Louise Brooks Society blog

Alpha Video is set to release Beggars of Life on DVD on January 25, 2025. As Alpha Video is a budget label, there is little to recommend this release except its cheap price. I DON'T expect this release of the film to be as good as the Kino Lorber release, but as I haven't yet seen this new disc, I can't say. The run-time is given as one hour and twenty three minutes. For those interested, more information about the Alpha Video release of Beggars of Life can be found HERE (amazon link).Directed by William Wellman the year after he made Wings (the first film to win an Academy Award for best […]

For those who mat not know, the Grolier Club is a private club and society devoted to books and the book arts. The group is located in New York City. Founded in 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The Grolier's mission is "the literary study of the arts pertaining to the production of books, including the occasional publication of books designed to illustrate, promote and encourage these arts; and the acquisition, furnishing and maintenance of a suitable club building for the safekeeping of its property, wherein meetings, lectures and exhibitions shall […]

I've been told that Louise Brooks' one-time Laurel Canyon home was in the middle of the Hurst Fire zone in Los Angeles. This is the home of the actress which Philip Vorwald documented in a 2017 series of guest posts here on the Louise Brooks Society blog. I hope all is ok for this home and its historic neighborhood, but fear the worst. What follows is a re-post of the four-part series from eight years ago. # # # Today concludes a four part / four day guest blog by Philip Vorwald. It is an exploration of the 1927 Laurel Canyon Home of Louise Brooks. […]

I've been told that Louise Brooks' one-time Laurel Canyon home was in the middle of the Hurst Fire zone in Los Angeles. This is the home of the actress which Philip Vorwald documented in a 2017 series of guest posts here on the Louise Brooks Society blog. I hope all is ok for this home and its historic neighborhood, but fear the worst. What follows is a re-post of the four-part series from eight years ago. # # # Today continues a four part / four day guest blog by Philip Vorwald. It is an exploration of the 1927 Laurel Canyon Home of Louise Brooks. Part four will follow tomorrow. […]

I've been told that Louise Brooks' one-time Laurel Canyon home was in the middle of the Hurst Fire zone in Los Angeles. This is the home of the actress which Philip Vorwald documented in a 2017 series of guest posts here on the Louise Brooks Society blog. I hope all is ok for this home and its historic neighborhood, but fear the worst. What follows is a re-post of the four-part series from eight years ago. # # # Today continues a four part / four day guest blog by Philip Vorwald. It is an exploration of the 1927 Laurel Canyon Home of Louise Brooks. Part three will follow tomorrow. […]

I've been told that Louise Brooks' one-time Laurel Canyon home is in the midst of the Hurst Fire zone in Los Angeles. This is the home of the actress which Philip Vorwald documented in a 2017 series of guest posts here on the Louise Brooks Society blog. I hope all is ok for this home and its historic neighborhood, but fear the worst. What follows is a re-post of the four-part series from eight years ago. # # # Today begins a four part / four day guest blog by Philip Vorwald. It is an exploration of the 1927 Laurel Canyon Home of Louise Brooks. Part two will follow tomorrow. […]

Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Kennington Bioscope / Cinema Museum (2 Dugard Way, off Renfrew Road) in London, England later today. The film will be shown with live musical accompaniment by acclaimed performer Neil Brand. More about this event can be found HERE.According to the Cinema Museum website: "We start our new season with Beggars of Life (1928), directed by William A. Wellman, from the autobiography by Jim Tully and play by Maxwell Anderson, with cinematography by Henry W. Gerrard. The film features Wallace Beery and Richard Arlen as hobos, and Louise […]

Earlier last year, this blog participated in the 4th Luso World Cinema blogathon, which celebrates the contributions of Portuguese-speaking peoples and their descendants to world cinema. Back on May 6th, this LBS blog published a post titled "Louise Brooks & Her Films as Seen in Brazilian Magazines & Newspapers". That piece gathered a handful of vintage newspaper and magazine clippings about Louise Brooks and her films. There were, as well, a few bits about Brooks as referenced in contemporary Brazilian media.That 2024 blog referenced Tamara Carla dos Santos, who was then a student […]

A few days ago, the silent film community lost a friend. Her name was Donna Hill. Along with being a friend to film buffs and film historians, Donna was also a personal friend, someone my wife and I have known for decades.Donna was an authority on the life and films of Rudolph Valentino, and the author of an exceptional book, Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol: His Life in Photographs. (amazon link) If you don't have this book in your collection, I recommend you get it today. It is a beautifully presented labor of love praised by the likes of Kevin Brownlow, Leonard Maltin, and Tracey Goessel. […]