Monday, June 10, 2013

Another rare early image of Louise Brooks

Yesterday's Louise Brooks Society blog depicted a rare early image of Louise Brooks. Here is another. This is Louise Brooks' photo from her 1924 passport application. Notably, this was the passport that got her to London, where she would later find work as a dancer at the city's Cafe de Paris, and become the first person to perform the Charleston in the English capital (see yesterday's blog).


Apparently, Brooks applied for her passport at the last minute, on September 18th, 1924, in order to travel to England aboard the Homeric, which was scheduled to depart on September 20th. Her application request was granted over the telephone by a Miss Baukhages. Brooks went to London in the company of Barbara Bennett, the younger sister of the soon-to-be famous Bennett sisters. Bennett was Brooks' witness, and stated that they had known one another for 10 years (not true). On her application, Brooks stated that she was going to England and France to study and travel."Study and travel" was crossed out, and replaced by "visit relative & travel."

Both Louise and Barbara were only 17 years old at the time. Brooks' youth likely explains why a series of telegrams then flew back and forth between New York City and Wichita, Kansas and between the Department of State and Brooks' parents, who granted her permission to travel abroad.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

A rare early image of Louise Brooks

This magazine clipping depicts Louise Brooks. It is a rare image of the yet-to-be actress which I would guess was taken sometime in 1924. Brooks was either 17 or 18 years old at the time. The clipping sold for a modest price on eBay. The seller, based in Germany, said it came from a 1925 German newspaper or magazine. 


Little else is known about the clipping. The number 55 in the upper right hand corner suggests it came from a magazine, and not a newspaper. (Or it could have come from the photo supplement that newspapers at the time often ran on weekends.) The caption below the portrait tells us this image was a publicity photo tied to Brooks' December, 1924 appearance at the Cafe de Paris in London, where she famously became the first person to dance the Charleston in the British capital. The image could have been taken in London, or it could be a left-over publicity photo from Brooks' brief tenure with the George White Scandals in New York City earlier in the year. Whatever the case, it is a rare bit of publicity from Brooks' time in London.

Speaking of little seen material related to Brooks' time in London, I recently came across this passenger list which shows Brooks left England to return the United States on January 14th, 1925. Brooks is the last person listed on the form. She traveled aboard the Homeric, and gave her age as 19 - though she only 18. Her occupation is listed as dancer. And interestingly, she listed her London residence as 49 Pall Mall


Here is a look at 49 Pall Mall, London S.W., as it appears today. This apartment building is not far from Piccadilly. Perhaps these are the very same doors that a young Louise Brooks went in and out of in 1924 and 1925.


Update: Of course, I will try and track down the source of this clip. To me, it's especially interesting that this brief appearance in London by the then little known Louise Brooks received coverage on the Continent.... If you want to see what the Cafe de Paris looked like on the inside, be sure and track down Anna May Wong's wonderful film, Piccadilly (1929). It was filmed partly inside the famous nightclub.[And be sure and check out the June 10th blog for Another related rare early image of Louise Brooks.]

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Louise Brooks and the Vampire of Dusseldorf

Recently, I wrote about a new novel coming out in softcover in the UK which features Louise Brooks on the cover. That book is The Killing of Emma Gross, by Damien Seaman; it has been published in the UK as a paperback and as an ebook in June 2013. The book is also available in the United States.

This new novel is based on the true story of notorious serial killer Peter Kürten and the unsolved murder of Düsseldorf prostitute Emma Gross. The Killing of Emma Gross is a historical thriller, a police procedural set in Weimar Republic-era Germany. Here is the publisher description:

"Dusseldorf prostitute Emma Gross has been murdered and the police have charged Peter Kurten, the 'Vampire of Dusseldorf', the first man ever to be called a serial killer. Murderer, yes, but did he commit this particular crime? The arresting officer, Thomas Klein, thinks not, even though Kurten has confessed. These are the dying days of Weimar Germany, the police force is increasingly divided between right and left. It is a dangerous time. Klein thinks that the real killer is somewhat closer to home. Yet the only people who can help him include a Communist journalist, Gross's friends, and others in the underworld who hate the police. This is a novel of obsession set in the wild days of Weimar, doomed to end with the Nazi takeover."

Peter Kürten was a notorious figure in his day. So much so he was nicknamed the Vampire of Dusseldorf. Kürten, reportedly, inspired the murderer played by Peter Lorre in Fritz Lang's M.

