European Film Star Postcards

Elga Andersen

2012-02-01T13:01:00.023+01:00

Slender, blonde German actress Elga Andersen (1935) starred in international films of the 1950’s and 1960’s. She was also a popular recording artist during the 1960’s, known for singing the title song for The Guns of Navarrone (1961). Later she became a producer too.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/91. Photo: Sam Lévin.

French postcard by St. Anne, Marseille. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Bohemian Life
Elga Andersen was born Elga Hymen in Dortmund, Germany in 1935. She lost her father during WW II. First she hoped to become a dancer but then studied French and English. She went to Paris in 1953 to become an interpreter. In France she led a bohemian life, met artists and posed for fashion shoots. She made her film debut when she was discovered by director André Hunebelle. She appeared in Les Collégiennes/The Twilight Girls (1957, André Hunebelle) as Elga Hymen. The following year she appeared in Bonjour tristesse (1958, Otto Preminger) and the classic thriller Ascenseur pour l'échafaud/Elevator to the Scaffold (1958, Louis Malle). She also appeared in German productions like Ist Mama nicht fabelhaft?/Isn't Mama Fabulous? (1958, Peter Beauvais) and So ein Millionär hat's schwer/Such a Millionaire has Tough Times (1958, Géza von Cziffra) starring Peter Alexander. Her first leading role was in the French-Brazilian adventure Os bandeirantes/The Pioneers (1960, Marcel Camus). Elga took singing lessons and was the performer of the title song of The Guns of Navarrone (1961). Gilbert Bécaud wrote especially for her Et maintenant, with words by Pierre Delanoë. She married Paris architect Christian Girard.

German postcard by Krüger, nr. 902/35. Publicity card for Philips to promote the single Flüstertango/Heut' dreh'n wir mal ein Ding, Marcel (1963, no. 373 095 PF).

Listen to Flüstertango (1963). Source: 45Vault (YouTube).

Psychedelic Sixties Extravaganza
Elga Andersen appeared as a seductive beauty in many European films of the 1960’s. Among them were the crime comedy Le Monocle Noir/The Black Monocle (1961, Georges Lautner), the sequel L'oeil du monocle/The Eye of the Monocle (1962, Georges Lautner), the comic thrillers L'empire de la nuit/The Empire of Night (1962, Pierre Grimblat) and A Toi de Faire Mignonne/Your Turn, Darling (1963, Bernard Borderie) both opposite Eddie Constantine, the comedy DM-Killer (1965, Rolf Thiele) with Curd Jürgens, the spaghetti-western Starblack (1966, Giovanni Grimaldi), the psychedelic sixties extravaganza La battaglia dei mods/The Battle of the Mods (1966, Franco Montemurro), the adventure Le Capitaine Singrid/Captain Singrid (1967, Jean Leduc), Sex Power (1970, Henry Charpin) with Jane Birkin, and the excellent comedy Detenuto in attesa di giudizio/Why? (1971, Nanni Loy). She worked in a few Hollywood features too, credited as Helga Anderson, including A Global Affair (1964, Jack Arnold) opposite Bob Hope. She is best known for portraying Steve McQueen's love interest in the racing epic Le Mans (1971, Lee H. Katzin). Her last film was Le Serpent/The Serpent (1973, Henri Verneuil) starring Yul Brynner and Henry Fonda, and on TV she was last seen in the Sci-Fi series Aux frontières du possible/At the edge of the Possible (1971-1974). When promoting Le Mans for Cinema Center Films she had met American producer and millionaire Peter R. Gimbel who was promoting Blue Water, White Death for the same firm. In 1981 Gimbel and Andersen tried to locate and salvage the bank safe of the sunken liner Andrea Doria, and she produced for TV the documentary Andrea Doria: The Final Chapter (1981) about this project that made many headlines. Gimbel and Andersen had married in 1978 and the couple stayed together till his death in 1987. Elga Andersen died of cancer in 1994, in New York, USA. She was only fifty-nine.

French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 323. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Clip from Le Mans (1971), with Steve McQueen and Elga Andersen. Music by Michel Legrand. Source: Pablollajta (YouTube).

Sources: Sandra Brennan (Rovi), Ray Young (Flickhead), IMDb, and Wikipedia.

Desdemona Mazza

2012-01-31T23:01:00.020+01:00

Italian actress Desdemona Mazza (1901 - ?) appeared in Italian and French silent films.She worked with such directors as Louis Mercanton, Julien Duvivier and Marcel L’Herbier.

French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 489. Sent by mail in 1928. Photo: Henry.

Gypsy Passion
Desdemona Mazza was born in Castel San Pietro, Italy in 1901. One of her first films was the Caesar Film production Tre milioni di dote/Three million gift (1920, Camillo De Riso), which was released in two episodes. That same year she starred in La naufraga della vita/The shipwrecks of life (1920, Eugenio Perego). That year she also appeared in the French production L'appel du sang/The Call of the Blood (1921, Louis Mercanton) with Gabriel de Gavrone. The film was shot in Rome, but this proved to be an entry to the French cinema for her. Director Louis Mercanton gave her the lead role in Miarka, la fille à l'ourse/Gypsy Passion (1921, Louis Mercanton) opposite the British matinee idol Ivor Novello. Janiss Garza at Rovi reviews: “This romantic melodrama, directed by Louis Mercanton, was not as technically advanced as American made films and had to be edited for U.S. consumption, but it had several strong points - it was filmed on location at a real French chateau, and its star, Madame Rejane, was a contemporary of Sarah Bernhardt, and one of the most famous European actresses of her generation. This picture, in fact, was Rejane's last screen appearance - she died shortly after completing her role.” Rejane played the grandmother of gypsy Miarka (Desdemona Mazza).

Huguette Duflos. French postcard.

Illegitimate Child
Desdemona Mazza appeared in a small part in the popular serial Les mystères de Paris/Mysteries of Paris (1922, Charles Burguet) with Huguette Duflos. After an interval, she starred in Julien Duvivier’s drama Coeurs farouches/Wild hearts (1924, Julien Duvivier) with Gaston Jacquet, and the comedy drama Credo ou la tragédie de Lourdes/Creed or the tragedy of Lourdes (1924, Julien Duvivier) with Henry Krauss. Then she appeared in the German production Liebesbriefe der Baronin von S.../ Love letters of Baroness von S... (1924, Henrik Galeen) starring Mia May, which was filmed in Italy. After another interval in her career she played opposite Charles Vanel in Martyre/Martyrdom (1927, Charles Burguet). It was followed by small parts in Madame Récamier/Mrs. Récamier (1928, Tony Lekain, Gaston Ravel) starring Marie Bell, the romantic comedy Vénus (1929, Louis Mercanton) starring Constance Talmadge, and a leading role in La petite soeur des pauvres/Sister of Mercy (1929, George Pallu). In 1930 she made her first sound film, L'enfant de l'amour/Illegitimate Child (1930, Marcel L’Herbier) starring Jaque Catelain. Her role was only a bit part. The next year she played a supporting part in Olive passager clandestine/Olive stowaway (1931, Maurice de Canonge) with Marcel Dalio. It was to be the last film of Desdemona Mazza. We could not find more information about her at the internet.

Jaque Catelain. French postcard by Cinémagazine, nr. 179.

Source: Janiss Garza (Rovi) and IMDb.

Imre Ráday

2012-01-31T13:01:00.055+01:00

Hungarian actor Imre Ráday (1905 - 1983) started his film career as a handsome jeune premier in the European cinema of the silent era. During more than five decades he appeared in over fifty Hungarian films and TV films and was one of the most famous actors of his country. He also worked as a theatre director, university professor and radio show host.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5049. Photo: Atelier Hanni Schwarz.

Trouble-prone Patsy
Imre Ráday was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary) in 1905. He was sometimes credited as Rádai Imre. Originally he wanted to be a painter. After graduating high school he attended the College of Applied Arts. Then he enrolled at the Rózsahegyi Kálmán drama school, which in 1923 was conducted. His film debut was the silent Csárdáskirálynö (1927, Hanns Schwarz), the Hungarian version of Die Czardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (1927, Hanns Schwarz). In both films he co-starred with Liane Haid. In Germany he appeared in the following years in such UFA productions as the drama Am Rande der Welt/At the Edge of the World (1927, Karl Grune), the comedy Die Frau im Schrank/The Woman in the Wardrobe (1927, Rudolf Biebrach) and Der Kampf des Donald Westhof/The Trial of Donald Westhof (1928, Fritz Wendhausen). In this courtroom drama Ráday played a trouble-prone patsy who ends up being accused of murder. All he'd wanted to do was prevent the marriage of the heroine, played by Erna Morena, to a nasty moneylender, but things turned ugly when the villain ended up dead. At his trial, Westhof looks like a dead duck, but suddenly the hard-nosed prosecuting attorney breaks down and confesses that it was he, and not Daniel, who committed the crime. In his review Hal Erickson concludes: “Strange, strange stuff, made stranger by the implication that the ‘hero’ is a half-wit.” Others of his silent German films were Heut' spielt der Strauss/Strauss, the Waltz King (1928, Conrad Wiene) with Alfred Abel, Der Weg durch die Nacht/The Way Through the Night (1929, Robert Dinesen) with Käthe von Nagy, and Ein kleiner Vorschuß auf die Seligkeit/A Small Down Payment on Bliss (1929, Jaap Speyer) with Dina Gralla. With the arrival of the sound film his German film career halted. Ráday then returned to Budapest where the first golden period of Hungarian film making just started. During the 1930’s mainly entertaining comedies were made in Hungary. The handsome Ráday and other actors from those comedies would become legends of the Hungarian cinema. Csokolj Meg Edes/Kiss Me, Darling (1932, Bela Gaal) was Raday’s first Hungarian sound comedy. He starred opposite Marika Rökk, later a superstar of the UFA. It was only the third talking feature to be produced in Budapest. He appeared opposite Franciska Gaál in Peter (1934, Hermann Kosterlitz aka Henry Koster). During the 1930’s, Ráday appeared in nearly 20 of such light-hearted comedies. Two of them are now considered classics of the Hungarian cinema: A kölcsönkért kastély/The Borrowed Castle (1937, Ladislao Vajda) and A hölgy egy kissé bogaras/The Lady is a Little Crazy (1938, Ákos Ráthonyi). In A kölcsönkért kastély two couples want to get married, but because of financial and social difficulties they aren't able to. Then comes the great idea of lending a rich girl's mansion to a poor young man, so that they will seem just the opposite of what they are actually. Ráday played the poor but handsome man in love. Daniel Papp reviews on IMDb: “With many original jokes and superb acting, this comedy from Hungary is one of the best!” The following year Imre Ráday appeared in another successful romantic comedy, A hölgy egy kissé bogaras/The Lady is a Little Crazy (1938, Ákos Ráthonyi). These domestic success stories were accompanied by international, mostly German acclaim.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1907/1, 1927-1928. Photo: UFA.

Daring and Unique Rescue Operation
Imre Ráday was Jewish and when the Nazis entered Austria-Hungary in 1938 his film career stopped. Happily he survived the Second World War. In 1944-1945 he and some 2,500 other Jewish men, women and children were saved by a daring and unique rescue operation. Responsible for this rescue was Captain László Ocskay. As director of the Clothing Collection Labour Service Company, Ocskay was able to protect them from the German Nazis and the Hungarian Arrow Cross (Hungary's Nazi party) in the Abonyi Street Jewish School in Budapest. Ocskay was able to secure protection from the constant threat posed by the vicious Arrow Cross by using his contacts to arrange for armed SS officers to permanently stand guard outside the building. After the war László Ocskay’s incredible personal sacrifice was rarely acknowledged. In 2008 the documentary Ocskay László százados, az elfelejtett hös/Captain László Ocskay, the forgotten hero (2008, Gergely Fonyó) was made. The film was screened in the European Parliament building in Brussels and has been nominated for an award at the 39th Hungarian Film Festival. From 1950 till 1956 he worked as a teacher at the Theater and Film Academy. From 1957 till 1970 he was a member of the Attila József Theatre. Ráday was considered an excellent actor, but after the war he did not make a film for seven years. Then he appeared in Teljes gözzel (1951, Félix Máriássy), followed by supporting roles in comedies like Dollárpapa (1956, Viktor Gertler) and Puskák és galambok/Guns and Doves (1961, Márton Keleti). Though his film career would never become as successful as during the 1930’s, he was respected as one of the great Hungarian actors and regularly appeared in films during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Among his best films of this period are Falak/The Lost Generation (1968, András Kovács) and Déryné hol van?/Mrs. Dery Where Are You? (1975, Gyula Maár). The latter drama was entered into the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, where Mari Töröcsik won the award for Best Actress. His last feature film was the romantic drama Angi Vera (1979, Pál Gábor). Imre Ráday died in 1983 in Budapest. Ráday won in 1967 the prestigious Kazinczy Award. He was married three times: to Mici Erdélyi (1930 - 1937) (divorced), to Ferda, Erzsébet Magdolna (1941 - 1960) (her death) and to Erzsi Pápai (1961 - 1983) (his death). He and Ferda, Erzsébet Magdolna had two children. One of them is cinematographer Mihály Ráday.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1802/1, 1927-1928. Photo: UFA.

Sources: Hal Erickson (Rovi), Daniel Papp (IMDb), Hungarian Presence.ca, Wikipedia (hun), and IMDb.

Arnold Kent / Lido Manetti

2012-01-30T13:01:00.039+01:00

Italian actor Lido Manetti (1899 - 1928) had a prolific career as a young leading man in Italian silent cinema. He was brought to America and renamed Arnold Kent, but he died before living up to his promise.

'Foreign' postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3382/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount.

