Diary of a Lost Girl available on Scribd

My new "Louise Brooks" edition of Margarete Bohme's The Diary of a Lost Girl is now available through the website Scribd.

The Diary of a Lost Girl

Some books and DVDs

Radiosendung zu Louise Brooks

Apparently, a German radio station broadcast a program on Louise Brooks earlier this month, marking the 25th anniversary of her passing. The program, "Immortal Anti-Star," by Claudia Lenssen, was broadcast on August 5, 2010 on the RBB Kulturradio. Here is the description of the program in German:

Unsterblicher Anti-Star
Eine Hommage zum 25. Todestag von Louise Brooks
Von Claudia Lenssen

Sie war Tänzerin, Showgirl, leidenschaftliches Jazz-Baby und Trinkerin. Als "Mädchen mit dem schwarzen Helm" wurde die außergewöhnliche Schönheit Louise Brooks zu einer Ikone, die Bubikopf- Frisur ihr Markenzeichen als neuer unschuldig-sinnlicher Frauentyp. Zwei Stummfilme mit dem Regisseur G.W. Pabst, Lulu und Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, sichern ihr einen herausragenden Platz in der Filmgeschichte. Von Hollywood enttäuscht, entdeckte sie später ihr Schreibtalent und hinterließ der Nachwelt brillante Porträts des frühen Kinos.

This classical music / arts station broadcasts in Germany and also streams over the internet. Might anyone have a recording of the program?

Ebert Club Newsletter

Roger Ebert likes Louise Brooks. He's told me so, and he's also written about the actress and her films on more than a few occasions. Apparently, he also just wrote about the actress in the most recent issue of the "Ebert Club Newsletter."

Ebert wrote, "The Sounds of Silents: Science finds that silent movies trigger mental soundtracks in our minds. Oddly enough, this may explain why they create a reverie state in me. I usually listen to them with a musical sound track, but after reading this I tried a little of "The Show Off" on Netflix streaming, and I see what they mean. . . . So try a little of "The Show Off" yourself. Turn off the sound. Here's the complete movie via Google; though Netflix quality is better. Notice that whenever Louise Brooks is on screen, you simply can't focus on anyone else..."

The newsletter includes a link to a Google video of the 1926 Brooks film (as above), and then a paragraph on Louise Brooks "Looking for Lulu" (1998), the outstanding documentary on the actress by Hugh Munro Neely. Ebert goes on the mention The Cat and the Canary (1927) and highlight some of the other kinds of silent and other early films available over the internet. It's an interesting post. And well worth reading. I always enjoy Ebert's writing - he is one of our best critics.

Leonard Maltin writes up the new edition of DIARY

Film critic & film historian Leonard Maltin wrote up my new Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl on his syndicated column, Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy.

Maltin's article, "Silent Stars Still Mesmerize," is a round up of three self-published books, including the new illustrated edition of Margarete Bohme's book (which served as the basis for the 1929 Louise Brooks film). Maltin says, in part, "Gladysz provides an authoritative series of essays that tell us about the author, the notoriety of her work (which was first published in 1905), and its translation to the screen. Production stills,  advertisements, and other ephemera illustrate these introductory chapters. In today’s parlance this would be called a “movie tie-in edition,” but that seems a rather glib way to describe yet another privately published work that reveals an enormous amount of research — and passion."

The other two books covered by Maltin, Donna Hill's Rudolph Valentino, The Silent Idol: His Life in Photographs and Linda Wada's The Sea Gull: The Chaplin Studio’s Lost Film Starring Edna Purviance, are also highly recommended. (I've got copies of each.) Check out Leonard Maltin's article here. 

 
The new Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl can be purchased through Lulu.com

Diary updated

I've updated my "publisher pages" on THE DIARY OF A LOST GIRL. There's more info, and more links to be found.

Click thru to Lulu.com to buy direct and use coupon code BEACHREAD305 at checkout and receive 15% off the retail price! This special Lulu.com offer ends on August 15, 2010 at 11:59 pm.

THE DIARY OF A LOST GIRL. is available at Book Soup (Los Angeles), as well as at Bird & Beckett (San Francisco), Books Inc. (San Francisco, Market Street), Browser Books (San Francisco), and Cover to Cover (San Francisco), as well as Pegasus & Pendragon (Berkeley), Moe's Books (Berkeley), and the Niles Essanay Silent  Film Museum (Fremont). Other retail locations coming soon.

"Long relegated to the shadows, Margarete Bohme's 1905 novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl has at last made a triumphant return. In reissuing the rare 1907 English translation of Bohme's German text, Thomas Gladysz makes an important contribution to film history, literature, and, in as much as Bohme told her tale with much detail and background contemporary to the day, sociology and history. He gives us the original novel, his informative introduction, and many beautiful and rare illustrations. This reissue is long overdue, and in all ways it is a volume of uncommon merit." - Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran

Below are a few sample pages from my this 336 page book, which contains three dozen mostly vintage illustrations.

"Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl - the basis of Miss Brooks's classic 1929 film - back from obscurity. It remains a fascinating work." – Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives

Gone, but not forgotten

Louise Brooks passed away 25 years ago today. She is gone, but not forgotten. Long live Lulu. Long live Louise Brooks.

