Uncommon poster

Here's something I haven't seen before. According to it's eBay description, "This laminated poster advertises the German Film Season at the Barbican Theatre, which ran from October 1st – 31st 1982. It features a picture of Louise Brooks in profile, plus a list of films, including Diary of a Lost Girl, Nosferatu and Metropolis. It was taken from a London tube wall by a friend at the time and I have had it ever since. I think it came from somewhere on the Victoria line as it has "Vic 6/33" on the reverse.  . . . The white mark on my photo is the light shining on it. Thankfully it was laminated by whoever produced it."

Lulu in Bristol

Pandora's Box will be shown in Bristol, England on September 15th at 7:30 pm. The Weston & Somerset Mercury ran a short article about the screening in today's paper.

Pandora's Box opens in Bristol

ONE of the greatest silent films in cinematic history is to be shown at Bristol's Watershed.

Adapted from the controversial plays of Frank Wedekind, Pandora's Box stars the legendary Louise Brooks as young temptress Lulu.

The seductive youngster wreaks havoc on the lives of wealthy newspaper editor Dr Shon, his handsome but hapless son Alwa, and the lonely and lovelorn Countess Geschwitz, cinema's first lesbian.

The film has been brought to life by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, who will be performing the music, composed by Paul Lewis.

Watershed and Bristol Silents have been working to produce the special event over the past two years and the evening will be hosted by Paul McGann.

Pandora's Box is being screened on September 15 at 7.30pm. Tickets, priced £20, are available from the Colston Hall box office on 0117 922 3686.

My library research continues II

Spent an hour or so at the library today, as a few inter-library loans had come in. (I receive email notifications when my requests arrive and are processed and are made available.) I looked through microfilm of the Salt Lake Tribune (Utah), Hartford Times(Connecticut), and Providence Evening Bulletin (Rhode Island). It was a messy bunch of loans, as some of the dates I requested hadn't come and in one instance, the wrong reel of film was sent. Nevertheless, I managed to find a few reviews and articles about films in which Louise Brooks had a role.

I also looked through a few reels of the Montreal Standard, a weekly, English-Language Canadian newspaper. I found some material on Beggars of Life (1928) and The Canary Murder Case (1929). I won't reproduce the article I found on the later film (as it wasn't that interesting), but here is a captioned photograph and an advertisement for the film. These are typical of the sort of clippings I uncover. I have hundreds - if not thousands of examples of this kind of material.

Finishing up, I noted which dates from which newspapers I would need to re-request. I then added a few citations to the LBS bibliographies. And then I submitted a few more inter-library loan requests. This round, I asked for the Morning Register (Eugene, Oregon), Bangor News (Maine),North China Daily News (Shanghai, China), and Milwaukee Herold (Wisconsin). The later is a German-language newspaper which I haven't look at before. The search continues.

Allan Milkerit, r.i.p.

With sadness, the Louise Brooks Society is sad to report the death of Allan Milkerit. He was a friend to the LBS and a noted book dealer in San Francisco. Allan passed away suddenly on June 24th. Over the years, I had purchased or traded many books with Allan. He was exceptionally knowledgeable about and loved both books and films. We had numerous enjoyable conversations about book collecting and favorite films over the years. Many of the finest photoplay editions which I now possess - as well as other books on the movies - came to me through Allan. I will miss you, my friend.

My library research continues

Though I haven't been blogged about it for some time, I have continued my Louise Brooks library research. I am still placing inter-library loan requests, though at a somewhat slower pace. As I've mentioned before, I am coming to the end of my long, long, long list of newspaper and magazine requests. How long is this list? My log of such requests runs some 45 pages. I figure I have placed as many as 800 requests for inter-library loans!

