Louise Brooks - Unfinished speed drawing

 "Louise Brooks - Unfinished speed drawing"
via YouTube. Her chin might be a bit pronounced, but I likes it!

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks in a monogramed blouse

Cool pic of the day

NYC showgirl Louise Brooks in a monogrammed blouse or pajama top, circa 1925.

Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone

Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone publishes in the United States on June 5th. Elizabeth McGovern (of Downton Abbey fame) has optioned the screen rights.

Here is the publisher-supplied descriptive text for the book, "A captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922, and the summer that would change them both.

Only a few years before becoming a famous actress and an icon for her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita to make it big in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle is a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip. She has no idea what she’s in for: Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous blunt bangs and black bob, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will change their lives forever.

For Cora, New York holds the promise of discovery that might prove an answer to the question at the center of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in a strange and bustling city, she embarks on her own mission. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, it liberates her in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of the summer, Cora’s eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive."

Louise Brooks as a high school sophomore

The above image comes from the 1922 edition of The Wichitan, the high school year book of Wichita High School in Witchita, Kansas. This particular image depicts "Sophomore A Girls," in which Louise Brooks can be seen as the eighth girl from the left in the front row. Brooks (then only 14 or 15 years old - can't be sure when this pic was taken) is nicely dressed and is holding a purse. Her hands are clasped, and her arms are interlocked with the girls on either side of her. Perhaps they were close friends? Here is a closeup of the future actress.

As this 1922 yearbook is largely devoted to the senior class, there is only one other image of Brooks found in the annual. Brooks is shown as a member of that year's student council. (She can be found on the second row from the bottom, in the middle.) According to the yearbook, 48 boys and girls were chosen from the school's three classes to constitute the Student Council. Their work was carried on by committee, with their big project being the management of the high school bond issue parade.

I would guess this image of Brooks was taken near the beginning of the school year, perhaps around the time the student council was formed. Whenever it was taken, the dramatic flair found in Brooks hair was subdued by the time the Sophomore class picture was taken outside the school.

Speaking of hair, there is also an amusing pictorial feature in the yearbook of students who wore their hair bobbed and those who didn't. It was a big issue then, just as in the 1960's students wore their hair long or short. Brooks is not included among the "Bobbies," who are subdivided into "Buster Browns," "Cherubs," and "Baby Blondes."

One other interesting and amusing picture found in the yearbook depicts a male student dressed up as Charlie Chaplin - complete with cane, bowler and mustache.... Some three years later, Brooks would enter into a summer long affair with the actual actor. There are other interesting bits to gleam from the yearbook, like the comedic depictions of flappers, and the advertising section in the back with an advertisement for the Palace Theater - "Wichita's Most Popular Photoplay House."

By the time the 1922 edition of The Wichitan was issued, Brooks along with a chaperone would leave for New York City where she joined the Denishawn Dance Company, then America's leading dance troupe. Her journey to NYC is told in fictionalized form in a swell new novel by Kansas writer Laura Moriarty. Her book, which comes out in June, is called The Chaperone.

Louise Brooks performed for the last time with Denishawn

On this day in 1924, Louise Brooks performed for the last time as a member of the Denishawn Dance Company. That evening performance, the last of the 1923-1924 season, took place at the Palace Theatre in Trenton, New Jersey. [There are two theaters in Trenton named the Palace, and off hand, I am not sure which Denishawn performed at. There is this one and this one. The first, which is the more likely venue at which the group appeared, is no longer standing.]

Pictured below are two pages from a 1923-1924 season program. Can you spot Brooks below?

Howard Hawks' A Girl in Every Port plays at Stanford

As part of their Howard Hawks festival (through June 24th), the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto, California is set to screens Hawks' 1928 silent film, A Girl in Every Port, on Wednesday May 2th at 7:30 pm. A Girl in Every Port will be screened as part of a double bill with another seldom screened Hawks' silent, Fig Leaves (1926). Dennis James will accompany at the organ. 

A vintage film poster
not from a California theater

Apparently, this is the first time A Girl in Every Port will be screened at the historic Standford, which opened in 1925 and has served for decades as Palo Alto's premier movie house. 

