Saturday, May 11, 2013

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks, circa 1925

Cool pic of the day: the one and only Louise Brooks, circa 1925.


Thursday, May 9, 2013

Louise Brooks and the original Great Gatsby


This 1926 trailer is the only surviving footage of the first movie adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's  1925 novel, The Great Gatsby. This lost silent film, written during and set in the Roaring Twenties, was first adapted as a stage play at the Ambassador Theatre in New York City. 

The subsequent film was directed by Herbert Brenon (his 1925 credits include The Street of Forgotten Men, Louise Brooks' first film), and produced by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky at Famous Players-Lasky. It was released by Paramount Pictures (Brooks' studio), and starred:

Warner Baxter - Jay Gatsby
Lois Wilson - Daisy Buchanan (starred in The Show-Off)
Neil Hamilton - Nick Carraway (starred in The Street of Forgotten Men)
Georgia Hale - Myrtle Wilson
William Powell - George Wilson (starred in The Canary Murder Case)
Hale Hamilton - Tom Buchanan
George Nash - Charles Wolf
Carmelita Geraghty - Jordan Baker
Eric Blore - Lord Digby
Gunboat Smith - Bert
Claire Whitney - Catherine
Nancy Kelly - child

I think Louise Brooks would have been wonderful in The Great Gatsby. She was the flapper type, though Brooks' herself did not think so.... Interestingly, Louise Brooks met F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald on a couple of occasions, according to Barry Paris' brilliant biography of the actress. The first time was in Los Angeles in January, 1927. The second time was in France in May, 1929. Her observations of the famous literary couple (told to critic Kenneth Tynan and others) are recorded in the Barry Paris book.

Here's a bit of related trivia: did you know that the original and most famous cover of The Great Gatsby was designed by Francis Cugat, the older brother of bandleader Xavier Cugat. The bandleader recorded a version of "Siboney" which was a favorite of Louise Brooks. She recommends it as a Latin dance number in her 1940 booklet, The Fundamentals of Ballroom Dancing. A version of that classic song can be heard on RadioLulu.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

‘Just One Day’ by Gayle Forman has Louise Brooks inspired character



Just One Day, the recent YA teen novel by Gayle Forman, has a Louise Brooks inspired character. The book is the story Allyson, a “good girl” on a European tour with Willem, an adventurous Dutch actor. After seeing him perform in Twelfth Night, Allyson accepts Willem’s invitation to spend a day together, after which he calls her Lulu, the nickname of the silent film actress Louise Brooks.... that's according to the review in the New York Times.

More about the author and her books can be found at www.gayleforman.com/

Monday, May 6, 2013

Caro Emerald's new video features Louise Brooks

How many images of, or related to, Louise Brooks can you spot in the new video from the Dutch singer Caro Emerald?



"Tangled Up" is the new single from Caro Emerald's new album, The Shocking Miss Emerald, which was released just a few days ago. From what I've heard, I like it.

I hadn't known of Caro Emerald before, and obviously, I've been missing something. The Shocking Miss Emerald (which brings to mind The Shocking Miss Pilgrim film and memoir by Frederica Sagor Maas) is Emerald's second album.

Her debut album, Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor, was released in January, 2010 and immediately went to number one on the Dutch album charts. The album stayed number one for 27 weeks, an all time record, beating out Michael Jackson's Thriller, which spent 26 weeks at number one in 1983. The album reached double platinum status in the Netherlands in July, 2010. In August of that same year it reached triple platinum, and by November it had gone quadruple platinum, before hitting platinum six times over by year's end. Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor would end up spending 104 weeks on the album charts, until it was removed due to a Dutch rule which provided that albums can't spend more than 2 years in the charts. It later returned and climbed as high as number eight.

So, how many images of, or related to, Louise Brooks can you spot in the new video from the Dutch singer Caro Emerald? For more on this fantastic singer, check out her website at www.caroemerald.com/

[Thanx to the Meredith Lawrence for alerting me to this fantastic video.]