Louise Brooks' two years with Denishawn have been the focus of some of my research. Recently, I have gotten some articles, reviews and advertisements from the Jamestown Morning Post and Watertown Daily Times (New York), Williamsport Gazette and Bulletin and Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania), New Haven Times-Leader (Connecticut), Daily Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey),Louisville Herald (Kentucky) and New Orleans States (Louisiana). I also found a whole bunch of interesting and original material in a college newspaper, the Kansas State Collegian (from the school located in Manhattan, Kansas). You never know where things will turn up. Speaking of which, a friend turned me onto the on-line archive of the Jewish Criterion, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania paper. And there, I was able to dig up a few clippings relating to Denishawn performances in that city.

The bulk of my requests of late have been for newspapers through which I have searched for film reviews and other material. And, I am happy to report, I found some rinteresting and unusual stuff. Among the papers I have looked through are the Knickerbocker Press (Albany, New York),Newark Star-Eagle (New Jersey), South Bend Tribune (Indiana), Chatanooga Daily Times and Nashville Banner (Tennessee), San Antonio Light(Texas), Salt Lake Telegram (Utah), Tacoma News Tribune (Washington), and Capitol Journal (Salem, Oregon).

As of now, I have about 50 to 100 requests left to process. The bulk of these are from New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Canada. It is slow work, as I am only able to place so many requests at a time. In theory, the readers of this blog will be spared these dull reports in the future.

Digging around on-line databases and archives on the internet have also turned up fresh material. I found articles and other clippings - including anecdotes and mentions in various syndicated film-related columns - in the Amarillo Globe (Texas), and the Hamilton Daily News and Hamilton Evening Journal (Ohio). I also got some remarkable reviews from the Benton Harbor News-Palladium (Michigan). In 1927, Louise Brooks' Mother spoke in Michigan before a women's group in Benton Harbor, a resort town located not far from her then residence of Chicago, Illinois. And after that appearance - this western Michigan newspaper consistently highlighted Brooks' role in any film of her's which played in town. As if she were a local girl, Louise Brooks name was prominent in headlines on the entertainment page.

Lulu at Pordenone

A schedule of films for the 2007 Giornate film festival in Pordenone, Italy has just been announced. If you don't know - this many day festival is the big annual event in the world for those who love silent movies. This is mecca for silent film buffs. Among the films being screened is Pandora's Box (1929), starring Louise Brooks. The G.W. Pabst directed film be shown with a new score by Paul Lewis. The score was jointly commissioned by the Giornate and Bristol Watershed. I wish I could be there, but alas, Italy is far away.

San Francisco Silent Film Festival

I had a great time at the recent San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Though I worked the book table throughout the festival (and was even interviewed by Turner Classic Movies in my role as a bookseller), I managed to see some films, made some new friends, and renewed some old acquaintanceships. I met TCM host Robert Osborne, and chatted with San Francisco Chroniclefilm critic Mick LaSalle, who surprised me by revealing a new-found appreciation for Louise Brooks and her role in Pandora's Box. Later, noticing my Louise Brooks Society t-shirt, the always affable Leonard Maltin asked me if I had made any converts at the Festival. I responded that I was always "proselytizing" . . . .and then I handed him a Lulu button. I also met author, promoter and all-around film noir expert Eddie Muller, who told me he is currently making a noirish film whose turning point revolves around a character uttering the words, "Louise Brooks." I can't wait to see it, as all of Muller's film noir projects are very stylish and very interesting.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is a great festival and a lot of fun. I would encourage everyone to attend future festivals. Various reports, posts and blogs on this year's event can be found on the Google newsgroup, alt.movies.silent. Check it out and see what others thought of the goings-on and the films shown.

The highlight of the festival, for me, was the screening of the 1928 Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life. A new 35mm print from the George Eastman House made it's West Coast premiere at this annual July event. Pictured below top left is the Castro Theater marquee promoting the Saturday films. It's cool to see a Brooks film "up in lights" - so to speak.

