Some books and DVDs

Radiosendung zu Louise Brooks

Apparently, a German radio station broadcast a program on Louise Brooks earlier this month, marking the 25th anniversary of her passing. The program, "Immortal Anti-Star," by Claudia Lenssen, was broadcast on August 5, 2010 on the RBB Kulturradio. Here is the description of the program in German:

Unsterblicher Anti-Star
Eine Hommage zum 25. Todestag von Louise Brooks
Von Claudia Lenssen

Sie war Tänzerin, Showgirl, leidenschaftliches Jazz-Baby und Trinkerin. Als "Mädchen mit dem schwarzen Helm" wurde die außergewöhnliche Schönheit Louise Brooks zu einer Ikone, die Bubikopf- Frisur ihr Markenzeichen als neuer unschuldig-sinnlicher Frauentyp. Zwei Stummfilme mit dem Regisseur G.W. Pabst, Lulu und Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, sichern ihr einen herausragenden Platz in der Filmgeschichte. Von Hollywood enttäuscht, entdeckte sie später ihr Schreibtalent und hinterließ der Nachwelt brillante Porträts des frühen Kinos.

This classical music / arts station broadcasts in Germany and also streams over the internet. Might anyone have a recording of the program?

Ebert Club Newsletter

Roger Ebert likes Louise Brooks. He's told me so, and he's also written about the actress and her films on more than a few occasions. Apparently, he also just wrote about the actress in the most recent issue of the "Ebert Club Newsletter."

Ebert wrote, "The Sounds of Silents: Science finds that silent movies trigger mental soundtracks in our minds. Oddly enough, this may explain why they create a reverie state in me. I usually listen to them with a musical sound track, but after reading this I tried a little of "The Show Off" on Netflix streaming, and I see what they mean. . . . So try a little of "The Show Off" yourself. Turn off the sound. Here's the complete movie via Google; though Netflix quality is better. Notice that whenever Louise Brooks is on screen, you simply can't focus on anyone else..."

The newsletter includes a link to a Google video of the 1926 Brooks film (as above), and then a paragraph on Louise Brooks "Looking for Lulu" (1998), the outstanding documentary on the actress by Hugh Munro Neely. Ebert goes on the mention The Cat and the Canary (1927) and highlight some of the other kinds of silent and other early films available over the internet. It's an interesting post. And well worth reading. I always enjoy Ebert's writing - he is one of our best critics.

Leonard Maltin writes up the new edition of DIARY

Film critic & film historian Leonard Maltin wrote up my new Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl on his syndicated column, Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy.

Maltin's article, "Silent Stars Still Mesmerize," is a round up of three self-published books, including the new illustrated edition of Margarete Bohme's book (which served as the basis for the 1929 Louise Brooks film). Maltin says, in part, "Gladysz provides an authoritative series of essays that tell us about the author, the notoriety of her work (which was first published in 1905), and its translation to the screen. Production stills,  advertisements, and other ephemera illustrate these introductory chapters. In today’s parlance this would be called a “movie tie-in edition,” but that seems a rather glib way to describe yet another privately published work that reveals an enormous amount of research — and passion."

The other two books covered by Maltin, Donna Hill's Rudolph Valentino, The Silent Idol: His Life in Photographs and Linda Wada's The Sea Gull: The Chaplin Studio’s Lost Film Starring Edna Purviance, are also highly recommended. (I've got copies of each.) Check out Leonard Maltin's article here. 

 
The new Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl can be purchased through Lulu.com

Diary updated

I've updated my "publisher pages" on THE DIARY OF A LOST GIRL. There's more info, and more links to be found.

Click thru to Lulu.com to buy direct and use coupon code BEACHREAD305 at checkout and receive 15% off the retail price! This special Lulu.com offer ends on August 15, 2010 at 11:59 pm.

THE DIARY OF A LOST GIRL. is available at Book Soup (Los Angeles), as well as at Bird & Beckett (San Francisco), Books Inc. (San Francisco, Market Street), Browser Books (San Francisco), and Cover to Cover (San Francisco), as well as Pegasus & Pendragon (Berkeley), Moe's Books (Berkeley), and the Niles Essanay Silent  Film Museum (Fremont). Other retail locations coming soon.

"Long relegated to the shadows, Margarete Bohme's 1905 novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl has at last made a triumphant return. In reissuing the rare 1907 English translation of Bohme's German text, Thomas Gladysz makes an important contribution to film history, literature, and, in as much as Bohme told her tale with much detail and background contemporary to the day, sociology and history. He gives us the original novel, his informative introduction, and many beautiful and rare illustrations. This reissue is long overdue, and in all ways it is a volume of uncommon merit." - Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran

Below are a few sample pages from my this 336 page book, which contains three dozen mostly vintage illustrations.

"Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl - the basis of Miss Brooks's classic 1929 film - back from obscurity. It remains a fascinating work." – Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives

Gone, but not forgotten

Louise Brooks passed away 25 years ago today. She is gone, but not forgotten. Long live Lulu. Long live Louise Brooks.

Rufus Rufus Rufus on Lulu Lulu Lulu

Yesterday, I posted an article to the Huffington Post website about Rufus Wainwright and his quite understandable interest in Louise Brooks. I recently had the chance the interview Rufus about the actress and his new CD, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu. He is on tour in support of the new record.

I plan on posting another article / interview sometime next week which will be more of a general interest piece. The current article, headlined " 'I am the victim of such a lascivious beauty': Rufus Wainwright on Louise Brooks" includes Wainwright's comments on the silent film star. Check it out at www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-gladysz/i-am-the-victim-of-such-a_b_672089.html

[Photo above courtesy of Kevin Westenberg / www.rufuswainwright.com ]