Male Love Interest
Lido Manetti was born in Florence, Italy in 1899 (according to all our sources, but this must be a mistake, looking at his film curriculum with his first leading film roles already in 1917). He studied civil engineering, but entered the theatre and then films subsequently to his schooling. His first Italian film was probably La principessa/The Princess (1917, Camillo De Riso) starring diva Leda Gys for Caesar Film. From then on Manetti would be the male love interest in many diva-like films such as Il processo Clemenceau/The Clemenceau Affair (1917, Alfredo De Antoni) and Malia/Liliana (1917, Alfredo De Antoni) both with Francesca Bertini, La passagera/The Passager (1917, Gero Zambuto) with Pina Menichelli, Addio giovinezza/Good-bye Youth (1918, Augusto Genina) with both Maria Jacobini and Helena Makowska, Femmina/Female (1918, Augusto Genina) with Italia Almirante Manzini, L’onestà del peccato/The Wife He Neglected (1918, Augusto Genina) with Maria Jacobini, Una donna funesta/A baleful woman (1919, Camillo De Riso) with Tilde Kassay, Il bacio di Dorina/The kiss of Dorina (1919, Giulio Antamoro) with Lina Millefleurs, La signora delle rose/The Lady of the Roses (1919, Diana Karenne) starring Karenne herself, La fiamma e il cenere/The flame and the ashes (1919, Giulio Antamoro) with again Karenne, etc. Memorable titles from the early 1920's were Amore rosso/Red Love (1921, Gennaro Righelli) and La preda/The prey (1921, Guglielmo Zorzi), both co-starring Maria Jacobini and Amleto Novelli, La statua di carne/The statue of meat (1921, Mario Almirante) with Italia Almirante Manzini, Il richiamo/The call (Righelli 1921) with Maria Jacobini, La madre folle/Through the Shadows (1923, Carmine Gallone) with Soava Gallone, La leggenda delle Dolomiti/The legend of the Dolomites (1920, Guglielmo Zorzi) and Povere bimbe/Poor girls (1924, Giovanni Pastrone) both with Linda Pini. The plot of La statua di carne looks a bit like Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and its literary predecessor Bruges-la-Morte by Georges Rodenbach. Well-to-do Paul has an affair with simple, innocent flowershop girl Mary until she dies of a weak heart. He meets Noemi, an eccentric femme fatale who is the spitting image of Mary, and who agrees to pose for him every day as Mary. Noemi falls in love with Paul, but cannot stand that he doesn’t love herself but only the defunct Mary. In contrast to Rodenbach, here the man doesn’t kill the lookalike, but he duels for her with her ex-lover. In the end he wins the duel but also admits his love for Noemi.

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano. Photo: Italia Almirante Manzini, Lido Manetti and Oreste Bilancia in the closing scene of La statua di carne/The statue of meat (1921, Mario Almirante).

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano. Photo: Italia Almirante Manzini and Lido Manetti in La chiromante/The Fortune Teller (1921, Mario Almirante).

Car Accident on a Hollywood Street
Lido Manetti also performed in strong man films such as Saetta, principe per un giorno/Saetta, Prince for a day (1924, Mario Camerini) starring Domenico Gambino alias Saetta, and Maciste contro lo sceicco/Maciste against the Sheikh (1926, Mario Camerini) starring Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste. It would be one his last Italian films. While he had a small part as Roman Guard in the epic Quo vadis? (1924, Gabriellino d’Annunzio, Georg Jacoby) starring Emil Jannings as Nero, Manetti had major parts in films such as Il focolare spento/The extinguished fire (1925, Augusto Genina) with Carmen Boni and La bocca chiusa/The Closed Mouth (1925, Guglielmo Zorzi) starring Maria Jacobini. In La bocca chiusa, Manetti plays a British duke who seduces a poor country girl (Jacobini). Her stepfather (Augusto Poggioli) sells her child to the duke, making her believe the child died. With the money he embellishes his house, but when the girl finds out, she goes mad, burns down the house and becomes a wanderer. Twenty years later, her son (Manetti again) lovingly takes her into his service, not knowing who she is. She recognizes a picture, though, and not wanting to destroy his happiness, she silently goes away.
At that time the Italian film production was in decline, and when Manetti was spotted by a Universal studio talent scout in 1925, he moved to Hollywood. He played a small part in The Love Thief (1926, John McDermott) starring Norman Kerry and Greta Nissen. After two more small roles in Universal productions, he signed a contract with Paramount. He was renamed with the less ethnic stage name Arnold Kent and got male leads or major supporting roles in films like The World at Her Feet (1927, Luther Reed) with Florence Vidor, The Woman on Trial (1927, Mauritz Stiller) with Pola Negri, Hula (1928, Victor Fleming) starring It-girl Clara Bow, and the adventure film Beau Sabreur (1928, John Waters) starring Gary Cooper. Handsome Kent appeared often in the fan magazines and the rising young star bought a La Salle standard seven passenger sedan. He was playing a prominent role in the adventure film The Four Feathers (1929, Merian C. Cooper, Lothar Mendes, Ernest B. Schoedsack), when one evening a car driven by a film extra struck him on a Hollywood street. Arnold Kent aka Lido Manetti died of the injuries from the road accident. He was replaced in the film and his scenes were reshot (probably with Theodore Von Eltz). He had been considered for a role in Mary Pickford’s Coquette (1929) at the time of his death. Actor Matt Moore later portrayed this role in a film that won Pickford an Oscar. The last film in which Arnold Kent is credited, was the part-talkie The Woman Disputed (1928, Henry King, Sam Taylor) with Norma Talmadge.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3382/1, 1928-1929. Sent by mail in the Netherlands in 1929. Photo: Paramount.

Sources: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Hans J. Wollstein (Rovi), WhistlingYpsy (TCM), TCM, Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.

Lissi Arna

2012-01-29T23:01:00.075+01:00

Lissi Arna (1900 - 1964) was a beautiful, exotic-looking German silent screen actress. She became a star opposite the popular action star Harry Piel, and had a brief Hollywood career. Usually she was cast as a femme fatale or a fallen woman.

Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5892. Photo: Mondial Film A.G.

Dark-skinned Exotic Beauty
Lissi Arna (or Lissy Arna) was born as Elisabeth Arndt in Berlin in 1904. She attended a trade school and then started to work for a house broker. Meanwhile she also appeared as an extra in silent shorts like Der Katzensteg/The Cat's Gang Plank (1915, Max Mack) before she was engaged by comedian Ottchen Mücke as partner for his series of short films, directed by Rudi Bach. The public liked her and she even got her own short, Lissys Flimmerkur/Lissy's Short Flicker (1919, Rudi Bach). Her first real feature film was Abenteuer einer Nacht/Night's Adventures (1923), directed and produced by action star Harry Piel. The next two years she lived with relatives in New York and her film career was interrupted. When she returned it was again Harry Piel who offered her the female lead in his film Abenteuer im Nachtexpress/Adventures in the Night Express (1925, Harry Piel). This film paved the way for a great career. The next years she played in dozens of silent crime films, comedies and farces. Das Frauenhaus von Rio/The Women House of Rio (1927, Hans Steinhoff) starring Vivian Gibson moulded her image as a dark-skinned exotic beauty definitely. She used her femme fatale charisma successfully in films like Die Elf Teufel/The Eleven Devils (1927, Zoltan Korda, Carl Boese) with Gustav Fröhlich, Schinderhannes/The Prince of Rogues (1928, Kurt (later: Curtis) Bernhardt) featuring Hans Stüwe, the British production The Physician (1928, Georg Jacoby) and as a proletarian prostitute in Jenseits der Straße/Beyond the Street (1929, Leo Mittler), which Ines Walk at Filmzeit.de mentions as her most memorable role.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3091/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Kiesel, Berlin.

Austrian postcard. Photo: Lux-Film.

The Newest European Import
In 1930 Lissi Arna went to Hollywood, together with director Wilhelm Dieterle (William Dieterle). Highly publicized as the newest European import, she was contracted by RKO and played William Boyd's German fiancée in the World War I melodrama Beyond Victory (1931, John S. Robertson). The film was an obvious attempt at duplicating the success of Universal's antiwar statement All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, Lewis Milestone) but fell far short of such lofty expectations and did little for her. Apparently her role was severely cut prior to release. In Hollywood she went on to play in several German-language versions of American pictures like Die Maske fällt/The Costume Falls (1930, William Dieterle) and Dämon des Meeres/Demon of the Sea (1930, Michael Curtiz). In 1931 she returned to Germany and achieved her last great successes with the Edgar Wallace adaptation Der Zinker/The Squeeker (1931, Martin Fric, Carl Lamac) with Karl Ludwig Diehl, and the mountain drama Berge in Flammen/Mountains on Fire (1931, Karl Hartl, Luis Trenker). The arrival of sound film hurt her career. She moved over to work in the theatres of Berlin. Her further film works were confined to supporting roles in films like Zu neuen Ufern/To New Shores (1937, Douglas Sirk) starring Zarah Leander. Lissi married the physician Dr. Kleiber in 1939 and retired completely from the film business. She lived with her husband in Venezuela till his death in the late 1950’s. She returned to Germany, and in 1962 she played for the last time in a film, Das Leben beginnt um acht/Life Starts at Eight (1962, Michael Kehlmann) with O.E. Hasse. In 1964 Lissi Arna died of cancer in her hometown, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5457/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Vitaphone.

Sources: Ines Walk (Filmzeit.de), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Hans J. Wollstein (Rovi), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Hesperia

2012-01-29T13:01:00.076+01:00

Hesperia (1885 - 1959), was one of the Italian divas of the silent screen. She often worked with director Baldassarre Negroni, who later became her husband.

Romanian postcard by Edition S.A.R.P.I.C., Bucarest, no. 52.

Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 465.

Tableaux Vivants
Hesperia was born as Olga Mambelli in 1885 in Bertinora, Italy. Her niece was film actress Pauline Polaire, who also appeared in Italian silent films and was famous for her 13 inch corsetted waist. Hesperia started her career as a child actor at the Teatro Comunale, the local theater in Meldola in the Italian Romagna, where she grew up. Between 1910 and 1912 she had her breakthrough as vaudeville artist with tableaux vivants of sculptures and paintings, performing all around Italy. Her parents considered her hence a dishonored woman and closed the door to her. Baron Fassini of the Roman Cines company saw a future star in this quite matronlike woman. He put her into films, first in two- and three-reelers, often paired with Ignazio Lupi. Among these early films were silent shorts like Quando la donna vuole.../When the woman wants ... (1912), Altruismo/Altruism (1912), and La madre/The Mother (1913) with Leda Gys. Hesperia proved to be as well a good dramatic actress as a comedienne.

Italian postcard by Tiber Film, Roma, no. 5105. Photo: IPA CT Duplex.
Hesperia and Ida Carloni Talli in L'aigrette (1917, Baldassarre Negroni), misspelled by IMDb as L'aiglette. This was an adapation of play by Dario Niccodemi. The countess of Saint-Servant (Ida Carolini Talli) has raised her son Enrico (Tullio Carminati) to be proud of his name and title, and to cherish honour and virtue, symbolised by the feather of her aigrette. In reality the countess is hunted by creditors, the castle is falling apart. Enrico falls in love with Susanne Leblanc (Hesperia), wife of banker, and in return she loads him with money in order to restore the castle. Her husband (André Habay) is not so happy with this kind of charity...

Italian postcard by Tiber Fim, Roma, no. 5071. Photo: IPA CT Duplex.
Saccard (Claudio Nicola) surprises Renée (Hesperia) and Max (Alberto Collo) in La cuccagna (1917, Baldassarre Negroni). The film was an adaptation of Emile Zola's La curée. Hesperia is Renata/Renée, second wife of the cunning and wealthy Saccard, who married young Renata for her money. She has an affair with Saccard's son Max, played by Collo. In the end money triumphs instead of love, just as in Zola's novel. On this postcard the father (left) looks not much older than the son (right).

Incontrollable Rages
In 1914, Hesperia switched to Milano-Films, with her future husband, film director Baldassarre Negroni. He had already been directing her at Cines. For a while he was also the artistic director at Milano. Among their films for Milano were L'ultima battaglia/The Last Battle (1914, Baldassarre Negroni) with Livio Pavanelli, Vizio atavico/Atavistic Vice (1914, Baldassarre Negroni) starring Mercedes Brignone, and Nel nido straniero/Stranger in the nest (1914, Baldassarre Negroni). In 1915, when Italy joined the Allies in the First World War and Milano had to stop producing, Negroni took Hesperia with him to the Tiber Film company in Rome, where Francesca Bertini just had left for the Caesar company. A strong competition between the two leading ladies started, exploiting both the typical diva repertory of boulevard drama, leading to simultaneous adaptations of Alexandre Dumas fils' La dame aux camélias in 1915. While Bertini remained more solemn, Hesperia could get into incontrollable rages but also wildly merry moods. The following years, Hesperia appeared at Tiber-Film in such films as Marcella (1915, Baldassarre Negroni) based on a play by Victorien Sardou, La morsa/The Vice (1916, Emilio Ghione) and La donna di cuori/The queen of hearts (1917, Baldassarre Negroni) wih Tullio Carminati. Between 1912 and 1923, the year she married count Negroni and withdrew from film business, Hesperia made some 70 films, mostly impeccable and often popular bourgeois dramas and comedies. Even later films such as Il figlio di Madame Sans-Gêne/The son of Madame Sans-Gêne (1921, Baldassarre Negroni) with her niece Pauline Polaire knew to draw crowds in Italy. In 1938, the by now countess Olga Negroni had a small reappearance on Italian screens in the film Orgoglio/Pride, (1938, Marco Elter) starring Fosco Giachetti and hot at the Cinecittà film studios. In 1959, Hesperia passed away in Rome, Italy. She was 78.

Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, nr. 167.
The postcard shows again Hesperia and Alberto Collo in La cuccagna (1917, Baldassarre Negroni). In the end, money triumphs instead of love, just as in Emile Zola's novel, La curée. That's why some Italian critics thought the title La cuccagna (Abundance) too cheerful, while La curée means The Loot.

Italian postcard, sent in 1922 from Cava dei Tirreni (Salerno).

Source: Vittorio Martinelli, Le dive del silenzio; Tonino Simoncelli, Hesperia, stella del varietà e diva del muto, and IMDb.

Mireille Darc

2012-01-28T13:01:00.058+01:00

French actress Mireille Darc (1938) was for a long time the costar and companion of Alain Delon. She usually played comedic roles or the ‘cool blonde’ in thrillers, but she also appeared as the lead character in Jean-Luc Godard's disturbing classic Week End.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/331. Photo: Gérard Decaux.

