A few Louise Brooks related announcements

Here are a few Louise Brooks related announcements:

Pandora's Box, the sensational 1929 film starring Louise Brooks, is set to screen in Chicago, Illinois on April 3, 2018. The movie will be accompanied by Jay Warren, Chicago's foremost pipe organ expert, on the classically restored 3/16 Marr Colton / Geneva Arcada organ.

The film will be shown at the Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St. in St. Charles, as part of its continuing  "Silent Film Night" series featuring silent film classics.

More information about the event can be found HERE.


===========================

Recently, I wrote a new page on the Louise Brooks Society website (www.pandorasbox.com) which I invite everyone to read and explore.

The page, under the "Dancer & Show Girl" menu, is sub-menued  "Denishawn" (and titled "Louise Brooks and Denishawn"); it pertains to the period in Brooks' life when she was a member of the Denishawn Dance Company.

There is some new information there, as well as some pictures which I think will please.


===========================

And here is some news we've been waiting for.....


Kino Lorber is bringing A. Edward Sutherland's It's the Old Army Game starring W.C. Fields, Louise Brooks, Blanche Ring, William Gaxton, and Mary Foy to Blu-ray on March 13. The disc will feature a new 2k master Supplements will include:


- Audio commentary by film historian James L. Neibaur, author of The W.C. Fields Films
- New score by Ben Model

Plot Synopsis: Elmer Prettywillie, the village druggist, is awakened by a woman who needs a 2-cent stamp in the middle of the night. Seeking again a state of somnolence, Prettywillie must contend with the clamorous collectors of garbage, and with those of his own castle who have caught forty winks and then some. The letter-carrying lady, in trying to post her missive, manages to summon the city's fire department to the pharmacy where, unable to find a fire, they sit and sip sodas while Prettywillie panders to their every want. When they leave, a bit of a blaze does erupt, but Prettywillie is forced to his own resources. Meanwhile, George Parker is smitten with Elmer's buxom assistant and uses the storefront to promote a bogus land deal. The Prettywillie fortune is thus inflated, enabling the purchase of a flivver, but Elmer ends up wrecking a Florida estate and finally the flivver, foiling the schemers and delighting the denizens of the town, whose jubilation Elmer takes for an acute case of distemper. He jails himself for safekeeping. Also starring Louise Brooks, Blanche Ring, William Gaxton, and Mary Foy.

Likewise, the label will also release Gregory La Cava's Running Wild starring W.C. Fields, Marie Shotwell, Mary Brian, Claude Buchanan, and Frederick Burton on March 13 as well. The disc will feature a new 2k master Supplements will include:

- Audio commentary by film historian James L. Neibaur, author of The W.C. Fields Films
- New score by Donald Sosin

Louise Brooks' film Beggars of Life begins three day run in Austin, Texas

The Austin Film Society in Austin, Texas is screening the "newly restored" 1928 Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life on Friday January 5th, Saturday, January 6th, and Monday, January 8th. Here is the bit from the society website. More information can be found HERE.

Newly Restored
BEGGARS OF LIFE

Directed by William Wellman
USA, 1928, 1h 40min, DCP, Silent with musical score

In this silent film from director William Wellman, Louise Brooks plays a girl on the run who disguises herself as a boy, teams up with a young man (Richard Arlen) and tries to stay one step ahead of trouble.  — Tickets: austinfilm.org/screening/beggars-of-life/

Last year was a great year for Beggars of Life. This past Spring saw the release of my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, and this past Summer saw the release of a new DVD / Blu-ray of the film from Kino Lorber. Each received great reviews! If you haven't secured your own copy of either the book or the DVD / Blu-ray, why not do so today?

Louise Brooks' film Beggars of Life shows on Long Island on January 24th

The riveting 1928 silent film, Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Cinema Arts Centre on Wednesday, January 24th at 7:30 pm. Part of the "Anything But Silent" series, this Long Island screening will feature live musical accompaniment by the one-and-only Ben Model. More information about this event can be found HERE.

Wednesday January 24, 2018 --- Organized by Cinema Arts Centre, a 501(c)3 organization and Long Island's only not-for-profit independent movie theater, offering the most compelling American and international films today, as well as many unique programs.

 

Louise Brooks’ best American film was made shortly before she left for Germany and found everlasting fame in Pandora’s Box. Brooks plays a young woman who flees her cruel stepfather and, dressed in boy’s clothing, rides the rails with hobos. Based on the memoirs of rough-and-tumble writer Jim Tully, which describes his hardscrabble existence on the rails during the recession years of the 1890s and 1900s, this long-thought-lost silent classic features an unforgettable turn by Wallace Beery as the hobo Oklahoma Red and dazzling location photography set aboard speeding trains. Director William Wellman was in top form for the movie, basking in praise for his work on the Oscar-winning Wings (1927), although Louise Brooks felt he pushed her to take unnecessary risks–especially during a stunt in which she was nearly sucked under a train’s wheels. Nonetheless, Brooks lauded the director for “how hard he studied his script and prepared for his day’s work, how he always did his best, [and] how sure and fast he worked.” The new restoration of Beggars of Life is a triumphant resurrection for a classic of the silent era. (USA, 1928, 100 min., NR, English| Dir. William A. Wellman)
 
Want to learn more about the film? Last Spring saw the release of my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, and this past Summer saw the release of a new DVD / Blu-ray of the film from Kino Lorber. If you haven't secured your own copy of either the book or the DVD / Blu-ray, why not do so today?

