Edy Darclea

Italian actress Edy Darclea (1895-?) was active in Italian and foreign silent cinema in the late 1910s and early 1920s. She appeared in several biblical epic spectacles.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 609. Photo Pinto, Rome.


Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Turin.


Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Turin / Ed. S.A.R.P.I.C., Bucharest, no. 146.

Gay telephone girl

Edy Darclea (also Edi Darclea) was born Iole De Giorgio in Rome in 1895. Her father Alfredo De Giorgio had been a singer from Naples, who became a singing master in the American city of Baltimore. There he married Conception Walsh, originally Irish and educated in a college in Monza, Italy. They had four children, Amerigo (1891) and Maria (1892), born in Baltimore, and Edoardo (1893) and Iole (1895), both born in Rome, where the family had moved to in the mid-1890s.

De Giorgio pursued his teaching career but also became a notable amateur photographer, specialising in stereoscopic photography. His rich collection can still be found in Rome at the Istituto centrale per il catalogo e la documentazione.

Iole’s brother Amerigo started to act in the same year as his sister: 1917. While he kept his name Amerigo De Giorgio (also written as Americo De Giorgio (IMDb’s version) and Amerigo Di Giorgio), Iole changed her name to Edy Darclea. Iole and her brother played together in many films between the late 1910s and early 1920s, mainly in Italy, but in the mid-1920s also in Germany and the US.

Darclea debuted in La duchessa del Bal Tabarin/The Duchess of Bal Tabarin (Bob aka Nino Martinengo, 1917), in which she played a gay telephone girl who competes with a duchess for the hand of a nice young man. The film, based on a popular operetta, was an early attempt to synchronise sound with records, so Darclea might well have sung in the film, educated by her father.

Darclea's first films were directed by various directors like Martinengo, Alexandre Devarennes, and Giuseppe De Liguoro. In 1919 she did two films with Romolo Bacchini, L’ombra fatale/The Fatal Shadow(1919) and Via Crucis/Way of the Cross (1919) with Elena Sangro. In the following years, she worked four times with prolific director Augusto Genina: Debito d’odio/A Debt of Hate (1920), La ruota del vizio/Conscience (1920) with Bruto Castellani, La crisi/The Crisis (1921) and I diabolici/The Evil (1921).


Italian postcard, no. 1099. Edy Darclea and Mario Parpagnoli.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 494. Photo: Pinto, Rome.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 495. Photo: Pinto, Rome.

Big-budget spectacles

During the 1920s, Edy Darclea was cast in various epic spectacles. She had already acted in Enrico Guazzoni’s early 'colossal' La Gerusalemme liberata/Jerusalem Liberated (1918), together with Amleto Novelli, Elena Sangro, and Edy’s brother Amerigo.

In 1922 she played Acte, the first mistress of Emperor Nero (Jacques Grétillat) in the American production Nero/Nerone (J. Gordon Edwards, 1922). Janiss Garza writes at AllMovie: "The Fox studio wasn't known for its big-budget spectacles, but when it needed to, it could really come through, as proven here. Director J. Gordon Edwards spent eight months in preparation and a couple of months in Italy filming the story of the last of the Caesars - quite a long time in those days. Except for Violet Mersereau, who played the part of the Christian heroine Marcia, the whole cast was made up of Italian actors (appropriate, considering that the film was about ancient Rome). For the most part, Edwards made good use of the 11 reels it took to tell Nero's story, showing off the immense Circus Maximus, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and giving heated life to the burning of Rome (accomplished with a combination of miniatures and full-size sets)."

The success of the film led to more parts in historical films for Darclea. First, she played in Edwards’ epic The Shepherd King (J. Gordon Edwards, 1923), starring Nerio Bernardi as (King) David. Janiss Garza at AllMovie: "After being made into a stage play by Wright Lorimer and Arnold Reeves, the Old Testament story of David was adapted for the screen. Director J. Gordon Edwards spent over a year in Palestine, Jerusalem and Egypt filming, with a primarily Italian cast. Unfortunately, all this effort was in vain, as there were too many title cards and not enough thrills. In addition, it had heavy competition due to the concurrent release of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments."

It culminated in the title role of Manfred Noa’s epic, two-part German production Helena/Helen of Troy (1924), shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich. Helen is adored by her husband Menelaos (Friedrich Ulmer) and by his rival Achilles (Carlo Aldini). Eventually, she falls in love and elopes with Paris of Troy (Vladimir Gajdarov), thus causing a war between the Greeks and the Trojans. When Achilles’ buddy Patroklos (Karel Lamac) is killed wearing Achilles’ armour, Achilles kills the culprit, Hektor (Carl de Vogt).

Then Achilles is killed at his only weak spot, his Achilles heel. The Greeks invade Troy, misleading the Trojans by using a giant horse filled with soldiers. Paris is killed but Menelaos spares his infidel wife. After Helena, Darclea played in one more silent film, Da Icaro a De Pinedo/From Icarus to De Pinedo (Silvio Laurenti Rosa, 1927), a series of tableaux on the Italian conquest of the air, from Icarus and Leonardo to modern aviators like De Pinedo. The film was her swan song. Nothing more is known about Edy Darclea, not even the date and place of her death.