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Dodge Brothers accompany Beggars of Life TODAY in UK

The Dodge Brothers, together with pianist Neil Brand, are set to accompany Beggars of Life at the Aldeburgh Cinema in Suffolk, England. This May 5th screening, which takes place at 8:00 pm, is part of SOUNDS & SILENTS: A Festival of Silent Film & Live Music.

Directed by multiple Oscar winner William Wellman, Beggars of Life (1928) tells the story of a girl who goes on the run after killing her abusive stepfather. She dresses as a boy, and together with another young vagabond, they hop freight trains, confront a group of hobos, and steal a car in their attempt to escape the police and reach Canada. The film stars future Oscar winner Wallace Beery as rail-riding hobo Oklahoma Red, Louise Brooks as Nancy, the girl on the run, and Richard Arlen as her vagabond companion.

Many consider Beggars of Life Brooks' best American film. An American film magazine of the time, Picture Play, described it as "Sordid, grim and unpleasant," though added, "it is nevertheless interesting and is certainly a departure from the usual movie."

This special screening is an example of how invigorating the combination of a great silent movie and contemporary live music can be. The Dodge Brothers, an Americana-drenched quartet featuring the English film critic and BBC commentator Mark Kermode, will set the musical mood. When The Dodge Brothers accompanied Beggars of Life at the British Film Institute, the Bradford International Film Festival, at Barbican, and elsewhere across England at earlier outings, they wowed an appreciative audience each time.




The Dodge Brothers are composed of Aly ‘Dodge’ Hirji (acoustic guitar, mandolin), Mike ‘Dodge’ Hammond (lead guitar, lead vocals, banjo, dobro), Mark ‘Dodge’ Kermode (double bass, harmonica, ukulele, accordion, vocals), Alex ‘Dodge’ Hammond (washboard, snare drum, percussion), and Neil ‘Dodge’ Brand (piano). More on the band can be found on their website at http://www.dodgebrothers.co.uk/

Bryony Dixon, Curator of silent film at the BFI National Archive, has said "Beggars of Life and the Dodge Brothers - deep dish Americana, rail-riding hoboes and Louise Brooks - they were made for each other."

Friday, May 3, 2013

Louise Brooks silent film to show at Cineteca Nazionale

The Louise Brooks silent film, Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), will be show at Cineteca Nazionale in Italy on May 12th. The film will be accompanied on piano by Maestro Antonio Coppola. The Cineteca Nazionale website says this:

«Pensavamo di titolare questa rassegna di cinema muto accompagnato dal vivo con Il cinema è donna, ma nel rifletterci più appassionatamente abbiamo deciso per femmina che ci è suonato più autorevole ma non retorico, più impetuoso ma non enfatico, più seducente ma non provocante. Qualcuno ha detto che la donna è come la Natura, generosissima ma spietata, e prendendo per buona questa definizione, seppur estrema, abbiamo compilato il programma includendo non solo dive ma anche registe e autrici. Perché affermiamo che Il cinema è femmina? Sebbene rispondere a una domanda con un'altra domanda cozzi violentemente contro la buona creanza, ci concediamo uno scampolo d'insolenza replicando: "Cosa vagheggeresti se anziché spiegarti il perché e il percome nominassimo semplicemente Francesca Bertini? Greta Garbo? Louise Brooks? Pina Menichelli? Mary Pickford? Leda Gys? Quali e quanti cassetti della tua memoria e della tua anima si spalancherebbero rovesciando cascate di emozioni e di immagini?". Il cinema come arte prenderebbe immediatamente corpo nel tuo immaginario al di là di tutte le chiacchiere, troverebbe istantaneamente nitida connotazione, schiettissima identità fino alla tanto paradossale quanto legittima asserzione che per quanto volessimo disquisire sul Cinema, per quanto volessimo essere accademici, ecumenici e snob, la donna uscirebbe sempre e comunque dalla porta per rientrare dalla finestra, gettando alle ortiche tutti i possibili papiri e le possibili ciance. Per questa rassegna il Cinema Trevi sarà la nostra spalancata finestra. Buona visione e buon ascolto» (Antonio Coppola).

