Movie Legends - Louise Brooks (Star)

This nicely done YouTube video features a lot of bangless portraits of Louise Brooks, meaning
the actress isn't wearing her signature bangs.

"Silent Beauty" art exhibit

"DREAMIMG LULU" (DETAIL), 72"X84", LASER PRINT, ACRYLIC,ON CANVAS, 2012. 

ALL ARE INVITED TO THE OPENING OF "SILENT BEAUTY". This art exhibit embraces the golden era of "silent" entertainment in the 1920s, in which Holly Suzanne Rader renders a world of vintage ballerinas, follies girls and silent film actresses through mixed media paintings and life-size papier mache dress sculptures.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th, 7-10 PM

ART629 GALLERY

629 COOKMAN AVENUE

ASBURY PARK, NJ

732-988-5111

WWW.ART629.COM

THE EXHIBITION WILL BE OPEN SEPT 15 through OCT 21. GALLERY HOURS VARY. APPOINTMENTS SUGGESTED. FOR MORE INFO VISIT: www.hollysuzannerader.com

Louise Brooks... shoes for the June Bride

Mary Mallory, author (of Hollywoodland), early film historian, and blogger extraordinaire forwarded this scan from the May 5th, 1927 issue of the Hollywood Daily Citizen. It is a full page newspaper advertisement for the Wetherby-Kayser Shoe Company in Los Angeles. And there, prominent in the middle, is Louise Brooks dressed as June bride. I don't know much of anything about the Wetherby-Kayser Shoe Company, though from a quick Google search they seem to have been a prominent local maker of footware from the 1890's onward. It is a great ad, though Louise Brooks looks rather glum. She was never one to smile :)

Free screening of Pandora's Box with Louise Brooks on 28 August

A free screening of Pandora's Box (1929), directed by G.W. Pabst and starring Louise Brooks, will take place in Heaton Park, Newcastle (England) on August 28th. Musical accompaniment will be provided by pianist Neil Brand.

Beggars of Life in Singapore, Overland Stage Raiders on TV

The recent screening of Beggars of Life at the Cinefamily theater in Los Angeles may have got some wondering about its source material, Jim Tully's novelistic memoir of the same name, and the film made from it. Tully's 1925 book is described as a "bestseller" and the 1928 William Wellman directed film one of the more acclaimed films in the year it was released. 

But just how big were they? 

Recently, while digging through some Singapore newspapers from the 1920's I came across these two items, each advertisements. The first is a booksellers advertisement listing some new books for sale. It dates from 1931. And there, among the 35 cent novels being offered - likely reprints or today's equivalent of the paperback, is Jim Tully's Beggars of Life. Some of the other books offered were by H.G. Wells and Nobel Prize winner John Galsworthy.

The other Tully item I came across is this advertisement for some records for sale. It dates from 1929. Among the records listed is a vocal waltz recording of Beggars of Life, which was the theme song for the movie of the same name. It was recorded by a few different artists, so I am not sure who performed on this one.

I show these two items in order to make a small point: Jim Tully and his book got around. Even  around the world, and all the way to Singapore. Was Beggars of Life shown there? I am not sure. Many of Louise Brooks' films showed in Singapore in the 1920's and early 1930's, though I have yet to come across a listing or advertisement or clipping for Beggars of Life. However, I did come across something else a bit unusual - a listing for Overland Stage Raiders (1938), Brooks' last film. This is a 1976 clipping listing programing on Singapore television. Overland Stage Raiders followed coverage of the XXI Olympics held in Montreal, Canada. Brooks is given forth billing after John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, and Max Terhune.

Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985)

Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985)

Save 20% on The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition)

Use coupon code ASTOUND at checkout and receive 20% off The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition). This offer good only on Lulu.com through August 10th.

"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." - Leonard Maltin

"It was such a pleasure to come upon your well documented and beautifully presented edition." -- Elizabeth Boa, University of Nottingham

"Read today, it's a fascinating time-trip back to another age." - Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"An important contribution to film history. . . . a volume of uncommon merit." - Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran

"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, back from obscurity." - Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives

Louise Brooks in the 1940 census

Sharped eyed fan Ray Zantarski found Louise Brooks on the 1940 census. And, he was kind enough to send me a scan. I believe this is our Louise Brooks, as the location, place of birth, age, and prior place of residence all line-up. The page depicted below is the page from the 1940 census which records Brooks as a resident of Los Angeles. See line 13.

When the availability of the census was first announced earlier this year, I tried looking through Kansas records (knowing Brooks had returned home around that time), but couldn't really find my way through the records and gave up. I figured I would wait until the census became keyword searchable.

However, as is indicated on the above form, the census was conducted in early 1940, while Brooks was still living in Los Angeles. And that is why she is recorded in the California records - with her residence being given as 1317 N Fairfax Ave in Beverly Hills. As the census page indicates, Brooks lived in an apartment building. She lived in unit #3, and paid $55.00 per month in rent. (That was an average amount for the street, where renters also listed on the census page paid between $40.00 and $60.00 per month.) Here is a Google street view of the address. I don't know if this is the same building or not, though it looks possible.