Spanish cromo (collector/s card) by Exclusiva José Montañola / Chocolat Imperiale, no. 1 of 6 cards. Photo: Guazzoni Film. Edy Darclea as Armida and Bepo Corradi as Rinaldo in the Italian silent period piece La Gerusalemme liberata (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918), an adaptation of the classic poem by Torquato Tasso. Spanish title: Jerusalén Libertada.


Italian postcard by Vettori, Bologna, no. 2001. Marcella Sabattini and Edy Darclea in La valse ardente (Torello Rolli, 1921).


Scenes from Helena/Helen of Troy (1924). Source: Sexena1999 (YouTube).

Sources: Janiss Garza (AllMovie), Maria Francesca Bonetti (Biblioteca Treccani - Italian), Filmportal.de, Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano), Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 26 November 2023.

Francis Huster

Film and stage actor Francis Huster (1947) is one of French cinema's most recognizable faces. With his dark good looks, he is adept at drama and comedy alike and played both classic heroes and amiable sidekicks.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.


French postcard by Editions Atlas, Evreux, no. 36. Photo: Gérard Letallier / Télé 7 jours. Fanny Ardant and Francis Huster in the TV Mini-Series Les Dames de la Côte (Nina Companeez, 1979).

Jeune Premier

Francis Huster was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France in 1947. His parents were Charles Huster, commercial director at Lancia, and his wife, the Polish Jewish Suzette Cwajbaum, who owned a sewing atelier.

His grandmother, a passionate film fan, introduced the young Francis to the cinema and the boy was soon captivated. His heroes on the big screen were John Wayne, Gary Cooper and Steve McQueen.

At 15, he studied acting at the Conservatoire of Paris, and at the Cours Florent. A few years later he was a teacher there himself. In 1968 Huster went to the National Conservatory, where he won three first prizes. During his studies, he made his film debut in the title role of the religious drama La faute de l'Abbé Mouret/The Demise of Father Mouret (Georges Franju, 1970).

But the film was not a success, and neither were Faustine et le bel été/Faustine and the Beautiful Summer (Nina Companéez, 1972) and L'histoire très bonne et très joyeuse de Colinot Trousse-Chemise/The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot (Nina Companéez, 1973) with Brigitte Bardot in her final role.

Huster decided to focus himself on the stage. In 1971, he joined the Comédie-Française, where he became sociétaire in 1977. Huster played important stage roles like Lorenzaccio, Don Juan and Guy Blas. After a decade, he left the famous theatre company to play more than just the 'jeune premier', the classic young romantic type. Later, he founded the theatre group Compagnie Francis Huster.


French postcard by Sopraneme, Levallois Perret, no. 159.

Big star

After leaving the Comédie-Française in 1981, Francis Huster set himself to become a big star of the French cinema. He wanted to play leading roles in major films. First, he played opposite Charles Aznavour in Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David?/What Makes David Run? (Élie Chouraqui, 1981).

Then he was among the many international stars of the successful musical epic Les uns et les autres/Boléro (Claude Lelouch, 1981). He also starred opposite Valérie Kaprisky in La femme publique/The Public Woman (1984), directed by Andrzej Zulawski.

Further films he played in were the thriller Equateur/Ecuador (Serge Gainsbourg, 1983) with Barbara Sukowa, L'amour braque/Mad Love (Andrzej Zulawski, 1985) with Sophie Marceau, and Parking (Jacques Demy, 1985, a modern update of the Orpheus myth taking place in an underground parking garage with Jean Marais as the devil.

In 1986 he directed his first film On a volé Charlie Spencer/Charlie Spencer is Stolen (Francis Huster, 1986) with Béatrice Dalle. The comedy about an unassuming bank clerk who joins up with the group of thieves who have robbed his bank was a flop. He played the lead in Claude Lelouch’s crime comedy Tout ça... pour ça!/All That... for This?! (1993).

Francis Huster became Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur in 1991, and was awarded the rank of Officier by Jacques Chirac in 2006. Chirac commented: "C'est un comédien absolument exceptionnel qui se donne sans réserve à son art" ("He is an absolutely exceptional actor who dedicates himself totally to his art").


French postcard by Edition Delta-Productions, Saint-Jean-De-Vedas, no. CP 207.

A dinner of idiots

Francis Huster had a big hit in France with the witty comedy Le dîner de cons/The Dinner Game (Francis Veber, 1997). He played the friend and former rival of an arrogant publisher (Thierry Lhermitte) undone by the very man he intends to humiliate at his weekly ‘dinner of idiots’.

James Travers at French Films: “Not only is Le Dîner de cons one of Francis Veber’s funniest films, it is also his most minimalist, staged almost as a theatrical piece. The cast is small (but beautifully formed, thanks to the presence of Catherine Frot and Francis Huster) and most of the action takes place almost entirely in one set, in the manner of an American sitcom.”

