Monday, July 11, 2005

Referenced in China Daily

Louise Brooks was referenced in the July 6th edition of China Daily. In an article on hair entitled "China's first lady of long hair reveals scalp secret," Zhao Feifei wrote " The styles date from the 16th, 18th or early 20th century down to a quiff right out of the 1960s, a bob in the style of Louise Brooks  . . . . " Louise Brooks is certainly a world wide cultural icon.

Saturday, July 9, 2005

SFSFF first day

Lots of fun last night at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The 1926 Harold Lloyd film, For Heaven's Sake (1926), was screened to applause and laughter. Suzanne Lloyd, Harold's granddaughter and the author of three books about the great comedian, was on-hand to introduce the film. (She was interviewed on-stage by Frank Buxton. As a young man, Frank was the bartender in a play called "Three Men on a Horse" with Buster Keaton in 1949. He then went on to a highly accomplished career in TV and films, including working with Woody Allen and writing, producing and directing shows like "The Odd Couple," "Happy Days," and "Mork and Mindy.") Suzanne Lloyd was also on hand to sign books. We chatted a bit at the booktable. (This is the forth event I have done around one of her books.) Suzanne is very nice, and told stories about her grandfather - who raised her, and a trip they took together with King Vidor and Colleen Moore, her godmother.

I was working the booktable, and other friends dropped by to say "hello." Philip Ituarte, the Jeanne Eagels expert, was up from Los Angeles. At long last, I was able to pass along an "as told to" article on excercise by the actress, "How I Keep Fit," which I came across in the Hollywood Daily Citizen. This 1927 piece includes sage observations such as "I do the 'bear-walk' before every performance." Be sure and check out his Jeanne Eagels website at www.jeanneeagels.com. Also stopping by was my old pal, Remy Charlip - the dancer and acclaimed children's book author. A long time ago (when he was part of the Merce Cunningham dance company), Remy also worked as an arttist designing book covers. He, along with his friend Edward Gorey, worked for Doubleday - and designed many memorable dust jackets. Among Remy's designs is the original cover for Buster Keaton's autobiography.

I am looking forward to today's festival. Hopefully, I will be able to see a film or two.

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Baba Yaga

Thanx to my friend voxylou I was able to view Baba Yaga (1973), an Italian film based on the comix of Guido Crepax. In this sometimes surreal, very 70's, almost gothic film, Isabelle De Funes plays the bobbed-hair Valentina. She resembles Valentina more than she looks like Louise Brooks (the inspiration for Valentina, the comix character by Crepax). Also appearing in the film is Oscar-nominee Caroll Baker. Along with the movie was a brief Italian documentary about Crepax and the comics. Louise Brooks is mentioned. Has anyone else ever seen Baba Yaga? Apparently, it is available on DVD in the United States and Canada. For those keeping score, here is the IMdb page on the film.

Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Saved from ignominy

Here is a link to an excellent article by Mick LaSalle which appeared in today's San Francisco Chronicle. It is about Leatrice Fountain, the daughter of John Gilbert, and her campaign to restore her father's reputation. The article can be found athttp://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/06/DDGMIDI4JU1.DTL ( Pictured below is Gilbert and his one time lover, Greta Garbo. )



[ FYI: After the screening of The Big Parade at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, 
Leatrice Fountain will be signing copies of Dark Star - the rather excellent book she wrote about her father. Though the book is now out-of-print and somewhat hard-to-find, two dozen copies will be for sale courtesy of the author and The Booksmith. ]

Monday, July 4, 2005

Travelling radio station



Here is another item I found in the Riverside Daily Press. This 1927 article talks about radio station 6XBR, the "travelling broadcast station of Warner Brothers" (see the truck pictured above), which was to visit Riverside and broadcast live from the sight of a motion picture production (featuring Patsy Ruth Miller and others). In my research, I've come across references to other early radio broadcasts from Hollywood. I wonder if any records exist of such programs? And if the programs themselves still exist ? I wonder if Louise Brooks ever appeared on radio in the 1920's or early 1930's? Any radio buffs out there familiar with these earliest days of radio ?

Sunday, July 3, 2005

Another Sacramento trip

I'm just back from the California State Library in Sacramento, where I spent a day looking at microfilm in search of  yet moreLouise Brooks material. Though I didn't find alot of stuff, I did find a few really choice items. Quality, rather than quantity, ruled the day.

I continued my survey of California newspapers. This time, I went through more than three years of the Riverside Daily Press, where I found a handful of short articles and advertisements for Brooks' silent American films. The Riverside Daily Press was a typical small town newspaper, and the articles were largely composed of studio supplied copy. Nothing special . . . . nothing I hadn't seen before. It was only when I came to 1929 and a March screening of The Canary Murder Case that things got interesting. By then, the paper had gotten its own film critic. In "Canary Murder Case Brimfull of Mystery," local reviewer Rex Dane would write "Louise Brooks, as the Canary, the murdered woman; James Hall and Jean Arthur are excellent in their roles."

I then moved on the Santa Ana Register, which was far less productive than the Riverside paper. This small town had only a couple of theaters, and most films only played for two or three days. I went through the first six months of 1926 and was about to give up when I came across a rather unusual advertisement. It was for a screening of The American Venus and It's the Old Army Game! This Paramount double feature is one of the few instances from the 1920's (that I've come across) of two Brooks' films being played on the same bill. I wonder how many Santa Ana patrons noticed the petite brunette wth the distintive bob?

I figured little could be gained by looking at anymore of the Santa Ana Register, so I turned to the Los Angeles Examiner. Previously, I had uncovered a bunch of film reviews in this big city newspaper. So this time, I decided to search for news items which corresponded to articles I had already uncovered in the Los Angeles Times. I found small pieces on Brooks' marriage and divorce, her 1932 bankruptcy, and the time in 1927 that she was the guest of honor at the Montmarte Cafe. Good stuff, but nothing new . . . . And then - I found something that really floored me.



This 1940 article told how Brooks' suspicions of an ex-con led to his arrest "on suspicion of grand theft and issuing bad checks." Brooks herself had lost $2000 in what the paper described as a $147,000 "big Hollywood swindle." I hadn't ever seen this article, let alone this image of Brooks - and so, was very pleased to find it. (For more on this curious incident in Brooks' life, see pages 386-387 of the Barry Paris biography.)

I plan on returning to Sacramento at the end of August to look for more news items, and more film reviews on other California newspapers.
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