Rufus Rufus Rufus on Lulu Lulu Lulu

Yesterday, I posted an article to the Huffington Post website about Rufus Wainwright and his quite understandable interest in Louise Brooks. I recently had the chance the interview Rufus about the actress and his new CD, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu. He is on tour in support of the new record.

I plan on posting another article / interview sometime next week which will be more of a general interest piece. The current article, headlined " 'I am the victim of such a lascivious beauty': Rufus Wainwright on Louise Brooks" includes Wainwright's comments on the silent film star. Check it out at www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-gladysz/i-am-the-victim-of-such-a_b_672089.html

[Photo above courtesy of Kevin Westenberg / www.rufuswainwright.com ]

Discovering a Polish Lulu

For those interested in European film history, in silent film, and in Louise Brooks - Marek Haltof’s Polish National Cinema (Berghahn Books) offers a little something for everyone. Haltof’s 300-page survey is the first comprehensive English-language study of Polish filmmaking and film culture from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 21st century. It’s also a groundbreaking work well worth checking out - whatever your interst.

The book's first two chapters, “Polish Cinema before the Introduction of Sound” and “The Sound Period of the 1930s,” are each fascinating and detailed accounts of the origins and development of the Polish cinema.

Buffeted as it was between Germany and Russia and by the more dominant film industry’s found in each of those countries, Polish cinema was, naturally, influenced by its neighbors. German and Russian as well as French and American films all showed in Poland – and each left their mark. It’s known, for example, that at least a few of Louise Brooks’ American silent films as well as her German-made movies were shown in Warsaw – the capitol of both Poland and the Polish film industry.

For example, Pandora’s Box, retitled Lulu, opened at the Casino Theater in Warsaw at the end of May, 1929. It ran for a few weeks, and was well received. In my research, I have been able to track down the Polish newspaper reviews and advertisements for that historic screening.

One striking example given by Haltof of the German influence on Polish cinema is noted in the book’s second chapter, on the films of the 1930s.

Haltof writes, “The treatment of women in Polish melodramas oscillates between presenting them as femme fatales in the tradition of Pola Negri’s silent features made for the Sfinks company, and as vulnerable figures at the mercy of the environment. The former representation, which is not very popular in Polish cinema, can be seen in Zabawka (The Toy, 1933), directed by Michal Waszynski. The title refers to the female protagonist Lulu (Alma Kar), a Warsaw cabaret star, who is invited to a country manor by a wealthy landowner. The landowner’s son and local Don Juan both fall in love with Lulu and pay for it. The name of the protagonist and the theme of the film suggest G.W. Pabst’s influence (Louise Brooks as Lulu in Pandora’s Box, 1929), and this inspiration has been emphasized by one of the scriptwriters of the film.” Pictured here is Alma Kar as Lulu in Zabawka.

Haltof, a Polish-born scholar, is now resident in the United States where he teaches Film in the English Department at Northern Michigan University. Via email, he confirmed the influence of one film on the other. He also supplied a photocopy of a page from a hard-to-find Polish work, Historia filmu polskiego (1988), which he cites in his own book. It quotes coscriptwriter Andrzej Tomakowski on the influence of Pandora’s Box on Zabawka.

A viewing of Zabawka itself confirms the influence (see video clip below - the entire film resides, in parts, on YouTube). The character, played by the charming Alma Kar, is named Lulu and is like Pabst’s version of Lulu a showgirl desired by many (including a Father and his son) with disastrous results. In one early scene, this Polish Lulu is surrounded by a line of chorus girls each wearing a sharp bob haircut just like that worn by Brooks in Pandora’s Box – except each of these Polish chorines are blonde!

Marek Haltof’s Polish National Cinema was first published in 2002, and was reprinted in softcover in 2008 by Berghahn Books. It is available online and at select independent bookstores.

Starts Thursday!

Starts Thursday! is a new blog devoted to the art and history of coming attraction slides -  the kind shown in movie theaters during the silent and sound era to promote forthcoming films. The blog is run by Robert Byrne, a San Francisco Bay Area film preservationist and a big fan of Louise Brooks. 

Today, I guest blogged for Starts Thursday! I wrote about a glass slide for The American Venus, Louise Brooks' second film and the first in which she had a starring role. My blog also discussed Fay Lanphier, one of the other stars of that film and the actress whose image appears on the slide. Check out my guest blog here.

An unusual girl, an unusual photo

In the past, I've blogged about some of the various newspapers around the country which are selling off their photographic archives. Among them is the Chicago Tribune - one of the country's great newspapers. I once spent a few days in Chicago pouring over past issues.

Some of these photos are being sold on eBay, where just recently three Tribune images have shown up. One of them, seemingly colorized, is rather unusual.

According to a scan of the reverse of the photo provided by the seller, the photo is dated (or at least stamped) October 4, 1928. This photo likely dates from around the time when Louise Brooks left for Germany to begin filming Pandora's Box.

Without examining the photo itself, it's hard to say if the pattern on Brooks' jacket is actual, an enhancement, or just a creative embellishment. Whatever the case, I like it.

The other two images from the Chicago Tribune archive, each of which show photo retouching typical of the time, can be found here and here. Be sure and check them out.

Leonard Maltin comments on Diary of a Lost Girl

At the recently concluded San Francisco Silent Film Festival, I had a chance to speak with Leonard Maltin. He told me how much he appreciated The Diary of a Lost Girl, the 1929 Louise Brooks film which had been screened the day before.