In 2008 he directed his second feature film, Un homme et son chien/A Man and His Dog (Francis Huster, 2008). This was a remake of the neorealist classic Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952). It was the cinematic comeback for Jean-Paul Belmondo, who previously retired from acting after suffering a major stroke.

Sadly the film was another flop. Huster’s most recent film is Je m'appelle Bernadette/My Name is Bernadette (Jean Sagols, 2011) about Bernadette Soubirous, the peasant girl from Lourdes and her miraculous visions of the holy Mary. He later appeared in such films as Chacun sa vie/Everyone's Life (Claude Lelouch, 2017) with Johnny Hallyday and Une revanche à prendre/Revenge to Take (Kader Ayd, 2023) with Charles Aznavour.

After having been the companion of Isabelle Adjani, then a resident like himself at the Comédie-Française, and then of Nina Companeez for fifteen years, Francis Huster lived from 1991 to 2008 with the Italian-Brazilian actress Cristiana Reali, with whom he had two daughters, Élisa (1998), and Toscane Rose (2003). In 2017, he told on a TV programme that he had been raped at the age of 11, and he recounts the event in his book 'Pourquoi je t'aime' (2020).


Scene from L'histoire très bonne et très joyeuse de Colinot Trousse-Chemise/The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot (1973) with Brigitte Bardot. Source: DivineBB (YouTube).

Sources: James Travers (Films de France), Rebecca Flint Marx (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Aernout Fetter (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and French) and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 3 November 2024.

Yvonne Printemps

French singer and actress Yvonne Printemps (1894 - 1977) was a huge star of the European stage. A true diva, she loved the spotlight, and would be seen draped with jewels, wearing enormous hats and having her pet dogs on a leash. Printemps also appeared in ten international silent and sound films.


French postcard by EPC (Editions et Publications Cinématographiques), Paris, no. 25.


French postcard by Editions A.N., Paris, no. 24. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.


French postcard by Editions A.N., Paris, no. 2. Photo: Emera.

Folies Bergère
Yvonne Printemps was born Yvonne Willigniolle Dupre in Ermont, Ile-de-France, France in 1894. Her parents were Léon-Alfred Wigniolle, a cashier, and Palmyre Vignolle. At age 10, Yvonne started appearing in amateur productions. She was discovered by music hall director Paul-Louis Flers, who let her play at his famous music hall Folies Bergère. He gave her the stage name ‘Mademoiselle Printemps’(Miss Springtime) because of her sunny disposition. She made her professional stage debut at the age of 14 in the revue Nue Cocotte at La Cigale in Paris. The following year she returned to the Folies Bergères, where she appeared for four years. The charming and intelligent beauty with the exceptional voice soon became a 'grande vedette', and appeared with such great stars of the day as Maurice Chevalier and Mistinguett. As a lyrical soprano she appeared in operettas like Les Contes de Perrault/The Stories of Perrault (1913) and Le Poilu/The Soldier (1916). Her first film appearance was in the silent film Un roman d'amour et d'aventures/A Love and Adventure Novel (1918, René Hervil and Louis Mercanton). Her co-star and script-writer was actor-playwright Sacha Guitry. They married a year later. Together they performed in a number of his plays. Printemps had worldwide success with Reynaldo Hahn's Mozart in which she played the title role in travesty. In 1925, Gance and Printemps brought this extremely popular production to cities in North America, including New York City, Montreal, Quebec, and Boston, Massachusetts. In America she appeared in a curious silent film version of La Dame aux Camélias, Camille (1926, Ralph Barton) starring Paul Robeson as Alexandre Dumas fils and Anita Loos as Camille.


French postcard by Editions Chantal, Rueil, no. 5 A.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 12. Photo: Films Orange.


French postcard by Editions A.N., Paris, no. 1176. Photo: Harcourt.

Grand Diva
In 1931, Sacha Guitry directed Yvonne Printemps in Franz Hals opposite Pierre Fresnay. While married to her director, she fell in love with her co-star. In 1932 she divorced Guitry for Fresnay, whom she did not marry, but the pair remained with each other for life. In 1934 Printemps and Fresnay received international acclaim for their performances in the Noel Coward play, Conversation Piece. They performed in Paris and at London's West End before going to the United States to star on Broadway. That year Printemps also starred as courtesan Marguerite Gautier in a new film version of Camille, La dame aux camélias/The Lady of Camelias (1934, Fernand Rivers, Abel Gance), opposite Fresnay as Armand Duval. Fresnay also directed her in the film Le Duel/The Duel (1939, Pierre Fresnay). Printemps appeared in a total of ten films, including the starring role in both the stage and screen versions of Les trois valses/Three Waltzes (1938, Ludwig Berger, Albert Willemetz) as Fanny, Yvette and Irène Grandpré, and in the tile role of Adrienne Lecouvreur (1938, Marcel L'Herbier), in both films opposite Fresnay. Loving the spotlight, she would be seen draped with jewels and wearing enormous hats. Personifying the 'grand diva', she made a great spectacle wherever she went with her pet dogs on a leash. Her last film appearance was in the comedy Le Voyage en Amérique/Trip to America (1951, Henri Lavorel). She continued to perform on stage until she was well into her sixties. With Pierre Fresnay, she co-directed the Théâtre de la Michodière in Paris until his death in 1975. Two years later, Yvonne Printemps died in the Paris suburb of Neuilly in 1977. In 1994, the government of France placed her image on a postage stamp.


