Showing posts with label Hollywood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hollywood. Show all posts

Friday, March 17, 2023

Happy St. Patricks Day from the Louise Brooks Society

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a treasure from my collection of silent film related books - Colleen Moore's copy of "Beggars of Life", inscribed by the celebrated hobo author Jim Tully to the celebrated bobbed actress "with the admiration of an Irish Rover to a whimsical girl who knew him when" in Hollywood, California, 1926.  I am not sure if this is a first edition; and sadly, the dust jack is in tatters. But still, the bookplate and inscription is what sets this book apart.

The original price of the book was $3.00, according to the label from the Hollywood Book Store which is pasted to the rear end paper. I bought this book years ago here in California. The used book shop was asking $90.00, but I remember asking them for a discount and getting it. For obvious reasons, this book is a treasured possession.

 
 

Of course, it was another bobbed-hair beauty, Louise Brooks, who went on to star in the film version of Beggars of Life just two years later.

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

Thursday, November 10, 2022

A good brainduster for fans of silent film

Here is something I ran across the other day, a picture puzzle in a 1926 issue of Exhibitor's Herald. The challenge is to identify the silent film stars hiding behind their masks. I think I can identify at least a few right off, and one of them is a famous actor who twice worked with Louise Brooks. Another, number two, is given away by his headgear. How many of the 24 can you identify? It is a good brainduster.

The Louise Brooks Society blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society. (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2022. Further unauthorized use prohibited.

Friday, November 5, 2021

Through the Black Velvet Curtain: Louise Brooks and Rudolph Valentino

Back on August 23, 2019, I gave the keynote talk at the 92nd annual Valentino Memorial Service at the Hollywood Forever cemetery in Hollywood, California. The title of my talk was "Through the Black Velvet Curtain: Louise Brooks and Rudolph Valentino," with its subject being the two iconic silent film stars. My talk asks . . . might these two Jazz Age personalities have known each other? Might they have met? Over the years, various documents have come to light which go a long way toward answering those questions. While we will likely never know what Valentino thought of Brooks, we do know what Brooks thought of Valentino.

When I gave my talk in 2019, technical challenges (the acoustics of the crowded room once we figured out how to play back the audio that played perfectly in rehearsal) made it difficult for the attendees to  hear / appreciate the rare audio (from 1962) of Brooks speaking about Valentino. I felt bad.


In converting my original power point presentation to video, I have taken the opportunity to refine my spoken text just a bit, and add narration as well as a few more relevant images. I think fans of both actors will find this material and this newly refurbished presentation of interest. Please let me know what you think.

I have uploaded my presentation to the Louise Brooks Society YouTube channel (which I hope you will take time to explore, and subscribe to). "Through the Black Velvet Curtain: Louise Brooks and Rudolph Valentino" can be found in the "Louise Brooks - Documentaries and related material" playlist. This is only the second YouTube video I have made, so I apologize if its production values seem a little crude - but, I wanted to stay true to the nature of my original slide show presentation.

 

I have attended a couple of the Valentino Memorial Services in the past. It can be a moving experience, especially as Valentino is resting in the very building where this event takes place - and on the day on which the screen legend passed away. In fact, the Valentino Memorial Service is the oldest continuing annual event in Hollywood. Begun in 1927 on the first anniversary of the actors' death, it has continued uninterrupted into the 21st century. Over the years, thousands have gathered to remember one of the most beloved actors of his or any generation.


If you are interested in learning more about Valentino and the Valentino Memorial Service, I recommend Valentino Forever: The History of the Valentino Memorial Services by Tracy Terhune. It is a fascinating read. Another related book well worth checking out is The Valentino Mystique: The Death and Afterlife of the Silent Film Idol by Allan R. Ellenberger.


Thursday, October 14, 2021

Louise Brooks - Her Last Hurrah in 1931

I recently noticed that the fabulous Media History Digital Library has a bunch of issues of Broadway and Hollywood Movies magazine dating from 1930 through 1934. That's five years worth of this stylish though little known publication. I did my usual search through the magazines, looking for articles or mentions of Louise Brooks, and was a bit surprised by how little press the actress received. Of course, at the time, it was all about Garbo and Dietrich and Mae West and other stars both still remembered and now forgotten. Here is the cover of the February, 1931 issue of the magazine.

Brooks' best year in Broadway and Hollywood Movies was 1931. During the year she was mentioned 3 times, once erroneously, and once not at all when she should have been mentioned. In 1931, Brooks had been absent from Hollywood for nearly two years. She had worked in Europe, and returned to the United States hoping to make a comeback. That year, she appeared in three films, two feature, It Pays to Advertise (Paramount, directed by Frank Tuttle) and God's Gift to Women (Warner Brothers, directed by Michael Curtiz), and a short, Windy Riley Goes Hollywood (Educational, directed by William B. Goodrich aka Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle). Each were middling fair at best, and each did nothing to help restart or revive Brooks' flagging career. Brooks was also cast, but walked away from a film which would have helped her career a good deal, William Wellman's The Public Enemy (Warner Brothers).

Brooks' standing in Hollywood is exemplified by these mere mentions in various 1931 issues of  Broadway and Hollywood Movies magazine. In each, she referenced as having appeared in a film. Coincidentally, the write-ups for both God's Gift to Women and Windy Riley Goes Hollywood appeared side-by-side. Considering how concise these write-ups are, it's not surprising that Brooks didn't receive more coverage, especially in regards to Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, in which she is the co-star.

