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3rd out of 114 books
—
43 voters
Lulu in Hollywood
Introduction by Kenneth Tynan
The collected writings of this icon of the silent era, in a new, more complete edition.
Louise Brooks (1906-1985) is one of the most famous actresses of the silent era, renowned as much for her rebellion against the Hollywood system as for her performances in such influential films as Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. Eight autobiograp
...morePaperback, 168 pages
Published
July 5th 2000
by Univ Of Minnesota Press
(first published 1982)
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If you want to find out the whole story about Louise Brooks, Barry Paris' comprehensive biography is the place to go (I've not read that yet, but the reviews are unanimous). This book is a series of essays about the people and places Brooks encountered during her short, tempestuous career in silent movies. By telling the stories of others (her friend, Pepi Lederer, a Hollywood washout who was the niece of William Randolph Hearst's mistress, the actress Marion Davies; Humphrey Bogart; W.C. Fields...more
Louise Brooks was a dancer-turned actress during Hollywood's silent era, and helped to make the bobbed haircut an iconic fashion statement in the 1920s. She also quickly became disillusioned with the then-as-now cutthroat practices of the studios and the way they treated actors as property to be used and discarded to make room for new talent. Brooks is a surprisingly talented writer, and a sympathetic one as well. If anything, her first-account essays just go to show that not much has changed in...more
I am a fan of Louise Brooks so anything I say is colored by my adoration of this actress. I am not a person, therefore, to take as a serious critic of the literary ability of the author, Ms. Brooks herself. It is not that I am big Silent Movie fan either, the way she moves, the vulnerability of her face and the magic of her smile has given me goosebumps time and time again. As an adult, who has lived in Hollywood, I have to say that I have quoted her endlessly when asked why I left: "You ask why...more
Louise Brooks was a true original, a brilliant actress who paradoxically didn't care about acting and actively loathed the Hollywood system, she made a handful of pictures in the US before committing what many would consider "career suicide" and heading off to Europe to make the luminous PANDORA'S BOX and DIARY OF A LOST GIRL for German filmmaker G.W. Pabst. Regrettably her career slowly fizzled after that and she was largely forgotten until silent film aficionados like Lotte Eisner and Kevin Br...more
Aug 26, 2012
Karen
added it
The Lulu in Hollywood I read was probably an earlier edition of this book ... it has her essays and many photographs, but is missing "Why I Will Never Write My Memoirs and the essay by Tynan.
Louise Brooks was an intelligent, rebellious, outspoken woman who bucked the system in Hollywood and walked away at the height of her career. From childhood in Kansas to dancer with Denishawn company in NYC (modern dance vis-a-vis Martha Graham) and Ziegfeld Follies to Hollywood actress in silent films in 19...more
Louise Brooks was an intelligent, rebellious, outspoken woman who bucked the system in Hollywood and walked away at the height of her career. From childhood in Kansas to dancer with Denishawn company in NYC (modern dance vis-a-vis Martha Graham) and Ziegfeld Follies to Hollywood actress in silent films in 19...more
"I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it will be with a knife." What else is there to say! Louise Brooks was one of the most illustrious actresses in the beginning on motion pictures, and then left it all behind at the height of her career. Known for her striking looks, intelligence, and brutal honesty, she revered the act of artistic expression and loathed the material machine that ran Hollywood. To this day there is still a huge fan base devoted to her. Raised in a small K...more
So, here's a woman, a jazz age baby, with the bob and dark eyes, who flees Kansas at 15 to study dance with Martha Graham, dances in the Follies, works in silent movies and hangs out with Hearst at San Simeon and Bogart and Chaplin and John Wayne and everyone who was anyone, steals part from Greta Garbo. Surrounded by men who paid her rent and took her dancing and bought her expensive clothes, she ends up throwing it all away when she's 30-ish because, man, she wasn't going to be a slave to the...more
"The modern actress par excellence," said Henri Langlois of the Cinematheque Francaise. "Those who have seen her can never forget her. Her art is so pure that it becomes invisible." Others have said that LB was a "luminscent personality...unparalleled in film history" who causes "a work of art to be born by her mere presence." Catch LB on YouTube in a few minutes of "Pandora's Box" and you'll grasp the luxuriant kudos.
From the rigors of Bible Belt Kansas where she read the classics, and was seem...more
From the rigors of Bible Belt Kansas where she read the classics, and was seem...more
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Guys, Louise Brooks is awesome. She's a great writer and her detached yet big approach to life is fascinating. I recommend this book, with the caveat that it gets a little Hollywood insider-y toward the end, although I guess that's kind of the point. Like M.F.K. Fisher's book, the essays about her earlier life are pretty amazing. I also really like the strength of Louise and some of the other women she mentions; the power that women, particularly famous women, had in the 20s and 30s is really di...more
Eight well written autobiographical essays which cover a variety of topics and opinions. I especially enjoyed her thoughts on Humphrey Bogart and W.C. Fields. Her friendship with Pepi Lederer, niece of Marion Davies allowed her to become a part of the William Randolph Hearst 'scene' at The Hearst Castle in San Simeon.
