New soundtrack

This brief article appeared in today's Ann Arbor News. 

AASO records soundtrack for DVD of silent film

BY JENN MCKEE
News Arts Writer

Recently, for four days, more than 20 members of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and director Gillian Anderson holed up in the Michigan Theater to record a musical soundtrack for the forthcoming DVD version of Georg Wilhelm Pabst's 1929 silent film, "Pandora's Box.''

The German film - based on a play by F. Wedekind, which tells the tragic story of a dancer and prostitute named Lulu - catapulted its star, Louise Brooks, to international acclaim and made her an icon of the Jazz Age.

I wonder if any of the members of the orchestra knew that some of Brooks' silent films were shown at this historic theater in the 1920's?

On the cover

A vintage poster for A Social Celebrity - featuring Louise Brooks - is on the cover of the June issue of Classic Images.

Author events at SF Silent Film Fest

Along with a great line-up of films, the annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival includes a big list of authors who will be meeting with the public and signing books between films throughout the course of the weekend festival. These book signings are a great way for fans and silent film buffs to meet the writers, critics, biographers and film historians who are helping to keep silent film alive. This year's line-up is certainly one of the best yet in the 11-year history of the festival! 

The Booksmith - ­ San Francisco's leading independent bookstore and a longtime supporter of the festival, ­ will be on hand hosting the signings and selling books, including many new releases! The booktable is located in the Castro Theater lobby. Admission is by festival ticket. Here is the author line-up (subject to change)
SATURDAY JULY 15

HARRY CAREY, JR. following Bucking Broadway
signing Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company
-- Harry Carey, Jr. has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows. The son of actress Olive Carey and silent film star Harry Carey, the younger Carey entered films after World War II when he was given a chance to work with his father in Red River (1948). After his father's death, director John Ford gave Carey Jr. a leading role in the film Ford dedicated to Carey Sr., 3 Godfathers (1948). As a full-fledged member of the John Ford Stock Company, Carey Jr. appeared in many of Ford's greatest Westerns - including a number with John Wayne. He also starred in a TV series-within-a-series, The Adventures of Spin and Marty, which aired as part of The Mickey Mouse Club.

JOSEPH McBRIDE following Bucking Broadway
signing Searching for John Ford
-- Joseph McBride is a film historian and critic whose numerous books include Hawks on Hawks, Filmmakers on Filmmaking and Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success. A former reporter for Daily Variety, he is currently an Assistant Professor in the Cinema Department at San Francisco State University. October will see the publication of his new book Whatever Happened to Orson Welles?

JACK TILLMANY following Au bonheurs des dames
signing Theaters of San Francisco
-- Jack Tillmany's Theaters of San Francisco is based on his personal archive collected during a 30-year career in cinema management. He is the former owner of the Gateway Cinema in San Francisco and a revival programming pioneer.

JIM VAN BUSKIRK following Au bonheurs des dames
signing Celluloid San Francisco: The Film Lover's Guide to Bay Area Movie Locations
-- Jim Van Buskirk is a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library. He is the coauthor of Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Cultures in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has written articles for a wide range of publications.

CARI BEAUCHAMP following Sparrows
signing Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary
-- Cari Beauchamp is the author of Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood, editor of Anita Loos Rediscovered: Film Treatments and Fiction by Anita Loos, and coauthor of Hollywood on the Riviera. She is also an Emmy nominated documentary film writer.

WENDY L. MARSHALL following Sparrows
signing William Beaudine: From Silents to Television
-- In her detailed biography, author Wendy L. Marshall ( the granddaughter of William Beaudine) chronicles the director's rise through the ranks (he started as an assistant to D.W Griffith), his many triumphs (Sparrows, Little Annie Rooney), his fall from fame and his prolific work in television. As a child extra, Marshall watched Beaudine direct the television show Lassieand a number of films for Walt Disney. William Beaudine: From Silents to Television was named one of the best books of 2005 by Classic Images.

BRUCE CONNER following Pandora's Box
signing 2000 BC The Bruce Conner Story
-- Bruce Conner grew up in Wichita, Kansas - where he almost encountered Louise Brooks. In the late 1950s, he began making short movies which established him as one of the seminal figures in independent, avant-garde film-making. Conner's first film A Movie (1958), a visual collage created from bits of B-movies, newsreels and other footage, has been listed on the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. His assemblages, drawings, photographs and collages have been exhibited around the world.
SUNDAY JULY 16
BILL CASSARA following Laurel and Hardy program
signing Edgar Kennedy: Master of the Slow Burn
-- Bill Cassara founded The Midnight Patrol chapter of the Sons of the Desert, the Laurel and Hardy appreciation society. He has also served on the board of the Monterey County Film Commission. Edgar Kennedy: Master of the Slow Burn is his first book.

SCOTT O'BRIEN following Laurel and Hardy program
signing Kay Francis: I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten
-- Scott O'Brien is a lifelong film buff whose interest in Kay Francis began in 1973. He has made use of his Masters in Library Science degree by writing articles for film publications and guest lecturing. Last year, he introduced two Kay Francis films at the Danger and Despair Noir Festival in San Francisco.

