Jack Garner, longtime film critic and friend to Louise Brooks, dies

Jack Garner, longtime Rochester, New York film critic and friend to Louise Brooks and the Louise Brooks Society, has died at the age of age of 75. Garner was the longtime film critic for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Garner began reviewing films for the paper in 1977, beginning with the original Star Wars. A decade later he was chosen the chief film critic for Gannett newspapers, and provided reviews for more than 100 newspapers. He retired in 2007, though continued writing freelance arts columns. The Democrat and Chronicle ran an article earlier today noting his passing and recounting Garner's career, "Jack Garner, legendary film critic and institution in Rochester arts world, dies at 75." The Rochester NPR station, WXXI, also carried a remembrance. Read or listen to it HERE. Another local station, WHAM, also carried the news.

Jack Garner at the Little Theater in Rochester, NY - via WXXI

Garner's longtime residence in Rochester made him a local legend. He was a trustee at the Eastman Museum, and the second recipient of the museum's prestigious George Eastman Medal of Honor. Earlier this year, Garner was elected an Honorary Trustee of the Little Theatre. Garner's residence in Rochester also brought him into contact with the city's famed silent film star, Louise Brooks. Garner spoke with Brooks a number of times before her passing, and visited her at her Rochester apartment. He wrote a number of article for the Democrat and Chronicle about Brooks, and on a number of other occasions, quoted Brooks in articles on other films stars she new. Garner's journalism related to Brooks constitutes a noteworthy body of work on the actress. Garner also wrote the introduction to Peter Cowie's 2006 book, Louise Brooks, Lulu Forever.

I considered Jack a friend, and am grateful for his coverage of the Louise Brooks Society. In fact, he first mentioned the LBS in an article in the year 2000, twenty years ago. His piece, about film websites, described the LBS as "A fine example of a fan page, a thoughtful, artful site devoted to the life and times of a fabled silent movie legend, with rare articles from the '20s and superb photos." It was great exposure for my then 5 year old site: the article also appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Nashville Tennessean, Louisville Courier-Journal, Shreveport Louisiana Times, Asbury Park Press, Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, and and numerous other newspapers around the United States.

Over the years, Jack was also kind enough to have written about and reviewed each of my books in the pages of the Democrat and Chronicle, including most recently, my 2018 book, Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star. He also wrote up my DVD audio commentaries on Diary of a Lost Girl and Beggars of Life, giving each favorable notices.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jack Garner in 2015 when I visited Rochester and the Eastman House (now Eastman Museum) on a research trip. We met for dinner, and talked all night about Louise Brooks. That's when he so graciously signed my copy of Louise Brooks, Lulu Forever, "Any friend of Louise is a friend of mine...." The following day, Jack and I and documentary filmmaker Charlottle Siller appeared on WXXI to speak about the silent film star at the center of our lives. I am pictured below on the far left, Charlotte Siller is center, and Jack Garner is at the center right. Host Megan Mack is far right. You can listed to out conversation HERE.

I don't know what else to say about Jack. We remained in touch over the years, and were also friends on Facebook. He was a big guy - standing 6'9". He was also a fine fellow, someone greatly interested in the world, and in jazz. (Some of Garner's interests / journalism is contained in his 2013 book, From My Seat on the Aisle: Movies and Memories. There is also a chapter on Louise Brooks.) He also shared a Pulitzer Prize, for his pre-film critic journalism when he covered the Attica prison riot in 1971. I will always remember Jack, and will be grateful for his support and interest in Louise Brooks and my work.

Pandora's Box for sale, belonged to producer of Louise Brooks film

Here is something you don't see every day.... An early edition copy of Frank Wedekind's Pandora's Box has come up for sale. What makes it unusual is not its age, though vintage copies of the classic play are uncommon. Rather, what makes this copy special is that it once belonged to Seymour Nebenzal, the producer of the 1929 G.W. Pabst directed film Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks. Not surprisingly, the seller is asking a premium. The book is for sale on eBay.

This likely second printing of the play also has Seymour Nebenzal's bookplate.

Seymour Nebenzal got into film production through his father Heinrich Nebenzahl. In 1926, Heinrich Nebenzahl and director-producer Richard Oswald founded the company Nero-Film. (That was the company that released Pandora's Box.) As head of this company, Seymour Nebenzal became one of the most important producers during the German transition from silent to sound film. Besides Pabst, he worked with the directors Douglas Sirk, Edgar G. Ulmer, and Fritz Lang among others. His European credits include People on Sunday (1930), Westfront 1918 (1930), Threepenny Opera (1931), M (1931), Kameradschaft (1931), L'Atlantide (1932), and Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933). Four of the aforementioned films were directed by Pabst.

