Filmic compositions

I recently picked up a copy of Aubert: Orchestral Works, a collection of five shorter works by Louis Aubert (1887 - 1968). I had not heard of this French composer, but I stumbled upon this CD and was drawn to the cover (which depicts Charlie Chaplin) as well as the interestingly titled second work on the disc, "Cinema, six tableaux symphoniques." According to the liner notes, this symphonic suite is taken from a ballet first staged in 1953, and each movement or episode in the work depicts a moment in the history of film. The movements are titled "Cinéma, six tableaux symphoniques Douglas Fairbanks et Mary Pickford," "Cinéma, six tableaux symphoniques Rudolph Valentino," "Cinéma, six tableaux symphoniques Chaplin et les Nymphes Hollywoodiennes," "Cinéma, six tableaux symphoniques Walt Disney," etc.... This music is charming and easy to listen to, and will appeal to those who may like Debussy or Ravel.



The liner notes refer to another French composer with whom I was not familiar, Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), and his "Seven Stars Symphony." According to the Wikipedia entry on Koechlin, the "Seven Stars Symphony" (1933) was "inspired by Hollywood" and "He was fascinated by the movies and wrote many 'imaginary' film scores and works dedicated to the Hollywood actress Lillian Harvey, on whom he had a crush. He also composed an "Epitaph for Jean Harlow." This webpage contains additional information on Koechlin. And this English-language Russian webpage has some really interesting material.

One doesn't often come across classical music inspired by the early cinema, especially that dating from the time. Is anyone familiar with this composer or their filmic compositions? I would like to track down some of Koechlin's work.

Flapper Monkey Too Untrained for Matrimony

It's not unsual, while looking through newspapers and magazines of the 1920's, to come upon articles about flappers. Incredibly, flappers (young women with a decidely modern outlook) were seen as a "threat" to society. And many of the articles I have come across are of the finger-wagging variety.

Yesterday, I couldn't help but notice and read and copy "Flapper Monkey Too Untrained for Matrimony; Her Three Babies Died." This is certainly one of the most ridiculous pieces I have ever read.

Still things to be found

I spent about three hours at the library today. There are still things to be found.

I went through two reels of microfilm of the Omaha Daily News in search of material on the December, 1922 and February, 1924 Denishawn performances (with Louise Brooks) in Omaha, Nebraska. I found a number of articles and a review. Radio was just coming in around 1922, and the Daily News devoted no less than four articles to a local broadcast on WNAL by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis. One article, suggesting that Denishawn were hip, began "Old folks won't have a chance at the radio headsets Thursday from 7 to 7:30 pm. Youth will demand a listening, for - Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis, among the brightest luminaries in the realm of dance . . . will broadcast their famous 'History of the Dance' lecture." Perhaps it was the modernity or daring of the Denishawn aesthetic that appealed to the younger generation. A review the following day entitled "Ted Shawn Tells Fans Nude Dance Returning," noted that Shawn "declared the undraped dance on the wave of popularity."



These radio broadcasts could be heard far and wide. An article in the Omaha paper related how an earlier broadcast of Shawn and St. Denis from Davenport, Iowa over station WOC could be heard in New York City. "Skeptic Becomes Ardent Radioite" related how a Denishawn manager, listening in the Flatiron building, heard the Denishawn radio lecture. It was the manager's first experience with radio, the article reported.

The February, 1924 Denishawn performance was equally well covered. One article reported that more than 100 people would attend a luncheon for Ruth St. Denis and Denishawn dancer Doris Humphrey at the Fontenelle Hotel. (It wasn't clear if Shawn, Brooks, or the other dancers attended this event - though it did list who from Omaha would be there and were they would sit.) An effusive article in the Omaha Daily News on the day of their program at the Brandeis theater was headlined "Ruth St. Denis Transforms Body Into Flowing Liquid!" The review the following day was titled "Translate Music Into Poetic Motion."