The other film Brooks appeared in in 1931 was It Pays to Advertise. Her role was little more than a brief bit, a five minute cameo at the beginning of the film. (Brooks reportedly played the part to complete her contract with Paramount.) Usually, she was billed fifth or sixth. Truth be told, at the time Brooks was the biggest name in the film; Carole Lombard was at the beginning of her career. However, despite her past fame, her cameo wasn't enough to be mentioned in this short write-up of the film. 


Brooks' one other mention in a 1931 issue of Broadway and Hollywood Movies was for her non- appearance in The Public Enemy. As mentioned, Brooks was cast in the film, and early publicity went out listing her among the cast of this sensational film. (William Wellman Jr, the son of the director and a friend to the Louise Brooks Society, thinks Brooks may have even shot a scene or two before leaving the production - but this has never been confirmed let alone proven.) Somehow, Brooks' name remained associated with the film, for decades to come. And in 1931, Broadway and Hollywood Movies magazine was not alone in mentioning the actress, even though she was far from one of the top billed stars in the film. (I have a thick file of similar erroneous mentions of Brooks' role in the film from film magazines which should have known better to big city newspapers which printed the publicity materials they received.)

And that's it. Brooks' acting career was in steep decline. The only other time she is mentioned in Broadway and Hollywood Movies was on their "Splits and Splices" page in March 1933 in relation to her ex-husband, Eddie Sutherland, who had just remarried.The magazine noted, "Eddie Sutherland is back in L. A. with another wife, his fourth. He flew to Yuma. Ariz., to marry Audrey Henderson, who is not an actress, like his other wives. They were accompanied by Harry Akst, song writer, and Lonnie D’Orsay. Sutherland is a nephew of Thomas Meighan. His former wives were Marjorie Daw, Louise Brooks and Ethel Kenyon. Miss Kenyon, incidentally, was married to Charles Butterworth, actor, in New York,, a few weeks ago." 


Sunday, August 29, 2021

Another newly uncovered interview you will want to read

Speaking of newly uncovered interviews . . . . The last post featured a newly uncovered 1931 interview with Louise Brooks which which appeared in the Wichita Eagle in May of that year. The article pictured Brooks and her sister June, and also spoke briefly about June's aspirations regarding an acting career and Hollywood. An acting career didn't seem to be in the cards, so June started college at the University of Wichita (now Wichita State University).

During that same research binge, I also uncovered another little known interview. This piece was with June Brooks, and it appeared in an October 1931 issue of The Sunflower, a school publication. And as with the earlier piece, new information about the Brooks' sisters comes to light. The article states that June was a house guest for ten days at William Randolph Hurst's (sic) ranch (presumably the Hearst Castle) over the 1930 Christmas holidays. I presume that Louise was there as well. While a guest, June encountered not only Marion Davies but also Adolphe Menjou, Lawrence Grey, "Skeets" Gallagher and Jean Arthur - all of the latter either past or future film co-stars.  

The most amusing paragraph was this: "'Are movie people interesting? Not particularly.' answers June. 'They talk shop too much. Good looking? Well, they're better looking on the screen'."

One other intriguing bit were the paragraphs at the end where June says she almost appeared in a motion picture, once in a supporting role in a film with Gloria Swanson! Who knew?

Stay tuned or subscribe to this blog for more remarkable clippings in the coming weeks.


Wednesday, August 18, 2021

More on the Cinecon schedule

Yesterday's post sketched this year's schedule for the Cinecon Classic Film Festival. The annual event, which takes place in Hollywood, has moved online due to the ongoing pandemic. All films will be streamed live via the internet on the Cinecon main page Friday September 3rd through Monday September 6th. The show will start at 3:00 PM PT / 6:00 PM ET on Friday and run about 4 1/2 hours.

I am looking forward to a handful of programs, including a Colleen Moore film, a Clara Bow / Baby Peggy film, a Thomas Meighan film (Brooks' co-star in The City Gone Wild), and the Francis X Bushman documentary (Bushman was my grandmother's favorite actor), among others. Here is a little more detail on this year's event, which is coming up in just a few weeks over Labor Day weekend. Don't miss this special online event. 

This following information comes from THIS PAGE:

ELLA CINDERS (1926, First National Pictures)
A special screening of ELLA CINDERS staring the great Colleen Moore. This showing will feature a brand new score by Scott Lasky of the Famous Players Orchestra. There will also have bonus footage from other Moore films featuring fragments from FLAMING YOUTH and clips from the set of PAINTED PEOPLE. and if that wasn't exciting enough this special program will be introduced by Colleen Moore's niece Melinda Morrison-Cox.

The film was based on the comic strip of the same name, created by William Conselman and Charles Plumb, which was running in newspapers across the country at the time the film was made. In the story poor hard working Ella wins a contest to travel to Hollywood and make a movie. Unfortuatly when she gets there she finds out the contest was a scam and she needs to find a job. Colleen is Ella and Lloyd Hughes plays her love interest. Others in the cast include Vera Lewis, Doris Baker, Emily Gerdes and Mike Donlin.


HELEN'S BABIES (1924, Sol Lesser Prod.)
Cinecon decided to encore this film at Cineconline for two reasons, one, it's a nice little film that deserves to be screened again, and two, we wanted to give our online audience a feel for our in person show. This was our opening night film for Cinecon 54 in 2018. We had selected this film to pay tribute to our long time Cinecon friend, "Baby Peggy" herself, Diana Serra Cary in honor of her 100th birthday. It was also the premier of a new restoration of the film by the Library of Congress. It featured newly discovered footage unseen since the film was originally released. In addition it was accompanied live by the Famous Players Orchestra with a new original score compiled and lead by maestro Scott Lasky.