Jean-Luc Godard
Mireille Darc was born Mireille Aigroz in Toulon, France in 1938. Her Swiss father was a gardener and her French mother worked in a grocery shop. At fourteen, she decided to go to the Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Toulon (Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Toulon), and in 1959 she went to Paris, for she intended to become a member of the Comédie Française. But the energetic and adventurous Darc worked first as a mannequin and a television performer. She was spotted for TV by director Claude Barma and debuted in his La Grande Brétèche/Great Bretèche (1960). Her first leading TV role came the following year with Hauteclaire (1961, Jean Prat). She decided to become a film actress, and she made her film debut in a small role alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo in the ‘policier’ Les Distractions/Trapped by Fear (1960, Jacques Dupont). In the comedy Pouic-Pouic (1963, Jean Girault) she had a bigger part as Louis de Funès’ daughter. Opposite Jean Gabin, she played his former-maid-turned-hooker in Monsieur (1964, Jean-Paul Le Chanois) and she starred as a spy opposite Lino Ventura in the action comedy Les Barbouzes/The Great Spy Chase (1964, Georges Lautner). In 1964, she also made her stage debut opposite Philippe Noiret and Bernard Blier in the play Photo finish, written by Peter Ustinov. She also recorded a few EP’s. Darc had her breakthrough with the psychological thriller Galia (1965, Georges Lautner). Together with George Lautner she would make a total of thirteen films, including the terrific film noir parody Ne nous fâchons pas/Let's Not Get Angry (1966, Georges Lautner). Her most famous film of the 1960’s is Jean-Luc Godard’s classic comedy-drama Week End (1967). It tells the story of a young couple (Darc and Jean Yanne), who set out to visit their parents in the countryside one week-end, and find themselves falling upon an incredible traffic jam and a subsequent nightmarish odyssey with car crashes, anarchy and cannibalism. At Films de France, James Travers calls Week End “a deeply disturbing picture of a world that is in the process of disintegration as the forces of capitalism and socialist revolution lock horns and tear the established order apart. The film is best remembered for its ten minute long sequence in which the camera tracks slowly along a seemingly interminable traffic jam in a country lane, whose peace is ruined by the unending blare of irate klaxons - a chilling visual metaphor for where our society may be heading.” It was through Mireille Darc’s insistence that she would make a film with Jean-Luc Godard that the director was able to secure the comparatively large budget for Week-End. Darc was under contract with a film production company and refused to make another film until she had appeared in a film directed by Godard. As a result, Week End is the best known and most commercially successful of Godard’s political films, and some regard it as one of the most important films of the 1960's.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/197. Photo: Gérard Decaux.

Alain Delon
In 1968, Mireille Darc met and fell in love with Alain Delon on the set of Jeff (1969, Jean Herman). Their love affair would last for fifteen years. (However, some sources claim they separated in 1978). After Jeff, they appeared together in several more films: Borsalino (1970, Jacques Deray), Madly/The Love Mates (1970, Roger Kahane), Il était une fois un flic/There Was Once a Cop (1971, Georges Lautner), Les seins de glace/Icy Breasts (1974, Georges Lautner), Borsalino and Co. (1974, Jacques Deray), L'Homme pressé/The Hurried Man (1977, Edouard Molinaro), Mort d'un pourri/Death of a Corrupt Man (1977, Georges Lautner), Pour la peau d'un flic/For a Cop's Hide (1981, Alain Delon) and the television series Frank Riva (2003-2004). Mireille Darc was most successful with her roles in comedies like the international hit Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire/Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe (1972, Yves Robert) starring Pierre Richard . She also co-starred as Eichard's girlfriend in the sequel, Le Retour du grand blond/The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1974, Yves Robert). A sensation was her ultra-sexy dress in these amiable and enjoyable spy comedies. In the early 1970’s Darc was very popular film star and sex symbol in France, but the following decade was a troublesome period for her. In 1980, she had an open-heart operation and the painful experience lead her to write a documentary film. She switched from acting to directing, choosing subjects such as organ transplants, prostitution, and prisons for women. In 1983 she was seriously injured when the car in which she was riding collided with a truck. She sustained many injuries from the accident and her acting career was interrupted. She quit film acting, to focus on photography and her stage work. For television she directed the moderately successful TV film La Barbare/The Savage (1989, Mireille Darc) with Murray Head. During the 1990’s she appeared in several popular TV series including Les coeurs brûlés/Burnt Hearts (1992-1994, Jean Sagols). In 2005 she published her memoires, Tant que battra mon coeur/Until My Heart is Beating, and that same year, Jacques Chirac awarded her the Légion d'honneur. For the first time, she appeared on stage opposite Alain Delon in Sur la route de Madison/The Bridges of Madison County (2007), directed by Anne Bourgeois. The play is an adaptation of the novel by Robert James Waller and the film by Clint Eastwood. Mireille Darc has been married twice: first to journalist and writer Pierre Barret (1983-1988 - his death) and since 2002 to architect Pascal Desprez. She is the godmother of author Romain Sardou. Darc most recently screen appearance was in the TV film Le grand restaurant II (2011, Gérard Pullicino).

Ytailer for Pouic-Pouic (1963). Source: Joebodnar (YouTube).

Mireille Darc sings Helicopter, written by Serge Gainsbourg. Source: Johnxxx2000 (YouTube).

Sources: Mireille Darc (Tant que battra ma cœur) (French), James Travers (Films de France), Sandra Brennan (Rovi), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Aimé Clariond

2012-01-27T23:01:00.011+01:00

French theatre and film actor and theatre director Aimé Clariond (1894 - 1959) was a 'sociétaire' at the Comédie-Française for more than two decades and he also had a prolific career in the French cinema. He was very successful in the adventure film Le Capitan (1946).

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1229. Photo: Ancrenaz/C.F.C.C. Aimé Clariond as Concini in Le Capitan (1946, Robert Vernay).

Great Power in His Performance
Aimé Clariond’s career was a-typical in the sense that he never entered the Conservatoire despite three attempts. He was born as Aimée Marius Clariond in Périgueux in the Dordogne in 1894. His parents were both actors and infected him with the stage virus. At the age of two years, he already had a part in the play Le Bossu. Officially he started his stage career in 1921 at the Théâtre de l'Odéon. There he interpreted the classics, before joining in 1926 the troupe of André Antoine and afterwards that of Lugné-Poë at the Théâtre de l'Œuvre. In 1936 he was engaged as ‘pensionnaire’ at the Comédie-Française when the government of the Front populaire apppointed Édouard Bourdet as general administrator. In 1937, one year after his engagement, he was appointed ‘sociétaire’ and remained at the Comédie-Française until his death in 1959. In the mid-1930's he met actress Renée Simonot, pensionnaire of the Théâtre de l'Odéon, with whom he had a daughter in 1937, but the couple separated soon after. (In her second marriage Simonot would become the mother of Francoise Dorléac and Catherine Deneuve). Clariond was an actor with a great power in his performance, a slightly veiled voice, thus giving life to both characters little known to the big audiences as well as to characters from the classic repertory, such as Alceste in The Misanthropist by Molière, Othello in Shakespeare’s play, Marc Anthony in André Gide’s adaptation Antoine et Cléopâtre, directed by Jean-Louis Barrault, or Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée (co-acting with Maria Casarès). He was also memorable in modern repertory such as Le Soulier de satin by Paul Claudel, Asmodée and Les Mal-Aimés by François Mauriac,and Port-Royal by Montherlant (alternating the lead with his comrade Jean Debucourt). Between 1946 and 1950 he also directed various plays, mainly at the Théâtre des Celestins.

Claude Génia. French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1225. Photo: Ancrenaz/C.F.C.C. Claude Génia played Gisèle d'Angoulême in Le Capitan (1946).

Huguette Duflos. French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1223. Photo: Ancrenaz/C.F.C.C. Huguette Duflos played Maria de Medici in Le Capitan (1946).

Le Capitan
Parallel to his stage career, Aimé Clariond developed a very prolific career in the French cinema. He made his debut as Ivan Karamazoff in Les Frères Karamazoff/The Brothers Karamazov (1931, Fyodor Otsep) with Anna Sten. Soon he was discovered for his refined performances and his perfect diction. At first he played mainly in comedies, later on he specialised in historical dramas. He played Niccolò Machiavelli in the box office hit Lucrèce Borgia/Lucrezia Borgia (1935, Abel Gance) featuring Edwige Feuillère. Then followed parts in La route impériale/The Imperial Road (1935, Marcel L’Herbier), La mensonge de Nina Petrovna/The Lie of Nina Petrovna (1937, Victor Tourjansky) starring Isa Miranda, La Marseillaise/The Marseillaise (1938, Jean Renoir), Entente cordiale/Warm Agreement (1939, Marcel L’Herbier) and De Mayerling à Sarajevo/From Mayerling to Sarajevo (1940, Max Ophüls) with Edwige Feuillère. During the war years Clariond was highly active and starred in such films as Mam’zelle Bonaparte (1942, Maurice Tourneur) and Le Comte de Monte Christo/The Count of Monte Cristo (1942, Robert Vernay). He smoothly continued his career after the liberation. He was very successful in the adventure film Le Capitan/The Captain (1946, Robert Vernay) and would later appear in other films by Robert Vernay, such as Fantômas contre Fantômas/Fantomas Against Fantomas (1949, Robert Vernay). He also worked three times with Sacha Guitry: Si Versailles m’était conté/Affairs in Versailles (1953, Sacha Guitry), Napoléon (1954, Sacha Guitry) and Si Paris nous était conté/If Paris Were Told to Us (1955, Sacha Guitry). His last part was in Une fille pour l’été/A Lover for the Summer (1960, Edouard Molinaro) starring Pascale Petit, which was released after Clariond’s death. Aimé Clariond died on 31 December 1959 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, according to Wikipedia and CinéArtistes. IMDb writes that he died a day later on 1 January 1960.

Sophie Desmarets. French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1239. Photo: Ancrenaz. Publicity still for Le capitan (1946, Robert Vernay).

Sources: Simon Benattar-Bourgeay (CinéArtistes) (French),
Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Štefica Vidačić / Steffie Vida

2012-01-27T13:01:00.027+01:00

Yugoslavian beauty Štefica Vidačić (1905 - ?) became Miss Europe 1927. This triumph led to a brief career in the German silent cinema under the stage name Steffie Vida. It made her an idol in Croatia, but her marriage to a rich German lead to desolate reactions of her male fans in Zagreb.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3563/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Ortega, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3563/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Ortega, Berlin.

Miss Yugoslavia 1926
Steffie Vida was born as Štefica Vidačić in Slavonska Pozega, Austro-Hungary (now Hrvatska, Croatia) in 1905. She started her career as a waitress in Zagreb. In 1926, at the third Miss Yugoslavia contest in the Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb, the young and pretty waitress was chosen as Miss Yugoslavia 1926. (The first Miss Yugoslavia had been Ida Kravanja in 1926. She later became known as the film star Ita Rina). The next year Vidačić travelled to Berlin, where out of 15 European candidates she was chosen Miss Europe 1927. It made her a local star. The Yugoslavian papers followed all her steps, what she wore, how she had her hair, and the Secessionist artist Robert Auer painted her nude portrait. She was invited to parties in Budapest, Vienna and Berlin. Berlin was at the time the film capital of Europe and the Miss Europe contest had been organised by the Fanamet (a European division of Paramount). The studio offered the girl with the beautiful green eyes and curly hair a well-paid contract, but first she had to learn how to play tennis, how to box (!) and how to sail.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3756/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Kiesel, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3017/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Fanamet. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Yugoslavian postcard by Caklovic, Zagreb. Photo: Reputin, Zagreb.

A Curiosity
Under the more German sounding stage name Steffie Vida, she made her film debut in the silent Czech-German comedy Evas Töchter/Daughters of Eve (1928, Karl Lamac) starring Anny Ondra. Vida then had a small part in the German film Ritter der Nacht/Knights of the Night (1928, Max Reichmann) with La Jana. That year she also appeared in a small role in the Oriental adventure Geheimnisse des Orients/Secrets of the Orient (1928, Alexandre Volkoff) starring Nicolas Koline and Iván Petrovich. The following year followed two more films: Liebe im Schnee/Love in the Snow (1929, Max Obal, Rudolf Walther-Fein) with Livio Pavanelli and Maria Paudler, and the Harry Piel film Die Mitternachts-Taxe/Midnight Taxi (1929, Harry Piel). In both films Steffie Vida only played small supporting parts. Vida proved to be more a curiosity than an actress. She lacked the talent and the ambition to really make it in the film industry. The arrival of the sound film made an end to her brief film career and, reportedly, she married a rich German. In Zagreb many of her male admirers were desolate. One of her fans, police officer Josip Tiljak, even committed suicide and his suicide letter was published in a paper. This story was retold in the documentary Gabriel (2010, Vlatka Vorkapic). There is also an urban legend that another fan, called Miskoc, was so outraged that he began to drink and lost his marbles. He ended as one of the most famous beggars in Zagreb. A street was even named after him, Miškecov prolaz. If Štefica Vidačić is still alive is not known.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3017/3, 1928-1929. Photo: Fanamet.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1895/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3017/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Fanamet.

Sources: Petra Hofbauer (Zagrebdox), Patricia Kiš & Mark Cigoj (Jutarnji.hr) (Croatian), The Flapper Girl (Croatian), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Claude Génia

2012-01-26T23:01:00.036+01:00

Claude Génia (1913 - 1979) was a French film and stage actress of Russian origin. She was also a theatre manager. As a film actress her glory years were in the 1940's, with such films as Le Capitan (1946, Robert Vernay).

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 10. Photo Pathé-Cinéma.

Le Capitan
Claude Génia was born as Claude Génia Aranovitch in Vetlouga (Russia) in 1913. She made her debut as film actress in the part of Gisèle next to Edwige Feuillère in the comedy L'honorable Catherine/The Honorable Catherine (1943, Marcel L'Herbier), about a woman who blackmails others among whom Gisèle and Jack (Raymond Rouleau). She became a star in the part of Delphine de Nucingen, Balzac’s heroin, in the adaptation of Le Père Goriot (1945, Robert Vernay), starring Pierre Renoir as Vautrin and Pierre Larquey in the title part. In 1946 Vernay gave Génia the role of Gisèle d’Angoulême in Le Capitan/The Captain (1946), with again Pierre Renoir as the Duke of Angoulême, and co-starring Jean Pâqui (Le Capitan), Sophie Desmarets (Marion Delorme), Huguette Duflos (Marie de Medici), and Aimé Clairiond (Concini). Based on a novel by Michel Zévaco, the cape and dagger film deals with young Adhémar de Capestang, nicknamed le Capitan, who arrives in Paris looking for fortune and falls in love with beautiful Gisele d’Angouleme. Her father, though, is messed up in a conspiracy against the young king Louis XIII. Marshall Concini would like to keep the power his lover, queen-mother Marie de Medici, gave to him, but The Captain fights the conspiracy, defending the young king Louis XIII (Serge Emrich) and Concini is killed. (In 1960 a popular remake would be made by André Hunebelle, with Jean Marais as Le capitan and Elsa Martinelli as Gisèle.)

