Louise Brooks Society announcement regarding RadioLulu

The economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic is leading many of us to reevaluate our needs and expenses. Who knows what the future holds? For me, these expenses includes various costs incurred in running the Louise Brooks Society and its website. There are domain and web hosting fees, subscription fees, costs associated with research and with editing software, etc.... I have been running the Louise Brooks Society for 25 years, and it all ads up.

Listen while you can!

I intend to continue the Louise Brooks Society for as long as I can, but have decided to cut costs where I am able. Thus, with great regret, I am announcing that RadioLulu will cease streaming in the first week of April. I will also be cutting back on other background expenses associated with my wordpress website.

A melancholy Louise Brooks listens to a 78 rpm record in Prix de Beauté (1930)

I launched RadioLulu back in 2002, and enjoyed sharing with others the considerable amount of Louise Brooks-related audio and musical material I had gathered. The station's description reads "RadioLulu is a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed internet station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today. Located on the web at http://192.99.8.170/start/radiolulu/ — RadioLulu features vintage and contemporary music related to Louise Brooks as well as the silent and early sound eras."

In the early years, I found an audience.... Famed film critic Leonard Maltin once rated the station a “Wow” on his website. The Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman (author of Maus) told me he tuned-in on occasion. As had the award-winning science fiction writer Richard Kadrey, and celebrated Dr. Who actor Paul McGann. In fact, when I first met McGann some years ago, his first words were "You’re the guy that does RadioLulu. It’s incredible. I listen all the time." In 2015, I received an email from a listener named Nick. He was employed at the Vito Russo Library at the Gay Center in New York City; Nick wrote to say that RadioLulu was played at the library every Saturday, and that “Everybody loves it.” It was nice to have a fan or two!

In the beginning, RadioLulu found a home on Live365, a streaming service for aspiring DJ's like myself. However, when that platform crashed in 2016 (read more HERE), and the expense involved in streaming skyrocketed, RadioLulu was left without a home. After a couple of months, it found a second home on SHOUTca.st, which was syndicated to other channels and devices through TuneIn. For a time, you could even listen to RadioLulu through your TV via ROKU.

However, that second home on SHOUTca.st, while affordable -- was limited and problematic. If too many individuals listed, then I exceeded my bandwidth and the station was knocked off the air until the beginning of the next usage cycle. All too often, I received emails from individuals asking what happened to the station. I was dissapointed to be dissapointing others.

I am not sure what the future holds for RadioLulu. Hopefully, I would like to make use of its many hours of content and turn it into thematic podcasts with shows devoted to different topics -- like the music of Prix de beaute or Beggars of Life, with shows of songs recorded by Brooks' co-stars and contemporaries, with vintage music about the movies, etc.... RadioLulu features more than 850 recordings! And notably, many of them come from rare 78 rpm discs you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else. It is important that this old music still be heard.  I am referring to vintage track like George Gershwin’s “Somebody Loves Me” (Brooks knew Gershwin, and this was her favorite Gershwin song according to Barry Paris), Xavier Cugat’s “Siboney” (recommended by Brooks in her rare booklet, Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing), and a few numbers by Sid Kay’s Fellows (the jazz band seen playing in the wedding reception scene in Pandora’s Box). Read more about RadioLulu's programming HERE.

Louise Brooks holding a portable record player, circa 1925

Recommended reading - Rediscovering Roscoe The Films of “Fatty” Arbuckle

Before the coronavirus interrupted life as we knew it, there was a book I was meaning to write-up here on the Louise Brooks Society blog. That book is Rediscovering Roscoe: The Films of “Fatty” Arbuckle, by Steve Massa. It is an excellent read, and a book that belong on the shelf of anyone interested in silent era comedy.

Today is Roscoe Arbuckle's birthday. He was born on this day in 1887. He would have been 133, but regretably only lived to the age of 46. As Massa stated on Facebook earlier today, Arbuckle was "One of the great innovators of silent comedy, he was much maligned during his life but a substantial number of his films survive to perpetuate his talents and secure his place in film comedy history."