View Larger Map

Her neighbors in her apartment building included a couple in unit #1, Denison and Lillian Clift. His occupation was listed as an "independent moving picture" writer. San Francisco-born Denison Clift was a prolific writer and less prolific director of films who got his start in the silent era. He directed a handful of films in England starring Fay Compton, perhaps the best known being A Bill of Divorcement (1922). Other of his British silents were Demos (1921) and Sonia (1921), both of which included Evelyn Brent. (Brooks and Brent appeared in two films together.) Today, Clift's best known film may be The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (1935), starring Bela Lugosi, Gibson Gowland, and Clifford McLaglen, the brother of Victor McLaglen. [In the United States, The Mystery of the Marie Celeste is known as Phantom Ship.]

Denison Clift during the filming of The Mystery of the Marie Celeste

Another of Brook's neighbors in her apartment building was a 30 year old Russian-born freelance musician named Arcady Konchester, who lived in unit #4. He is credited with performing on Dick Haymes and Bing Crosby records. I believe he was a violinist, and in 1935 performed in Singapore under the name Arkady Konchester. Mason and Alice Cline, a couple in their mid-fifties who came from Stockton and who lived in unit #2, managed the apartments.

What's especially interesting about this census record is that Brooks occupation is listed as "copy writer" in the magazine field. Her income for 1939, however, was given as none - and Brooks was listed as unemployed. 

Except for "Hints for Dancers" - the series of text-heavy advertisements which ran in local newspapers which Brooks likely helped write, the former film star is not known to have written or published anything at this period in her life. Her listing as a "copy writer" may have been aspirational. (Once she returned to Kansas, Brooks did write and self-published a booklet titled The Fundamentals of Ballroom Dancing.)

These bits of information beg the question. How did Brooks get by? Did someone else support her? Or did she have a part-time job for which she did not declare any income?

She was just seventeen: Louise Brooks Society has an anniversary

This month, the Louise Brooks Society celebrates its 17th anniversary. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society was one of the very first websites devoted to silent film. The earliest archived LBS webpages - housed on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine - dates to December 20, 1996 and April 11, 1997. The earliest archived newsgroup posts (remember those?) mentioning the Louise Brooks Society date from October 27, 1995 (announcing the website) and January 29, 1996 (a query from the LBS regarding an European screening). These posts are part of the 20-year Usenet Archive which contain hundreds of millions of messages.

In the early days, the LBS also earned its fair share of web awards (remember those?). Here are a few that the LBS received. I was especially proud to be recognized by the Encyclopedia Britannica website!

                    

The LBS (www.pandorasbox.com) has grown over the years - and so has its recognition as a world-wide resource for fans of Louise Brooks. The LBS has been referenced and cited in a handful of books, as well as in publications of all sorts all over the world. Here is a select bibliography of magazine, newspaper and web articles about the website. (Unfortunately, some of these articles are no longer online, or have disappeared behind a pay wall.)

Meddis, Sam Vincent. "Net: New and notable." USA Today, May 23, 1996.
--- "Silent-film buffs can get a taste of how a fan club from yesteryear plays on the Web. The Louise Brooks Society site includes interview, trivia and photos. It also draws an international audience."

anonymous. Net Directory, issue 7, 1996.
--- named one of five best sites devoted to actresses in UK computing magazine

anonymous. "NetSurf." HotWired, 1997.
--- mention on Wired website

Roberson, Fontaine. "Flapper Has 'Virtual' Fan Club in Noe Valley." Noe Valley Voice, September, 1997.
--- article in San Francisco monthly

Silberman, Steve. "Fan Site Sparks Biopic." Wired, April 10, 1998. 
--- feature article about the LBS (reference a few weeks later by Roger Ebert)

Farrant, Darrin. "Programs - Sunday." Melbourne Age, April 16, 1998.
--- mention in Australian newspaper - "She was far more than just a pretty face .... The Louise Brooks Society has an exhaustive web site about this fascinating siren."

Bentley, Rick. "Ahead of Her Time." Fresno Bee, April 30, 1998.
--- article in Fresno, California newspaper - "Internet users have embraced the actress for years. Web pages and various sites have dealt with this actress, whose fame started in the silent films era and exploded in the information age. Her career and her life off the set have become a source of interest unparalleled by many other film stars. And those bits and bytes of information were a catalyst for this TV special."

Evenson, Laura. "Lovely Lulu Lives Again." San Francisco Chronicle, May 3, 1998.
--- mention in newspaper article

anonymous. "NetWatch." Atlanta Journal and Constitution, May 5, 1998.
--- mentioned as exemplary website in Atlanta, Georgia newspaper

anonymous. "Fan Site Profiles." bLink. February, 1999.
--- article in magazine for Earthlink subscribers

Garner, Jack. "Movie buffs can find trivia, reviews online." Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, September 12, 2000.
--- "A fine example of a fan page, a thoughtful, artful site devoted to the life and times of a fabled silent movie legend, with rare articles from the '20s and superb photos."