Just recently, Maltin posted a long entry on his blog, "Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy,"  highlighting what were for him some the Festival's many highlights. About the Brooks film, Maltin commented, "It’s been many years since I saw G.W. Pabst’s Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) with Louise Brooks, but I don’t remember being affected by it the way I was this time around. I’m older, and perhaps that has something to do with my response, but I found it incredibly hypnotic, sad, and moving." These comments echoed what he had told me in person.

Read more - including comments on the various Festival films - at http://blogs.indiewire.com/leonardmaltin/archives/2010/07/27/silent_films_live_again

A fragile image

I just obtained a falling-to-pieces copy of Arts Monthly Pictorial. It dates from 1926, and contains this earlier and rather uncommon image of Louise Brooks by Edwin Bower Hesser. The magazine is on brittle paper. I wanted to share it with everyone before the paper falls apart. It is a fragile thing.

Huffington Post: Loving Louise Brooks

Loving Louise Brooks is a short film and the work of now graduated French Lycee / high school students - which, as a student film has all charms and shortcomings of student work. Nevertheless, I like it. Some further thoughts at the Huffington Post.

Louise Brooks stars at 2010 Silent Film Festival

Louise Brooks seemed to be just about everywhere at the just concluded 2010 San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Brooks’ image adorned the badges worn by staff, volunteers, the press, special guests, and festival pass holders. Her image was on the handbill for the event, and could be found in the display cases outside the Castro Theater in San Francisco, where the event was held.

Individuals could be seen sporting pin back buttons featuring a likeness of the actress. And if that weren’t enough, more than a few individuals could be spotted wearing Brooks’ t-shirts - either those issued by the Festival in 2006 when it showed Pandora’s Box, or the all-black “strand of pearls” shirts being sold by one of the vendors on the Castro mezzanine.

Brooks’ postcards were for sale on the mezzanine, along with a selection of books both by and about the actress. As was the limited edition silkscreen poster for Diary of a Lost Girl commissioned for this year’s event. It proved especially popular, and sold out. I managed to secure # 29, since that was the year the film was released.

Diary of a Lost Girl, the 1929 G.W. Pabst film which stars Brooks, was the Festival centerpiece. That's because it was the “Founder's Presentation” film. Before the film was shown to a nearly sold-out house of 1400 movie buffs, SFSFF founders Melissa Chittick and Stephen Salmons were honored for their efforts in having started the annual event which has, over the years, grown from a single co-presentation to a four day film lover's extravaganza and the largest silent film festival in North America. At this special presentation of Diary of a Lost Girl, the Colorado-based Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra performed their original score for the film. It was very well received. And I liked it a lot too.

After the screening, three authors signed copies of their books. Emmy nominated Hollywood screenwriter Samuel Bernstein (pictured left in a black shirt, with me) signed copies of his recently published Lulu: A Novel (Walford Press). The subject of this “non-fiction novel" is Brooks and the period in her life when she went to work with Pabst in Germany. It’s the latest in a shelf worth of works of fiction which have taken the silent film star as their muse.

Also signing was Ira Resnick. This longtime collector and founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery in New York City (the first gallery devoted exclusively to the art of the movies) was signing copies of his new book, Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood (Abbeville). It features hundreds of images including a number of posters and lobby cards from various Brooks’ films. Resnick’s new book also includes a small "love letter" to the actress as his own collecting muse.

I also signed books. I've just published the "Louise Brooks edition" of the book which was the basis for the film Diary of a Lost Girl. This new illustrated edition of the 1905 German novel brings this important book back into print in the United States after more than 100 years. It includes a long introduction detailing the book's remarkable history and relationship to the 1929 silent film of the same name.For those lucky attendees who lined up for a copy, I gave away a free pin back button (there were three styles to choose from) and also rubber stamped their copy using my Rick Geary drawn caricature of Louise Brooks. Fans seemed to like that.

Brooks’ part in Diary of a Lost Girl wasn’t her only appearance on the screen at the 2010 event. Her image was flashed on the screen during the in-between film slideshow. And, during the Sunday morning presentation, "Amazing Tales from the Archives," Mike Mashon of the Library of Congress presented a fascinating report on American silent film survival rates which referenced Brooks and her films.

During his presentation, Mashon focused on Paramount, and naturally - Brooks' name and films popped up at least 6 or 8 times. (Brooks was under contract to Paramount during large parts of her career.)

In particular, Mashon relayed the story of the 1928 Brooks’ film, Beggars of Life, and how it has come to survive till today. At one point, Mashon even showed a 1950 purchase order from James Card of the George Eastman House for a 16mm dupe of the film. All copies in circulation today, Mashon noted, come from this copy of the film made decades ago.

Mashon also showed another document which referenced a 1951 archive acquisition of another Brooks’ film, A Social Celebrity (1926). It has subsequently been lost.

As Brooks’ longtime friend Kevin Brownlow (pictured right with me - notice we are both wearing our Louise Brooks Festival badges, and I my Prix de Beaute t-shirt) pointed out during his remarks at the event, the motto of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival is “True Art Transcends Time.” Twenty-five years after her death, the same might be said for Louise Brooks.

[More images from the event in the slideshow which follows the article at examiner.com.]

