Sirens & Sinners: A Visual History of Weimar Film 1918-1933 stars

Here is another newly published book that every silent film and Louise Brooks fan will want to own, Sirens & Sinners: A Visual History of Weimar Film 1918-1933, by Hans Helmut Prinzler, the former director of the Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin.

Sirens & Sinners: A Visual History of Weimar Film 1918-1933 celebrates the height of Weimar cinema through images and commentaries on more than seventy of its finest films including the two Louise Brooks made in Germany, Pandora's Box (1929) and Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). Other G.W. Pabst films are also featured in this heavily illustrated book.

According to the publisher, "Between the First and Second World Wars, Germany under the Weimar Republic was the scene of one of the most creative periods in film history. Through the silent era to the early years of sound, the visual flair and technical innovation of its filmmakers set an international standard for the powerful possibilities of cinema as an art form, with movies such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Metropolis, and M building a legacy that shaped the world of film.

Here is a showcase of more than seventy films, selected to give a wide-ranging overview of Weimar cinema at its finest. Every genre is represented, from escapist comedies and musicals to gritty depictions of contemporary city life, from period dramas to fantastical visions of the future, with themes such as sexuality and social issues tackled by iconic stars like Marlene Dietrich and Louise Brooks. A wealth of film stills captures the bold vision of great directors like Fritz Lang and Ernst Lubitsch, while the text sets the historical scene and gives intriguing insights into what the films meant to the society that created them."

Each of the 70 films featured in Sirens & Sinners is given a two page spread. The glory of this book is in its 443 illustrations, 335 of which are in duotone. Many are little seen. Also useful is the bibliography in the back of the book, which lists many works. I am pleased to report that among the reference works listed in Sirens & Sinners is my Louise Brooks' edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl.

Making Personas: Transnational Film Stardom in Modern Japan (starring Clara Bow and Louise Brooks)

There is a new book out which should appeal to anyone interested in Louise Brooks, Clara Bow and silent film. The book is Making Personas: Transnational Film Stardom in Modern Japan, by Hideaki Fujiki, a professor of Cinema and Japanese Studies at Nagoya University. The book was published by the Harvard University Asia Center, and is distributed by Harvard University Press.

Fujiki's book is a detailed and fascinating look at how film stars are "made." According to the publisher, "The film star is not simply an actor but a historical phenomenon that derives from the production of an actor's attractiveness, the circulation of his or her name and likeness, and the support of media consumers. This book analyzes the establishment and transformation of the transnational film star system and the formations of historically important film stars--Japanese and non-Japanese--and casts new light on Japanese modernity as it unfolded between the 1910s and 1930s."

One chapter, "Modern Girls and Clara Bow," stronly suggests that the It girl was the subject of an intense following in Japan. And not far behind was Louise Brooks. In Japan in the late 1920s, the two actresses were compared and contrasted. Both were considered "modern girls," another term for flappers, and each influenced the way young Japanese women dressed and acted. (Colleen Moore was also considered a modern, though less so than Bow and Brooks, in opposition to Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, who were considered "old fashioned.")

Bow and Brooks were each the subject of articles, which the author cites, in the Japanese press. Fujiki also notes that Akira Iwasaki, a prominent left-wing film critic, historian, and producer who helped introduce German experimental film in Japan, once penned a story called "Clara Louise."

In Making Personas, Fujiki "illustrates how film stardom and the star system emerged and evolved, touching on such facets as the production, representation, circulation, and reception of performers' images in films and other media." I've only begun looking through this book, but have found much of interest in it. The images of American movie stars on the cover of Japanese film magazines is fascinating. This book is recommended to anyone interested in the world wide phenomenon that was silent film.

The little story a postcard tells II

A follow up to an earlier blog, about the story a vintage German postcard told.... Another postcard currently for sale on eBay tells a similar story. The previous post drew a connection between Louise Brooks and Latvia. The vintage card pictured below, printed in France, was postmarked in what was Yugoslovia. Louise Brooks sure did get around.

Louise Brooks in Winter II

A few more portraits of the silent film star all-bundled up in a winter coat and cloche hat, circa the late 1920s.

Louise Brooks in Winter

It is chilly across the nation. Here is a screen capture of Louise Brooks looking rather stylish in a winter coat.

Speaking of Louise Brooks and Latvia . . .

Yesterday's post got me thinking about Louise Brooks and Latvia. I searched on "Latvian newspaper archive" and found that the National Library of Latvia has a number of Latvian newspapers scanned and available online. One of the newspapers, Latvijas Kareivis, from the capital Riga, covered the 1920's and 1930's.

Though the paper is not keyword searchable, I did a quick visual search and noticed that many American films were shown in the Latvia capital. While I spotted a number of Clara Bow images, I unfortunately didn't come across any images or references to Louise Brooks. Here is a typical example of what I found. I am not certain, but the image in the upper right hand corner featuring Adolphe Menjou  may be from the lost 1927 Louise Brooks film, Evening Clothes. (To see a better and complete image of this August 24, 1929 newspaper, visit this page.)

The little story a postcard tells

This particular postcard is currently for sale on eBay. I have seen examples of this Louise Brooks card come up for sale in the past. However, what makes it stand out is that it tells a little story.

The card, serial #4360/1, was printed in the late 1920's by Ross Verlag, a German company. The front features an attractive portrait of Louise Brooks issued by Paramount, her American studio. Their studio stamp is in the lower right hand corner. What is especially telling is the back of the card. The stamp on the back is from Latvia (prior to WWII a Baltic nation sandwiched between Lithuania and Estonia). The person who sent the card dated it June 28, 1931.

Interestingly, the postage suggests that these German cards were circulated around Europe. And, that  person who bought the card was in all likelihood familiar with the subject of the card; that suggests that at least some of Louise Brooks' films were show in the Baltic states, and that she was at least something of a known personality. Perhaps Brooks was featured in a movie magazine, or in a newspaper article? I would be willing to bet she was "known" because of her three European films, Pandora's Box (Germany, 1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (Germany, 1929), and Prix de Beaute (France, 1930).

Also interesting is the date. By 1931, Brooks' career was beginning to falter. In the United States, she appeared in three lesser films, one of them a short. In the European arena, she hadn't appeared in a film in a year. And yet, a fan in Latvia sent a postcard with her image. Can anyone translate the inscription on the back?