DAVID WALLACE following The Girl with the Hatbox
signing Dream Palaces of Hollywood's Golden Age
-- David Wallace is the author of Lost Hollywood and its equally popular follow-up Hollywoodland. His most recent book is Exiles in Hollywood, which tells the story of European artists and actors in Los Angeles of the `30s and `40s. Wallace has been hailed by columnist Liz Smith as "the maestro of entertainment history."

JOHN BENGTSON following The Unholy Three
signing Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood through the Films of Charlie Chaplin
-- John Bengtson is a Bay Area business lawyer and film historian, and also the author of the widely acclaimed Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton.

A kimono or Japanese pajamas

This little seen shot of Louise Brooks is for sale on eBay. The photo was taken by Eugene Richee. (Its interesting how many times Brooks was photographed in a kimono or Japanese pajamas.)

Today's library report

I looked at a whole bunch of microfilm, which was waiting for me at the San Francisco Public Library. Of late, most all of my inter-library loan requests are geared toward Louise Brooks tour' with Denishawn, and the corresponding performances and reviews in newspapers across Canada and the United States. To date, I have been able to get ahold of material on about 90% of the nearly 200 performances Denishawn gave during Brooks tenure.

I looked at the Peterborough Examiner (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), as well as Rochester Daily Bulletin and the Rochester Daily Post and Record (both from Rochester, Minnesota) and Kenosha Evening News (from Kenosha, Wisconsin). I also examined the Waterloo Evening Courier & Daily Reporter (from Waterloo, Iowa), Sedalia Democrat (from Sedalia, Missouri), Columbia Daily Tribune (from Columbia, Missouri) and The State (from Columbia, South Carolina). Each newspaper contained at least an article, review, or advertisement documenting a performance. Some of the papers contained multiple articles, and even a few interviews with Ruth St. Denis. Recently, I was also able peruse the Galveston Daily News, and acquire copies of articles from that elusive Texas newspaper.

Today, I also managed to dig a few film reviews and advertisements out of the Boise Capital News (from Boise, Idaho - the first reviews I've found from that Western state) and Winnipeg Free Press (from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Citations for all of these finds have been added to the LBS bibliographies.

New DVD on the way!

I have heard from a couple of sources that a new DVD - most likely featuring Pandora's Box - will be issued in the United States sometime in the Fall. At last ! And what's more, this new release may be a double disc, or box set. I am awaiting confirmation . . . . and will let everyone know more when I find out something concrete.

Girls in Pearls

There is a new book coming out in September called Girls in Pearls. According to the publisher, "This book brings together a fascinating collection of paintings, drawings, prints and photographs of noble women, imperial princesses, society ladies and Hollywood divas wearing their finest pearl tiaras, necklaces, brooches and earrings. Engaging commentaries explain the context in which each image was created and provide glimpses into the life of the artist and his or her model."




I mention it because Louise Brooks appears on the cover, and there is a two page spread inside devoted to the actress. I had a chance to see a copy of the book recently at the bookseller's convention in Washington D.C. It may or may not be a German release, or a bilingual edition. I am not sure. The author is Claudia Lanfranconi, an art historian and author. The publisher is Merrell. 

Needless-to-say, the cover bears a strong resemblance to an earlier release on the same subject, People & Pearls, which was published in 2000. What's better than one book on pearls with Louise Brooks on the cover? Two books!

The Street of Forgotten Men

While visiting the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., I took the oportunity to see The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), the first film in which Louise Brooks had a role. Wow - I really liked it. It is a fine film - and despite the fact that it is incomplete, it is worthy of commercial release. I didn't have any trouble following the story.

The LOC has six of seven reels. The second reel is apparently lost. Brooks single scene takes place in the seventh reel, somewhat near the end of the film. According to the LOC catalog, the library has a 35mm print of The Street of Forgotten Men, which was directed by Herbert Brenon. (Brenon, who the year before directed Peter Pan, would go on to oversee such well regarded silents as Beau Geste, The Great Gatsby, andLaugh, Clown, Laugh.) I was able to view a 16mm copy print. I took a bunch of notes.

Louise Brooks looked dishy in her broad-striped jacket, sleek bob and cloche hat adorned with a question mark pin. (Barry Paris describes it as a question mark feather.) And though she is only on screen for about five minutes, she certainly made an impression. She comes off as cunning, and quick. Brooks is first seen sitting and talking with her con artist companion, Bridgeport White-Eye, a professional beggar who pretends to be blind. They are conspiring to extort money from the character played by Neil Hamilton (the future Police Commissioner Gordon from the 1960's television series, Batman). Brooks and Bridgeport are approached by Easy Money Charlie (played by Percy Marmont), and a fight breaks out between Bridgeport and Charlie. The two slug it out while Brooks is jostled about in the crowd gathered around the two brawlers.

Brooks' role was slight  - she was even not listed in the credits. Nevertheless, her brief appearance was memorable and would draw the attention of at least one reviewer in 1925. The Los Angeles Times singled out the actress when it noted, "And there was a little rowdy, obviously attached to the 'blind' man, who did some vital work during her few short scenes. She was not listed." It would be her first film review. Eighty-one years later, that review and Brooks role still hold up.