David Levine caricature

Back in 1982, the renown artist David Levine drew a caricature of Louise Brooks which ran in the New York Review of Books. That well know caricature is currently for sale through this publisher's website. I bought one of these a number of years ago. They are very nifty!

SF PALM sale

Just got back from the annual duplicates sale at the San Francisco Performing Arts Museum & Library. I have been to this sale a few times in the past, and have also done some reseach at SF PALM and seen a few exhibits there as well. The sale features books, sheet music, programs, posters, record albums, etc.... There is not very much film-related stuff to be found, but the sale is a lot of fun and most everything there is cheap!

This year I spent $24.00 and came away with some treasures. Among the items I picked up was nice hardback first edition of Donald Spoto's biography of Lotta Lenya, which was signed by Spoto ($1.00). I also picked up The Alice Faye Movie Book, signed by Alice Faye ($3.00)! Most of the books I looked at were not signed, but I guess I just happened to find a few that were. . . . I also score a very nice hardback first edition of Ted Shawn's illustrated autobiography, One Thousand and One Thousand Night Stands, which was signed by Shawn ($8.00). Another Denishawn item I came across was The Story of Louis Horst and the American Dance by Ernestine Stodelle. Horst was the musical accompaniest for Denishawn in the early 1920's, including the years Louise Brooks was with the company. I hadn't known about this interesting booklet. I also found a hardback copy of The Story of Dance, by John Martin ($2.00). Martin was the dance critic of the New York Times, as well as an early champion of both Ruth St. Denis and of dance as a serious art form deserving newspaper coverage. This 1946 pictorial survey includes a chapter on Denishawn which includes a picture of the company which includes Brooks. I hadn't ever seen this particular image before! So, all together, it was a good haul.

German and Austrian Glamour Before World War II

There is an article in today's New York Times about an exhibit which has just opened in New York City. The article begins "Picture a glamorous gala attended by beauties, uglies, writers, thinkers, artists, loners, actors, dancers, politicos, social swans and maybe a dash of royalty, from the eventful years in Austria and Germany between the turn of the last century and the Anschluss that preceded World War II. . . . The feast of guests might include the very people depicted in 'Portraits of an Age: Photography in Germany and Austria, 1900-1938' at the Neue Galerie."

Among those depicted in the show is the silent film star Asta Nielsen - "in the kind of close-cropped haircut that signaled women's emancipation," as well as Francis Lederer - pictured below. Nielsen played Lulu in 1923 an earlier film version of Wedekind's play, while Lederer co-starred with Louise Brooks in G.W. Pabst's 1929 film of Pandora's Box. I am not sure if there is a catalog to the exhibit. But if there is, it might well be worth looking at.

A new Lulu

A new production of Alban Berg's Lulu will take the stage in England in April and May, 2005. The role of Lulu will be performed by soprano Lisa Saffer. The production is being put on by the English National Opera.

I recently came across

I recently came across this sentence from a novel by Salman Rushdie. "To understand just one life, you have to swallow the world." I feel it explains my approach to Louise Brooks.

John Decker

Back in 1925, the New York Evening World ran a review of the just opened Ziegfield Follies. The review stated " . . . a distinct hit was made last night by Louise Brooks, who is dancing in several numbers." The review also included a caricature of Brooks and her fellow Follies performers Dorothy Knapp and Ray Dooley (see page 91 of the Barry Paris biography).

The caricature was drawn by John Decker, the subject of a just published biography. According to the publisher "With all of his amazing talent - and scandalous exploits - it's surprising that the name of John Decker isn't more familiar today. In Bohemian Rogue: The Life of Hollywood Artist John Decker, author Stephen C. Jordan seeks to resurrect this forgotten figure of 20th century art. Jordan delves into the mystery of a man who overcame a difficult childhood and notorious apprenticeship to become a respected artist (and outrageous party-giver) in Hollywood. Bohemian Rogue chronicles the relatively brief - but eccentric - life of this neglected painter, caricaturist, and sculptor." Along with his caricature of Brooks, Decker also drew many of the stars of the silent film era. Though only a few are shown in this new book, it looks interesting.

Where and Why Miss Brooks Draws the Line

ON THIS DAY IN 1926: Newspapers around the country ran an illustrated article on the draped nudes scandal entitled ''Where and Why Miss Brooks Draws the Line.'' This widely syndicated article ran in the Sunday supplement / Sunday magazine section of various papers including the Philadelphia Inquirer,Washington Post, and Sacramento Union. For a larger scan of the article, see  www.cartoonretro.com/louise/brooksmodestysm.jpg.

Adventures in Sacramento

On Friday, I ventured to Sacramento (a two hour drive) and the home of the California State Library. This is my 15th trip to the State Library, which is located around the corner from the State Capitol and the offices of California's increasingly unpopular Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Over the last few years, I have been surveying California newspapers, of which the State Library has an extensive collection on microfilm. So far, I have looked through various Los Angeles area papers - including those from Hollywood, Pasadena and Santa Monica. Earlier, I had also gone through microfilm for papers from other California cities and towns, such as Santa Barbara, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, etc....

This time, I continued my search through the Hollywood Citizen News. This "small town" newspaper has proven rich in material relating to Louise Brooks. (Hollywood is a company town, and it's local paper, naturally, devoted considerable coverage to movies and the movie industry.) So far, I've found movie reviews, brief news items, miscellaneous articles, advertisements, and mentions in the "local" society and gossip columns. I've also found recipes ascribed to Brooks on the food pages, and a special bridal section once featured the actress modelling wedding gowns for a local store! Brooks' name started showing up in the paper with regularity once the actress moved to Los Angeles in 1927. And on earlier trips, I had gone through every day of the paper for that year. It is tedious work - but occassionally, some exceptional material turns up! This time, I went through the last six months of 1926, and found a few minor items. On my next trip to Sacramento, I plan to tackle 1928.

Like Hollywood, nearby Glendale was also something of a company town. Though I don't think any studios were located there, the local Glendale Daily Pressdevoted near daily coverage to the movies. I found that film companies - such as Paramount and MGM - held regular sneek previews of new films in Glendale. These sneek previews were intended to guage public reaction, and the studios would sometimes reshoot or recut a film based on audience response. (I had recently read about this practice in Gavin Lambert's biography of Norma Shearer.) In a couple of instances, I came across screenings of Brooks' films which were paired with sneek previews. From what I found, the preview film was never announced and only rarely reviewed. Thus, I wasn't able to determine which film was shown along with the Brooks film. Nevertheless, my quick search through nearly three years of the Glendale Daily Press proved fruitful. I found a slew of articles about Brooks' films. I plan to add citations to the LBS bibliographies later today.

With my remaining time at the library, I decided to take a peak at the Daily Bruin, the student newspaper from UCLA. I didn't expect to find much of anything, as most of the college newspapers that I have looked at in the past yielded little. I was surprised! I came across original articles reporting on lectures and talks at UCLA by movie directors and producers, interviews with the stars, and reviews of new films by student reporters. Daily Bruin coverage of the movies, including reviews of films opening in Los Angeles, really picked up starting in late 1926. With what time I had, I was able to uncover  reviews of Love 'Em and Leave 'Em (1926) and Evening Clothes (1927). On my next trip to the State Library, I plan to finish going through this notable student newspaper.