Louise Brooks Society website to be taken down

I am saddened to report that the Louise Brooks Society website (at www.pandorasbox.com) will be taken down. Over the course of the last year, an individual who has been trolling the LBS has managed to have the various LBS social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc...) twice taken down by falsely alleging my pre-existing site infringed on his recent, 2019 trademark. And now, he has succeeded in taking down my website.

 

 

The Louise Brooks Society™ website was launched in 1995 as a "virtual fan club in cyberspace." It has been praised in the pages of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wired magazine. Besides considerable research, numerous articles, thousands of blogs, five books, and help in restoring two of Brooks' films, this website helped inspire the Emmy nominated documentary, Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu, and, it helped bring both the Barry Paris biography and Brooks' own Lulu in Hollywood back into print. This site made a difference.... I am proud of what it accomplished. It has been a great run of 28 years getting to know Louise Brooks fans & scholars from around the world. To stay in touch with the latest regarding all things Lulu, be sure and follow the Louise Brooks Society™ blog (as long as it lasts).

 

How can this happen? Quite easily. If you have a registered trademark, all you have to do is wave the number around in front of an ISP or social media platform and they will remove any content that offends! It doesn't seem to matter if your claim is valid or not. The various internet platforms are - as they have explained to me time and again - simply following the law.

 

Pictured here is one of the pieces of "evidence" of trademark infringement which this person sent to my ISP. It is a recent snapshot of me (taken by my wife, no criminal she) wearing an old Clubfoot Orchestra / PandorasBox t-shirt which I personally bought from the musical group a long time ago at the Castro theater in San Francisco, following a performance in which they accompanied the film. Despite the fact this shirt is 10 or 20 years old, and despite the fact it was made by/for the Clubfoot Orchestra, and despite the fact that Louise Brooks' name doesn't even appear on the shirt, the troll person in question claimed it was a "knock-off" (meaning counterfeit?) product which violated his Louise Brooks trademark on apparel.

 

Such "proof" !

 

I am wearing that old wrinkled t-shirt today in celebration of tonight's Clubfoot Orchestra accompaniment of Pandora's Box at the glorious Paramount theater in Oakland. Long live Lulu, if not the Louise Brooks Society.

 

Sorry for the scary pic. I am getting old.
It's all those reels of microfilm I scrolled through.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited.

 

Another BIG article about Louise Brooks and Pandora's Box on Eat Drink Films

Ahead of the May 6 screening of Pandora's Box in Oakland, California - the excellent multi-topic blog Eat Drink Films has a big new piece by yours truly titled "Lulu By The Bay." 

My recent Film International article, “'Sin Lust Evil' in America: Louise Brooks and the Exhibition History of Pandora’s Box (1929)", was a macro-look at the exhibition history of Pandora's Box in the United States. 

This new piece on Eat Drink Films is a micro-look at the exhibition history of the film in the San Francisco Bay Area. The two articles compliment one another. 

A reminder: Pandora's Box starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Paramount theater in Oakland, California on Saturday, May 6. More about that special screening, which will feature live musical accompaniment by the Clubfoot Orchestra and members of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, can be found HERE. If you live in the Bay Area, don't miss this special event.

Also, there was a good article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the history of this particular restoration of Pandora's Box. The article, by Pam Grady, is titled "Diving into the archive: Film preservationists partner to restore an erotic drama from 1929." It is also well worth checking out.

If you attend this special screening, please do post a comment or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

Pictured below is yours truly wearing a vintage Clubfoot Orchestra / Pandora's Box t-shirt obtained from the musical groups nearly 20 years ago. I also have a massive 3' x 5' poster depicting the same image. 

(Curiously, this very image of me was said to violate the intellectual property rights of the internet troll attacking the Louise Brooks Society who is also threatening to take down the LBS website. Despite the fact my wife took this photo, and despite the fact the shirt was manufactured by the Clubfoot Orchestra, and despite the fact this shirt is nearly 20 years old, and despite the fact the shirt doesn't even mention Louise Brooks by name, the troll claimed it violated his trademark on "Louise Brooks." That's a stretch..... )

For the record, here is a listing of all the documented screenings of Pandora's Box in Northern California.If you know of others or if I have missed some, please let me know so I can add them to the record.

Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey (between Aug. 2-5, 1962 as part of Peninsula Film Seminar); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Oct. 5, 1972 as part of Women's Works); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Oct. 21, 1972 special matinee); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco (Nov. 21, 1972); Cento Cedar Cinema in San Francisco (February 1-7, 1973 with Threepenny Opera); Surf  in San Francisco with The Last Laugh (Jan. 22-23, 1974 “new print”); Pacific Film Archive (Wheeler Auditorium) in Berkeley (July 24, 1974); Cento Cedar Cinema in San Francisco (Sept. 18-20, 1975 with The Blue Angel); Wheeler Auditorium in Berkeley (Nov. 9, 1975 with L’Age D’Or); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco (Nov. 7, 1976); Noe Valley Cinema (James Lick Auditorium) in San Francisco with Oskar Fischinger’s Composition in Blue (May 21, 1977); KTEH Channel 54 – San Jose television broadcast (Dec. 18, 1977 and Dec. 24, 1977 and Dec. 25, 1977); KQEC Channel 32 – San Francisco television broadcast (Dec. 24, 1977 and Dec. 25, 1977); KVIE Channel 6 – Sacramento television broadcast (Dec. 18 and Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, 1977); Wheeler Auditorium in Berkeley (Feb. 10, 1978 with L’Age D’Or); Sonoma Film Institute in Sonoma State University (Feb. 28, 1979 with The Blue Angel); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley as part of “Tapes from the Everson Video Revue” (Jan. 20, 1980); U.C. in Berkeley with The Threepenny Opera (March 10, 1980); Roxie in San Francisco with The Blue Angel (Mar. 31, 1980); Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco (April 11, 1980 with Un Chien Andalou); Castro in San Francisco with A Girl in Every Port (May 2-3, 1980); Rialto in Berkeley with The Threepenny Opera (May 14-20, 1980); Castro in San Francisco with The Threepenny Opera (Aug. 28, 1980); Strand in San Francisco with The Threepenny Opera (December 15, 1980); Rialto in Berkeley with The Threepenny Opera (December 17-23, 1980); Roxie in San Francisco with A Girl in Every Port (Feb. 17-19, 1981); Showcase Cinema in Sacramento with Foolish Wives (Mar. 3, 1981); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco (March 6, 1981); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Mar. 7, 1981 as part of the series “Starring Louise Brooks” with Organ Accompaniment By Robert Vaughn); Rialto in Berkeley with Salome (June 24-27, 1981); Rialto in Berkeley with A Girl in Every Port (Feb. 12-16, 1982); Electric in San Francisco with The Blue Angel (Mar. 10-11, 1982); Avenue in San Francisco with She Goes to War (May 6, 1982); York in San Francisco with Threepenny Opera (June 22, 1982); Roxie in San Francisco with A Girl in Every Port (Oct. 17-18, 1982); UC in Berkeley with A Girl in Every Port (Oct. 25, 1982); Darwin / Sonoma Film Institute at Sonoma State University (Jan. 20, 1983); Showcase Cinema in Sacramento with M. (Feb. 1, 1983); Castro in San Francisco with Diary of a Lost Girl (Oct. 26 – Nov. 3, 1983); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley with Kameradaschaft (Dec. 7, 1983); Santa Cruz Film Festival in Santa Cruz with A Conversation with Louise Brooks (Jan. 19, 1984); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Jan. 27-28, 1985 with M.); U.C. in Berkeley (Sept. 18, 1985); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Oct. 13, 1985 as part of the series “A Tribute to Louise Brooks (1906-1985),” accompanied on piano by Jon Mirsalis); Castro in San Francisco with The Threepenny Opera (Nov. 29, 1985); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Oct. 29, 1986); San Francisco Public Library (main branch) in San Francisco (Dec. 18, 1986); Castro in San Francisco (Feb. 26, 1987 as part of “Vamps” series); Castro in San Francisco (Jan. 7, 1988); U.C. in Berkeley (June 30, 1988); Castro  in San Francisco (Nov. 8, 1988); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Nov. 17, 1988); Red Vic in San Francisco (Feb. 13-14, 1990); Castro  in San Francisco (Aug. 7, 1990); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Dec. 4, 1990 as part of the series “Surrealism and Cinema”); Castro  in San Francisco (Apr. 29, 1991); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (Apr. 5, 1992 as part of the series “Silent Film Classics”);  Castro in San Francisco (May 11, 1992 with Diary of a Lost Girl); Castro in San Francisco (May 5-8, 1995 accompanied by the Club Foot Orchestra, as part of the San Francisco Film Festival); Castro in San Francisco (Dec. 16-17, 1995 accompanied by the Club Foot Orchestra); Castro in San Francisco (Apr. 2, 1996 with Wings, accompanied on organ by Robert Vaughn); Towne Theatre in San Jose (June 28, 1996 accompanied on organ by Robert Vaughn); Castro in San Francisco (May 18, 1998 as part of Femme Fatale Festival); Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (May 28, 2000); Stanford in Palo Alto (Sept. 5, 2001); Jezebel’s Joint in San Francisco (Feb. 10, 2003); Castro in San Francisco (July 15, 2006 as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, with introductions by Thomas Gladysz and Bruce Conner); Rafael Film Center in San Rafael (Nov. 11, 2006 introduced by Peter Cowie); California in San Jose (Mar. 9, 2007 as part of Cinequest); Castro in San Francisco (July 14, 2112 as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival); Niles Essanay Film Museum in Fremont (Sept. 12, 2015); Stanford in Palo Alto (Sept. 23, 2016); Niles Essanay Film Museum in Fremont (March 23, 2019); Paramount in Oakland (May 6, 2023).

