Another Recently published novel features Louise Brooks

Just recently, I came across another new novel which features Louise brooks as a character. The actress and silent film star appears in Take Her For a Ride, which was published by Crucson Publishing earlier this month in February, 2013. Its author is Steven M. Painter.

I plan on reading this novel sometime soon. Here is the description of the book from the publisher. "It's 1930. The stock market crashed. The Great Depression is beginning. Hollywood is starting to rot underneath its glamour and lights. Nobody knows this better than producer Paul Russell. He has to save a movie studio from financial ruin. All he has at his disposal are a stack of horror scripts, some old sets, and unknown actors. The Hollywood pecking order applies to people as much as studios. Actress Lillian Nelson learned this lesson shortly after arriving in Los Angeles. Although she is dating Paul, she refuses to let him give her parts at his studio. She wants to make it on her own. Her attempt to overcome obstacles in order to insert herself into the public's heart is the stuff dreams and nightmares are made of in Hollywood. James Cagney, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Louise Brooks, and Jack Warner act as your guides while Take Her for a Ride peels back the skin of Hollywood's most glamorous age to reveal a core of talented businessmen, competent directors, and radiant stars."

About the author: "Steven M. Painter holds a master's degree in film studies from the University of Arizona. The majority of his research focuses on the films and culture of the 1930s. His master's thesis examined shifting gender roles in early-sound comedies. He has presented papers at conferences on topics ranging from Alfred Hitchcock to The Best Years of Our Lives. He majored in journalism at the University of New Mexico. Prior to studying film, he worked as a reporter for the Woodward News in Woodward, Oklahoma. When he isn't watching movies or writing, Painter enjoys sports, especially basketball.​"

Recently published novel features Louise Brooks

Just recently, I came across a new novel which features Louise brooks as a character. The actress and silent film star also appears on the cover of Virtually Forever, which was published by Eames Media in November of last year. Its author is Anthony Eames.

I haven't yet read the book, and do not know much about it. Here is the description of the book from the publisher.

"Virtually Forever is a love story with an unusual twist. Michael Stanton has an obsessive interest in the long-dead, hauntingly beautiful silent screen actor, Louise Brooks. Involved in an military program to replicate world leaders in a virtual reality domain, he clandestinely uses this technology to recreate the Jazz Age world of Louise Brooks. Entering it, he appears as a wealthy and mysterious stranger and, soon after meeting Louise, a love affair follows against the backdrop of Hollywood parties and studio politics. Back in the real world, Michael’s colleagues have discovered that there is an unknown intruder in their top-secret computer system. The plot weaves between Michael's tempestuous love affair with Louise and his desperate struggle to safeguard her and her world from annihilation — at any cost."

About the author: "A former newspaper journalist and television producer-scriptwriter, Anthony Eames’ varied career also includes roles as a book publishing editor, advertising copywriter and creative director and public relations consultant. A graduate of the BBC Television & Film School, he worked on documentaries, current affairs and magazine programs for several broadcasting organizations in the UK. In Australia, he jointly operated a successful TV production company for many years and has seven international film and video awards to his credit. An Anglo-Irishman living in Sydney, Australia, he is currently trying to reduce the demands of his communications consultancy so he can invest more time in writing projects. His interests include Roman history, philosophy, science and foreign languages. He relishes good food, stimulating company and unrestrained laughter. Anthony has traveled widely and worked in several countries. He is particularly interested in Asian cultures. Anthony is married to a Japanese molecular biologist"

Hilton Als at San Francisco Public Library

Tomorrow, on Tuesday, February 18th, writer, critic, and White Girls (McSweeney's) author Hilton Als will be speaking at the San Francisco Public Library. I hope to attend.

The event description reads "Hilton Als, The New Yorker’s boldest cultural critic, deftly weaves together his brilliant analyses of literature, art, and music with fearless insights on race, gender, and history. The result is an extraordinary, complex portrait of “white girls,” as Als dubs them—an expansive but precise category that encompasses figures as diverse as Truman Capote and Louise Brooks, Malcolm X and Flannery O’Connor. Hear Hilton discuss his book at the San Francisco Main Library."

The event runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m in the Koret Auditorium, Main Library, at 100 Larkin St. in San Francisco.  More info at http://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=1016187601

The Canary Murder Case - a round-up of reviews

The Canary Murder Case was officially released on February 16th, 1929. Based on the bestselling and once critically acclaimed detective novel by S.S Van Dine, the Malcolm St. Clair-directed film stars William Powell as detective Philo Vance and Louise Brooks as Margaret O'Dell ('The Canary"); also in the cast are Jean Arthur, James Hall , Eugene Pallette, Gustav von Seyffertitz, and Louis John Bartels.