Clip of the Luce News of Printemps and Guitry performing in Rome at the Teatro Valle in 1932. Source: CinecittaLuce (YouTube).


Yvonne Printemps sings Une Heureuse Rencontre in La valse de Paris (1950, Marcel Achard). Source: Stephen Joeagi (YouTube).


Yvonne Printemps in an Opéra Comique by Jacques Offenbach in La valse de Paris (1950, Marcel Achard). Source: Stephen Joeagi (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia (English and French), and IMDb.

Marianne Hoppe

Her ‘Aryan’ face made Marianne Hoppe (1909-2002) a popular Ufa star and a darling of the Nazi elite. She was Germany's best-paid actress of the 1930s and 1940s. After the war she labelled this period as a ‘black page in her golden book’, and she evolved into the Queen of the German contemporary theatre. Her career spanned eight decades.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 119. Photo: Binz, Berlin.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 163, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 2498/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.

Home-front morale-booster

Marianne Stefanie Paula Henni Gertrud Hoppe was born in Rostock in 1909. Her family were wealthy land owners and she was initially privately educated on her father's estate Felsenhagen in Mecklenburg.

Later she attended school in Berlin and in Weimar, where she took private lessons from the actress Lucie Höflich. Hoppe first performed at 17 as a member of Berlin's Deutsches Theater under legendary director Max Reinhardt.

Her film debut was in Judas of Tyrol/The Judas of Tyrol (Franz Osten, 1933) starring Fritz Rasp. Her leading role in Der Schimmelreiter/The Rider of the White Horse (Hans Deppe, 1933) made her famous almost overnight.

Other of her popular Ufa-films were Schwarzer Jäger Johanna/Black Fighter Johanna (Johannes Meyer, 1934), Wenn der Hahn kräht/When the Cock Crows (Carl Froelich, 1936), the Oscar Wilde adaptation Eine Frau ohne Bedeutung/A Woman of No Importance (Hans Steinhoff, 1936).

Marianne Hoppe also appeared in Der Herrscher/The Ruler (Veit Harlan, 1937) featuring Emil Jannings. She later excelled in the melodramas of Helmut Käutner, like the home-front morale-booster Auf Wiedersehen, Franziska!/Goodbye, Franziska! (1941), and Romanze in Moll/Romance in a Minor Key (1942).


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3021/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Greinert.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3755/1. 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3890/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.

Darling of the Nazi elite

In 1935 Marianne Hoppe was hired by the controversial German actor and director of the Prussian State Theatre under the Third Reich, Gustav Gründgens. Her ‘Aryan’ face and boyish figure made her a darling of the Nazi elite.

The Svengali-like Gründgens controlled her career, both on-stage and in films like Capriolen/Love in Stunt Flying (1937) and the 'Effi Briest' adaptation Der Schritt vom Wege/The False Step (1939) with Karl Ludwig Diehl.

They were married from 1936 to 1946. Years later she stated: "He was my love, but never my great love, that was work." Characters in the film Mephisto (István Szabó, 1981) are based on them.

Hoppe later made no secret of her contacts with the Nazi elite in the 1930s and 1940s, including being invited to dinner by Adolph Hitler. She labelled this period as "the black page in my golden book".

During her time acting at the home of the Prussian State Theatre, the Schauspielhaus, Hoppe developed her analytical approach to acting, which she stated consisted of her "taking apart every sentence" and giving the use of language a brilliance. This method was to be associated with Hoppe throughout her working life.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, nr. A 3266/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Quick / Terra.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3351/1. Photo: Quick / Terra.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3515/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Binz, Berlin.

Avant-garde roles

After the war, Marianne Hoppe worked briefly in a Berlin refugee camp. She appeared in films like Das Verlorene Gesicht/Secrets of a Soul (Kurt Hoffmann, 1948), and Schicksal aus zweiter Hand/Second-hand Future (Wolfgang Staudte, 1949).

In 1950 she had great success in the theatre as Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams's 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. She also appeared extensively on television and played in films like Der Mann meines Lebens/The Man of My Life (Erich Engel, 1954), the Edgar Wallace adaptation Die seltsame Gräfin/The Strange Countess (Josef von Báky, 1961), and the Karl May Western Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962) starring Lex Barker and Pierre Brice.

Increasingly she played avant-garde roles, written by authors such as Heiner Muller and Thomas Bernhard. The latter became her partner in private life as well. She was a favourite of the young and iconoclastic directors Claus Peymann, Robert Wilson and Frank Castorf.

