When You're in Love

When you're in love, you do things that maybe you shouldn't. . . or at least, you try harder, because.

Last weekend, I ventured to Sacramento where I spent a day at the State Library of California. It was, perhaps, my 20th visit to this library in search of Louise Brooks material. They have a large collection of California newspaper on microfilm. And, as one of my recent projects has been to document the screening of Brooks' films around the San Francisco Bay Area, I found I could dig through numerous and various city newspapers all in one place. I spent more than 5 hours doing just that.

Ouch. And nearly all for naught.

Never have I spent so much time with so little results! I only found three new listings, one for King of Gamblers (1937) and two for When You're in Love (1937) - two of the least interesting films in the Louise Brooks filmography.

Nevertheless, I duely recorded them. So far, here is what I have found regarding When You're in Love, the Grace Moore - Cary Grant musical romance. (Incidentally, my wife and I just rewatched this film recently and we could not spot Louise Brooks. We even used the freeze frame function.)

When You’re in Love Bay Area screenings: Orpheum in San Francisco (Feb. 26 – Mar. 3, 1937 with Breezing Home); Blanco’s Theatre in Mountain View (Mar. 23-26, 1937); Mayfield in Palo Alto (Mar. 28 - Apr. 2, 1937); Broadway in Burlingame (Apr. 1-10, 1937); Roxie in Oakland (Apr. 8-21, 1937); Casa Granada in Santa Clara (May 4-6, 1937); Alameda Theater in Alameda (May 28, 1937 with A Family Affair); Berkeley Theater in Berkeley (May 28, 1937 with Girl Overboard); Uptown in Oakland (June 8, 1937); Fruitvale in Oakland (June 11, 1937 with Personal Property); Fairfax in Oakland (June 15, 1937 with Personal Property); Piedmont in Oakland (June 27, 1937 with Her Husband Lies); Victory in San Jose (June 29-30, 1937); Strand in Berkeley (July 3-5, 1937 with Women of Glamour); Fruitvale in Oakland (July 4, 1937 with Personal Property); Palace in Oakland (July 4, 1937 with Parole Racket); Tower in Oakland (July 4, 1937 with Sign of the Cross); Parkway in Oakland (July 4-5, 1937 with Her Husband Lies); Fox U.C. in Berkeley (July 4-6, 1937 with Personal Property); Palace in Oakland (July 4-5, 1937 with Parole Racket); Lorin in Berkeley (July 8-10, 1937 with Parole Racket and Louis vs. Braddock fight picture); Granada in Oakland (July 8-10, 1937 with You Only Live Once); Capitol in Oakland (July 9-10, 1937 with Her Husband Lies); Gateway in Oakland (July 9-10, 1937 with Parole Racket); Eastmont in Oakland (July 16, 1937 with I Promise to Pay); Central in Oakland (Aug. 12-13, 1937 with Outcasts of Poker Flats); T&D in Oakland (Sept. 19-20, 1937 with Murder Goes to College); American in Oakland (Sept. 22-23, 1937 with You Only Live Once).

KTVU Channel 2 television broadcast (Oct. 3, 1959 and Feb. 7, 1960 and Oct. 22, 1960 and July 16, 1961 and Apr. 14, 1962 and Apr. 15, 1962 and Apr. 18, 1962); KNTV Channel 11 television broadcast (May 11, 1963 and Nov. 12, 1976 and Apr. 8, 1977 and Aug. 25, 1977).

When You're in Love is a pretty decent film. I have watched it a few times. It was written and directed by Robert Riskin, Frank Capra's brilliant right hand man and the creative force behind many of Capra's best films. It was the only film Riskin ever directed.

I expect I will be able to add a number of additional screenings to this list, once I have a chance to look at the second run listings in the San Francisco newspapers for 1937. That should be a productive search. Besides When You're in Love, I should find some additional listings for King of Gamblers, and if I am really lucky, Empty Saddles (1936).

It Pays to Advertise screens in Rochester

It Pays to Advertise (1931), which includes Louise Brooks in a bit part - and I do mean bit - will be shown tonight at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. The film is being shown as part of Carole Lombard double bill, which is in part of an even larger (and topical) series entitled "What Depression? Musical, Fantasies, and Screwball Comedies of the 1930s." The other film on tonight's program is White Woman (1933).