 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited.

Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931

Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931. The film is a short, approximately 21 minute comedy which centers on Windy Riley, a cocky blow-hard who attempts to revamp the publicity department of a Hollywood studio. The film was Louise Brooks’ first role after returning from Europe, the first to feature her actual voice (Brooks’ earlier talkies, The Canary Murder Case and Prix de Beauté, had been dubbed), and her first and only short. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society filmography page.

The film was directed by Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, who was working under the name William B. Goodrich; a blacklist on the comedian’s employment in Hollywood was still in effect. Windy Riley Goes Hollywood was promoted as a behind the scenes look at the movie capital. The film’s press sheet overstated its case when it proclaimed “One of the first pictures ever showing the interior of a sound stage and the actual operation of talking pictures. . . . The actual cameras, microphones, etc., used in picture production will be shown in some of the big scenes.”

At times, story details surrounding character Betty Grey (played by Brooks) curiously parallel Brooks’ own career. Near the beginning of the film, Grey is set to star in The Box Car Mystery, a title of which calls to mind Brooks’ role in Beggars of Life. Later, while at lunch at the Montmarte (a famous Los Angles café once frequented by Brooks and others in Hollywood), Riley boasts he was responsible for the successful advertising campaign mounted by Klux Soap. In real life, Brooks was among a handful of actress who regularly appeared in print ads for Lux Soap. And, at the end of the film, it is announced that Grey will wed the director of The Box Car Mystery. A few years earlier, Brooks married Eddie Sutherland, who directed her in It’s the Old Army Game.

The film’s few reviews were largely negative, and the film suffered from a lack of exhibitor interest. Consequently, few likely saw Windy Riley Goes Hollywood at the time of its release. Except for a three-month period in mid-1931 when it played in Toronto, there are few records of this short film having been shown in any large cities. What exhibition records have been found suggest the film was shown as program filler in mostly smaller markets.

In the United States and Canada, the film was on a few occasions promoted under the title Windy Riley Goes to Hollywood, and once reviewed as Windy Riley Goes into Hollywood. Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Canada, The Philippines, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (England and Scotland).
 
Elsewhere, Windy Riley Goes Hollywood was shown under the title The Gas Bag (United Kingdom, including England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland) and as Windy Rileyová jde Hollywood (Czechoslovakia).

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

— Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, based on an original story by Ken Kling, was adapted from Kling’s comic strip Windy Riley. The New York cartoonist started the strip about a wisecracking braggart in 1928. At the time of the film’s release, the strip ran in some 170 newspapers across the country.

— Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, depressed and still working under a pseudonym because he was under an industry blacklist, directed the film. Years later, Brooks told Kevin Brownlow, “He made no attempt to direct this picture. He sat in his chair like a man dead.”

— The group of dancers seen in Windy Riley Goes Hollywood were recruited from the chorus of George Olsen’s Culver City nightclub. Olsen was a popular bandleader and recording artist married to Ethel Shutta. Her brother Jack Shutta, a stage performer making his screen debut in the title role of Windy Riley, managed Olsen’s nightclub. Along with Ethel Shutta and Louise Brooks, Olsen and his orchestra performed at the Ziegfeld Follies of 1925.

