Customer Reviews

Louise Brooks - Looking for Lulu [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Louise Brooks flashed across the magic flickering Silver Screen for oh so brief a moment, only to fall back into almost forgotten lost history. "Louise Brooks: Looking For Lulu" is a earnest documentary hosted by Shirley MacLaine. It features clips from her dazzling early career, her spotty movie roles, and amazingly, an interview with the once notorious super-star herself. The bouncy teen from Kansas landed in Hollywood in the early 1920's ready to change the world. Her defiant, trenchant attitude didn't suit the studio bosses, but Paramount Pictures smelled stardom, and signed her immediately. Several bouncy roles followed, all featuring the black-haired vixen with the special coif. But Louise's temprament soon pushed her away from the meaty film roles she might have attained. She went to Berlin in 1926 to star in a dark tragedy for German director G.W. Pabst. She portrayed a flighty young dancer, romancing lovers, young and old, rich and penniless. She stands trial for an accidental murder, which occurs during one of her trysts. The proceedings go poorly, and she flees to London, with her young companion, played by Francis Lederer. Her life soon descends into poverty and despair, ending with a fateful meeting with none other than Jack the Ripper. The movie is rich in mood and mystery, featuring an ealy lesbian relationship(banned in the United States). The film was called "Pandora's Box". Brooks's last film(in 1937) was as a b-film co-star in a cowboy movie starring a newcomer named John Wayne. Brooks life took a turn for the worse as well. Her final interview, years later in a Manhattan flat, is breathtaking. Re-discovered by cinema historian James Card, Brooks served out her final days with grace and dignity. This marvelous DVD presents an accurate re-telling of the Hollywood career, and it's eventual pitfalls. Louise Brooks is a cinema icon. Would that this halcyon star might shine forever.

four and a half stars, actually.

Don't buy this DVD seperate--this documentary comes as an extra in the recent Criterion issue of "Pandora's Box"--an incredible issue of an incredible film.

I loved this documentary when I first saw it but then I read Barry Paris' biography--who also wrote this documentary. That book is an incredible and deeply moving experience; I don't recall being so moved by a biography before. That book shows how this film is way too brief--and just begins to get to the heart--and mind--of its subject. Still, for what it is--an introduction--its pretty damned good!

Buy "Pandora's Box" which includes this documentary, plus the complete "Lulu in Berlin": Richard Leacock's filmed interview with Louise from the mid-seventies; with Barry Paris's biography, you'll have everything!!

This is a great video for the true "Brooksie" fan or the person just getting interested in her films. It's really informative, entertaining and even has interviews with Louise herself. I would highly recommend it to anyone that is a fan of silent movies or the silent movie era!

This is a must see for anyone remotely interested in the cinema. Louise Brooks for me is the most beautiful creature ever captured by a camera and this biography follows her from a child to the end. Even as a child she was simply luminous. There are no actresses today who can hold a candle to her.

The biography is excellent - succinct, simple, straight forward, down to earth and to the point. It is not a star worship vehicle. We get Louise and all her problems. It is fascinating. It covers New York in the early 1920s (Louise was thrown out of a hotel for 'promiscuity'!), the introduction of the talkies, the flapper era, Berlin in the 1920s, Marlene Dietrich (who Louise does not appear to like!), and all her movies.

It is also horribly sad. All the people who disowned her - though Roddy McDowall comes over as a genuine friend.

It also proves that it isn't always the so called big stars of their day who become icons and are remembered. I wonder who we will look back on - Tom Cruise and the awful Sandra Bullock or someone we don't even appreciate right now?

It is also a dreadful warning to any young girl who wants to be a star. Louise was 17 when she made it big in New York and she was dreafully misunderstood and used. Child abuse was taboo back then and her adult behaviour was never treated or understood. Today we can see her behaviour as a direct result of the abuse she suffered.

But back to the video. It is beautifully presented. There are scenes from Louise's movies, stills, photos of her family, interviews with her relatives, and a rare interview with Louise herself. And while it does leave you desperate for more it is an excellent introduction and had me rushing out to by Kenneth Tynan's book and all her videos. It covers so much ground in a short time and while it may seem it is all over too quickly it's because the script is just so succinct. We learn as much about the advent of the talkies in 3 minutes as we do in the whole of Singing In The Rain, and about Berlin in 2 minutes than in the whole of Cabaret, and how the studios treated their actors and other actors treated their colleagues than all the other tomes I have read!

Also, Shirley Maclaine's narration is stunning. Matter of fact and very subtle. One of the best things she's ever done! I really do believe that Shirley had her heart in this project.

I have watched it over and over again. Even if you have never heard of Louise Brooks and aren't really bothered to find out about her, there are lessons for life in Louise's story and I am sure none of you will be disappointed.

This is a great film on the life and career(s) of Louise Brooks, written by Barry Paris, her biographer, and narrated by Shirley MacLaine. It is loaded with touching and funny insights, great stills and footage from her movies, and commented by a.o. the actors Roddy McDowall, Dana Delany, Francis Lederer, writer/lyricist Adolph Green, and many friends and relatives. Also present as a commentator is miss Brooks herself as the second half of the film is laced with excerpts from, I quote, 'a rare and previously unseen interview, filmed in 1976'. My only regret is that this documentary lasts only 60 minutes, so none of its many topics (childhood, Hollywood, Berlin, etc.) gets an in-depth treatment. Also, perhaps not always to everybody's liking, the added musical soundtrack is very present in the film. The DVD-transfer is excellent.

this is a great documentary about this talented woman whos was tortured... by her looks? by her brains? louise brooks is a great cult figure in europe. a denishawn dancer who turned into a follies glamour girl, than later an ingenue in silent movies who cemented her well deserved place in movie history with her explicit performance of "lulu" in "pandora's box". i don't think america was quite prepared for such a woman... much too open about her sexuality... beside her madonna looks like a pensionist nun... but the "industry" punished her for her freedom... can you imagine a movie star ending as a sales girl in bloomingdales? or (as some biographers mentioned) as an "escort"? her essays are among the most intelligent ones ever written about hollywood.
this documentary is superbly well researched. one is introduced to this girl and becomes fascinated by the woman she turned into... rare scenes from an elderly brooks are a treasure as well as some "talkie" scenes from "the canary murder case"... a "must" for every movie lover... i definitely recommend it!!!
ricardo leitner

'Looking For Lulu' is a well made documentary of silent star Louise Brooks. The film's makers have used the one hour running time to very good effect - there is no padding or wasted time on this DVD. The documentary is written by Barry Paris who has also penned highly acclaimed books of this great actress. But of course 60 minutes is not long enough to fully cover Ms Brooks' career, let alone her entire life. Ideally, I would have liked to see a documentary twice this length, but the hour we do get is extremely interesting. Shirley MacLaine does a fine job narrating the DVD, which is also scattered with movie clips, photos and anecdotes from those who knew Louise Brooks. The most fascinating feature is interview clips of Louise herself - filmed in 1976 when Ms Brooks was in her late sixties. These are quite revealing. On the technical side, I was slightly disappointed by the DVD's (lack of) special features. The only extra feature is a filmography - just a list of Louise Brooks' films with no additional information given. What would have made this disc really special is a gallery showing the photos used in the documentary plus any others the makers could get their hands on. One other aspect of the DVD that leaves you wanting more is the picture quality of some of the old silent film clips - they are truly exceptional. There is clearly the potential for video companies to release high quality prints of Louise Brooks' work. Let's hope some of her films appear on DVD soon.

Louise Brooks is often looked over because of her nonchalance about acting and her career. She was a very intelligent woman who was known for her intense sexuality. She made several films, the most important ones being made in Germany like Pandora's Box. Her career was ended when the talkies came, not because her voice did not record well but because she was so arrogant to the studios. Years after she stopped making films, she wrote a series of essays compiled into a book called Lulu in Hollywood which helped to rejuvenate her career.

This documentary is great for novice Brooks fans because it touches on basic information like her early life, transitioning into films, and the end of her career. It does not, however, provide much insight into who Brooks was as a person or truly why she behaved the way she did. It is certainly not a deep exploration into her character or her career. For this, it is slightly disappointing, but recognition is recognition after all, and silent film stars are often lucky to get that.

This is a wonderful documentary with many interviews of personal friends and co-workers as well as famous celbrities today such as Dana Delany and Roddy McDowall. It is narrated wonderfully by Shirley MacLaine. I agree that it is a bit too short, I found myself longing for more - Lousie Brooks is such a fascinating woman in so many ways.
If you're a fan, or you've just became curious about Louise Brooks, then you must get this DVD. It's based on the book by Barry Paris and really lets you see into the life of this charming and usual woman. I love Louise Brooks and I love this DVD.

This 1998 film is narrated by Shirley MacLaine (of "John Goldfarb Please Come Home" 1965 fame). We get to know Louise Brooks from her own words and those that met her. There is some great stock footage and in the end you feel that you know her better and that she actually talked to you.

The next time you watch her movies you will see them through new eyes and a new appreciation for her acting style.