Lulu in Calcutta, 1966

Just today, I came across a film book published in Calcutta, India titled The Marketing of Films. The book, by Trishla Goyal, was published in 1966. It's really not about marketing films. Rather, its a broad, worldwide history of the medium. What's remarkable about it - and what caught my attention, is the 1 1/4 pages given over to Louise Brooks and her role as Lulu in Pandora's Box. Here are those pages:



Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl are mentioned elsewhere in the book, in the chapter devoted to German film. So far, this is the only work published in India which I have come across discussing Brooks. It is also an early-contemporary (post Twenties and Thirties) citation. How interesting!

Femme fatales article in Warsaw

A Polish publication, Dziennik, ran an article today about femme fatales in film. The piece, "Femme fatale wciąż podnieca mężczyzn" or "Femme fatales still exciting men," mentions and pictures Louise Brooks. From what I can tell, it was "inspired" by an article in the British paper, The Independent. Here's whatDziennik said 

Louise Brooks oprócz tego, że wylansowała na długie dziesięciolecia słynną fryzurkę, która ostatnio doczekała się triumfalnego powrotu, była jedną z piękniejszych i bardziej inspirujących kobiet swoich czasów. Co ciekawe, pokonała odwrotną drogę w kierunku kariery niż większość kobiet. Z krainy snów, Hollywood, wyjechała do Europy, gdzie dostała się pod skrzydła Georga’a Wilhelma Pabsta. To u niego zagrała swoje najlepsze role, w "Lulu" i "Puszce Pandory" czy "Dzienniku upadłej dziewczyny", które emanowały erotyzmem pomimo wycięcia z nich bardziej kontrowersyjnych dla ówczesnej publiczności scen.

Which roughly translates into English via my google bar translation button as
 

Louise Brooks in addition to the fact that for many decades, promoted the famous fryzurkę, which has recently doczekała de Triomphe to return, was one of the most beautiful and more inspiring women of their times. Co ciekawe, pokonała odwrotną drogę w kierunku kariery niż większość kobiet.Interestingly, it defeated the opposite way in the direction of their careers than most women. Z krainy snów, Hollywood, wyjechała do Europy, gdzie dostała się pod skrzydła Georga’a Wilhelma Pabsta. From the land of dreams, Hollywood, went to Europe, where he got under the wing Georga'a Wilhelm Pabst.To u niego zagrała swoje najlepsze role, w "Lulu" i "Puszce Pandory" czy "Dzienniku upadłej dziewczyny", które emanowały erotyzmem pomimo wycięcia z nich bardziej kontrowersyjnych dla ówczesnej publiczności scen . It played with him his best role, in "Lulu" and "tin Pandory" and "the fallen girl," which, despite the cut emanowały eroticism of these more controversial scenes for the audience then.
 

For more from the article - including "other beautiful stars of cinema noir," check out the above link.

As an historical footnote, I might mention that Pandora's Box premiered in Warsaw on May 31, 1929. So far, I have been able to uncover a couple of reviews and a few advertisements (one even in a Warsaw Yiddish-language paper) about the Polish premiere. Here are my citations for those two reviews.

anonymous. "Przed Ekranem." Kurjier Warsawski, June 1, 1929.
--- review in Warsaw newspaper

anonymous. "Lulu Puszka Pandory." Kurjer Polski, June 4, 1929.
--- short review in Warsaw newspaper

Through a Lens Darkly, by Jan Wahl

Jan Wahl - acclaimed children's author and longtime friend of Louise Brooks - has recently published a memoir detailing his many friendships with actors and artists. The book came out late last year from Bear Manor. And Louise Brooks is mentioned on the cover! I can't wait to get a copy.



Book description: "Noted children's author Jan Wahl has led a storybook life-much of it connected to Arts and Movies. THROUGH A LENS DARKLY invites you to share personal encounters with many luminaries from the Golden Age of Entertainment. You are treated to revelations about Gloria Swanson, Isak Dinesen, Robert Mitchum, Rita Hayworth, and more. His essays will charm and mesmerize. Join him as he sheds light on the artistic contributions of lesser-known personalities like animators Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising-and legendary dancer Paul Swan. Navigating his life is truly an adventure. Journey to Denmark with him as he participates in the now classic film Ordet by the great director Carl Th. Dreyer. Come along as Jan relives a poignant twenty-year friendship with Louise Brooks. Enjoy his sense of humor as Mae West chases him out of her dressing room-and feel his shock as he almost kills Greta Garbo. You will come away from this book knowing why Jan Wahl is, as one child has put it, "America's Best Otter."

Louise Brooks forgery for sale

A while back I blogged about Lee Israel and her book recounting her life as a biographer - and forger of letters. That story was told in Israel's Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger. In that widely reviewed book, the once well-regarded author confessed to having forged letters by the likes of Dorothy Parker, Noel Coward, and Louise Brooks - among others.