Another new book about Louise Brooks?

In my previous blog, I wrote about a recently issued book called Ziegfeld Follies: Ziegfeld Girls, Barbara Stanwyck, Eve Arden, Lucia Pamela, Jeanne Eagels, Bessie Love, Paulette Goddard, Louise Brooks. It was published last month by Books LLC, has no given author, and can be found on amazon.com 

It seems as though that same "publisher" has issued another book with Louise Brooks' content. It's cleverly titled People From Montgomery County, Kansas: Louise Brooks, William Inge, Vivian Vance, Bill Kurtis, Gareth Porter, Johnny Rutherford. And like those other books, it has no given author. It's 118 pages.The publisher notes that there are chapter devoted to Louise Brooks, William Inge, Vivian Vance, Bill Kurtis, Gareth Porter, Johnny Rutherford, Mildred "Micky" Axton, Sheila C. Bair, William Wadsworth Hodkinson, Kenneth Mcfarland, Helen Foster, Claude Wendell Horton, Sr., Ron Kenoly, Harry Hines Woodring, Dave Baker, Eva Jessye, Sam Avey, James Grauerholz, Carrie Ingalls, Denver David Hargis, Scott Hastings, Maxwell Davis, Phil Ehart, Mary Howard de Liagre, Cynthia Sikes, Ron Warner, Omar Knedlik, and Wade Flemons.

Like those earlier books, this book seems to be drawn from online sources, such as Wikipedia. And like those earlier books, it is available on amazon.com The publisher web page for this book is http://booksllc.net/book.cfm?id=3490533 I don't recommend any of the books published by this company.

New book about Louise Brooks ?

Seemingly, there is a new book about Louise Brooks. Or at least it is about her in part. Or at least her name is in the title. And, it was printed recently.

The book is called Ziegfeld Follies: Ziegfeld Girls, Barbara Stanwyck, Eve Arden, Lucia Pamela, Jeanne Eagels, Bessie Love, Paulette Goddard, Louise Brooks. It was published last month, is 166 pages, and can be found on amazon.com No author is given. That's a bad sign.

I haven't seen a copy of the book as of yet - though I do plan on ordering one. (Somebody has got to.) The product description offered on amazon is kinda weird. It notes that there are chapters devoted to Ziegfeld Girls, Barbara Stanwyck, Eve Arden, Lucia Pamela, Jeanne Eagels, Bessie Love, Paulette Goddard, Louise Brooks, Marion Davies, Olive Thomas, Joan Blondell, Ann Pennington, Mae Murray, Florenz Ziegfeld, Nita Naldi, Susan Fleming, Iris Adrian, Anna Held, Bird Millman, Tamara Geva, Dorothy Mackaill, Billie Dove, Paulette Duval, Yvonne Hughes, Claire Dodd, Irene Hayes, Cecile Arnold, Jean Howard, Helen Gallagher. 

It then offers an excerpt, which seems to be lifted from Wikipedia. The informational url found in the product description takes you to the Wikipedia page for Louise Brooks. Hmmm.

If I were to hazard a guess, I would think this "data-mined" book is made up of little more than material gathered from various websites. Oh boy. But that is just a guess. One never knows until one has the thing in hand. The publisher is Books LLC. According to their website, they are based in Memphis, Tennessee. Their webpage for this book is http://booksllc.net/book.cfm?id=3459533

I do believe that this "publisher" is the same entity which also recently released a version of Margarete Bohme's The Diary of a Lost One on the world. I have a copy of that - and can state that it is a very poor thing indeed. The product description found on amazon.com and on their website begins "The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text...." Well, that's an understatement. Doesn't i"numerous typos or missing text" make you feel like you simply MUST have a copy?

For better or for worse, we are likely at the dawn of a new age of such books. 

When I prepared my own edition of Bohme's The Diary of a Lost Girl, I was very careful to make sure the text of my book was the best it could be. I spent nearly a month going over the manuscript again and and again fixing typos and making corrections. And, to give it added value, I also added a 35 page introduction and more than 3 dozen vintage illustrations. My edition of Bohme's book can be found at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-diary-of-a-lost-girl-(louise-brooks-edition)/11256621. Plus, what makes my edition so superior is that it looks a heck of a lot better than the above two books. And, it has Louise Brooks on the cover. What more could you ask for?

I am in the process of getting the book into various online "distribution channels" and even select brick-and-mortar bookstores. It should be available around the world on the various  amazon.com sites sometime soon, as well as Barnes & Noble, etc.... However, the best source for the book is direct from the printer at lulu.com

Article on director G.W. Pabst

Today, I published an article on the Huffington Post on director G.W. Pabst. His two films with Louise Brooks, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, are legend. As mentioned earlier on this blog, on July 15th Bard College in New York state is hosting a G.W. Pabst festival. And screenings of his films are also taking place this month in San Francisco and Berlin. My new article poses the question "Are we in the middle of a Pabst's revival."

Please check out my article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-gladysz/gw-pabst-a-film-director_b_643588.html

Pictured below is Louise Brooks with G.W. Pabst and some of the actors who appeared in Pandora's Box. Pabst is standing next to the actress on her right. This photo was taken in late 1928.