According to Bear Manor, Massa's publisher: "Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle was a silent comedy trailblazer — the teacher of Buster Keaton, a collaborator of Charlie Chaplin — whose reputation was eclipsed for many years by his involvement in one of Hollywood's first scandals. Rediscovering Roscoe is a film by film examination of his work as a performer, director, and all around comedy creator. Having learned and developed his craft on the stage, Arbuckle came to films in 1909. After joining Mack Sennett's Keystone Company he became one of the most important pioneers of American silent comedy, as well as a screen icon known around the world. This filmography details his initial forays into films and mastering of the medium, but also his banishment from the screen and ultimate comeback. It is lavishly illustrated with more than 500 rare photographs and advertising images."

Arbuckle's career was indeed legendary. Early on, he worked with both Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd, as well as with his gifted nephew Al St. John. He mentored Charlie Chaplin and discovered both Buster Keaton and Bob Hope. He was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s, and one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. Arbuckle wrote, directed, and starred in dozens of short films, as well as a handful of feature films. All of these films, as well as those he directed under a pseudonym after his fall from grace following the Virginia Rappe trial, are covered in Massa's detailed book.

Louise Brooks adored this portly actor, who she described as "the great Roscoe Arbuckle." In Kevin Brownlow's book, The Parade's Gone By, she states "I thought he was magnificent in films. He was a wonderful dancer — a wonderful ballroom dancer in his heyday. It was like floating in the arms of a huge doughnut — really delightful."

Brooks and Arbuckle worked together on Windy Riley Goes Hollywood. This flaccid 1931 short from Educational Pictures was directed by Arbuckle under the pseudonym William Goodrich, with Brooks starring as Betty Grey, a dancer. As Massa notes in his section on the film, Windy Riley is not one of Arbuckle's better surviving talkies, but it does give a behind-the-scenes look at a real movie studio. Additionally, for fans of Brooks, it shows the actress dancing — and we get to hear her voice, which is pleasant and records well.

In its short review, Motion Picture Herald stated, “The auto record of Windy Riley from New York to Hollywood and the subsequent excitement at a studio when he works a fake publicity stunt, cannot be rated more than fair. The story by Ken Kling is not at all unusual. Jack Shutta, Louise Brooks, William Davidson, Dell Henderson, Wilbur Mack and Walter Merrill do their best but not very successfully.”

Louise Brooks is the women in red

According to Brooks, Arbuckle "made no attempt to direct." Instead, "he sat in his chair like a man dead. He had been very nice and sweetly dead ever since the scandal that ruined his career" and forced him to work on third rate material under a pseudonym.

Though Windy Riley Goes Hollywood was largely a failure, Arbuckle can be credited with numerous successes. Those earlier films are at the heart of Massa's splendid new book. Besides it's heavily annotated filmography, Rediscovering Roscoe: The Films of “Fatty” Arbuckle includes a foreword by critic Dave Kehr, an introduction by musician Ben Model, a succinct biography of Arbuckle, the story of his banishment and work under a pseudonym, a guide to seeing the films today, and an insightful essay, "The Screen Must Have a Fat Comedian." There is a lot packed into its nearly 700 pages.

As Model notes in his introduction, "The so-called “silent” era was more than the starting point of American film comedy. It was its Big Bang. Not only were the basics of screen comedy developed and established during that time — specifically from the early ‘teens through 1929 — but something else magical came from the cauldron of silent film comedy: the comedian/filmmaker." Prominent among them is the one and only Roscoe Arbuckle. Massa's book makes the case for his greatness.

Besides Rediscovering Roscoe: The Films of “Fatty” Arbuckle, Steve Massa is the author of  two other books which I am pleased to own, Lame Brains and Lunatics: The Good, The Bad, and the Forgotten of Silent Comedy (Bear Manor Media, 2013), and Marcel Perez: The International Mirth-Maker (CreateSpace, 2014). Each are groundbreaking. Massa is also the author of another groundbreaking work, Slaptstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy (Bear Manor Media, 2017). I liked it so much that my Huffington Post articles, "Best Film Books of 2017" and "Best Film Books of 2017: Silent Comedy Edition," featured it TWICE.

Back then, I wrote, "One can’t say enough about this book, and that’s why it’s included in this round-up as well as in my earlier piece on the Best Film Books of 2017.... I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Steve Massa has written a highly recommended book which belongs on the shelves of anyone interested in early film comedy or women’s film history." The same, I would say, applies to Rediscovering Roscoe: The Films of “Fatty” Arbuckle.

