BFI tribute?

Vochi, a Louise Brooks fan in the UK, wrote to me to say he had emailed the British Film Institute to enquire about their plans for the Louise Brooks centenary. Their response was "We are planning a Louise Brooks programme at the NFT for December this year and there maybe a new print  of one of her best known films screening across the UK. Watch the BFI site for further details."

More bibliographic updates

Yesterday, I went through microfilm of the Reading Eagle (from Reading, Pennsylvania) and Atlanta Georgian (from Atlanta, Georgia). I found a bunch of Denishawn clippings and a few film reviews in these publications. I also went through some reels of the Denver Express (from Denver, Colorado), but strangley found nothing. It was a pretty slight paper. A few other interlibrary loan requests came back "negative" - meaning I won't receive them because the institutions which were supposed to have them will not lend them (for whatever reason). This happens sometimes. . . . I was also able to go through issues of the Olean Evening Times (from Olean, New York) and Lincoln Star (from Lincoln, Nebraska) - each of which yielded Denishawn articles and reviews. Citations have been added to the bibliographies for all of the material I found.

LB letter for sale

A letter from Louise Brooks is for sale on eBay. The sellers are asking alot. . . .  too much for me! Nevertheless, do visit the auction page to read the letter.

Diary of a Lost Girl shows in Palo Alto, CA

Diary of a Lost Girl will be shown at the historic Stanford Theater in Palo Alto, California on August 4th. For more info, visit the theater's website.

Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever

Yesterday, I finished reading Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever, the new book by Peter Cowie. I had been sent the page proofs, because I will be writing something about the book prior to publication. (The book is due in stores October 31st - a couple of weeks prior to the 100th anniversary of Louise Brooks' birth. BTW: want to get a signed copy? Contact the Booksmith in San Francisco. They will be hosting an event with the author in early November.)

This new book is heavily illustrated (it is a coffee table book), though it contains a long essay on Brooks, her life, and her films. (I think Cowie distills the myth of Louise Brooks = the myth of Lulu - in a satisfactory way.) Most fascinating to me are the anecdotes about Brooks (Cowie visited with her in Rochester) and the excerpts from the correspondence that Cowie and Brooks had over the course of a number of years. Page proofs are a little "rough" - I can't wait to see a finished copy. I think Louise Brooks fans will like this book.

ILL findings

Only a few inter-library loans have arrived lately, and during my last couple of trips to the library, I looked at only a few newspapers and magazines on microfilm. These included the San Antonio Express and Minneapolis Daily Star, as well as the Motion Picture Herald. I found some interesting material on Brooks' later films (from the 1930's) in the Motion Picture Herald - a trade journal.