Friday, May 20, 2016

Lulu by the Bay: Beggars of Life Exhibition History

Beggars of Life is the opening night presentation at this year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival! The acclaimed 1928 film, directed by Oscar winner William Wellman and starring future Oscar winner Wallace Beery, will be shown on Thursday, June 2nd at 7:00 pm at the historic Castro Theater in San Francisco. The film will be shown with live musical accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. More information, including ticket availability, may be found at HERE.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival first screened the film in 2007. It first showed at the Castro Theater on February 17, 1929.

The film made its Northern California debut at the Modesto Theater in Modesto on October 16, 1928. It then played at the California in Pittsburg (Oct. 28-29, 1928) and Strand in Gilroy (Nov. 5-6, 1928) before opening in San Francisco at the Warfield (Nov. 10-16, 1928). Later San Francisco screenings include the New Fillmore in San Francisco (Jan. 19-20, 1929); New Mission in San Francisco (Jan. 19-20, 1929); Alexandria in San Francisco (Feb. 3, 1929); Irving in San Francisco (Feb. 7-8, 1929); Alhambra in San Francisco (Feb. 23, 1929 with Forbidden Love); Royal in San Francisco (Feb. 24, 1929 with Forbidden Love); Haight in San Francisco (Feb. 27-28, 1929); Metropolitan in San Francisco (Mar. 3, 1929); New Lyceum in San Francisco (Mar. 6-7, 1929); Harding in San Francisco (Apr. 3-4, 1929); Avenue in San Francisco (Apr. 28, 1929);  Riviera in San Francisco (May 1, 1929); Excelsior in San Francisco (May 8-9, 1929); Roosevelt in San Francisco (May 22-23, 1929); and Casino in San Francisco (June 20-21, 1929).

San Mateo, California


Other Bay Area showings from the time include the California in San Jose (Nov. 17-19, 1928); Orpheus in San Rafael (Nov. 19-21, 1928); New Stanford in Palo Alto (Nov. 21-23, 1928); Tamalpais in San Anselmo (Nov. 22-24, 1928); New Niles Theatre in Niles (Nov. 25-26, 1928); Hippodrome in Napa (Nov. 27-28, 1928); Hub in Mill Valley (Nov. 27-28, 1928); Oakland Theater in Oakland (Dec. 1-7, 1928); Royal in South San Francisco (Dec. 4-5, 1928); Sequoia in Redwood City (Dec. 5-6, 1928); Princess in Sausalito (Dec. 6-7, 1928); U.C. in Berkeley (Dec. 12-14, 1928); Mountain View Theatre in Mountain View (Dec. 13-14, 1928); Playhouse in Calistoga (Dec. 16-17, 1928); Fox California in Richmond (Dec. 19-20, 1928); New San Mateo Theater in San Mateo (Dec. 19-21, 1928); California in Petaluma (Dec. 21-22, 1928); El Campanil in Antioch (Jan. 6, 1929); and Theatre of the Golden Bough in Carmel (Jan. 13-14, 1929). In fact, the film continued to be shown as late as December of 1929 (more than a year after its release), when it screened at the Century in Oakland on December 6-7, 1929 on a double bill with Trent’s Last Case.

Salinas, California

In 1965, director William Wellman wanted to bring Louise Brooks to San Francisco and screen Beggars of Life as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival, but it never came to be. Instead, he screened Wings for a packed house at the Masonic auditorium.

The film (likely William Everson's print) was next screened at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Aug. 17, 1976) with It’s the Old Army Game, and then again at an impromptu showing at the old San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (Aug. 22, 1976 with It’s the Old Army Game). Later it was shown at the Avenue Theater in San Francisco (June 26, 1981) with Hollywood Without Makeup.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Beggars of Life screens at San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Two weeks from today, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will screen the acclaimed 1928 Louise Brooks' film, Beggars of Life, with live musical accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. The festival's Facebook page wrote, "#‎SFSFF21‬ is just a few weeks away! You won't want to miss our opening night film BEGGARS OF LIFE, starring longtime SFSFF favorite Louise Brooks and accompanied by the inimitable Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra."




