire holdings of Stanford University, which has nearly 8 million books. The company will do the same at the University of Michigan, which has 7 million books. Harvard University and the New York Public Library have also agreed to participate, though only as part of a test project. They will make only a fraction of their expansive holdings available before deciding whether to expand the program. Oxford University, in England, has also signed on with Google's digitization project, offering only books published before 1900."

I am drooling in anticipation. The impact this development might have on research should be considerable. I would think that new Louise Brooks material might even turn up - such as references to the actress in old histories of film, memoirs,  biographies, academic treatises, etc.... Keyword searching sure beats browsing the stacks.

Mark Tansey painting

On December 12th of last year, the New York Times ran a half-page spread on the highly regarded contemporary painter Mark Tansey and a recent work of his entitled "West Face." (Click here to read the article and see an image of the painting.) According to the article, "West Face appears to be a suavely rendered picture of a band of hikers trudging up a snowy mountainside. But look closely, and you'll find a landscape treacherous with puzzles, paradoxes, hidden images and allusions." Among the hidden images, reportedly, are portraits of various philosophers and Louise Brooks. I see the portraits (including the one that is supposedly of Brooks), but I don't recognize the actress. What do you think?