French postcard by C.F.C.C. A.N., Paris, no. 1225. Photo: Ancrenaz. Claude Génia as Gisèle d'Angoulême in Le Capitan (1946).

Horror Comedy
Claude Génia had also major parts during the 1940's in the Franco-Italian coproduction Les beaux jours du roi Murat (1947, Théophile Pathé), co-starring Alfred Adam and Junie Astor, Carrefour du crime/Crossroads of Crime (1948, Jean Sacha) with Louis Salou, and La louve/The wolf (1949, Guillaume Radot) with Jean Davy. In 1952 Génia played the part of Jeanne Donge in the thriller La Vérité sur Bébé Donge/The Truth About Bebe Donge (1952, Henri Decoin), with Jean Gabin and Danielle Darrieux, followed by parts such as La Carconte in Le comte de Monte-Christo/The Count of Monte Cristo (1954, Robert Vernay) starring Jean Marais. From 1958 to 1966 Génia directed the Théâtre Edouard VII and was absent from the screen, but after that she returned for parts like Madame Golovine in J'ai tué Raspoutine/I Killed Rasputin (1967, Robert Hossein) starring Gert Fröbe as Rasputin, and Marguerite in the horror comedy Dracula père et fils/Dracula and Son (1976, Édouard Molinaro) featuring Christopher Lee. On stage she appeared as Hécuba with Claude Jade, François Beaulieu and Corinne Marchand in La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu (1975), staged at the Théâtre des Célestins in Lyon, and directed by Jean Meyer. Génia also appeared on television, as in Les Enfants du faubourg/The Children of Fauburg (1968, Maurice Frydland), an episode of the series Les Cinq Dernières Minutes(the Five Last Minutes). Claude Génia died in 1979 in Tours. She was 66.

French postcard by Editions E.C., Paris, no. 104. Photo Pathé.

Sources: Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Zappy Max

2012-01-26T13:01:00.029+01:00

Dynamic Zappy Max (1921) was one of the most popular radio hosts in France and Belgium during the 1950’s till the 1970’s. He worked for Radio Luxembourg (now RTL) and Radio Monte Carlo (RMC), and his partner was Mr. Champagne. He also appeared in several French films, often as himself.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 613. Photo: Studio Vallois, Paris.

A Passion for the Music-hall
Zappy Max is the pseudonym of Maxime Doucet, who was born in Paris in 1921. His father passed him a passion for the music-hall. There he began his career as a singer at the orchestra of Jacques Hélian, with whom he remained for three years. He then went to the radio, where he hosted many games such as Quitte ou double (Double or Nothing) and Crochet radiophonique for Radio Circus. With Radio Circus, he travelled all over France and Belgium. He made several radio serials: Vas-y Zappy (Go Zappy), Ça va bouillir (It will boil) and C'est parti mon Zappy (It’s gone My Zappy). His presence at Radio Luxembourg ended in 1966 when it became RTL. He continued his radio career at Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) by hosting the game Quitte ou double (Double or Nothing) again from 1974 until 1982/1983.

Dany Carrel. French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 436. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Double or Nothing
Zappy Max performed in plays and in several films. He made his film debut with a bit part in the anthology film Souvenirs perdus/Lost Souvenirs (1950, Christian Jacque), and appeared as himself in Quitte ou Double/Double or Nothing (1952, Robert Vernay). He had his first leading part in the comedy Faites-Moi Confiance/Trust me (1954, Gilles Grangier). Other films include Les Chiffoniers d'Emmaüs/The Chiffoniers Emmaus (1955, Robert Darène) with Dany Carrel, Les lumières du soir/The Evening Lights (1956, Robert Vernay) with Gaby Morlay, and Printemps à Paris/Spring in Paris (1957, Jean-Claude Roy) starring Dominique Boschero. During the following decades he did a few more performances in films and TV series. His last film appearance was in the drama Outremer/Overseas (1990, Brigitte Roüan) with Nicole Garcia.

Dominique Boschero. German postcard by Krüger, nr. 902/357. Photo: Georg Michalke.

It will boil!
Zappy Max published his memories in Ça va bouillir/It will boil! (2000) and L'âge d'or de la radio/The Golden Age of Radio (2004). He was awarded with the Prix Jean Nohain in 2005. A comic entitled Zappy Max: ça va bouillir/Zappy Max: it's going to boil was designed by Maurice Tillieux for the journal Pilote in 1959, but it was republished in 2010 by Editions de l'Élan. That year Max also published a new book about his passion for the Music-hall: Mes GEANTS du music-hall/My GIANTS of the Music-Hall. Indefatigable, he announced a new book, Mes Z d'or... Mémoires d'un cinéphile/My Golden Z ... Memoirs of a film buff, with portraits of his favorite actors.

Scene from Faites-Moi Confiance/Trust me (1954). Source: Kebekmac1 (YouTube).

Scopitone clip for the song Elle S'était Fait Couper Les Cheveux (She had her hair cut) by accordionist Aimable and Zappy Max. The clip was directed by Claude Lelouch. Source: Music Zone 1 (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.

Rose Barsony

2012-01-25T13:01:00.045+01:00

Hungarian actress, dancer and singer Rose Barsony (1909 - 1977) appeared in 16 films from 1929 to 1938, and in one more in 1957. The soubrette was a popular star of the operettas by Paul Abraham. She personified the idealized image of the spirited, happily dancing Hungarian in German and Austrian films, untill the Nazis forbade the Jewish star to perform any longer.

Dutch postcard. Photo: UFA. Publicity still for Walzerkrieg/The Battle of the Waltzes (1933, Ludwig Berger).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6567/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Soubrette
Rose Barsony - also credited as Rosi Barsony, Rosy Barsony, Rozai Barsony, Rózsi Bársony and Bársony Rózsi - was born as Rose Schustek in Budapest, Hungary in 1909. She already appeared as a child actress on the stage, but her real career began in 1931 in Berlin with Paul Abraham's operetta Viktoria und ihr Husar/Victoria and Her Hussar. She appeared as a soubrette, a soprano role frequently found in comic operas or operettas; the soubrette usually possesses a flirtatious demeanor and street wise manner. Another popular operetta by Paul Abraham in which she starred was Die Blume von Hawaii/The Flower of Hawaii. In 1929 she had made her film debut in her home country with the silent film Mária növér/Sister Mary (1929, Antal Forgács) starring Werner Pittschau, but especially her German film musicals of the 1930's would enjoy great popularity. To these films belong Ein toller Einfall/A Mad Idea (1932, Kurt Gerron), Walzerkrieg/The Battle of the Waltzes (1933, Ludwig Berger) and the operetta Ball im Savoy/Ball at the Savoy (1935, Steve Sekely) with Gitta Alpár. Among her other Hungarian films were A ven gazember/The Old Scoundrel (1932, Heinz Hille) and the comedy Helyet az öregeknek/Room for the Aged (1934, Béla Gaál) with Szöke Sakall and Ernö Verebes.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7834/1, 1932-1933. Photo: UFA.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7106/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Yva, Berlin/UFA.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8005/2, 1933-1934. Photo: UFA.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8005/1, 1933-1934. Photo: UFA.

Fascist Authorities
After the assumption of power of the National Socialists Rose Barsony got a special approval to work for the UFA because of her Jewish origin. From 1935 this special arrangement stopped, and Barsony had to leave Germany. She went on tour with her husband and stage partner, operatta singer Oszkár Dénes. They performed in Romania, Great Britain and the United States. They went to live and work in Italy, but in 1937 the fascist authorities forbade a Milan production of the operetta Zizì with Barsony and her husband because they were Jewish. During that period she still could appear in the Hungarian films Viki (1937, Márton Keleti), 3:1 a szerelem javára/3 to 1 for Love (1938, Johann von Vásáry) - a film adaptation of the Paul Abraham operetta Die Entführte Braut/The Kidnapped Bride, and A harapós férj/Biting Husband (1938, Márton Keleti). During the war years Barsony lived in Budapest and because of an Auftrittsverbot she couldn't perform. New Hungarian stars like Marika Rökk followed in her footsteps and now personified the idealized image of the spirited, happily dancing Hungarian in German and Austrian films. After the war her work was concentrated on the stage, and worked in Romania and Italy. In 1956 she moved to Vienna to appear in several stage plays and operettas. She only returned on the screen once with Scherben bringen Glück/Seven Years Hard Luck (1957, Ernst Marischka) starring Adrian Hoven. In 1959 she played at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Austria, and later she worked in Paris for French television. Rose Barsony died in 1977 in Wien (Vienna), Austria.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8235/1, 1933-1934. Photo: UFA.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7654/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Angelo Photos.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Rudi Polt (IMDb), Allure, Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

Yvette Lebon

2012-01-24T13:01:00.026+01:00

French actress Yvette Lebon (1910) appeared in 39 films between 1931 and 1972. Her beautiful eyes made her one of the most attractive faces of the French cinema of the 1930’s.

French postcard by Erpé, no. 211. Photo: Simson.

Love Interest
Yvette Lebon was born as Simone Lebon in Paris in 1910. She was a close relation of stage and film director Sacha Guitry. Her film career started in 1931 with a small part in the romantic comedy Rive gauche/Left Bank (1931, Alexander Korda) starring Meg Lemonnier. This was an alternative language version of the Paramount production Laughter (1930, Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast) starring Nancy Carroll. Director Marc Allégret spotted her during an audition and gives her a supporting part in the musical Zouzou/Zou Zou (1934, Marc Allégret) starring Josephine Baker. Among Lebon’s other early films are the comedy Le Chéri de sa concierge/The Darling Of Her Caretaker (1934, Giuseppe Guarino) with the young Fernandel, Divine (1935, Max Ophüls) and the big hit Marinella (1936, Pierre Caron) in which she played the love interest of popular singer Tino Rossi. Her first leading role was in Les Mariages de Mademoiselle Lévy/Miss Levy's marriages (1936, André Hugon). The following years she appeared in the historical adventure film Michel Strogoff/Michael Strogoff (1936, Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg) featuring Adolf Wohlbruck (aka Anton Walbrook), the drama Abus de confiance/Abused Confidence (1937, Henri Decoin) with Danielle Darrieux and Charles Vanel, and the war drama Gibraltar (1938, Fyodor Otsep) starring Viviane Romance and Roger Duchesne. Duchesne became her first husband.

French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 22. Photo: Star.

French postcard by Erpé, no. 514. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

101th Birthday
During the war years Yvette Lebon played in the comedy L'Homme qui cherche la vérité/The Man Who Looks for The Truth (1940, Alexander Esway) with Raimu, the historical comedy-drama Le destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary/Mlle. Desiree (1942), directed by and starring her relative Sacha Guitry as Napoleon, and another historical film, Paméla (1945, Pierre de Hérain) with Fernand Gravey and Renée Saint-Cyr. At the time she was the mistress of journalist and politician Jean Luchaire. With his evening daily Les Nouveaux Temps, Luchaire supported the Vichy regime's Révolution nationale in 1940. In 1946 he was tried and executed. After the war Lebon could be seen in Monsieur Grégoire s'évade/Mr. Gregoire Runs Away (1946, Jacques Daniel-Norman) with Bernard Blier, and Les Amours de Blanche Neige/The Loves Of Snow White (1947, Edi Wieser). From the 1950’s on, she also performed for the Italian and Spanish cinema. Her international films include the adventure film Il boia di Lilla/Milady and the Musketeers (1952, Vittorio Cottafavi) in which she played one of her best roles as Milady the Winter opposite Rossano Brazzi, the musical comedy Maruzzella (1956, Luigi Capuano) featuring Marisa Allasio, and the Peplum Ulisse contro Ercole/Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules (1962, Mario Caiano) starring Georges Marchal. Her last appearance was in the film Je, tu, elles.../I, You, They (1972, Peter Foldes). Yvette Lebon was married twice, first to actor Roger Duchesne and then to Belgian-American producer Nathan ‘Nat’ Wachsberger, till his death in 1992. Wachsberger produced some of the later films she appeared in, including La cavale/On the Lam (1971, Michel Mitrani) with Juliet Berto. Their son Patrick Wachsberger is also a producer, and on his resume are Mr. And Mrs. Smith (2005, Doug Liman) with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and Letters to Juliet (2010, Gary Winick) with Amanda Seyfried and Gael García Bernal. On 14 August 2011, Yvette Lebon celebrated her 101th birthday.

French postcard by Viny, no. 69. Photo: Star.

French postcard by Editions Chantal, Rueil, no. 2. Photo: C.C.F.C.

Sources: Music Man (Movie-Musical-World) (French), Les légendes du cinéma (French), L'@ide-Mémoire (French), Wikipedia (English and French), and IMDb.

Harry Frank

2012-01-23T23:00:00.007+01:00

German actor Harry Frank (1896 - 1947) appeared in several comedies and Krimis of the 1920’s and 1930’s, often as a smart, agile guy. At the beginning of his career he appeared in films of famous directors Fritz Lang and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Or were two Harry Franks active in the German cinema?

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5121/1, 1930-1931. Photo: UFA.

Magician
Harry Frank was born as Helmut Franck in Berlin, Germany in 1896. He grew up in Lübeck, where he worked in various odd jobs like salesman, sailor and magician. During the First World War he was an officer in Turkey. After the war he worked as a reporter for a provincial journal. Then he started to appear in films, first as a supporting player, later as the leading man. He made his film debut in In den Krallen des Vampyrs/In the Krall of the Vampyr (1919, Wolfgang Neff). The following year director Wolfgang Neff engaged him again for crime films like Der Spitzel/The Snitch (1920, Wolfgang Neff) with Oscar Marion, and Der Mann in der Falle/The Man in the Trap (1920, Wolfgang Neff). Under Fritz Lang he acted in the Western Die Spinnen/The Spiders (1919, Fritz Lang) starring Carl de Vogt, in the drama Harakiri (1919, Fritz Lang), in the romance Das wandernde Bild/The Moving Image (1920, Fritz Lang) with Mia May, and Vier um die Frau/Four Around a Woman (1921, Fritz Lang)* starring Carola Toelle. He also appeared with Mia May in Der Leidensweg der Inge Krafft/The ordeal of Inge Krafft (1921, Robert Dinesen). After that he appeared in two films by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, the lost film Marizza, genannt die Schmugglermadonna Marizza, Called the Smugglers' Madonna (1922, F.W. Murnau) and the drama Der brennende Acker/Burning Soil (1922, F.W. Murnau) with Werner Krauss and Lya de Putti. Then there was an interval in his film career till 1927. That year he appeared in films like Der Fidele Bauer/The Merry Farmer (1927, Frans Seitz) starring Carmen Boni, Almenrausch und Edelweiss (1928, Frans Seitz) with Walter Slezak, Flucht aus der Hölle/Escape from Hell (1928, Georg Asagaroff) with Fritz Alberti, Liebeshölle/Pawns of Passion (1928, Wiktor Bieganski, Carmine Gallone), and Hotelgeheimnisse/Hotel Secrets (1929, Friedrich Feher) with Magda Sonja.

