Louise Brooks in Winter II

A few more portraits of the silent film star all-bundled up in a winter coat and cloche hat, circa the late 1920s.

Louise Brooks in Winter

It is chilly across the nation. Here is a screen capture of Louise Brooks looking rather stylish in a winter coat.

Speaking of Louise Brooks and Latvia . . .

Yesterday's post got me thinking about Louise Brooks and Latvia. I searched on "Latvian newspaper archive" and found that the National Library of Latvia has a number of Latvian newspapers scanned and available online. One of the newspapers, Latvijas Kareivis, from the capital Riga, covered the 1920's and 1930's.

Though the paper is not keyword searchable, I did a quick visual search and noticed that many American films were shown in the Latvia capital. While I spotted a number of Clara Bow images, I unfortunately didn't come across any images or references to Louise Brooks. Here is a typical example of what I found. I am not certain, but the image in the upper right hand corner featuring Adolphe Menjou  may be from the lost 1927 Louise Brooks film, Evening Clothes. (To see a better and complete image of this August 24, 1929 newspaper, visit this page.)

The little story a postcard tells

This particular postcard is currently for sale on eBay. I have seen examples of this Louise Brooks card come up for sale in the past. However, what makes it stand out is that it tells a little story.

The card, serial #4360/1, was printed in the late 1920's by Ross Verlag, a German company. The front features an attractive portrait of Louise Brooks issued by Paramount, her American studio. Their studio stamp is in the lower right hand corner. What is especially telling is the back of the card. The stamp on the back is from Latvia (prior to WWII a Baltic nation sandwiched between Lithuania and Estonia). The person who sent the card dated it June 28, 1931.

Interestingly, the postage suggests that these German cards were circulated around Europe. And, that  person who bought the card was in all likelihood familiar with the subject of the card; that suggests that at least some of Louise Brooks' films were show in the Baltic states, and that she was at least something of a known personality. Perhaps Brooks was featured in a movie magazine, or in a newspaper article? I would be willing to bet she was "known" because of her three European films, Pandora's Box (Germany, 1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (Germany, 1929), and Prix de Beaute (France, 1930).

Also interesting is the date. By 1931, Brooks' career was beginning to falter. In the United States, she appeared in three lesser films, one of them a short. In the European arena, she hadn't appeared in a film in a year. And yet, a fan in Latvia sent a postcard with her image. Can anyone translate the inscription on the back?

Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios

Among the books the LBS highly recommends is Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios, by Frederic Lombardi. The book was published by McFarland in March, 2013.

Dwan is a legendary director. His credits include Robin Hood (1922), Stage Struck (1925), and The Iron Mask (1929), as well as Louise Brooks' screen test, which was shot in 1925.

Publisher description: "It could be said that the career of Canadian-born film director Allan Dwan (1885-1981) began at the dawn of the American motion picture industry. Originally a scriptwriter, Dwan became a director purely by accident. Even so, his creativity and problem-solving skills propelled him to the top of his profession. He achieved success with numerous silent film performers, most spectacularly with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Gloria Swanson, and later with such legendary stars as Shirley Temple and John Wayne. Though his star waned in the sound era, Dwan managed to survive through pluck and ingenuity. Considering himself better off without the fame he enjoyed during the silent era, he went on to do some of his best work for second-echelon studios (notably Republic Pictures' Sands of Iwo Jima) and such independent producers as Edward Small. Along the way, Dwan also found personal happiness in an unconventional manner. Rich in detail with two columns of text in each of its nearly 400 pages, and with more than 150 photographs, this book presents a thorough examination of Allan Dwan and separates myth from truth in his life and films."

"No wonder it took seven years, and we should be grateful to Fred Lombardi. This is a thoroughly researched book which no film aficionado can afford to be without." -- Kevin Brownlow, 2010 Honorary Academy Award winner

"Exhaustively researched." -- Dave Kehr, The New York Times

"Totally remarkable book on Allan Dwan...so wonderfully dense with information, insights, judicious speculation, etc, etc.--in short it is an instant classic, one of the three or four finest books on film that I have ever read." -- Kevin Thomas, film critic

"Lombardi has done his homework. His Allan Dwan is a revelation, a testament to the fruits of untiring and solid research. Every page reveals the always reliable Dwan as a prolific and versatile filmmaker, whose work touched upon every genre and aspect of the evolving studio system in Hollywood’s Golden Age. He was the architect behind Douglas Fairbanks’s best pictures, from the early comedies to the swashbuckling costume epic, Robin Hood. Gloria Swanson, John Wayne, and Shirley Temple, among so many others, all benefited from his sure touch. We can only wonder why it has taken so long to restore this master director to his rightful place in the Hollywood firmament. We are profoundly grateful to Mr. Lombardi." --John C. Tibbetts, University of Kansas.

Check out the Louise Brooks Society store on Amazon.com. It's stocked with other related Louise Brooks movies, books, music and more.

Louise Brooks on a ladder in Hollywood

A picture of Louise Brooks (on a ladder) alongside actor Adolph Menjou and Evening Clothes director Luther Reed is included in this months Los Angeles Magazine. The three are pictured outside of "The Barn" in Hollywood, the site of Cecil B. DeMille's production of The Squaw Man, said to be the first feature film shot in the greater Los Angeles area. Production of Evening Clothes took place in January of 1927. The historic snapshot was likely taken around that time. (Thank you to film historian Mary Mallory for tipping us off to this clipping.)

And here is a snapshot of Christy Pascoe and Thomas Gladysz (Director of the Louise Brooks Society) outside The Barn many years later. This historic building is located just across the road from the Hollywood Bowl. Should you ever visit Tinsel Town, be sure and pay a visit.

Louise Brooks :: “Musei in Musica”: riprende l’attività della Casa del Jazz con un triplo concerto

Yesterday, Louise Brooks was celebrated in jazz in Italy. . . 