Louise Brooks has been called one of the brightest, and most intellectual actresses in Hollywood. And after reading her memoir, I think it's more accurate to refer to her as a writ...more
Louise Brooks has been called one of the brightest, and most intellectual actresses in Hollywood. And after reading her memoir, I think it's more accurate to refer to her as a writ...more
Louise Brooks is a wry and erudite writer, and this collection of articles shows that the iconic silent movie actress was anything but a Hollywood starlet. I was most struck by how contemporary her life and attitudes seem even 80 year later. I've always admired Brooks for her movies, but after reading Lulu in Hollywood, I admire her for her mind, her independence, and for being a truly dualistic, conflicted person. It turns out she's probably more interesting than any of the characters she playe...more
This is a fascinating collection of essays written by one of the most iconic legends of silent cinema. Brooks was a meteor - burning brightly, burning quickly, frighteningly individual and refusing to show any deference to authority. Other than a few small parts in the mid-thirties, her career in the movies was over by the time she was 25 and without any really big hits on her hands and yet, her instantly recognisable hairstyle and rare-for-a-movie-star intelligence has left her on the popular "...more
The story behind this book is almost as famous as the star who wrote it. In 1979, renowned British critic Kenneth Tynan---known for being the first man to say the F word on British television---was living in semi-exile in America when he happened to see a broadcast of PANDORA'S BOX. He immediately tracked down former silent film star Louise Brooks to Rochester, New York and began what can only be described as a decidedly kinky relationship with the septuagenarian. What do I mean by kinky? Well,...more
After reading "The Chaperone" I was curious about Louise Brooks, whom I'd never heard of before. I got her autobiography which helped me learn more about her but I think to get the real story, I should read about her from someone else.
This was interesting though about her young years, and a lot of that part paralleled The Chaperone. Later she talks about others in Hollywood who she knew such as, Humphrey Bogart, Lillian Gish, Greta Garbo and W C Fields.
This was interesting though about her young years, and a lot of that part paralleled The Chaperone. Later she talks about others in Hollywood who she knew such as, Humphrey Bogart, Lillian Gish, Greta Garbo and W C Fields.
Brilliant observations and fascinating descriptions in a conversational but elegant style. Brooks' manner is so direct and straightforward that it is no wonder she was rejected by Hollywood's movie industry in her time. Brooks does not spare anyone but never comes across as malicious. (Humphrey Bogart fans will really appreciate her comments on this star and his evolution in the film industry.)
This is a bit of a tough read for such a short book. Part of that is the nature of this collection of various pieces but part of it is her style which is sometimes clever and even lyrical but avoids clarity or deeper exploration. Still she has unique insights into Hollywood and her era. Also she is relentlessly honest. She was a unique individual and i will read more about her life to fill in the gaps here.
She's a helluva writer, that Louise Brooks from Kansas. Pairing her writing talents with her place as a truly fascinating (and talented) silent actress (Pabst's Pandora's Box, Wellman's Beggars of Life), she offers an excellent anecdotal history of early Hollywood, both gossipy and acutely aware of how strange and vacant the town can sometimes be.
It's impossible not to draw parallels between the star system that produced Brooks (and that she ultimately rejected) and what comes by today; as such...more
It's impossible not to draw parallels between the star system that produced Brooks (and that she ultimately rejected) and what comes by today; as such...more
The long forward is a bit yawn inspiring with the writer's fanboying all over Brooks in a very second-hand embarrassing to read way. Once you get past that, and onward to Brooks writing...it is a really interesting book. You get to see actors from the dawn of film-making in a different light and Brooks has a sense of humor and verve in her writing.
A collection of Louise Brooks' autobiographical essays, with fascinating insights into 1920s and 1930s Hollywood. Interesting to read such a critical first-hand account of the studio system, bringing a fresh perspective (for me) on that period.
And Louise is highly witty and quite enjoyable to read!
And Louise is highly witty and quite enjoyable to read!
Hollywood gossip is stale at the best of time. This book from the silent screen star Louise Brown is very different; fresh and insightful into the teens and 20's of Hollywood film making. Five stars, yes Lulu in Hollywood is that good.
The book is autobiography that is more a collection of short-stories. Brown unravels details about her past but also on people she knew personally; in their early years. She dishes on Marion Davis and her niece, chats about Humphrey Bogart, Lillian Gish and Greta G...more
The book is autobiography that is more a collection of short-stories. Brown unravels details about her past but also on people she knew personally; in their early years. She dishes on Marion Davis and her niece, chats about Humphrey Bogart, Lillian Gish and Greta G...more
May 28, 2011
MAP
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biographies-and-memoirs,
non-fiction
3.5 stars
Even nearly 100 years after her career, Louise Brooks manages to mesmerize.
Why I practically had to beat up librarian to get my hands on this book
Even nearly 100 years after her career, Louise Brooks manages to mesmerize.
Why I practically had to beat up librarian to get my hands on this book
Fans of 1920s Hollywood & Berlin movies should read this odd, short, and opinionated memoir by silent film star Louise Brooks, written a half-century after the fact. The sex and drugs shenanigans surprised me.
Best autobiography by an actor ever. 'If I bore you it will be with a knife.' Louise Brooks
This book was so much fun to read. Classic Hollywood stories written in a Dorothy Parker style.
One of the best old Hollywood memoirs available, from an amazing writer and a true legend
Wow! This is great. A silent movie star who was not only beautiful and hot (can't think of a better word for her, except I would sleep with her at the drop of a dime), but also a fantastic writer.
Her sketch like pieces on various friends of the silent cinema era is touching, smart, witty, and extremely clear-headed. One is not going to find another unique portrait on artists like WC Fields. And Louise Brooks was an amazing personality. She sort of got up and left her career as a movie star. Fant...more
Her sketch like pieces on various friends of the silent cinema era is touching, smart, witty, and extremely clear-headed. One is not going to find another unique portrait on artists like WC Fields. And Louise Brooks was an amazing personality. She sort of got up and left her career as a movie star. Fant...more
Ms. Brooks' essays are a fascinating glimpse into a past era.
I want more! Unfortunately, she passed on years ago.
After reading the Chaperone, I couldn't not read this!!
May 05, 2012
Mary Narkiewicz
is currently reading it
a classic book by a great Hollywood Star.
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Aug 29, 2008 11:05am