Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever

Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever by Peter Cowie. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780847828661.

Louise Brooks has become one of the most spectacular icons of early cinema. Her distinctive "bob" haircut looks as modern as they did when she first appeared in films in 1925. Louise Brooks was born on November 14, 1906 in Cherryvale, Kansas, and by eighteen had established herself as a dancer with the Ziegfeld Follies, and was receiving film offers from both MGM and Paramount. In 1928, she starred in William Wellmans Beggars of Life. Meanwhile she was mingling with the high and mighty of Hollywood, having a passionate affair with Charlie Chaplin, spending weekends at William Randolph Hearsts castle and captivating such men as William S. Paley, the founder of CBS. Her brief, yet spectacular role in Howard Hawks A Girl in Every Port impressed G.W. Pabst, the German maestro who was seeking an actress for his upcoming production, Pandoras Box. He rejected Marlene Dietrich in favor of Brooks, who went to Berlin and made not only Pandoras Box but also Diary of a Lost Girl, forever ensuring her status as a screen icon.This exquisitely produced album celebrates Lulu with rare film footage stills, private photos, letters, interviews, and text by renowned film critic Peter Cowie, exploring this influential cult figure and abiding symbol of the Jazz Age.