 

Il 7 dicembre, ore 21, alla Casa del Jazz, Roma 

SIMONE GRAZIANO QUINTET

“Frontal”

David Binney sax alto

Dan Kinzelman sax tenore

Simone Graziano pianoforte

Gabriele Evangelista contrabbasso

Stefano Tamborrino batteria

 

CRISTIANO ARCELLI QUARTET

“Brooks”

Cristiano Arcelli sax alto
Federico Casagrande chitarra elettrica
Marcello Giannini chitarra elettrica
Zeno de Rossi batteria

CRISTIANO ARCELLI /SIMONE GRAZIANO ENSEMBLE

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In collaborazione con l’Assessorato alla Cultura, Creatività e Promozione Artistica di Roma Capitale e Zètema Progetto Cultura

Riprende l’attività della Casa del Jazz, sabato 7 dicembre nell’ambito di “Musei in Musica” in collaborazione con l’Assessorato alla Cultura, Creatività e Promozione Artistica di Roma Capitale e Zètema Progetto Cultura, con un triplo concerto: alle ore 21.00, il pianista  Simone Graziano presenta  il suo cd “Frontal” acclamato dalla critica musicale come una delle migliori produzioni del 2013, con lui sul palco, un quintetto d’eccezione composto dall’icona del sassofonismo americano David  Binney (sax alto), dal giovane talento americano ma naturalizzato in Italia, Dan Kinzelman al sax tenore, da contrabbassista Gabriele Evangelista e dal batterista Stefano Tamborrino.Alle ore 22,00 ,Cristiano Arcelli con il suo quartetto  presenterà il suo ultimo progetto discografico “Brooks”, un tributo alla diva dark del cinema muto Louise Brooks, realizzato per l’etichetta Auand.Sul palco, accanto a Cristiano Arcelli (sax contralto), alcuni dei più interessanti musicisti del jazz italiano: Federico Casagrande e Marcello Giannini (chitarre elettriche) e Zeno de Rossi (batteria).Infine alle 23,00,Cristiano Arcelli / Simone Graziano Ensemble con i musicisti dei due gruppi che si uniranno sul palco.

“Frontal”, il nuovo disco del pianista fiorentino Simone Graziano pubblicato a maggio da Auand Records e realizzato insieme a Chris Speed, David Binney, Gabriele Evangelista e Stefano Tamborrino, è un concept album che nasce dall’improvvisazione, si cristallizza nella scrittura e si semplifica nella canzone, suggerendo una forma che è data dall’insieme di tre cerchi concentrici. Con il cerchio esterno, il più grande, a rappresentare l’improvvisazione; il cerchio intermedio, la composizione; e quello più piccolo le song. Nessuno di questi elementi viene mai disatteso, perché nella composizione, anche laddove la scrittura appare molto compressa, la musica continua a mantenere una singolare cantabilità e l’improvvisazione è sempre presente.
Il primo cerchio dell’album passa attraverso tre momenti improvvisativi: Frontal, la title track che apre il disco, No Words At All, brano centrale e Carolina, l’unica in piano solo, che chiude il disco. Il momento compositivo si sublima nei quattro brani articolati su forme inusuali e complesse Tre Spirali, As a First Point, Away From Here, Takehiko, tutti caratterizzati da una densa scrittura. Ci sono infine brani come Rock Song #1, Rock Song #2, Nocturnal Fly, e Lucyne, dove predomina la semplicità formale e melodica.

Sono molti, in “Frontal”, di Simone Graziano, i riferimenti alla formazione e alla personalità del leader. C’è il desiderio di dare suono a una forma geometrica, come nel caso della song minimale Lucyne, che sfuma nel brano Tre Spirali, prendendo un andamento vorticoso e complesso proprio come le spire; o come in Takehiko, dedicato all’incontro presso il Bauhaus Archiv di Berlino con un’affascinante scultura dell’artista Takehiko Mizutan: una lastra di bronzo fusa che dà vita a tre coni concentrici poggianti su un asse obliquo. C’è la passione per la musica rock, quella con cui il pianista fiorentino è cresciuto, espressa nelle due Rock Song. Ci sono le improvvisazioni collettive come in No Words At All dove la suggestione è un suono senza alcuna evoluzione, statico, asettico e distante. Ci sono i grooves di As a First Point; le sovrapposizioni armoniche inusuali di Away From Here; la rappresentazione in musica del sogno di volare di Nocturnal Fly; l’inno al mistero della vita di Carolina.Quella che ha accompagnato Simone Graziano nella realizzazione di “Frontal” è una formazione d’eccezione che avvicina in maniera esclusiva due realtà musicali distanti solo geograficamente, ovvero la sempre più vivace scena jazzistica italiana e l’effervescente mondo dell’improvvisazione newyorkese.  Due assi della scena contemporanea statunitense incontrano tre giovani ma già affermati musicisti italiani in una combinazione di originalità e talento.

L’eccezionalità dell’incontro è accresciuta dal fatto che Chris Speed e David Binney, pur avendo all’attivo più di 160 pubblicazioni discografiche, non si erano mai proposti prima d’ora in uno stesso gruppo. La carica innovatrice della band sta nella scelta di eseguire solo musiche originali, composte e arrangiate ad hoc dal leader Simone Graziano; tutte le composizioni mirano a valorizzare il virtuosismo dei singoli esecutori in una musica che non lascia mai da parte la melodicità dei temi e la ricchezza armonica, frutto dello studio dei più grandi maestri della tradizione classica e jazzistica. Tutto ciò contribuisce a determinare un suono d’insieme unico e moderno.

A un anno dalla sua fondazione, il gruppo guidato da Simone Graziano ha già raccolto un pregevole successo di pubblico ed entusiasmanti consensi dalla critica specializzata, che hanno consentito al pianista di essere nominato nel Top Jazz 2012, indetto dalla rivista Musica Jazz, nella categoria Migliori Nuovi Talenti.

“Brooks” è il nuovo lavoro di Cristiano Arcelli, un tributo alla diva dark del cinema muto Louise Brooks, realizzato per l’etichetta Auand.

Alla mostra del Cinema di Parigi del 1950, il famoso storico del cinema Henri Langlois, curatore della mostra, proclamava senza mezzi termini: “Non esistono Garbo e Dietrich, esiste solo Louise Brooks!”. Fu l’inizio della riscoperta e riabilitazione dell’attrice che durerà fino ad oggi. La sua straordinaria e conturbante bellezza, che ne fecero subito il prototipo della donna seduttrice e l’incarnazione del sesso, irruppero nel perbenismo di quegli anni. Divenne l’oggetto del desiderio d’intere generazioni.Guido Crepax dichiarò di essersi ispirato a una foto dell’attrice e alla sua malizia conturbante quando creò l’eterea e peccaminosa Valentina e iniziò un fitto rapporto epistolare con lei per presentarle i suoi lavori e scambiarsi idee, pensieri e intima amicizia. La musica del disco nasce dalla penna di Cristiano Arcelli, il quale fonde il jazz con l’hardcore e il punk e raccoglie tutte le sue esperienze artistiche maturate in questi anni, traendo ispirazione dal personaggio di Louise Brooks.