In this silent comedy Edward Everett Horton is a young bachelor, Uncle Harry, who suddenly finds himself saddled with raising two precocious little girls: Jeanne Carpenter and our star, Baby Peggy, who at the time this film was released was the second most popular child star (after Jackie Coogan of Chaplin’s THE KID) in all of moviedom. The girls' antics drive him crazy at first, but then he begins to warm to them. 19-year-old Clara Bow is the local girl who enters into Uncle Harry’s life.


THIS IS FRANCIS X. BUSHMAN
from the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum and Flicker Alley this documentary film by Lon and Debra Davis is a natural follow up to their extensive and well researched book on Bushman, King of the Movies: Francis X. Bushman (published 2014 by BearManor Media).

This documentary covers Bushman's life from his early film success in silent films as a romantic idol at Essanay and Metro studios through his later life. Though he made the transition to talkies his career never regained the prominence of those early days. He eventually spent some time working outside of the film industry, only to return later to play smaller parts both in films and on television until his death in 1966 at the age of 83.

THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN (1921, Paramount Pictures)
Another rarity courtesy of The Library of Congress Staring Thomas Meighan. The cast also includes Doris Kenyon, Diana Allen and Louis Hendricks. From the novel by Booth Tarkington with a scenario by Frank Tuttle and directed by R. William Neill.

The town of Canaan, Indiana is the backdrop for of this tale of political corruption. Meighan plays Joe Louden who is the hero of the misfortunate, but spurned by the “respectable” members of the town led by the corrupt Judge Pike (Hendricks). Joe leaves town to go to law school and comes back to town to defend the less fortunate against the judge and gain the respect of everyone.

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Cinecon schedule announced

For more than half a century, Cinephiles have gathered in over Labor Day Weekend to celebrate the movies at the annual Cinecon Classic Film Festival. As Hollywood's longest running classic film festival, Cinecon is where fans as well as archivists, authors, and collectors have come together to experience classic film screenings, special programs, celebrity guests, and the best movie memorabilia show in the nation.

I have attended Cinecon a few times in the past, most recently in 2016 to sign books in the memorabilia room. The first time I went, in the late 1990s, I had the chance to meet, ever so briefly, Francis Lederer, Louise Brooks' co-star in Pandora's Box. Lederer was on hand for a screening of The Wonderful Lie of Nina Petrovna (1929). Afterword, Lederer, though very old, took questions from the audience about his career - including a couple about Brooks. I got his autograph on my Cinecon program, and had a snapshot taken with the both of us in it. I hope to return to Cinecon sometime soon, perhaps next year, when it plans to resume its in-person festival.

Covid-19 has temporarily derailed the festival from taking place in Hollywood, and instead, it has moved online. Just recently, the Cineconline 2021 schedule of streaming events was announced. While there is no Louise Brooks related material this year, there is a program of rare Colleen Moore trailers as well as a streaming screening of Moore's Ella Cinders (1926). I can't wait.


 

CINECONLINE SCHEDULE
NOTE: Friday streaming begins at 3PM PDT
Saturday, Sunday and Monday streaming begins at 12:00PM PDT
This is the order of appearance.
Exact Start Times to come
Each day will begin with a Ten Minutes to Showtime Clock
There will be five minute intermissions between features.
In addition to the films shown below, Cineconline will feature celebrity guests, Cinecon Memories and more.
 
Friday September 3rd.
COLLEEN MOORE TRAILERS
DYNAMITE DAN - introduced by Sara Karloff
MAKE MINE MONICA - introduced by Ms. Lang's Son Rocky Lang
RENDEZVOUS WITH ANNIE
ELLA CINDERS - introduced by Ms. Moore's niece Melinda Morrison
End Of Day One Approx 4 ½ hours
 
Saturday September 4th.
SILENT TRAILERS
ICE COLD COCOS
BLUE BLAZES RAWDEN
Cinecon Memories
KINECON AT CINECON #5 – 2 hours
WHEELER & WOOLSEY NRA SHORT five minutes
THE MISFIT
BUSTER'S MIX-UP
CONQUEST OF CANAAN
End DAY 2 Approx 5 ½ hours
 
Sunday September 5th.
SILENT TRAILERS
A CLOSE SHAVE
THE DELICATESSEN SHOP
HOOFBEATS OF VENGEANCE
COWBOY CRAZY
SLEEPY TIME GAL introduced by Juli Canova
MAX STEINER: MAESTRO OF MOVIE MUSIC
HELEN'S BABIES
END OF DAY 3 Approx 6 hrs.

Monday September 6th.
SILENT TRAILERS – 5minutes
JANE WITHERS TRIBUTE
SWING FEVER - introduced by Mr. Gilbert's great nephew Bryan Cooper
THIS IS FRANCIS X BUSHMAN
Cinecon Memories
THUNDERBEAN ANIMATION PROGRAM
LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT
COLLEGE QUEEN
KING OF THE KONGO - introduced by Sara Karloff
PENROD AND SAM
CLOSING REMARKS FOLLOWED BY POST FESTIVAL ZOOM PARTY
END OF DAY 4 Approx 5 1/2 hrs.
 