Comic-book great HARVEY PEKAR dead at age 70

Comic-book great Harvey Pekar has died at the age of 70. Pekar was the author of American Splendor and other works classified as either graphic novels or comic book. American Splendor was also turned into a critically acclaimed film in 2003. If you haven't seen it, go out and get it today. It explains all.

Harvey Pekar had lived in Cleveland, Ohio.

Over the years, I had put on a couple of  events with him. He always drew a big crowd. Pekar loved old books and old movies (as well as orange pop and potato chips), and loved talking about them. Most recently, he wrote the forward to a new edition of Jim Tully's Circus Parade, which was published by Kent State University in 2009.That Ohio-based press is currently in the process of issuing a handful of Tully's out-of-print books, including Beggars of Life, which was the basis for the 1928 Louise Brooks film of the same name. Tully also hailed from Ohio.

(Also in the KSU press series is Shanty Irish, with a forward by director Jon Sayles.)

Below is a snapshot of Harvey Pekar and I taken a few years ago. It was an honor to know him.

Lulu in Rochester: Louise Brooks and the cinema screen as a tabula rasa

A longnew article about Louise Brooks is included in the newest issue of Senses of Cinema (issue #55). The article, by Robert Farmer, is titled "Lulu in Rochester: Louise Brooks and the cinema screen as a tabula rasa."

In it, Farmer looks at the ever evolving nature of Louise Brooks’ reputation. As Farmer notes, Brooks' real fame arrived many years after she abandoned her acting career. He analyzes the life, the films and the screen persona of an actress who has been turned into an icon of modernity. In my opinion, its a thoughtful and well considered piece, though I disagree witha few of his lesser points.

Robert Farmer is a filmmaker and lecturer in film theory and practice living in Northampton, UK. Check out his article at http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2010/feature-articles/lulu-in-rochester-louise-brooks-and-the-cinema-screen-as-a-tabula-rasa-3/   

[ The Louise Brooks Society even gets a shout out in this article. Check out footnote #35 ! ]

G.W. Pabst film festival

On July 15th, Bard College in New York state is hosting a G.W. Pabst film festival. Over the course of a month, they will be screening many of the director's best films including the two Pabst made with Louise Brooks, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl.

Pandora's Box screens on July 22 at 7 pm with piano accompaniment by Ben Model. Diary of a Lost Girl screens on July 25 at 7 pm with piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin.

The complete line-up of films (including Secrets of a Soul and the Threepenny Opera) as well as ticket information can be found here.

Show-Off screens in Los Angeles July 10

I recently learned that The Show-Off (1926) will be screened "under the stars" on July 10th (that's tomorrow) in Los Angeles, California. This screening is part of a double bill put on by the Heritage Square Museum which celebrates the talents of noted actresses who came to fame during the early years of Hollywood. Also on the bill is A Fool There Was (1915), starring the legendary vamp, Theda Bara.

When The Show-Off opened at the Metropolitan Theater in Los Angeles in August of 1926, it and Louise Brooks drew favorable reviews. The city’s newspapers ran reviews with headlines describing it as a “riot of fun” and a “cure for ailments.” More on this film and this rare screening can be found on examiner.com.

Admission to the Silent and Classic Movie Nights is free for museum members; a $10.00 donation for asked for the general public. These special screenings take place on the lawn near the Palms Depot. Guests are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets to sit on, a small picnic to eat before the movies begin, and warm clothing. Beverages and snacks will be available for purchase. Gates open at 7:30 p.m., with the show starting after 8:00 p.m.
The Heritage Square Museum is located at 3800 Homer Street in Los Angeles. More info at http://www.heritagesquare.org./calendar_of_events.htm

From the picture below, you can see that a crowd is already gathering for what promises to be a swell time.

New Diary of a Lost Girl poster

Back in June, I wrote a blog giving six reasons to attend the upcoming San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Well, here's one more which I've just found out about.

San Francisco poster artist David O'Daniel has created a beautiful limited edition poster for the July 17th SFSFF screening of Diary of a Lost Girl. And of course, the poster features a likeness of Louise Brooks, who starred in the 1929 film.

These silkscreen posters, which measure 19 x 25 inches and were printed in an edition of 75, will be on display and for sale at the event. I plan on getting one. Here is a look. More info at http://aliencorset.blogspot.com/

Rolled Stockings screenwriter turns 110

The woman whose story was the basis for the 1927 Louise Brooks’ film, Rolled Stockings, has turned 110 years old. Frederica Sagor Maas (pictured right in 1925) is one of the last surviving personalities from the silent film era, and perhaps the last living individual associated with one of Brooks’ silent films. 

I first met Maas in June, 1999 when I had lunch with her at the historic Musso and Franks restaurant in downtown Hollywood. 

Just six weeks later, in July, I put on her first bookstore event in connection with her then just published memoir, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (University Press of Kentucky). In it, she recounts her life both in and out of Hollywood, where she worked as a screenwriter during the silent and early sound era. 

At the time, Maas was 99 years old and nearly blind, and instead of a traditional author reading - I interviewed Maas about her remarkable life. The assembled crowd seemed to hang on her every word. Afterwords, we went out for a late supper and talked of many things, including Louise Brooks, who impressed her as someone who seemed "smart" and well educated. 

It was a great pleasure to meet Frederica Sagor Maas. I hope she lives another 100 years. 