According to my records, most every one of Brooks' American silent films played at the Stanford, except for Love Em and Leave Em (1926) and A Girl in Every Port. When the film did play in Palo Alto (a lively college town adjoining Stanford University), it played at the nearby Varsity theater. Why it did so is hard to say, but it may have been because of the booking practices of the day. Most all of Brooks' American silent films were made for Paramount, except for A Girl in Every Port, which was made for Fox. Then, local theaters generally only showed films from particular studios.

The film, which stars Victor McLaglen, Robert Armstrong and Louise Brooks, proved popular pretty much where ever it showed.

Here is a record of where the film played in northern California during the 1920s. I put together this record by scouring dozens of local newspapers in nearly as many libraries. Many of these these theaters still stand. My favorite theater name among them is the "Reel Joy" in King City.

Alhambra in Sacramento (Mar. 16-19, 1928); Pantages in San Francisco (Mar. 17-23, 1928); Liberty in St. Helena (Mar. 29-30, 1928); California in Petaluma (Apr. 4-5, 1928); Grand Lake in Oakland (Apr. 14-20, 1928); Oroville Theatre in Oroville (Apr. 20-21, 1928); California in San Jose (Apr. 21-23, 1928); California in Berkeley (Apr. 25-28, 1928); Royal in South San Francisco (Apr. 30, 1928); Modesto Theater in Modesto (May 6, 1928); California in Sacramento (May 12, 1928); North Sacramento Theater in Sacramento (May 13, 1928); National in Woodland (May 14-15, 1928); Majestic in Benicia (May 24, 1928); Varsity in Palo Alto (May 25-26, 1928); California in Pittsburg (May 27-28, 1928); Hippodrome in Napa (May 29-30, 1928); Lorin in Berkeley (May 30-31, 1928); Golden State in Monterey (June 3, 1928); Opal in Hollister (June 11-12, 1928); California in Richmond (June 15-16, 1928); Oaks in Berkeley (June 17-18, 1928); Princess in Sausalito (June 19, 1928); Sequoia in Sacramento (June 20-21, 1928); Casa Grande in Santa Clara (June 24, 1928); Fairfax in Oakland (July 1, 1928 with Three’s a Crowd); Lincoln in Oakland (July 1, 1928 with Spoilers of the West); Strand in Gilroy (July 1, 1928); New Fillmore in San Francisco (July 3-5, 1928); New Mission in San Francisco (July 3-5, 1928); Rivoli in Berkeley (July 8, 1928 with The Red Raiders); Alexandria in San Francisco (July 20-21, 1928); Senator in Oakland (July 21, 1928); New Balboa in San Francisco (July 29, 1928 with When the Wife’s Away); Haight in San Francisco (Aug. 2-3, 1928); Merced Theatre in Merced (Aug. 4, 1928); New Roseville Theatre in Roseville (Aug. 8-9, 1929); Hester in San Jose (Aug. 9-10, 1928); Palace in San Leandro (Aug. 12, 1928); California in Salinas (Aug. 15, 1928); Allendale Theater in Oakland (Aug. 16-17, 1928); New Lyceum in San Francisco (Aug. 21-22, 1928); Reel Joy in King City (Aug. 23-24, 1928); Excelsior in San Francisco (Aug. 31, 1928); New State in San Francisco (Aug. 31, 1928); Fern in Oakland (Sept. 10-11, 1928); State in Ukiah (Sept. 16, 1928); Appleton in Watsonville (Sept. 26, 1928); Fortuna Theater in Fortuna (Oct. 4, 1928); Hayward Theatre in Hayward (Oct. 12, 1928); New San Mateo Theater in San Mateo (Oct. 13, 1928); Roosevelt in San Francisco (Oct. 29-30, 1928); Majestic in San Francisco (Nov. 10, 1928); Washington in San Francisco (Nov. 17, 1928); Century in Oakland (Dec. 13, 1928 with The Whip Woman).

Music in Pandora's Box: Sid Kay's Fellows

If you have seen Pandora's Box, then you may have noticed the musical group playing at the wedding reception in act 4. The name of the group, at times cut off by the camera or somewhat obscured by the movements of various characters, can be spotted on the group's drum kit. They are a six member group called Sid Kay's Fellows.

