Happy birthday to Christy Pascoe - Louise Brooks Society book designer

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Christy Pascoe (aka site bilder), the designer of the covers of the three books issued (so far) by the Louise Brooks Society. Not only is Christy my wife, she is also my companion in my work. I love her so.

Here is a look at the front and back covers of the three books we've worked on. I think she has done a terrific job. And I am proud to have my name on such good looking books. BTW: More are in the works!

The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition)
by Margarete Bohme (Author) and Thomas Gladysz (Editor, author of the Introduction)
Paperback – 2010
purchase on amazon // Barnes & Noble // Indiebound // Powells // ABEbooks // Alibris
also available at the George Eastman Museum store in Rochester, NY

 

Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film
by Thomas Gladysz (Author), William Wellman, Jr. (Foreword)
Paperback – 2017
purchase on amazon // Barnes & Noble // Indiebound // Powells //  ABEbooks // Alibris
also available at the George Eastman Museum store in Rochester, NY

Now We're in the Air
by Thomas Gladysz (Author),‎ Robert Byrne (Foreword)
Paperback – 2017
purchase on amazon // Barnes & Noble // Indiebound // Powells // ABEbooks // Alibris

TODAY: Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, screens in Bristol, England

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks as Lulu, will be shown in Bristol, England on November 24th. This special event, hosted by South West Silents, will take place at the Cube Microplex (BS2 8 Bristol, United Kingdom). Time and ticket availability may be found HERE.

This film will show from a 35mm film print from the National Film and Television Archive with live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney, and will feature an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson, author of just published BFI Film Classics book on Pandora’s Box. 

"G.W. Pabst’s 1929 silent masterpiece Pandora’s Box stars Louise Brooks in the role that secured her place as one of the immortal goddesses of the silver screen.

This controversial, and in its day heavily censored, film is regularly ranked in the Top 100 films of all time (including Cahiers du Cinema and Sight & Sound). Brooks is unforgettable as Lulu (Louise Brooks), a sexy, amoral dancer who creates a trail of devastation as she blazes through Weimar-era Berlin, breaking hearts and destroying lives. From Germany, she flies to France, and finally to London, where tragedy strikes. This stunning photographed film is loosely based on the controversial Lulu plays by Frank Wedekind, and also features one of the cinema’s earliest lesbian characters." 
 

The Louise Brooks Society all over the place....

The Louise Brooks Society was begun in 1995 as a gathering place for like-minded individuals from around the world.

The Louise Brooks Society is devoted to the appreciation and promotion of the life and films of Louise Brooks. The mission of the society is to honor the actress by stimulating interest in her life, films and writings, as well as her place in 20th century culture; by fostering and coordinating research; by serving as a repository for relevant material; and by advocating for the preservation and restoration of her films and other material.

The purpose of the LBS is to promote interest in the actress by offering membership in a society; by serving as a focal point for related activities; by disseminating accurate information including scholarly texts and bibliographies; and by offering individuals a variety of materials to aid in their appreciation of the actress. Above all, the LBS encourages the viewing of Brooks’ surviving films, and the fellowship of her admirers.

Future projects include the publication of new material about the actress (in the form of books and e-books), as well as the ongoing development of its website, its blog, and RadioLulu. The LBS also hopes to raise funds toward the restoration and release of an unavailable Brooks’ film. Other projects are on the drawing board.