More on her remarkable career can be found on examiner.com  - and more on Maas and  Brooks can be found here. [Some of the newspaper advertisements which I have come across for Rolled Stockings, like the one pictured below, include her name - a nod, I think, to her standing in Hollywood at the time.]

Is July 17th international Diary of a Lost Girl day?

Is July 17th international Diary of a Lost Girl day? So it seems.

I've recently learned that the acclaimed 1929 G.W. Pabst-directed film starring Louise Brooks will be shown in Berlin, Germany on the 17th of July as part of the “Berlin Babylon - Silent Film Festival.” And on that same day, the film will be shown in San Francisco as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Simultaneity, synchonicity, a perfect storm - call it what you will. All I can say is "wow" - and, how's that for a world-wide happening?

Following the San Francisco screening, there will also be a book signing for my newly published “Louise Brooks edition” of Margarete Böhme’s The Diary of a Lost Girl (PandorasBox Press). This bestselling and once controversial book, first published in Germany in 1905, had been out-of-print in the United States for more than 100 years. My San Francisco book signing marks its debut event.

The Berlin Babylon - Silent Film Festival will also show Pandora’s Box on July 24th. I posted a short article with a little more information about the multi-day, multi-film Berlin event over on my column at examiner.com.

Louise Brooks and the sexual revolution in Italy

The Italian comix character, Valentina (who was inspired by Louise Brooks), is at the heart of this 2007 Italian television discussion about the sexual revolution of the 1960's and 1970's (as it took place in Italy). The book focuses on Giampiero Mughini and his book Sex Revolution. Also among the speakers on this program is Sara Faillaci of Vanity Fair. [Thanx to Gianluca Chiovelli for forwarding this link.]

Beggars of Life screens Aug 15 in SoCal

The 23rd annual Silents Under the Stars takes place Sunday July 18 and Sunday August 15 at the Paramount Ranch, 2813 Cornell Road, in Agoura, California.

The Lucky Devil, featuring Richard Dix and Esther Ralston, will be shown at 8 p.m. on July 18. This 1925 film “tells a rollicking story of romance and race cars with a crazy uncle thrown in for comic relief,” according to event organizers. This film is being presented on Richard Dix birthday.

Beggars of Life with Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen and Wallace Beery, will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on August 15. Organizers describe this 1928 film as the adventures of Louise Brooks on the run from an abusive father, riding the rails with the help of Richard Arlen. Beggars of Life was directed by William Wellman.

Musical accompaniment for both films will be provided by Michael Mortilla.

Attendees are invited to arrive early with a picnic dinner. Due to limited lighting, patrons are encouraged to bring flashlights. Tickets are $6 general admission; $5 for Hollywood Heritage members; $3 for children under 12. Silents Under the Stars is presented by the National Park Service, The Silent Society and Hollywood Heritage. For more information call (323) 874-4005 or e-mail silents@hollywoodheritage.org

Hollywood Heritage is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the historic environment in Hollywood and to education about the early film industry and the role its pioneers played in shaping Hollywood’s history.

First blurb and first notice

Recently, I received my first blurb for my new edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl. It was from Lon Davis, a film historian and the author of Silent Lives and King of the Movies: Francis X. Bushman.

Lon Davis said, "Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl - the basis of Miss Brooks's classic 1929 film - back from obscurity. It remains a fascinating work."

Today, the first newspaper notice of the book also appeared, in my (San Francisco) neighborhood paper, the Noe Valley Voice. Here it is.

Any San Francisco neighbors can find the book at Cover to Cover on 24th street in Noe Valley. Here is the San Francisco Chronicle link to my book signing event on July 17th at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. Onward and upward!

Baby Peggy

Considering all she has been through, Diana Serra Cary is a survivor. And a remarkable one at that. She is also, as Baby Peggy, one of the last surviving silent film film stars. Should you ever have a chance to see Captain January (perhaps her best surviving film), do so! It is wonderful.

And should you ever come across her recently reissued autobiography,What Ever Happened to Baby Peggy: The Autobiography of Hollywood's Pioneer Child Star, read it! It too is wonderful - a great read, a moving memoir. When I read a few years ago, and I think I fell a little bit in love with the author's indomitable spirit.

Today, I published a two pieces on this diminutive actress  - one was in the book section of the Huffington Post. My article is called "The Bookseller Who Became an Author and Who Once Had Been the Biggest Little Film Star in the World." It tells the story of Diana Serra Cary after she left Hollywood. The other was  a short article on examiner.com. (Today, Kenneth Turan also ran a piece on the actress in the Los Angeles Times.)

If you live in Los Angeles or San Francisco, you have a chance to meet Baby Peggy in person. Cary, aka "Baby Peggy," will give a short talk and introduce her 1924 film, Captain January, at the Cinefamily's Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles on July 7th. And, she will be signing copies of her books at the Castro Theater in San Francisco on July 16th as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Don't miss one of these opportunities to meet a real movie star - a living legend.

OK, so you may be wondering, what does all this have to do with Louise Brooks, as Baby Peggy's film career was largely over with by the time Brooks' had started. Nevertheless, the one-time child star did encounter a few individuals who also figure in Brooks' story.

