Louise Brooks' childhood friend, Vivian Vance

If you wondering who the sultry women in the above picture might be, wonder no longer. . . . It's Vivian Vance, the television and theater actress best known for her role as Ethel Mertz, sidekick to Lucille Ball, on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy.

Before she got into television comedy, Vance (born Vivian Jones in 1909) was an accomplished stage actress who also had something of a career as torch singer in the 1930s, as the clipping below suggests. Vance is mentioned here because she, like Louise Brooks, was born in Cherryvale, Kansas. The two were childhood friends. Both of their families would relocate to Independence, Kansas (with Brooks' family then moving to Wichita). I wonder if Brooks was aware of Vance's early stage and music career? Does anyone know if there are recordings from Vance's time as singer?

Louise Brooks: Byline as Mae Tinee

Today, the Chicago Tribune ran a fun and interesting article called "10 things you might not know about film critics." Among others, it discusses the reviews of Pulitzer Prize winners Carl Sandburg (the early 20th century poet and Lincoln biographer) and Rogert Ebert (the late film critic), each of whom wrote about Louise Brooks. And coming in at number 5 was this bit:

For decades, Tribune movie reviewers wrote under a fake byline as Mae Tinee (Get it? "Matinee"). Among the writers using the byline were Frances Peck Kerner, Anna Nangle and Maurine Dallas Watkins, who wrote the play that was adapted into the award-winning musical "Chicago."

What's interesting to note for fans of Louise Brooks is that "Mae Tinee" reviewed a number of films starring or featuring the actress. As is evident, Tinee had an appreciation for Brooks. Here is a chronological list.

Tinee, Mae. "Bathing Beauties or Trick Dog - Your Choice Offered." Chicago Tribune, February 9, 1926.
--- "The story isn't a world heater, but it's an interesting little yarn so well directed and beautifully boxed that it will sell anywhere. . . . The film doesn't drag a minute."

Tinee, Mae. "Adolphe Menjou Proves He's No One Role Actor." Chicago Tribune, March 31, 1926. 

 --- "Louise Brooks, who plays the small town sweetheart who want to make a peacock out of her razorbill, is a delightful young person with a lovely, direct gaze, an engaging seriousness, and a sudden, flashing smile that is disarming and winsome. A slim and lissome child, with personality and talent."

Tinee, Mae. "Ford Sterling Almost a Perfect Bumptious, Bombastic Show Off." Chicago Tribune, July 7, 1926. 

 --- " . . . splendidly cast and acted." 

Tinee, Mae. "Great Little Picture with Fancy Trimmings on View at Chicago." Chicago Tribune, November 30, 1926. 

 --- "Louise Brooks is ideal in the role of hard-boiled, lying man-eating Janie." 

Tinee, Mae "Sousa Makes Picture Seem Mere Piffle." Chicago Tribune, May 4, 1927.

 --- "Miss Valli has often done better and looked better. Also, the same of Louise Brooks, who looses all distinctiveness with the coiffure she has adopted, and becomes just like a million other girls."

Tinee, Mae "Title Flaunts Suggestion but Means Nothing." Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1927.
--- "Two brothers go to the same college and fall for the same girl. [Louise Brooks, can you blame them ?]."

Tinee, Mae. "Wallace and Raymond Take a Little Flyer in Aviation." Chicago Tribune, December 6, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks as twins, is - are - a beautiful foil for the stars and if you think she doesn't marry both of them before the picture ends, why, cogitate again, my darlings."

Tinee, Mae. "Meighan Comes Back with Old-Time Wallop." Chicago Tribune, December 11, 1927.
--- review of City Gone Wild

Tinee, Mae "Mr. M'Laglen This Time Is a Battling Tar." Chicago Tribune, March 1, 1928.
--- "Various damsels rage through the action, but to Louise Brooks falls, as should, the plum feminine characterization. She pulls it off in her customary deft fashion - and the enchanting bob in which she first appeared before the movie camera."

Tinee, Mae. "Movie Reveals Gay Cat's Life, Far from Gay." Chicago Tribune, October 18, 1928
--- review of Beggars of Life

Tinee, Mae. "'It,' Man Movie Is Nonsense, but It Entertains." Chicago Tribune, May 28, 1931
--- review of God's Gift to Women

Tinee, Mae. "Slot Machine Racket Bared in This Movie." Chicago Tribune, May 13, 1937. 