Reading up on Kürten, I discovered he has also been the subject of a handful of books, as well as songs (of the heavy metal / goth rock variety), and inspired characters in other works of fiction. There was also a 1965 movie made about his life called The Vampire of Dusseldorf. Directed, written, and starring Robert Hossein, the film is alternately titled The Secret Killer.

I haven't yet seen the film, but the other day I came across a still of one of the actresses in the 1965 film. It may be Marie-France Pisier. Whoever she is, she has striking resemblance to Louise Brooks.


It's just a strange, kinda creepy, coincidence which also makes me wonder what is it about this feminine type and serial killers? Has it something to do with lustmord? The character of Lulu, played by Brooks, was killed by Jack the Ripper in Frank Wedekind's play and G.W. Pabst film of Pandora's Box. [Thanks to Mark Hodgson and his blog, Black Hole Reviews, for calling attention to the Vampire of Dusseldorf film. UPDATE: the actress pictured above is not Marie-France Pisier. Perhaps it is Tanya Lopert? If anyone knows, please post in the comments field.]


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Must watch video: Martin Scorsese talks about film






Must watch video: Martin Scorsese talking about film. No mention of Louise Brooks, but
much talk of silent film and a brief glimpse of Colleen Moore.

"But what happens when a movie is seen out of its time? For me, 1951 [when he saw The Day the Earth Stood Still was my present, when I saw it. I was nine. For someone born twenty years later, when they see the movie it's a different story. Someone born today, they'll see it with completely different eyes and a whole other frame of reference. Different values, uninhibited by the biases of the time when the picture was made. Because you can only see the world through your own time, which mean that some values disappear and some values come into closer focus. Same film, same images, but in the case of a great film, the power, the timeless power that really can't be articulated, that power is there even when the context has completely changed."    Watch the full lecture here

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Chaperone in Norway

Wow! Here is the cover of the Norwegian version of The Chaperone, by Laura Moriarty.  The book is now out in softcover in the United States.


Monday, June 3, 2013

Radio Review - The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

Check out this review of The Chaperone on KMUW, a public radio station from Louise Brooks' hometown of Wichita, Kansas. Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone features a teenage Louise Brooks as a main character. The review starts this way, "One beautiful thing about reading is the travel it allows. Through books, you can visit other times, places, or even dimensions." 

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone in paperback - tour schedule

The paperback version of Laura Moriarty's wonderful novel, The Chaperone (which features a young Louise Brooks as a lead character), is due out any day now. Laura's author tour kicks off on June 4th at Watermark Books & Cafe in Louise Brooks' hometown, Wichita, Kansas. Laura's complete tour can be found at http://www.lauramoriarty.net/events.html

Tuesday, June 4
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Watermark Books
4701 E. Douglas
Wichita, KS 67218
event details

Wednesday, June 5
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Bluebird Books
2 South Main
Hutchinson, KS 67501
event details

Thursday, June 6
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Unity Temple on the Plaza
707 West 47th Street
Kansas City, MO 64112
event details

      sponsored by Rainy Day Books
      2706 W. 53rd Street
      Fairway, KS 66205

Monday, June 10
7:30 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Tattered Cover Book Store, Colfax Avenue Store
2526 East Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
event details

Tuesday, June 11
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Magers & Quinn Booksellers
3038 Hennepin Avenue S.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
event details

Wednesday, June 12
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville
123 W. Jefferson Avenue
Naperville, IL 60540
event details

Thursday, June 13
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
St. Charles City-County Library District, Spencer Road Branch
     Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital Event Room
     Community Commons
427 Spencer Road
St. Peters, MO 63376
event details

Friday, June 14
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Lexington Green
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY 40503
event details

Saturday, June 15
1 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Books & Company
The Greene Shopping Center
4453 Walnut Street
Dayton, OH 45440
event details

Monday, June 17
6:30 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Parnassus Books
3900 Hillsboro Pike
Nashville, TN 37215
event details

Tuesday, June 18
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
A Cappella Books
208 Haralson Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
event details

Wednesday, June 19
6 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Garden District Book Shop
2727 Prytania Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
event details

Thursday, June 20
6 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
Page & Palette
32 South Section Street
Fairhope, AL 36532
event details

Friday, June 21
7 p.m.: Talk, Q&A, & Signing
The Ivy Bookshop
6080 Falls Road
Baltimore, MD 21209
event details

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Our Miss Brooks - video



Video featuring Louise Brooks - with music by the early British jazzers Ray Noble and Al Bowlly, "There's a Ring Around the Moon"
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