Andy Stott - Numb (Video)

This music video includes a bit of Louise Brooks.

Louise Brooks inspired music by Cristiano Arcelli

Italian musician Cristiano Arcelli is hoping to raise funds for his Louise Brooks inspired music. Read more (in Italian) on this webpage.

Sponsorizza il nuovo cd di Cristiano Arcelli, vai su www.musicraiser.com e scegli fra le ricompense in basso a destra.

BROOKS.
Il nuovo gruppo di Cristiano Arcelli dedicato a Louise Brook, la diva dark del cinema muto.
Una musica di fusione tra il jazz, l'hardcore e il punk.

Cristiano Arcelli - sax alto, composizioni, arrangiamento
Federico Casagrande - chitarra elettrica
Marcello Giannini - chitarra elettrica
Zeno de Rossi - batteria

Louise Brooks tribute video, with music by Marcella Detroit

Found on YouTube, a Louise Brooks tribute video, with music by Marcella Detroit (formerly of Shakespear's Sister).

Pandora's Box - Jóhann Jóhannsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir Live Soundtrack

Follow this link to a review of the Jóhann Jóhannsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir Live Soundtrack of Pandora's Box, as performed in Manchester, England on November 2, 2012 - http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=43335#.UKxlO4b5UZA

2012 James Card Memorial Lecture

Don't miss the 2012 James Card Memorial Lecture by Denis Doros of Milestone Films, at http://milestonefilms.com/blogs/news/6912078-my-time-with-james-card

Louise Brooks shout out on SNL

Louise Brooks got a shout out on this past weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live. Former CIA Director David Petraeus' personal life was fodder for the show's opening skit, a send-up of the C-SPAN Book TV series. The sketch featured "Paula Broadwell" reading from her Petraeus biography, All In, at a local bookstore. However, in this satirical version of All In, Broadwell—played by Cecily Strong—gave a more lurid portrayal of Petraeus' time as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan:

The deadbolt slid into place with a loud thunk, and I knew the junior officers outside could easily tell what was going on, but I was beyond caring. The general reached into his desk drawer and pulled something out. ‘Put this on, Paula.’ It was a synthetic wig cut Louise Brooks-style and cotton candy pink. ‘No, David, it makes me feel like a dirty girl,’ I whispered. ‘But you are a dirty girl, Paula,’ he replied. ‘You’re my dirty girl. Now get on that couch.

Diary of a Lost Girl - Croatia 1930

If you are a fan of Louise Brooks, of silent film, or of the movies from any era, the Heritage Auctions website is always well worth checking out. New on the site is this vintage movie poster from Croatia, The auction description is copied below: 

Diary of a Lost Girl (Pabst Film, 1930). Yugoslavian Poster (24.5" X 37.5").

Diary of a Lost Girl is the famous German film directed by G. W. Pabst and starring the inimitable Louise Brooks. Certainly the large 1929 Austrian poster, the only copy known, which is so beautifully featured in the book Starstruck by Ira Resnick, has remained to this day one of the most sought after images on this title. This amazing find is from the first showing in the newly formed Yugoslavia, in 1930. It is a redrawing of the Austrian artwork with even more force and suggestiveness than the source poster. With its image of a partially clad Louise Brooks, the poster is at once, eroticism in its true form, and a timeless theatrical image. This may be the only known copy of this poster. It has had restoration only in the foldlines for some fold separations and minor center-point and left foldline loss of paper. There was some edge wear on the right border. Fine/Very Fine on Linen. Estimate: $1,500 - $3,000.

Louise Brooks & Bruce Conner

Bruce Conner (1933 – 2008) was an American artist renowned for his work in assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography, among other disciplines. He was also a big fan of Louise Brooks. On more than one occasion, Conner told me of his lifelong interest in the actress. [Read more about Conner on his Wikipedia page.]

Conner was born on this day in 1933 in McPherson, Kansas, and was raised in Wichita, Kansas. Back in 1997, I mounted a small exhibit about Louise Brooks at a neighborhood cafe. Conner visited the exhibit, and wrote a note in guestbook.

Somewhere, there is a video of me introducing Bruce Conner at the Castro Theater in San Francisco before an audience of more than 1400 people. [The occasion was a screening of Pandora's Box at the 2006 San Francisco Silent Film Festival.] After my introduction, Conner talked of his interested in Brooks and related how he used to watch her come and go from her Wichita dance studio.

From Wikipedia: "Conner began making short movies in the late 1950s. Conner’s first and possibly most famous film was entitled A MOVIE (1958). A MOVIE (Conner explicitly titles his movies in all capital letters) was a poverty film in that instead of shooting his own footage Conner used compilations of old newsreels and other old films. He skillfully re-edited that footage, set the visuals to a recording of Ottorino Respighi's Pines of Rome, and created an entertaining and thought-provoking 12 minute film, that while non-narrative has things to say about the experience of watching a movie and the human condition. A MOVIE (in 1994) was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Conner subsequently made nearly two dozen mostly non-narrative experimental films."

Non of those films seem to be available on YouTube. So, instead, we offer these with best wishes to Bruce Conner on his birthday. (To watch the NSFW Bruce Conner film, Breakaway (1966), visit this page on vimeo. And yes, that is Toni Basil of Mickey fame as the dancer.)

Louise Brooks: As seen on Amazon

Seen on Amazon, two Louise Brooks related titles at ridiculous prices! Needless-to-say, each can be had for a lot less.

The first is a softcover copy of Louise Brooks, by Barry Paris. This 1990 edition is out-of-print, and second-hand copies can be found for only a few dollars. Nevertheless, this seller is asking $4,999.00 for a mint copy. Go figure. 

The second is a copy of the Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl, which retails for $24.95. Here, this seller is asking $224.55. Wow!