Follow the Louise Brooks Society on Twitter

Do you follow the Louise Brooks Society on Twitter? If not, you should! The LBS ( @LB_Society ) has been on the popular social media platform since 2009. In fact, the LBS is followed by more than 4,200+ fans and other interested individuals (including a few famous names).

And while you're at it, be sure and check out the LBS Twitter profile, and the more than 5,000 LBS tweets ... so far! 

@LB_Society

Happy Birthday to Fave Rave Bruce Conner

Bruce Conner was born on this day in 1933 in McPherson, Kansas, and raised in Wichita, Kansas.

This great American artist, who passed away in 2008, is still renowned for his work in painting, drawing, sculpture, assemblage, collage, photography, and performance, among other disciplines. Though primarily a visual artist, Conner is perhaps best known for his work as a film maker. His short 16mm and 35mm experimental films like “Report” (1963-1967), “Breakaway” (1966), and “Crossroads” (1976) are each a mini tour-de-force. And so is his first work in the field, a 16mm non-narrative short titled “A Movie” (1958). In 1991, it was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.

Conner is currently the subject of a major retrospective exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (through January 22, 2017). The exhibit, "Bruce Conner: It's All True," opened at the New York Museum of Modern Art, where it received a rave review in the New York Times, which called it an "extravaganza" and "a massive tribute." Times critic Roberta Smith called Conner a "polymathic nonconformist" who was "one of the great outliers of American Art" and who "fearlessly evolved into one of America’s first thoroughly multidisciplinary artists."

After having seen the exhibit in San Francisco, I wrote about it in the Huffington Post.

It's worth noting that Conner had a not uncritical nostalgic affection for old Hollywood. He obliquely appropriated imagery and themes from pulp and pop culture. Witness the works in "Bruce Conner: It's All True" with titles like "St. Valentine's Day Massacre / Homage to Errol Flynn" (1960), “Homage to Mae West” (1961), “Homage to Jean Harlow” (1963), and "Son of the Sheik" (1963), as well as others not includes in this retrospective. Granted, these works are not "about" the movie stars or films they reference, but that doesn't mean they are not an intentional oblique nod.

Conner also had a lifelong interest in his fellow Kansan, Louise Brooks. On more than one occasion, he told me so. They both grew up in Wichita. Conner was also familiar with the biography of the actress by Barry Paris.

Back in 1997, I mounted a small exhibit about Louise Brooks at a small neighborhood cafe here in San Francisco. Conner, who lived in the next neighborhood over, read about it in the local paper and visited the exhibit. (So did the artist known as Jess.) Conner must have appreciated my little exhibit, which was made up of film stills, vintage magazine covers, sheet music, and other ephemera I had collected. Conner even wrote a note in the guestbook. I was wowed, and flattered, to say the least, as I had long been interested in Bruce Conner's art. (I can't really fix a date on the beginning of my deep interest in the artist, but it could date to around the time I read Rebecca Solnit's brilliant 1990 book, Secret Exhibition: Six California Artists of the Cold War Era.) Well, anyways, here is that note.

Sometime later, Conner and I got in touch, at first by phone and then in person. Eventually we met, and he had me over to his San Francisco home, where at his kitchen table and in between phone calls from friends like Dennis Hopper, Conner told me of his "near encounter" with Brooks. Conner also told me of his involvement with early showings of her films in San Francisco. It was information, it seemed to me, he was desirous to pass on.

