Comic-book great HARVEY PEKAR dead at age 70

Comic-book great Harvey Pekar has died at the age of 70. Pekar was the author of American Splendor and other works classified as either graphic novels or comic book. American Splendor was also turned into a critically acclaimed film in 2003. If you haven't seen it, go out and get it today. It explains all.

Harvey Pekar had lived in Cleveland, Ohio.

Over the years, I had put on a couple of  events with him. He always drew a big crowd. Pekar loved old books and old movies (as well as orange pop and potato chips), and loved talking about them. Most recently, he wrote the forward to a new edition of Jim Tully's Circus Parade, which was published by Kent State University in 2009.That Ohio-based press is currently in the process of issuing a handful of Tully's out-of-print books, including Beggars of Life, which was the basis for the 1928 Louise Brooks film of the same name. Tully also hailed from Ohio.

(Also in the KSU press series is Shanty Irish, with a forward by director Jon Sayles.)

Below is a snapshot of Harvey Pekar and I taken a few years ago. It was an honor to know him.

Lulu in Rochester: Louise Brooks and the cinema screen as a tabula rasa

A longnew article about Louise Brooks is included in the newest issue of Senses of Cinema (issue #55). The article, by Robert Farmer, is titled "Lulu in Rochester: Louise Brooks and the cinema screen as a tabula rasa."

In it, Farmer looks at the ever evolving nature of Louise Brooks’ reputation. As Farmer notes, Brooks' real fame arrived many years after she abandoned her acting career. He analyzes the life, the films and the screen persona of an actress who has been turned into an icon of modernity. In my opinion, its a thoughtful and well considered piece, though I disagree witha few of his lesser points.

Robert Farmer is a filmmaker and lecturer in film theory and practice living in Northampton, UK. Check out his article at http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2010/feature-articles/lulu-in-rochester-louise-brooks-and-the-cinema-screen-as-a-tabula-rasa-3/   

[ The Louise Brooks Society even gets a shout out in this article. Check out footnote #35 ! ]

G.W. Pabst film festival

On July 15th, Bard College in New York state is hosting a G.W. Pabst film festival. Over the course of a month, they will be screening many of the director's best films including the two Pabst made with Louise Brooks, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl.

Pandora's Box screens on July 22 at 7 pm with piano accompaniment by Ben Model. Diary of a Lost Girl screens on July 25 at 7 pm with piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin.

The complete line-up of films (including Secrets of a Soul and the Threepenny Opera) as well as ticket information can be found here.

Show-Off screens in Los Angeles July 10

I recently learned that The Show-Off (1926) will be screened "under the stars" on July 10th (that's tomorrow) in Los Angeles, California. This screening is part of a double bill put on by the Heritage Square Museum which celebrates the talents of noted actresses who came to fame during the early years of Hollywood. Also on the bill is A Fool There Was (1915), starring the legendary vamp, Theda Bara.

When The Show-Off opened at the Metropolitan Theater in Los Angeles in August of 1926, it and Louise Brooks drew favorable reviews. The city’s newspapers ran reviews with headlines describing it as a “riot of fun” and a “cure for ailments.” More on this film and this rare screening can be found on examiner.com.

Admission to the Silent and Classic Movie Nights is free for museum members; a $10.00 donation for asked for the general public. These special screenings take place on the lawn near the Palms Depot. Guests are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets to sit on, a small picnic to eat before the movies begin, and warm clothing. Beverages and snacks will be available for purchase. Gates open at 7:30 p.m., with the show starting after 8:00 p.m.
The Heritage Square Museum is located at 3800 Homer Street in Los Angeles. More info at http://www.heritagesquare.org./calendar_of_events.htm

From the picture below, you can see that a crowd is already gathering for what promises to be a swell time.

New Diary of a Lost Girl poster

Back in June, I wrote a blog giving six reasons to attend the upcoming San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Well, here's one more which I've just found out about.

San Francisco poster artist David O'Daniel has created a beautiful limited edition poster for the July 17th SFSFF screening of Diary of a Lost Girl. And of course, the poster features a likeness of Louise Brooks, who starred in the 1929 film.

These silkscreen posters, which measure 19 x 25 inches and were printed in an edition of 75, will be on display and for sale at the event. I plan on getting one. Here is a look. More info at http://aliencorset.blogspot.com/

Rolled Stockings screenwriter turns 110

The woman whose story was the basis for the 1927 Louise Brooks’ film, Rolled Stockings, has turned 110 years old. Frederica Sagor Maas (pictured right in 1925) is one of the last surviving personalities from the silent film era, and perhaps the last living individual associated with one of Brooks’ silent films. 

I first met Maas in June, 1999 when I had lunch with her at the historic Musso and Franks restaurant in downtown Hollywood. 

Just six weeks later, in July, I put on her first bookstore event in connection with her then just published memoir, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (University Press of Kentucky). In it, she recounts her life both in and out of Hollywood, where she worked as a screenwriter during the silent and early sound era. 

At the time, Maas was 99 years old and nearly blind, and instead of a traditional author reading - I interviewed Maas about her remarkable life. The assembled crowd seemed to hang on her every word. Afterwords, we went out for a late supper and talked of many things, including Louise Brooks, who impressed her as someone who seemed "smart" and well educated. 

It was a great pleasure to meet Frederica Sagor Maas. I hope she lives another 100 years. 

More on her remarkable career can be found on examiner.com  - and more on Maas and  Brooks can be found here. [Some of the newspaper advertisements which I have come across for Rolled Stockings, like the one pictured below, include her name - a nod, I think, to her standing in Hollywood at the time.]

Is July 17th international Diary of a Lost Girl day?

Is July 17th international Diary of a Lost Girl day? So it seems.

I've recently learned that the acclaimed 1929 G.W. Pabst-directed film starring Louise Brooks will be shown in Berlin, Germany on the 17th of July as part of the “Berlin Babylon - Silent Film Festival.” And on that same day, the film will be shown in San Francisco as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Simultaneity, synchonicity, a perfect storm - call it what you will. All I can say is "wow" - and, how's that for a world-wide happening?

Following the San Francisco screening, there will also be a book signing for my newly published “Louise Brooks edition” of Margarete Böhme’s The Diary of a Lost Girl (PandorasBox Press). This bestselling and once controversial book, first published in Germany in 1905, had been out-of-print in the United States for more than 100 years. My San Francisco book signing marks its debut event.

The Berlin Babylon - Silent Film Festival will also show Pandora’s Box on July 24th. I posted a short article with a little more information about the multi-day, multi-film Berlin event over on my column at examiner.com.