L'appuntamento di maggio è dedicato a Louise Brooks. «Nata nel Kansas, a Wichita, nel 1900. Iniziò come ballerina, allieva della famosa Ruth Saint-Denis; il grande impresario Ziegfeld la scoperse mentre si esibiva nelle "Denishawn Dancers" e la scritturò per lo spettacolo Louis the th14 alle "Follies", segnato quindi da George White che la volle con sé per Scandals e dal famoso "Café de Paris" che la chiamò a Londra. Tornata negli Stati Uniti, Hollwyood ne saggiò cautamente le possibilità affidandole, a partire dal 1925, alcune parti di fianco. Due anni dopo, Howard Hawks la impone all'attenzione con A Girl in Every Port (Capitan Barbablù). […] Con il film di Hawks, la ballerina del Kansas diviene il prototipo della ragazza europea dell'epoca, inquieta, e piena di vita. "Bruna, con occhi vivi e stupendi, i capelli diritti acconciati con la frangetta di moda, lo sguardo provocante e pur fanciullesco, il riso smagliante grazie ad una chiostra di denti sfavillanti, essa era l'immagine stessa della garçonne, la maschietta, la ragazza europea degli anni intorno al 1925" (Castello). La sensualità frammista ad un fondo di maliziosa innocenza, soprattutto la prepotente freschezza e vitalità sono le caratteristiche che fecero della B., pur nel numero limitato delle sue interpretazioni, un'attrice importante (dotata, tra l'altro, di notevoli qualità espressive). Nel '29 fu protagonista assoluta di The Canary Murder Case, un film poliziesco che Malcom St. Clair aveva tratto dal romanzo di S.S. Van Dine, conosciuto in Italia come La canarina assassinata, imperniato sulla misteriosa morte d'una celebre "diva" del varietà, conosciuta come la "Canarina" per un suo costume di piume. […] Ormai famosa, l'attrice attendeva ancora un film di autentico impegno e fu Pabst, nel suo periodo migliore, ad offrirgliene l'occasione, con il torbido personaggio di Lulù, la donna che si degrada nel vizio e finisce assassinata, in Die Büchse der Pandora (Lulù), ispirato a due drammi di Wedekind; ad esso seguì Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (Il diario di una donna perduta) […]. A cavallo fra il '29 ed il '30 la B. disegnò il suo ultimo personaggio importante, la sartina che diventa Miss Europa (Prix de beauté), in un film diretto da Augusto Genina su soggetto di Clair» (Ernesto G. Laura, Filmlexicon degli autori e delle opere).

ore 21.00
Diario di una donna perduta (1929)
Regia: Georg Wilhelm Pabst; soggetto: tratto dal romanzo omonimo di Margarethe Bohme; sceneggiatura: Rudolf Leonhardt; fotografia: Fritz Arno Wagner, Sepp Allgeier; musica: Timothy Brock, Otto Stenzeel; interpreti: Louise Brooks, Adré Roanne, Josef Rovensky, Fritz Rasp, Vera Pawlowa, Franziska Kinz; origine: Germania; produzione: Hom Film, Pabst Film; durata: 106'

Thymiane (Maria nella versione italiana) figlia di un farmacista, viene violentata dall'assistente del padre. Rimasta incinta viene rinchiusa in un riformatorio. Scappa con un'amica e le due finisco a lavorare in un bordello.«Ultimo dei 10 film muti di Pabst, forse il più geniale, anche più di Lulù, certamente il più sarcastico nella critica sociale. Al centro di un macchinoso intrigo, esplicitamente melodrammatico, la Brooks vi disegna un personaggio complesso e contraddittorio di taglio sadiano che si adatta con vitalità primitiva alle peripezie del suo destino» (Morandini).


