At the considerable risk of exposing my feminine side, I express the following request:
In about 1985, when Miss Brooks passed away, I came home from the pub.
Being bored, one watched as BBC 2 did a tribute. All the other staions had shut down for the night.
Tears welled up as I watched Pandoras Box through a mist of drink, emotion and Miss Brooks' unqualified beauty.
I have never, ever, been so moved by that magical mix of Louises's haunting and bewildering performance (which was neccessarily silent) and Beethovens music. (8th?)
If someone could direct me to a site where I could see/ hear such a thing again...............there'd be a drink in it!
(I know that there are links, and I really like the Mr Brightside thing- also there is a multipart thing using fairground music. Not these please!)
I think it was BBC2 FWIW.
Real reward! Promise!
Last edited by BarbiesBoyfriend; 21st Aug 2009 at 02:16.
I actually took you off my ignore list to post that. And congratulations, you were the only one there. Things change, people are discovered to have taste.
Al. Thanks for posting that. Actually I have a VHS of both Pandoras Box and 'Diary', both are BBC publications.
Thing is, they are completely silent, as you'd expect.
The clever thing BBC2 did, in their broadcast, was to accompany the films with music and it's that combination of music (beethoven 8th I think) and movie that I'm trying to get.
(Edit: I see on closer examination of your link that there are four different scores. So failing a better option, I'd better order it, and hope!)
I suppose when the films were shown in their day, someone would be clattering away on the piano in the cinema.
It must be out there.
My daughter, Louise, will be home from school soon.
Last edited by BarbiesBoyfriend; 21st Aug 2009 at 12:57.
I've just watched 'George Gently', set in 1964. It occurred to me that it wasn't just retro - maybe people watching it wanted to pretend it was current and it was 1964! The attention to detail in car models, watches etc is remarkable.
It's also interesting that the 1964 device allows the filming of books written before mobile phones and CCTV whose existence could stuff the plot.
Louise Brooks... There was a nice write-up on her in The New Yorker. See if you can find that and have a read; it has some interesting insights into her life and times. Not much of an actress but a tigress in the sack... or something like that, I think. Go have a read.
If you are into this sort of thing then check out the art of Tamara de Lempicka. Same era as Louise Brooks, a highly talented painter, she generated many striking images that should appeal to someone who likes the looks of Ms Brooks. You often see her paintings used as cover art for books, such as "Chrome Yellow."
Mind you, being gay, gay, gay really helps one to get into this groove, since much of it was about the glossy surface, the look of things at a time when the substance was going to Hell in a handcart.
I am just a humble hetero so that I stand there dropping hayseeds onto the gallery floor, gawping at the polished sophistication on display, my only solace for not being any part of it being the idea that many of these idols must have ended up in a studio flat in Manhattan with just a few dozen cats for company after the short, ephemeral career faded.
