Cool Pic of the Day: Louise Brooks in The Canary Murder Case

 Cool Pic of the Day: Louise Brooks in The Canary Murder Case (1929).

Get social with the Louise Brooks Society

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Louise Brooks :: Harvest Rain ~ "Fountain of Night"

Check it out: Harvest Rain ~ "Fountain of Night"  video from the YouTube channel belonging to  HourOfDecision777 ~ featuring Louise Brooks, of course.

An imaginary interview with Louise Brooks

Italian Louise Brooks fan G. Luca Chiovelli, author of the fantastic Italian website devoted to the actress, had penned a two-part imaginary interview with Louise Brooks titled (in translation) "Louise Brooks, the girl with the black helmet."

Part one can be read here. And part two can be read here. (The Google Chrome browser will translate from the Italian automatically.) The interview appears on the blog of the Monteverdelegge cultural association.

I think it is possible that Louise Brooks is as popular in Italy as she is in France, or Germany.

Louise Brooks :: Monsieur Sable (w/ Marion) - La Javanaise

Magnifique ! Versión de "La Javanaise" de Serge Gainsbourg, con imágenes de "La Caja de Pandora" ("Loulou") de G.W. Pabst



Balboa Theater Kickstarter Campaign to upgrade to digital

I received the following email, copied below, a couple of days ago. It is about the Balboa Theater in San Francisco. Back in the 1920's, it showed a handful of Louise Brooks' films, as did many other neighborhood theaters in San Francisco and elsewhere. In 2006, the Balboa hosted a special event the Louise Brooks Society put on with film historian / critic Peter Cowie (see the August 3rd post) to celebrate the centenary of Louise Brooks' birth as well as the release of Cowie's Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu. It was a memorable event.

I am forwarding this email not so much because of the Balboa's connections to Louise Brooks, but because this neighborhood theater, like others around the country, is facing a situation many theaters  are going through. And we, as film lovers, should be aware. I think this moment in film history may be akin to the time when silent era theaters were forced, by necessity, to "wire for sound."

SFNTF UPDATE, August 6th, 2013
Support the BALBOA THEATRE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN! 

The Balboa Theatre needs your help! After screening movies from film for almost 100 years, the Balboa needs to convert its projectors to digital in order to survive. You can click on the link below to contribute and receive great rewards for your support, or read on below for more information. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2063252829/balboa-theatre-go-digital-or-go-dark In addition to contributing we hope you will spread the word about this campaign to family and friends via Facebook, Twitter and email.

"GO DIGITAL OR GO DARK" CAMPAIGN AIMS TO UPGRADE BALBOA PROJECTORS TO DIGITAL! 

The Balboa Theatre opened in 1926 and has served San Francisco's Richmond district continuously since then. Every year, thousands of residents of all ages visit the Balboa to relax and enjoy the magic of the movies in a classic neighborhood setting. We want this tradition to continue, but we need your help.

After 100 years of movies being screened from film, Hollywood is converting to digital. Every theatre must upgrade its projectors and associated equipment and it must be done by the end of this year. Upgrading the projection and sound equipment in both of the Balboa's auditoriums will cost close to $150,000. This goal of this Kickstarter campaign is to raise the funds to cover the cost of the digital upgrade for one of the Balboa's two auditoriums. Any funds raised above the goal will be put towards upgrading the second auditorium. You can click on this link to contribute: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2063252829/balboa-theatre-go-digital-or-go-dark 

Unfortunately, classic cinemas like the Balboa are rarely able to compete against modern multiplexes. The Balboa is able to survive only because the non-profit San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation holds the lease for the Balboa and covers many expenses so that the Balboa's operator, CinemaSF, can afford to keep the theatre going. To date, the Theater Foundation has enabled numerous improvements including new paint, new floors, a new heating system and new seats. The expense of the digital upgrade, however, requires this Kickstarter campaign.

If the campaign is successful we will immediately upgrade the Balboa's auditorium 1 to digital and hopefully we'll be able to get work on auditorium 2 going as well. With digital projectors in place we'll be able to keep the Balboa alive offering a modern, first-class movie experience in a classic neighborhood theatre. Once the digital conversion is complete, we plan to work on other upgrades including expanding the concession operation to include beer, wine and food. We also hope to rehab the Balboa's aging restrooms.

And if we're not successful? Without digital the Balboa Theatre can't continue to screen new films and the theatre will likely go dark. We don't want that to happen and we know you don't want it to happen either. So please give what you can and help spread the word to friends and family about this campaign. In exchange for your support we'll give you great opportunities to experience the new and improved Balboa for many years to come. Please pass on this link to family and friends and click through to make your contribution! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2063252829/balboa-theatre-go-digital-or-go-dark 

For more info about all the Balboa's programming including showtime information please visit www.cinemasf.com!

San Francisco's Historic Balboa Theatre is located at 3630 Balboa Street (at 37th Avenue) in the Outer Richmond. Plenty of street parking is available and Muni's 31-Balboa serves the theatres directly .

Lehigh University newspaper weighs in on The American Venus

I was stumbling around the Lehigh University website recently when I noticed that the school's newspaper, The Brown and White, had been scanned and put on line in a searchable format. I looked up "Louise Brooks" and found newspaper advertisements for a couple of her films in which the actress was noted as starring. Those films were Now We're in the Air (which showed at the same time as Metropolis - "words can't describe it") in November, 1927 and then again in February, 1928 as well as Beggars of Life in November, 1928.

I then did a search for film titles (where Brooks was not listed), and found advertisements for The Street of Forgotten Men screenings in October, 1925 and January, 1926. I also turned up an advertisement for a three day run for The American Venus in February, 1926. This showing of the film also received a humorous review of sorts which is well worth reading. (Click on the image to view a bigger copy.)

The review suggests that the Thursday afternoon matinee of The American Venus was very, very, very popular - so much so the writer wondered whether classes at Lehigh had been cancelled! The Miss Bay Port referenced in the piece is indeed Louise Brooks, while the Miss America critiqued for her acting was Fay Lanphier - who was Miss America in 1925.

Almost 60 years later, Louise Brooks' best known film, Pandora's Box, was shown at Lehigh. The campus silent cinema series screened what it described as the "one of the most subtly erotic films ever made," presented by Professor Michael Pressler. 

Lehigh University (located in in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) is one of a number of college newspapers I have searched - either over the web on on microfilm - looking for Louise Brooks-related material. They include the University of Michigan, Harvard, USC, UCLA, University of California, Berkeley and others.

Louise Brooks anniversaries

Louise Brooks (actress, dancer, and writer) died on this day, August 8th, in 1985. And in tribute, the Louise Brooks Society was launched on the web in August of 1995.

A major overhaul of the LBS (at www.pandorasbox.com) is coming this Fall.

Don't forget, Diary of a Lost Girl TONIGHT in Los Angeles

DON'T FORGET: The Silent Treatment and the Cinefamily Theater will screen the classic 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl, on August 7 in Los Angeles, California. More information here. Showtime is 7:30 - tickets are $12.00.