— In 1935, the Bell and Howell Company of Chicago offered Windy Riley as a Filmosound rental subject.

— Windy Riley Goes Hollywood was the first Louise Brooks film shown on television. The film was shown under the title Windy Riley Goes to Hollywood on November 18, 1948 on WJZ (Channel 7) in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited.

Two pieces on Pandora's Box on Eat Drink Films

The excellent multi-topic blog Eat Drink Films has a couple of new pieces on Louise Brooks star turn in Pandora's Box. Both pieces are by Nancy Friedman. The first, "Pandora’s Box – A Stunning Film on the Big Screen at the Spectacular Paramount," looks at the acclaimed G.W. Pabst film starring Louise Brooks. It even quotes me, Thomas Gladysz!. (I will add it to the LBS In the News page.) The excellent second piece, "Club Foot Orchestra Plays Pandora’s Box," is a profile of the musical group which will accompany the film on May 6th in Oakland, CA. (See the poster depicted below.) 

Rumor has it, Eat Drink Films will be running a couple of more pieces on Pandora's Box next week, as the San Francisco Bay Area gears up once again for Lulumania. (As I have noted, Pandora’s Box has screened more often in the San Francisco Bay Area than anywhere else in the United States, more than 60 times since 1972.)

A reminder.  Pandora's Box starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Paramount theater in Oakland, California on Saturday, May 6. More about that special screening, which will feature live musical accompaniment by the Clubfoot Orchestra and members of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, can be found HERE. If you live in the Bay Area, don't miss this special event. 

Pictured below is yours truly wearing a vintage Clubfoot Orchestra / Pandora's Box t-shirt obtained from the musical groups a long time ago. I also have a massive 3' x 5' poster depicting the same image.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. 

Update on The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond

I am pleased to reveal a new, slightly revised cover for my forthcoming book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. I am also pleased to announce I have finished writing and editing the book. Actually, I finished in early March, and have spent the time since then (not only dealing with an internet troll) but also proofing the text one last time, tinkering with the layout, and indexing the book. I have never indexed a book before, and admit it was both an interesting as well as a laborious experience.* As of today, I have only to finalize a few small details before publication.

It was also during March that I received a last piece to the book, something I had been hoping to include and did not announce until it was in hand.... As some may notice, my now completed book will feature two forewords. One is by Robert Byrne, the noted film preservationist (Sherlock Holmes, etc...) whose efforts to restore The Street of Forgotten Men saved it from certain obscurity. Without him, this book would not have been possible.

The second foreword is by Kevin Brownlow, the acclaimed film historian, author, documentary filmmaker, and Academy Award Honoree -- the only individual in history honored with an Oscar for his work as a film historian. I am thrilled that Kevin agreed to write a forward to my book, and even more thrilled that Kevin revealed little known details about the film drawn from his correspondence with Louise Brooks, who played a bit part in the film -- her first!

I am grateful to both Byrne and Brownlow. And, I am grateful to those who donated to my book's GoFundMe campaign. Through their generosity, I have been able to acquire a number of rare images for inclusion in my book. I would also like to thank Byrne for allowing me to include a few screen grabs from the film. A few include Louise Brooks. While others include some of the uncredited bit players who appear in the film and who I was able to identify.

As I am about to close this campaign, let me shout "last call." If you would like to donate, please do so within the next few days. The book's GoFundMe campaign can be found HERE.

• Any donation, however small, will be very much appreciated.
• Donate $20.00 and receive an acknowledgment in the completed book.
• Donate $40.00 and receive an autographed, softcover copy of the completed book, as well as an acknowledgment (USA only).
• Donate $100.00 and receive an autographed, softcover copy of the completed book, an acknowledgment, and an autographed copy of my earlier book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film (USA only).

* The main body of the book came in at 338 pages, excluding the front matter and back matter (which comes to more than 30 pages). At times, indexing was a slog only made bearable by "Desert Island Discs." I wish to acknowledge the online archive of the long-running BBC program. While indexing my book, which took a couple-three weeks, I listened to dozens of past episodes, some dating back to the 1970s, and that helped pass the time. What a pleasure it was to listen to conversations with David Sedaris, Jimmy Page, Gloria Swanson and so many others.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited.
 