Want to learn more ? Follow these links:

• LBS website
• RadioLulu
• YouTube
• Soundcloud
  
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn 
• Google+
  
• CafePress
• LBS wish list 
• Amazon Store

Visit the LBS page on LAMB

Louise Brooks and Louise Brooks-related books for sale

Looking for something good to read? Want to learn more about Louise Brooks and her films? The Louise Brooks Society has a small number of new & gently used books for sale of interest to the dedicated fan. Some are hard to find, some less so. Each are in very good or better condition. Your purchase helps support the LBS. To place an order via PayPal, please send an email to louisebrookssociety AT gmailDOTcom

Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star (softcover 1st printing)
edited by Roland Jaccard
-- scarce first book on the actress, contains hard-to-find writings by and about Louise Brooks and the Lulu character along with 90 illustrations, edited by the noted French film critic, novelist. This rare 1986 copy was AUTOGRAPHED in Paris by Roland Jaccard. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


Only one copy available
$250.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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The Chaperone (hardcover 1st edition)
by Laura Moriarty
-- The Chaperone is a captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922. Soon to be a major motion picture from PBS Masterpiece and the team that brought the world Downton Abbey. This copy AUTOGRAPHED by Laura Moriarty. Your purchase helps support the LBS (who supplied the cover image).


Only one copy available
$85.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA) 

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Lulu (softcover 1st edition)
by Samuel Bernstein
-- This engaging novel tells the story of the "the laughing girl with the black helmet of hair and the sexy bangs." A good read. These copies are in like new condition and are AUTOGRAPHED by the author. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


A few copies available
$15.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Louise in Love (softcover 1st edition)
by Mary Jo Bang
-- In this highly praised collection of poems, Mary Jo Bang jettisons the reader into the dreamlike world of "Louise," a woman in love. AUTOGRAPHED by the poet. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Only one copy available
$25.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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The Diary of a Lost Girl (softcover 1st edition)
by Margarete Bohme (edited & with an introduction by Thomas Gladysz)

This new edition of the original English language translation brings this important book back into print in a glorious new edition, with more than three dozen vintage illustrations. The introduction details the book's remarkable history and relationship to the 1929 film. AUTOGRAPHED by Thomas Gladysz. Your purchase helps support the LBS.

Copies available
$27.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film (softcover 1st edition)
by Thomas Gladysz
-- This first ever study of Beggars of Life looks at the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. With more than 50 little seen images, and a foreword by William Wellman, Jr. AUTOGRAPHED by the author. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


Copies available
$13.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Now We're in the Air (softcover 1st edition)
by Thomas Gladysz

This companion to the once "lost" 1927 film tells the story of the film’s making, its reception, and its discovery by film preservationist Robert Byrne. With two rare fictionalizations of the movie story, more than 75 little seen images, detailed credits, trivia, and a foreword by Byrne. AUTOGRAPHED by the author. Your purchase helps support the LBS.

Copies available
$17.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Louise Brooks (hardcover 1st edition)
by Barry Paris
-- Simply put, a must read; the definitive biography of Louise Brooks and likely the best film biography every published. This edition, with illustrations, was published in 1989. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Only two copies available
$30.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Lulu in Hollywood (hardcover 1st edition)
by Louise Brooks
-- Brooks' own collection of autobiographical essays. This edition, with a photo insert, was published in 1982. Introduction by William Shawn. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Only two copies available
$25.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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The Show-Off  (hardback)
by William Almon Wolff
-- This hard-to-find novel is based on the acclaimed play by future Pulitzer Prize winner George Kelly, which was the basis of the 1926 Louise Brooks film of the same name. Scarce is dust-jacket, though a little worn. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Only two copies available
$85.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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The Diary of a Lost One (hardback)
by Margarete Bohme
-- A vintage American hardback edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl, published by the Hudon Press in 1908. In good condition without dustjack. Your purchase helps support the LBS.

Only one copy available
$85.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)

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The Canary Murder Case (hardback)
by S.S. van Dine

-- A photoplay edition of the classic mystery novel with stills from the 1929 William Powell / Louise Brooks film. In good condition, without dustjacket. Your purchase helps support the LBS.



