Writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante

The LBS marks the passing of the writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929 - 2005). This Cuban-born novelist, short-story writer, essayist, critic, journalist and translator was regarded as one of the original voices in contemporary Spanish literature. He was also a devotee of film, and of Louise Brooks. He mentioned the actress at least a few times in his various writings.

One newspaper account stated: "Cabrera had long been lauded for his experimental use of language in his novels, essays and cinema criticism, and he won the 1997 Miguel de Cervantes prize for literature, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish-speaking world. 'Perhaps his greatest originality was to turn cinema criticism into a new literary genre,' said the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who served on the jury that awarded the prize." For more on Cabrera, check out Google News.

Greta Garbo Festival

There is a Greta Garbo festival taking place at the Balboa Theater in San Francisco. To celebrate what would have been the actress' 100th birthday, the theater is screening nine of her films starting February 24th. The festival concludes March 3rd. (The San Francisco Chronicle ran an article about Garbo and the festival, "Seductive Garbo Still Enchanting" on February 20th.) Film critic and author David Thomson (author of the essential New Biographical Dictionary of Film) will be on hand to introduce the opening night's film. San Francisco Chronicle film critic and author Mick LaSalle (author of the excellent pre-code study Complicated Women) will introduce the March 1st screening. I will be attending each of these nights (as staff of The Booksmith), where I will be selling books by these authors in the lobby. We will also have copies of the Barry Paris bio of Garbo for sale. Come see a film, buy a book and get it signed, or say "hello." 

The Milestone Collection: Silent Shakespeare

Tonight, I watched The Milestone Collection: Silent Shakespeare. This disc features seven short films based on plays by William Shakespeare. Included areKing John (Great Britian, 1899), The Tempest (Great Britian, 1908), A Midsummer Night's Dream (USA, 1909), King Lear (Italy, 1910), Twelth Night (USA, 1910), The Merchant of Venice (Italy, 1910), and Richard III (Great Britian, 1911).



This glimpse into a cinematic past was somewhat interesting. Half of these films featured hand-tinting, which was very well done. The costuming, luxurious throughout, was of particular note. However, most of the movies appeared to be little more than filmed stage plays. And the acting was often theatrical, exagerated. It was remarkable to see something like King John (though extremely brief), because of its age.  A Midsummer Night's Dream was also of note, as it featured Maurice Costello and his two daughters, Dolores and Helene.

Raymond Griffith

Bruce Calvert, a longtime contributor to the LBS message board and a dedicated fan of silent film, has written a fine article on the silent film comedian and actor Raymond Griffith. This illustrated profile appears in the February, 2005 issue of Classic Images magazine. (The text of the article can be found online at the Classic Images website.) Do check it out. . . . I liked the article, but was a bit surprised Bruce didn't mention Griffith's connection to Louise Brooks. Griffith co-authored the screenplay to God's Gift to Women. And he and Brooks, according to the Barry Paris biography, had an encounter in the 1930's (see pages 384 - 385).

A couple of new items

Lately, I have been adding scans of bookcovers (of titles not otherwise pictorially represented) to the amazon.com database. (Don't ask me why. I can't help myself.) And, while doing so, I came across a couple of newly-listed items which may be of interest to fans of Louise Brooks. Each is an article fromContemporary Authors, a series of reference books found in libraries. Each can these articles can be purchased and downloaded as an e-document.

Contemporary Authors : Biography - Brooks, (Mary) Louise (1906-1985) [HTML]
--- a 12 page biographical article the Gale Reference Team

Contemporary Authors : Biography - Paris, Barry (?-) [HTML]
--- an 8 page article by the Gale Reference Team

Art and Beauty

An issue of Art & Beauty Magazine - dating from November, 1925 - is currently for sale on eBay. (The sellers are asking a large opening bid.) This is one of the earliest magazine covers to feature Louise Brooks. And remarkably, it predates her movie career.


I have come across only two earlier magazines which featured Brooks. Her first ever appearance may well have been on the cover of the April 24, 1925 issue of the Police Gazette, which was pblished in New York City. Some four months later, on August 16, 1925, Brooks appeared on the cover of the Town Crier, the Sunday magazine of the Wichita Beacon. Does anyone know of any other pre-1926 magazine covers?

They are large and dark brown in color

"Louise Brooks' eyes are marvelous. They are large and dark brown in color. They fascinate me." So, supposedly, stated Ronald Colman in the November, 1929 issue of  Screen Secrets. This quote appears in an article entitled "Ronald Colman's Dream Girl," by Bob Moak, which appears in an issue of the magazine currently for sale on eBay.

The Immortal Count

This week I finished reading The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi, by Arthur Lennig. (Earlier, I had read Lennig's biography of Erich von Stroheim.). I liked The Immortal Count a great deal. Lennig's book is very well researched, full of detail, written in a readable prose, and sympathetic to its subject. Lennig's account of Lugosi's early life is especially interesting. And his account of Lugosi's last years are nearly tragic. Lennig's own encounters (as a boy, and later as a young man) with the actor are especially poignant. Lennig has written the definitive account of Lugosi's life, as well as "A moving, lively, witty, sad book that revives once more the long dead Count Dracula." It is in the words of one publication, "An example for future writers of show business biographies." I would recommend this book.

Music by Clifford Vaughan

Lately, I have been wondering if there are any films or recordings of Denishawn from the period Louise Brooks was a member of the dance company. I have also been exploring the music of  the dance company - the music played while Denishawn danced. . . . This week, I acquired a somewhat obscure CD entitledMusic by Clifford Vaughan. I have listened to it once, and like it a good deal. The disc features work by Vaughan (1893 - 1987), a now little known musician who had a long career as composer, pianist, organist and conductor. (Issued on the Cambria label in 1997, this disc may be out of print. After some searching, I was able to purchase a second-hand copy online.)

What brought my attention to this recording were eight short works on the disc entitled "Oriental Translations for Denishawn." As it turns out, in 1925, a year after Louise Brooks left Denishawn, Ruth St. Denis engaged Clifford Vaughan as musical director of the dance company. (Vaughan replaced Louis Horst, who reunited with Martha Graham.) The composer accompanied Denishawn on their triumphant, twenty-month tour of Asia, Canada, and the United States. And while on tour, he absorbed the musical traditions of Japan, China, India, Burma, Java, Ceylon and other cultures. As a result, Vaughan composed the "Oriental Translations for Denishawn." (Included among them is "White Jade," which would become one of Ruth St. Denis' most famous solos.)

The recordings of "Oriental Translations for Denishawn" included on Music by Clifford Vaughan date to 1941, and were performed by the Vaughan Ensemble conducted by the composer. They are the most direct musical link to Denishawn (in the form of audio recordings) I have been able to find.