Thursday, June 2 at 7:00 pm at the Castro Theater in San Francisco
Live musical accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra


BEGGARS OF LIFE

Directed by William A. Wellman, USA, 1928
Cast Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen, Wallace Beery
Print Source George Eastman Museum

Louise Brooks, in her best American film, is luminous as a freight-train hopping runaway who dresses in a flat cap and trousers to escape capture by the police. She joins up with young vagabond Richard Arlen, and along the way they encounter a hobo encampment and its charismatic leader, played by Wallace Beery in a performance that Brooks later called “a little masterpiece.” William A. Wellman, whose Wings (1927) had just won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Picture, directs with nuance and grace.

Approximately 81 minutes

Sponsored by McRoskey Mattress Company

Copresented by California Film Institute and San Francisco Film Society

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Rare British clipping - It Pays to Advertise

Here is a rare British clipping I found while in London researching Louise Brooks. This write up of the 1931 comedy It Pays to Advertise comes from The Astorian, which, as far as I can tell, was the official magazine of the Paramount Astorias, which as far as I could tell, were four London theatres named Astoria (the others being Brixton, Old Kent Road and Finsbury Park) taken over by Paramount in 1931. This was back when film studios owned theater chains.



According to this page, It Pays to Advertise was playing at the Brixton Astoria theater commencing the week of December 21st, 1931.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Louise Brooks and I in London

A small part of my recent trip to London was devoted to silent film and Louise Brooks. How could I resist?

Memorably, I had the chance to visit with film historian Kevin Brownlow, and we talked about LB for two hours! He shared his memories of the actress, whom he interviewed twice. And, he also showed me some of the images and clippings he had gathered over the years. I told Kevin of my intention to track down Brooks' London residence, he and shared this item with me. The writing is Brooks, and the image of her London apartment building dates from much later, perhaps the 1960s or 1970s.



As most fans will know, Louise Brooks lived in London for a few months in late 1924 and early 1925. I went past Brooks' one time apartment building, which is located at 49A Pall Mall; the address no longer exists. (It has, seemingly, been absorbed into 50 Pall Mall.) Here is an image of the building today, along with one of me at that spot.




About a 15 minute walk  from 49A Pall Mall is the Cafe de Paris at 3 Coventry Street. LB danced there in 1924, and that's where where Picadilly with Anna May Wong was filmed (in part) in 1929. I was fortune enough to enjoy a private tour of the famed Cafe, which I guess looks a good deal like the place Brooks danced in long ago. Here is a picture of me outside the club, along with some interior shots.











Another highlight was visiting the Cinema Museum, which is housed in an old Lambeth workhouse where Charlie Chaplin one lived; the night we visited, Kevin Brownlow was introducing his print of Man, Woman and Sin (1929), starring John Gilbert & Jeanne Eagles. It is an especially good film. If you are ever in London, be sure and visit this fascinating place. Here are a few snapshots from the night we visited.







And, I did some Louise Brooks research at both the British Library and BFI (British Film Institute) library. At the British Library, I searched through microfilm of some issues of London Life from around the time Brooks was dancing at the Cafe de Paris. It was full of articles and images of London's nightlife, including showgirls, gossip and bits on movie stars. Though promising, I didn't turn-up anything on the then newly opened Cafe de Paris nor Brooks' tenure there. I one thing I did find was the issue of Boy's Cinema which features a fictionalization of Now We're in the Air, Brooks' 1927 film with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton.





I visited the BFI and the BFI library, where I did more research. I was looking for a handful of hard-to-find articles about Brooks published in various British, French and German publications. I managed to unearth a number of pieces which I found in rare issues of publications like The Astorian, The Stoll, Sequences, Film Dope, and Flickers. I wish I had had more time to explore their holdings, as I know I could have found more material.

I also noticed Brooks had something of a presence at the BFI itself. I spotted copies of both the Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl DVDs in the BFI giftshop, and, I noticed Brooks' image was included on some promotional pieces. I also purchased a copy of Mark Kermode's book The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex, which contains a few pages on Beggars of Life.





Saturday, May 14, 2016

Another Louise Brooks Inspired Graphic Novel - The Baldazzinni Hollywoodland

The following is a Italian announcement (here Google translated) from Sergio Bonelli Editore about a Louise Brooks-related exhibit and publication.
"Hollywoodland" is the title of the graphic novel in which the designer Roberto Baldazzini is currently working, a story, scripted by Michele Masiero, whose tables in the works will be part of an exhibition in Vignola, near Modena.