Recently, Israel has begun to sell some of the forged letters apparently NOT noticed by the FBI when the "scandal" over her "work" broke. And just the other day, she listed a forged Louise Brooks letter for sale on eBay. (She has also recently listed forged Dorothy Parker letters, etc....)

The eBay description reads, "Lee Israel, author of the recently published Can You Ever Forgive Me? Memoirs of a Literary Forger, which The New York Times called “pretty damned fabulous,” is offering several letters for sale – the hilarious forgeries that experts from coast to coast could not distinguish from the extraordinary letters written by the silent film star. These are the letters Lee Israel had not yet sold when the FBI came knocking at her door. $75 each, suitable for framing to bamboozle your literary friends. Letters of inauthenticity provided." 

What you're really buying here is a letter by Lee Israel, not Louise Brooks. I'm tempted to make a bid - but likely won't. But what a curious thing it is.

Goodbye, Rocky Mountain News

Newspapers are in trouble. I have read distressing reports about the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, each of which might limit distribution. Here in San Francisco, there is talk of either selling or shutting down the city's one remaining real paper, the San Francisco Chronicle. And just today, the venerable, nearly 150 year old Rocky Mountain News has shut down. Denver is a lesser place with only one paper.

Newspapers are not only a guardian of democracy (I know that sounds corny, but imagine a society without them ?), but newspapers help document our culture. They review films, and books, and they tell us what is going on at theaters and recitals. And they create a paper trail.

I love reading old newspapers. They have played a large part in my research and in my attempt to document all things Louise Brooks. So, it was with sadness that I read about the demise of the Rocky Mountain News. Over the years, I have gone through both the Denver Post and now defunct Denver Times. Each has given up a bunch of reviews and articles about the actress. I have also acquired a few articles from the Rocky Mountain News. And so, in memorium, here they are.

anonymous. "Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn Will Appear at City Auditorium." Rocky Mountain News, December 17, 1922. (United States)
--- article in Denver, Colorado newspaper

anonymous. "Dancers Gather Stuffs for Sewing Bee To Keep Her Busy During Vacation." Rocky Mountain News, December 20, 1922. (United States)
--- article in Denver, Colorado newspaper
anonymous. "Ruth St. Denis and Denishawn Dancers To Vary Entertainment for Holidays." Rocky Mountain News, December 24, 1922. (United States)
--- article in Denver, Colorado newspaper

anonymous. "Ruth St. Denis To Give Special Talk Via Radio." Rocky Mountain News, December 24, 1922. (United States)
--- article in Denver, Colorado newspaper

anonymous. "Denishawn Dancers Win Many Encores." Rocky Mountain News, December 28, 1922. (United States)
--- article in Denver, Colorado newspaper

Louise Brooks as Film Noir

Speaking of femme fatales . . . lately, I've noticed more and more web pages connecting Louise Brooks and film noir. What gives? Is Brooks a film noir actress? And why is she increasingly being associated with the genre?

According to Wikipedia, "Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression." 

The Wikipedia entry goes on to examine film noir's prehistory, especially it's origins in 1920's German film. Brooks, of course, made her two greatest films in Germany at the end of the silent film era. Each of those films, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, were released in 1929. For me, that historical stylistic connection doesn't really define Brooks as a film noir actress. 

Nevertheless, just today, I came across a stylishly done youtube video - an elegant homage by "Rob in L.A." to some of the iconic femmes-noir. Included are two clips featuring Brooks (the only actress included twice); it also includes a clip of Clara Bow, the only other silent film star. (Early stars Anna May Wong and Marlene Dietrich are also included, but in clips from talkies.) The video is set to a haunting rendition of "Angel Eyes" by Bruce Springsteen.



A couple years back, film noir author and expert Eddie Muller told me about a film noir film he was working on featuring a Louise Brooks inspired character. I wonder what happened to it?

Whatever happened to the femme fatale?

The Independent ran an article in today's newspaper about next month's film series at the BFI celebrating vamps and femme fatales. The article by Sheila Johnston, "Whatever happened to the femme fatale?" mentions Louise Brooks, whose 1929 classic Pandora's Box will be included in the series. Johnston's article begins

 

They came prowling out of the shadows, wreathed in smoke, wisecracks and stolen mink; women no better than they should be, with only trouble in mind. They never needed to diet, displayed but a flickering interest in men for money, power and meaningless sex, and were more likely to accessorise with a gun than a Chihuahua.

Next month sees a monster celebration of the femme fatale in all her guises. Screened as part of the Birds Eye View women's film festival, some 30 movies will commemorate the vamp in silent cinema – the glorious likes of Louise Brooks and Theda Bara – and in later films up to today. A parallel event, at the BFI Mediatheque at QUAD, in Derby, highlights wicked ladies in British film and television in archive material that will be available to view indefinitely.

Be sure an click on the image of Rita Hayworth for additional images of femme fatales, including Brooks (and a rather revealing Theda Bara).