Sunday, March 30, 2008

$4.1 Million of Hollywood Memorabilia Sold at Auction

Profiles in History offered over more than 1000 iconic Hollywood items at a two day Hollywood memorabilia auction, which took place March 27 & 28, 2008.  Here are some of the highlights

$345,000.00 King Kong six-sheet movie poster.
$126,500.00 Leaping Alien Warrior figure from Aliens.
$115,000.00 "Ming the Merciless" cape from Flash Gordon. (Univ., 1936)
$115,000.00 Hydraulic screen-used Velociraptor from The Lost World: Jurassic Park II.
$103,500.00 Michael Keaton's complete "Batman" costume from Batman Returns.
$97,750.00 Pteranodon display with a full set of Pteranodon babies from Jurassic Park III.
$74,750.00 Shanghai Express three-sheet poster (Paramount, 1932).
$74,750.00 Robin Sachs screen-used Sarris costume from Galaxy Quest.
$69,000.00 John Wayne costume from She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.
$57,500.00 Louise Brooks in Diary of a Lost Girl [Tagebuch] German one-sheet poster.
$51,750.00 Julie Andrews signature coat from Mary Poppins.
$48,875.00 Danny DeVito "Penguin" display study from Batman Returns.
$46,000.00 Greta Garbo portrait by Edward Steichen from A Woman of Affairs.
$46,000.00 Bob Keeshan jacket and pants worn as "Captain Kangaroo".
$43,125.00 James Cauty Lord of the Rings original drawing "iconic masterpiece of the psychedelic era".
$43,125.00 Trio of costumes worn byBruce Willis,Milla Jovovich & Chris Tucker in The Fifth Element.
$43,125.00 Halle Berry hero "Storm" battlesuit from X-Men.
$43,125.00 James Marsden hero "Cyclops" battlesuit from X-Men.
$43,125.00 Screen-used purple Thermian from Galaxy Quest.
$40,250.00 No One Man three-sheet poster.
$37,375.00 Screen-used Baby Stegosaur from The Lost World: Jurassic Park II.
$37,375.00 Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster.
$34,500.00 Triceratops screen-used head from The Lost World: Jurassic Park II.
$34,500.00 Screen-used Velociraptor insert head from Jurassic Park III.
$34,500.00 The Wolf Man one-sheet poster.
$34,500.00 Alien Queen maquette from Aliens.
$34,500.00 Full-scale Velociraptor display study from Jurassic Park III.
$31,625.00 Maltese Falcon window card.
$31,625.00 Baby T-Rex display study from The Lost World: Jurassic Park II.
$31,625.00 Dilophosaurus display study from Jurassic Park.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

A social celebrity in evening clothes

Louise Brooks: a social celebrity in evening clothes

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Scottish Screen Archive puts clips online

For those who like this kind of thing, the Scottish Screen Archive has placed a catalog of its holdings online. And what's more, there are many film clips available for online viewing. The site is available at http://ssa.nls.uk/

Actually, the site is a catalog of Scottish films. You can browse the catalog by place, subject, biography, or decade (the clips go back to the 1890s, though most of the clips seem to be from the 1950s and 1960s). Or, you can search by other factors. You can also limit your search to those results which have clips, and/or those clips to which the Library has copyright or can clear copyright.

The catalog pages for each film are extensive. In addition to name, date, length, etc..., there’s also an extensive listing with time markers. Clips are embedded on the right side of the page. There are descriptions for those clips as well. Most of the catalog pages have multiple clips available. Underneath the embedded clips are copyright notifications and suggestions — based on topic — for other film catalog pages which might prove interesting. Though Louise Brooks is not to be found, the site is well worth checking out.

Monday, March 3, 2008

A new edition

Today, I received the German-language edition of Peter Cowie's Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever. I had ordered it over eBay from a German retailer who was selling them at a slightly reduced price.

This edition was published by Schirmer/Mosel in 2006. It is, of course, nearly identical to the English language edition published in the United States, except the text in the Schirmer/Mosel edition is in German. I just had to have a copy. (I have four or five different language editions of Lulu in Hollywood.) The main difference is the dustjacket, which has a slightly different design. (That design is NOT the one that shows up on www.amazon.de)

Monday, February 25, 2008

Jim Tully

Over the weekend, I received word that something of a Jim Tully revival can be expected this Fall. Tully, as readers of this blog may know, was the author of Beggars of Life, the novel which became the 1928 film of the same name starring Louise Brooks. Just last year, that film was transferred to 35mm and is now enjoying it's own revival in theaters across the country.

Tully was a colorful character as well as a popular writer in the 1920's and 1930's. Gritty and forceful, he also left his mark on some of the hard-boiled writers who followed in his wake. (Some might consider him the Charles Bukowski of his day?) This Fall's revival will see the long awaited release of the first ever biography of the writer by Kent State University press, as well as the reissue of a handful of Tully's seminal books including Beggars of LifeCircus Parade and others. I have been in touch with the biographers, and can't wait to read their book. I will post additional updates as warranted.

p.s. Louise Brooks and Jim Tully met during the filming of Beggars of Life, and from accounts of the time, Brooks did not care for Tully and his gruff manner.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Raymond Kennedy (1934-2008)

Raymond Kennedy, a writer known for his dark, absurdist novels, died last week in Brooklyn. He was 73. Kennedy was the author of the 1988 novel Lulu Incognito. More about the author and his work can be found in this article in the New York Times. The New York Sun also ran an article on the writer.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Louise Brooks on "Lost"



Silent film star Louise Brooks makes an "appearance" on tonight's episode of Lost, the ABC series about a group of castaways on a mysterious island. Continuing the tradition of using a well-placed book to provide clues to the mysteries of the hit show, tonight's episode features the character Sawyer reading the New York Review of Books edition of The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Cesares, which features Brooks on the cover.

Though I posted the cover of the book in my previous entry (on the passing of novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet ), here it is again.
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