From May 15 to 25 , in the spaces of Salotto di Vignola Muratori (Via Selmi 2), in the province of Modena, you can visit " Hollywoodland ", exhibition dedicated to the project on which Roberto Baldazzini is engaged in this period. The artist is working for our publishing house, displaying a graphic novel set in the Hollywood of the 20s, written by Michele Masiero . Of the story, you can admire inked plates, pencils, studies and pages of script, a tantalizing preview of what will soon be on sale ( click here to visit the Facebook album of the author, devoted to the work in progress of the volume).

The exhibition opening will take place in the presence of the same Baldazzini, Saturday, May 14 , at 17:30 . Later, you can visit the exhibition on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 12:30 and from 15:30 to 19:00. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday opening will be from 16:30 to 19:00. For information: www.baldazzini.it/hollywoodland/

Sunday, May 22 , in addition, Roberto Baldazzini will be playing the central role " Draw comics ", conducted by Stefano Ascari, which will be held at 21:00 , at the Teatro di Vignola Cantelli (Via Cantelli), an opportunity to meet the ' author and explore its long and diverse career in the drawn image world.



Friday, May 13, 2016

Louise Brooks - Hopeless

This is the fifth in a series of odd, unusual, and entertaining Louise Brooks related videos from Vimeo. Here is "Hopeless," the song is by Evangelista and the video is by Stuart Pound. I like it!

According to its page, "The starting point for "Hopeless" is a song of the same title, recorded by the group "Evangelista". The song is about an impossible love for Louise Brooks, impossible because she died in 1984. I liked its energy and humour. I downloaded a section from G.W.Pabst's film Pandora's Box (1929), together with a number of publicity shots of the star, and re-worked them to accompany the song."

Thursday, May 12, 2016

New Graphic Novel on Silent Film Star Louise Brooks!

On May 18th, a new graphic novel about Louise Brooks will be published in France. I haven't yet received a copy, but expect to soon. Nevertheless, from what I've seen, it looks great!

The book, titled Louise, le venin du scorpion, features a scénario by Chantal Van den Heuvel and art by Joël Alessandra. Copies are available for purchase through the publisher's webpage, on amazon.fr, and elsewhere.

I found out about the book by coming across this just published interview with the author and artist, "Joël Alessandra avec Chantal Van Den Heuvel sur les traces de la mythique Louise Brooks," on the Ligne Flaire website. Be sure and check it out, and use your Chrome browser to translate if you don't read French.

More about the artist, Joël Alessandra, can be found on his website. More about the author, Chantal Van den Heuvel, can be found on her website, as well as on this Europe Comics webpage (in English).

The book is described as a "biography of an icon of the Roaring Twenties." This bit of poignant prose serves as a preface:
 Louise,

Tu étais la beauté, l'esprit, la grâce incarnés. Et ton jeu était sublime.
Pourtant, un seul film, Loulou, aura marqué ta carrière.
Hollywood, « l'inhumaine usine à films », t'a très vite blacklistée.
Parce que tu en refusais les règles ? Sans doutes...
Mais aussi, tu disais de toi-même : « Je suis le poignard de ma propre plaie ».

Pourquoi, Louise ? 

And here, courtesy of the the publisher's webpage, are a few pages from this new work. I encourage everyone to order a copy today!




Check this blog in two days for another BIG Louise Brooks graphic novel announcement!

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Louise Brooks - Nitrate Dreams

This is the fourth in a series of odd, unusual, and entertaining Louise Brooks related videos from Vimeo. Here is "Nitrate Dreams," from Colette Saint Yves.

Monday, May 9, 2016

Images of Louise Brooks - Sonchai Körner

This is the third in a series of odd, unusual, and entertaining Louise Brooks related videos from Vimeo. Here is "Images of Louise Brooks - Sonchai Körner." According to the Vimeo page, "Sonchai Körner explores the demons of her past which serve as a source of inspiration for her work with Sven Mundt, telling of the self-doubt which comes from feeling that her talents are not recognized and the self-hate triggered by her inability to believe herself good enough."

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