Among her last films are Falsche Bewegung/The Wrong Move (Wim Wenders, 1975) with Rüdiger Vogler and Hanna Schygulla, and Schloss Königswald (Peter Schamoni, 1988), for which she won the Bavarian Film Award for Best Actress.

Marianne Hoppe died in Siegsdorf, Bavaria, in 2002, aged 93. Her final stage performance had been in Bertolt Brecht's 'Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui', in December 1997. She had an illegitimate son, Benedikt Johann Percy, with British journalist Ralph Izzard. The documentary Die Königin - Marianne Hoppe/The Queen (Werner Schroeter, 2000) deals with her moving life and career.


German collectors card in the series 'Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Tonfilm', album no. 11, picture no. 85, group 44. Photo: Ufa / Ross Verlag. Marianne Hoppe and Hans Schlenck in Heideschulmeister Uwe Karsten/The Country Schoolmaster (Carl Heinz Wolff, 1933).


German postcard, no. E 60. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962) with Karin Dor.


German postcard, no. ED 62. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962).

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Hans J. Wollstein (All Movie - page now defunct), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 17 October 2024.

Adam Faith

English pop singer, actor and financial journalist Adam Faith (1940-2003) started as one of the most popular British teen idols, turned into a top actor and then became a financier. In the early 1960s, he was the first British artist with his initial seven hits lodging in the Top 5, just before the Beatles came along and changed the entire musical landscape.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/106. Photo: EMI, London.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/107. Photo: EMI, London.

'Bay-beh'

Adam Faith was born Terence (Terry) Nelhams-Wright in London in 1940. The third in a family of five children, Nelhams grew up in a council house in a working-class area of London. He started work at 12, delivering and selling newspapers while still at school.

Faith began his musical career in 1957 while working as a film cutter in London hoping to become an actor and singing with and managing a skiffle group, The Worried Men. The group played in Soho coffee bars and became the resident band at The 21's Coffee Bar, where they appeared on the BBC Television live music program Six-Five Special.

The producer, Jack Good, was impressed by the singer and arranged a solo recording contract with HMV as Adam Faith. His debut record 'I (Got a) Heartsick Feeling' and 'Brother Heartache and Sister Tears' in January 1958, failed to make the charts. His second release later that year, a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' 'High School Confidential', also failed.

Faith returned to work as a film cutter at National Studios at Elstree until March 1959, when Barry invited him to audition for a BBC TV rock and roll show, Drumbeat. The producer, Stewart Morris, gave him a contract for three shows, extended to the full 22-week run. Faith became popular through television appearances.

His success on Drumbeat enabled another recording contract with EMI's Parlophone label. His next record in 1959, 'What Do You Want?', written by Les Vandyke and produced by John Barry and John Burgess, received good reviews in the NME and other music papers, and was voted a hit on Juke Box Jury. It soared to number one on the British charts in a 19-week run. His pronunciation of the word 'baby' as 'bay-beh' became a catchphrase.


British postcard by Celebrity Autographs, no. 384. Photo: publicity still for Never Let Go (John Guillermin, 1960).


British fan card by The Adam Faith Fan Club, London. Photo: Parlophone Records.

Matinee-idol looks

Adam Faith became an immediate star, with his matinee-idol looks and charismatic screen presence. At the time, he was distinctive for his hiccupping glottal stops and exaggerated pronunciation. He did not write his own material, and much of his early success was through partnership with songwriter Les Vandyke and John Barry, whose arrangements were inspired by Don Costa's pizzicato arrangements for Buddy Holly's 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore'.

With songs such as 'Poor Me' (another UK chart-topper), 'Someone Else's Baby' (a UK #2) and 'Don't That Beat All', he established himself as a rival to Cliff Richard in British popular music. 'Poor Me;' also later became the title of his first autobiography.

He became an actor by taking drama and elocution lessons, and appeared as a pop singer in the film Beat Girl (Edmond T. Gréville, 1959), according to Bruce Eder on AllMusic "a fairly gritty British delinquency drama". His next film 'Never Let Go' (John Guillermin, 1960) starred Peter Sellers and Richard Todd. A UK variety tour was followed by a 12-week season at Blackpool Hippodrome and an appearance on the Royal Variety Show. His next release was a double A-side single, 'Made You/When Johnny Comes Marching Home'. Both made the Top Ten, despite a BBC ban for 'Made You' for 'a lewd and salacious lyric'.

His 1960 record 'Lonely Pup' (In a Christmas Shop) coincided with his Christmas pantomime and gained a silver disc. Bruce Eder: "Listening to this stuff, it's easy to understand why acts like The Beatles, not to mention ballsier, older rock & rollers from Liverpool like Tony Sheridan and the Big Three held performers like Adam Faith in such contempt - he could be lethally 'cute' on novelty songs like 'Lonely Pup (In a Christmas Shop'), a number four single over Christmas of 1960, and had no compunction about it." His debut album 'Adam' was released in 1960 to critical acclaim for the inventiveness of Barry's arrangements and Faith's performances.

