Thursday, December 27, 2018

Around the World with Louise Brooks - Chinese Movie Magazines

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am at work on a new book, Around the World with Louise Brooks, which I expect to have ready sometime early next year. The book, as it looks now, should run at least 500 pages. It will be a multilingual and multinational look at Brooks and her films and how they were perceived around the world in the1920s and 1930s.

With that in mind, I have been looking at all sorts of material related to my book's topic. And that's when a remarkable new book, Chinese Movie Magazines: From Charlie Chaplin to Chairman Mao, 1921-1951 (University of California Press), by Paul Fonoroff.


About the book (from the publisher): "Showcasing an exotic, eclectic, and rare array of covers from more than five hundred movie publications from a glamorous bygone age, Chinese Movie Magazines sheds fresh light on China’s film industry during a transformative period of its history. Expertly curated by collector and Chinese cinema specialist Paul Fonoroff, this volume provides insightful commentary relating the magazines to the times in which they were created, embracing everything from cinematic trends to politics and world events, along with gossip, fashion, and pop culture.

The cover designs reflected the diverse contents of the publications, ranging from sophisticated Art Deco drawings by acclaimed artists to glamorous photos of top Chinese and Hollywood celebrities, including Ruan Lingyu, Butterfly Wu, Ingrid Bergman, and Shirley Temple. Organized thematically within a chronological structure, this visually extraordinary volume includes many rare illustrations from the Paul Kendel Fonoroff Collection in Berkeley’s C.V. Starr East Asian Library, the largest collection of Eastern movie memorabilia outside China."

I have spent more than a few hours enjoyable browsing the many image laden pages of Chinese Movie Magazines: From Charlie Chaplin to Chairman Mao, 1921-1951. It is a visual feast, and is a book which should appeal to anyone interested in film history, graphic design, or early Asian cinema.

Alas, there aren't any images of Louise Brooks in the book, but other silent era stars can be found. Among those I spotted are Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, Richard Dix, Harold Lloyd, Lupe Velez, Anna May Wong, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Clara Bow, Norma Shearer, Jean Harlow, Maurice Chevalier, Tallulah Bankhead, Janet Gaynor & Charles Farrell, and Charles Rogers & Nancy Carroll. Here are a few page scans from this highly recommended book.







Monday, December 24, 2018

Happy Holidays from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy Holidays from the Louise Brooks Society


Happy Holidays from the Louise Brooks Society

 

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Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Pandora's Box screens in Hungerford, England on January 18, 2019

The celebrated 1929 Louise Brooks film, Pandora's Box, will be shown in Hungerford, England on January 18, 2019. The special event will take place at The Croft Hall, and will feature an introduction by journalist and early film expert Pamela Hutchinson (author of the 2018 BFI book on the film). Information on the event and ticket availability can be found HERE.


According to the venue: "The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naïve young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.

One of the great silent films, GW Pabst’s Pandora’s Box is renowned for its sensational storyline, sparkling Weimar-period setting and the legendary, lead performance from its iconic star Louise Brooks.

Following the rise and fall of Lulu (Brooks), a spirited but innocent showgirl whose sheer sexual magnetism wreaks havoc on the lives of men and women alike, the film was controversial in its day, then underappreciated for decades. Pandora’s Box now stands as an incredibly modern movie, and few stars of any era dazzle as bright as Louise Brooks.

Before the film Pamela Hutchinson a freelance journalist and film critic and former Guardian production editor will give a short presentation on the significance of this classic film and of Louise Brooks the amazing leading lady. Listen to a short piece on BBC Radio 4 "The Film Programme." CLICK HERE from 17:36 mins

1929 Cert PG 1 hour 49mins. Crime/Drama/Romance In German with subtitles."


Monday, December 17, 2018

Louise Brooks text: Need more help translating from Japanese

I am hard at work on a new book, Around the World with Louise Brooks, which I hope to have finished in a few months. It's about just what the title suggests.... it will be a large format, 500 to 600 page, multilingual and multinational look at the actress and her films and the way they were viewed in countries all around the globe. It will be chock-a-block in images, including many not seen in decades. It will also contain some remarkable new information.

Louise Brooks' films were shown all around the world in the 1920s and 1930s, including in Japan, where the actress was very popular. (See this earlier LBS blog, as well as a chapter in my recent book, Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star.) In my search to document all things related to the actress and her legacy, I have come across all kinds of interesting material in languages which I don't read. That material includes articles,  advertisements, and other miscellaneous clippings from non-English language publications.

I tried rendering meaning from these clippings using virtual Japanese characters, but couldn't find exact matches. Can any good soul translate or summarize these NUMBERED clippings from vintage Japanese magazine?

1) This clipping references G.W. Pabst.


2) A personality portrait


3) A personality portrait



4) A personality portrait



5) Something from Love Em and Leave Em




6) A personality portrait

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Louise Brooks text: Need help translating from Japanese

Louise Brooks' films were shown all around the world in the 1920s and 1930s, including in Japan, where the actress was popular. In my search to document all things related to the actress and her legacy, I have come across all kinds of interesting material in languages which I don't read. That material includes articles,  advertisements, and other miscellaneous clippings from non-English language publications.

I tried rendering meaning from this clipping using a virtual Japanese characters, but couldn't match the characters.

Can any good soul translate or summarize the two text groups (one to the right of Brooks, the other above Garbo) from this vintage Japanese magazine?


Sunday, December 2, 2018

Did you Know? Louise Brooks and Pola Illery



In 1931, Paramount remade the 1927 Louise Brooks' film Evening Clothes as a French talkie under the title of Un Homme en Habit. (That was also the French title of Evening Clothes when it was shown in France in the late 1920s). The French film, based on the same story material (Yves Mirande and André Picard's play) as the earlier American silent, starred Suzy Vernon (in the role played by Virginia Valli) and Fernand Gravey (in the role played by Adolphe Menjou). 

Pola Illéry on the cover of a Portuguese magazine.
The role played by Louise Brooks in Evening Clothes was played by Pola Illéry (1909–1993), a 4' 11" exotic silent film star in France and Romania in the 1920s who was best known for portraying sexually liberated women. For a time, she was considered the most glamorous film star in Romania. In 1939, with the rise of Nazism, the Jewish actress fled to the United States where she lived a quiet life. 

Born Paula Iliescu, she changed her name to "Pola" in tribute to the Polish-born actress Pola Negri. Her other key credits include Alberto Cavalcanti's Captain Fracasse (1929) and Le petit chaperon rouge (1930), and Parada Paramount (1930), the Romanian-language version of Paramount on Parade. For more on the actress, check out her Wikipedia and IMDb pages. There is even a Facebook page for her!


Above and below, Pola Illéry in the 1930 René Clair film Sous les toits de Paris (Under the Roofs of Paris).

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