 --- capsule review of King of Gamblers

 

Louise Brooks by Preston Duncan

A rather appealing portrait of Louise Brooks by Preston Duncan, circa 1931.

Artist William Kentridge to produce Lulu opera in 2015

Though it's not news, I was pleased to learn just recently that famed South-African artist, filmmaker and designer of opera and theater William Kentridge will direct a new production of Alban Berg's opera, Lulu, for the Met in 2015. According to the Chicago Sun-Times,

Kentridge was celebrated with a major retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2010, mounted in conjunction with The Nose, the Shostakovich opera he designed for New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. He is now gearing up for his next big project — a return to the Met in the fall of 2015 with a production of Alban Berg’s sensational opera, Lulu.

Berg's opera, Lulu, was based on the Lulu plays by Frank Wedekind, which also served as basis for the G.W. Pabst film, Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks. Berg, as his widow has stated, had seen the Pabst film, and interestingly, he included a filmic element in his opera. How Kentridge stages this 20th century opera should prove fascinating. (Please note: the illustration provided here are not by Kentridge or associated with the forthcoming production of Lulu, and are displayed for decorative purposes only.)

Remembering Roger Ebert (a fan of Louise Brooks)

I'll never forget the first time I met Roger Ebert, which was some years ago, as this snapshot testifies. 

At the time, I introduced myself as the director of Louise Brooks Society. Roger and I had the chance to chat for a bit, and he told me how much he liked visiting my Louise Brooks Society website, and how, on a few occasions, he had used the site while looking things up about the actress and her best known film, Pandora's Box. I was pleased. Roger was encouraging, and he also told me of his own affection for and interest in Louise Brooks. 

I encountered Ebert a few more times over the years, and continued to read his articles and columns. Ebert wrote about Louise Brooks a few times, while praising both Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl as great films. If you haven't already read his glowing reviews on those two films, then search them out. They have, in the past, been found on his website (which is unavailable as I write this - though here are links to Pandora's Box to Diary of a Lost Girl), as well as in his series of books, Great Movies and Great Movies II.

Ebert has also tweeted about Louise Brooks and her two famous films.

And a little more than a year ago, Ebert tweeted three times about the actress and Diary of a Lost Girl.

@ebertchicago:My Streamer of the Day. "Diary of a Lost Girl," a silent masterpiece with the immortal Louise Brooks. on.fb.me/GH64U0

@ebertchicago: New in my Great Movies Collection: Louise Brooks in Pabst's "Diary of a Lost Girl." Remorseless. On Netflix Instant. bit.ly/GHbzQK

@ebertchicago: The latest review in my Great Movies Collection: Louise Brooks in the unforgettable "Diary of a Lost Girl." bit.ly/GHbzQK

Ebert has also written about another Brooks' film, The Show-Off, in his "Ebert Club Newsletter." In 2010, Ebert wrote "Notice that whenever Louise Brooks is on screen, you simply can't focus on anyone else..."

I was also honored when Ebert tweeted about some of my own writings about Louise Brooks, mentioning and linking to stories I had written for the Huffington Post on Beggars of Life and on the Brooks' journals for examiner.com. Today, the world lost a great champion of the movies. And a big fan of Louise Brooks.

Valentina come Louise Brooks

Speaking of Valentina, and speaking of Louise Brooks . . . there is a recently published book which is terrific, and which every serious Brooks fan will want to own. The book was published in Italy in 2012 by Fandango Libri. It's Valentina come Louise Brooks - Il Libro Nascosto (Valentina as Louise Brooks - The Hidden Book), by Vincenzo Mollica and Antonio Crepax.

The book looks at the life and work of the late Italian cartoonist and illustrator Guido Crepax. And in particular, it looks at the creation of Crepax's most celebrated comix creation, Valentina, which was inspired by the silent film star Louise Brooks. Valentina come Louise Brooks - Il Libro Nascosto includes a handful of photographic images of Brooks, including one image of a portrait of Brooks on Crepax's desk, as well as numerous drawings of Brooks / Valentina by Crepax. The book also includes a few handwritten letters from Brooks to Crepax. 

All in all, it's a beautifully illustrated hardback book and a must read or must look for every Louise Brooks fan. If you don't read Italian, don't worry. Here, the pictures tell the story. Below is a snapshot of the front endpapers.

