Quintessentially quintessential Louise Brooks

Quintessentially quintessential . . . .

Sammy Tramp sings "Mack The Knife"

Sammich the Tramp (also known as Sammy Tramp) is a multi-talented, Chaplinesque perfomer. She is Creator/Founder at Sammy Tramp's Traveling Flicker Factory and Artistic Director/Producer at The Beggar's Carnivale.

I first became acquainted with this special performer a few years back when she was performing as Lulu (see blurry snapshot from 2006!) in "Lulu: a black and white silent play," a live stage adaption without dialogue of G.W. Pabst's film of Frank Wedekind's Pandora's Box. It was terrefic. The Louise Brooks Society encourages everyone to check out Sammy Tramp's various webpages, or better yet, check out one of her live performances. She is based in St. Louis, Missouri but travels all around.

Here's the latest from Sammy Tramp. Sammy puts down the kazoo and uses her mouth to sing "Mack The Knife." Originally written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill for The Three Penny Opera and made famous by Bobby Darin.

English advertisement features Louise Brooks

Nick Wrigley sent word that this newspaper advertisement from Bolton, Lancashire, England has long featured Louise Brooks.

Documentary About the Great Writers Who Sat at the Algonquin Round Table

Barry Paris' swonderful biography of Louise Brooks details the time the then 17 year old actress lived at the famous Algonquin Hotel in New York City. The building, located at 59 West 44th Street in Manhattan, has been designated as a New York City Historic Landmark.

The 174-room hote, opened in 1902, was originally conceived as a residential hotel but was quickly converted to a traditional lodging establishment. Its first manager-owner, Frank Case (with whom Louise Brooks was acquianted), established many of the hotel's best-known traditions. Perhaps its best-known tradition is hosting literary and theatrical notables, most prominently the members of the Algonquin Round Table.

In June 1919, the hotel became the site of daily meetings of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of journalists, authors, publicists, artists and actors who gathered to exchange bon mots over lunch in the main dining room. The group met almost daily for the better part of ten years. Some of the core members of this "Vicious Circle" included Herman J. Mankiewicz, Franklin P. Adams, Robert Benchley, Heywood Broun, Marc Connelly, Jane Grant, Ruth Hale, George S. Kaufman, Neysa McMein, Dorothy Parker, Harold Ross, Robert E. Sherwood, Alexander Woollcott and others.

Brooks never happened to meet Dorthy Parker, according to the Barry Paris biography, but she did report seeing her and other members of the vicious circle at the hotel. "I watched Robert Sherwood and Dorothy Parker and a lot of other people jabbering and waving their hands at the Round Table, wondering what made them famous." Benchley was a friend, and Sherwood reviewed Brooks' films in the pages of Life magazine a few years ago. Brooks was also friendly with Mankiewicz.

The Ten Year Lunch is an award winning documentary about the hotel and the famous writers who hung out there. It is informative and fun. Check it out.

Louise Brooks inspired song, "Hopeless"

Here are two version of the Louise Brooks inspired song, "Hopeless." The first is a video (by Stuart Pound) to a recording by the UK band Evangelista. The song dates from the 1990's, and is a tribute to Louise Brooks. The starting point for "Hopeless" is a song of the same title recorded by Evangelista. The song is about an impossible love for Louise Brooks, impossible because she died in 1984.

Hopeless from Stuart Pound on Vimeo.

The second version is a live recording by the Great Admirers of the "Evangelista cult classic."
The video was shot at the Seven Stars pub in Bristol, England on a Sunday afternoon, June 22, 2008.
Sound by Alfie Kingston. Long live Lulu!

Louise Brooks - Digital painting by Jeff Stahl

Spotted this on YouTube. This is nifty: Louise Brooks digital painting by Jeff Stahl. Time lapse digital speed painting of Louise Brooks done in Photoshop CS5 with Wacom tablets Cintiq 12wx and Intuos 4L. Real time: 1h16min. Music: "The Russian Princess" by Jeff Stahl, track available here: http://on.fb.me/1fnzNSH