‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ rights an old literary wrong

Lee Israel never traveled far from her West Side apartment on 82nd Street for research — she didn’t need to: The New York Public Library’s Billy Rose Theatre Division, just a dozen or so blocks away from her at Lincoln Center, held everything she needed, including a treasure trove of 150 letters written by the iconic silent film actress Louise Brooks to her friend Herman G. Weinberg.

Those letters, written between 1962-1983, were totally unknown and untapped until the publication of my 1989 biography “Louise Brooks” (Alfred A. Knopf), in which they were quoted with meticulous attribution. Ms. Israel, an avowed fan of my book — or more accurately, of the information contained in it — made haste to the Billy Rose Collection to glean the Brooks letters for her own purposes, specifically for the “Joe Kennedy ruined Gloria Swanson” quote used in both her fabricated letters and in the script of the movie.

On page 47 of her 2008 book “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” on which the film is based, she cites my biography in a (real) quote from Lauren Bacall re: Louise’s (fabricated) quote about Humphrey Bogart. I subsequently received four (fabricated) letters purportedly from Louise Brooks to “Barry” — four of the 400 fake letters written by Ms. Israel that were sold to foolish buyers.

It’s flattering — in a sick way. Not until now, and this film, has anyone cared to correct the record.