Here is a 1981 clip of The Passions performing their hit song "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" on the UK TV show Top of the Pops. A few years back, I exchanged emails with the Passion's lead singer. Though a longtime fan of Louise Brooks, she said this song wasn't written about the actress, who appeared in two German films. Nevertheless, we like it a lot. The song can also be heard on RadioLulu.
A cinephilac blog about an actress, silent film, and the Jazz Age, with occasional posts
about related books, music, art, and history written by Thomas Gladysz. Visit the
Louise Brooks Society™ at www.pandorasbox.com
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
I'm in Love with a German Film Star
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Report From the Czech Republic: Film a živá hudba: Deník ztracené vs Vložte kočku
Film a živá hudba: Deník ztracené vs Vložte kočku
KEŠA | ČLÁNKY / REPORTY | 29.07.2013
Třetí den začala na Letní filmové škole v cyklu němých filmů retrospektiva německého režiséra Georga Wilhelma Pabsta, rodáka z Roudnice nad Labem. Jeho filmy uvidíme v této sekci až do konce festivalu. Jako první byl uveden snímek Deník ztracené z roku 1929 s hudebním doprovodem kapely Vložte kočku.
Znám jen málo českých kapel, které mají na koncertech tak odlišný projev oproti studiovým nahrávkám. Dokonce jsou i takoví, co jejich desky neposlouchají, i když tvrdí, že je to jejich oblíbená kapela, naživo. Mám rád obě roviny – po dnešku ale i tu „filmovou“.
Vložte kočku se na 107minutový set připravili perfektně. Začali po krátkém „mlčení“ přísně, odklepnutím bubenických paliček, a pak už nenechali diváky téměř vydechnout. K jednotlivým scénám vložili svůj zvuk známý z koncertů. Místo zpěvu si vybrali dvě vedlejší postavy filmu, slizkého lékárníka, kterému klávesák vkládal do úst mumlání dementa, a zápornou postavu ženy, kterou houslista uváděl v jednotlivých scénách ostrými afektovanými výkřiky do mikrofonu svého nástroje. Tím skvěle uvedli charakter postav, které už dál nepotřebovaly ani filmové titulky.
I když byl ve Slováckém divadle abnormální hic, několikrát mi během koncertu vyvstala husí kůže, některé scény byly tak dokonalé! V momentě, kdy hlavní hrdinka pyká v nápravném křesťanské zařízení a je spolu s ostatními týrána plešounem a řádovou sestrou v krutém rytmu úderů na gong, kočky jsou tam, s transformovaným songem DD z desky Táta. Když zákazník v nevěstinci obskurně tančí s hlavní hrdinkou, kočky jsou tam, v disko rytmu. Scény, kdy zasáhne do děje hrabě, jsou free jazz, skutečný a od koček. Tango v nevěstinci? Je tango od koček. K ukládání rakve do jámy hraje varhanní pohřebácká. A ten abnormální hic, v koupačce na pláži u moře, hraje abnormální hic, prostě Ivan Mládek, od koček. Závěrečná scéna je doprovázena přednahraným a modulovaným čtením všech titulků k filmu od začátku až do konce. Včetně konce.
K celé projekci si kapela nechala puštěný i originální „zvuk“ filmu, vrnění promítačky. Ten využili hlavně v momentech menších pauz, kdy záběry zůstaly bez jejich hudby. Tyto momenty působily naprosto přirozeně, i když na plátně probíhala akce. Vložte kočku museli zkoušet k tomuto filmu neuvěřitelné kvantum hodin, protože kdo si dovolí takové kousky s ledovým klidem, ten ví, co dělá. A o tom na sále, soudě dle závěrečného aplausu, nikdo nepochyboval.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Monday, July 29, 2013
Be Natural: The untold story of Alice Guy-Blaché
A Kickstarter campaign has just launched to fund the making of a documentary about the film director Alice Guy-Blaché. Check it out, and consider donating at Be Natural: The untold story of Alice Guy-Blaché.
