Louise Brooks - Looking for Lulu (1998)

If you want to buy this, wait!!!

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!! March 18, 2007

Louise Brooks -- a retrospective look

Basic information on the life of a fascinating personality. But what should have been intriguing was cookie cutter sterile: birth-life-death-rediscovered. However, the interviews with an old Louise Brooks were riveting but way too short and the anecdotes from her niece were an interesting look at her personality from the perspective of her family. January 20, 2007

Next Time, Give More

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. May 10, 2006

Exceptional documentary

"Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu" is an exceptionally well-crafted and emotionally moving documentary. It is one of the best film documentaries I have seen. Barry Paris (author of the definitive biography of the actress) has written a masterful, sympathetic script. And director Hugh Munro Neely has fashioned a well-researched, balanced and finely documented study of this 20th century icon.

Louise Brooks (1906 - 1985) was incredibly photogenic - some have claimed her to be one of the most beautiful actresses of all time. The many photographic images shown in this film highlight Brooks' life and career as a girl growing up in small-town Kansas, as a Denishawn dancer (she danced alongside Martha Graham!), as a showgirl with the Ziegfeld Follies in 1920's New York, as a bobbed-hair flapper in a handful of American silent films, as Lulu - an innocent femme fatale murdered by Jack the Ripper in her most famous film - the now classic German production "Pandora's Box," and later in life, as an essayist and author of the bestselling book, "Lulu in Hollywood."

"Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu" features numerous film clips - some of them rare, including Brooks' first appearance in a movie, her first part in a talkie, and her last film, a low budget Western with John Wayne. There are also excerpts from an on-screen interview with the actress conducted later in her life. The film is narrated by Shirley MacLaine (herself a big Brooks fan), and features interviews with actor Francis Lederer, (Brooks' co-star in "Pandora's Box"), actor Roddy McDowell (a longtime admirer and friend), actress Dana Delany (another fan of the actress), and others who knew Brooks throughout her life. These interviews are well chosen, and help tell the story of her "life, death, and resurrection."

Perhaps the only criticism one could offer is that "Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu" is not long enough! (Pretty much everyone who has seen this film wishes for more.) Another twenty or thirty minutes spent exploring Brooks' time in Europe, her decades of obscurity, her rediscovery, and the cult which has grown up around her would be welcome. Otherwise, this film is highly recommended for anyone interested in Louise Brooks in particular or film history in general.
October 21, 2004

Oh Yes! Great Documentary!

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. February 23, 2003

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