Last.fm

Familiar with last.fm ? It's a great site - like Pandora - where you can listen to music over the internet. Yesterday, I set up a page on last.fm for the Louise Brooks Society. This new satellite site can be found at www.last.fm/user/LB_Society.

And in setting up a profile, I also created a playlist of some of the music which can be heard RadioLulu, the online radio station of the LBS.

Generally speaking, this short playlist contains contemporary tracks about or inspired by Louise Brooks. There is Les Primitifs du Futur (featuring comix artist Robert Crumb) performing "Chanson pour Louise Brooks," Jen Anderson's "Lulu - The Song," Soul Coughing's "St. Louise is Listening," Marillion's "Interior Lulu," OMD's "Pandora's Box," a couple of tracks by Clan of Xymox, and John SaFranko's "The Final Years of Louise Brooks."

In the future, I hope to add some more tracks to the playlist, Last.fm doesn't contain some fo the more obscure Brooks' inspired tracks. And sometime soon, hopefully, I'll be able to add a track or two from Rufus Wainwright's forthcoming All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu.

Lulu now, Lulu forever - European shop windows

Here are a couple of pictures of shop windows in Europe. The first, of a store window (likely a photography studio) is from Paris circa 1929 / 1930. It features Louise Brooks' image which are either for sale (quick, get the time machine) or as examples of the studio's work. At the time, Louise was the toast of the town.

The second, of a cartoon museum (?) or shop in Rome, is a contemporary image. It features images of the Louise Brooks inspired cartoon Valentina, by the late Guido Crepax.

Know of other similar images? Please let everyone know or send scans to the Louise Brooks Society. [ When I used to work as a bookseller on Haight Street in San Francisco I did my part: I used to quietly sneak books into the store window displays which featured Brooks' image. And they often drew customers in to purchase a book. . . . ]

Another vintage postcard

Yesterday, I posted a bit about some vintage Louise Brooks postcards for sale on eBay. Among those for sale, here is another of my favorites. As Brooks is not wearing her customary bob, its a little bit unusual. Nevertheless, she photographs quite lovely. Don't you think?

The vintage Russian postcard I also mentioned yesterday has also shown up again. Here is a link to its eBay listing. The seller's page says this card dates from 1928.

Vintage postcards on eBay

Attention Louise Brooks collectors. There are a bunch of rather nice vintage Louise Brooks postcards for sale on eBay. They are all of French, German, or Austrian origin. (A few weeks back, there was even a scarce vintage Russian postcard for sale.)

Visit eBay and search under "Louise Brooks" and "postcards." You are sure to find them. The asking price is a bit steep, with opening bids starting in the low three figures (around $100.00). Nevertheless, its always fun to look. Here is one of my very favorites, a French postcard circa 1930 featuring an intense close-up of the actress.

Pandora's Box anniversary

It was 81 years ago tomorrow that the first reviews of Pandora's Box began to appear in Berlin newspapers. The G.W. Pabst-directed film, starring Louise Brooks as Lulu, premiered at the Gloria–Palast theatre in Berlin on February 9, 1929. On the 11th of the month, articles appeared in Berliner Tageblatt, Berliner Morgenpost, Die Welt, Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Neue Berliner Zeitung / Das 12 Uhr Blatt and numerous other publications. (Boy oh boy did they have a lot of newspapers back then.) More articles appeared on the 12th. 

Over the years, I have collected a thick portfolio of vintage German articles, reviews and other clippings documenting the making of the film and its subsequent release in Germany. I have also compiled a multi-page bibliography of material about the film. All of this material will end up in a book someday, I promise.

And as well, I've also collected photocopies of vintage German newspaper advertisements from around the time of its debut. In honor of the anniversary of its premiere, I have included a scan of one of these glorious advertisements.

In the years since its release, Pandora's Box has been shown not just in Germany but all around the world. One of my ongoing projects has been to track the exhibition of the film over the course of time and in different countries. To me, its interesting to find out what others from around the world (and in past decades) have said about this classic work.

One of my more unusual finds was a 1929 advertisement for the film in a Jewish newspaper published in Warsaw, Poland. (See below). It's interesting to note that the actress' name in the ad is given as "Luiza Brooks." 

Advertisements can tell us a lot. What I learned from another Polish newspaper advertisement is that the film opened at the Casino Theatre, and that Adam Furmanskiego led an orchestra at the Polish premier. [Unless I am mistaken, this is the same Adam Furmanski (1883-1943) who founded and led a Jewish Orchestra in the Warsaw Ghetto around 1940. Furmanski died there.]