Their near encounter took place around 1942 (as best I can date it), after Brooks left Hollywood and returned to Wichita, where the one time world famous film star moved back in with her parents. It was not a harmonious scene, as Brooks was flat broke and the world (including gossiping locals) had deemed her a failure. As a former Denishawn dancer and Ziegfeld showgirl, Brooks knew how to move with grace, and so, she opened a dance studio in downtown Wichita in a half-hearted attempt to earn some money. Conner, still just a boy, was aware that a movie star was in town (there were articles in the local paper), and he told me he took to keeping on eye on her dance studio. Conner admitted to spying on the studio, watching Brooks come and go. Conner even drew a map of the area, marking the location of Brooks' studio in the Dockum Building on East Douglas and its relationship to the theaters where Conner would go to the movies.

via wichitaksdailyphoto.blogspot.com

Conner also told me how, at one point, he wished to take dancing lessons from Brooks, but his parents would not allow it. Conner told me that it was because of Brooks' scandalous reputation, something no doubt talked about by neighbors. If I recall correctly, he also told me that his parents and other neighbors or  friends knew Brooks' and her family, and that this social circle of friends and acquaintances once encountered one another at a Wichita party, and a punch was thrown. Conner himself never got up the nerve to make contact with Brooks, telling how he once almost rang her doorbell.

In 2006, the Louise Brooks centenary was celebrated by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival when they showed a restoration of Louise Brooks' most celebrated film, Pandora's Box. I was asked to introduce the film, and to introduce Bruce Conner; the artist spoke about what the actress meant to him and his near encounter with this singular silent film star. Somewhere, there is video of this occasion at the Castro Theater in San Francisco before a sold-out audience of more than 1400 people. Here, at least, is a photograph.

In a sense, Louise Brooks is one of the great outliers in film history. And her films, like the art of Bruce Conner, has touched many. John Lennon, a kindred spirit to both, once wrote to Conner, “You don’t know me but I know you and you are my fave rave.” Happy birthday Bruce Conner.

Happy birthday Louise Brooks

Happy birthday to Louise Brooks. The silent film actress, Denishawn dancer, and best-selling author of Lulu in Hollywood was born on this day in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906. She graced this world for 28,758 days.

Brooks' birth even made the Associated Press' Today in History syndicated feature, as seen in the Pattaya Mail, and English Language newspaper from Thailand!

Snapshots from the New Mission theater in San Francisco

My wife and I had a blast at the Alamo Drafthouse / New Mission theater where we saw Diary of a Lost Girl starring Louise Brooks on the big screen. I also signed books and DVDs for new fans of the film. Here are a few snapshots from the evening, which I was told had sold-out!

I love their neon!

Thank you to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival for co-sponsoring this event and for asking me to participate. Thank you Lucy, Peter and Anita.

Today / tonight: Diary of a Lost Girl with Louise Brooks screens in San Francisco

Tonight, in San Francisco, the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission Cinema will screen the 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl. Start time is 7 pm. The event is co-sponsored by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

And what's more, yours truly will be there in the theater lobby selling and autographing copies of the Diary of a Lost Girl book and DVD / Blu-ray both before and after the show.

In 2010, I edited, wrote the introduction, and published the "Louise Brooks edition" of The Diary of a Lost Girl, the sensational & controversial 1905 book that was the basis for the 1929 film. My efforts were praised by the likes of Louise Brooks biographer Barry Paris, film historian Leonard Maltin, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle critic Jack Garner, and others. (More info about the book can be found HERE.)

And, last year, in 2015, my audio commentary to the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. My efforts were likewise praised by film historians James L. Neibaur and Glenn Erickson, and critics from DVDtalk, blu-ray.com, and elsewhere. I recommend both the book and the movie highly. I hope to see some of you at the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission Cinema.

Louise Brooks and the New Mission Theater

Tomorrow evening, the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission Cinema will screen the  Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl. It marks the first time the 1929 film will have been shown at this historic San Francisco theater. It does not, however, mark the first time a Brooks' film will have been shown at the New Mission. (More information about this event can be found HERE.)

From cinematreasures.org: "The Mission Theatre was opened in 1907. It was a narrow theatre on the west side of Mission Street, between 21st Street and 22nd Street. It was renamed Premium Theatre in 1911 and renamed Idle Hour Theatre in mid-1913. In 1916, the architectural firm Reid Brothers reused the original theatre as an entrance lobby to their newly built auditorium of the 1,500-seat New Mission Theatre that sits on Bartlett Alley, behind the Mission Street storefronts. It opened May 6, 1916 with Mary Pickford in Poor Little Peppina....  The entire building was now in a Spanish Colonial Revival style and the auditorium had 1,500 seats, all in the orchestra level. On November 15, 1917, a balcony was added, which was said to have 1,000 seats. In 1918 a 300-seat second balcony was added. In 1932, for the Nasser Brothers circuit, architect Timothy Pflueger transformed the theatre especially the outer lobby, marquee, and 70ft blade sign, into an Art Deco style wonderland with 2,012 seats. After closing as a movie theatre in the 1980’s, the former New Mission Theatre spent the next 25 or so years virtually unaltered as a furniture store."

In 2012, Alamo Drafthouse announced plans to convert the New Mission Theatre into a five auditorium dinner & drinks cinema. A few years later, the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission Cinema opened, on December 17, 2015, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

As can be seen above, in the 1920s the New Mission was part of a thriving Mission street theater district. The New Mission was a popular "neighborhood theater," showing second run fair for a couple of days at a time, especially Paramount films.

The New Mission (and its sister theater, the New Fillmore) had a relationship with Paramount, and that's why so many of Brooks' films showed at the two theaters. In fact, the only two of her Paramount films which didn't show at the New Mission were The City Gone Wild (1927) and The Canary Murder Case (1929). One other Brooks' silent which didn't show there was Just Another Blonde, a First National release. Here is which Brooks films showed at the New Mission and when it showed.

The Street of Forgotten Men
New Mission in San Francisco (Oct. 12-14, 1925)

The American Venus
New Mission in San Francisco (May 27-28, 1926)

A Social Celebrity
New Mission in San Francisco (July 3-4, 1926)

It’s the Old Army Game
New Mission in San Francisco (Sept. 4-5, 1926)

The Show-Off
New Mission in San Francisco (Oct. 23-24, 1926)

Love Em and Leave Em
New Mission in San Francisco (Mar. 12-13, 1927)

Evening Clothes
New Mission in San Francisco (May 16-18, 1927)

Rolled Stockings
New Mission in San Francisco (Dec. 19-21, 1927)

Now We’re in the Air
New Mission in San Francisco (Jan. 30 – Feb. 1, 1928)

A Girl in Every Port
New Mission in San Francisco (July 3-5, 1928)

Beggars of Life
New Mission in San Francisco (Jan. 19-20, 1929)

It Pays to Advertise
New Mission in San Francisco (May 14-15, 1931)

When You’re in Love
New Mission in San Francisco (May 11-13, 1937 with Too Many Wives)

Though Diary of a Lost Girl was released in Germany in 1929 and shown all over the world in the early 1930's, the film was not shown in the United States until the mid 1950's. It made its San Francisco Bay Area debut at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley on September 10, 1972, on a bill that included with The Last of the Mohicans and Madame du Barry. [In case you are wondering, Pandora's Box was first shown in the SF Bay Area at Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey sometime between Aug. 2 and Aug. 5, 1962, as part of the Peninsula Film Seminar. This historic event was organized by James Card, who attended with film prints in hand. Also in attendance was Pauline Kael, poet Jack Hirschman, and others.]

For the records, here is an exhibition history of Diary of a Lost Girl in the San Francisco Bay Area. Any and all additions and corrections are welcome.

Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Sept. 10, 1972 with The Last of the Mohicans and Madame du Barry); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Feb. 15, 1978); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley with Hoopla (Apr. 12, 1981); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Oct. 12, 1983); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Oct. 5, 1985 as part of the series “A Tribute to Louise Brooks (1906-1985)” with Lulu in Berlin); San Francisco Cinematheque at the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco (October 2, 1986 with The Dream Screen); Castro in San Francisco (Jan 22, 1987 with Sadie Thompson as part of “Vamps” series); Castro Theater in San Francisco (Nov. 8, 1988); Castro in San Francisco (May 11, 1992 with Pandora’s Box); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Nov. 5, 1999 as part of film series “Revivals & Restorations”); Castro in San Francisco (Jan. 14, 2002 American premiere of restored print, as part of the Berlin & Beyond Festival); Jezebel’s Joint in San Francisco (Dec. 8, 2002 as part of SF IndieFest Microcinema); Stanford in Palo Alto (Aug. 4, 2006); Castro Theater (July 17, 2010 as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival); Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library in San Francisco (Nov. 14, 2010); Alamo Drafthouse (Nov. 12, 2016).

