Another Lulu book

I just came across this edition of Frank Wedekind's Lulu play, which now features Louise Brooks on the cover. (The earlier edition did not.)



Book Description: Lulu is a walking, talking object of sexual desire. Each of the first four acts of the play sees her married to a different man, each of whom dies at the end. In the fifth act, Lulu has become a prostitute in late-Victorian London where she encounters Jack the Ripper, who she deliberately leads on. This is Nicholas Wright's new version of Wedekind's early 20th century erotic drama. 

About the Author: As the International Dictionary of Theatre has it, German playwright Frank Wedekind (1864-1918) "owes his reputation to the fact he wrote plays about sex." His other famous play, Spring's Awakening (1891) was way ahead of its time in its depiction of repressed adolescent sexual urges.

The NEW Louise Brooks book

Here's the cover of the new 256 page Louise Brooks pictorial by Peter Cowie. The publication date is now set for October 31, 2006. It think the cover looks great!

Be Yourself and a Movie Star

Here is a piece I ran across at the library the other day - another nifty Fay King illustration from 1926. (Download the pic to open and view a larger, readable image.)

Here's another charming piece I found at the library.

Research report

Yesterday's trip to the library was productive. I got articles and advertisements for the two Denishawn Dance Company performances in Houston, Texas. Remarkably, the Houston Post gave each performance a glowing front page review. (Of the hundreds of performances, I have only come across a handful of front page reviews. Usually, the reviews are buried inside the newspaper - and usually on the arts or entertainment pages. And once on the sports page.) I also went through some rolls of the Atlanta Georgian, a Hearst newspaper. From it I scored some Denishawn material, as well as a few early film reviews. I plan to request additional rolls of this paper, as a have the local screening dates of Brooks' films in Atlanta from having gone through the Atlanta Constitution. I also went through a couple of rolls of microfilm of the Wilmington Morning News in hopes of finding some Delaware film reviews, but found nothing.

Besides the usual hunt through newspapers for Denishawn and film reviews, I also took a look at the Cherryvale Daily Republican - the newspaper from Louise Brooks' hometown (before her family relocated to Independence and then Wichita). I looked at microfilm from around the time of Brooks birth - November 14, 1906 - as well as mid-1908. From the 1906 issue, I found an article, "Assistant Counsellor Is a Girl," announcing the future actress' birth on the day she was born. It took a bit to find it, as this two sentence piece is very brief. I was fun to scour this Cherryvale, Kansas newspaper from 100 years ago. It was interesting to see local news stories as well as advertisements for the Cherryvale bookstore, for a music shop advertising pianos, for the local grocier, etc....

Here is a nifty advertisement I came across which advertises a Chautaqua meeting. Louise Brooks' mother (along with Brooks herself) attended many such events. This one promises "nine days of mental uplift and enjoyement." Among the speakers is the Hon. Warren G. Harding - future President of the United States.

Two songs

I recently came across this . . . . Servio Túlio and his pianist Glauco Baptista are a musical duo in Rio de Janeiro (Argentina) who perform old cabaret songs, including "Du Bist Meine Greta Garbo" / "Meine Schwester Liebt Den Buster" (Keaton). A short video clip of them performing can be viewed at www.radioelektrola.com/videostream/servioeglauco/gretagarbo_busterkeaton.wmx It's kinda nifty.

I have a 1930 recording of Du Bist Meine Greta Garbo" on RadioLulu, but am searching for a vintage recording of "Meine Schwester Liebt Den Buster" to add to the station playlist. The song was composed by Friedrich Hollaender (the composer who wrote all those great Marlene Dietrich recordings - including the popular recordings from The Blue Angel).  A singer named Victor DeKowa recorded "Meine Schwester Liebt Den Buster" in 1928.  Anyone have a copy? There is a recent recording by Jody Karin Applebaum (vocals) and Marc-Andre Hamelin (piano), but I would prefer to get a vintage recording if possible. I know it exists on the multi-disc, massively priced Friedrich Hollaender box set available in Europe.

Pandora's Box screens in NYC for two weeks

A brand new 35mm print of Pandora's Box will be shown for two weeks at FilmForum in New York City, starting June 16th. More info can be found atwww.filmforum.org/films/pandorasbox.html. "Still among the most erotic films ever made." David Thomson.

Oh, Canada

On this day in 1924: The Denishawn Dance Company, with Louise Brooks, began a twelve day tour of Canada. I wish I could have been there.