The film, which opened around the country before its official release date, was generally well received and also widely written about. Today, however, it is considered one of the weakest of Brooks' American films of the 1920s. Shot as a silent, the film was not so successfully adapted as a talkie. At the time, critics were confused by the use of a voice double for Brooks. What follows is a round-up of reviews drawn from the Louise Brooks Society archive.

anonymous. "The Canary Murder Case." Motion Picture, February, 1929.
--- picked as one of the best of the month

Parsons, Louella O. " 'Canary Murder Case' Pulsating Mystery Picture." Los Angeles Examiner, February 8, 1929.
--- "He [the director] was handicapped by no less a person than Louise Brooks, who plays the Canary. You are conscious that the words spoken do not actually emanate from the mouth of Miss Brooks and you feel that as much of her part as possible has been cut. She is unbelievably bad in a role that should have been well suited to her. Only long shots are permitted of her and even these are far from convincing when she speaks."

Taylor, Ken. "Now Put Philo Vance on Cock Robin Mystery." Los Angeles Evening Express, February 8, 1929.
--- "Louise Brooks plays the brief role of the Canary, the musical-comedy star whose personality is such that she is given deafening applause for merely swinging over an audience's head on a trapeze."

Warren, George C. "Talkie Tone Mastered By St. Clair." San Francisco Chronicle, February 9, 1929.
--- "Louise Brooks is the hard-boiled 'Canary,' and Louise can be excessively evil when she tries - on the screen. She disappears early from the scene because of the little matter of murdering her, but while she is there she shows quite a considerable advance in finesse, and she uses her voice nicely."

W., D. "Mystery Tale Well Staged As Oakland All-Talkie." Oakland Post-Enquirer, March 2, 1929.
--- "It is generally known by this time that Margaret Livingston doubled for Louise Brooks in the dialogue sequences. Hence the not quite perfect synchronization in close-ups and the variety of back views and dimly photographed profiles of the Canary.

H., P. L. "The New Shows Reviewed." Knoxville Journal, March 5, 1929.
--- "In fact all of them do passably well, except Miss Brooks. Not once is she shown actually speaking. This defect is the most glaring in the picture."

Cannon, Regina. "Canary Murder Case Thriller." New York American, March 11, 1929.
--- "Louise Brooks, an 'It' gal with intelligence aplenty, plays the Canary. She's a bird in a gilded cage, to be sure, but wotta bird and wotta cage!"

Hall, Mordaunt. "Who Strangled the Dancer?" New York Times, March 11, 1929.
--- "The speech in this picture is well reproduced, but judging by the manner in which Louise Brooks is posed it is reasonable to assume that the voice one hears from the screen is not hers. It is not an especially pleasing voice and the lines given to this Margaret Odell, the Canary in the case, are hardly what one would imagine to be the manner of talking of a stage performer who had coaxed jewels from such men as are presented in this film."

Johaneson, Bland. "Thrills in Plenty on Broadway's Screens." Daily Mirror, March 11, 1929.
--- "Louise Brooks' magnificent legs ornament the screen for half the picture before she [is] murdered. But Louise is such a wicked little blackmailer, even the legs don't get your sympathy."

Polly. "At Loew's." Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 12, 1929.
--- "Louise Brooks is a lovely victim and as hard-boiled as she is lovely."

anonymous. "Photoplay Reviews." Cinncinnati Enquirer, March 25, 1929.
--- "The role of the murdered girl is played by Louise Brooks, who is much more satisfying optically than auditorilly."

P., J. E. "The Canary Murder Case." Billboard, March 16, 1929.
--- "Louise Brooks is mediocre as the Canary, but this does not detract from the production, as she appears in but a few scenes."

Coyne, Margaret L. "New Picture Plays." Syracuse Post-Standard, April 1, 1929.
--- "The only flaw is the substitution of another voice for that of Louise Brooks - the Canary - making necessary a number of subterfuges to disguise the fact."

Somers, Lee. "Van Dine Story Metropolitan's Film Offering." Washington Herald, April 15, 1929.
--- "Powell is good but not distinctive as the detective, but Louise Brooks is the hardest-boiled baby the screen has yet produced, in the role of the Canary."

Lusk, Norbert. "The Screen in Review: Who Killed The Canary?" Picture-Play, June, 1929.
-- "Louise Brooks, as the hardboiled Margaret Odell, is first seen smiling down to her lovers as she swings out over the audience from an elaborate stage setting. Later, when she frightens the gentlemen with a phone call, Margaret Livingston does some businesslike dialogue for her."

Louise Brooks Society on Twitter

The Louise Brooks Society is on Twitter @LB_Society. As of now, the LBS is followed by more than 2,320 individuals. Are you one of them? Why not join the conversation? Be sure and visit the LBS
Twitter profile, and check out the more than 3,010 LBS tweets so far!

Louise Brooks is trending in 2014!
The LBS twitter stream can also be found in the right hand column.

Louise Brooks & Frankie Trumbauer - Bye Bye Blues, 1930

Happy Valentines Day! Please enjoy these images of Louise Brooks set to the music of Frankie Trumbauer's "Bye Bye Blues" (1930), with vocal by Scrappy Lambert (who a couple of years earlier had recorded Beggars of Life).