Louise Brooks film Prix de beauté made available for online streaming during coronavirus crisis

Yesterday's blog,Where and how to stream Louise Brooks and silent & classic film from home, featured a segment on Italy's Cineteca Milano. In response to the worldwide coronavirus crisis, that prestigious film archive has made parts of its rich catalogue available to stream online. Among the 500 films available for streaming are a number of silent era features and shorts, including the 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de beauté.

To access the Cineteca Milano film catalogue, you must first register at this address - click HERE. Instructions are pretty easy to follow, even if you don’t speak or read Italian. I used the the Chrome browser, which can translate pages on the fly. Once you have set up your free account, search for Louise Brooks, or Miss Europa (the Italian title for Prix de beauté).

I can't stress enough what an extraordinary opportunity this is to view this RARE version of this great Louise Brooks film. First, consider this. The sound version which most Louise Brooks fans are familiar with was released on DVD by KINO. That version runs 1 hour and 28 minutes. This Italian version runs 2 hours and 3 minutes. That's 35 more minutes! I realize that "projection speeds" or FPS can account for varying lengths - but I have watched the Italian version and believe it does contain footage I haven't seen before!

As is known, Prix de beauté was released as both a sound and silent film, and, it was released in four different languages, French, English, German and Italian. (I don't know that the film was released in four different language as both a silent and sound film. That questions still needs to be resolved.)

The version made available through the Cineteca Milano is the silent Italian version. There is no music, and the subtitles are in Italian. Here is the basic film information offered by Cineteca Milano.

TITLE: Miss Europa
ORIGINAL TITLE: Prix ​​De Beauté
FILM DIRECTOR: Augusto Genina
COUNTRY: France
DURATION: 124 '
YEAR: 1930

CAST & CREDITS: Cast: Louise Brooks Georges Charlia Augusto Bandini; Subject: Augusto Genina Rebé Clair Bernard Zimmer Alessandro De Stefani; Screenplay: GW Pabst René Clair; Photogafia: Rudolph Maté Louis Née; Editing: T. Edmond Greville; Scenography: Robert Gys; Costumes: Jean Patou; Production: Sofar-Film

SYNOPSIS: Lucienne, who has a modest job in an office, is a very beautiful and unscrupulous girl. Unbeknownst to her boyfriend, she takes part in the beauty contest for Miss Europe and wins it but then chooses to be his wife, giving up the courtship of a prince. One night, however, she leaves the house and her husband because she wants to try to live in luxury and, above all, she needs to feel surrounded by the admiration of others. The prince has not forgotten her and helps her to enter the world of cinema but her husband will find her and, not knowing how to forgive her, will be ruthless with her.

As I mentioned above, I have viewed the silent Italian version of Prix de beauté. I have always thought it was a good film, but now feel it is better in this longer, silent edition. I also now feel that Louise Brooks did some of the best acting of her career in this film, especially in scenes which I think are not present in the sound version I am far more familiar with.

I have seen a silent version once before. In 2013, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival screened a version of the film, which ran 1 hour and 48 minutes. That version was restored in a silent version by the Cineteca del Comune di Bologna from a silent copy with Italian intertitles from the Cineteca Italiana and a French sound copy from the Cinémathèque française.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival program essay on Prix de beauté states "Even as Brooks earned some kudos for her performance, particularly from the French critics, the film was a quick flop in Europe and didn’t even merit a U.S. release." While it is true that the film wasn't shown in the United States until 1957 when the Eastman House screened a print, it is NOT TRUE that "the film was a quick flop in Europe." In fact, it was something of a sensation. In Paris, the film enjoyed an extended run and ran  for more than two months. The film was shown across France and Europe in 1930 - in Germany, Norway, Switzerland, and elsewhere. The film continued to be shown in Europe - in Hungary, Spain, Iceland (shown below) and Turkey in 1931, in Poland and Switzerland in 1932, in The Netherlands in 1933, and in Luxembourg in 1934.

I have also documented screenings in Haiti in 1932, 1933, 1935, and 1936 - as well as in Algeria and even Madagascar in 1933. The film was a huge hit in Ro de Janiero, Brazil in 1930, and was also shown in Japan. There was even a revival screening in Uruguay in 1952!

A full record of the rich exhibition history of Prix de beauté will be documented in volume 2 of my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks. In the mean time, here is a record of where the film was shown, as well as under what title.