Ogni brano ha un riferimento preciso:
“Solid Gray”
il titolo è ispirato alla luce dei film dell’epoca del muto. Louise Brooks, alla quale è dedicato il cd, è stata una diva indiscussa di quel mondo.
“Boogeyman and Me”
il lato oscuro della personalità di Louise Brooks (e della nostra), quello che traspare dal suo sguardo, quello che si percepisce leggendo la sua biografia e guardando la sua immagine.
“Elison Parade”
una canzone, firmata assieme a Cristina Zavalloni, che racconta di lontananza, di distacco. Un testo ispirato ai tanti cambiamenti repentini che Louise Brooks ha avuto come donna e come artista nel corso della sua vita
“Pandora”
ispirato al film di Pabst “Il Vaso di Pandora”. Louise Brooks diventerà Lulu, una vera icona del ‘900. La forma del brano “bipartita” e frammentata ritmicamente, descrive la pericolosità dell’essere doppi.
“Verse for Brooks”
come un “verse”, l’introduzione delle canzoni americane di jazz, ritmicamente largo e cantabile, nel mio immaginario descrive la vita di Louise precedente alla carriera cinematografica.
“The City Gone Wild”
il titolo è preso in prestito dall‘omonimo gangster – film del ‘27. Il brano è rabbioso, corrosivo e accelera la percezione come in un film scomodo e di movimento.
“Around Lulu”
un brano dedicato alla Lulu del “Vaso di Pandora”, volendo guardare l’altra faccia della luna. Un brano diviso in due, prima tranquillo e lirico, poi di colpo ritmico e distorto.
“Corale for Brooks”
un’introduzione elettronica prepara il campo ad un corale. Si percepisce la calma del cammino compiuto con tutta la solenne pacatezza di un brano che non ha bisogno di sviluppo ma solo di essere cantato.
“I’ll remember Louise”
il voler tenere a mente la luce dello sguardo di Louise Brooks, un’artista che ha fatto del vivere la contemporaneità una missione e che ha avuto nel suo destino la persecuzione delle sfide dell’arte e della vita.
“Elison Parade” (reprise)
in conclusione un “ritorno”.

In “Brooks”, accanto a Cristiano Arcelli (sax contralto), alcuni dei più interessanti musicisti del jazz italiano: Federico Casagrande e Marcello Giannini (chitarre elettriche), Zeno de Rossi (batteria) e, ospite d’eccezione, la voce di Cristina Zavalloni.

Cristiano Arcelli in questi anni si è affermato come sassofonista e compositore. Ha collaborato con artisti quali: Enrico Rava, Joe Chambers, Paolo Damiani, Cristina Zavalloni, Dafins Prieto, Paul McCandless, Cyro Baptista, Danilo Rea, Gabriele Mirabassi, Nguyen Le, Stefano Battaglia. Si è esibito in molti festival tra i quali: Umbria Jazz, Roccella Jazz, Jazz at Lincoln Center (NY), Casa del Jazz (Roma), European Jazz Expo (Cagliari), Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, New Morning (Parigi), Jazz Festival Saalfelden, Barga Jazz, Beijing Internationl Jazz Festival, Amiens, Teatro Regio (Torino), Auditorium Parco della Musica (Roma). La sua attenzione per la composizione e l’arrangiamento l’hanno portato a cimentarsi con organici di ogni tipo, dal trio all’orchestra sinfonica, travalicando gli ambiti del jazz verso le stagioni concertistiche classiche, le colonne sonore, il teatro e la danza.

Casa del Jazz
Viale di Porta Ardeatina, 55 – Roma
Info: 06/704731
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Relazioni con la stampa: Maurizio Quattrini 338/8485333

Louise Brooks in A Girl in Every Port, tonight in Madison, Wisconsin

As part of its mini Howard Hawks retrospective, HOWARD HAWKS: THE EARLY YEARS, the Cinematheque at the University of Wisconsin in Madison will screen A Girl in Every Port. The 1928 Louise Brooks film is set to play tonight at 8:30 pm, with live musical accompaniment provided by David Drazin. [For more on Hawks' career, be sure and check out Joseph McBride's recently reissued Hawks on Hawks, from the University Press of Kentucky.]

Howard Hawks' A Girl in Every Port is a well-crafted and entertaining "buddy film" widely considered the director's best silent. It's also a film with a special legacy.

A Girl in Every Port features a romantic triangle – a reoccurring motif in many of Hawks' later works. It tells the story of two sailors (Victor McLaglen and Robert Armstrong) and their adventures in various ports of call around the world. Louise Brooks plays Marie (Mam'selle Godiva), a high diver and sideshow siren and the love interest of both sailors. Other girls in other ports of call include Myrna Loy, Sally Rand, Leila Hyams, and Maria Casajuana (the future Maria Alba).

Released by Fox in February of 1928, A Girl in Every Port debuted at the 6,000 seat Roxy Theater in New York City. For days on end, the film played to a packed house. Ads placed by the studio in trade publications claimed it set a "New House Record – and a World Record – with Daily Receipts on February 22 of $29,463." Considering ticket prices of the time, that's a lot of money.

Popular as well as critically acclaimed, the film received good reviews in New York's daily newspapers. The New York Times described it "A rollicking comedy," while the New York Telegram called it "a hit picture." The Morning Telegraph pronounced it a "winner."

The Daily News noted, "Director Howard Hawks has injected several devilish touches in the piece, which surprisingly enough, got by the censors. His treatment of the snappy scenario is smooth and at all times interesting. Victor's great, Armstrong's certainly appreciable, and Louise Brooks is at her loveliest."

Reviewing the premiere, TIME magazine stated, "There are two rollicking sailors in this fractious and excellent comedy. . . . A Girl in Every Port is really What Price Glory? translated from arid and terrestrial irony to marine gaiety of the most salty and miscellaneous nature. Nobody could be more charming than Louise Brooks, that clinging and tender little barnacle from the docks of Marseilles. Director Howard Hawks and his entire cast, especially Robert Armstrong, deserve bouquets and kudos."