 

Thursday, July 1, 2021

A Couple Three Nifty New Finds From Around the World with Louise Brooks

While continuing to write and research my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks, I continue to come across remarkable stuff. Last night, for example, while researching the 1930 French film Prix de beaute, I came across some articles which specifically identified which actresses dubbed Louise Brooks' speaking and singing voices in the various incarnations of the film. If you recall, Prix de beaute was released in four different languages (French, Italian, English and German) as both a silent and sound film. If these plans were realized, that means there are eight different variants of Prix de beaute! That is kind of remarkable, and French newspapers at the time thought so and claimed it had never been done. Articles of the time also claimed that the rights to the film had been sold all over the world, including the United States. Who knew, since it often said that the film was something of a failure and little seen. In fact, it was shown all over Europe (including Iceland and the Ukraine) as well as in French Algeria, Madagascar, Japan, Turkey, and the U.S.S.R. However, despite the fact that Prix was also shown in the 1930s in Western Hemisphere (Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Uruguay, and Venezuela), I don't believe it was shown in the United States or Canada until the late 1950s or early 1960s. Perhaps the timing was wrong for a dubbed foreign film in the USA.


Speaking of lovely portraits, I just recently came across a eye-catching image of the French film actress actress Arlette Marchel taken by one of the most gifted photographers of his time, M.I. Boris. I was going to describe Boris as everyone's favorite Louise Brooks photographer (since he took some outstanding photo's of the actress at the beginning of her career), but I might guess that everyone's favorite Brooks photographer is Eugene Robert Richee, the Paramount staff photographer. Well anyways, here is the portrait of Marchal, embellished a little more than usual in Boris' customary manner of etching the photographic print. (Marchel appeared in Wings and a couple other Clara Bow and Adolphe Menjou films.) I think Vincent might like this one; it was published in a rare Brazilian film mag.

Despite the eye appeal of the above two images, the one I was most pleased to find is this "pattern poem" or "picture poem," which was also published in a rare Brazilian film magazine. It is a prose-poem (how else to describe it?) formatted into the shape of a goblet, a symbol of both femininity (right Dan Brown) and rarity, or preciousness. It mentions a number of beautiful actresses (Norma Talmadge, Greta Nissen, Lya De Putti, Pola Negri, Colleen Moore, Clara Bow, Billie Dove, etc...), as well as Louise Brooks "with the dark night of its provocative sensualism." I think George Herbert would like this one.

My next post, in a couple of days, will feature another remarkable image regarding the presence of Paramount films around the world.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Announcement of National Silent Movie Day!

 

Image Credit: Gloria Swanson in The Affairs of Anatol (1921)
Image courtesy of Bruce Calvert, Silent Film Still Archive.

FILM ARCHIVISTS ANNOUNCE SEPTEMBER 29 AS NATIONAL SILENT MOVIE DAY

Apr. 20, 2021 – A group of film archivists with a passion for silent movies has established September 29 as National Silent Movie Day—an annual day to celebrate silent film history and raise awareness about the race to preserve surviving silent films.  With an official proclamation from National Day Archives naming the day, the inaugural National Silent Movie Day will be held on Wednesday, September 29, 2021.

Established by film archivists Chad Hunter, Executive Director of Video Trust and Director of the Pittsburgh Silent Film Society; Brandee B. Cox, a Senior Film Archivist at the Academy Film Archive and Steven K. Hill, Motion Picture Archivist at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the trio met virtually in January to discuss the need to raise greater awareness about silent film history.  “It seems like there is a national day for almost everything - and we thought, why not silent movies?  We were actually sort of surprised there wasn’t already one,” said Hunter.

Decades before the popularity of television and the age of computers, cell phones and Netflix, silent movies reigned supreme. For roughly 40 years between 1890 and 1930, going to see silent movies in theaters was the most popular form of entertainment in the world, and made global stars of Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, Paul Robeson, and Anna May Wong.

Yet tragically an estimated 80% of all American silent feature films are now considered “lost” forever. Films from the silent period were printed on flammable nitrocellulose film stock, and rather than risk deadly fires, theaters and studios often destroyed or reclaimed silver content from prints after their theatrical runs were completed. Nitrate film decays over time as well, and archives around the world are in a race with time to preserve the few silent films that still exist.

Suzanne Lloyd, granddaughter of the great silent film comedian and actor Harold Lloyd, has been managing his legacy of romantic comedy films for 50 years and agrees that silent movies deserve a national day of celebration. “We at Harold Lloyd Entertainment are absolutely delighted to help announce—on Harold’s 128th birthday—the first annual National Silent Movie Day. Archives and theatres from around the world have championed preserving and screening important films, and in doing so, have kept the vibrant and remarkable silent film tradition alive. This is a wonderful event that Harold would be so proud and honored to be a part of, and I am very happy to be able to represent Harold on National Silent Movie Day.”

 “Anyone can participate in National Silent Movie Day—you can ask your local art house cinema to show a silent movie with live music; you can host a virtual watch party; make a social media post about your favorite silent film or star; or organize a petition to help save a silent movie or silent movie landmark—the possibilities are endless,” said Cox. 

LOTS more information may be found at https://www.nationalsilentmovieday.org

Image Credit: Silent film stars Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis
Image courtesy of Harold Lloyd Entertainment.

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Even More Vintage Movie Star Recipes, including Clara Bow, Fay Wray and Charlie Chaplin

As mentioned in my last couple of blogs, on Sunday April 18th I'll be a guest on Hollywood Kitchen, Karie Bible's entertaining video blog featuring recipes, a bit of cooking, and conversation about Hollywood's Golden Age. The show will stream live at 12 noon (PST - Pacific Standard Time). It will also be archived on its website. More about this program can be found on its website at https://www.hollywoodkitchenshow.com/  

And as promised in my last blog, I said I would post more vintage celebrity recipes. (Recipes associated with Brooks can be found in earlier posts.) So here goes. Let's begin with Clara Bow take on Welsh Rarebit (I think Winsor McCay would approve!), followed by Clara's baked macaroni. (The second clipping also has recipes associated with Ruth Chatterton, and Nancy Carroll.)