Still only 20 and living with his parents, he bought a house in Hampton Court for £6000, where he moved with his family from their house in Acton. In January 1961, NME reported that Faith had been booked to headline the television show, Sunday Night at the London Palladium. Faith's third film, the comedy What a Whopper (Gilbert Gunn, 1961) with Sid James and Carole Lesley, opened to a terrible pasting from the press. On IMDb reviewer Peter Yates writes: "Almost makes Plan 9 seem workable”. Faith’s next film project, Mix Me a Person (Leslie Norman, 1962) starring Anne Baxter, received good reviews. This was a thriller in which his character (Harry Jukes) spent much time behind bars. However, he did sing a couple of songs en route; the title song and a version of 'La Bamba'.


British postcard by Real Photograph, no. V. 32. Photo: Valex, Blackpool.


German postcard by ISV, no. K 9.

Stardust

Adam Faith's teen pop became less popular in the mid-1960s with competition from The Beatles. In 1965 he made his only two appearances in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with 'It's Alright' (#31) and 'Talk About Love' (#97). He made six further albums and 35 singles, with a total of 24 UK chart entries. After a final single in 1968, he parted company with EMI and concentrated on acting in repertory theatre.

After several small parts, he was given a more substantial role in 'Night Must Fall', playing opposite Dame Sybil Thorndike. In autumn 1969 he took the lead in a touring production of 'Billy Liar'. Faith began in 1970 by appearing on the BBC's review of the sixties music scene, 'Pop Go The Sixties', performing 'What Do You Want' and 'Someone Else's Baby' live on the show's broadcast on BBC1, on 1 January 1970.

Later in the 1970s, he went into music management, managing Leo Sayer among others. Faith also co-produced Sayer's 1975 album, 'Another Year'>, and earlier, he had co-produced Roger Daltrey's album, 'Daltrey' (1973). He starred as the eponymous hero in the television series Budgie (1971-1972), about an ex-convict, but his career declined after a car accident in which he almost lost a leg.

He restarted with a role as the manipulative manager of rock star David Essex, in Stardust (Michael Apted, 1974). He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 1980 he starred with Roger Daltrey in McVicar (Tom Clegg, 1980), and appeared with Jodie Foster in Foxes (Adrian Lyne, 1980). He played the role of James Crane in the TV film Minder on the Orient Express (Francis Megahy, 1985), an episode of the series Minder. Faith appeared in another TV series, Love Hurts (1992-1994) starring with Zoë Wanamaker, the BBC series, The House That Jack Built (Nick Philips, 2002) and an episode of Murder in Mind (2003).

In the 1980s, Faith became a financial investment advisor, but he continued to perform. In 1986, he was hired as a financial journalist, by the Daily Mail and its sister paper, The Mail on Sunday. He was financially involved with television's Money Channel, but the channel proved unsuccessful and closed in 2001. Faith was declared bankrupt owing a reported £32 million. In 1985, he appeared on a BBC Radio 2 tribute program to James Dean, written and presented by Terence Pettigrew. You're Tearing Me Apart was aired on the 30th anniversary of Dean's death. Dean had been his idol, and the film Rebel Without A Cause had inspired the teenage Faith to become a singer and actor. Faith had had heart problems since 1986 when he had open heart surgery. He became ill after his stage performance in the touring production of 'Love and Marriage' at the Regent Theatre and died in a hospital in Stoke-on-Trent of a heart attack in 2003. Since 1967, Adam Faith was married to former dancer Jackie Irving and they had one daughter Katya Faith, a television producer.


Scene from Never Let Go (1960) with Peter Sellers and Adam Faith. Source: Paul Thompson (YouTube).

Sources: Bruce Eder (AllMusic), Geoff Leonard and Pete Walker (IMDb), Dave Laing (The Guardian), Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 27 February 2024.

Lizzi Waldmüller

Austrian actress and singer Lizzi Waldmüller (1904 – 1945) had her breakthrough to stardom through her role as Rachel in Bel Ami (1939, Willi Forst).


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, G 169, 1941-1944. Photo: Wesel / Berlin-Film.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3615/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Film-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.

I am the woman they're talking about
Lizzi Waldmüller was born in Knittelfeld, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) in 1904. As a child she travelled along villages with her father’s stage company. She had her official theatre debut in Innsbrück in the 1920’s. She found success in Graz, Vienna and eventually Germany. There she played in operettas, often with her husband Max Hansen at her side. In Berlin she had a hit with Paul Abraham’s operetta Viktoria und ihr Husar (Victoria and her husar). She became renowned through the Paul Lincke song 'Ich bin die Frau, von der man spricht' (I am the woman they're talking about) from Lincke’s operetta Frau Luna (Mistress Moon). Waldmüller made her film debut in the German comedy Die spanische Fliege/The Spanish Fly (1931, Georg Jacoby) with Betty Bird. In the early 1930’s, she played supporting roles next to such stars as Heinz Rühmann in Lachende Erben/Laughing Heirs (1933, Max Ophüls), and Hans Albers in Peer Gynt (1934, Fritz Wendhausen,) based on the play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen. It was one of the most expensive productions made by Bavaria Film and involved location shooting in Norway. She appeared with her husband Max Hansen in Skeppsbrutne Max/Rendezvous in Paradise (1936, Sigurd Wallén). They divorced in 1938.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6342/1, 1931-1932.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3418/2, 1941-1945. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Berlin / Ross. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.