Incidentally, I'll be in the lobby of the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission signing Diary of a Lost Girl books and DVD before and after the film. This marks my first appearance at this venue.

Children of Divorce with Clara Bow coming to DVD & Blu-ray

Great news for all you flappers, shebas & sheiks

Almost 15 years after the release of its first publication, Flicker Alley, in partnership with the Blackhawk Films® Collection, is proud to celebrate 50 fully-published titles with the Blu-ray/DVD world premiere of Children of Divorce, starring Clara Bow and Gary Cooper.

FormatBlu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition (NTSC)
RegionAll: A,B,C/0
DirectorFrank Lloyd and Josef von Sternberg (uncredited)
FeaturingClara Bow, Gary Cooper, Esther Ralston
ComposersMont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Year1927
LanguageEnglish
Length71 minutes
UPC6-17311-6758-9-8

More info HERE.

The film begins in an American "divorce colony" in Paris after the First World War, where parents would leave their children for months at a time. Jean, Kitty, and Ted meet there as children and become fast friends. Years later, in America, when wealthy Ted (Gary Cooper) reconnects with Jean (Esther Ralston), the two fall deeply in love, vowing to fulfill a childhood promise to one day marry each other. But true love and the most innocent of plans are no match for the scheming Kitty—played by the original Hollywood “It” girl, Clara Bow—who targets Ted for his fortune. After a night of drunken revelry, Ted wakes up to find he has unwittingly married Kitty. This unfortunate turn of events, however, carries with it the traumatized pasts of the three players, whose views of marriage have been shaped as children of divorce.

Sourced from the original nitrate negative held by the Library of Congress, as well as their 1969 fine grain master, this new restoration of Children of Divorce was scanned in 4K resolution, and represents over 200 hours of laboratory work by the Library of Congress in order to create the best version possible. Though some deterioration remains, this is the first time the film has ever been released on home video, allowing audiences to enjoy a rare viewing of classic performances from two of early cinema’s most recognizable stars.

Flicker Alley is delighted to reach the milestone of its 50th publication with Children of Divorce. This Blu-ray/DVD dual-format edition features a new score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, and was made possible thanks to the Blackhawk Films® Collection, Paramount Pictures, and the Library of Congress.

This title is currently available for PRE-ORDERS ONLY. If purchased, the item will be shipped on or before the official release date of DECEMBER 6, 2016.

Bonus Materials Include:

    “Clara Bow: Discovering the 'It' Girl” – Narrated by Courtney Love, this hour-long film documents the life of the woman who would become the icon of the flapper era, from her tragic childhood to her tumultuous personal life as Hollywood’s first sex symbol.

    Souvenir Booklet – Featuring rare photographs; an essay by film preservationist and Clara Bow biographer David Stenn; notes on the production of the documentary by producer-director Hugh Munro Neely; and a brief write-up about the music by Rodney Sauer, score compiler and director of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

Pola Negri: Temptress of Silent Hollywood

Pola Negri is, without doubt, one of the most interesting and (relatively speaking) little appreciated stars of the silent era. She was a major star in the United States in the 1920s, as well as in Europe, where earlier she had risen through the ranks of the Polish and German film industries. In fact, Negri was so big in America (she was both hugely popular, and, she had a BIG personality) that many up and coming stars were compared to her. Negri was sophisticated, worldly, and alluring. Early on, Louise Brooks was once described as a "junior vamp" a la Negri.