Two copies available
$12.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)

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Lulu in Hollywood (softcover)
by Louise Brooks
-- Brooks' own collection of autobiographical essays. This edition, with a photo insert, was published in paperback in the 1980s. Introduction by William Shawn. These copies are in very good condition. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


A few copies available
$12.50 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)

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San Francisco Silent Film Festival (softcover)
two programs
-- These illustrated 80-page+ programs each contain material related to Louise Brooks: The 2012 program with Louise Brooks on the cover (pictured left) contains an illustrated essay by Thomas Gladysz on Pandora's Box. The 2017 program contains a piece by Thomas Gladysz on Now We're in the Air.


One set available
$10.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Il Guanto Rosso (softcover)
by Tadeusz Rozewicz
-- A scarce copy of this 2003 Italian collection of poems by the acclaimed Polish poet, with an image of Louise Brooks on the cover (images supplied by and credited to the LBS). Text in Polish and Italian. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


Only one copy available
$40.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)


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Lulu
by Alban Berg

-- This pair of items includes the softcover libretto for Alban Berg's opera, Lulu. Printed in German in Austria by Universal Edition. Also included is this now scarce 1994 CD, featuring the Lulu Suite by Berg, with Louise Brooks on the cover. Your purchase helps support the LBS.


Only one pair available
$40.00 (includes shipping & handling within the USA)

RARE silent version of Prix de beaute screens in Maryland on November 18

The terrific 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de beauté, will be shown at the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Springs, Maryland on Saturday, November 18th. And better yet, it will feature live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne, a superb musician who has given new life to the rarely shown silent version of the film. (I have seen Horne accompany this version of the film in the past, and it really is terrific.) More information including ticket availability can be found HERE.

PRIX DE BEAUTÉ

Special Features: Silent with live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne

PRIX DE BEAUTÉ aka MISS EUROPE

PRIX DE BEAUTÉ was the final film Louise Brooks made in Europe before returning to Hollywood, following her two collaborations with G.W. Pabst, PANDORA'S BOX and DIARY OF A LOST GIRL. It was badly served by its sound version, released in 1930, and has been little revived since. Shown in its silent version, however, the film is revealed to be a masterpiece of modernist melodrama, and perhaps Brooks' finest work. Lucienne (Brooks) is a typist for a Parisian newspaper alongside her boyfriend and their best pal. When she wins a beauty pageant, glamorous new opportunities start to come her way, badly straining her relationship with her old friends. 

DIR Augusto Genina; SCR René Clair; PROD Romain Pinès. France, 1930, b&w, 113 min. NOT RATED. Run Time: 113 Minutes, Genre: Drama

 

A few years back, I had the chance to ask Stephen a few questions about his work as a musical accompanist, and specifically for Prix de beauté. Here is an excerpt from the interview.

TG: What is your approach to composing the score for a silent film?

SH: My approach varies from event to event, depending on many variables - some of them quite prosaic, such as how much time I have! On occasion I'll be commissioned to compose a fully notated score, either to perform solo or with other musicians. Most often my approach is improvisatory, but 'planned'. By which I mean that I'll watch the film and prepare certain musical elements, along with certain specific effects, such as when I'll switch between instruments (for those that don't know, I'm something of an instrumental multi-tasker). I like the elastic quality of an improvised performance, which I think can sometimes respond from moment-to-moment in a way that is hard to do with a fixed score. But equally I recognize that people like a good tune! So I try to thread melodic elements throughout, which I guess creates something of a hybrid: an improvised score.

TG: Were there any special challenges in composing the score for a silent film that is today best known as a sound film?

SH: I think it's simplest to assume that the audience hasn't seen the sound version. Obviously several people will have done, but the event should ideally stand on its own terms, as a silent film / live music event. However, there are some challenges that this silent version presents, particularly all the images that specifically reference sound effects: the repeated close-ups of loudspeakers, etc. One has to make a decision about whether to acknowledge them musically, or 'play through' them instead.

Unless you're playing an instrument that can produce comparable sound 'effects', I think it's best to approach these things in a slightly abstract way. In the tango song scene I've chosen to focus on a couple of specific elements within the scene - rather than trying to create an impression of vocalizing, for instance. However, the song in the final scene is inescapably important, so I think that I have come up with a rather clever solution to the problem.