God's Gift to Women, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931

God's Gift to Women, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931. The film is a Pre-Code musical comedy whose musical numbers were cut and whose humor and suggestive scenes are largely tempered by the presence of star Frank Fay. He plays the Parisian descendant of a Don Juan who vows to stop philandering in order to win the hand of a virtuous young lady with a disapproving father. Louise Brooks plays one of a handful of women irresistibly drawn to Fay’s character. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society filmography page.

Frank Fay and Louise Brooks in God's Gift to Women

Film Daily described the film as a “Merry French farce with amusing plot and deft comedy work by Frank Fay, fine feminine support and good direction.” Edward Churchill, writing in Motion Picture Herald, stated “Frank Fay is the whole show in this broadly sophisticated story of Parisian love and Parisian life. Fay has all the women in the world after him, so it seems, and they are all good-looking. In fact, some of them are very beautiful, and they seem to like Fay. . . . Jane Hinton hasn’t given the picture much of a story as far as the plot is concerned, but the situations are excellent. Jackson and Griffith have tossed in some rare gags and some excellent dialogue and the costume department at Warners has been busy. . . . Michael Curtiz has built a snappy, laughable and highly entertaining picture around Fay and the preview audience laughed plenty. Photography is good, settings are in perfect keeping with the vehicle and the sound is clear.”

The movie, indeed, belongs to Fay, who was a popular Broadway star of light comedies. Casting the not-quite leading man as a Casanova was a stretch, but his delivery is mildly amusing at times. The plot line is predictable, and there’s a twist in the final scenes. The San Francisco Chronicle thought “The picture is a bit of fluff, but it is amusing and is well produced.”

Harry Mines of the Los Angeles Daily Illustrated News thought “All the girls in the cast have the opportunity to wear beautiful clothes and look their vampiest. They are Laura LaPlante, Marguerite Livingston, Yola D’Avril, Louise Brooks, Joan Blondell, Ethelyn Claire and the Sisters ‘G’.” Not surprisingly, Jerry Hoffman of the Los Angeles Examiner considered the film little more than “album of Hollywood’s beautiful women.” Harry Evans of Life magazine quipped “These few amusing moments are the film’s total assets — unless you haven’t seen Louise Brooks, Joan Blondell and Yola D’Avril in their underwear.”

All were not so forgiving. Variety called God’s Gift to Women “no gift to audiences.” Richard Watts Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune called it a “thin farce.”  Thonton Delehanty of the New York Post was less generous, “The humor is in the style of the hackneyed French farce, so hackneyed that it is paralyzingly awful.”

Unfortunately, the film was nowhere near a star turn for Brooks. And, her second consecutive supporting role left some critics surprised. As with her small part in It Pays to Advertise, some, including W. Ward Marsh of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, could only wish…. “Louise Brooks (returning to the screen in a comparatively minor role)….”

Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Canada, England, New Zealand, The Philippines, Sweden, and possibly Brazil and France. In the United States, the film was also promoted under the title O Presente de deus para as Mulheres (Portuguese-language press). 

Elsewhere, God’s Gift to Women was shown under the title Dar boha k ženám (Czechoslovakia); Gotten Geschenk au die Frauen (Germany); Bóg dal za duzo kobiet (Poland); and Tantas veo… (Spain). The film was also shown in South Africa and the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) under the title Too Many Women.

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

— The film was originally completed as a musical. Due to audience distaste for musicals, however, all the songs were cut in American prints. The complete film was released intact in other countries, where there was no such decline in popularity. Cut from the version released in the United States was a theme song sung by Frank Fay, then a major Broadway star. The theme song, which is heard over the credits, is underscored several times in the film. Also cut was an elaborate dance number by the Sisters “G” which appeared in the film during its nightclub sequence. The complete film was released intact outside the United States, but only the American print is known to have survived.

— During the film’s April, 1931 showing in New York City, star Frank Fay made a personal appearance at the Strand Theater. (Fay was married at the time to Barbara Stanwyck).

—  Leading lady Laura La Plante played Magnolia in the first film version of Show Boat (1929); Charles Winninger, who plays her father in God’s Gift to Women, would play Cap’n Andy Hawks in the 1936 version of Show Boat.

— Fay’s character enjoyed a different lover each night of the week. Brooks – “brunette, bad and bold” – was assigned Thursday night.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited.