Film historian Cari Beauchamp upcoming Bay Area events

Cari Beauchamp, the acclaimed film historian and author of Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood, will be speaking about her new book, Joseph P. Kennedy Presents: His Hollywood Year, at three events in the Bay Area next week. 

Beauchamp will be at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Wednesday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m., at Le Petit Trianon Theatre in San Jose on Thursday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m., and at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Friday, April 17 at noon. The last two events are ticketed. For details, see the links above.

I plan to attend the Book Passage event. Anyone interested in the Kennedy family or film history should take in one of Beauchamp’s upcoming events. She is an entertaining and informative speaker. And what's more, Louise Brooks is referenced a few times in Beauchamp’s latest work. Here is a link to an article I wrote about the author and her new book.

Pandora's Box to screen in Los Angeles, July 1

Pandora's Box will be shown in Los Angeles on July 1st. Here are the details. 

Wednesday, July 1 Orpheum Theatre  842 S. Broadway Pandora's Box (Germany, 1929, 109 minutes, black/white)

Considered one of the greatest silent films ever made, Pandora’s Box tells the story of Lulu, a basically sweet-natured but amoral woman whose flirtations and affairs with a number of men (and at least one woman) lead to devastation. Beautiful and mesmerizing, Louise Brooks gives a complex and iconic performance as Lulu. Lushly photographed, with compelling performances from the entire cast, the film was directed by German master G. W. Pabst based on plays by Frank Wedekind. Co-starring Francis Lederer.

Special Program: Acclaimed organist Robert Israel will accompany the film on the Orpheum’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ. Hosting the evening is Hugh Munro Neely, film historian and director of the documentary Louise Brooks, Looking for Lulu.

For more information, visit laconservancy.org/remaining/index.php

A Louise Brooks Singpore dilema: Can you help?

Just like the many vintage Czech articles I came across in the Czech National Library database (see my earlier blog entry), I have come across a digitized newspaper database of Louise Brooks articles and film advertisement from Singapore which are just beyond my grasp. Can any Singapore resident help?

The articles come from The Straits Times, and date from the late 1920's and early 1930's. My search results can be found here.  Among the search results is a 1930 article / review of The Canary Murder Case around the time of its showing in Singapore, as well as an article titled "Exit the Flapper" from 1935 which mentions the actress. How interesting !

However, when a non-Singapore resident such as myself attempts to access the articles, a message comes up: "Full page views are only available at the Multimedia Stations at all libraries. For more current archival news of The Straits Times, please see FAQ for details." If there is anyone in Singapore who reads this blog and would be able to visit the library to print out articles, I would be ever so grateful. And of course, I would pay for the copies and postage to send them to my home office in San Francisco.

[ I assume these articles are in English. But even if they are not, I would still like copies for my archive.]

Steven Bach dies at age 70

Steven Bach, a noted studio executive and biographer, has passed away at the age of 70. He was the author of Final Cut, an account of the making of Heaven's Gate, as well as of well received biographies of Marlene Dietrich, Moss Hart, and Leni Riefenstahl. I had a chance to work with Bach when I hosted an event with him in 2007, at the time of the release of Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl. We spoke about Louise Brooks and old German films, both of which he had an interest and passion. I found him to be a scholar and a gentleman, as his obituary in today's New York Times suggests.

Speaking of things Czech

A couple of blogs ago, I wrote about a 1929 Czech book I recently acquired which contained a handful of references and images of Louise Brooks. Well, that got me thinking . . .  might I be able to find more vintage Czech material? Certainly, Brooks' films - especially Pandora's Box - played in Prague and elsewhere.

I looked around on the internet and found a remarkable site called Kramerius. After searching under "Louise Brooks" I got more than 100 relevant results - mostly articles, advertisements and images. What I found can be found here. 

However, not being a Czech citizen, I am not able to view the results. Seemingly, they are only available to patrons of the National Library of the Czech Republic, or to Czech citizens able to request prints. How frustrating, as these search results promise to be quite exciting. Can anyone help? Are there any Czech citizens able to visit the National Library of the Czech Republic?

A remarkable find

I found this remarkable image in a book I recently purchased on eBay. The book, Studio 1929, was published in Czechoslovakia. It is an annual, a summation of film from around the world - though this book focuses heavily on Europe and European productions.  There are more than half-a-dozen references to Louise Brooks, including a couple of images and a Czech review of Pandora's Box. 

As best I can tell, this remarkable image depicts Brooks' name in lights, perhaps at the premiere of Pandora's Box (or Lulu, as it was known elsewhere on the continent). Can anyone offer a translation of the text below the image?



I have never seen this image before. Can anyone offer any additional information ?