Under its French title, documented screenings of the film took place in Algeria, Belgium, Haiti, Japan, Madagascar, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Elsewhere, Prix de beauté was shown under the title Vanidad (Argentina); Miss Europa (Austria); Miss Europa (Brazil); El Premio Fatal (Cuba); Miss Europa and Der Schönheitspreis (Czechoslovakia) and Miss Európa (Slovakia); Miss Europa (Danzig); Beauty Prize and Miss Europe (England); Miss Europa and Preis der Schönheit and Der Schönheitpreis (Germany); A szépsvg vására or Szépségvásár and Miss Europa (Hungary); Fegurðardrottning Euröpu (Iceland); Miss Europa and Premio di bellezza and Regina di bellezza (Italy); Premija par skaistumu and Skaistuma godalga (Latvia); Miss Europa (Der Schonheitspreis) (Luxembourg); Miss Europa and Schoonheidsprijs (The Netherlands); Skjønhetskonkurransen (Norway); Kobieto nie grzesz and Nagroda pieknosci and Nie Grzesz Kobieto (Poland); Miss Europa (Der Schonheitspreis) and Weib, sündige nicht (Poland, German language publication); Prémio de Beleza (Portugal); Nagrada za lepoto and Zrtev velike ljubezni (Slovenia); Premio de belleza (Spain, including Catalonia); Miss Europe (Switzerland); Kuzellik Kirali-Casi and Güzellik Ödülü (Turkey); Nie Grzesz Kobieto! (Ukraine); Приз краси and Приз за красоту (U.S.S.R.); Vanidad (Uruguay); Vanidad (Venezuela).

In recent years, numerous screenings of the film have been taken place around the world, including first ever showings under the title Prix de beauté (or Beauty Prize or Miss Europe) in Australia, Canada, Europe, United States and elsewhere.

Where and how to stream Louise Brooks and silent & classic film from home

Interested in Louise Brooks? Like silent and classic films? Wondering what to watch during these trying times? Here are a few suggestions.... more to come in the following days.

First off, let me recommend Ben Model's “The Silent Comedy Watch Party”.  The premiere episode  will stream live on Sunday March 22 at 3pm EDT (New York, east coast USA). Hosted by silent film accompanist Ben Model and film historian Steve Massa, the one-hour program will present three rare slapstick comedy shorts. The films will be streamed live — Ben Model will accompany them live on piano, and Steve Massa will introduce the films. The show will live-stream on YouTube (scroll down for link and embed). More info HERE.

Time zone info “The Silent Comedy Watch Party”

    Pacific Time – 12 noon
    Mountain Time – 1pm
    Central Time – 2pm
    Eastern Time – 3pm
    Argentina Time – 4pm
    UK/England – 7pm
    Europe/Scandinavia et al – 8pm (20:00)
    Eastern Australia – 3am Monday; Western Australia – 6am Monday
    Japan (Tokyo) – 4am Monday

Yesterday, Forbes magazine ran an article by Sheena Scott titled "Where To Stream Films And Shows For Free". I recommend you check it out. The author surveyed the online offerings from various archives and institutions, including the British Film Institute (BFI) and Cineteca Milano. Regarding the latter, she wrote. 

The Milan Cinematheque was one of the first film archives to have its rich catalogue be available to stream online for free due to the spread of the Coronavirus. Italy is the country most hit by the virus and is now on lockdown. To access the film catalogue, you must first register at this address (click here). Instructions are pretty easy to follow, even if you don’t speak or read Italian.

According to Le Figaro, the number of people who registered increased from 300 to 19,000, four days ago. That number must have by now further increased. The Morando Morandini Collection, named after the Italian film critic, offers over 500 films dated from the beginning of cinema. There is thus an important proportion of silent films, majority of which of course are Italian, with a few added gems from France (see notably an early sound film by Augusto Genina’s Prix de beauté, named Miss Europa in the catalogue, starring the “It” girl of the 1920s Louise Brooks), the U.S. (see for example Paul Leni’s silent classic The Man who Laughs (L’uomo Che Ride) starring Conrad Veidt), and Germany (see, for example, F.W. Murnau’s classic silent Faust).

WOW! As is known, the silent and sound versions of Prix de beauté was released in four different languages. This generous offering - a rare opportunity - from the Cineteca Milano means that fans of Louise Brooks can now watch the silent Italian version of Prix de beauté (1930), one of the actress' great films. Even if you have seen this film before, you will want to watch this version.