A number of critics singled out Brooks. The New York American stated, “Then comes THE woman. She is Louise Brooks, pert, fascinating young creature, who does high and fancy diving for a living. . . . Miss Brooks 'takes' our hero in somewhat the manner that Grant took Richmond. . . . Louise Brooks has a way of making a junior vamp and infantile scarlet lady seem most attractive."

A reviewer for the English Kinematograph Weekly echoed American reviews of the film, and picked up on the film's somewhat different bromance. "Louise Brooks made a charmingly heartless vamp. . . . It has the novelty of a love interest that does not materialize, which is replaced by the friendship between two men."

The film made a bigger splash in France. Writing in 1930 in his "Paris Cinema Chatter" column in the New York Times, Morris Gilbert noted ". . . there are a number of others – mostly American – which have their place as 'classics' in the opinion of the French. . . . They love A Girl in Every Port, which has the added distinction of being practically the only American film which keeps its own English title here." The film enjoyed an extended run in the French capitol, and lingered for decades in the French consciousness.

Writing in Cahiers du Cinéma in 1963, French film archivist Henri Langlois stated, "It seems that A Girl in Every Port was the revelation of the Hawks season at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. For New York audiences of 1962, Louise Brooks suddenly acquired that 'Face of the century' aura she had had, many years ago, for spectators at the Cinema des Ursulines. . . . That is why Blaise Cendrars confided a few years ago that he thought A Girl in Every Port definitely marked the first appearance of contemporary cinema. To the Paris of 1928, which was rejecting expressionism, A Girl in Every Port was a film conceived in the present, achieving an identity of its own by repudiating the past."

Brooks, under contract to Paramount, was loaned to Fox for her role in A Girl in Every Port. Anticipating the female types cast by Hawks in later works, the bobbed-hair actress stands as what might well be the first "Hawksian woman." Years later, the director stated, "I wanted a different type of girl. I hired Louise because she's very sure of herself, she's very analytical, she's very feminine, but she's damn good and sure she's going to do what she wants to do."

Film histories note that A Girl in Every Port ranks as the most significant of Hawks' silent films; additionally, historians claim, it seemingly persuaded G.W. Pabst to cast Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box. The claim was likely first made by James Card of the George Eastman House in his 1956 article, "Out of Pandora's Box: Louise Brooks on G. W. Pabst." It was repeated by others, including Brooks herself, in filmed interviews in the 1970's.

In Germany, Pabst cast Brooks as Lulu after a well publicized nationwide search which concluded months after A Girl in Every Port premiered in New York City. Not quite content with a German actress (including, legend has it, Marlene Dietrich), Pabst wrote to Paramount asking after Brooks, then an American starlet. The German director was also in search of a "different type."

Chronologically, the assumption that Pabst saw his Lulu in Hawks' Marie makes sense – Brooks plays a temptress in both films. Historical records show, however, that Blaue jungens, blonde Madchen (the German title for Hawk's film) was not shown in Germany until December, after production on Pandora's Box was finished.

Could Pabst have seen A Girl in Every Port well prior to its release in Germany? Or, might Pabst have noticed Brooks in one of her earlier American films, like Die Braut am Scheidewege (Just Another Blonde) or Ein Frack Ein Claque Ein Madel (Evening Clothes)? Each were shown in Berlin while Pabst was looking for Lulu, and each received press which highlighted Brooks.

Whatever the answer to this small mystery, A Girl in Every Port remains an entertaining film worthy of greater recognition – not only because it stars Louise Brooks, and not only because it may or may not have led Pabst to cast the actress as Lulu in Pandora's Box. It's deserving because it is an early work by great director which introduces the themes and characters Hawks would continue to explore throughout his long and distinguished career.

Singin' in the Rain at San Francisco Symphony

It's one thing for an orchestra to accompany a silent film. It is something else all together for an orchestra to accompany a sound film, let alone a musical.The level of expectation, as well as the technical and performance challenges faced by musicians accompanying a movie whose original score has been stripped from its soundtrack, are considerable to say the least.

That's the challenge the San Francisco Symphony will face on December 6 and 7, when the world renown orchestra accompanies the classic musical, Singin' in the Rain.

The 1952 film, one of most beloved movies of all time, is widely considered the greatest musical ever made. In fact, the film has appeared in numerous top ten lists of the greatest films in history -- all genres aside. In 1989, Singin' in the Rain was among the first 25 films chosen for the then newly established National Film Registry, honoring motion pictures deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress.

The San Francisco Symphony faced a similar challenge last month when it accompanied the Alfred Hitchcock masterworks Psycho (1960) and Vertigo (1958). The Bernard Herrmann score for the latter film is considered by some the greatest Hollywood score of all time, and the Symphony accompanied it to near perfection.

Singin' in the Rain was originally conceived by legendary MGM producer Arthur Freed, the head of a unit responsible for many of MGM's lavish musicals. Freed envisioned the film as a vehicle for his catalog of songs written with Nacio Herb Brown, many of them for MGM film musicals dating from 1929-1939.

Most all of the songs in Singin' in the Rain -- such as "You Were Meant for Me" (from The Broadway Melody, 1929), "Should I?" (from Lord Byron of Broadway, 1930), "Would You?" (from San Francisco, 1936), "Good Morning" (from Babes In Arms, 1939), and notably "Singin' in the Rain" (from Hollywood Revue of 1929), had been featured in earlier films.

Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who contributed lyrics to one new song ("Moses Supposes"), were given the task of stringing these musical numbers together into a story. And they did so brilliantly.

Like the popular Academy Award winning film The Artist (2011), Singin' in the Rain tells a story which takes place during the period when silent film was being replaced by "talkies." The film follows the struggles of the studios and various actors as they attempt to transition to the new medium.

Co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, Singin' in the Rain stars Kelly, Donald O'Connor and then newcomer Debbie Reynolds. Also in the cast are Jean Hagen (who received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role as a character based on silent star Norma Talmadge), Cyd Charisse (as a Louise Brooks-like vixen), and Rita Moreno (playing a character not unlike "It Girl" Clara Bow). Watch for visual nods to Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Louella Parsons. In uncredited roles were familiar character actor Kathleen Freeman (as a diction coach), Mae Clarke (the grapefruit girl from The Public Enemy), and Judy Landon (as a silent screen vamp inspired by Pola Negri).