I've long been interested in the Polish-born Negri. And my interest was rekindled after having seen a restoration of the Malcom St. Clair directed A Woman of the World (Paramount, 1925), starring Negri, at last year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival. It was funny and enjoyable, and Negri was simply terrific. I can't wait till the restoration is released on DVD, hopefully sometime soon.

Recently, I finished reading a new book on the actress, Pola Negri: Temptress of Silent Hollywood, by Sergio Delgado. The book was published by McFarland, a long standing publisher of books on the silent film era.

From the publisher: "Femme fatale Pola Negri (1897-1987) was one of the great stars of the silent film era, an actress whose personal story of hardships and successes, loves and tragedies is more compelling than most Hollywood dramas. Yet today she is largely overlooked, her name tarnished by myths and scandals. Taking a fresh look at her life and career, this book debunks the myths and gossip, presenting a candid portrait of one of the silent screen's most sensational leading ladies. Rare photographs are included, along with in-depth discussions of her films."

As it is, Delgado's book serves as an introduction to the actress and her films. And as just that, I enjoyed it. It is a good read. However, all along I was hoping for something more, something more in depth -- especially in regards to Negri's European years.

As the author admits, his sources for Negri's are somewhat problematic: they are the various, publicity-driven movie and fan magazines of the day, like Photoplay, as well as Negri's own book, Memoirs of a Star, which was published in 1970 and was described at the time of its release (as relayed by the author) as "fiction."

Delgado as much as admits these sources are not always to be trusted, but then writes a book based almost exclusively on them. That left me frustrated.

That's why I was left wondering, time and again, where were the Polish or German or French sources? Negri was born and raised in Poland, worked there and in Germany making some of her best and worst movies (including some with Ernst Lubitsch), and later lived on and off in France. Certainly there is a Continental paper trail of some sort? In Pola Negri: Temptress of Silent Hollywood, the European incidents in Negri's life and the films she made in Europe are described almost always through the eyes of the American press, or the star's own "suspect" memoirs.

Pola Negri: Temptress of Silent Hollywood is not a bad book. I enjoyed reading it. And, I suggest you get this book, and check it out on your own. Pola Negri was a fascinating if not temperamental personality, as well as a good actress. That, certainly, comes across in Delgado's new book. Heck, who else can claim or did claim to have had affairs and been engaged to BOTH Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino?

[In the meantime, if you want to learn a little more about Negri, start with her Wikipedia page, or the 1987 obituaries which appeared in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Along with her now out-of-print Memoirs, which were published in 1970, a more recent account of the actress's life can be found in Pola Negri: Hollywood's First Femme Fatale by Mariusz Kotowski. First published in Poland as Pola Negri: Legenda Hollywood in 2011, the book was issued here in the United States by the University Press of Kentucky in 2014.]

Election results at movie theaters in 1928

With the 2016 election upon us, its worth noting that back in 1928 one could go to the movies and be kept informed of election results! This, of course, was long before television, and while radio was still in its infancy.

The 1928 election, which took place on Tuesday, November 6th, pitted industrialist businessman and Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover (a Republican) against New York state governor Al Smith (a Democrat). Hoover won in a landslide; and within a year, the stock market crashed and the economy sank into a depression. But that's getting ahead of the story.

Wanting not to loose anxious patrons who might otherwise stay home to learn election results, movie theaters across the country promised to keep their patrons informed of the results "by wire."  Over the years, I have found a number of newspaper advertisements which promised moviegoers the latest election results if they come to their theater. Simply look for the words "election night" on the following advertisements.

In the first ad below, featuring the Al Jolson film, The Singing Fool, and the Louise Brooks film, Beggars of  Life, the election night announcements reads, "Get national, state, county returns while you enjoy a show in a comfortable seat. Come early -- stay late. Come to either theater for the news first."

Kansas City, Missouri

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - with "Special Returns by Post-Gazette wire"

St. Louis, Missouri

NOW THAT YOU'VE READ THIS BLOG POST, GO OUT AND VOTE,
IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO!