Customer Reviews

Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Louise Brooks' current reputation rests mostly on two films, both silent, both done in Germany by Pabst: Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. This excellently produced book provides more background on this all but forgotten star who, in her day, was a supreme flapper icon. Looking at the marvelous photographs, mostly film stills, but with some candids and modeling shots I've never seen before, you get a sense of why Brooks was such a sensation in her day.

Brooks' influence lived on long after her name and identity in the public mind had faded. Her hair, referred to as that "helmet bob" and her fashion sense, set the tone for generations of confident, independent, sexy young women. This book makes clear that she was more than just a projection of a strong image - she was a very special actress. The text is, at times, a bit too personal and adulatory, but it contains a lot of good, perceptive material on her appeal, and it fills in many details about her not very happy life.

In her two most famous roles, the prostitute-mistress-showgirl in Pandora's Box, and the abused middle-class waif in Lost Girl, Brooks was superb. Pandora is one of the sexiest films ever made, and this without nudity or sex! In Lost Girl, she is the archetype of oppressed femininity, but she rebounds! with a tough, no-nonsense core. Looking through this book takes you back to an earlier era in entertainment when sensibilities and expectations were different. For fans of silent films, it is a great find; for others - see if it doesn't make you a fan!

I too rate this book five stars. Louise Brooks fans are so hungry for new information about her they will rate practically anything new about her five stars - but this one deserves it. More photo than text, many of the photos are movie stills, but there are some candid shots of her, including some that I have not seen before, a few of which alone make the book worth the price.

There appear to be a few minor errors of fact, such as page 144, where the author makes reference to Buck Rogers, but he obviously means Buck Jones. None of the several such errors are significant and do not detract from the quality of this work.

One interesting line in this book, pages 209-210 quotes Miss Brooks as saying she had not seen Charlie Chaplin since 1928. If correct, that differs from the biography which implies they did not see each other after their affair in 1925. If this author is correct (and it is plausible, since Miss Brooks was in Hollywood in 1928 and presumably so was Chaplin), how many times did they see each other after 1925, and what, if anything did they do together?

I marvel at how much we don't know about Miss Brooks. I'm waiting for some one to publish her diaries, although I am a firm believer that diaries are private and should not be published without the permission of the writer (which is not possible in this case), but I think such a publication would give us a fascinating and insightful look at this extraordinary legend.

Finally, I am most grateful to this author for sharing his knowledge and experiences about Louise Brooks with the rest of us. It's great reading!

This is an excellent book for those of us that enjoy silent movies. It is filled with wonderful photographs of this too little appreciated (in her day) actress. I highly recommend it.

I love this book. The text is fascinating and the pictures are great. I love the big books with nice pictures they have out on some stars now, and this one is just great. If you like the "coffee table" sort of books about the stars another good one is Century Girl by Lauren Redniss, about the life of Doris Eaton Travis. The whole thing is like a beautiful collage!

Louise Brooks finally gets the beautifully produced book she deserves.
Great selection of photos.....large format book.....
Five stars from me!

I loved this book!
The photos alone are priceless and vary in environmental background and photographer personalities. Really fun to look at as a short coffee table book to feast your eyes on. What a beautiful actress Louise was!

The bonus is the well-written and entertaining biographical info that is in the book. Easy to read....it does tend to jump back and forth chronologically but it most enjoyable.

A must have for any Louise Brooks fan or any silent film buff!
This book is something I have wanted to have in my possession for the last fifteen years and finally we have it in our hands!!!

Bravo!!!

I have to admit up front that I have always been in love with Lulu Brooks. I am 62, but have thought about her every day of my adult life. Ever since seeing Pandora's Box for the first time in my late teens. I have read virtually all of her writings and several biographies of her life and seen all her extant movies (sadly some have not survived).
This book is mostly photos coupled with a brief biography. But, ah, the photos of this woman! She was so famous during her teens and twenties that the studios and fan magazines hired the best photographers in the world to snap her portraits. Her neck is swann-like; her eyes jet black as is her hair, the eyes penetrate and show a lively intelligence, that "helmet" hairstyle perfectly frames a perfectly symetrical face. She attracted men like flies; led a sexually charged life; was an alcoholic by age 18; partied like there was no tomorrow. Yet through it all her beauty remained.
One photo is enough to convince anyone that she was a very special woman. Her self-destructive behaviour brought her career as an actress to a halting end, but nothing can destroy the utmost beauty of her face and body. Hard to believe she was barely 5'2" and washed up by age 30.

far more qualified people can comment on the contents of this book. All I can say is this is the definitive collection of images of Brooks. This with Barry Paris' biography and you have it all.

First of all thank you Mr Cowie for this fine piece of art in itself. Myself, I think Louise Brooks is and was the most beautiful actress-model ever. Its hard to put in words how her beauty and expressions move me. I love the look of the 20's and 30's and she was the icon for that era.

This book is not only a beautiful history of Lulu but a fine photo album of her life in her hay day. I only wish I could have at least shook her hand when she was living. As a photographer myself, her beauty is unmatched. If you are a fan of Louise Brooks or and a fan of fine photography of the 1920's buy this book.

She will truely be, forever Lulu Thank you again Mr.Cowie and thank you Mary Louise Brooks.

Any fan of hers needs to have a copy of this wonderful book! very moving and beautiful!