French postcard. Photo: Artistes Associés. Collection: Didier Hanson.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6157/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.

Exotic Extravaganza
Harry Frank was specialized in smart, agile characters in comedies and Krimis (the German crime films). After the introduction of the sound film he continued his film career in successful films like Der Tiger/The Tiger Murder Case (1930, Johannes Meyer) with Charlotte Susa, Die Große Sehnsucht/The Great Passion (1930, Steve Sekely) with Camilla Horn, Der Falsche Feldmarschall/Fake Field Marshal (1930, Carl Lamac), and the historical epic Der Choral von Leuthen/The Anthem of Leuthen (1933) with Otto Gebühr. Till 1936 he appeared each year in several films. Later his popularity clearly diminished and he focussed more on the stage. He often performed in the Renaissance-Theater. In the cinema he was seen in s small part in the two-part exotic extravaganza Der Tiger von Eschnapur/The Tiger of Eschnapur (1937, Richard Eichberg) and Das indische Grabmal/The Indian Tomb (1938, Richard Eichberg), both starring Frits van Dongen (Philip Dorn), La Jana and Gustav Diessl. His last film was the DEFA Krimi Razzia/Police Raid (1947, Werner Klingler), in which he played a ruthless, dangerous criminal in post-war Berlin. Harry Frank died in 1947 (or 1948 according to Thomas Staedeli), in Berlin.

Gustav Diessl. German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, nr. A 3909/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto Atelier/Tobis.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Volker Wachter (DEFA Filmsterne) (German), Wikipedia (German), Filmportal.de and IMDb.

* Wikipedia cites a source (Kay Weniger in Das große Personenlexikon des Films) who claims that there were in fact two Harry Franks. The actor in the films of Fritz Lang would have been another than the above mentioned actor, but Thomas Staedeli, IMDb and Filmportal.de know only one Harry Frank.

Franz Lederer

2012-01-23T13:01:00.040+01:00

Dark and gorgeous looking actor Franz Lederer (1899 – 2000) had a successful film and stage career, first in Europe, then in the United States as Francis Lederer.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5435/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Gerstenburg, Berlin.

Matinee Idol
Franz Lederer was born Frantisek Lederer in Prague, Austria-Hungary (now in Czech Republic) in 1899. He was the son of Josef Lederer, a leather merchant and Rose Lederer. Young Frantisek began his working life as a department store delivery boy in Prague and fell in love with acting when he was young, and was trained at the Academy of Music and Academy of Dramatic Art in Prague. Still a teenager, he served with the Czechoslovakian artillery during the first World War. He attained the rank of corporal. After military service, he became an apprentice with the New German Theater in Prague. He made his stage debut with a walk-on in the play Burning Heart. He toured Moravia and central Europe, making a name for himself as a matinee idol in theaters in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and Germany. Because of his stunningly handsome looks, it took some time for the critics to take Lederer seriously. Notable among his performances was a turn as Romeo in theater legend Max Reinhardt's staging of Romeo and Juliet. In the late 1920’s, Franz Lederer was lured into films by the German actress Henny Porten and her producer husband. He appeared with her in the melodrama Zuflucht/Refuge (1928, Carl Froelich). For director Georg Wilhelm Pabst he performed in Die Büchse der Pandora/Pandora's Box (1929, G.W. Pabst) as a young man who, along with his father (Fritz Kortner), becomes obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful dancer Lulu (Louise Brooks). He also appeared in Atlantik/Atlantic (1929, Ewald André Dupont). Dashingly garbed in military costume, he was also notable in the lush and poignant romantic drama Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna/The Wonderful Lie of Nina Petrovna (1929, Hanns Schwarz) with Brigitte Helm. Lederer easily made the transition from silent to sound film, and seemed to be on his way to becoming one of Europe's top male film stars.

Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5795. Photo: Nero Film, Mondial Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4385/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Binder, Berlin.

The Biggest Star In Hollywood
In London’s West End, Francis Lederer performed on stage in Volpone (1931) and in Autumn Crocus (1932). He performed the latter play also on Broadway where it played for 210 performances in 1932 and 1933. He used Francis Lederer as his stage name now. He also performed Autumn Crocus in Los Angeles, where his performances attracted film offers from Hollywood. With the deteriorating political situation in Europe, Lederer decided to stay in the United States. It was MGM producer Irving Thalberg's plan to make him ‘the biggest star in Hollywood’ but the death of Thalberg ended that, and Lederer didn't quite catch on as an American star. Lederer's American movies were fairly light fare such as Man of Two Worlds (1934, J. Walter Ruben) with Elissa Landi, Romance in Manhattan (1934, Stephen Roberts) with Ginger Rogers, The Gay Deception (1935, William Wyler) with Frances Dee, and One Rainy Afternoon (1936, Rowland V. Lee). Lederer became a U.S. citizen in 1939. That year he starred as a lady-killer playboy in the Billy Wilder scripted Midnight (1939, Mitchell Leisen) with Claudette Colbert and John Barrymore. Hal Erickson writes at Rovi: “His cinematic stock in trade at the time was the outgoing, slightly naïve foreigner at the mercy of aggressive, acrimonious Americans or Brits. One of his best screen characterizations was the disgruntled German-American ‘bundist’ in Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939, Anatole Litvak), which won him the personal praise of his co-star Edward G. Robinson, who wasn't accustomed to handing out empty compliments.” He also earned plaudits for his portrayal of the fascist to whom Joan Bennett finds herself wed in The Man I Married (1940, Irving Pichel).

British postcard. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for The Pursuit of Happiness (1934, Alexander Hall).

British postcard by Real Photograph, no. 763a. Photo: Paramount.

A World Weary Count Dracula
Throughout his career, Francis Lederer often performed on stage, both in New York and elsewhere. He appeared in productions of Golden Boy (1937), Seventh Heaven (1939), No Time for Comedy (1939), in which he replaced Laurence Olivier, The Play's the Thing (1942), A Doll's House (1944), Arms and the Man (1950), The Sleeping Prince (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1958) as Anne’s father. Although he took a break from making films in 1941 in order to concentrate on his stage work, he returned to the silver screen in 1944, appearing in The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944, Rowland V. Lee), and the bizarre and fascinating version of the downbeat satirical drama Diary of a Chambermaid (1946, Jean Renoir). After making Surrender (1950, Allan Dwan), he took another break from Hollywood but returned once more in 1956 with Lisbon (1956, Ray Milland). He also played a world weary Count Dracula for The Return of Dracula (1958, Paul Landres). Cavett Binion at Rovi reviews: “Played refreshingly straight, this modest Universal production benefits from Lederer's compelling performance as the seductive Count and several unique plot twists (including a blind girl who becomes sighted on turning into a vampire).” His final film appearance was in Terror Is a Man (1959, Gerardo de Leon). He would continue to make television appearances for the next ten years in such shows as The Untouchables (1960), Mission: Impossible (1967) and That Girl (1967). His final television appearance occurred in a 1971 episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery. Lederer had become very wealthy by investing in real estate. He was active in local and Los Angeles civic affairs, philanthropy and politics. In 2000, he was honored with the Cross of Honor for Science and Arts, First Class by the Austrian government. Lederer married three times. His first marriage was to Ada Nejedly during the 1920’s. In 1937 he married Mexican American actress and dancer Margo. They divorced in 1940. His third marriage was to Marion Irvine in 1941. Irvine served as Los Angeles' Commissioner of Cultural Affairs. Their marriage lasted 59 years. Francis Lederer worked as a teacher up until the week before he died in Palm Springs, USA in 2000. He was 100.

Scene from Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna/The Wonderful Lie of Nina Petrovna (1929). Source: Radio Santos (YouTube).

Long, haunting scene from Die Büchse der Pandora/Pandora's Box (1929). Source: Mad Max Marula (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (Rovi), Christopherbkk (IMDb), TCM, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Johan Elsensohn

2012-01-22T23:00:00.058+01:00

Dutch actor Johan Elsensohn (1884 - 1966) was active in the Dutch cinema of the 1920’s and 1930’s. He was also a well-known playwright of popular folk plays.

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag/Monopole Film. Publicity still for Bleeke Bet (1934). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Jordaan
Johan Elsensohn was born in Amsterdam, The Nederlands in 1884. He made his stage debut in 1916 with tthe company of Johan Langenaken. His later work was tightly connected to the Jordaan, an old neighbourhood of Amsterdam. For decades he was a member of the ensemble of actor-author Herman Bouber and played in many of his folk plays situated in the Jordaan. Elsensohn appeared in Bouber’s most successful stage plays including Mooie Neel/Beautiful Neel (1917), Bleke Bet/Bleak Beth (1917), Oranje Hein/Orange Hein (1918) and De Jantjes/The Tars (1920). Together with Bouber, Elsensohn wrote the play Duif en Doffer/Dove and Cock (1922). Elsensohn also wrote successfull plays by himself like Een huishouwe van Jan Steen/A household of Jan Steen (1923) and Allemaal Jan Klaassen/All Punch (1928). The latter was a risky undertaking, because there was a financial crisis in 1928. In 1930 he published his novel Arie, again situated in the Jordaan and with dialogues in the local dialect. In 1934 Herman Bouber transformed the book in a stage play, Het kind van de buurvrouw/The child of a neighbor aka Het kind van de zonde/The child of sin. It was his last play and it would be reprised many times in the following decades.

Dutch Postcard by Monopole Film, Rotterdam. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag (The Hague).

Dutch Postcard by Monopole Film, Rotterdam. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag (The Hague).

New Boost
Johan Elsensohn also appeared in the film versions of Herman Bouber’s plays. He costarred with Maurits de Vries and Louis Davids in De Jantjes/The Tars (1922, Maurits Binger, B.E. Doxat-Pratt), a silent production of the Hollandia film factory. Other films from the silent era are Bleeke Bet/Bleak Beth (1923, Alex Benno), the comedy Kee en Janus naar Parijs/Kee and Janus to Paris (1924, Alex Benno) featuring Adrienne Solser, Mooi Juultje van Volendam/Beautiful Girl of Volendam (1924, Alex Benno) starring the Dutch film diva Annie Bos, and Oranje Hein/Orange Hein (1925, Alex Benno) in which he played the title character. In 1925 he stopped with making films and chose for the stage. He worked for the stage company Vereenigd Rotterdamsch-Hofstad Tooneel. There he played with Annie van Ees, Cor van der Lugt and Mary Dresselhuys in the play De Keizer van Amerika/The Emperor of America. After the advance of sound film, the Dutch cinema got a new boost. In 1934 Johan Elsensohn starred in a new, sound version of Bleeke Bet/Bleak beth (1934, Richard Oswald, Alex Benno). He now played Tinus, the husband of the title figure, played by Aaf Bouber. He also appeared in the sound version of Oranje Hein/Orange Hein (1936, Max Nosseck). Other films in which he appeared were De Suikerfreule/The Sugar Lady (1935, Haro van Peski), Kermisgasten/Carnival People (1936, Jaap Speyer) with Johan Kaart, and Merijntje Gijzen’s jeugd/The Youth of Merijntje Gijzen (1936, Kurt Gerron). During this period he met actress Fien de la Mar, an actress with whom he made the cabaret revue De Blokkendoos/The Blocks Box in 1935. After the war he was a member of the legendary ABC-cabaret with the stage stars Wim Kan, Corry Vonk and Albert Mol. In 1954 he appeared in the TV film, De Brug/The Bridge (1954, Willy van Hemert) with his old companion Herman Bouber. Johan Elsensohn died in 1966 in Amsterdam. His great-granddaughter Monica Muns works as a film producer.

Dutch postcard by Ned. Organisatie van Tooneelkunstenaars, no. 241. Photo: Haeck, Amsterdam. Publicity still for the theatre production Dulcinea by Gaston Baty, with Johan Elsensohn as Sancho Panza. In 1941 he celebrated his 25th stage anniversary with this play.

Source: Theaterencyclopedie (Dutch), Wikipedia (Dutch) and IMDb.

Edwige Feuillère

2012-01-22T13:01:00.059+01:00

Charming and elegant Edwige Feuillère (1907 - 1998) was during the 1940’s the ‘First Lady’ of the French cinema. Edwige was known for the ease in which she could switch from playing sophisticated sexy ladies and cruel, self-centered seductresses. For more than sixty years she stayed a beloved ‘vedette’ of the French stage and cinema.

French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 12. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 36. Photo: Teddy Piaz.

French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 106. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Paris, no. 596. Photo: Films Osso.

Camille
Edwige Feuillère was born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunati in Vesoul, in the Haute-Saône in eastern France in 1907. Her father was Italian and, because he was drafted by the Italian army in World War I, Edwige spent much of her childhood in Italy. After the war, the family moved to Dijon in France. Edwige attended the lyceum in Dijon where she acted in plays including Jean Racine's plays Esther and Athalie. At the Dijon Conservatoire she studied diction, interpretation of character and singing, and easily passed the entrance exam for the Paris Conservatoire in 1928. Two years later, she won the first prize for comedy. She married an older fellow student, Pierre Feuillere, but he proved to be a drug addict who used to play suicidal games with her. She made her theatrical debut under the stage name Cora Lynn, playing small roles in 1930. In 1931 she became a member of the Comédie Française, and made her debut in Pierre Beaumarchais' comedy Le Mariage de Figaro. In 1933, Edwige left both the troupe and her husband, but she kept his surname. During the 1930’s and 1940’s the stunningly beautiful actress became one of the leading ladies of the French stage. A success was her role in Édouard Bourdet's La Prisonniere (The Captive) in 1935 at the Théâtre Heberthot. The play had a long run and was frequently revived. Among her most popular roles was also Marguerite Gautier in La Dame aux camélias (Camille) by Alexandre Dumas fils (1939-1942). For the next two decades she appeared in frequent revivals of La Dame aux camélias in France and Britain. Another triumph was Sodome et Gomorrhe (Sodom and Gomorrah) by modern author Jean Giraudoux (1943), for which she helped to discover Gérard Philipe.

