The Louise Brooks Society is home to an extensive online archive whose goal is to document “all things Brooksie.” That archive includes a number of annotated bibliographies relating to the actress’ life and career, her films, and other topics. The citations found on this page date from the 2020s to the present. The material cited, which is arranged in chronological order, comes from books and pamphlets. Other bibliographies on the LBS website cite material from magazines and newspapers.
Bibliographies are not as dull as you might think, or fear. And what’s more, they can also make for interesting reading. This bibliography documents and helps organize material written about the actress over the course of two decades. Not only does it reference rare or little known texts, it also charts Brooks’ fame, and reveals a year-by-year, decade-by-decade history of the actress’ place in movie history as well as, increasingly, popular culture.
Over the years, I’ve done a considerable amount of research, putting through hundreds of inter-library loans, scouring every accessible online database and digital archive, and personally visiting more than three dozen libraries across California and the United States, as well as the Cinémathèque Francaise in Paris, and the British Film Institute and British National Library in London. The LBS has also sought out scarce books and even acquired a few roles of microfilm in pursuit of unknown or undocumented material. [A fuller record of the research conducted by the LBS can be found HERE.] If you know of additional entries, or can provide further information on any of the citations noted on this page, please CONTACT the Louise Brooks Society. If you would like to help with the search for additional material, please check the HELP WANTED page.
Thomas Gladysz
Director, Louise Brooks Society
LOUISE BROOKS BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1920s – 1930s | 1940s – 1950s | 1960s – 1970s | 1980s – 1990s | 2000s – 2010s | 2020s – present
2020s
Hutchinson, Pamela. Pandora’s Box. London: Palgrave and British Film Institute, 2020.
— first ever study of the film; first issued with a different, illustrated cover depicting Brooks in 2018
Tynan, Kenneth. Profiles. Nick Hern Books, 2020.
— reissue of the 1989 book – contains Tynan’s New Yorker profile of Brooks
Gladysz, Thomas. The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. Sacramento, CA: PandorasBox Press, 2023.
— a deep dive into the history of Brooks’ first film, with forewords by Robert Byrne and Kevin Brownlow