Uncommon edition

Today, I received a copy of a book I had ordered over the internet. I received Lulu en Hollywood, the Spanish edition of Lulu in Hollywood. This first edition copy was published in Barcelona by Ultramar Editores, S.A. in November, 1984. As far as I can tell, this Spanish-language edition is pretty similar to the English-language edition. There is the introduction by William Shawn, seven essays by Louise Brooks, and an afterward by Lotte Eisner - all in Spanish. The only exception I have noted is in the filmography.

For some curious reason, the translator or editor of this edition added a film to Brooks' credits. In Lulu en Hollywood, Brooks is credited with having appeared in Robert Florey's Hollywood Boulevard (1937). Of course, Brooks did not appear in this film. And it's not the first time she is listed as having appeared in it. But there it is in this book. Why someone added I don't know.

Uncommon poster

Here's something I haven't seen before. According to it's eBay description, "This laminated poster advertises the German Film Season at the Barbican Theatre, which ran from October 1st – 31st 1982. It features a picture of Louise Brooks in profile, plus a list of films, including Diary of a Lost Girl, Nosferatu and Metropolis. It was taken from a London tube wall by a friend at the time and I have had it ever since. I think it came from somewhere on the Victoria line as it has "Vic 6/33" on the reverse.  . . . The white mark on my photo is the light shining on it. Thankfully it was laminated by whoever produced it."

Lulu in Bristol

Pandora's Box will be shown in Bristol, England on September 15th at 7:30 pm. The Weston & Somerset Mercury ran a short article about the screening in today's paper.

Pandora's Box opens in Bristol

ONE of the greatest silent films in cinematic history is to be shown at Bristol's Watershed.

Adapted from the controversial plays of Frank Wedekind, Pandora's Box stars the legendary Louise Brooks as young temptress Lulu.

The seductive youngster wreaks havoc on the lives of wealthy newspaper editor Dr Shon, his handsome but hapless son Alwa, and the lonely and lovelorn Countess Geschwitz, cinema's first lesbian.

The film has been brought to life by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, who will be performing the music, composed by Paul Lewis.

Watershed and Bristol Silents have been working to produce the special event over the past two years and the evening will be hosted by Paul McGann.

Pandora's Box is being screened on September 15 at 7.30pm. Tickets, priced £20, are available from the Colston Hall box office on 0117 922 3686.

My library research continues II

Spent an hour or so at the library today, as a few inter-library loans had come in. (I receive email notifications when my requests arrive and are processed and are made available.) I looked through microfilm of the Salt Lake Tribune (Utah), Hartford Times(Connecticut), and Providence Evening Bulletin (Rhode Island). It was a messy bunch of loans, as some of the dates I requested hadn't come and in one instance, the wrong reel of film was sent. Nevertheless, I managed to find a few reviews and articles about films in which Louise Brooks had a role.

I also looked through a few reels of the Montreal Standard, a weekly, English-Language Canadian newspaper. I found some material on Beggars of Life (1928) and The Canary Murder Case (1929). I won't reproduce the article I found on the later film (as it wasn't that interesting), but here is a captioned photograph and an advertisement for the film. These are typical of the sort of clippings I uncover. I have hundreds - if not thousands of examples of this kind of material.

Finishing up, I noted which dates from which newspapers I would need to re-request. I then added a few citations to the LBS bibliographies. And then I submitted a few more inter-library loan requests. This round, I asked for the Morning Register (Eugene, Oregon), Bangor News (Maine),North China Daily News (Shanghai, China), and Milwaukee Herold (Wisconsin). The later is a German-language newspaper which I haven't look at before. The search continues.

Allan Milkerit, r.i.p.

With sadness, the Louise Brooks Society is sad to report the death of Allan Milkerit. He was a friend to the LBS and a noted book dealer in San Francisco. Allan passed away suddenly on June 24th. Over the years, I had purchased or traded many books with Allan. He was exceptionally knowledgeable about and loved both books and films. We had numerous enjoyable conversations about book collecting and favorite films over the years. Many of the finest photoplay editions which I now possess - as well as other books on the movies - came to me through Allan. I will miss you, my friend.

My library research continues

Though I haven't been blogged about it for some time, I have continued my Louise Brooks library research. I am still placing inter-library loan requests, though at a somewhat slower pace. As I've mentioned before, I am coming to the end of my long, long, long list of newspaper and magazine requests. How long is this list? My log of such requests runs some 45 pages. I figure I have placed as many as 800 requests for inter-library loans!

Louise Brooks' two years with Denishawn have been the focus of some of my research. Recently, I have gotten some articles, reviews and advertisements from the Jamestown Morning Post and Watertown Daily Times (New York), Williamsport Gazette and Bulletin and Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania), New Haven Times-Leader (Connecticut), Daily Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey),Louisville Herald (Kentucky) and New Orleans States (Louisiana). I also found a whole bunch of interesting and original material in a college newspaper, the Kansas State Collegian (from the school located in Manhattan, Kansas). You never know where things will turn up. Speaking of which, a friend turned me onto the on-line archive of the Jewish Criterion, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania paper. And there, I was able to dig up a few clippings relating to Denishawn performances in that city.

The bulk of my requests of late have been for newspapers through which I have searched for film reviews and other material. And, I am happy to report, I found some rinteresting and unusual stuff. Among the papers I have looked through are the Knickerbocker Press (Albany, New York),Newark Star-Eagle (New Jersey), South Bend Tribune (Indiana), Chatanooga Daily Times and Nashville Banner (Tennessee), San Antonio Light(Texas), Salt Lake Telegram (Utah), Tacoma News Tribune (Washington), and Capitol Journal (Salem, Oregon).

As of now, I have about 50 to 100 requests left to process. The bulk of these are from New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Canada. It is slow work, as I am only able to place so many requests at a time. In theory, the readers of this blog will be spared these dull reports in the future.

Digging around on-line databases and archives on the internet have also turned up fresh material. I found articles and other clippings - including anecdotes and mentions in various syndicated film-related columns - in the Amarillo Globe (Texas), and the Hamilton Daily News and Hamilton Evening Journal (Ohio). I also got some remarkable reviews from the Benton Harbor News-Palladium (Michigan). In 1927, Louise Brooks' Mother spoke in Michigan before a women's group in Benton Harbor, a resort town located not far from her then residence of Chicago, Illinois. And after that appearance - this western Michigan newspaper consistently highlighted Brooks' role in any film of her's which played in town. As if she were a local girl, Louise Brooks name was prominent in headlines on the entertainment page.

Lulu at Pordenone

A schedule of films for the 2007 Giornate film festival in Pordenone, Italy has just been announced. If you don't know - this many day festival is the big annual event in the world for those who love silent movies. This is mecca for silent film buffs. Among the films being screened is Pandora's Box (1929), starring Louise Brooks. The G.W. Pabst directed film be shown with a new score by Paul Lewis. The score was jointly commissioned by the Giornate and Bristol Watershed. I wish I could be there, but alas, Italy is far away.