Kelly was also responsible for much of the film's choreography, while the hair styles designer was Sydney Guilaroff, the famed hair dresser credited with giving Louise Brooks her distinct bob in the mid-1920's. The director of photography was Harold Rosson, who as Hal Rosson, worked on The Street of Forgotten Men and Evening Clothes.

The San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Sarah Hicks, accompanies the film live in what promises to be a not-to-be-missed holiday event. Visit the San Francisco Symphony website for additional details.

Tribute to Louise Brooks ( Music By Editors)

A video tribute to Louise Brooks; the song is "Munich" by Editors.

Must read: The Survival of American Silent Films 1912-1929

Must read: The Survival of American Silent Films 1912-1929 (pdf), by the great David Pierce.

Here it is, the Library of Congress report that has been getting so much press of late.

Follow this link to download or read on line. There are a lot of statistics here, but ultimately it tells an important story. Louise Brooks is mentioned twice.

Examples of Louise Brooks street art, in Paris and Des Moines

Here are a few examples of Louise Brooks street art. The first three are from Paris, France. They are just a few of a number of examples of street art featuring the actress.

 

 
The next example is from Des Moines, Iowa. Read the story behind this image on gregfallis.com

Hawks on Hawks reissued

The University Press of Kentucky has just reissued Hawks on Hawks, by Joseph McBride, as part of its screen classics series.

Howard Hawks (1896-1977) is often credited as being the most versatile of all of the great American directors, having worked with equal ease in screwball comedies, westerns, gangster movies, musicals, and adventure films. He directed an impressive number of Hollywood's greatest stars -- including Louise Brooks, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Rosalind Russell, and Marilyn Monroe. Some of his most celebrated films include Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Big Sleep (1946), Red River (1948), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and Rio Bravo (1959).

Hawks on Hawks draws on interviews that author and film historian Joseph McBride conducted with the director over the course of seven years, giving rare insight into Hawks' artistic philosophy, his relationships with the stars, and his position in an industry that was then rapidly changing. In its new edition, this classic book is both an account of the film legend's life and work and a guidebook on how to make movies.

"I read Hawks on Hawks with passion. I am very happy that this book exists." -- François Truffaut.

"[D]ifferent from most film books about personalities.... The author really knew Howard Hawks, interviewed the crusty old director; the crust and insight come through in these interviews. There are going to be many biographies of Howard Hawks, but they will all lean heavily on this book; the pioneer so honestly reveals himself and the people with whom he worked." -- Los Angeles Times

More about the author: Joseph McBride is an American film historian, biographer, screenwriter, and professor in the Cinema Department at San Francisco State University. McBride has published seventeen books since 1968, including the acclaimed biographies Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success (1992; 2000) and Searching for John Ford (2001). McBride's other books include: Orson Welles (1972; 1996), The Book of Movie Lists: An Offbeat, Provocative Collection of the Best and Worst of Everything in Movies (1999), and What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career (2006).

McBride's screenwriting credits include the movies Rock 'n' Roll High School and five American Film Institute Life Achievement Award specials dealing with Fred Astaire, Frank Capra, Lillian Gish, John Huston, and James Stewart. McBride plays a film critic, Mr. Pister, in the legendary unfinished Orson Welles feature The Other Side of the Wind (1970-76). McBride is also the coproducer of the documentaries Obsessed with "Vertigo": New Life for Hitchcock's Masterpiece (1997) and John Ford Goes to War (2002).

A Girl in Every Port in Madison, Wisconsin on December 7th

On December 7th, A Girl in Every Port (1928), starring Louise Brooks, will also be shown in Madison, Wisconsin. This Howard Hawks-directed buddy film, in which Brooks plays a gold digger who comes between two friends, is considered one of the legendary director's best silent efforts. It screens at the Cinematheque at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, with live musical accompaniment provided by David Drazin. More information at http://cinema.wisc.edu/series/2013/fall/howard-hawks

Happy Thanksgiving, from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy Thanksgiving, from the Louise Brooks Society.

Doctor Who and Louise Brooks

2009 Doctor Who comic book

The connections between the silent film star Louise Brooks and the contemporary science fiction TV series Doctor Who are unexpected. Nevertheless, the actress has appeared as a character in a Doctor Who comics, and one of her biggest fans is an actor who once the played the Doctor himself!

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the Louise Brooks Society looks back to this 2012 interview with actor Paul McGann, who played the eighth Doctor. McGann is as well a BIG fan of Louise Brooks. In 2007, the celebrated actor wrote an article for the Guardian (UK) about silent film star.

Who is Paul McGann? As an actor, he first made a name for himself in 1986 as the lead in a historical BBC drama set during WWI, The Monocled Mutineer (this once-controversial series is out on DVD in the UK). McGann is also known for his role in one of Britain's biggest cult films, the 1987 black comedy, Withnail and I. Other credits include parts in Empire of the Sun, Alien 3, Queen of the Damned, and the BBC's Our Mutual Friend and Hornblower series.

McGann may be best known, at least to science-fiction fans, as the Eighth Doctor, a role he played in the 1996 Doctor Who made-for-television movie. Its story, of the Doctor's regeneration and attempt to save the earth, is set in San Francisco in 1999, on the eve of the millennium.

McGann is, as well, a patron of Bristol Silents, a group formed to raise awareness and knowledge of silent film among the English film going public. He has introduced screenings of films from the silent era and written about them for newspapers including the Guardian in England; his piece on Louise Brooks, with whom he shares a birthday, is well worth checking out.

Recently, McGann answered a few questions about his interest in the silent era and what he is looking forward to seeing at this year’s San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Actor Paul McGann and LBS Director Thomas Gladysz

Thomas Gladysz: When did you first get interested in silent film?  

Paul McGann: About ten years ago after becoming a patron of Bristol Silents. I'd had a general interest since my student days in London, during which the restored Napoleon was premiered, Kevin Brownlow's Abel Gance and David Robinson's Chaplin were published, and Louise Brooks was being 're-discovered.'  

Thomas Gladysz: Tell me more about your involvement with Bristol Silents. How did that relationship come about?  

Paul McGann: I supported one of their early events, I think it was a screening of The Big Parade, and met Chris Daniels [a founder of the group]. He's kindly involved me in quite a few of their projects since, each bigger and better by the year.  