Bel Ami
Lizzi Waldmüller had her breakthrough to stardom through her role as the maid Rachel in Bel Ami (1939, Willi Forst), based on Guy de Maupassant's novel. Willi Forst was both star and director of this witty, elegant satire, and it is one of his best works. The heart of the film is Theo Mackeben's catchy song ‘Du hast Glück bei den Frauen, Bel Ami (You have luck with the girls, Bel Ami) sung by Waldmüller surrounded by a bevy of cart wheeling can-can dancers. It lead to leading parts in glamorous entertainment films like Casanova heiratet/Casanova weds (1940, Viktor de Kowa) featuring Karl Schönböck, Traummusik/Dream Music (1940, Géza von Bolváry) with Marte Harell, and Frau Luna/Mistress Moon (1941, Theo Lingen). She played an operetta diva in Die Nacht in Venedig/The Night in Venice (1942, Paul Verhoeven) based on the operetta by Johann Strauss II. She had a good chemistry with Johannes Heesters in the operetta Es lebe die Liebe/Long Live Love (1944, Erich Engel). Her final film was the comedy Ein Mann wie Maximilian/A Man like Maximilian (1945, Hans Deppe) with Wolf Albach-Retty. In an air raid on Vienna, Lizzi Waldmüller died on 8 April 1945, a month before the end of World War II. She was only 40. Her memorial can be found in Friedhof Hadersdorf-Weidlingau, Vienna.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3345/1, 1941-1945. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.


Dutch postcard by M. B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam) , no. 1215. Photo: Godfried de Groot.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-Line), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Adriano Celentano

One of Italy's best-loved artists, Adriano Celentano (1938) has been equally successful in music and film. Since starting his career as a rock ‘roll singer in 1957, Celentano has released 40 albums. This superstar of Italian pop music is also active as a songwriter, comedian, TV host, film director and film star. In the 1970s and part of the 1980s, Celentano was the king of the Italian box office in low-budget films.


French postcard by Publistar/Editions Idoles, no. 763. Photo: Music Records.


French postcard by Editions Starama, no. S 807. Photo: CLAN Celentano Records.

Rock ‘n Roll Revolution

Adriano Celentano was born in 1938 in Milan, Italy. Until his 13th he lived at 14 Via Gluck, about which he later wrote the song 'Il ragazzo della via Gluck' (The Boy of Gluck Road). His parents were from the region of Puglia in Southern Italy and had moved north to work.

Adriano was heavily influenced by his idol Bill Hayley and the 1950s rock ‘n roll revolution. In 1956, he sang Elvis Presley-inspired songs as a member of the Rock Boys.

His first public success was associated with his participation in the first Italian rock 'n' roll festival in his native Milan in 1957. The song 'Ciao Ti Dirò' became an immediate hit. His 1959 song 'Il Tuo Bacio è Come Un Rock' topped the Italian hit-parade.

He also became known as the most famous dancer of the hula hoop fad. In 1961 he participated for the first time in the San Remo festival, the biggest annual showcase for Italian pop music. His song 'Ventiquattromila Baci' (24,000 Kisses) won only a second prize but later sold a million copies and topped the Italian charts. Such a disparity caused controversy, and the San Remo festival even became subject to a Parliamentary hearing.

That same year Celentano founded his own record label, Clan Celentano, in order to have complete artistic control over his music. 'Stai Lontana Da Me', released in 1962, was the first record by the Clan.


Dutch postcard by N.V. Dureco, Amsterdam/Jolly hi-fi records. Publicity card for the records Impazzivo per te and Fitagora. On the backside, Adriano Celentano is called 'the Italian Elvis Presley'.


Yugoslavian postcard by Cik Razglednica.


Italian postcard by E.N.P., Roma. Design by F. Picchioni.

Fellini

In between his hit records, Adriano Celentano appeared in such Rock 'n Roll-films as Don’t Knock the Rock/I Frenetici (Fred F. Sears, 1956-1959), Go, Johnny, Go!/Dai, Johnny, Dai! (Paul Landres, 1959-1962), I Ragazzi del Jukebox/The Jukebox Kids (Lucio Fulci, 1959) with Elke Sommer, Urlatori alla sbarra/Howlers of the Dock (Lucio Fulci, 1960) with Mina and Chet Baker.

Director Federico Fellini invited him to make a brief appearance as a Rock 'n' Roll singer in his classic La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960) starring Marcello Mastroianni. In 1963, during the shooting of Il Monaco Di Monza/The Monk of Monza (Sergio Corbucci, 1963), he met his future wife, actress Claudia Mori.

