Strange days

I like to listen to music while I am blogging, crawling the web, or working on the LBS website. Today, I played  The Best of Dave Edmunds and Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe. Hadn't listened to either in long time. The Nick Lowe CD contains such great songs as "Cracking Up" and "Cruel to Be Kind" - as well as "Marie Provost." I hadn't really realized that song is actually about Marie Prevost (though Nick Lowe misspells her name). It's lyrics read in part: "Marie Provost was a movie queen / mysterious angel of the silent screen / And run like the wind the nation's young men steamed / When Marie crossed the silent screen." Lowe's lyrics also recount the rather morbid circumstances around Prevost's premature death. Don't know why this English pop musican wrote a song about a long forgotten movie actress, but he did. . . . And then a few hours later, reading while riding the bus to work, I once again come across the rather morbid circumstances surrounding Prevost's death in Gavin Lambert's excellent biography of Norma Shearer. Strange days are here . . . .

"Norma Shearer" by Gavin Lambert

God, I wish I could write as well as Gavin Lambert. . . .  I just finished reading his biography of the actress Norma Shearer (1902-1983), and was impressed by his telling of her life story - from her humble beginnings in Canada, to her ascent to movie stardom, marriage to Irving Thalberg, worldwide fame, and then slow withdrawal from Hollywood. The last chapter, describing the actress' final years, was moving. Shearer's life was opaque, and Lambert (who is a novelist and screenwriter) manages to envision a kind-of story arc in the telling of this life. That effect, I think, gives us insight into the woman. And for that reason,Norma Shearer, by Gavin Lambert, is recommended.

[ Only while scribbling this mini-review did I come to realize that there was another Shearer biography. In it's review of Lambert's 1990 book, Library Journalsaid, "In comparison to Lawrence J. Quirk's Norma: The Story of Norma Shearer (St. Martin's, 1988), Lambert's book is more detached, although both authors interviewed Shearer. Quirk comes across as more of a fan and features more quotes from Shearer's coworkers. Lambert's book has more insight. Each book has information not included in the other; both are worthwhile." I will have to try and track down Quirk's book, provided I can find a cheap copy. ]

March 12th happenings

Looking for something to do on Saturday, March 12th ? Check out either of these happenings:

The Archive Hour on BBC Radio Four
Date: Saturday 12th March 2005
Time: 20:00 to 21:00
"To produce his landmark book on the art of the silent movie, The Parade's Gone By, Kevin Brownlow interviewed many of the leading figures including directors Henry King, Alfred Hitchcock, Lewis Milestone and Garbo's favourite Clarence Brown, as well as stars such as Mary Pickford, Louise Brooks, Gloria Swanson, Buster Keaton and Boris Karloff. In conversation with Kevin Brownlow, Michael Pointon explores a fascinating archive, voices from a now almost forgotten era. The programme also includes contributions from Sir Jeremy Isaacs, who helped to promote the silent film during his tenures at Thames TV and Channel 4, and film music composer, Carl Davis." Individuals can listen to this program for a week afterwards via the following link: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/archivehour.shtml   [ Radio, and on-line radio archives such as the BBC, are a great unexplored domain for fans of silent cinema. For example, follow this link to listen to a September 11, 2004 program on Buster Keaton.  ]

Also on March 12th, the wonderful William Wellman film, Wings, which won the first Best Picture Oscar, will be shown with live organ accompaniment in Wichita, Kansas.

Silent Movie Night: Wings (1927)
Century II Exhibition Hall, 7 PM
Tickets: $12 and $6 for students
Century II, Wichita's main convention center, houses the 1926 New York Paramount Theatre Wurlitzer organ. Music from this one-of-a-kind instrument will accompany the film and will be performed by Clark Wilson.

"Lulu" by Frank Wedekind

Lulu

Ich liebe nicht den Hundetrab
Alltäglichen Verkehres;
Ich liebe das wogende Auf und Ab
Des tosenden Weltenmeeres.
Ich liebe die Liebe, die ernste Kunst,
Urewige Wissenschaft ist,
Die Liebe, die heilige Himmelsgunst,
Die irdische Riesenkraft ist.

Mein ganzes Innre erfülle der Mann
Mit Wucht und mit seelischer Größe.
Aufjauchzend vor Stolz enthüll' ich ihm dann,
Aufjauchzend vor Glück meine Blöße.

by Frank Wedekind

Free pens in the mail

Because the Louise Brooks Society is considered an organization (of sorts), I am on various mailing lists and occassionally receive free sample pens in the mail. The nifty red pen pictured top is a LBS "10th anniversary" pen.

NYPL Digital Gallery

From today's New York Times . . . "Let the browser beware. The New York Public Library's collection of prints, maps, posters, photographs, illuminated manuscripts, sheet-music covers, dust jackets, menus and cigarette cards is now online (www.nypl.org/digital/digitalgallery.htm). If you dive in today without knowing why, you might not surface for a long, long time. The Public Library's digital gallery is lovely, dark and deep. Quite eccentric, too. So far, about 275,000 items are online, and you can browse by subject, by collection, by name or by keyword. The images first appear in thumbnail pictures, a dozen to a page. Some include verso views. You can collect 'em, enlarge 'em, download 'em, print 'em and hang 'em on your wall at home."

A search under "Louise Brooks" brought up eight results, including two cigarette card images of the actress and six images from her days with Denishawn. Oddly enough, the NYPL has especially strong holdings in these two areas - cigarette cards and Denishawn. Scans of some 21,206 cards are online now. While a search under "Denishawn" brought up 78 pages of results. I did a few other random searchs. "Clara Bow" brought up seven results. "Rudolph Valentino" two results. "Charlie Chaplin" three results. "Buster Keaton" four results. If you are looking for something, it seems best to search under different keywords. A search under "Ziegfeld Follies" brought no results. While "Ziegfeld" brought four results.

The database seemed slow to respond (and display), but I am sure it is being overrun with search queries. Also, I wasn't sure if more than thumbnail images were displayed for any given entry. I couldn't get larger scans of the Louise Brooks thumbnail images to show. Here is a link to the New York Times story on the debut of the collection. Happy hunting.