Sammy Tramp's Traveling Flicker Factory

One time stage Lulu, now Chaplinesque hobo Sammy Tramp is traveling the world performing in venues large and small, and all the while making delightful short films. Here is her latest, "Hats a Plenty."

Sammy Tramp's Traveling Flicker Factory is a one-of-a-kind old fashioned, moving picture company that creates "instant" silent films featuring local vaudevillian and burlesque performers and original story lines. Sammy Tramp, one of the nation's premiere vaudevillians and the artistic director of The Beggar's Carnivale, travels from town to town, works with locales and performers within that location and puts together a delightful, comedic and clever silent film. Taking the silver screen to the the modern age and then taking it back in time again.

In this edition Sammy goes down under in Melbourne Australia. Sammy is also available for bookings. For more information please visit SammyTramp.tumblr.com

Jan Wahl - author extraordinaire and friend of Louise Brooks

I just got off the phone with Jan Wahl, the celebrated children's book author and longtime friend of Louise Brooks.

We talked about many things, including books, old theaters, the movies - both classic and contemporary, and of course Brooks herself. This is the first time Jan and I have spoken on the phone, though we have exchanged letters and books. (I also met Jan's niece some years back.)

Jan recounted a number of stories about the Brooks, some of which were included in his books and other writings, and some of which I had never heard before (and wouldn't dare repeat).

Jan has known and befriended many interesting and famous people over the years. He several months working with noted filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer during the filming of Ordet (The Word), and later turned that into a fascinating book from the University Press of Kentucky. He was also for a time the personal secretary to Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), the celebrated novelist and short story writer.

In the course of our 30 minute conversation, Wahl also recounted anecdotes of encounters with the likes of artist Jasper Johns, sculptor Alexander Calder, and photographer Edward Steichen.

His very first book, Pleasant Fieldmouse (1964), was illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Another early book, Cobweb Castle (1968), was illustrated by Edward Gorey, whom he knew.

I want to encourage everyone to seek out Jan Wahl's books. They are recommended, and he is a gifted writer and storyteller. These two books by Wahl, Dear Stinkpot: Letters From Louise Brooks, and Through a Lens Darkly, belong on the bookshelf of every Brooks fan. Go get a copy today!

Cool pics of the Day: Louise Brooks in profile

Here are a three smashing portraits of Louise Brooks, each in profile or semi-profile. Each was taken in the mid-to-late 1920s, and each shows off her delicious bob.

Smoking with Lulu in London anyone?

Had anyone had the chance to see the latest production of Smoking with Lulu in London? I would love to hear your thoughts. Please post in the comments field, or email the Louise Brooks Society. The LBS has written earlier about the play here.

The only notice regarding the play which I saw online was this brief bit from September 30 from TimeOut London, which described Janet Munsil's play thus:

"Theatre critic Kennth Tynan and legendary silent movie star Louise Brooks once met and this play is about that fateful moment."

There was also short write-up on a site called skiddle.com.

New novel features Louise Brooks Society

A just published novel features the Louise Brooks Society. The Vanity, by Robert Murillo, is a lovely, Jack Finney like story about one man's love of Lulu. And what's more, Louise Brooks appears on the cover. Here's more from the publisher.

". . . . It’s three o’clock in the morning in Beverly Hills and fiction writer Mike Lundy is standing at his front window, watching a vintage Duesenberg slowly pass by his house. Sitting in the backseat is popular silent film star Louise Brooks, hoping to recover compromising photos she has left at Mike’s house. Possible? Yes, if it were 1927. But Mike lives in the year 2011! And the photos? They’re in the possession of her cuckold husband, movie director Eddie Sutherland, who has plans to turn the pictures over to the Los Angeles Times—unaware that the exposé will not only lead to his and Louise’s banishment from the movie industry but to her suicide and his murder. Mike, able to see their futures, must decide if he should try to stop Eddie from publishing the revealing photos. But if he does, he realizes he would be altering the past, and in doing so, changing history."

About the author: Robert S Murillo taught English for more than ten years before a career as a financial advisor. Today, he spends most of his time writing fiction—mostly short stories; The Vanity is his first novel. He considers J.D. Salinger, Ray Bradbury, and Jack Finney to be the writers who have influenced him the most, though he remains in awe of such artists as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck. When not writing, he enjoys the beaches of the Sea of Cortez. He lives near Berkeley with his lovely bride, Suzanne, and their two cats, Phoebe and Chaplin.

Donna Tartt reading Barry Paris bio of Louise Brooks

In the New York Times, Donna Tartt, the celebrated author of The Secret History and now The Goldfinch, says she is reading among other books the Barry Paris biography of Louise Brooks.
Fore more, check out this brief interview with the author, part of the newspaper's ongoing "By the Book" series. 

Author Donna Tartt and the cover of her new book, The Goldfinch.
(courtesy of Beowulf Sheehan; Little, Brown and Company)