TG: Were you able to integrate the two songs used in the sound version into your score? If so, how?

SH: I'm largely gearing the performance to people who are coming to this film without having seen the sound version. The songs are not generally known now, so while it's important that I play a tango when they're dancing / singing a tango, I don't think that it has to be the one sung in the sound version. But just wait until the climax...

TG: What can those who attend this screening screening look forward to?

SH: A lovely but flawed film, elevated to near-classic status by the transcendence of Louise Brooks. On a musical note, I've noticed that the music I'm preparing often starts in a major key, before resolving to the minor. I think this is the influence of the Brooks persona: full of joy, but with a lingering note of melancholy.

NEW BOOK: Pandora's Box (BFI Film Classics) out today in UK

Pamela Hutchinson's new book, Pandora's Box (BFI Film Classics), has just been released in the UK. (Those in the UK can order the book here.) The 106 page book, published by the British Film Institute, is a study of the classic 1929 film starring Louise Brooks.

According to the publisher, the book "revisits and challenges many assumptions made about the film, its lead character and its star. Putting the film in historical and contemporary contexts, Hutchinson investigates how the film speaks to new audiences."

A handful of screening marking the book's publication have been set up around England. Hutchinson will be present to introduce the film and sign copies of her book. According to online sources, tickets for these events are going fast, if they haven't already sold out! The official launch event for the book will take place at a screening of Pandora's Box on Sunday November 19 at the BFI Southbank in London. Pamela will be there to introduce the film and to sign copies of the book afterwards. The film will screen on 35mm, with live accompaniment from John Sweeney. More info about that special event HERE.

There are a series of other screenings planned around the UK to support the launch of the book. You can read about them HERE. Those events include:

• November 24, 2017: Cube Cinema, Bristol: 35mm projection, introduction, live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney. Book tickets here.
  
• December 3, 2017: Phoenix Cinema, Finchley, London: 35mm projection, introduction, live accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Book tickets here.
  
• December 10, 2017: Eden Court, Inverness: 35mm projection, Q&A, live accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Book tickets here.

The book is scheduled for release on November 19 in Germany and France, and in the United States on December 19, 2017. Show your support and love of Lulu, and order your copy today!

Pamela Hutchinson is the Editor of Silent London, and writes on early and silent film for the Guardian newspaper and Sight & Sound. Read her piece on Louise Brooks the Hollywood rebel HERE. And, watch for an interview with Pamela in the coming weeks.

NEW BOOK about the Louise Brooks film, Now We're in the Air

Happy birthday to Louise Brooks, who was born on this day in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906.

Since today is a special day to all those who might read this blog, it gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of my NEWEST book, Now We're in the Air. The book is available on amazon.com, as well as barnesandnoble.com, IndieBound, and elsewhere. The retail price of this softcover edition is a mere $15.00. Order your copy today! 

For those who want one, autographed copies will be available next week. Please email me directly at silentfilmbuffATgmailDOTcom

This companion to the once "lost" 1927 Louise Brooks' film tells the story of the film’s making, its reception, and its discovery in Prague by film preservationist Robert Byrne. Also considered is the surprising impact this otherwise little known film has had on Brooks’ life and career. This 130 page, 8" x 10" book features some 15,000 words of text including two rare fictionalizations of the movie story, more than 75 little seen images, detailed credits, trivia, and a foreword by Byrne. I believe this is a book anyone interested in silent film, especially fans of the actress, will want to own.

The covers were designed by my wife, Christy Pascoe. I think she did a great job! The front cover is picture above. And here is a look at the back cover.

Of course, my previous work, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, is still available but no longer my NEWEST book. It too is available on amazon.com, as well as barnesandnoble.com, IndieBound, ABE.com and elsewhere.