Louise Brooks - Valentina exhibit in Italy

As fans and followers of Louise Brooks know, the actress was the inspiration behind Guido Crepax's internationally celebrated Valentina comix / graphic novels. A show currently on display at the Cart Gallery in Rome, Italy celebrates the artist and his best known work. Be sure and visit the page for "Ciak: Valentina," which contains descriptive text and examples of Crepax's art. Here are a few examples. The first references Diary of a Lost Girl, the celebrated 1929 Brooks film directed by G.W. Pabst.

Here is the Italian text from the gallery website.Use Google Chrome or a web translation feature to read its meaning in your language of choice.

Apparsa per la prima volta sulla rivista Linus nel 1965, Valentina è uno dei personaggi femminili dei fumetti più noto in tutto il mondo: l’unica capace di brillare di luce propria senza bisogno di un protagonista maschile. Per questo, oltre che dagli uomini, per i quali incarna un sogno erotico elegante e sofisticato, essa è molto apprezzata dalle donne come simbolo di indipendenza, fascino e seduzione.

Personaggio simbolo degli anni Sessanta e Settanta, ha continuato a riflettere modi e mode anche nei due decenni successivi. Il suo stile, innovativo e anticipatore, la rende ancora oggi incredibilmente attuale. La complessità del carattere, ricco di sfaccettature e contraddizioni, è una delle chiavi del suo successo, tanto che molte donne hanno finito con l’identificarsi in lei.

Crepax si è sempre preoccupato di costruirle intorno un mondo credibile. La data di nascita, la carta d’identità, il naturale e costante invecchiamento (unico caso nel mondo dei fumetti), le relazioni, il figlio, il lavoro, la macchina, i vestiti, gli oggetti: tutto è reale, fedele riproduzione di un quotidiano possibile. Anche i sogni svolgono un ruolo importante nelle sue storie non solo per evadere, ma per fornire una chiave interpretativa dei fatti. Talvolta inventati, altre fedelmente riportati da sogni veri, essi hanno dato ulteriore spessore al personaggio avvicinandolo alla psicologia di una donna reale.

Spesso il cinema e la fotografia hanno caratterizzato l’opera di Crepax, non solo sotto il profilo dell’impostazione grafica della pagina. Montaggio, inquadratura, sequenza, stacco, particolare: nei fumetti di Valentina tutto è cinema, tutto è immagine. Crepax dimostra una particolare passione per tutto ciò che è dettaglio, accessorio: diversi punti di vista dai quali ricostruire la scena.

Da ciò nasce la volontà di proporre, con la preziosa collaborazione dell’Archivio Crepax ed approfittando anche di alcuni Pezzi proposti nella Mostra Valentina Movie, un’Esposizione che ci presenta lo strettissimo legame ultratrentennale che Valentina ha avuto con il mondo del Cinema: oltre 30 Opere Originali in grado di calarci in una realtà parallela, nella quale veniamo accompagnati dalla fotografa milanese – moderno, raffinato e sexy Virgilio – in un percorso a volte onirico ma sempre fonte di forti emozioni.

E allora … Ciak: Valentina … si gira !!!

Valeska Gert street sign

Continuing our series of streets named after Louise Brooks and other individuals associated with her films . . . here is a German street sign which bears the name of Valeska Gert, the avant-garde dancer who played the wife of the reformatory director in Diary of a Lost Girl (1929).

For more on this fascinating individual, check out "The Remarkable Life of Valeska Gert," an article I contributed to the Huffington Post. Here is a videoclip to the (in)famous scene featuring Gert in Diary of a Lost Girl.

Louise Brooks Society blog nominated for a LAMMY Award

The Louise Brooks Society has been nominated for a LAMMY Award by the Large Association of Movie Blogs. The nomination came in the Best Movie Element Blog category. 

The award is "given for outstanding achievement by a blog, podcast or vlog that specializes in a specific element of the movie experience. Examples include sites dedicated to a specific actor, actress or director; sites dedicated to a particular filmmaking craft like cinematography, costume design, film editing, or set decoration; sites chronicling one’s own experiences as a scriptwriter, producer, projectionist, movie theater employee or Hollywood assistant; sites dedicated to the technology of film preservation or 3-D innovations; sites that focus on food in the movies, or musical scores, or movie posters and paraphernalia, or reading the books that movies have been adapted from."

The All-Important Link to the Ballot is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T6PCWCN