French postcard by Erres, no. 12. Photo: Paramount.

French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 64. Photo: Star.

French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 170. Photo: Studio Carlet Ainé.

French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 170. Photo: Studio Carlet Ainé.

Nude Scene
Edwige Feuillère's first film appearance was in the short La Fine combine/The Fine combines (1931, André Chotin) opposite Fernandel, and her feature debut was in Le Cordon bleu/The Champion Cook (1931, Alberto Cavalcanti, Karl Anton). For both films she still used the name Cora Lynn. Louis Gasnier cast her in the first film version of the farce Topaze (1933), based on the play by Marcel Pagnol. Her charm and elegance opposite Louis Jouvet were widely appreciated. In the strait-laced Europe of 1935 she scandalised the public with a brief nude scene in Lucrèce Borgia/Lucrezia Borgia (1935, Abel Gance). This historical drama in which she played her first leading role, solidified her popularity. That year she also appeared in the epic Golgotha/Behold the Man (1935, Julien Duvivier) starring Harry Baur and Jean Gabin, and in the UFA production Barcarolle (1935, Gerhard Lamprecht, Roger Le Bon), the French-language version of Lamprecht's Barcarole (1935). Her roles as elegant and often heartless women were displayed in Mister Flow/Compliments of Mr. Flow (1936, Robert Siodmak), Marthe Richard au service de la France/Marthe Richard (1937, Raymond Bernard) as a charming spy opposite Erich von Stroheim, La Dame de Malacca/Woman of Malacca (1937, Marc Allégret), and J'étais une aventurière/I Was an Adventuress (1938, Raymond Bernard). She went on working with famous director Max Ophüls in the melodrama Sans lendemain/Without Tomorrow (1939) in which she gave a wonderful performance as a jaded woman, abandoned by a shady husband with a lot of debts, who is sacrified, and in De Mayerling à Sarajévo/Mayerling to Sarajevo (1940) about the liaison between Archduke Franz Ferdinand - unwilling heir to the Habsburg throne - and his morganatic wife, Countess Sophie Chotek. The film ends with the couple's assassination by a Serb terrorist in 1914, and thus starting WW I. Work on this film began in 1939 and was interrupted by the war. It was finished in the spring of 1940, only to be banned by the Germans. The first ‘official’ premiere was on 18 May 1945. Feuillères next film, Mam'zelle Bonaparte/Miss Bonaparte (1941, Maurice Tourneur) became a popular success, although IMDb calls the film a ‘dud’. Another success was her role as a coquette caught by a great love for Pierre Richard-Willm in La Duchesse de Langeais/Wicked Duchess (1941, Jacques de Baroncelli) based on a novel by Honoré de Balzac with dialogues by Jean Giraudoux. Worth watching is also the romantic screwball comedy L'Honorable Catherine/The Honorable Catherine (1943, Marcel L’Herbier) with Feuillère as a high society blackmailer whose latest blackmail attempt is interrupted, and she has to pose as her victim’s lover.

French postcard by Editions P.I., La Garenne-Colombes, no. 36. Photo: Majestic.

French postcard by Editions P.I., La Garenne-Colombes, no. 36. Photo: Majestic.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 52. Photo: Studio Paz.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 64. Photo: Studio Paz.

Magnetic Presence
By the mid-1940’s Edwige Feuillère had become a distinguished actress, respected for her powerful well-modulated voice, expressive eyes and magnetic presence. She was frequently acclaimed for her interpretation of classical stage roles. She turned down a seven-year Hollywood contract offered by Louis B. Mayer in 1945 and tended to make fewer films after the war. Her stage performances made her even more appreciated in films when she made them. With Gérard Philipe she appeared in the Fyodor Dostoyevsky film adaptation L’Idiot/The Idiot (1946, Georges Lampin). She did 200 performances of Jean Cocteau's L'Aigle à deux têtes (The Eagle with Two Heads) as the widowed queen who falls in love with a political fugitive played by Jean Marais. The role was especially written for Feuillère by Cocteau, and she also starred in the screen version, L'Aigle à deux têtes (1947, Jean Cocteau). She played more great screen roles like the title character in Julie de Carneilhan (1949, Jacques Manuel), and as the older woman introducing an adolescent to love in Le Blé en herbe/The Game of Love (1954, Claude Autant-Lara), based on Colette's novel. Her role in this film was a scandal, even though Feuillère was brilliant and the writer kept out any suggestion of prurience. Other great films of this decade were Olivia/The Pit of Loneliness (1950, Jacqueline Audry) nominated with a BAFTA Film Award, Adorables Créatures/Adorable Creatures (1952, Christian-Jaque) in which she played an eccentric bourgeoise who discovers the arcane delights of a banal sandwich, and the crime drama En cas de malheur/Love Is My Profession (1958, Claude Autant-Lara) with Jean Gabin and Brigitte Bardot. Another major stage role, which she would also perform again and again, was the femme fatale Yse opposite Jean-Louis Barrault in Paul Claudel's Partage de midi. In 1951 she made her first - and reportedly unforgettable - London stage appearance with this long and difficult role for the Renaud-Barrault company. In 1955 she returned to London for a season with La Dame aux Camélias and other plays. In 1968, when she appeared again in London in Partage de midi, the British theater critic Harold Hobson described her as 'the greatest actress he had ever seen'.

French postcard by Edit. Chantal, Rueil, no. 596 A. Photo: Continental Films.

French postcard by Editions Continental, no. 101 A. Photo: Continental Films.

German postcard.

French postcard. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Gracefully Elegant Grande Dame
In the 1960’s and 1970’s Edwige Feuillère appeared often on stage, such as in 1965 in La folle de Chaillot (The Madwoman of Chaillot) by Jean Giraudoux. She later reprised this role on television, La folle de Chaillot (1976, Gérard Vergez). According to IMDb her nickname was ‘Edwige 1ère’ (Edwige the 1st) for her cool and rather imposing acting style. She was equally at home playing in dramas and comedies. She also continued to be a popular film and television actress and worked with directors of the next generations like Michel Boisrond in an episode of Amours célèbres/Famous Love Affairs (1961) and Roman Polanski, who wrote the script for the dark cannibal comedy Aimez-vous les Femmes/A Taste for Women (1963, Jean Léon). She showed little interest in a glamorous life style. Modest and humorous in private, she was also self-deprecating about her talent in her 1977 autobiography, Les Feux de la Memoire (The Fires of Memory). One of the best of her later films was La chair de l'orchidée/The Flesh of the Orchid (1975, Patrice Chéreau – his film debut) starring Charlotte Rampling. In this crime drama, based on James Hadley Chase's No Orchids for Miss Blandish, Edwige Feuillère appeared disturbingly out of character. Another interesting film was the TV film Le tueur triste/The Sad Killer (1984, Nicolas Gessner), in which she appeared as the grandmother. In 1984 she was awarded an honorary César. She continued to act onstage and in the occasional film until her official retirement in 1992. Her last stage performance was Edwige Feuillère en Scène, in which she replayed scenes from her most famous roles and told about her long career. TV broadcaster ARTE made a documentary of it, Edwige Feuillère en scène (1993, Serge Moati). In 1993 she was named Commandeur des Arts et Lettres; Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur. That same year she was also awarded the Molière prize for her stage work. The gracefully elegant grande dame played her last role in the TV film La Duchesse de Langeais (1995, Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe). Edwige Feuillère died of natural causes in 1998 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Île-de-France. She was 91. After her death Le Monde wrote: "Edwige Feuillere was our Marlene Dietrich, our Irene Dunne and our Greta Garbo, all in one."

Scenes from L'idiot (1946). No English subtitles. Source: Edwige (My Space).

Scenes from L'Aigle à deux têtes (1947). No English subtitles. Source: Edwige (My Space).

Trailer for En cas de malheur (1958). Source: Too-buyspeedo (Daily Motion).

Sources: Karel Tabery (Filmreference.com), Sandra Brennan (Rovi), Alan Riding (The New York Times), John Calder (The Independent), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Barbara Valentin

2012-01-21T23:00:00.043+01:00

Film and TV actress Barbara Valentin (1940 - 2002) was dubbed the 'German Jayne Mansfield' and a 'Scandal Magnet'. Her résumé includes sex films but also art films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Her private life was fodder for the tabloids. Pop star Freddie Mercury was ‘the love of her life’.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/192. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Das Busenwunder
Barbara Valentin was born Ursula ‘Uschi’ Ledersteger in Vienna, Austria in 1940. She was the daughter of the set designer Hans Ledersteger and actress Irmgard Alberti. Her film debut was in the erotic SciFi-thriller Ein Toter hing im Netz/A Corpse Hangs in the Web (1959, Fritz Böttgers). In the 1960’s she became a well known personality who was called ‘das Busenwunder’ (the Buxom Wonder) because of her huge breasts and was compared to Jayne Mansfield because of her sex pot roles. The German tabloids had also plenty to write about her cocaine habit and other addictions, and about her numerous love affairs. Her three marriages, including one with film director Helmut Dietl, ended all in a divorce. In the cinema she was seen in sexy films like Das Mädchen mit den Schmalen Hüften, literally The Girl with the Narrow Hips (1961, Johannes Kai) with Claus Wilcke, and In Frankfurt sind die Nächte heiss/Hot Nights in Frankfurt (1966, Rolf Olsen) starring Vera Tschechowa. Later she was also seen in international films like Carmen, Baby (1967, Radley Metzger) opposite Carl Möhner, and King, Queen, Knave (1972, Jerzy Skolimowsky) starring David Niven.

German postcard by Kruger (UFA), no. 902/167. Photo: Herbert Fried (Fried Agency).

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/168. Photo: Herbert Fried (Fried Agency)/UFA.

New Career
In the 1970’s Rainer Werner Fassbinder offered Barbara Valentin a chance on a new career. Under his direction she played in the futuristic TV tale Welt am Draht/World on a Wire (1974) opposite Klaus Löwitsch, and after that she became a permanent member of his troupe. She played character parts in films and TV films by Fassbinder like the Henrik Ibsen adaptation Nora Helmer (1974) featuring Margit Carstensen, the touching melodrama Angst essen Seele auf/Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), the thriller Martha (1974), the Theodor Fontane adaptation Effi Briest (1974) starring Hanna Schygulla, the controversial gay drama Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox and his Friends (1975), the box office hit Lili Marleen (1981), and Fassbinder's acclaimed 15-hour mini-series Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) with Günther Lamprecht.

German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 550. Photo: Bellé.

Freddie
Barbara Valentin appeared in numerous other films and TV productions, including Bomber & Paganini (1976, Nicos Perakis) starring Mario Adorf, Flammende Herzen/Flaming Hearts (1978, Walter Bockmayer, Rolf Bührmann) with Peter Kern, and Dorian Gray im Spiegel der Boulevardpresse/The Image of Dorian Gray in the Yellow Press (1984, Ulrike Ottinger) with Delphine Seyrig. In 1984-1985, she lived together with Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, whom she would come to call 'the love of her life'. After his death in 1991 she supported the fight of HIV organizations against AIDS, and became an icon of the Munich gay scene. Her last film was Die Hunde sind schuld/The Dogs are Guilty (2001, Andreas Prochaska) with Tilo Prückner. Barbara Valentin died in 2002. She suffered a brain hemorrhage early in 2001, and was in a coma for quite some time, and was later confined to a wheelchair. She is buried in the Ostfriedhof cemetery in Munich.

Scene from Ein Toter hing im Netz (1959) with Alex D'Arcy. Source: R6dw6c (YouTube).

Sexy Catfight scene from Ein Toter hing im Netz (1959). Source: Polar Blair's Den (YouTube).

Sources: Absolute Facts.nl (Dutch), Britannica, Wikipedia, and IMDb

Willy Hagara

2012-01-21T13:01:00.022+01:00

Austrian singer and actor Willy Hagara (1927) was a popular film and TV star from the mid 1950’s till the mid 1960’s. The discrete and elegant Schlager star had five Top 10 hits, including the evergreen Casetta in Canada (1958). The singer’s career did not survive the Beat wave, but in 1969 an inheritance made him a millionaire.

German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. A 1698.

The German Perry Como
Wilhelm ‘Willy’ Hagara was born in Vienna, Austria in 1927. He was initially trained as a postal clerk and practiced this profession as well. In 1946, he won a popular song contest in the Wiener Konzerthaus. He focused all his activities to this new career, and took singing and acting lessons. During this time he was successful with folk songs and as the singer of the band of John Fehring, who later became the leader of the ORF Big Band Orchestra. Hagara was a classic band singer who performed one of his songs in an early Schlager show for the German ARD television, Schlager-Expreß/Schlager Express (1953). Finally in 1955 came his breakthrough with the song Eine Kutsche voller Mädels/A coach full of girls (1955). Willy Hagara moved to Frankfurt in Germany and he became something like the German Perry Como, whose songs in German versions he often would sing. Two years later he appeared in his first film, the musical comedy Weißer Holunder/White Elder (1957, Paul May) with Germaine Damar. It was followed by a string of light entertainment films: Liebe, Mädchen und Soldaten/Love, girls and soldiers (1958, Franz Antel), Mein ganzes Herz ist voll Musik/My whole heart is filled with music (1959, Helmut Weiss), Der Haustyrann/The domestic tyrant (1959, Hans Deppe) starring Heinz Erhardt, Laß mich am Sonntag nicht allein/Let me not be alone on Sunday (1959, Arthur Maria Rabenalt) with Heidi Brühl, and Paprika/Pepper (1959, Kurt Wilhelm).

Austrian postcard by Kellner, Wien, no. 82466. Publicity still for Paprika/Pepper (1959).

German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. A 1836. Photo: Bavaria.