And here's one from the great Fay Wray, one of the few stars of the silent and early sound era who I once had the opportunity to meet! (It was at a party at the home of the daughter of an Oscar winning movie director. . . . ) The actress's Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge sounds tempting.

And here is a rarity, an advertisement for Crisco shortening which includes a recipe for Charlie Chaplin's Steak and Kidney Pie. Crisco was in June 1911 by Procter & Gamble, and this newspaper ad appeared just a few years later. I wonder if Charlie knew about this one?

And finally, here is one of the rarest recipes from my small collection of stuff (that is a technical term meaning "stuff") associated with dancer Ruth St. Denis. It is for Chicken Creole, which is described as an East Indian dish. Had Louise Brooks stayed with the Denishawn Dance Company, she would likely have traveled with them to Asia when they toured Japan, India and elsewhere. And who knows, she might well have eaten this dish at one time or another.

Monday, April 12, 2021

More Vintage Movie Star Recipes

Ahead of my April 18th appearance on Karie Bible's Hollywood Kitchen video blog, I thought I would post a few more vintage recipes by Louise Brooks' co-stars and colleagues, most of whom were associated with Paramount, Brooks' studio. More information about this program, as well as more vintage movie star recipes, can be found at https://www.hollywoodkitchenshow.com/  

Movie star recipes, movie star cookbooks, and general kitchen and household advice from Hollywood celebrities was a thing in the 1920s and 1930s. I have run across numerous examples in the old film magazines and newspapers I have looked through while searching for material on Louise Brooks. I have as well collected a few Hollywood cookbooks and pamphlets. Here is one example.

 

Stay tuned for another post in a few days, in which I will post yet more recipes including one from Ruth St. Denis, and a couple from Clara Bow including her take on Welsh Rarebit.

This first clipping in this post includes recipes by Jean Arthur (Canary Murder Case) and Mary Brian (Street of Forgotten Men). It is followed by another Mary Brian recipe, as well as a couple by two European stars, Pola Negri and Emil Jannings, who came to work in the United States (both at Paramount).



Friday, January 1, 2021

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society. Best wishes to everyone who reads and follows this blog and the LBS website at www.pandorasbox.com. To mark the occasion, here are a few little seen images from the Louise Brooks Society archives. To learn more about the LBS, visit the "About the Louise Brooks Society" tab just above.



For all the latest from the Louise Brooks Society, be sure and follow this blog (see right hand column), or follow the LBS on Facebook and Twitter, or YouTube or LinkedIn. And again, Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society!

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Louise Brooks - the year in review 2020

It has been quite a year. 

Louise Brooks passed away 35 years ago, but still there is considerable interest in this singular dancer, silent film actress, & writer. This year, 2020, saw new articles, books, DVDs and despite the pandemic,  a few screenings and a major film retrospective. And too, Brooks' name and image continues to pop up here and there in the realms of fashion and popular culture, proving she remains a memorable 20th century icon.

At year's end, I thought it would be a good time to look back at 2020 through the prism of the LBS blog and some of the articles about the actress that have appeared on-line. Most of the headlines below come from this blog, with exceptions noted. The most recent news-worthy headlines are given first. Happy new year from the Louise Brooks Society, let's hope it's a good one, without any fear....

Update on Around the World with Louise Brooks, forthcoming in 2021 provided we all survive the pandemic

Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, screens in theatre December 27 

Little seen Louise Brooks film The Show Off to screen in Australia 

New Louise Brooks novel released in Switzerland

"Lulu Forever: the 2020 Louise Brooks FilmPodium Retrospective (Zurich)" by Thomas Gladysz (Film International)

Louise Brooks - Lulu and Beyond online event with Pamela Hutchinson on October 28 

Once Lost Louise Brooks Film Now Online - Watch it NOW  

New Louise Brooks DVD - Prix de beaute released in Italy

"The Last Days of Louise Brooks" by Jan-Christopher Horak (Archival Spaces: Memory, Images, History, scroll down

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

"Double Lives: On Louise Brooks’s 'Thirteen Women in Films'” by Maya Cantu (Los Angeles Review of Books)

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

Louise Brooks - Two Parallel Lives by Laura Scaramozzino  

Richard Sala (1959-2020), friend of the Louise Brooks Society  

As seen on TV - Louise Brooks the Persistent Star gets screen time during LA news story  

Louise Brooks retrospective in Switzerland postponed 

Louise Brooks locations tour postponed until 2021  

Louise Brooks Society announcement regarding RadioLulu 

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

Louise Brooks film Beggars of Life to show in UK on March 15

Louise Brooks Onscreen in Hollywood!

Pandora's Box starring Louise Brooks at Cinema City in Norwich, England  

Louise Brooks inspired film The Chaperone shows in Australia  

Diary of a Lost Girl, starring Louise Brooks, screens in Tulsa, Oklahoma 

New G.W. Pabst DVD Blu-ray set features Louise Brooks

Frank Martin signed etching of Louise Brooks for sale

Louise Brooks screening and booksigning at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles

New Book on German Cinema features Louise Brooks 


In the summer of 1995, I posted my first webpages about Louise Brooks and proclaimed the formation of a society dedicated to the silent film star. That was 25 years ago, at the beginning of the internet. The Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website. It was the first site devoted to Brooks, one of the very first about silent film, and one of the earliest related to the movies. I am proud that I have kept it going to this day, making the LBS one of the older websites around.