Thomas Gladysz: Any favorite films? How about favorite directors or stars?  

Paul McGann: The first director I worked with, Bruce Robinson, told me when we met that if I thought Jaws was the perfect movie I plainly hadn't seen The Gold Rush. So I did. He was right. I've been a fan of Louise Brooks since first seeing Pandora's Box on television. I remember thinking they must've had that girl playing Lulu parachuted in from the present.  

Thomas Gladysz: You've written and spoken about Louise Brooks, and introduced her films. What is it about the actress that attracts you?  

Paul McGann: She appeared to find, if only briefly, the perfect working spirit. Matchlessly beautiful, fully intelligent and a total natural; most screen actors would kill to be so blessed.  

Thomas Gladysz: At this year's San Francisco Silent Film festival, you're narrating South, Frank Hurley's documentary of Ernest Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica. What can we expect?  

Paul McGann as Doctor Who

Paul McGann: Musician Stephen Horne and myself will try to recreate at least a flavour of the public screenings Shackelton hosted at London's Philharmonic Hall in 1919 when he read from his memoir while Hurley's film played.  

Thomas Gladysz: Have you narrated the film before?  

Paul McGann: Twice, in Bristol and Pordenone, Italy.  

Thomas Gladysz: Are there any films you're especially excited about at this year's Festival.

Paul McGann: Aside from the thrill of seeing a beautifully restored Pandora's Box, I'm really intrigued about Little Toys from China and Erotikon from Sweden.  

Thomas Gladysz: You played a Time Lord in Doctor Who. Were you to travel back in time and return to the silent era and be cast in a film, which film would that be?  

Paul McGann: That's easy, Murnau's Sunrise. I'd gladly (my wife might say naturally) take over George O'Brien's duties as the man caught between Janet Gaynor and Margaret Livingston.

*****

Get social :: Louise Brooks Society on Twitter

The Louise Brooks Society is on Twitter @LB_Society. As of now, the LBS is followed by more than 2,080 fans. Are you one of them? Why not join the conversation? Be sure and visit the LBS
Twitter profile, and check out the more than 2,643 LBS tweets so far!

You should have seen the large number of fans tweeting birthday wishes to the actress
last week. Louise Brooks was trending in 2013! The LBS
twitter stream can also be found
in the right hand column.

RadioLulu Reminder :: Louise Brooks Radio

A reminder to be sure and check out RadioLulu - Louise Brooks inspired, silent film themed radio featuring music of the Twenties, Thirties and today - includes Brooks' related film music, early jazz, dance bands, songs sung by silent film stars, and contemporary pop music about the silent film star.

This unique station features music from six of the Brooks' films - including the haunting themes from Beggars of Life (1928) and Prix de Beaute (1930), as well as musical snippets from The Canary Murder Case (1929) and Empty Saddles (1936). Other vintage tracks associated with the actress on RadioLulu include Maurice Chevalier's much-loved 1929 recording of "Louise," and rare recordings by co-stars Adolphe Menjou, Noah Beery, Blanche Ring, Grace Moore, and Cary Grant. RadioLulu also plays contemporary musical tributes to the actress by the likes of Twiggy, Rufus Wainwright, Soul Coughing, OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark), Marillion, The Green Pajamas, Ron Hawkins, Sarah Azzara, Paul Hayes, and Clan of Xymox, among others.

Rare recording by Brooks' Hollywood contemporaries are also featured. Among the film world personalities heard on the station are Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Pola Negri, Ramon Novarro, Dolores Del Rio, Lupe Velez, Bebe Daniels, Marlene Dietrich, Buddy Rogers, Jean Harlow, and Tallulah Bankhead. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell can also be heard singing the charming "If I Had A Talking Picture Of You."

On RadioLulu, you'll also hear Jazz Age crooners, torch singers, dance bands, hotel orchestras, show tunes, standards, and some real sweet jazz! There are vintage recordings from England, France, Germany, and even Czechoslovakia. There are also tracks featuring the celebrated 1930's Polish chanteuse Hanka Ordonówna, the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht (singing "Mack the Knife" in 1929!), and the contemporary cartoonist Robert Crumb (playing on "Chanson por Louise Brooks"). And what's more, you'd be hard-pressed to find a station that plays more tracks with "Lulu" in the title than the always eclectic and always entertaining RadioLulu!

Who else can be heard on RadioLulu? How about the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Abe Lyman, Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians, Gertrude Lawrence, Annette Hanshaw, Rudy Vallee, Helen Kane, Paul Whiteman, Ted Weems, George Gershwin, Russ Colombo, Harry Richman, Libby Holman and Xavier Cugart - as well as Camilla Horn, Lillian Harvey, Anny Ondra, Josephine Baker, Lucienne Boyer, Mistinguett, and even Kiki of Montparnase.

RadioLulu plays great music, including numerous rare recordings of movie stars from the silent film and early sound era. Check it out !

Louise Brooks :: Cool pic of the day

 

Louise Brooks :: Cool pic of the day. Smiling, at last....

Homage to Valentina, Homage to Lulu

Omaggio alla Valentina di Guido Crepax, a Louise Brooks e a Rina Ketty.

And

From YouTube: Valentina nasce nel 1965 da uno dei disegnatori più innovativi della storia del fumetto: Guido Crepax, un grafico pubblicitario e illustratore di successo, scomparso il 31 luglio 2003 a Milano all'età di 70 anni.

La prima pubblicazione di Valentina comparve all'interno della rivista mensile "Linus" e si intitolava "La curva di Lesmo". Protagonista era appunto Philip, alias Neutron, critico d'arte e investigatore dilettante, dotato di particolari poteri psichici, che gli consentivano di paralizzare con lo sguardo, qualsiasi individuo o qualsiasi macchina. Tale capacità gli derivava dal suo legame di parentela con i Sotterranei, una popolazione cieca che viveva nel sottosuolo a 20.000 mt di profondità.

Ben presto Valentina grazie al suo carisma e al successo di pubblico, scalza il protagonista Philip Rembrandt, conquistandosi il ruolo di protagonista in tutte le storie seguenti. Ciò che colpisce maggiormente di questo personaggio sono i suoi viaggi onirici, ricchi di simbologia surrealista e di introspezione psicologica, che la vedono spesso e volentieri sconfinare nel mondo dell'eros. I fumetti che narrano le sue vicende sono di fatto destinati a un pubblico adulto.