Beat Wave
Cinema attendance in Germany and Austria had spectacularly grown in the 1950’s, but at the end of the decade it first stagnated and then went into freefall in the 1960’s. The once so popular Schlager films became outdated. In 1961 Willy Hagara appeared in his last Schlager film, Ramona (1961, Paul Martin) with Senta Berger. At the time, television was developing into a mass medium that could compete with the cinema. In 1962 there were already 7 million TV sets in West-Germany. Hagara moved over to the small screen and appeared in such musical TV comedies as Mitternachtszauber/Midnight Magic (1964, Ralph Lotar) with Werner Fuetterer, and Vom Ersten das Beste/From the first the best (1965, Ekkehard Böhmer) with Hannelore Auer. These TV productions were in the same genre as the films he had made in the 1950’s for the cinema. Until the mid-1960 's he starred in numerous TV films and sold many records. In total he had five Top 10 hits, including the evergreen Casetta in Canada. His song Du spielst 'ne tolle Rolle (You play a great role) became in the version of Nat King Cole a Top 10 hit in the US. But the Beat wave finished his singing career. His later TV-films included Ein Mädchen von heute/A girl of today (1966, Dieter Finnern) with Karin Baal. In 1969 he got a million inheritance: his father, the merchant Franz Hagara, left him with a villa and several lease lands in Vienna. He did not retire, but he bridged the 1970’s with performances during galas. Incidentally he appeared as a guest in such TV shows as Hit-Journal (1973, H.B. Theopold), Tango-Tango (1976, Horst Eppinger) and Ein kleines Glück auf allen Wegen/A small fortune on all routes (1980, Ekkehard Böhmer). After the death of his wife in 1986, Willy Hagara retired from the show business. His last public appearance was in a show from Schloss Schönbrunn in Vienna in 2002 on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

Willy Hagara & Die Maxis sing Maria Marietta (Wie du küsst keine) in Weißer Holunder (1957). Source: (YouTube).

Willy Hagara sings Mandolinen und Mondschein (1959). Source: Fritz 5125 (YouTube).

Sources: Wälz Studer (Memoryradio.de) (German), Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.

Ralph Richardson

2012-01-20T13:01:00.029+01:00

English actor Sir Ralph Richardson (1902 – 1983) was one of the theatrical knights of the 20th century. Though more closely associated with the theater, he appeared over a period of 50 years in such film classics as The Fallen Idol (1948), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Greystoke (1984).

Mexican collector's card, no. 332.

The First British Horror Film
Ralph David Richardson was born in Cheltenham, England, in 1902. He was the third son and youngest child of Arthur Richardson, a master at the Ladies' College and his wife Lydia née Russell. When he was a baby, his mother left his father and took him with her to Gloucester, where he was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith of his mother (his father and brothers were Quakers). His father supported them with a small allowance. Lydia Richardson wished Ralph to become a priest. He was an altar boy in Brighton, and was sent to the Xavierian College, but he ran away from it. After working as an office boy for an insurance company, and later studying art, Richardson opted for a theatrical career. Aided by a small legacy from his grandmother, he paid a local theatrical manager ten shillings a week to be taught about acting. He began his acting career at age 18 in The Merchant of Venice (1921) and toured with Charles Doran's company for five seasons, gradually being promoted to larger parts. In September 1924, Richardson married the seventeen-year-old student actress Muriel Hewitt. Their marriage was childless but devoted. In 1925 he joined Sir Barry Jackson's Birmingham Repertory Company, where Richardson absorbed the influence of older contemporaries like Gerald du Maurier, and Mrs. Patrick Campbell. Richardson made his London début in July 1926 as the stranger in Oedipus at Colonus in a small theatre, followed by his West End début as Arthur Varwell in Yellow Sands which ran for 610 performances and from then to 1929 played in supporting roles in London productions. After touring in South Africa in 1929, he played two seasons at the Old Vic and two seasons at the Malvern summer theatre. He pursued the great character roles. His Old Vic roles included Caliban to the Prospero of John Gielgud, beginning a professional association and friendship that lasted for five decades. Richardson's other parts in the Old Vic seasons included Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, Brutus in Julius Caesar, and Iago in Othello. In 1933 he made his film debut with a small part in the first British horror film of the sound era, The Ghoul (1933, T. Hayes Hunter) starring Boris Karlof. He had a bigger part in the drama The King of Paris (1934, Jack Raymond) starring Cedric Hardwicke. He had the leading part in the mystery The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934, Walter Summers) with Ann Todd. Richardson became an undisputed West End star as Clitterhouse in Barré Lyndon's comedy melodrama, The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse which ran for 492 performances from August 1936, and most of all as Johnson in J. B. Priestley's Johnson Over Jordan directed by Basil Dean, with music by Benjamin Britten. Richardson was engaged to play the role of Mercutio, replacing Orson Welles, in the 1934 Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet. Richardson's film appearances include the Sci-Fi film Things to Come (1936, William Cameron Menzies) which H.G. Wells adapted for the screen from his own novel, The Citadel (1938, King Vidor) starring Robert Donat, and the adventure film The Four Feathers (1939, Zoltan Korda). Brian MacFarlane writes in the Encyclopaedia of British Cinema: “Never handsome, he was always going to be a limited leading man in films and his 1930’s films tend to the eccentric or the character lead”.

British postcard by Real Photograph, no. 260.

The Greatest Play Of My Generation
During World War II Ralph Richardson served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander. Richardson and Laurence Olivier were released from the armed forces in 1944 to run the Old Vic company as a triumvirate with the stage director John Burrell. The Old Vic theatre was out of use because of bomb damage, and the company moved to the New Theatre in St. Martin's Lane. During this period, Richardson gave some of his most noted performances, including Falstaff and Peer Gynt. He also directed Alec Guinness as Richard II. In 1945 Richardson and Olivier led the company in a tour of Germany, where they were seen by many thousands of servicemen; they also appeared at the Comédie Française in Paris. In 1942, his first wife Muriel Hewitt had contracted sleeping sickness and died after a long illness. Two years later Richardson had married the actress Meriel Forbes, a member of the theatrical Forbes-Robertson family. They had one son, Charles David (1945 – 1998). Richardson starred in the thriller The Fallen Idol (1948, Carol Reed) with Michèle Morgan. Brian MacFarlane in the Encyclopaedia of British Cinema: “perhaps his finest screen work, full of subtle, suppressed longing and pain”. A year later he appeared as Olivia de Havilland’s abusive father in The Heiress (1949, William Wyler). This part resulted in his first nomination for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. In 1952 he co-starred with Ann Todd in the romantic war drama The Sound Barrier (1952, David Lean). For this role he won the BAFTA Award for Best British Actor, and was nominated for a BAFTA on another three occasions (his last being for Greystoke in 1984). That year he also played an English minister in the heartwarming drama The Holly and the Ivy (1952, George More O'Ferrall) with Celia Johnson. In 1954 and 1955 Richardson played Dr. Watson in an American/BBC radio co-production of Sherlock Holmes stories, with John Gielgud as Holmes and Orson Welles as the villainous Professor Moriarty. Richardson turned down the role of Estragon in Peter Hall's premiere of the English-language version of Waiting for Godot and later reproached himself for missing the chance to be in ‘the greatest play of my generation’. In the cinema he played Buckingham to Laurence Olivier's Richard in Richard III (1955, Laurence Olivier). Richardson's Timon of Athens in his 1956 return to the Old Vic was well received, as was his Broadway appearance in The Waltz of the Toreadors for which he was nominated for a Tony Award in 1957. Also successful were the films Our Man in Havana (1959, Carol Reed), starring Alec Guinness, and Exodus (1960, Otto Preminger) starring Paul Newman.

British postcard by Show Parade Picture Service in The People series, no. P. 1100. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd.

Ulrich of Craggenmoor
In the 1960’s, Ralph Richardson appeared successfully as Sir Peter Teazle in John Gielgud's production of The School for Scandal, and the original production of Joe Orton's controversial farce What the Butler Saw in the West End at the Queen's Theatre in 1969 with Stanley Baxter. Richardson played Lord Emsworth on BBC television in dramatizations of P. G. Wodehouse's Blandings Castle stories, with his wife Meriel Forbes playing his domineering sister Connie, and his friend Stanley Holloway as his butler Beach. In 1963, Richardson won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Long Day's Journey into Night (1962, Sidney Lumet). Author Eugene O'Neill gives in this film an autobiographical account of his explosive homelife, fused by a morphine-addicted mother (Katherine Hepburn), and a father (Richardson) who wallows in drink after realizing he is no longer a famous actor. Richardson also appeared in such film successes as Doctor Zhivago (1965, David Lean), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969, Richard Attenborough), and Battle of Britain (1969, Guy Hamilton). In the 1970’s, he appeared in the West End and with the National Theatre under Peter Hall's direction. In the cinema he played in O Lucky Man! (1973, Lindsay Anderson), the TV mini-series Jesus of Nazareth (1977, Franco Zeffirelli), and did a cameo appearance near the end of the Terry Gilliam film Time Bandits (1981). Also that same year, he appeared as Ulrich of Craggenmoor, the aging sorcerer who takes on an ancient dragon in the fantasy epic Dragonslayer (1981, Matthew Robbins). Mike Cummings at Rovi calls Richardson ‘one of his country's most celebrated eccentrics’: “Well into old age, he continued to enthrall audiences with his extraordinary acting skills - and to irritate neighbors with his noisy motorbike outings, sometimes with a parrot on his shoulder. He collected paintings, antiquities, and white mice.” However, Richardson continued his long stage association with John Gielgud, appearing together in two new works, David Storey's Home and Harold Pinter's No Man's Land. His last stage appearance was at the National in the lead role in Eduardo De Filippo's Inner Voices in June 1983. In the cinema he played the sixth Earl of Greystoke in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984, Hugh Hudson), for which he was again nominated for an Academy Award. His last film appearance was in Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984, Peter Webb), starring Paul McCartney. In 1983, Ralph Richardson died of a stroke, aged 80. Richardson was knighted in 1947, the first of his generation of actors to receive the accolade. He received Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for The Heiress and Greystoke, as well as New York Film Critics Circle and National Board of Review Awards for Best Actor for The Sound Barrier and another NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actor" for Greystoke. His Oscar nomination, BAFTA nomination and NYFCC Award for Greystoke were all posthumous.

Trailer The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934). Source: Hardtofindvideos2 (YouTube).

Trailer The Heiress (1949). Source: I Am Only Love (YouTube)> Copyright: Paramount Pictures.

Trailer Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). Source: Pwgr 2000 (YouTube).

Sources: Brian McFarlane (Encyclopaedia of British Cinema), Mike Cummings (Rovi), Britannica.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Bernd Aldor

2012-01-19T13:01:00.070+01:00

Bernd Aldor (1881 - 1950) was a star of the German silent cinema in the 1910’s and 1920’s, often in films by Richard Oswald or Lupu Pick. Sound film and the Nazi regime broke the career of this Jewish actor.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2854. Photo: Rexfilm. Publicity still for Der Weltspiegel (1918, Lupu Pick).

German postcard by Ed. Herman Leiser, Berlin, no. 5408. Photo: Publicity still for Der Weg ins Freie (1918, Richard Oswald).

Aufklärungsfilme
Bernd Aldor was born in Constantinople, the former Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey) in 1881 (IMDb and Filmportal.de write wrongly 1887). Shortly before the turn of the century he took acting lessons in Vienna at the master class of Karl Arnau. He began his theatrical career as an extra at the Hofburgtheater, the later Burgtheater. In 1900 he received his first permanent engagement in Znaim (Znojmo). From 1903 on his other theater stations included Czernowitz, Trier, Bremen, Königsberg, Leipzig, Dresden and Hamburg. In 1906 he came to Berlin to work at the Schiller Theater. During a performance of Leo Tolstoy's The Living Corpse at the Schauspielhaus Leipzig he was discovered for the film by Charles Decroix. His film debut was probably the German short film Die Czernowska/That Czernowska Woman (1913, Charles Decroix), of which scenes were edited in the film Lyrisch Nitraat/Lyrical Nitrate (1991, Peter Delpeut). Other films he made with Decroix were Der Fleck/The stain (1913, Charles Decroix) starring Wolfgang Neff, and Das Ave Maria/The Ave Maria (1913, Charles Decroix) opposite Fern Andra, the great American diva of the German silent cinema. Aldor appeared also opposite another silent film diva, Henny Porten, in Die große Sünderin/The Great Sinner (1914, Curt A. Stark), and with the young deceased Dorrit Weixler in Aschenbrödelchen/Little Cinderella (1915). During WWI, he worked with director Richard Oswald for the first time, at Zirkusblut/Circus Blood (1916, Richard Oswald) and at Seine letzte Maske/His last mask (1916, Richard Oswald). In both films he played the lead role, like in most of his films during this period. Aldor became well-known with his performances in the first two parts of a trilogy of Aufklärungsfilme (typical German educational films), Es werde Licht/There Will Be Light (1917-1918, Richard Oswald). He played Dr. Mauthner, head of an institution for children suffering from syphilis. He also appeared in Oswald's literary film adaptations Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray/The Picture of Dorian Gray (1917, Richard Oswald) based on the classic novel by Oscar Wilde, and Tolstoy's Der lebende Leichnam/The Living Corpse (1918, Richard Oswald), which he had earlier performed on stage. From 1917 to 1919 he was also the star of several film by actor-writer-director Lupu Pick, such as Die Liebe des Van Royk/The Love of Van Royk (1918, Lupu Pick), Der Weltspiegel/The Mirror World (1918, Lupu Pick) and Mein Wille ist Gesetz/My will is law (1919, Lupu Pick) with Olga Engl.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 419/3, 1919 - 1924. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 9617. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin.

German postcard by Verlag Herman Leiser, Berlin, no. 3148. Photo: Martin Herzfeld, Dresden.

Oblivion
Until the mid-1920’s, Bernd Aldor was seen in leading roles. He starred as Talma opposite Fern Andra again in Madame Récamier (1920, Joseph Delmont). In the drama Die Furcht vor dem Weibe/The fear of the woman (1921, Hanna Henning) he starred opposite Otto Gebühr. He appeared at the side of the great comedian Hermann Valentin in Graf Cohn/Count Cohn (1923, Carl Boese), and with Claire Rommer in Aschermittwoch/Ash Wednesday (1925), directed by his old co-star Wolfgang Neff, who had turned into a director. He reunited with Oswald for Halbseide/Half silk (1925, Richard Oswald) as the husband of Mary Parker. From 1927 on his film parts became smaller. He played supporting parts in Die glühende Gasse/The glowing alley (1927, Paul Sugar) starring Hans Albers, the comedy Schwere Jungs - leichte Mädchen/Guys and Dolls (1927, Carl Boese) starring Gustav Fröhlich and Lissi Arna, and Indizienbeweis/Circumstantial evidence (1929, Georg Jacoby) starring Fritz Alberti. Then he slowly fell into oblivion, but he did some small film appearances in the sound era. Richard Oswald gave him a small part in his sound film Dreyfus (1930, Richard Oswald) starring Fritz Kortner and Heinrich George. His final film appearance was in Elisabeth von Österreich/Elisabeth of Austria (1931, Adolf Trotz) starring Lil Dagover. In 1932, Aldor was committed by the Romanian actor Constantin Tanase to direct a film in Berlin. In July 1938, he was excluded from the Reichsfilmkammer because of his "probably not Aryan" origin, although he had not been active for the cinema since 1932. Maybe the Jewish Bernd Aldor had fled the country. There is no information about him during this period. Wikipedia writes that only in 1950 he and his wife Hilde were 'detected' again, now in Vienna, Austria. A little later the former actor died there, in 1950.

