Margaret Livingston

Margaret Livingston, one of the stars of Sunrise, as photographed by Melbourne Spurr. 

Livingston bore a slight resemblance to Louise Brooks, and dubbed the voice of Brooks in The Canary Murder Case (1929). In 1931, she married the band leader Paul Whiteman, and retired from film acting in 1934. This image is for sale on eBay.

Silent pictures

From 2008 - 2010, members of San Francisco bands Mellow Drunk, Dora Flood and Boyskout as well as Los Angeles bands Sky Parade and Gene Loves Jezebel began recording music under the name Silent Pictures.

The band is composed of Alexander Mann (Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keys, Drums), David Alexander (Drums, Bass, Guitar), Leigh Gregory (lead guitars), Steven Dietrick (drums), Joel Patterson (drums), Rene Perez (backing vocals, electone), andTommy Dietrick (Bass). I have been aware of them for some time - and they obviously have an affection for Louise Brooks, Clara Bow and silent film. 

If you are into Joy Division, Pale Saints, The Magnetic Fields, Wire, Television, Roxy Music, The Church, New Order, Air, Love and Rockets, Bryan Ferry, The Go-Betweens, Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno, Galaxie 500, Luna, Supergrass, Trashcan Sinatras, Tom Verlaine, Japan, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Kinks, Kraftwerk, XTC, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Stooges, The Smiths, Pavement, Pixies, Syd Barret of Clan of Xymox (another band with a love of Lulu), then you are sure to appreciate Silent Pictures. More about them at http://www.myspace.com/silentpictures

More libraries carry Diary of a Lost Girl

A few more libraries have added The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition) to their collections - including the Margaret Herrick Library (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences), as well as the Rochester (NY) Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, Wellesley College (Massachusetts) library, and the University of Arizona Library. 

I am especially pleased that the Rochester Public Library carries the book, as that was the library that Louise Brooks used when she lived in Rochester during the last few decades of her life.

The book is also available at through the University of Nebraska, the Hennepin County Library (Minnesota), the George Eastman House (Rochester, NY) and elsewhere.

Thank you to Gretchen, Julie, Amanda, and Mary for helping this book makes its way out into the world. Don't forget to suggest your local library carry a copy. (Many city and university libraries have a "suggest a purchase" form on their websites.)

Love Em and Leave Em to screen in Rochester, NY

Love Em and Leave Em, the fast-paced 1926 romantic comedy featuring Louise Brooks, will be shown in the Dryden Theater at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York on Tuesday, November 16th at 8:00 pm. 

The GEH announcement states, "This early comedy features Louise Brooks and Evelyn Brent as the dueling Walsh sisters: Brent’s Mame is bookish and considerate, while Brooks’s Janie is a heartbreaking flapper whose morals extend so low as to snag her sister’s betrothed. Their relationship comes under even further trial as Janie finds herself in a financial hole from which only Mame’s sibling devotion can rescue her. Far ahead of its time in sexual politics, Love ’Em and Leave ’Em also exhibits one of Brooks’ rare onscreen dance routines. Live piano by Philip C. Carli."

The Dryden Theatre (where once Brooks herself used to watch films) is located at George Eastman House (900 East Avenue) in Rochester, New York. For further information, call 585.271.4090. A little more on this special event can be found at examiner.com

Deutsche Welle on The Diary of a Lost Girl

Deutsche Welle, a leading English-language German news site (and television & radio network based in Europe) carried a big article today on the new Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl.

The Neale Lytollis-penned article, "Forgotten book by Margarete Boehme to be revived in US," can be found at http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6171021,00.html 

The article begins, "Germany has a long literary tradition but names like Goethe and Schiller are likely to spring to mind before Margarete Boehme's. However, her profile is on the rise as one of her most famous works is re-published."

The Diary of a Lost Girl is available for purchase. More information at http://www.pandorasbox.com/diary.html and on the new Facebook page devoted to the book. Please check it out!

New Facebook page for The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition)

I have set up a new Facebook page for The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition). And so far, I have added a bunch of images, with more coming! I also plan on adding background info, announcements, reviews, notice of events, links and more. Also, check out the SHOP NOW tab near the top of the the page. Those who "like" the page receive a 10% discount and free shipping on copies of The Diary of a Lost Girl purchased through Facebook. Check it out!

Louise Brooks makes a brief appearance

Louise Brooks makes a brief appearance in this brand new and rather swell promotional film for the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum.

Along with Bronco Billy, Charlie Chaplin, and early film, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum also love Louise Brooks! 

This is the same silent film museum where I recently introduced the rarely screened 1926 Brooks' film, Love Em and Leave Em. More than 100 people showed up. The good folk at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum gift shop also stock the recently published Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl (PandorasBox Press), as well as a bunch of other nifty Brooks related stuff including posters and postcards. If you are anywhere near Fremont, California be sure and check em out.

The spooky corners of Louise Brooks’ career

(adapted from my article on examiner.com)

Since it's Halloween, I thought I might shine a light on a few of the spooky corners and "dark shadows" of Louise Brooks' career.

Because she typically played flappers and femme fatales, Brooks is not thought of as an actress associated with horror films or monster movies. However, there are a few interesting intersections between the actress's career and the gothic genres.

Did you know, for example, that Louise Brooks was considered for the title role in The Bride of Frankenstein? Director James Whale thought to cast Brooks or Brigitte Helm (the robot from Metropolis), before finally settling on Elsa Lanchester. The monster demanded a mate - though I think Brooks would have been a bit too sexy and a bit too animated for this big lug.

Along with Frankenstein, their is also a connection with Dracula. One interesting intersection revolves around The Diary of a Lost Girl.This controversial 1905 German bestseller by Margarete Bohme, the basis for the 1929 Louise Brooks film of the same name, was translated into English and published in the UK in 1907.

At the time, its sensational story line was praised by some and attacked by others. Among those wishing to ban it - according to the New York Times of December 11, 1907 was Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. Curiously though, the dedicatee of Dracula, a now forgotten though once wildly popular novelist named Hall Caine, praised the book. He described this saddest of modern books as the “poignant story of a great-hearted girl who kept her soul alive amidst all the mire that surrounded her poor body.”

I will end this morbid blog with two splendidly gothic images from my new Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl. The image on the left is the cover of the 1907 German edition of Bohme's book. And the image on the right is an illustration from a vintage Polish edition of the book.

Check out my article on examiner.com to learn about other connections - like that with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Know of others? Please post in the comments.

A rare Louise Brooks image

This fashion shot of Louise Brooks is quite uncommon, at least I haven't seen it before. It is currently for sale on eBay. Brooks seemed to do a at least a little modeling work in the late 1920s, as is evidenced by pictures like this and by her appearance in print advertisements for various products. I wonder if she received a fee for such work, and what it might have been.