In 1933, the Nazis forced him into exile. In Paris, he produced films by other German exiles such as Robert Siodmak (his cousin), as well as Max Ophüls and Anatole Litvak. In 1939, he went on to Hollywood where he became one of the first independent producers and worked with some of the same directors he worked with in Europe, namely Edgar G. Ulmer, Douglas Sirk, Léonide Moguy, Arthur Ripley, and Albert S. Rogell.

Speaking of Pandora's Box.... I own a number of copies of the Wedekind play, from early German editions to a first edition of the first American translation (both in softcover and hardback) to later translations and reprints to Eric Bentley's recent Monster Tragedy. Each feature something a little different - a translation, an introduction, or illustrations. (I especially treasure editions which depict or discuss Louise Brooks.) Earlier today I received in the mail the latest volume which I will add to my small collection. This hardcover volume, Five Tragedies of Sex, features translations of Wedekind's plays by Frances Fawcett and Stephen Spender (the noted English poet). Here is a picture of my new treasure, which I purchased through eBay.

Louise Brooks - Two Parallel Lives by Laura Scaramozzino

I just became aware of a new book, Louise Brooks. Due vite Parallele (Louise Brooks: Two Parallel Lives) by Laura Scaramozzino. From what I can tell, it's an Italian noir fantasy novel in which features a character named Louise Brooks. 

The publisher's description reads: "Louise Brooks è una giovane attrice. Vive a Hollywood ed è un'esponente del Nuovo Cinema Impulsoriale: un'elaborazione moderna del cinema muto del passato. Dopo una notte trascorsa in compagnia della collega Greta, riceve sul cellulare un messaggio inquietante: Edmond J. Lermann è morto. La ragazza non conosce nessuno con quel nome e quando prova a risalire al mittente del messaggio fallisce nell'intento. Grazie a Internet, Louise scopre che l'uomo esiste ed è morto davvero, ucciso con un colpo di pistola a Torino, in Italia, e che era originario della sua cittadina natale: Cherryvalle nel Kansas. Inizia così un'avventura in cui la giovane attrice si trova costretta a fare i conti con il proprio passato. C'è una voce che la perseguita da quando aveva otto anni. Una minaccia che non l'ha mai abbandonata e recita: 'Questa bambina è mia'."

Which in rough translation reads: "Louise Brooks is a young actress. She lives in Hollywood and is an exponent of the New Impulsive Cinema: a modern elaboration of the silent cinema of the past. After a night spent in the company of her colleague Greta, she receives a disturbing message on his cell phone: Edmond J. Lermann is dead. The girl does not know anyone with that name and when she tries to trace the sender of the message she fails. Thanks to the Internet, Louise discovers that the man exists and really died, killed with a gunshot in Turin, Italy, and that he was originally from his hometown: Cherryvalle, Kansas. Thus began an adventure in which the young actress is forced to deal with her past. There is a rumor that has haunted her since she was eight years old. A threat that has never left her and says: 'This girl is mine'."

Apparently, the novel - which is something of a genre bender - has a contemporary setting, and in it silent films are still being made, though with contemporary methods. The book is being described as a noir thriller with elements of science fiction and fantasy. However, the fact that the novel's character is an actress named Louise Brooks, and she has a connection to Cherryvale (including an incident of sexual abuse), links the book to the historic silent film star.

image via Facebook

I don't know much about the author, Laura Scaramozzino. As best as I can figure, she has two other Italian books to her credit, including Screaming Dora (2019), which was published by Watson, the same publisher as Louise Brooks: Two Parallel Lives. I sent her an email with a few questions, but have yet to hear back.... I hope the book gets translated into English, as I would like to read it. There is an air of mystery about it that seems intriguing. An Italian-language review of the book, by Fabio Orrico, can be found HERE. Orrico concludes his review by stating, "Laura Scaramozzino, in a span of just over a hundred pages, links stories and history, realism and fantasy, elaboration of mourning and revenge." (This might make for a good Quentin Tarantino film.)

Three of a kind - More on Louise Brooks and Colleen Moore and Clara Bow

A follow-up to my previous post on Louise Brooks and Colleen Moore and Clara Box . . . and a brief excerpt from volume 1 of my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks. The previous post, which I recommend everyone check out if they haven't already, concerned the regular  comparison made of Louise Brooks with Colleen Moore and Clara Bow. Such comparisons were not limited to the United States. In fact, they were made in Brazil, Finland and other countries. Here are a couple-three examples.