Se le vicende di Neutron era nate mescolando hard-boiled e fumetto supereroico, con Valentina Crepax trova il personaggio adatto per scavare in profondità nella società del suo tempo, e soprattutto nelle pieghe più remote dell'inconscio.

Ciò che contraddistingue l'originalità grafica del fumetto di Guido Crepax è lo stile delle inquadrature e la disposizione delle vignette all'interno della tavola, che ne mettono in risalto il potere espressivo. Queste scelte stilistiche sono sempre funzionali alla storia e contribuiscono ad amplificare la dinamicità di un movimento oppure a mettere in evidenza un dettaglio, o a comunicare un sentimento.

Valentina Guido Crepax Tribute
Music by Fio Zanetti
Editing KodyPoldino
Thx to LaBellaAddormentataNelFosso for supervision and support!
Thx To All friends, All Pets, All stars!

Homage to J'attendrai

Rina Ketty - J'attendrai (Dino Olivieri), Pathé 1938 & Louise Brooks' photographs from 1920s

This is a rather charming song.... Michael Jary m.s. Tanz-Orchester, refraingesang Rudi Schuricke - Komm zurück (J'attendrai) (Dino Olivieri), Odeon 1939.

No matter who sings it or how it is arranged. Here is Max Raabe.

Happy birthday Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks was born on this day in 1906 in Cherryvale, Kansas. She never felt loved by many, though she was. In fact, she kept those who did or would love her at a distance. Perhaps that was because she never thought much of herself. In later years she wrote in a letter to her brother,

I have been taking stock of my 50 years since I left Wichita in 1922 at the age of 15 to become a dancer with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything — spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of ‘not trying.’ I tried with all my heart.

Louise Brooks, where ever you are, know that you are loved and admired by many.

And don't forget, starting today the Kino Ponrepo in Prague launches a month-long series highlighting the actress' best films. The Ponrepo is the National Film Archive of the Czech Republic, and they're set to show Pandora's Box / Pandořina skříňka (November 14th), Diary of a Lost Girl / Deník ztracené (November 21st), A Girl in Every Port / Všude jiné děvče (November 26th), Beggars of Life / Žebráci života (December 3rd), and The Canary Murder Case / Případ zavražděného kanárka (December 10th).

Louise Brooks, magnet of meaning

Louise Brooks was born on November 14, 1906. Now, more than 25 years after her death, the silent film star is more popular than ever.

Brooks, famous for both her sleek dark bob and role as Lulu in Pandora's Box, is undergoing something of a revival. The actress -- her image and legend, are seemingly everywhere.

On October 17th, bestselling author Donna Tartt (who also sports a stylish bob) told the New York Times that one of the books she's currently reading is Barry Paris' acclaimed biography of the actress. That book, first published in 1989, is considered one of the finest film biographies ever written.

The day before, the same newspaper suggested that South African artist William Kentridge had also been drawn to Brooks. Kentridge is staging Alban Berg's opera Lulu at the Met in 2015; he explained to the New York Times that "his Lulu was being inspired by German Expressionism, Weimar cinema (including, of course, Pandora's Box, the G. W. Pabst version of the Lulu story starring Louise Brooks), Max Beckmann drypoints depicting brothels and the like."

While the New York Times was giving a shout-out to the actress, a stage play about Brooks was running in London. Janet Munsil's Smoking with Lulu dramatizes an encounter between the older Brooks and the younger Kenneth Tynan, the English critic who had a lifelong erotic obsession with the actress. Munsil, a Canadian playwright, wrote Smoking with Lulu in 1995. Prior to its recent revival in London, Smoking with Lulu had been staged across the British Isles, Canada, and even once in Richmond, Virginia at an event called Lulupalooza.

Brooks' film career, which began in 1925, was brief. She appeared in 14 movies in the United States before heading to Europe where she starred in the three works on which her reputation rests, Pandora's Box (1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), and Prix de Beaute (1930). Upon her return the States, Brooks was reduced to small roles in largely B-films. By the mid-1930s, Brooks' film career was in shambles. Decades of obscurity would follow.

Beggars of Life (1928) is considered Brooks' best American silent. Directed by William Wellman shortly after he made Wings -- the first film to win an Academy Award, Beggars of Life tells the story of a girl who dresses as a boy and goes on the run after killing her abusive stepfather. The film was shown on November 10th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Hollywood Theater. Brooks' biographer Paris introduced, with live musical accompaniment provided by Daryl Fleming & the Public Domain.

Another Brooks' American silent, A Girl in Every Port (1928), will also be shown in the coming weeks. This Howard Hawks-directed buddy film, in which Brooks plays a gold digger, is considered one of the legendary director's best silent efforts. It screens at the Cinematheque at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on December 7th, with live musical accompaniment provided by David Drazin.

Elsewhere, in Europe on November 14, the Kino Ponrepo in Prague launches a month-long series highlighting the actress' best work. The Ponrepo is the National Film Archive of the Czech Republic, and they're set to show Pandora's Box / Pandořina skříňka (November 14th), Diary of a Lost Girl / Deník ztracené (November 21st), A Girl in Every Port / Všude jiné děvče (November 26th), Beggars of Life / Žebráci života (December 3rd), and The Canary Murder Case / Případ zavražděného kanárka (December 10th).

Brooks started as a dancer, worked as a showgirl and actress, and later while living in poverty and isolation developed her considerable talents as a writer. In 1982, she penned Lulu in Hollywood, a collection of highly praised autobiographical essays. Though primarily a performer, Brooks has over the years acted as muse to various artists, including songwriters, novelists, poets, painters and fashion designers.

Louise Brooks also figures in Hilton Als' new book, White Girls, which is out from McSweeney's. In it, Als writes in the voice of the actress; in the words of the publisher, "In pieces that hairpin between critique and meditation, fiction and nonfiction, high culture and low, the theoretical and the deeply personal, Als presents a stunning portrait of a writer by way of his subjects, and an invaluable guide to the culture of our time."

The Tiger Lillies are a British Grammy-nominated three piece band with a cult following who have toured the world with works of musical theatre including Shockheaded Peter and The Gorey End; they have also released nearly 30 CDs and been inspired by Brooks. Due out soon is Lulu, their homage to the actress and her role as Lulu in Pandora's Box.

