Louise Brooks, indeed

Louise Brooks, as pictured on a somewhat uncommon British postcard currently for sale on eBay. The card is said to be from 1988. Nice image.

A Girl in Every Port - French novelization

Speaking of French fiction relating to Louise Brooks . . . as this blog has been doing of late.

A rather uncommon French novelization of the 1928 Howard Hawks-directed film, A Girl in Every Port, is currently for sale on eBay. This 1929 softcover edition is 96 pages long and includes 16 pages of stills from the film. I suppose it might be considered a photoplay edition. 

How it survived I'll never know. I already own a copy of this ephemeral publication, and it reminds me of the old pulp fiction periodicals of the 1930's. The paper is indeed pulpy!

Louise Brooks might well be more popular in France then in the United States. And certainly, one of her most popular films in that country has long been A Girl in Every Port. Its title is here given as Poings de Fer Coeur d'Or.

What's especially interesting about this publication is the author, Jean Mitry. According to his page at Wikipedia, Mitry was a "was a French film theorist, critic and filmmaker, co-founder of France's first film society and later of the Cinémathèque Française in 1938." He was also the first lecturer on film aesthetics in France, as well as one of the first intellectuals responsible for taking film studies out of the era of the film club and into that of the university. I have run across Mitry's name in the past, as a film historian and as the author of later articles about Louise Brooks. I guess when he wrote this cheap paperback novel back in 1929 it was love at first sight.

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.