Friday, June 30, 2006

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."

Thursday, June 29, 2006

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.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

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.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

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.

Monday, June 26, 2006

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.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

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.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

The Female of the Species

I just found out about this series in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles at the Armand Hammer museum.

The Female of the Species

Friday, Jul 7  at 8pm
Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box is the tragedy of Lulu, an irresistible femme fatale whose sexuality entices and eventually destroys the men around her. The film made Louise Brooks an icon of the Jazz Age.
Friday, Jul 14  at 8pm
Siren of the Tropics
Josephine Baker makes her debut in this silent film as Papitou, a young native girl from the tropics who follows her love interest to Paris and becomes a music hall performer.
Friday, Jul 21  at 8pm
Piccadilly
Anna May Wong mesmerizes as Shosho, the scullery maid who becomes an overnight dance sensation in London, in this simple tale of ambition, desire, and jealousy.
Friday, Jul 28 at 8pm
Salome
After Russian actress Alla Nazimova rose to stardom, she began producing scandalous and experimental films, like Salome, that were tapped as monumental failures at the time, but are seen today as artistic achievements.
Friday, Aug 4  at 8pm
It
Clara Bow stars as a shop girl whose romantic relationship goes awry when local rumors pin her as an unwed mother. Influential in redefining the mores of sexuality on screen, Bow became the 'It' girl and one of the most famous flappers of the '20s.
Friday, Aug 11 at 8pm
Metropolis
A science fiction classic, Metropolis is set in a futurist urban dystopia where humans are divided into the thinkers and the workers. When the leader of the workers falls for the son of the thinkers, order unfolds into chaos and revolution begins.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Aldeburgh Festival

I just found out - the Aldeburgh Festival in England will be mounting a program called "Lulu and Louise" on June 22nd - that's tomorrow! The festival will be showing Pandora's Box and Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu. The festival was begun by composer Benjamin Britten shortly after World War II. This year marks the 59th annual event. For more info see the festival website at www.aldeburgh.co.uk/
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