The guy with the glasses top right is me. I am standing next to William Wellman Jr., the son of the great director whose films include Beggars of Life as well as such landmark works as Wings, The Public Enemy, the original A Star is Born, Beau Geste, The Ox-Bow Incident, etc.... Wellman Jr. and I got to chat quite a bit over the course of the weekend. He is an accomplished actor and producer, as well as an historian and champion of his father's incredible body of work. Wellman Jr. told me about his father, and what his father told him about working with Louise Brooks. . . .

     

Wellman Jr. was on hand to say a few words about his father's films and Beggars of Life. Before a crowd of more than 1200, Wellman praised Brooks and her role in the film. I think he was stating something many in the audience felt, including Leonard Maltin, who wrote about the Festivala few days later. (I think Maltin's comments - and those of Pat Loughney of the George Eastman House - will be of interest to all Brooks fans!)

Louise Brooks fans, who are legion, packed the Castro on Saturday night for the screening of Beggars of Life, Jim Tully’s tale of hoboes in which she and Richard Arlen make an absolutely gorgeous duo. It was introduced by William Wellman, Jr., the able keeper of his father’s flame. The 35mm print was enlarged from the only surviving copy of this important film, a 16mm original owned by the late William K. Everson. I first saw this when Bill screened that print many years ago, but I never dreamt that it was a unique copy. It made a surprisingly good transition to 35mm, although some of the beautiful lighting suffered somewhat because of wear and tear to the original. (I asked Pat Loughney if it would be possible—or feasible—to now digitize that 35mm blowup, improve the contrast and remove some of the scratches, then transfer it back to film. He anticipated my question and said it’s one of his priorities to do just that. Modern technology offers possibilities for film restoration that didn’t exist just ten years ago.)

Pictured bottom left is Wellman Jr., who is signing copies of his book, The Man and His Wings: William A. Wellman and the Making of the First Best Picture. I started reading this recently published book, and can report it is very good. Brooks' and her role in Beggars of Life are given a few pages in this telling of the famous director's early life. There are also a couple of images from the film found in the book.  The bottom right picture is a snapshot I took of Wellman Jr. reading Lulu in Hollywood. At the time, Wellman was reading Brooks' essay about his father, "On Location with Billy Wellman."

     

Also seen on the table in the bottom left images is a VHS copy of Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick, the acclaimed 1996 documentary about his father which Wellman Jr. executive co-produced and appears in. My wife (in the green jacket) and I just watched this outstanding 90 minute film last night. We both thought it was excellent - and a great piece of Hollywood history. I would recommend it. I liked it so much that I added four Wellman films to our Netflix cue. (For the record, neither Louise Brooks nor Beggars of Life are depicted in this film, though the actress is referenced by one of the commentators.)

Wellman Jr. had a few VHS copies Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick for sale. We bought one. I think interested individuals can find second-hand VHS copies on-line. The documentary has not yet been released on DVD. Also for sale at the Festival was a 10 page pamphlet produced by Rodney Sauer, Director of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. I had a chance to meet Rodney, and talk a little bit about their efforts. The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra performed live musical accompaniment for a few films during the Festival, including Beggars of Life. Not surprisingly, Rodney is a Brooks fan. Their arrangement and score came in for very warm applause. More about this talented musical group can be found at their website.

What did I see at the Festival? Along with the above mentioned items, I saw the pleasing Student Price in Old Heidelberg (satrring Ramon Navarro and Norma Shearer - and with Mick LaSalle's thoughtful introduction), a panel on film preservation, a few film shorts, and the dark, brooding British film, A Cottage on Dartmoor. I was especially impressed with this noir-ish silent film, as was everyone else I spoke with. I missedMiss Lulu Bett - which is something I have seen on video and liked. I also unfortunately missed The Godless Girl (a Cecil B. DeMille film starring Marie Prevost and Lina Basquette), as it was time to break down our book table and go home. Fortunately, the film will be released on DVD in the Fall as part of the third groundbreaking set in the Treasures from American Archives series.