New song video includes Louise Brooks

"Hang onto yourself" is the new single from Silent Pictures, a San Francisco Bay Area band with a special affection for early film and Louise Brooks. The new video which accompanies the single, available on youtube and elsewhere, features a few scenes from Diary of a Lost Girl among its various layers of imagery. I like it.

"Hang onto yourself" won't be officially released by Green Fuse Records until February 1st, but here is a sneak peak at the video.

Pandora's Box airs on TCM Jan 30

On Sunday, January 30th, Turner Classic Movies will air the 1929 Louise Brooks film, Pandora's Box. An extensive essay on the film can be found at http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=354711&mainArticleId=355239

Journal d'une Fille Perdue

Tonight, in Paris - Journal d'une Fille Perdue
at the Village Voice bookshop and Action Christine.

SF360 write-up

Thursday's event at the Village Voice bookshop got a write-up on SF360, the newsletter of the San Francisco Film Society. In "Notes from the Underground," Michael Fox wrote "Thomas Gladysz, director of S.F.’s Louise Brooks Society, appears at the Village Voice Bookshop in Paris on January 13 to talk about The Diary of a Lost Girl. Gladysz penned a lengthy introduction to the new edition of Margaret Boheme’s 1905 novel. …"

At Village Voice Bookshop

This snapshot was taken outside the Village Voice bookshop in Paris. I will be speaking there on Thursday, and you can spot a small poster for the event in the shop window, as well as a collection of Louise Brooks books in the lower right hand corner of the window.

My wife and I came across the shop while wandering the streets on our first day here in the City of Lights. After introducing myself, we were told that the famous French writer Roland Jaccard had been in earlier and had purchased a copy of The Diary of a Lost Girl. I believe he will be attending the Thursday event, along with a few others associated in some way with the actress and her legacy.

Jaccard, of course, is the author of the very first book on the actress, Louise Brooks: Portrait of a Anti-Star (1977). He also authored a not yet translated book, Portrait d'une flapper (2007). [Someday, we should start an American publishing company to publish it and the handful of other LB related books French-language books in English translation. I can think of a half-dozen titles right off.] If you don't already have a copy of Anti-Star, second hand copies can still be found online and on eBay on occasion. (I am proud of the fact that during my past tenure as a bookseller, I was able to sell more than 800 copies of that book.)

Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks, 20th century icon

Polish film mag cover

For sale on eBay is this 1993 Polish film magazine featuring Louise Brooks on the cover. And according to the seller description, there is also a 2 page article inside on the actress. The name of the magazine is ILUZJON. As someone of Polish descent, I enjoy coming across stuff like this.

There is also an article on Harrison Ford - not the silent film star Harrison Ford, but rather the contemporary film star of the same name. (If Harrison Ford were to appear in a bio-pic about the first Harrison Ford, would he then be playing himself?)

OK, enough kidding around. There are also articles on Federico Fellini and Jack Nicholson and others. The seller emphasizes these latter stars - but I would be willing to wager that it is the lovely picture of Louise Brooks on the cover which causes it to sell. Here is a scan of the back and front covers: the exotic and the erotic look across at one another through time.