At the beginning of this year, I was looking forward to this summer and celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Louise Brooks Society. But now, with all that has happened in 2020 — things I could not have imagined in January or February, I am resigned to merely marking the occasion. The pandemic, and Trump's failure to help the nation get through it, has certainly sucked the air out of the room. Who feels like celebrating when one is only trying to get by.... Happy 25th anniversary to the Louise Brooks Society.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Happy Holidays from the Louise Brooks Society

 
 
Happy Holidays from the Louise Brooks Society. Below is a snapshot of the Louise Brooks Chirstmas bulb which hangs on my X-Mas tree. It has done so for a long time.... It is handmade, and crafted by a fan; I believe I purchased it on eBay a number of years ago -- perhaps as long ago as ten or fifteen years? Does anyone else have hand made Louise Brooks ornaments?If so, please share.




Friday, December 11, 2020

Mank and Lulu, and contact tracing the origins of Rosebud

In the nearly 80 years since its release, Citizen Kane is still regarded as one of the – if not the greatest film ever made. So much so, a handful of related films have sprung up in its wake, as well as a shelf of books exploring the life and work of the film’s rightly celebrated director, Orson Welles.


The latest is Mank, David Fincher’s cinematic look at the life of hard-drinking screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. Its story centers on Mankiewicz’s life as he was writing the script for Citizen Kane (1941), and the difficulties which arose between the screenwriter and Welles, the producer, director and star of the film who is also credited as co-screenwriter. Fincher’s film, which is now streaming on Netflix, is based on a script by his late father, Jack; it stars Gary Oldman as Mankiewicz and Amanda Seyfried in the role of Marion Davies, a famed actress of the time who is widely thought to be the model for a key character in Citizen Kane.

The film is a flashback to a Hollywood that was (and still is) wrestling over creative control . . . . and writing credits. As a look back, a number of Hollywood personalities are portrayed. Besides Marion Davies, also depicted are producer Irving Thalberg and his wife, actress Norma Shearer, studio head Louis B. Mayer, actor John Gilbert, and possibly, obliquely, Charlie Chaplin; there may be others. There are also shout-outs to actors Wallace Beery and Lon Chaney. Louise Brooks is not portrayed or mentioned, but she does have a possible small part to play in the story behind the story of Citizen Kane.

It is not known exactly when or where Brooks and Mankiewicz first met, but the showgirl and the writer likely became acquainted in 1925, around the time Brooks, a dancer in the chorus, was appearing in the Summer edition of the Ziegfeld Follies. According to the Barry Paris biography of Brooks (who cites earlier letters the actress wrote in the 1970s), Brooks’ Follies dressing room was regularly visited by a number of somewhat older men who enjoyed the company of the vivacious 18 year old. Among them were writer Michael Arlen, producer Walter Wanger, film star Charlie Chaplin, and Herman Mankiewicz, then a drama critic for the New York Times.

The showgirl and the writer-critic hit it off. She was a high school dropout with a literary bent. He was a wordsmith, part and parcel of NYC’s Jazz Age intelligentsia and someone who seemed to know just about everybody, including the personalities associated with the Algonquin Roundtable. (For a short time, Brooks lived at the Roundtable’s main stomping ground, the Algonquin Hotel ..., and perhaps that is where Mank and Louise met.) However they first became acquainted, Mankiewicz took Brooks under his wing, and gifted her with conversation as well as books by the likes of Aldous Huxley. She gifted him with her presence. They were literary friends. She called him “my favorite person.” (In the New York Times in 1982, John Lahr described Mankiewicz's mentor-ship as the "Louise Brooks Literary Society.")

Brooks’ restlessness – usually in the form an invitation to a night out, led to an increasing number of absences from the Follies. One such occasion was an invitation from Mankiewicz to attend the September 16th Broadway opening of No, No, Nanette, a stage play which Mankiewicz was assigned to review. At dinner before the show, Mankiewicz downed a number of cocktails, and according to the Paris biography, he was “too drunk to stay awake, much less write a coherent review.” And so, the Paris biography notes, “the secretly literate Louise rose to the occasion, took notes, and wrote it for him.” Brooks’ review, “No, No Nanette Full of Vigorous Fun,” which appeared under Mankiewicz’s byline, was published in the New York Times on September 17, 1925. At the time, no one knew the piece, which largely mirrored the opinion of other New York critics, was actually penned by a teenage chorus girl with a penchant for slightly purple prose.

Brooks, around the time she knew Mank in NYC

Brooks and Mankiewicz each headed to Hollywood around the same time. Brooks, then under contract to Paramount, relocated to Los Angeles at the beginning of 1927. And by the end of that same year, Mankiewicz was there as well as head of Paramount's scenario department. In 1927 and 1928, Mankiewicz wrote the titles (the printed dialogue and explanations) for a few dozen films starring the likes of Clara Bow, Wallace Beery, Adolphe Menjou, Esther Ralston and others – and beginning in 1929, the script and dialogue for dozens more talkies. In fact, Mankiewicz wrote the titles for two of Brooks’ films, The City Gone Wild (1927), the lost James Cruze-directed gangster film, and The Canary Murder Case (1929), the celebrated murder mystery based on the bestselling book by S.S. van Dine. Brooks had starring roles in each.