Louise Brooks, stuck at home, in the 1930 film, Prix de beauté

Subscribe and stay tuned to this blog for more recommended viewing and reading in the coming days.

Effects of the Coronavirus on the Silent and Classic Film World

The coronavirus has hit the film world, and rightly so, a number of upcoming festivals have been cancelled or postponed. Among the silent & classic film festival which have been effected are the Turner Classic Film Festival (news link) and Toronto Silent Film Festival (announcement link). I recently signed books at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood following it's screening of the 1929 Louise Brooks film Pandora's Box. And just recently, the American Cinematheque has suspended all screenings and public events at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and its sister venue, the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Other rep houses and theaters have closed, while other classic film screenings have been can cancelled.

Also postponing it's annual event is the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Set to kick-off at the end of April, the SFSFF is now set to take place November 11 through November 15 at the historic Castro theatre. The festival added, "We have an exceptional program planned that we look forward to sharing with you. We’ve already announced our restorations of Erich von Stroheim’s Foolish Wives, the delightful Baby Peggy short The Kid Reporter, and the beautiful color-stencil San Francisco, the Golden Gate City. Complete details will be announced in the Fall."

Louise Brooks one-time home, New York state, is a hotspot, and in New York City 75% of non-essential workers have been told to stay home. Here in Northern California, the San Francisco Bay Area is under a "shelter-in-place" order, while Sacramento is under a voluntary "shelter in place". 

With so many Americans at home, it is a good time to catch up on reading, listing to music, or watching favorite films or television shows. (Besides practicing good hygiene and social distancing, it's also valuable to maintain good mental health!) In the coming days, I will put together a few posts of online resources for fans of Louise Brooks and early film. Be part of the smart set and stay home. In the meantime, check out the Louise Brooks Society website.

Louise Brooks and the Coronavirus of 1918 (an addendum)

Ace Louise Brooks researcher Philip Vorwald provided some additional information about Louise Brooks' mystery illness, as referenced in the previous LBS blog, "Louise Brooks and the Coronavirus of 1918." (See update below.)

In that blog, I described the Spanish Flu which ravaged the United States at the end of WWI, adding "Wherever this strain of influenza came from, it effected everyday life and must have been on everyone's mind, even little Louise Brooks, who was born in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906. By all accounts, she was a healthy child, but on November 29, 1917 the Cherryvale Republican newspaper reported that Brooks had been out of school for more than a month due to illness. The nature of her illness is not known, though given the historical context, one might suspect a serious case of the flu."

Garfield school building in 1913

In the previous blog, I also supplied the clipping from the Cherryvale newspaper, which actually ran twice, the first time on November 23, and the second time on November 29. The wording on each news bit was the same, even down to Louise's expected "return next Monday." The November 23rd clipping is shown below.

Philip Vorwald emailed with some additional details, including scans of Louise's report card from the time. Of course, they don't tell us from what the 11 year old suffered - scarlet fever has also been suggested - but they do show just how long Louise was out of school.

Philip wrote, "After I read your blog today, I went back to her report cards from elementary school in Cherryvale, and found the absent days in sixth grade, 1917-1918....

There are six "six week" periods of the 1917-1918 school year. Louise's report card shows her completely missing the "2nd" six week school period; no grades at all. Curiously, no absent days are recorded either though. If the "1st" six week period began at the beginning of September, then this missing "2nd" period would have begun in the third week of October, 1917, and run through November, which now matches the November 29 description of five weeks, and back to school."

Whatever caused Louise to be out of school for so long is uncertain, but it must have been worrisome for her parents. The Brooks family left Cherryvale for Independence in the summer of 1918. The Independence newspaper reported that Louise enrolled in school on September 8, 1918. (For more on LB's daily life at the time, see "Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1906-1939 part 1" on the Louise Brooks Society website.)

Despite a sense of normalcy, the flu effected daily life throughout much of 1918 and into 1919. Articles like this appeared in the local newspaper.

UPDATE: Documentary filmmaker Charlotte Siller has identified the illness which led to Louise Brooks missing school as typhoid fever.

Want to know how the Spanish Flu effected your hometown in 1918? If you have access to newspapers.com or newspaperarchive.com, or if your local library has digital access to the later, or a run of your local newspaper from the time - try doing a search using the year 1918 and the keyword "influenza."