The Tiger Lillies are currently touring the United States and Europe. Also on tour is Mike Doughty, a singer-songwriter and ex-front man for the band Soul Coughing. Doughty, who sports a Brooks' tattoo, is currently on tour playing "re-imagined" versions of songs by his former band, including the 1998 Brooks' homage "St. Louise Is Listening."

Another tribute comes from the fashion world. PerezHilton.com reported on November 1 that Rihanna is modeling a coat by designer Jean Paul Gaultier which bears a likeness of Brooks. This new design is not Gaultier's first nod to Brooks.

Some 75 years after her last films, and some 25 years after her death, Louise Brooks' star shines brighter than ever. She remains a magnet of meaning.

Denishawn article from the Ohio State University newspaper

As was mentioned in the previous post, over this past weekend I was in Columbus, Ohio and took the opportunity to visit the Ohio State University Thompson Library where I came across a few clippings in the school's student newspaper which were related to Louise Brooks.

Here is an article which appeared in The Lantern around the time of Louise Brooks first appearance in the city as a member of the Denishawn Dance Company. This piece doesn't mention Brooks specifically (other Denishawn articles from the time sometimes do). Nevertheless, it give a sense of the era and of Brooks' time in Denishawn. Brooks dances in Columbus twice, on Thursday March 8, 1923 and Saturday, November 24, 1923. Both were evening performances. Martha Graham was in the company during the first performance.

The piece is presented here for your amusement.

Some Louise Brooks finds at the Ohio State University

I was in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend for a family wedding (congrats David and Brittni), and took the opportunity to visit the Ohio State University library. I was there to look through back issues of the school's student newspaper, The Lantern.

A few years back, I had surveyed the three Columbus newspapers of the 1920's and 1930's, and had acquired a good number of clipping regarding Brooks' two 1923 Denishawn performances at the city's Memorial Hall, as well as the later screenings of her various silent and sound films at Columbus movie theater's.

The three newspapers I surveyed were the Columbus Citizen, Columbus Dispatch, and the Ohio State Journal. I was curious as to whether or not The Lantern had covered any of these events, just had other student newspapers I have examined had done so.


I can report that I found an article about Denishawn and an advertisement, as well as small write ups about a couple of Louise Brooks' films. I also found a bunch of advertisements for the actress's films at the time they played in Columbus.

A big thank you to student librarian assistant at the Thompson Library who helped me access this material.

Here is some of what I came across.

 

Tiger Lillies to release Lulu, homage to Pandora's Box and Louise Brooks

The Tiger Lillies are a British Grammy-nominated three piece band with a cult following who have toured the world with works of musical theater including Shockheaded Peter and The Gorey End; they have also released nearly 30 CDs, and, it turns out, been inspired by Louise Brooks.

Due out soon is Lulu, their homage to the actress and her role as Lulu in Pandora's Box. Here is a video clip, shot in Russia, this past September. The Tiger Lillies are seen performing a song (or two) from their forthcoming release.

According to an article in the St Petersburg Times (a Russian newspaper)

Speaking in a backroom of Helsinkibar during the band’s September visit, Jacques said the new album and show, “Lulu – A Murder Ballad,” is based on Frank Wedekind’s plays,“Earth Spirit” (1895) and “Pandora’s Box” (1904).

The plays follow Lulu, a social climber turned prostitute in Berlin, Paris and London at the turn of the century, and inspired Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s 1929 silent film “Die Büchse der Pandora” (Pandora’s Box) starring Louise Brooks as Lulu. The plays also served as inspiration for Austrian composer Alban Berg’s 1935 opera “Lulu,” which was left uncompleted at the time of the composer’s death and premiered as a complete opera nearly forty-four years after Berg’s death. A collaborative album by Lou Reed and Metallica, “Lulu,” was also inspired by the plays and was released to mixed reviews in 2011. “We’ll do quite a lot of ‘Lulu’ songs,” Jacques told The St. Petersburg Times.

Commissioned by Opera North, the national opera company for the north of England and written by Jacques, the 20-song show “Lulu – A Murder Ballad” will premiere in London in January.

Louise Brooks as a Sim

Here are a couple of images I recently came across of Louise Brooks as Sim. Whatcha think?

 

Louise Brooks, The American Venus, on exhibit in Astoria exhibit

Portrait of Louise Brooks, American Venus (1926).
Collection of Museum of the Moving Image. Gift of Frederika Tuttle Hastings
and Helen Tuttle Votichenko.
Credit: Museum of the Moving Image

This portrait of Louise Brooks, taken while she was making The American Venus (1926), is currently on display at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York. The portrait is part of "Lights, Camera, Astoria!," an exhibit which traces the history of the Astoria Studios, where Brooks made a numbe rof her early Paramount films.

Studio site photograph, Astoria Studio, c. 1930 (Collection of Museum of the Moving Image. Gift of Dorothy Kandel)

EXHIBITION
Lights, Camera, Astoria!

October 26, 2013–February 9, 2014
In the Amphitheater Gallery

Organized by Barbara Miller, Curator of the Collection and Exhibitions, and Richard Koszarski, author of Hollywood on the Hudson

This exhibition traces the fascinating history of the Astoria Studio complex, which has been at the heart of filmmaking in New York City since 1920. The studio site was the East-Coast home of Paramount Pictures in the silent and early talking-picture eras, a center for independent filmmaking in the 1930s, and the U.S. Army Pictorial Center from World War II into the Cold War. After falling into disrepair in the early 1970s, the site has become a thriving cultural hub that includes Kaufman Astoria Studios and Museum of the Moving Image.

Using film stills, behind-the-scenes photographs, oral histories, film clips, and posters, the exhibition explores the rich legacy and renaissance of the studio complex. With material from silent-era films featuring Rudolph Valentino, early talking films starring the Marx Brothers, World War II training and propaganda films, such modern classics as The Age of Innocence, and television shows like Sesame Street, The Cosby Show, and Nurse Jackie, the exhibition reveals the significant role that the Astoria Studio continues to play in energizing its surrounding community and making moving-image history.

Lights, Camera, Astoria! is presented with generous support from Kaufman Astoria Studios. (A tiny portrait of Louise brooks can be seen in on the far wall.)