RadioLulu updates & stats

Yesterday, I added a half-dozen new tracks to RadioLulu. (I just bought a bunch of mp3 files of interesting and obscure tunes - mostly contemporary music. There's the Clan of Xymox, a rock song about Clara Bow, an instrumental piece inspired by Kevin Brownlow's The Parade's Gone By, etc....) Please tune in and give a listen. Otherwise, here's a recap of the station's November stats:

Total Listening Hours
Last Month: 853
This Month: 1155

Total Station Launches
Last Month: 1400
This Month: 1480

Station Presets
Last Month: 1097
This Month: 1136

Favorite Station Designations
Last Month: 26
This Month: 26

Detroit, MI: Pandora's Box

"Pandora's Box" (Germany / 1929), starring Louise Brooks as Lulu, will be shown at the historic Detroit Film Theatre, which is located in the Detroit Institute of the Arts in downtown Detroit. The film will be screened December 8, 9, 10.

From the D.I.A. website: "A cause for celebration is this newly restored print of the classic that New York Times critic A.O. Scott recently called “a tour-de-force of cinematic eroticism.” The legendary Louise Brooks stars as Lulu, the singular “earthly being” who, though endowed with irresistible animal beauty, lacks all moral sense. While devoid of outright malevolence, Lulu, in her pursuit of pleasure, does evil unconsciously, bringing men—and women—to their knees. In the course of the film, Scott writes, Lulu is “a music hall performer and a rich man's bride, a murderess and a victim, a fugitive from justice and an object of desire. The mercurial nature of the sexual appetite is explored in set pieces that are at once frenzied and meticulously controlled. Brooks's performance has rarely, if ever, been matched on screen.” (110 min.) Fri. & Sat. at 7:00, Sun. at 4:00"

Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com), will introduce the film. Gladysz will also speak about the actress, her centenary, and her connections to the Detroit area.  For more info or tickets see http://www.dia.org/dft/item.asp?webitemid=868

Additional information on the history of the the 1927 theater can be found at http://www.dia.org/dft/history.asp

Wichita Eagle articles

There is an article about Louise Brooks in the current issue of the Wichita Eagle. The article, "Late actress still shockingly modern," focusses on Peter Cowie's new book, Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever. The article can be found atwww.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/movies/16150398.htm?source=rss&channel=kansas_movies   There is also a second, shorter piece on the upcoming mini-festival of Brooks' film in Wichita. That piece can be found atwww.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/16150399.htm?source=rss&channel=kansas_entertainment

Chicago (1927)

Tonight I saw Chicago - the silent version from 1927 starring Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart - and let me tell you, IT WAS TERRIFIC. Haver was really, really good. She played a kind of American Lulu. And, interestingly, this film was actually directed by Cecil D. DeMille. (It is generally creditted to Frank Urson.) The director gave up his screen credit because he was also then directing King of Kings and was concerned that Christian groups would boycott that film if it was known that he had also directed the rather racy Chicago. If you should ever have the chance to see this Jazz Age morality tale - check it out.

BBC radio program on Louise Brooks

A ten minute BBC radio program about Louise Brooks, "Louise Brooks: Silent Film Star and 20th Century Icon" aired on the BBC today. The program features a discussion between British actor and Louise Brooks fan Paul McGann and Erica Carter, the curator of a month-long retrospective of Brooks films at the National Film Theatre. The BBC website has a page about the program at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2006_48_fri.shtml  

The archived radio program can be listened to at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/ram/2006_48_fri_01.ram

More about the Brooks "season" at the NFT can be found at http://www.bfi.org.uk/incinemas/nft/seasons/brooks/   Interestingly, one of the films being shown is The Street of Forgotten Men (1925). Brooks' first screen role was in this once thought lost minor masterpiece directed by Herbert Brenon.

Lulu heading to Iowa

The Silent Theater company will stage their version of Lulu at the North Scott High School Theatre in Eldridge, Iowa.  The company of young actors - many of whom I had the great pleasure of meeting - is currently making their way back home to Chicago on their unique Pandora's Bus. They had been in San Francisco, where they enjoyed a three month run at the Victoria Theater.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS VEHICLE ON AN AMERICAN HIGHWAY? 

Once they return to Chicago, the company will stage Lulu at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts on December 11 - 23. Visit this link for more info.

Two book reviews

Two reviews of the excellent new book by Peter Cowie, Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever, were published today. A long, appreciative piece by Wayne Meyers appeared in the Oneida Daily Dispatch (from Onedia, New York). That piece can be foundon-line. A shorter, and even more enthuisiastic piece by Leonard Maltin appeared on his website. (I believe Maltin will also be mentioning the book on one of his television shows.)

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has gotten the book. Please post a reply comment and let everyone know what you think.

BTW: The Booksmith in San Francisco is nearly out of autographed copies, though I think they still have one or two or three left. (Any remaining signed copies will likely be for sale at the Castro Theater this Saturday.) Hurry up and get one from whatever source. . . . they are going like hotcakes. And with a bunch of reviews starting to hit, there will probably be a run on them.

Silly Symphonies / Chicago this Saturday

This Saturday, December 2nd at the Castro Theatre here in San Francisco, the good people at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival are showing the original filmed version of the great Broadway hit CHICAGO, starring Phyllis Haver as tough-as-nails Roxie Hart; and a rarer-than-rare 35mm presentation of a bunch of Walt Disney's pioneering SILLY SYMPHONIES - great cartoons, and great examples of how a silent-era filmmaker met sound head-on in a dazzling display of music, creativity and imagination. I am very excited. I will be there!

