Louise Brooks Stars In Pandora's Box in Chattanoooga, TN on June 28

Heritage House, 1428 Jenkins Road in Chattanoooga, Tennessee will show the 1929 Louise Brooks film, Pandora's Box, on Thursday, June 28. There will be two showings, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. There is no cost and light refreshments will be provided.

The Chattanooogan newspaper ran a short piece, describing the film as such:

In the film which made her a household name, Cult Goddess Louise Brooks plays the liberated Lulu, an irresistible vamp whose siren call lures all around her to their doom in a whirlpool of lust and greed.

Far ahead of the tastes of the time, the film initially received scathing reviews due to the transgressive sexuality portrayed onscreen.

However, for contemporary viewers, Pandora’s Box exudes a smoky sensuality in every frame and is now regarded as a masterpiece. Boasting a 90 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and presented in German with English subtitles.

 

The Costumes in Modern Dance’s Attic include those worn by Louise Brooks

There is a BIG, must read, illustrated article in the June 19th New York Times about Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn and their costumes, which are being put on display for the first time ever. Gia Kourlas' excellent piece, "The Costumes in Modern Dance’s Attic," looks at a forthcoming exhibit, "Dance We Must: Treasures from Jacob’s Pillow, 1906-1940," at the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) in Williamstown, Massachusetts. 

 The article begins with a mention of Louise Brooks, and ends with a couple of illustrations and a couple of paragraphs focusing on one of Brooks' Denishawn costumes. Brooks joined Denishawn when she was 15 years old, and was a member of its touring company during its 1922-1923 and 1923-1924 seasons. (Brooks leaving home to join Denishawn is also at the heart of a forthcoming film from PBS Masterpiece, The Chaperone, starring Elizabeth McGovern as the title character and Haley Lu Richardson as the teenage Brooks.) The New York Times article (which links to the Louise Brooks Society website), starts this way:

The modern dance tree has abundant roots, and two of its thickest and oldest belong to Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Their Denishawn company and school in Los Angeles, which lasted from 1914 to ’29, toured the world with a new spirit of dance — barefoot and weighted, exotic and spiritual. They were celebrities of their day....

As for their students? One was the beautiful, young Louise Brooks. Another, more important for the art form, was the pathbreaking choreographer Martha Graham.

According to the Williams College Museum of Art press office, "Dance We Must: Treasures from Jacob’s Pillow, 1906-1940 explores the contributions of Jacob’s Pillow founder Ted Shawn and the iconic Ruth St. Denis to American modern dance. Gathering over 350 materials, including more than 30 costumes and accessories, over 200 photographs, five original antique costume trunks, and a dozen original artworks from both the Jacob’s Pillow Archives and Williams College Special Collections, the exhibition contextualizes the pioneering work of Shawn and St. Denis within the scope of American art history through artifacts that have never been seen before. Dance We Must will be on view at Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) from June 29 through November 11, 2018."

As the New York Times notes, the Brooks’ costume shown above is an authentic dress from the Hopi tribe made of wool and decorated with colorful embroidery. Brooks wore it to great acclaim in a Native American-themed piece, "The Feather of the Dawn" (significantly the first North American Indian ballet ever created for an American audience), in which she was featured opposite Denishawn founder Ted Shawn. Martha Graham thought Brooks stood out in this piece, and so did newspaper critics across the country. The New York Times article has a color close-up of the costume.

In the Teens, Twenties, and Thirties, Denishawn was the leading modern dance troupe in America. Through touring the United States and the world, they brought modern dance to the masses. They also influenced a generation of dancers including Martha Graham, widely considered one of the greatest American dancers of the 20th century. Certainly, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn deserve greater recognition as modern dance pioneers; the Williams College Museum of Art exhibit is a good start. I, for one, would like to see Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn profiled by PBS as part of American Masters.


To learn more about Louise Brooks and her time with Denishawn, check out THIS PAGE on the Louise Brooks Society website. 

 

Adam Aston melancholic songs with appearances by Louise Brooks, Marlene Dietrich, Anita Berber and others

Here are a couple of melancholic songs by Adam Aston, a Polish singer, actor, and pianist of Jewish origin.

First up is the 1935 song "Miasteczko Bełz," sung by Adam Aston, this video with illustrations by the Polish writer Bruno Schulz. Observant viewers may notice a rare drawing of Marlene Dietrich and Louise Brooks.

And here is another number sung by Aston, a Polish tango from 1933 titled " Czemuś o niej zapomniał?" ("Why Have You Forsaken Her?"). Observant viewers may notice images of Anita Berber in this video. Berber starred in The Story of Dida Ibsen (1918), the film of the sequel to the earlier, pre-Brooks version of The Diary of a Lost Girl (1918)

And finally, here is another polish Tango by Aston, "Fordanserka" (A Gigolette). Observant viewers may notice more swell video imagery.

Beggars of Life screens in Boulder, Colorado on August 15

Beggars of Life, the sensational 1928 Louise Brooks film (directed by William Wellman), will be shown in Boulder, Colorado on August 15 with live musical accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. More information can be found HERE.

"An American silent film classic, Beggars of Life (1928) stars Louise Brooks as a train-hopping hobo who disguises herself as a boy to survive. After escaping her violent stepfather, she befriends a kindly drifter (Richard Arlen). They ride the rails together to escape the police and reach Canada, until their fateful encounter with blustery Oklahoma Red (Wallace Beery) and his rambunctious band of hoboes. What happens is an incredibly cinematic event of daring and desperate conflict – atop a moving train. Based on the memoir of real-life hobo Jim Tully, and directed with adventuresome verve by William Wellman, Beggars of Life is a must-see."

Total running time: 100 minutes

Want to learn more about the film? Last Spring saw the release of my well reviewed 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. (The DVD features a commentary by your's truly, Thomas Gladysz, as well as an outstanding musical score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.) If you haven't secured your own copy of either the book or the DVD / Blu-ray, why not do so today?Each is an essential addition to your Louise Brooks collection.

First ever Louise Brooks Society blog ran on this day 16 years ago

On this day sixteen years ago, in 2002, the first ever Louise Brooks Society blog appeared on LiveJournal. To mark the occasion, here is that first post:

In search of the perfect bob, in the Philippines

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, from Manila, recently ran a story titled "In search of the perfect bob." In it, the reporter discusses her own quest for the haircut, as well as a bit of it's history.

It has been a long debate on who actually started the classic bob. But American Hairdresser magazine, in an article on March 1, 2007, “The Way We Were,” credited dancer Irene Castle for the bob, which used to be called “Castle Bob” in 1915.

There was also the tale of an unpopular girl whose life changed after she got her new bob, as told in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” published in the Saturday Evening Post in May 1920.

Others credit the bob to Coco Chanel or the American dancer and actress Louise Brooks, with her ebony black, blunt bob with bangs.

Anna Wintour has been sporting the page-boy bob since she was 14.

Why is the ’do still popping up to this day?

The popularity of the bob knows no bounds. Neither does its identification with Louise Brooks. Both are a worldwide phenomena!

Louise Brooks and the Northwest Poultry Journal

Obviously, someone at the Northwest Poultry Journal had a thing for Louise Brooks back in 1928. Why else would they have run this non-poultry related item, except for a few giggles and laughs, or clucks and cackles.