For example, one of the Baby Peggy's major films was Helen's Babies (1924), which co-starred Brooks' contemporary, Clara Bow. And in her autobiography, Baby Peggy tells a story about The Captain Hates the Sea (1934), a film in which her mother had a bit part as a dress extra. That Lewis Milestone film starred John Gilbert, and also featured three actors with whom Brooks worked - Leon Errol ("Louie the 14th"), Victor McLaglen (A Girl in Every Port) and Akin Tamiroff (King of Gamblers).

And, as the picture above shows, the 13 year old Baby Peggy also met Louise Brooks' former husband, director Eddie Sutherland. She is pictured in the middle, between her parents on the right and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (with a monkey on his head) watched by a smiling Sutherland on the left. [Image courtesy of Diana Serra Cary.] Below is a short, three minute film in tribute to Baby Peggy and her appearance in Pordenone, Italy in 2005.

L'Actrice Degeneree

While looking around the DailyMotion website, I came across another short French film which is a kind of homage to Louise Brooks. It's called L'Actrice Dégénérée, and it's by Laure Springer. It is a recent work, though I am not sure from when exactly.

Its story focuses on Samuel and Julian, two journalists. Samuel is attempting to write an article on Louise Brooks, but Julien is unable to understand his fascination with the actress.

Article about Loving Louise Brooks

I posted an article about the new short film, Loving Louise Brooks, over at examiner.com It’s a very true film well worth watching. Loving Louise Brooks is an 11 minute work which speaks not only to the vagaries of young love, but also to cinematic obsession – and the times when those forces collide. Check out my article at http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-48577-Louise-Brooks-Examiner~y2010m6d29-New-short-film-homage-to-Louise-Brooks

 

Loving Louise Brooks

I just came across this short film on Daily Motion. It's called Loving Louise Brooks. It is a wordless sound film, in effect a silent film. It is really good. I believe it was made in France. Check it out.

Remembering Daisy D'Ora

Daisy D'Ora was what one would call a personality. She was a free spirit. I wrote an article about her which I posted to my Louise Brooks column on examiner.com. Please check it out.

D’Ora was discovered at the age of 15 by director G.W. Pabst, who noticed her in a cosmetics advertisement. In the ad, according to one article, she was dressed in her confirmation dress (a la Thymain in Diary of a Lost Girl). 

Pabst cast her in a small role in Pandora's Box, her first film. She was only 16 years old when it debuted in Berlin in February, 1929. After that, she appeared in only a few more films in 1929 and 1930.

In 1931, she was selected "Miss Germany," and was a contestant in that's year's international beauty pageant in Galveston, Texas. She placed fourth. She was not, as far I can tell, ever named "Miss Europe" (a la Prix de Beaute), as is claimed on some web pages. (There was such a contest in Europe in the 1930's.)

[This German newspaper obituary has a remarkable photo of D'Ora standing next to a painting of herself as a young woman.]

Daisy D'Ora (1913-2010)

Daisy D'Ora, a German actress whose brief career included a role as Charlotte Marie Adelaide in the 1929 Louise Brooks' film Pandora's Box, has died. D'Ora was one of the last surviving German actresses of the silent era. D'Ora, born February 2, 1913, died on June 19, 2010.

Daisy D'Ora was a baroness named Daisy, Baroness von Freyberg. Because it was thought improper in her circle in those days to work in show business, she acquired a stage name. At the end of the 20's, she had appeared in a few silent movies.

The famous writer Erich Maria Remarque persuaded her to take part in a beauty contest in Germany. She won and as a result she was sent to Miami for the Miss Universe contest. The famous vocal group, Comedian Harmonists, sang of her beauty in later years.

Here she is, as depicted in Pandora's Box. She played Dr. Schon's fiance, and it is her and Schon's son (played by Francis Lederer) who discover Brooks and Dr. Schon (played by Fritz Kortner) in an compromising position backstage. The hands that hold the picture are those of Lousie Brooks.

Six reasons to attend the SF Silent Film Festival

If you’re a fan of Louise Brooks and have been thinking about attending the upcoming San Francisco Silent Film Festival, and need a few reasons to encourage you to purchase a ticket – then here are six. Each, on its own, is reason enough IMHO.

1) The Festival, which is putting on its 15th annual event this July, will screen one of Louise Brooks’ best films, Diary of a Lost Girl. As the "Founder’s Pick" film, this 1929 German movie has been designated the centerpiece work at this year’s event. It will be shown with live musical accompaniment provided by the outstanding Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

According to the world renowned British film historian Kevin Brownlow, the collaboration between director G.W. Pabst and actress Louise Brooks helped establish Brooks as an “actress of brilliance, a luminescent personality and a beauty unparalleled in screen history.” I think we would all agree.

2) Kevin Brownlow will be in attendance. If you know Brooks’ life story (or you’ve read Barry Paris’ outstanding biography), then you’re aware of the importance of this film historian in the revival of interest in the actress.

Let's put it this way: there is no more important film historian in the history of silent film. And, there is no more important book than Brownlow’s classic 1969 study, The Parade’s Gone By (University of California press). Interestingly, Brownlow's book carries this acknowledgment, “I owe an especial debt to Louise Brooks for acting as a prime mover in this book’s publication.”

This film historian lives in England, and doesn’t make all that many appearances in the United States. Brownlow will be signing books twice over the course of the Festival, as well as introducing a couple of films. Bring your copy of The Parade’s Gone By and get is signed. Or buy a copy at the Festival and get it signed. (Brownlow's book and the other books mentioned in this post will all be on sale at the Festival.) And don’t miss this opportunity to meet the man.