The film has been advertised or written about under various titles, and even sometimes under two different names in the same country. So far, I have documented the film having been shown as جعبه‌ی پاندور (Arabic countries); La caja de Pandora (Argentina); Lulu (Argentina); Le boîte de Pandore (Belgium); Loulou (Belgium); A caixa de Pandora (Brazil); La caja de Pandora (Chile); Lulu (Chile); Pandorina skrínka (Czechoslovakia); Umrít Büchse der Pandoru (Czechoslovakia); Pandoras æske (Denmark); Pandora laegas (Estonia); Pandoran lipas (Finland); Loulou (France); Le boîte de Pandore (France); Λούλου (Greece); Lulu- το κουτί της Πανδώρας (Greece); Pandóra szelencéje (Hungary); תיבת פנדורה (Israel); Lulu (Italy); Il vaso di Pandora (Italy); Jack lo Sventratore (Italy); Pandoras lade (Latvia); Pandoros skrynia (Lithuania); La caja de Pandora (Mexico); De doos van Pandora (Netherlands); Pandoras eske (Norway); Puszka Pandory (Poland); A bocéta de Pandora (Portugal); A caixa de Pandora (Portugal); Cutia Pandorei (Romania); Pandorina skrinjica (Slovenia); La caja de Pandora (Spain); Pandoras ask (Sweden); Pandora’nýn Kutusuö (Turkey); Pandora's Box (United States); La caja de Pandora (Uruguay); Lulu (Uruguay); Lulu (U.S.S.R.), Ящик Пандорьі (U.S.S.R.); Лулу (U.S.S.R.); and La caja de Pandora (Venezula).

Certainly, there are other listings to be found. I should probably stop blabbering and look for more. (If you, dear reader, live in a country not noted here and know of a contemporary or historic screening of the film, please send me an email telling all . . . . )

re: Michel Mohrt's "La Guerre Civile"

Today, I returned to the San Francisco Public Library to pick up an interlibrary loan request. Another contemporary French novel which I had requested had arrived, and was "ready for pick-up." The book was Michel Mohrt's La Guerre Civile, published by Gallimard in 1986.

La Guerre Civile is the second book by this now elderly French writer which mentions Louise Brooks. The other is his 1991 novel Un Soir, à Londres, which I blogged about on February 1st.

Though I don't read French, I paged through (aka visually skimmed) the novel on the streetcar on the way home from the library and found the page which includes the reference to the actress. It's page 49. Here it is.

I would certainly appreciate it if any French speaking Louise Brooks fans could provide a quick translation into English of the sentences around the reference to the actress. And do any readers of this blog have contact with the author, Michel Mohrt? I would love to know about his interest in Louise Brooks. The search goes on . . . .

Follow up: Jacques Arnaut

I have finally finished "visually skimming" all 607 pages of Jacques Arnaut, a 1933 French novel by Leon Bopp. (See this blog as well as this earlier blog for the story so far.) I failed to find the brief reference to Louise Brooks which I know exists in this book. As I don't read French, visually skimming is the best I could manage.

My inter-library loan copy of this rare book is coming due. Thus, my search to contextualize the reference will have to wait. Perhaps, one day, should I ever obtain a keyword searchable copy of the text, I may yet uncover the passage which refers to the actress. (If anyone could help with this matter, it would certainly be appreciated.)

On to other things . . . . Speaking of early 20th century French literature, did you know that the acclaimed French writer Paul Claudel saw the 1927 Brooks' film, Evening Clothes?

Claudel, a poet, dramatist, and diplomat as well as the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel (who was muse to Rodin) attended a special screening of Evening Clothes in Los Angeles on March 7, 1927. The event was held at the Metropolitan Theatre, the largest movie theater in Los Angeles at the time.

The film's story concerned a French gentleman farmer who goes to Paris to win back the affections of his bride. The premiere, and the presence of the French writer, generated a considerable amount of press as Claudel was, at the time, the French ambassador to the United States. A few weeks later, on March 21st, he appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.

As a celebrated writer and as an ambassador, Claudel was something of a celebrity. Newspaper coverage of the event noted his attendance as well as that of the film's star, Adolphe Menjou. Each were introduced from the stage. If there are any Paul Claudel scholars out there who are aware of the author having written about this event - I would love to hear from you. There was no mention of Brooks herself being in attendance, though its possible, as she was living in Southern California at the time. 

[A couple of days earlier, Evening Clothes had its world premiere at the Metropolitan. Menjou was in attendance at that event as well, and according to newspaper articles at the time, he made his way through the crowds unnoticed wearing a beard.]

Classic Movie Kisses

A scene from Pandora's Box (1929) made the list of "50 Classic Movie Kisses" in today's LA Times Magazine. Gosh, who wouldn't want to kiss Louise Brooks? 

However, I would have chosen a different scene from the film than the one noted in the LA Times piece. I think the backstage scene in Pandora's Box - depicted below - where Lulu and Dr. Schon are caught embracing is especially torrid.

Check out the complete list, along with video clips, at www.latimesmagazine.com/2010/02/50-kisses.html