The Louise Brooks Society endorses and has donated to this worthwhile campaign to tell the story of a pioneering and influential female figure in the film industry.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Prisoner of Paradise: The story of Kurt Gerron
This weekend, I finally had the chance to see Prisoner of Paradise (2002). "The documentary tells the true story of Kurt Gerron, a successful German-Jewish actor and director, who after being sent to a concentration camp, was forced by his captors to direct the pro-Nazi propaganda film, "The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews." In addition to exploring his life, it details the remarkable detective story in which Gerron's film, lost for decades after World War II, was tracked down and painstakingly put back together." I streamed it over Netflix, and noticed it can also be streamed over Amazon.
Kurt Gerron was one of the great German actors of the 1920s and 1930s. He appeared in many films and stage productions. Today, he is best remembered for a key supporting role in The Blue Angel (1930), with Marlene Dietrich. Gerron also had a part in the 1929 Louise Brooks film, The Diary of a Lost Girl, a few scenes from which are included in Prisoner of Paradise.
I recommend Prisoner of Paradise. It is a moving documentary well worth watching.
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Saturday, July 27, 2013
New book of poems based on Louise Brooks
More information and ability to order at http://www.hazardpress.co.uk/
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Friday, July 26, 2013
Still: Louise Brooks in Los Angeles Times
Today's Los Angeles Times reports on David S. Shields new book, Still: American Silent Motion Picture Photography, which examines the work of early cinematographers and still photographers who helped create celebrity in the 20th century. It is an excellent book which I have only had a chance to glance at - I want to get a copy soon. Louise Brooks, as well as the photographers who photographed her - like Eugene Richee and M.I. Boris, are featured in the book.
The Los Angeles Times story can be found here. The review begins: "Shields is both scholarly and deeply passionate about the
pictures (some from his own collection), gathering rare images from the
sets of epic costume dramas and the kind of celebrity portraiture that
would reach its ultimate expression generations later in Vanity Fair and
Rolling Stone."
The article also includes a slideshow, which begins with an image of Louise Brooks (the famous Richee portrait of Brooks wearing a string of pearls). It's caption reads, "One of the most lasting images of the silent era is
actress Louise Brooks wearing black against a black background,
photographed by Eugene Robert Richee. In Still, David S. Shields calls
it a "'minimalist masterpiece'."
From the publisher: "The success of movies like The Artist and Hugo
recreated the wonder and magic of silent film for modern audiences,
many of whom might never have experienced a movie without sound. But
while the American silent movie was one of the most significant popular
art forms of the modern age, it is also one that is largely lost to us,
as more than eighty percent of silent films have disappeared, the
victims of age, disaster, and neglect. We now know about many of these
cinematic masterpieces only from the collections of still portraits and
production photographs that were originally created for publicity and
reference. Capturing the beauty, horror, and moodiness of silent motion
pictures, these images are remarkable pieces of art in their own right.
In the first history of still camera work generated by the American
silent motion picture industry, David S. Shields chronicles the
evolution of silent film aesthetics, glamour, and publicity, and
provides unparalleled insight into this influential body of popular
imagery.
Exploring the work of over sixty camera artists, Still recovers
the stories of the photographers who descended on early Hollywood and
the stars and starlets who sat for them between 1908 and 1928. Focusing
on the most culturally influential types of photographs—the performer
portrait and the scene still—Shields follows photographers such as
Albert Witzel and W. F. Seely as they devised the poses that newspapers
and magazines would bring to Americans, who mimicked the sultry stares
and dangerous glances of silent stars. He uncovers scene shots of
unprecedented splendor—visions that would ignite the popular
imagination. And he details how still photographs changed the film
industry, whose growing preoccupation with artistry in imagery caused
directors and stars to hire celebrated stage photographers and
transformed cameramen into bankable names.
Reproducing over one hundred and fifty of these gorgeous black-and-white photographs, Still brings to life an entire long-lost visual culture that a century later still has the power to enchant."
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
Thursday, July 25, 2013
And more on the Jim Tully documentary
This second video, "How Jim Tully's Beggars Abroad Came to Be," is a four minute outtake from the new Jim Tully documentary From Road Kid to Writer. Here author Paul Bauer tells an entertaining story about how one of Tully's best books came to be. Attention fans of James Joyce and George Bernard Shaw!
This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society™. Launched in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society is a pioneering website and online archive devoted to the legendary silent film star. The Louise Brooks Society operates with the consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks (Louise Brooks Heirs, LC), and have its permission to use the name and likeness of the actress. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. CONTACT: louisebrookssociety (at) gmail.com
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