Jack Garner, the now retired film critic for the local Democrat and Chronicle, noted the screening in yesterday's newspaper: "For the Brooks cult (which includes me), chances to see her films are very rare, except for her G. W. Pabst German classics, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. It Pays to Advertise is even rare among her few surviving films, however, because Brooks made only about a half-dozen sound-era films, and two of those are B-movie Westerns (including Overland Stage Raiders, with the young John Wayne)."

Its true. This particular Brooks film has seldom been screened since its debut in theaters in 1931. It's just not that good. (It's also not that bad. I have seen it on VHS.) And what's more, those who attend this screening can see this rarely shown film in a theatre Louise Brooks herself used to hang out in. More info on the screening can be found at http://dryden.eastmanhouse.org/films/it-pays-to-advertise-and-white-woman/

Lulu by the Bay

Lately, I have been compiling a list of Bay Area screenings for each of Louise Brooks' films. (See yesterday's blog as an example of my efforts.)

And so far, I have put together a ten page document detailing all of the listings I have been able to uncover - listings from San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Marin County and places in-between. It's a fun project - though also frustrating. My lists are far from complete, as many screenings (especially those at smaller neighborhood theaters) were not advertised or listed, or the materials which do document them (like old newspapers) simply don't exist anymore or can't be gotten at.

Nevertheless, I forge ahead. Tomorrow, I will head to Sacramento and the State Library of California to look at various Bay Area newspapers held there on microfilm. That library even holds San Francisco newspapers not held by the San Francisco Public Library, like the San Francisco Illustrated News (a glorious old-fashioned tabloid) and the Richmond Record (the latter is a neighborhood newspaper, which hopefully will carry advertisements for the neighborhood theaters in that district).

It is a work in progress.

In early blogs, I posted some of my findings for The Street of Forgotten Men (1925) and King of Gamblers (1937). I have been able to add many more listings. Here, so far, is what I have been able to find for the now-lost film, Just Another Blonde (1926).

New Stanford in Palo Alto (Jan. 13-14, 1927); Sequoia Theatre in Redwood City (Jan 15, 1927); Novelty in Martinez (Feb. 3-4, 1927); Warfield in San Francisco (Feb. 12-18, 1927); Grand Lake in Oakland (Feb. 19-25, 1927); Hub Theatre in Mill Valley (Feb. 26, 1927); Princess Theatre in Sausalito (Feb. 27-28, 1927); California in Berkeley (Mar. 2-5, 1927); Richmond Theatre in Richmond (Mar. 16-17, 1927); Peninsula in Burlingame (Apr. 3, 1927); Orpheus in San Rafael (Apr. 14-15, 1927); Casino Theatre in Antioch (Mar. 19, 1927); Mission in San Jose (Apr. 20-23, 1927); Regent Theater in San Mateo (Apr. 29-30, 1927); Coliseum in San Francisco (May 10-11, 1927); Haight in San Francisco (May 22, 1927); Alhambra in San Francisco (May 28-29, 1927); Wigwam in San Francisco (May 31 – June 3, 1927 with The Lady in Ermine); Castro in San Francisco (June 7-8, 1927); Alexandra in San Francisco (June 8-9, 1927); Irving in San Francisco (June 12, 1927 with Great K & A Train Robbery); Riviera in San Francisco (June 13-14, 1927); Royal Theatre in South San Francisco (July 6, 1927); New Balboa in San Francisco (July 20-21, 1927); Roosevelt in San Francisco (July 22, 1927); California Theatre in Livermore (July 23, 1927); Golden State in Oakland (July 25, 1927); Lincoln in Oakland (July 25, 1927); Hayward Theatre in Hayward (Aug. 2, 1927 with Diplomacy); Rivoli in San Francisco (Aug. 28-29, 1927); Majestic in San Francisco (Oct. 8, 1927).

What's interesting is that this particular film was shown in outlying town like Palo Alto (home to Stanford University) and nearby Redwood City BEFORE it was screened in San Francisco. Usually in the 1920's, films played in the major cities before they made their way elsewhere.