Brooks's arrival in Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 1927

In the 1920s and 1930s, newspaper and magazine columnists regularly reported on the Hollywood social scene. But surprisingly, Mankiewicz and Brooks’ name never show up together in reference to their attendance at a movie opening, Hollywood nightclub, or party. The closest the two came to any sort of documented contact was in August, 1930 when Los Angeles Times columnist Myrna Nye reported that Brooks attended a Russian themed party at the home of Dimitri Tiomkin in Los Angeles. Also in attendance among the many guests** was Herman Mankiewicz’s younger brother Joseph, another prominent character in Mank. I would assume that Brooks and Joseph Mankiewicz were, at least, acquainted, if only because one says hello to the brother of friend. But whether Herman Mankiewicz and Brooks met again after New York City we don’t know.

A significant part of Mank is set at San Simeon, William Randolph Hearst’s estate on the Central Coast of California. Brooks spent time there in the late 1920s, at the height of her fame in America. Brooks recalled those visits in her essay “Marion Davies’ Niece,” which first appeared in Film Culture in 1974 and later in her 1982 book, Lulu in Hollywood. Brooks’ essay centers on Pepi Lederer, Davies’ niece and the brother of screenwriter Charles Lederer (another friend of Mankiewicz, and another character in Mank). Brooks and Pepi, a distraught personality who later committed suicide, were close – likely as close as or even closer than Brooks was with Marion Davies, Hearst’s longtime mistress. Brooks knew them all as a regular guest at both Hearst Castle and Davies’ Santa Monica beach house. (The home movie screen capture below shows Brooks sipping a drink at Davies' Santa Monica beach house sometime in 1927 or 1928.)

Brooks at Davies' Santa Monica beach house

Brooks spent only a few years in Hollywood in the 1930s, mostly at the beginning of the decade and then at the end. She left Hollywood for good in 1940, right around the time Mankiewicz was penning the script for Citizen Kane. About two-thirds through the Netflix film, Mank's brother Joe visits him after reading the script. He asks whether Mank wrote the script as a way of getting back at Hearst for various personal and political slights, and if the rumors are true that “Rosebud” is actually named after Hearst’s “pet name for Marion’s genitalia," adding, “I know you would never stoop to that.” Mank laughs it off, and says “only because I haven’t heard.” 

In “Remembering Orson Welles,” a 1989 piece by Gore Vidal which first appeared in the New York Review of Books (and later in his book, United States: Essays 1952-1992), the famed novelist states, “In actual life, Rosebud was what Hearst called his friend Marion Davies’s clitoris.” Really? How does Vidal, a latter day figure who claimed no interest in the sex lives of others, know this to be true? Inquiring minds want to know.... Or at least I do. In a follow-up letter to the editor of the New York Review of Books in defense of his claim (which otherwise seems a tossed off sentence in Vidal's remembrances of the director), Vidal notes he had met both Hearst and Davies, but admits neither told him about the significance of Rosebud. Vidal also notes Herman Mankiewicz was a visitor to San Simeon and friend of Davies, and then leaves it at that, but not before referencing some of Louise Brooks' observations of San Simeon and the then just published biography by Barry Paris.

Vidal is being coy… and inquiring minds still want to know who told Vidal Rosebud was Hearst’s pet name for Davies’ clitoris? And ever so long ago, how might that information have gotten to Mankiewicz? If in fact it did? Vidal mentions that he would spill the beans “at a later date” (but seemingly never did), and relates how he also knew Charles Lederer, Davies’ screenwriter nephew. Vidal’s friendship with Lederer came about in the late 1950s, around the time according to Vidal the “matter of Rosebud was much discussed”. The only other clue Vidal offers readers is this, “After all, alcoholic ladies often discuss intimate matters with intimates.” Is Vidal referring to Davies, Brooks, or even himself? 

Between the lines, Vidal infers that Davies let slip the meaning of Rosebud to another women friend who also liked to drink. But who might that other female drinking buddy have been? Inquiring minds still want to know. It might have been Pepi Lederer, who is known to have had problems with substance abuse. Or it could have been someone we don't know about, or don't suspect. Brooks is also a possible, or even a probable, candidate. She was friendly with Marion and knew her circle of friends; and significantly, she had been friendly with Mankiewicz. And she also liked to drink. However, the question remains, did Mankiewicz and Brooks have any sort of contact in the late 1920s or 1930s?

But let's get back to Gore Vidal. I don't think Vidal ever met Brooks, or corresponded with her. But I do know that she knew who he was. In a March 1977 letter to biographer Tom Dardis, she wrote: "I hope you got more nourishing stuff out of me on Keaton and Schenk than I got out of Ish-Ish on Auden and Vidal." Starved for gossip in her Rochester, New York apartment, Brooks is referring to the English novelist Christopher Isherwood, whom she had met just the month before in February 1977 when he and his partner, the artist Don Bachardy, came to visit. At the time, Isherwood told Bachardy,  "She's much the most intelligent actress I've ever met."

In his highly regarded 2016 book, Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey, film historian and Welles scholar Harlan Lebo states “‘Rosebud’ may have been Hearst’s personal nickname for Davies’ genitalia—a bit of gossip that Mankiewicz supposedly learned from silent screen star Louise Brooks." The keywords in this sentence are not "Rosebud" and "genitalia," but "may have been" and "supposedly." Lebo doesn't know for sure, and he is making sure we note both his caution and his uncertainty. Lebo also states that Rosebud could also have been the name of a racehorse Mankiewicz knew of, as has been suggested by others, or the name of Mankiewicz's childhood bicycle. In Welles' film, Rosebud is the name of Kane’s childhood sled. Or perhaps. . . . this significant prop could merely be a McGuffin. For Welles, “It didn’t mean a damn thing … We inserted that as a dramatic gimmick, nothing more.” But if it was just a dramatic gimmick, or simply the name of Kane’s childhood sled, why did Hearst (as Vidal wondered) react as strongly as he did back in 1941, wanting at one point to destroy every known print of Citizen Kane?  