His subsequent screen appearances included roles in such films as Un Strano Tipo/A Strange Type (Lucio Fulci, 1963), Super rapina a Milano/Robbery Roman Style (Adriano Celentano, 1964), the drama Bianco, rosso e.../The Sin (Alberto Lattuada, 1972) with Sophia Loren, Rugantino (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1973), and Le cinque giornate/The Five Days (Dario Argento, 1973) with Marilù Tolo. Critics point to Serafino (Pietro Germi, 1968) as his best performance as an actor.

Celentano decided to concentrate on his film career and left music for nearly two decades. He made as a director, actor and producer Yuppi Du (1974) with Claudia Mori and Charlotte Rampling. IMDb reviewer Max Cinefilo calls it a “wacky musical and socially relevant drama - all in one entertaining package”. The original soundtrack, also composed by Celentano, went to #1 on the Italian charts as did the title song. The next ten years were the most successful of his film career. He went on to direct such films as Geppo Il Folle/Geppo the Fool (1978). He also acted in other director’s films like Bluff storia di truffe e di imbroglioni/Bluff, A Story of Deceit and Intrigue (Sergio Corbucci, 1976) with Anthony Quinn and Capucine, and L'altra metà del cielo/The Other Half of Heaven (Franco Rossi, 1977) with Monica Vitti.

Both Il Bisbetico Domato/The Taming of the Scoundrel (Franco Castellano, Giuseppe Moccia, 1980) and Innamorato Pazzo/Madly in Love (Franco Castellano, Giuseppe Moccia, 1981), in which he co-starred with the beautiful Ornella Muti, became megahits in Italy. Indeed in the 1970s and part of the 1980s, Celentano was the king of the Italian box office in low-budget films. However, his subsequent comedies were increasingly formulaic; they relied too heavily on the presence of beautiful actresses like Eleonora Giorgi or Carole Bouquet, and Celentano's acting verged on self-conscious mugging.


Italian postcard. Photo: CLAN.


Claudia Mori. German postcard by Krüger, nr. 902/342. Photo: Gérard Decaux.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

The Second Coming of Christ

In 1985 Adriano Celentano wrote, directed, scored and starred in the film Joan Lui - ma un giorno nel paese arrivo io di lunedì/Joan Him – But One Day In the Country I Will Arrive On A Monday. This was his most ambitious project, an allegorical fable about the Second Coming of Christ. The film was dismissed by critics as a self-indulgent big-budget musical extravaganza, and it also flopped commercially.

The singer lost his interest in the cinema. His last film would be Jackpot (Mario Orfini, 1992) with Carroll Baker and Christopher Lee. He started to work as a host on Italian television shows. His first long-term experience with television came in late 1987 when he agreed to host the weekly variety show Fantastico. He proved to be very successful as a TV host, as nobody could remain indifferent to his witty and provocative speeches.

On the wave of this success, he released the album 'La Pubblica Ottusità' (The Public Stupidity), which went to # 1 in Italy. The same year he wrote the book 'Il Profeta e i Farisei' (The Prophet and the Pharisees) based on his experiences on television. In 1991 he released the album 'Il Re Degli Ignoranti', as well as a book by the same title. In 1992 Celentano launched a new TV show, Svalutation, that became famous for its unpredictability and improvisation. His controversial TV show Rockpolitik (2005), on which he criticised Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for undermining the freedom of the press, drew an average audience of 46%.

Since starting his career as a singer in 1958, Celentano has released 40 albums: 29 studio albums, 3 live albums and 8 compilations. His debut album, 'Non Mi Dir' (Don't Tell Me), reached the top position of Italy's charts in 1965. His album 'Soli' (Both Alone) spent 58 weeks on the charts in 1978-1979. Celentano essayed virtually every genre and style, from rock 'n' roll to rap. His most popular songs are 'Stai lontana di me' (Stay Away From Me) (1962), 'Il ragazzo della via Gluck' (1966) - which went on to be translated and re-recorded in 18 languages, 'Azzurro' (Blue) (1968) - Italy's secret national anthem with lyrics by Paolo Conte, 'Sotto le lenzuola' (Under the Sheets) (1971), 'Er più' (The Most) (1971), 'Prisencolinensinainciusol' (1972) and 'Ti avrò' (I Will Have You) (1978).

In 1998 Celentano’s comeback album 'Mina + Celentano' hit the shelves. All of his subsequent releases sold well. To date, the singer sold 150 million records. Since 1968 Adriano Celentano is married to Claudia Mori. They are the parents of Rosita Celentano, Rosalinda Celentano - most notable to worldwide audiences for playing Satan in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004), and Giacomo Celentano. Adriano and Claudia live in Galbiate, Italy.


Adriano Celentano performs Ready Teddy in La Dolce Vita (1960). Source: Maskir (YouTube)


Adriano Celentano sings Impazzivo Per Te (1962) in Dai, Johnny, Dai!, the Italianised version of Go, Johnny, Go! (Paul Landres, 1959). Source: Zincocarbone (YouTube).

Sources: Yuri German (AllMovie), PoemHunter.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 12 September 2023.