Recently appearing in Alexander Payne’s acclaimed new film, The Holdovers, the Brattle is no stranger to celebrity encounters. In today’s episode we talk about an unexpected visit to the shop from actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard (in happier days, or at least less publicly unhappy ones). Depp shopped in the rare book room, learned about a Catholic convent of local superfans, and posed for photos with the staff. We’ll talk about some other famous faces that have popped up in the shop, as well as how difficult it can be to recognize these people out of context, on a star-studded new #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #162 - LIFE at the Brattle
Today we’re taking a look at some vintage issues of LIFE Magazine, half a truckload of which recently arrived at the shop. Full of iconic photojournalism and snappy graphic design, LIFE’s oversized pages are endlessly fun to flip through—and convey so much information about mid-century American culture. Listen to hear our favorite LIFE stories, from Woodstock to working moms, on this eye-opening new #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #102 - Books go to the Movies!
Many zoom users have learned recently that the bookshelves in your background can reveal a lot about your character, but film set designers have always known this. As more movies have been filmed in Boston in recent years, the staff at the Brattle have gotten to see more of their books on the silver screen, and have even worked on-set themselves as book experts. In this episode we’ll talk about the process of pulling together a collection of books to be used as props: making sure they fit the character's field (books on astronomy), state of mind (books on astronomy that have seen better days), and shelves (40 feet of sad astronomy books no taller than 10 inches each). We’ll also talk about the shop's many glamorous brushes with stardom, such as the time we let Michael Douglas park in the sale lot.