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society.

visit the LBS online at www.pandorasbox.com

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society.

visit the LBS online at www.pandorasbox.com

Louise Brooks Society: Looking Back at 2017, Looking Forword to 2018

It's been a great year for all things Louise Brooks....

In 2017, fans were gifted with the discovery of a previously lost film, Now We're in the Air. Wow! I must admit, after nearly 25 years of being a Louise Brooks' fan, I thought I would never see the day.... To date, there have been a few screenings of the preserved film, at its premiere at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, at the Library of Congress, and in Pordenone, Italy at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival -- where it proved popular. Fingers-crossed, they may be more next year.

San Francisco Silent Film Festival

This year also saw the home video release of what is by consensus Brooks' best American film, Beggars of Life, on DVD / Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. This new release marks the first time this now digitally restored film has ever been released on home video. And it looks great -- so much better than the poor and rather dark version floating around the web! This new release has received many good reviews, and in fact, it has made a few critic's lists of the best new release. If you haven't gotten a copy, do so today!

And that's not all. Also out this year were not one, not two, but three new illustrated books about the actress' films, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film and Now We're in the Air (both Louise Brooks Society publications from PandorasBox Press), as well as Pamela Hutchinson's excellent Pandora's Box (BFI Film Classics).

As well in 2017, there have also been many screenings of Louise Brooks' films, especially Beggars of Life and Pandora's Box, held all around the United States and the world. Notably, as a result of these screenings and the accompanying media interest around the various new releases, the number of readers of this blog has increased steadily. As have the number of people following the Louise Brooks Society on Facebook and Twitter. Louise Brooks is more popular than ever.

Next year promises to be nearly as good a year for all things Louise Brooks. A few screenings have already been announced (watch/follow this blog for announcements), and there is at least one film (It's the Old Army Game, Kino Lorber) coming out on DVD / Blu-ray.  

The Chaperone, which features a young Louise Brooks as a character, is also expected to be released next year (from PBS Masterpiece), as is, hopefully, Charlotte Siller's promising Documentary of a Lost Girl. And that's not all. I am also planning on releasing another book on Louise Brooks, and am working on another. Of late, I've also added a few new pages to the LBS website, and there have been nearly 150 LBS blog posts in 2017.

Who knows what else might pop up next year? It's just around the corner! Happy new year.

If you are in Brixton, UK for New Year's eve

If you are in Brixton, England for New Year's eve, might we recommend this club with Louise Brooks borrowed imagery . . . . more at www.whitemink.co.uk/

WHITE MINK is the zeitgeist-capturing speakeasy where the sounds and styles of the 1920s and 30s are turned on their head and smuggled into the 21st century.

What started out as a launch party for our compilation CD series; White Mink : Black Cotton (Electro Swing vs Speakeasy Jazz), became the accidental hub of a clubbing scene and subsequently a hot festival circuit attraction. White Mink also runs the regularly sold out Electro Swing nights at London’s Book Club, our own pop-up nights and has hosted stages at dozens of major UK festivals since 2009.

The production company is run by a stylish triumvirate of Nick Hollywood, Chris Tofu and Dan O’Neill. Under the White Mink name they bring together the finest DJs, VJs, live bands, dancers, cabaret and burlesque performers for an unforgettable and unrivaled speakeasy experience.

Beggars of Life screens in Tromsø, Norway on January 20, 2018

Beggars of Life will be shown in Tromsø, Norway on Saturday, January 20, 2018. (Thanx Tim.) This event, sponsored by the Tromsø International Film Festival, is part of the festival's "Special Screenings" series. More information about this event with LIVE music by the Dodge Brothers & Neil Brand can be found HERE.

Nancy (Louise Brooks) kills her abusive stepfather and tries to flee from the law and leave the country. Dressed as a man and accompanied by a vagabond named Jim (Richard Arlen), Nancy heads for Canada. Together they face the harsh reality and struggles of hobo life. Things get dangerous when they encounter a group of ragged and violent drifters led by Oklahoma Red (Wallace Beery). In a high-speed runaway drama cutting through the American continent in freight trains and stolen cars, with romantic as well as threatening undertones, three of the great stars of the silent film era give some of their best performances.

BEGGARS OF LIFE is an intense and entertaining story about oppressed and desperate people on a dangerous journey through the dark underworld of pre-depression America. All aspects of his rollercoaster of a story are enhanced by the live soundtrack, composed and performed by skiffle/bluegrass combo The Dodge Brothers, together with silent film pianist Neil Brand.

THE DODGE BROTHERS W/NEIL BRAND
The Dodge Brothers are renowned for playing the hell out of classic Americana with their exuberant hybrid of country blues, rockabilly, jugband and skiffle. Firmly rooted in these traditions, The Dodge Brothers bring to them a freshness that has feet stomping and hands clapping wherever they go, now also Tromsø.

Neither brothers nor from Dodge City, the band consists of Mike Hammond (lead guitar, lead vocals, banjo), Mark Kermode (bass, harmonica, vocals), Aly Hirji (rhythm guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Alex Hammond (washboard, snare drum, percussion). Cinematic landscapes come to life when this potent musical brew joins forces with virtuous silent film pianist Neil Brand, AKA The Fifth Dodge Brother, a previous guest at Silent Film Days in Tromsø. These musicians and this film can only be described as a match made in heaven. More at Dodgebrothers.co.uk

Want to learn more about the film? This Spring saw the release of my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film (which mentions the Dodge Brothers), and this Summer saw the release of a new DVD / Blu-ray of the film from Kino Lorber. If you haven't secured your own copy of either the book or the DVD / Blu-ray, why not do so today?