Here is the Italian language page run through Google Chrome translate:

"We thought the owner of this collection of silent films accompanied by live with The cinema is a woman , but we decided to think about it more passionately female that there is not rhetorical but sounded more authoritative, more impetuous but not emphatic, more seductive but not provocative. Someone said that the woman is as Nature, generous but ruthless, and taking good for this definition, albeit extreme, we have compiled the program including not only dive but also directors and authors. Why do we say that cinema is female ? While answering a question with another question cozzi violently against good manners, we allow a remnant of replicating insolence: "What if instead of vagheggeresti explain the whys and wherefores nominassimo simply Francesca Bertini? Greta Garbo? Louise Brooks? Pina Menichelli ? Mary Pickford? Leda Gys and what and how many drawers of your memory and your soul will throw open waterfalls spilling of emotions and images? ". The cinema as art in your body immediately take imaginary beyond all the talk, would instantly clear connotation, schiettissima to the identity as paradoxical as a legitimate assertion that as far as we wanted to quibble about the cinema as we wanted to be academic, ecumenical and snobbish, the woman always come out the door to return to the window, throwing to the winds all possible papyri and possible nonsense. For this review, the Cinema Trevi will be our window wide open. Good vision and good listening "(Antonio Coppola).

The appointment of May is dedicated to Louise Brooks. "Born in Kansas, Wichita, in 1900. She began as a dancer, a student of the famous Ruth Saint-Denis, the great impresario Ziegfeld discovered while she was performing in the "Denishawn Dancers" for the show and scritturò Louis the 14th to "Follies", then scored by George White that decided to use him for Scandals and the famous "Café de Paris" who called in London. Back in the United States, Hollywood nor wise cautiously entrusting the possibilities, starting from 1925, some parts of the left. Two years later, Howard Hawks to the attention with A Girl in Every Port ( Captain Bluebeard ). [...] With the Hawks film, the dancer of Kansas becomes the prototype of the European girl at the time, restless, and full of life. "Brown, with bright eyes and beautiful, straight hair with bangs styled fashion, the look provocative and even childish, rice thanks to a dazzling white teeth gleaming, it was the very image of tomboy, the flapper, the European girl the years around 1925 "(Castle). The sensuality mixed with a fund of mischievous innocence, especially the bully freshness and vitality are the characteristics that made ​​of the B., even in the limited number of his interpretations, an actress important (with, among other things, of considerable expressive qualities) . In '29 it was the absolute protagonist of The Canary Murder Case , a crime film that Malcolm St. Clair had the novel by SS Van Dine, known in Italy as the canary murdered , based on the mysterious death of a famous "diva" of the variety , known as the "Canarina" for his costume feathers. [...] Now famous, the actress was still awaiting a film of genuine commitment and Pabst was, in his prime, to offer him the opportunity, with the turbid character of Lulu, the woman who degrades in vice and ends up murdered in Die Büchse der Pandora ( Lulu ), inspired by two plays by Wedekind, it followed Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen ( The Diary of a Lost Girl ) [...]. At the turn of the '29 and '30s B. drew his last major character, the seamstress who becomes Miss Europe ( Prix de Beauté ), in a film directed by Augusto Genina on the subject of Clair "(Ernesto G. Laura, Filmlexicon of authors and works ).

21.00
Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst , subject: based on the novel by Margarethe Bohme; screenplay: Rudolf Leonhardt; photograph: Fritz Arno Wagner, Sepp Allgeier; Music: Timothy Brock, Otto Stenzeel; Cast: Louise Brooks, Adre Roanne, Josef Rovensky, Fritz Rasp, Vera Pavlova, Franziska Kinz; origin: Germany; production: Hom Film, Film Pabst, duration: 106 '

Thymiane (Maria in the Italian version), the daughter of a pharmacist, is raped by the Assistant father. Pregnant is locked up in a reformatory. Run with a friend and the two end up working in a brothel. "Last of the 10 silent films of Pabst, perhaps the most ingenious, even more than Lulu, certainly the most sarcastic social criticism. At the center of an intricate plot, melodramatic explicitly, the Brooks will draw a complex and contradictory cutting Sadian that fits with primitive vitality to the vicissitudes of his destiny "(Morandini).
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