This is the second Omaha newspaper I have looked at. I have also gone through the World-Herald. My next inter-library loan request covering this material will be for the Omaha Evening Bee.

I also went through two months of the Hollywood Citizen News. I have been tracking down a series of near daily advertisements that Louise Brooks' dance studio, the Brooks O'Shea Studio of Distinctive Ballroom Dancing, took out in Hollywood Citizen News and the Los Angeles Times. Today, I collected 42 different ads - each of them different "hints for dancers." Very interesting stuff - though I doubt Brooks had much to do with the dance instructions contained in the ads. Also, I will have to request more microfilm, as the series stopped near the end of the month with the promise to resume later in the year. (I have nearly 100 different advertisements photocopied so far!) Here is a rather little known item I also came across. It dates from 1940. I love finding stuff like this.



And for fun, I requested and searched through nine months of the Fargo Forum. I hadn't looked through any newspaper from this city before, let alone much else from North or South Dakota. And for that reason, I did it. What I found were some brief articles and advertisements for three of Brooks' films. Among them was an October, 1927 screening of The Street of Forgotten Men. Interestingly, Brooks' first film was still being shown in theaters some two years after its release.

A nice note

I received an email from a blogger by the name of sourduck who wrote: "I love your LiveJournal LB site. I link to it a lot at my linkblog.  At any rate, I came across this doing something entirely different but I thought you might appreciate this desktop wallpaper:  www.doctormacro.com/Images/Sylvie/Sylvie%20-%20Brooks,%20Louise_01.jpg  

(The page before it shows a number of desktop wallpapers: www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Star%20Pages/Sylvie/Sylvie.htm ).

" It's nice to hear that this blog doesn't put everyone to sleep. . . . At any rate, I wanted to pass along the urls to that wallpaper site. I especially like the Theda Bara image. The Jean Harlow, Ronald Colman, and Carole Lombard wallpapers are also quite attractive.

Marion Davies, a biography

Just finished reading Marion Davies, a biography by Fred Laurence Guiles. I liked the book well enough, though it took me a while to finish it. Not sure why that was. I have been busy with work lately. Nevertheless, this 1972 biography was informative and well-researched. I have seen Davies' Show People and really liked the film, and her. (If you haven't seen the film, you should. Marion Davies is a delight.)  This book makes a case for Davies as an accomplished actress and interesting Jazz Age personality, above and beyond her relationship with William Randolph Hearst.



Has anyone read this book, or Davies' own posthumous The Times We Had ? I think I may read that next.

LBS at Flickr

Here is the url for the LBS at Flickr = http://www.flickr.com/photos/louisebrookssociety/

David Levine Postcard Book

A caricature of Louise Brooks adorns the cover of a recently released David Levine postcard book. The "personalities" series contains twenty 4" x 6" postcards featuring different David Levine caricatures taken from 40 years of The New York Review of Books. Levine's mid-80's caricature of is featured. More info and a link to purchase can be found here.

                   

New York Review Books is the same publisher that released The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, which also featured Louise Brooks on the cover. More info and a link to purchase for that title can be found here. That's two items from the same publisher! (p.s. The publisher is having a sale!)

LBS 10th anniversary postage stamp

The Louise Brooks Society 10th anniversary postage stamp - for sale through Cafepress.com - will only be available through the end of the year. (This year marks the tenth anniversary of the LBS - and to celebrate, the LBS created a stamp by gum!) Approved for domestic use by the United States Postal Service, stamps are sold in sheets of 20 and are available in seven denominations, including the postcard rate. This is the perfect collectible for those stamp collectors among Louise Brooks many fans . . . .

Theda Bara documentary

There is an article in today's Fresno Bee about a new documentary on Theda Bara. Hugh Munro Neely, who directed the documentary, also directed the recent stylish documentaries on Clara Bow and Louise Brooks. I am looking forward to seeing it.