3) Another author who knew the actress will also be in attendance. Ira Resnick, a longtime collector and the founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery in New York City (the first gallery devoted exclusively to the art of the movies) will be signing copies of his superb new book, Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood (Abbeville).

This book features posters and lobby cards of many silent films including a handful of Brooks’ films, and notably a one-of-a-kind poster for Diary of a Lost Girl (pictured left) for which the author once paid the near record setting sum of $60,000. Another illustration in the book is inscribed to Resnick from Brooks.

Resnick will  be signing books following the July 17th screening of Diary of a Lost Girl.

4) Also signing books following Diary of a Lost Girl will be Hollywood screenwriter Samuel Bernstein, whose Lulu: A Novel, has recently been published by Walford Press. The subject of this “non-fiction” novel is Louise Brooks and the period in her life when she went to work with Pabst in Germany. It’s an enjoyable read, and the latest in a shelf worth of worthwhile works of fiction which have taken the silent film star as its muse.

Bernstein, who lives in Los Angeles, will be signing books following the July 17th screening of Diary of a Lost Girl.

5) The San Francisco Silent Film Festival takes place at the historic Castro Theater. Built in 1922, this grand theater is one of the last standing movie palaces in the San Francisco Bay Area. And what’s more, no theater in San Francisco can claim to have shown more Brooks films.

As a neighborhood movie theater in the 1920’s and 1930’s, the Castro screened just about every Brooks’ film back then. And beginning with the late 1970’s revival of interest in Brooks, the Castro has regularly shown the actress’ surviving works. The two Pabst films, along with A Girl in Every Port (1928), Beggars of Life (1928), Prix de Beaute (1930) and the remaining fragments of The American Venus (1926) and Just Another Blonde (1926) have all been shown at the Castro in recent decades. The July 17th screening of Diary of a Lost Girl is the latest in a long history of Castro love for Lulu.

6) I will be there. Recently, as I am always going on about, I edited and wrote the introduction to a new “Louise Brooks edition” of Margarete Böhme’s 1905 book, The Diary of a Lost Girl (PandorasBox Press). Böhme’s book was the basis for the 1929 film of the same name. This just published illustrated edition includes the original English-language translation of this once controversial and bestselling work, which has been out of print in the United States for a century. My edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl is making its debut at the Festival. And what's more, I'll be giving away a mini-Thymain or mini-Louise Brooks button to those who line up to get a book.

Along with Resnick and Bernstein, I will also be meeting the public and signing books following the July 17th screening of Diary of a Lost Girl. That's a trio.

Hopefully, one of these six reasons should provide the tipping point in deciding to attend the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Please note, however, that when the Festival screened Pandora’s Box in 2006, it became the only film in the Festival’s now 15 year history to sell out in advance. The Castro Theater holds 1,400 people! That's a lot of Louise Brooks' fans.

 

How many silent films were made based on Diary of a Lost Girl

How many silent films were made based on Margarete Böhme's 1905 book, Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, or The Diary of a Lost Girl. There were at least two, and possibly three.

The first was directed by Richard Oswald and was based on his adaption of Böhme’s book. This 1918 film starred Erna Morena as Thymian, with Reinhold Schünzel as Osdorff, Werner Krauss as Meinert, and Conrad Veidt as Dr. Julius.  As a film, this version of Tagebuch einer Verlorenen was well reviewed, but demands of the censor at the time led to cuts and even a change in its title. Once censorship was lifted after the end of WWI, scenes thought too provocative or critical of society were restored and its famous title changed back.

[The cast and crew of the first version was indeed a remarkable assembly. Oswald went on to direct many films including Different from the Others  (1919). Together, Krauss and Veidt achieved cinema immortality in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Schünzel would also write and direct; his best known work is the seminal Viktor und Viktoria (1933). Pictured here are Veidt and Morena in a scene from Tagebuch einer Verlorenen.]

In 1929, Böhme’s book was made into a film a second time. G.W. Pabst’s version of Tagebuch einer Verlorenen came on the heels of his now classic Pandora’s Box, a film based on the similarly controversial Lulu plays authored by Frank Wedekind. Both of these films starred Louise Brooks. Also appearing in Pabst’s Diary of a Lost Girl is Fritz Rasp as Meinert and the dancer Valeska Gert as the sadistic reform school disciplinarian. The well known character actor Kurt Gerron also has a role in this second adaption.

However, in researching my introduction to the just issued new reprint of The Diary of a Lost Girl, I found that some film databases, such as filmportal.de and IMDb, list a 1912 German production titled Tagebuch einer Verlorenen. It was directed by Fritz Bernhardt and produced by Alfred Duskes. Little else is known of the film, which is presumably lost. And, its relationship to Böhme’s book is uncertain. Does anyone know?

Uncommon image

This uncommon image of Louise Brooks, a promotional photo of the actress for the film It's the Old Army Game (1926), is for sale on eBay. I do like this image - especially so since Brooks is smiling.

The photo looks like it was taken in Florida, where scenes for It's the Old Army Game were shot. The seller notes that the picture once belonged to a Cuban magazine writer. I am sure it will sell for a lot.