As it turns out, they were a real musical act of the time. Founded in 1926 and led by Sigmund Petruschka ("Sid" - pictured center) and Kurt Kaiser ("Kay"), Sid Kay's Fellows were a popular ten member dance band in Berlin. This jazz ensemble performed at the Haus Vaterland (a leading Berlin night-spot) between 1930 and 1932. And in 1933, they accompanied the great Sidney Bechet during his recitals in the German capitol. Sid Kay's Fellows also accompanied various theatrical performances and played in Munich, Dresden, Frankfurt, Vienna, Budapest, Barcelona and elsewhere.

From what I have been able to find out, the group's depiction in Pandora's Box (filmed in late 1928)  predates their career as recording artists. In 1933, when the Nazis came to power, Sid Kay's Fellows were forbidden to perform publicly. They disbanded, and transformed themselves into a studio orchestra and made recordings for the Jewish label Lukraphon. Most all of their recordings seem to date from around this time, the early to mid-1930s. [Some of these scattered recordings, then issued on 78rpm records, can now be found on an out-of-print multi-disc set called Beyond Recall: A Record of Jewish Musical Life in Nazi Berlin, 1933-1938 (Bear Family Records, 2001).]

Here is a representative recording by Sid Kay's Fellows. It dates from 1930, and would, I guess, have been similar to the kind of dance music played during the wedding reception scene in Pandora's Box. Who knows, perhaps Brooks visited the Haus Vaterland or some of the other places depicted in this video.

Not all that much is known about Sid Kay's Fellows. Under the name "John Kay," band leader Kurt Kaiser had also, at one time, been a member of the famous Weintraubs Syncopators (founded 1924), whose members included Friedrich Holländer. That group appeared in The Blue Angel (1930), starring Marlene Dietrich, a film for which Holländer wrote the music including the famous hit song, "Falling in Love Again." I don't know if Kaiser was still playing with the group when they appeared in The Blue Angel. His fate from the 1930s onward is not known.

Sigmund Petrushka (1903-1997) was born Sigmund Leo Friedmann in Leipzig, Germany and grew up in a Jewish orthodox family. In 1933, Sid Kay's Fellows disbanded and he, under the name Shabtai Petrushka, founded a new musical group, while playing with The Orchestra of the Jewish Cultural Society and composing music for various plays. Using pseudonyms to disguise his being Jewish (as noted, there was a ban on Jewish musicians), Petrushka worked as a music arranger for Deutsche Gramophone and UFA films. In 1934, his fox-trot titled "Flying Hamburger" was recorded by James Kok for the Deutsche Gramophone label. In 1938, Petrushka was allowed to immigrate to Palestine, where his sister had been living since the 1920s.

Petrushka went on to a distinguished career: he joined the Palestine Broadcasting Service as composer, conductor and arranger of its orchestra. And in the first decade of the independent State of Israel, Petrushka served as Deputy director of the Music Programs Department of “Kol Yerushalaym” (“Voice of Jerusalem”). In 1958, he was appointed the Director of Music Section in “Kol Israel” ("Voice of Israel”), a post he held until his retirement. Some of Petrushka's recordings from the mid-1930's can be heard on this webpage devoted to Yiddish music.

If you are interested in finding out more, be sure and check out Michael H. Kater's Different Drummers: Jazz in the Culture of Nazi Germany (Oxford University Press, 1992). There are also many available CDs of music from the time, including Berlin By Night (EMI, 1991), TanzSzene Berlin 1930 (Bob's Music, 2004), and German Tango Bands 1925-1939 (Harlequin, 1999). I have each of them, and like them a lot. Some of their tracks can be heard on RadioLulu, the online radio station of the Louise Brooks Society.

When Pandora's Box debuted in Berlin in February of 1929, an orchestra playing a musical score accompanied the film. The score was reviewed in at least one of the Berlin newspapers. The score, however, does not apparently survive. And what is also not known is if the music of Sid Kay's Fellows, or any sort of jazz, played a part in the music of Pandora's Box.