If we only had a time machine

If we only had a time machine, we could travel back to San Francisco on June 12, 1927 and take in one of three Louise Brooks films showing at four different neighborhood movie theaters. Both the Castro and the Coliseum were showing the now lost 1927 film, Evening Clothes. And, the Irving was showing the lost 1926 film, Just Another Blonde - while across town the New Balboa was screening Love Em and Leave Em (1926).

Imagine that, three different Louise Brooks showing at four different theaters in one city on the same day. If we only had a time machine.

The Grand Inquisitor

I finally had the chance to see The Grand Inquisitor (2008), a recent short film by Eddie Muller (the author and film historian known as the "Czar of Noir"). I mention it because this exceptionally well done short work contains an homage to Louise Brooks. It is well worth checking out. This 22-minute movie can be viewed online at Strike.TV.


The Grand Inquisitor stars 1940's film star Marsha Hunt as Hazel Reedy, and debut actress Leah Dashe as Lulu. Hunt is superb, and Dashe is oh so charming in this noirish tale. More on the film can be found at www.grandinquisitormovie.com/ Check it out - I really liked it.

A portrait of Louise Brooks

A portrait of Louise Brooks by M.I. Boris (circa 1925/1926)

Louise Brooks on the cover

My thanks go to Jason, who tipped me off to the appearance of Louise Brooks (or at least her distinct hair) on the cover of this just published novel by Kate Walbert. Not sure if the actress herself makes an appearance in the book, which was published by Scribner. Here is some publisher supplied copy.

About the book: National Book Award finalist Kate Walbert's A Short History of Women is a profoundly moving portrayal of the complicated legacies of mothers and daughters, chronicling five generations of women from the close of the nineteenth century through the early years of the twenty-first.

The novel opens in England in 1914 at the deathbed of Dorothy Townsend, a suffragette who starves herself for the cause. Her choice echoes in the stories of her descendants interwoven throughout: a brilliant daughter who tries to escape the burden of her mother's infamy by immigrating to America just after World War I to begin a career in science; a niece who chooses a conventional path -- marriage, children, suburban domesticity -- only to find herself disillusioned with her husband of fifty years and engaged in heartbreaking and futile antiwar protests; a great-granddaughter who wryly articulates the free-floating anxiety of the times while getting drunk on a children's playdate in post-9/11 Manhattan. In a kaleidoscope of voices and with a richness of imagery, emotion, and wit, Walbert portrays the ways in which successive generations of women have responded to what the Victorians called "The Woman Question."

As she did in her critically acclaimed The Gardens of Kyoto and Our Kind, Walbert induces "a state in which the past seems to hang effortlessly amid the present" (The New York Times). A Short History of Women is her most ambitious novel, a thought-provoking and vividly original narrative that crisscrosses a century to reflect the tides of time and the ways in which the lives of our great-grandmothers resonate in our own.

About the Author: Kate Walbert is the author of Where She Went, a New York Times Notable Book of 1998; The Gardens of Kyoto, winner of the Connecticut Book Award for fiction in 2002; and Our Kind, finalist for the National Book Award in 2004. Her short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and numerous other publications.

Has anyone read this book?

SFSFF starts today

I'm excited about this year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival. It starts today. No Louise Brooks film, but plenty of cinematic action. Here is what I am especially looking forward to.

A wow Louise Brooks discovery

My latest discovery . . . . It depicts Louise Brooks' image in a window display promoting the release of The Canary Murder Case. As you can see, the actress is prominent in this display. My guess is that this image was shot in early February, 1929.

It is one of five different images I have uncovered of different store windows taken in Los Angeles at various department stores and shops including the May Company and the Owl Drug store.

Apparently, there was a widespread push to promote the film. Some of the images feature hearts and candy (suggesting a pre-Valentine promotion - the film was officially released on February 16th), while others include photoplay book edition of the novel on which the film was based. Nevertheless, Louise Brooks - in the form of a lifesize cardboard display piece - is front and center in each of the displays.

Wow wow wow wow wow! I have never seen these before.