            Herman Mankiewicz                                                           Pepi Lederer             

Harlan Lebo is a widely respected Welles scholar, an author, and an academic. I mention his book because it is the only one on Welles which I am familiar with which references Louise Brooks in connection with Rosebud. But as is made clear in the above paragraph, Lebo mentions the connection in a qualified manner as one of a few theories (anatomical reference, racehorse, toy, etc...) related to the meaning of Rosebud. That's valid. In an email exchange, Lebo stated "I would like to think that the Rosebud = genitalia story is not true, because if it was, Mankiewicz couldn't have picked a better way to commit career suicide." That is also a valid point. 

In his book, Lebo notes his attribution about Davies comes from "Fiery Speech in a World of Shadows: Rosebud's Impact on Early Audiences," a chapter that Robin Bates and Scott Bates wrote for Ron Gottesman's compendium called Perspectives on Citizen Kane. Lebo also noted that Bates' source was Kenneth Anger's 1984 book, Hollywood Babylon II.

As Lebo is certainly aware, and as anyone familiar with film history knows, Kenneth Anger is a problematic figure. His titillating and sometimes snarky books, Hollywood Babylon and Hollywood Babylon II, are full of unsubstantiated gossip. What's in them may be true, or not, or only partly true, but how are we to know? When you place an unflattering picture next to an unsubstantiated claim, a certain amount of implication arises. Like yeast.

On page 159 of Hollywood Babylon II, Anger notes that Rosebud was William Randolph Hearst's pet name for Davies' "pussy-poo". He also notes that Davies drank, and likely shared a "giggled confidence" with someone -- "was it Louise Brooks?" Anger then ads, "as secrets will, one whisper led from mouth to ear to the steel-trap mind of Herman Mankiewicz -- and he made a mental note: Marion Davies = Rosebud." Interestingly, Anger employs a question mark when asking "was it Louise Brooks?" Even he is unsure, or doesn't really know, or won't say.

Despite its unreliability, Anger's 1984 book is worth mentioning as it is the first published source for the Davies-Rosebud-Brooks connection that I have come across. But still inquiring minds want to know, where did Anger get his information? Was it Brooks herself? I think it unlikely, but nevertheless a possibility. Kenneth, if you are reading this, shoot me an email and let me know.

Brooks and Anger met in Paris in the Fall of 1958, while Brooks was being celebrated/rediscovered by Henri Langlois. Anger, along with Lotte Eisner, Preston Sturges, Thomas Quinn Curtis, Man Ray and others visited Brooks, who was holed up in her hotel, reluctant to face the renewed attention to her career. The friendship seemingly continued. Anger went easy on Brooks in Hollywood Babylon (a book first released in France in 1959), describing her as "one of the loveliest visions ever to grace a screen," and only mentioning how she "went from stardom to a Macy's counter in a vertiginous fall from glory." He could have said worse. In 1974, Anger mounted an Art Deco film festival in San Francisco, and among the films he screened was Brooks' sole French effort, Prix de Beaute -- then a rarity. In more recent years, Anger has dropped Brooks' name in reference to comments she supposedly made about his avant-garde films. Notably, when journalist Tom Graves visited Brooks in her Rochester apartment in 1980, one of the books he noticed laying about was a foreign edition of Hollywood Babylon.

A first French edition of Hollywood Babylon,
like the one Brooks likely owned

However, in a 1962 letter to frequent correspondent Jan Wahl, Brooks was critical of Anger, and even more critical of Hollywood Babylon, describing it as "A bunch of old dead photographs. A lot of ridiculous mumbo junk. A bunch of old dead gossip. . . ." Had Anger learned the secret meaning of Rosebud during his 1958 meeting in Paris, one might guess that he would have used such a juicy morsel in the first volume of Hollywood Babylon. He didn't. It only shows up in Hollywood Babylon II, which was published in 1984. And so, if Anger deduced the meaning of Rosebud from Brooks, it likely happened in the 1960s or 1970s. And if it was through Brooks, she must have also suggested to Anger that she told Mankiewicz, or someone else, who then relayed it to the screenwriter.

 "Rosebud"

With all this said, however, we still don't know and are likely to never know the origins of the tittle-tattle that Brooks supplied Makiewicz with the secret meaning of Rosebud. Perhaps she did, perhaps she didn't. Perhaps Kenneth Anger made it up.

If you haven't seen Mank, be sure and check it out. It is streaming on Netflix, and is an pretty decent if historically problematic film. Gary Oldman is terrific, as is Charles Dance as William Randolph Hearst. And if you haven't seen Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, check that out first. It is a great film. And then you'll understand why all the fuss over Rosebud.

1965 portrait of Brooks by Roddy McDowell

 

** Also at this notable party were Dashiel Hammett, Humphrey Bogart, Edmund Goulding, King Vidor and Eleanor Boardman, David O. Selznick, Irving Berlin, Colleen Moore, Ernst Lubitsch, Sam Goldwyn, Agnes DeMille, Constance Bennett, Paul Bern, Kay Francis, Benjamin Glazer, Basil Rathbone, Maurice Chevalier, Marie Dressler, and others.

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