SILLY SYMPHONIES (one show only at 1:30)

Straight from the Disney archives, a program of SILLY SYMPHONIES, the famous cartoon series set to a madcap mix of classical, popular and folk music. Disney and his team of talented animators make skeletons, frogs, devils and trees dance in time to music with delightful originality – thus trailblazing the transition to sound. The host and expert guide to this tribute will be Russell Merritt, silent film historian and co-author of two invaluable studies of early Disney animation: Walt in Wonderland and Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series. The shorts to be shown are:

THE SKELETON DANCE (1929, Walt Disney)
HELL'S BELLS (1929, Ub Iwerks)
NIGHT (1930, Walt Disney)
THE CHINA PLATE (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
EGYPTIAN MELODIES (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
THE UGLY DUCKLING (1931, Wilfred Jackson)
FLOWERS AND TREES (1932, Burt Gillett)
MUSIC LAND (1935, Wilfred Jackson)
Following these special screenings . . . 


DUCKS, DEVILS, DOWNBEATS AND DISNEY: An Animated Conversation On Animation
Right after the films, Russell Merritt will moderate a lively talk with Disney scholars and animation experts, including: Leslie Iwerks (granddaughter of the legendary animator Ub Iwerks), Neal Gabler (author of Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination), Jere Guldin (UCLA Film & Television Archive, Preservationist) and J.B. Kaufman (co-author of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series).

CHICAGO (one show only at 7:30)

There may be other versions – Bob Fosse’s 1975 Broadway musical, and the 2002 adaptation that took the Academy Award for Best Picture – but you haven’t seen CHICAGO until you’ve seen the original! Based on the true story of two women who dealt with their no-good lovers by gunning them down in cold blood, CHICAGO features an explosive, riotous performance by Phyllis Haver, who throws everything she’s got – and more! – into the role of two-timing, morality-free jazz baby Roxie Hart. Fast-paced, hard-boiled and sin-soaked, the 1927 CHICAGO is  the real thing: a straight-up portrait of Roaring Twenties madness, straight out of the Twenties! Presented in the long-lost roadshow version, now completely restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, with pulse-pounding live accompaniment supplied by the BAKER–MEHLING HOT FOUR, purveyors of authentic 1920s jazz!
I will be at the book table in the lobby before and after each program hosting book signings with Neal Gabler, Russell Merritt, John Bengtson (author of Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin) and Jack Tillmany (Theatres of Oakland). Visit the San Francisco Silent Film Festival website at www.silentfilm.org for further information or to purchase tickets.

Pandora's Box DVD reviews

A number of reviews of the new Criterion DVD of Pandora's Box have started appearing in newspapers and magazines around the country. Here are links to some of the on-line versions of these reviews:

The New York Times ran a long article in today's paper (11-28-2006) of the new DVD. It's especially good on the American history of the film. Here is the link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/movies/28dvd.html?ref=arts    

And, a couple of days ago, on Sunday the 26th, the Boston Globe ran a review. The link to that piece by Ty Burr can be found athttp://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/11/26/dvd_report/?page=2

And a few days before that, on the 24th of November, a piece by Justin DeFreitas appeared in the Berkeley Daily Planet. That review can be found at http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=11-24-06&storyID=25727

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Times ran a capsule review in today's newspaper:

"Pandora's Box" (Criterion, $40): Superlative two-disc set of G.W. Pabst's seminal 1929 German silent starring the iconic Louise Brooks as the tragic heroine, Lulu. Brooks never looked lovelier in the high-definition digital transfer. Extras include four different musical scores that run the gamut, including cabaret and orchestral, and enthralling commentary from film historians Thomas Elsaesser and Mary Ann Doane, both of whom have studied "Box" for years; a well-crafted 1998 TV documentary, "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu"; a fabulous 1984 documentary "Lulu in Berlin," with a rare filmed interview with Brooks; and an interview with the director's son, Michael Pabst.

As did the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Their staff review ran in today's paper as well:

Louise Brooks is one of the legendary actresses of the silent era -- a Kansas beauty with a "black helmet" of hair turned into a sex symbol by German director W.S. Pabst. In this defining role, the former Hollywood bit player and Ziegfeld Follies dancer plays Lulu, an innocent but sexually aggressive showgirl turned prostitute who leaves death in her wake and eventually ends up on a foggy London street with Jack the Ripper. The Criterion Collection release provides the 1928 silent with four stylistically different scores, a disc of extras including the documentary "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu" and a booklet with a chapter from her memoirs and Kenneth Tynan's essay, "The Girl in the Black Helmet." 109 minutes. Unrated.

The Los Angeles Daily News ran a short piece by Rob Lowman in yesterday's paper:

Criterion is releasing a remastered disc of one of the more daring films of the silent era, German director's G.W. Pabst's 1929 psycho-sexual melodrama "Pandora's Box," which stars Lousie Brooks. The American actress plays a showgirl named Lulu, whose unabandoned lifestyle sends her on a downward path that results in terrible end. Brooks was a fascinating figure in Hollywood, and that magnetic personality comes across on in the film. Her controversial life is examined in the 1998 documentary "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu," narrated by Shirley Mclaine is one of the extras, as well as commentary by film historians.