Just as Louise Brooks was sometimes compared to and even mistaken for Colleen Moore because of  their similar look, the actress was also sometimes paired with Clara Bow due to their not dissimilar screen personas – that of the flapper or modern young woman. This Paramount magazine ad from Brazil notes each actress' role in three films, including Brooks' role in Glorifying the American Girl. Despite being long considered for a role in the Florenz Ziegfeld-produced film, Brooks never appeared in its 1929 release (nor did Bow, who was also considered).

The Central and Republica theaters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil knew they were onto something special when they promoted "two stars in one day" featuring the "seductive" Bow and the "charming" Brooks – each featured in newly released Paramount films. Not sure which film or actress to choose? This newspaper ad suggests moviegoers must "decide for yourself".

This Finnish magazine portrait describes the “renowned Paramount star Louise Brooks” as a “self-assured flapper type” and a mix of both Clara Bow and Colleen Moore.

Louise Brooks and Colleen Moore and Clara Bow too

In my last blog, I included a couple of 1934 clippings about Sue Read, a pretty, bob-haired young radio singer who was said to resemble Colleen Moore and Louise Brooks. It was an apt comparison, as the soprano and both actresses were pretty in a similar way, and both sported short, sharp bobs.

Colleen Moore

The Sue Read comparison was far from the first time that Brooks and Moore were spoken of together. Over the years, I have come across a number of instances of the two actresses being paired and compared. Usually, the association had to do with their similar hairstyle. And too, both played flappers on screen.

Another actress with whom Brooks was sometimes compared was Clara Bow. And again, over the years I have come across a number of instances of the two actresses being paired and compared in newspapers and magazines published not only in the United States, but also around the world. In fact, a few pages in my forthcoming two volume work, Around the World with Louise Brooks, addresses the Louise Brooks / Colleen Moore  & Clara Bow nexus.

I mention all this because just recently I came across a few clippings that take the Brooks and Bow comparison to a new length. In July 1927, the Selma Times in Selma, Alabama ran a couple of pieces on the local showing of It's the Old Army Game. And in both clippings, Brooks was described as Clara Bow's double!

"Clara Bow has taken the American public by storm with her personality and pep -- and now comes along the clever little Louise Brooks whom critics acclaim her nearest double." This copy was, no doubt, supplied by Paramount -- the studio for whom both actresses worked -- or some allied publicist. The above piece goes on to described Brooks as "Pert, pretty, peppy, snappy, talented, happy and 'bound to get there'."

Another piece which ran a couple of days later also described Brooks as Clara Bow's double, despite the fact that Brooks better resembled Colleen Moore rather than Bow, who was a vivacious redhead who sported a somewhat different hairstyle. In this second piece, Brooks is described as "piquant pert little Louise Brooks." It also mentions that Brooks, or is it Bow, "who takes in the local sheiks."

I think the "double" comment had more to do with a perceived similarity in personality, rather than physical appearance. It's too bad that the two actresses never appeared in a film together. The closest they ever came to doing so was in It's the Old Army Game -- Brooks replaced Bow -- and in the original casting of Glorifying the American Girl, in which both were set to star. The latter film was made later with an entirely different cast.

Had the two starred together in a film, they would have ignited the screen - talk about flammable nitrate! Both had "IT". They would have also offered a study in .....

A few bits about Louise Brooks and Tulsa (and Sue Read)

The other day, I was thinking about Louise Brooks and Tulsa.... and whatever connections there may be between the actress and the Oklahoma city. The earliest mention of Brooks in one of the Tulsa newspapers occurred in 1922, when the Tulsa World ran an item about the 15 year old in its "All Over Oklahoma and Neighboring States" column. Under Kansas news, the Tulsa paper reported an item out of Independence.

As a member of Denishawn, Brooks also visited the city. The young dancer and future actress was just 17 years old at the time. The occasion was a Monday, February 4, 1924 evening performance by the Denishawn dancers at the city's Convention Hall - (less than three years after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre). There was considerable interest in the event, which a local newspaper called one of the "treats of the season." Brooks was one of the company of 26.

Of course, most all of Brooks' silent and sound films showed in Tulsa, Oklahoma when first released in the 1920s and 1930s. One curious piece I came across just the other day appeared in Radio News Guide, a regional publication published in Tulsa about the then new medium of radio. It highlights a young soprano, Sue Read, who bears a striking resemblance to Brooks, a resemblance commented on in the clipping.

[I wondered whatever happened to her, but couldn't find much. Apparently, she continued to sing and make radio appearances throughout the 1930s and 1940s. She also made appearances at local clubs and events in the 1940 and late 1950s in and around Pennsylvania. If she is the same Sue Read, she was a former Powers model and a descendant of George Read, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.] The same picture of Sue Read appeared in The Microphone, a weekly New England publication which billed itself as the "Original Radio Newspaper."