Monday, November 7, 2005

Frappr

Google maps are very cool! I have been looking into developing an application for them on the Louise Brooks Society website. Eventually, I hope to plot the two Louise Brooks-Denishawn tours using Google maps. In the meantime, LBS members are invited to place their pin in the newly created membership map.

Sunday, November 6, 2005

Die Dame aus Berlin

I recently bought a copy of Die Dame aus Berlin by Frank and Vautrin. The book is in German. The eBay seller said it had something to do with Louise Brooks. And in fact, she is mentioned on the back, "ratselhaft wie die Garbo, klug wie Louise Brooks, fatal wie die Dietrich." (Norma Shearer is on the cover.) Is anyone familar with this book? Has anyone read it? It is fiction, I assume. According to the copyright page, it was originally published in Paris in 1987 under the title Les Adventures de Boro, reporter photographe. Here is a link to the amazon.de page on this title, as well as the amazon.fr page. Any information would be appreciated.

Saturday, November 5, 2005

Beyond the Rocks / booksignings


On Sunday November 13, 2005, The San Francisco Silent Film Festival will present the West Coast Premiere Revival Screening of Beyond the Rocks (1922), the only film that Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson made together. For nearly 80 years, only a one-minute fragment of Beyond the Rocks was thought to exist. But in 2003, a complete print was discovered among 2,000 unmarked cans of film by the Nederlands Filmmuseum. In partnership with Haghefilm Conservation, the Nederlands Filmmuseum employed state-of-the-art technology to create a dazzling new print of this long-sought-after film. 
Based on a novel by Elinor Glyn (author of IT ), Beyond the Rocks features Valentino as Lord Bracondale, a desirable bachelor who finds himself enchanted by Theodora (Swanson), a simple girl from the Dorset coast. There will be two screenings (at 2 pm and 7 pm) of this romantic drama at the Castro Theatre. Both programs will be presented with live musical accompaniment on the Mighty Wurlitzer by Dennis James. The Booksmith will also be on hand selling books on silent film, including new releases and autographed titles, as well as hosting three booksignings!

Lenny Kaye signing "You Call It Madness: The Sensous Song of the Croon"
after the 2 pm screening (signing will start at approximately 3:45 pm)

--- Crooner / Jazz Age personality Russ Columbo is the subject of a new book, a musical history combining the drama of a bestselling novel and a soundtrack from the Golden Age of Broadway and Hollywood. Hailed as "The Romeo of Radio" and "The Valentino of Song," and romantically linked to actresses Pola Negri and Carole Lombard, Russ Columbo is all but forgotten today, his limitless promise cut short in a tragic and controversial accident as he stood on the verge of winning the stardom that Bing Crosby, his great rival, would soon achieve.

Lenny Kaye is an acclaimed music writer whose work has appeared in Rolling StoneThe Village VoiceHit Parader, and Crawdaddy! He has been a guitarist for poet-rocker Patti Smith since her band's inception thirty years ago and serves on the nominating committee forthe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Jack Tillmany signing "Theaters of San Francisco"
after the 2 pm screening (signing will start at approximately 3:45 pm)

--- Only a handful of the 100 or so neighborhood theatres that once graced the streets of San Francisco's streets still stand. However, they live on in the photographs featured in Jack Tillmany's new book. The heyday of such venues as the Clay, Noe, Metro, New Mission, Alexandria, Coronet, Fox, Uptown, Coliseum, Surf, El Rey, and Royal was a time when San Franciscans thronged to the movies and vaudeville shows, dressed to the hilt, to see and be seen in majestic art deco palaces.

Jack Tillmany, former owner of the Gateway Cinema in San Francisco and a revival programming pioneer, brings the city's theatres to life in this amazing selection of vintage images. Drawing from his personal archive collected during a 30-year career in cinema management, he paints a detailed story of the golden age of theatre, both live and cinematic. It was a time of stunning architecture, elegance, and opulence, and this volume is a reminder of the pre-multiplex days when almost every neighborhood boasted its own beloved theatre. 

Emily W. Leider signing "Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino"
prior to the 7 pm screening (signing will start at approximately 6:30 pm) 
--- Tango pirate, gigolo, powder puff, Adonis ­ all have been used to describe the silent-film icon Rudolph Valentino. From his early days as a taxi dancer in New York to his near apotheosis as the ultimate Hollywood heartthrob, Rudolph Valentino (often to his distress) occupied a space squarely at the center of controversy. In this thoughtful retelling of Valentino's short and tragic life ­ the first fully documented  biography of the star Emily W. Leider looks at the Great Lover's life and legacy, and explores the events and issues that made him emblematic of the Jazz Age. 
Emily W. Leider is the author of "Becoming Mae West" and other books. She lives in San Francisco, and will introduce the 7 pm screening.

Friday, November 4, 2005

Check out this site - hear Pola Negri sing

If you love music of the 1920's and 1930's, you will want to check out the Weimar Rundfunk Music website. You can even hear Pola Negri sing!

Thursday, November 3, 2005

Thanks to Amanda


Amanda Howard - a longtime LBS member from Wichita, Kansas - has done it again!

Amanda took some time out of her busy schedule to hunt down Denishawn material from two Kansas newspapers - theWellington Daily News and the Lawrence Daily Journal-World. Amanda found an amazing assortment of newspaper advertisements, related articles, and reviews of each performance. One of the local-interest articles spoke of a pre-Denishawn dance recital by Louise Brooks at the Wellington Home Coming and Golden Jubilee in which she "used a large number of vari-colored balloons" in an "especially attractive" routine. Wow! What a find! The other material was also quite interesting . . . one local article spoke of a reception for the dance company, and one of the reviews praised Brooks by name. [ Citations for this new material have been added to the appropriate LBS bibliographies. ]

During her research, Amanda also came across a photograph (circa 1890) of the building which Brooks and her family would later call home starting in the late teens. What a wonderfull structure.



Thank you Amanda for your excellent efforts.

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

I found some good material

A couple of inter-library loans arrived. I went through microfilm of the Daily Pantagraph, where I found good material relating to the two Denishawn performances in Bloomington, Illinois.

I also went through the March, 1926 microfilm of the Palm Beach Post. I was hoping to find articles about or references to the making of It's the Old Army Game, which was filmed in both Palm Beach and nearby Ocala, Florida. I did find one article, "Ocala is Enjoying Movie Popularity," which mentioned the film and its star, W.C. Fields. An article I had come across in the Fields fan club newsletter mentioned another article, but I failed to find that piece.

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

Pre-code film fest features Paramount flicks

"During the pre-Code era -- the five years before the imposition of a restrictive production code on July 1, 1934 -- Hollywood made a series of racy and socially daring films. This is widely known. What is not widely known is that the naughtiest studio of them all was Paramount."

The Balboa Theater in San Francisco is about to start a pre-code film festival. What makes this one special is that all of the films were made by one studio - Paramount. Author / photo historian Mark Vieira will be in attendance to introduce tomorrow night's film, as well as sign books. (Vieira is the author of the sexy, scholarly pictorial Sin in Soft Focus, as well as one of the two new books on Garbo.) Mick LaSalle, the film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, has a long article in today's newspaper about the festival. It's well worth reading. I will be there Thursday night as well. (p.s. Amanda, I will get your copy of Sin in Soft Focus signed at this screening. At last!)
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