Roether, Barbara. "Three Make Their Mark: Lulu Lives at Booksmith." Publisher's Weekly, November 20, 2000.
--- mention in trade journal 

Douglas, John. "Online with you." Grand Rapids Press , March 26, 2001.
--- "There has never been a more interesting actress in the history of movies or a more beautiful woman than Louise Brooks, who made a name for herself in American and German films. This Web site at www.pandorasbox.com, created by The Louise Brooks Society, is crammed full of photos of the lady with the page boy bob. It also has biographical material and still shots from her movies plus posters and links to other Brooks sites."

Anderson, Jeffrey M. "Thirteen great film sites." San Francisco Examiner, November 29, 2001.
--- "This San Francisco-run site pays tribute to one of the greatest and most underappreciated stars of all time, Louise Brooks, who played numerous bit parts and starred in only two films during the silent era. It contains tons of info, pictures and history."

l., tk. "Ins Netz gegangen Pandora Brooks." Stuttgarter Zeitung, July 14, 2002.
--- described as "vorbildlichen website" in this German newspaper

O'Connell, Pamela Licalzi. "Dreaming Celebrities and the Earth's Eye Candy." New York Times, August 29, 2002.
--- "The Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com) is an excellent homage to the art of the silent film as well as one of its most luminous stars."

Pattenden, Mike. "An era of glamour." Sunday Times, April 27, 2003.
--- mentioned in London newspaper - "She bucked the system to make movies in Europe, notably Pandora's Box, which lends its name to www.pandorasbox.com, dedicated to her remarkable life."

Watson, Dave. "Basking in the Glow of On-Line Info Flow." Straight.com, July 15, 2004.
--- "She's not well-known anymore, but Louise Brooks was one of the biggest stars of silent and early-sound cinema. Naturally, there's a home for her fans on the Net (www.pandorasbox.com), but the site also has a lot of incidental information about that era of moviemaking as well."

Dufour, Nicolas. "Louise Brooks, l'adoration perpétuelle." Le Temps, December 23, 2004.
--- referenced in French newspaper

Melton, Wayne. "That '20s Girl: Lulupalooza celebrates the work of a screen goddess." Style Weekly, July 20, 2005.
--- mentioned in article in Richmond, Virgina weekly " . . . a weekend-long festival of the silent-screen goddess presented by Yellow House Productions and the Firehouse Theatre with the assistance of the Louise Brooks Society."

Caloudas, Constantine. "Louise Bobs Her Hair." Washington City Paper, July 22, 2005.
--- article in Washington D.C. weekly

Maltin, Leonard. "Links We Like." Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, August 2005.
--- "Not many sites of any kind can claim to be celebrating a tenth anniversary online, but that’s true of the Louise Brooks Society, devoted to the life and times of the magnetic silent-film star and latter-day memoirist. Thomas Gladysz has assembled a formidable amount of material on the actress and her era; there’s not only a lot to read and enjoy, but there’s a gift shop and even a 'Radio Lulu' function that allows you to listen to music of the 1920s. Wow!"

anonymous. "Louise Brooks Expert Speaks at Silent Film Fest." Noe Valley Voice, July 2006.
--- referenced in San Francisco monthly

Matheson, Whitney. "Happy birthday, Louise!" USA Today, November 14, 2006.
--- "My favorite Louise Brooks site belongs to the Louise Brooks Society, a devoted group of fans that even keeps a blog. There, you can find just about everything about the actress: articles, filmography, photos, links and more."

"Interview: THOMAS GLADYSZ, founder of the LOUISE BROOKS Society." SiouxWire, April 5, 2007.
--- interview on website

Stinnett, Chuck. "Louise Brooks had beauty that was decades ahead of its time." The Gleaner, September 22, 2009.
--- "Brooks remains a focus of remarkable interest...." - mention in Henderson, Kentucky newspaper

anonymous. "New Diary of a Lost Girl." Noe Valley Voice, July/August 2010.
--- mention in San Francisco monthly

Maltin, Leonard. "Silent Stars Still Mesmerize." Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, August 10, 2010.
--- mention in review

Couch, Christina. "Quiet riot." Time Out Chicago, August 28, 2010.
--- mention in article

Blackburn, Gavin. "Forgotten book by Margarete Boehme to be revived in US." Deutsche Welle, November 3, 2010.
--- article on English-language German news site

K., A. "Stoletni dnevnik prostitutke, oče avtobiografskih izmišljotin?" RTV Slovenia, November 4, 2010.
--- article on Slovenian news site

Rombeck, Terry. "A cut above: Local author’s novel generates national buzz." Lawrence News-Tribune,  June 10, 2012.
--- mention in article about Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone in Kansas newspaper

LaSalle, Mick. "Me at Book Passage." SFGate, August 4, 2012.
--- referenced in San Francisco Chronicle blog