German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot., no. 164/2. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

German postcard by Hermann Leiser Verlag, Berlin, no. 3152. Photo: Richard-Oswald-Produktion. Publicity still for Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray (1917, Richard Oswald).

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

Valentina Cortese

2012-01-19T13:01:00.029+01:00

Italian film and stage actress Valentina Cortese (1923) appeared in more than 100 Italian, French, British and American films and TV series. She was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Truffaut’s La nuit américaine/Day for Night (1973).

Italian postcard by Casa Editr. Ballerini & Fratini (B.F.F. Edit.), Firenze, no. 4260. Photo: Bragaglia.

Sensual Prostitute With A Golden Heart
Valentina Cortese was born in Milan, Italy in 1923. As a young girl she attended the acting school of Scalera Film. She started her film career in 1940 and played small ingenue parts in such films as Orizzonte dipinto/Horizon painting (1941, Guido Salvini), L'Attore scomparso/The actor died (1941, Luigi Zampa) and Primo Amore/First Love (1941, Carmine Gallone) with Vivi Gioi. The following year, she had her breakthrough with a supporting part in the western Una signora dell'Ovest/Girl of the Golden West (1942, Carl Koch) with Michel Simon. She became one of the most popular actresses of the fascist period, and appeared in several entertainment films of the 1940’s, including La Cena delle beffe/The Joker’s Dinner (1942, Alessandro Blasetti) starring Amedeo Nazzari, Quarta pagina/3/4 of a Page (1942, Nicola Manzari) based on an original screenplay by Federico Fellini, Nessuno torna indietro/Responsibility Comes Back (1945, Alessandro Blasetti), and Un Americano in vacanza/A Yank in Rome (1946, Luigi Zampa). A sensation was her double role as both Fantine and Cosette in I miserabili/Les Miserables (1948, Riccardo Freda), a competent screen adaptation of the Victor Hugo classic. The international success of the British-French melodrama The Glass Mountain (1949, Henry Cass) brought her a Hollywood offer from 20th Century Fox. Studio mogul Darryl F. Zanuck emphasized her Mediterranean background by changing the spelling of her name to Cortesa. She appeared as a sensual prostitute with a golden heart in Jules Dassin's Thieves' Highway (1949). Other American productions were Black Magic (1949, Gregory Ratoff) with Orson Welles, and Malaya (1949, Richard Thorpe) with Spencer Tracey and James Stewart. She portrayed a girl pursued by a killer in the thriller The House on Telegraph Hill (1951, Robert Wise). Her co-star was Richard Basehart, whom she married that same year. She had one son with him before they divorced in 1960. She returned to Europe and worked with such great directors as Michelangelo Antonioni, who cast her in his Le amiche/The Girlfriends (1955) with Eleonora Rossi Drago, and Federico Fellini, who gave her a supporting part in his surrealist fantasy Giulietta degli spiriti/Juliet of the Spirits (1965) starring Giulietta Masina. For her role in Le Amiche she won a Nastro d’argento (Silver Ribbon) for Best Supporting Actress. During these years she also appeared in such international films as The Barefoot Contessa (1954, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) in which she played Countess Eleanora Torlato-Favrini, Magic Fire (1955, William Dieterle), Barabba/Barabbas (1961, Richard Fleischer) starring Anthony Quinn, and The Visit (1964, Bernhard Wicki) with Ingrid Bergman.

French (?) collector's card. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for Malaya (1949).

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 399.

Fading, Alcoholic Film Star
Valentina Cortese did some of her finest work in her middle years. She gave a memorable performance as a fading, alcoholic film star, who can’t remember her lines, in François Truffaut's film-about-film La nuit américaine/Day for Night (1973). She won several awards for this bravura role including the British BAFTA award. In the US she was nominated for both a Golden Globe and the Oscar. When Ingrid Bergman won for her small role in Murder on the Orient Express (1974, Sidney Lumet), Bergman apologized in her acceptance speech, saying that Cortese deserved the award more. Other interesting performances by Cortese were the exalted mother in Le bateau sur l’herbe/The Boat on the Grass (1971, Gérard Brach), and the wife of Leon Trotzky (Richard Burton) in The Assassination of Trotsky (1973, Joseph Losey). For director Franco Zeffirelli, she played the mother of St. Francis of Assisi in Fratello Sole, sorella luna/Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972, Franco Zeffirelli). Later followed several parts in the theater for him and a role as Herodias in his TV mini-series Jesus of Nazareth (1977, Franco Zeffirelli), an uncredited part in Il giovane Toscanini/Toscanini (1988, Franco Zeffirelli) a biopic of legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini, and her final role as a mother superior in Storia di una capinera/Sparrow (1995 Franco Zeffirelli) with Johnathon Schaech. Her later films also included the adventure film When Time Ran Out... (1980, James Goldstone) starring Paul Newman, Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and the comedy Buster’s Bedroom (1991, Rebecca Horn) with Geraldine Chaplin. She also had a fruitful stage career, working with directors like Giorgio Strehler and Franco Zeffirelli and starring in plays like Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart and Frank Wedekind's Lulu. Her son, Jackie Basehart, also became an actor and appeared in several Italian films.

Theatrical trailer Thieves' Highway (1949). Source: Diva Daniela 1 (YouTube).

Trailer for Giulietta degli spiriti/Juliet of the Spirits (1965). Source: Danios 12345 (YouTube).

Scene from La nuit américaine/Day for Night (1973). Source: The Bathroom Singer (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (Rovi), Thanassis Agathos (IMDb), Trova Cinema (Italian), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Olaf Fjord

2012-01-18T13:01:00.029+01:00

Olaf Fjord (1897 – 1945) was an Austrian film actor, director and producer. He appeared in numerous Austrian, German, French, and Czech silent films.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 775/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Alex Binder.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3845/1, 1928-1929.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 997/2, 1925-1926. Photo: H. Gärtner, Berlin.

A Norwegian Austrian
Olaf Fjord was born as Ämilian Maximilian Pouch in Graz, Austria in 1897 (some sources mention 1895). At the age of three, he went with his parents to Bosnia-Herzegovina and grew up there in a Benedictine monastery. During the First World War he served in the military for a while. Still during the war, he settled in Vienna and took singing lessons. He also completed a business apprenticeship. In the winter of 1917-1918, he was discovered by the Danish director Einar Zangenberg for the film. He took the stage name Olaf Fjord and during his film career he often described himself as Norwegian. He appeared in many silent Austrian films, but also start to direct films, including the short Paulchen, das Millionenbaby/Pauly, the Million Dollar baby (1920, Olaf Fjord). In 1921 he played Ludwig II of Bavaria King in the biography Ludwig II. (1921, Otto Kreisler) with Gina Puch-Klitsch. In Germany he appeared in the historical epic Monna Vanna (1922, Richard Eichberg) starring Lee Parry and based on the play by Maurice Maeterlinck. The success of the film lead to bigger parts in German productions as Der Mann um Mitternacht/The man at Midnight (1924, Holger-Madsen) with Hella Moja, Zwei Menschen/Two People (1924, Hanns Schwarz) opposite Agnes Esterhazy, and Frauen, die nicht lieben dürfen/Women, not allowed to love (1925, Géza von Bolvary). He moved to France for Mon coeur au ralenti/Change of Heart (1928, Marco de Gastyne) starring British actress Annette Benson, Le désir/The Desire (1928, Albert Durec), filmed in Algeria, and La madone des sleepings/Madonna of the Sleeping Cars (1929, Marco de Gastyne, Maurice Gleize). A huge success was the Czech drama Erotikon/Seduction (1929, Gustav Machatý) with Ita Rina. Not in the least because a film scene showed bare breasts, a trick the director later repeated with the young Hedy Lamarr in his sensational Ekstase/Ecstasy (1933, Gustav Machatý).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4588/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Richard Frolik, Prague.

Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, Berlin, no. 5379. Photo: Bieber, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 997/1, 1925-1926. Photo: H. Gärtner, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Another Occupation
After the introduction of the sound film, Olaf Fjord appeared both in the German production Kameradschaftsehe/Companionate marriage (1929, Heinz Schall, Josef Medeotti-Bohác) with Ernst Verebes, and in the Czech language version, Kamarádské manzelství (1930, Josef Medeotti-Bohác). In the following years, his parts became smaller, as in the all-star drama 1914, die letzten Tage vor dem Weltbrand/1914: The Last Days Before the War (1931, Richard Oswald) starring Albert Bassermann. Alles um eine Frau/Everything for a Woman (1935, Alfred Abel) with Charlotte Susa and Gustav Diessl, was his final film as an actor. Fjord had found another occupation though as a director and as a producer. First, he produced an early version of the often adapted material Ferien vom Ich/Holiday From Myself (1934, Hans Deppe) with Hermann Speelmans, and Pan (1937, Olaf Fjord, Josef Rovenský) with Christian Kayssler, a film adaptation of a novel by the Norwegian Nobel Prize winning author Knut Hamsun. Both films, he produced in Nazi Germany. His attempt to produce an adaptation of the novel Gösta Berlings Saga by Selma Lagerlöf failed in 1938. In January 1939 he emigrated to the United States, where he lived for a time. Olaf Fjord died in Vienna, Austria in 1945, at the age of 47.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5659. Photo: R.Tomatis, Nice/E. Weil & Co.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1753/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Manuel Frères, Paris.

French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 501. Photo: publicity still for the French film La madone des sleepings/Madonna of the Sleeping Cars (1929, Marco de Gastyne, Maurice Gleize).

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Georges Guétary

2012-01-17T23:01:00.116+01:00

Suave singing star Georges Guétary (1915 - 1997) performed on the London and Broadway stages, but the light tenor achieved his greatest renown in France, where he had a musical career of nearly 60 years. To international cinema audiences he is best known as Gene Kelly's rival for the affections of Leslie Caron in An American in Paris.

French postcard by IPB. Photo: Disques Pathé.

French postcard by Imp. De Marchi Frères, Marseille.

Phosphorescently Brilliant Smile and Velvety Voice
Georges Guétary was born Lambros Worloou, to Greek parents in 1915 in Alexandria, Egypt. His father was a figure in the textile industry, and intended his son to follow in his footsteps. His uncle however was the classical pianist Tasso Janopoulo, who was an accompanist to such violinists as Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, and Yehudi Menuhin. Through his influence Lambros went to Paris in 1934, where his father hoped that he would further his knowledge of commercial procedures. Instead Lambros studied music and voice. Humming a song in the office of a concert organizer while on an errand for his teacher, he was asked to audition, he recounted in his memoirs, and left with a one-night singing contract. He became the singer in the orchestra of Jo Bouillon. Not long after making this first stage appearance in 1937, his career took off when he was discovered by Henri Varna, director of the Casino de Paris and became there the singing partner of the music hall queen Mistinguett. James Kirkup at The Independent offers a different version: "he was 'discovered' one night by the eagle- eyed Mistinguett, who fell for his dimpled smile's almost phosphorescent brilliance, and for his velvety voice. He started appearing as her cavalier at the Casino de Paris in 1938, and was an immediate popular succcess." That year he also made his first film appearance in the musical Quand le cœur chante/When the Heart Sings (1938, Bernard Roland). In 1942 he changed his Greek name into Georges Guétary because German occupiers in wartime France were sending enemy nationals to concentration camps. When he worked in Toulouse as a Maitre d’Hotel he met the accordeonist Fredo Gardoni who engaged him as a singer and let him make his first record. Another important meeting was the one with Basque composer Francis Lopez in 1943. Lopez created the chansons Caballero and Robin des Bois for him, which became huge successes. During the liberation everybody was singing his song, A Honolulu (1945), also written by Lopez. That same year Georges Guétary also appeared in the film Le Cavalier noir/The Black Cavalier (1945, Gilles Grangier) in which he again interpreted many songs by Francis Lopez: Cavalier, Avec l'amour, La plus belle, and especially Chic à Chiquito, another enormous success. His next film, Les Aventures de Casanova/Loves of Casanova (1946, Jean Boyer), was also a smash hit.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 19. Photo: Studio Carlet Ainé.

French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 19. Photo: Carlet Ainé.

French postcard by Editions E. C., Paris, no. 115. Photo: Carlet Ainé.

From the West End to Broadway
In 1947 Georges Guétary achieved acclaim on the London stage, when he was imported from Paris by impresario C. B. Cochran to star with Lizbeth Webb in the operetta Bless the Bride at the Adelphi Theater. He played the role of a handsome French actor who elopes with a young English girl on the day she is to marry someone else. The bride is parted from her husband by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 and believes him killed, but the lovers are reunited in time for the final curtain. Praise for his performance led to offers from Broadway. In 1950, he made his debut at the 46th Street Theater, starring with Nanette Fabray in Arms and the Girl, a musical set in the days of the American Revolution. Critic Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times: “The part of her foreign-born suitor is played by Georges Guetary, who can act a character and sing a song with gusto, and make stage love in the Continental style, which has obvious advantages.” This success paved the road to Hollywood, where he appeared in his best known film, An American in Paris (1951, Vincente Minnelli), built around the music of George Gershwin. He played Gene Kelly's rival for the affections of Leslie Caron. Guétary was the focus of attention in a spectacular scene in which he strutted up and down a majestic staircase singing I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise while flanked by willowy and scantily (but flamboyantly) clad showgirls; and he shared the spotlight with Gene Kelly in a rousing rendition of ‘S Wonderful.

French postcard.

French postcard by Edition P.I., Paris, no. 29 K. Photo: Sam Lévin.

French postcard. Photo: Teddy Piaz.

French postcard, no. 157.

Latin lover with a voice of Creme Chantilly
In 1950 Georges Guétary returned to France and became a French citizen. In 1955, he married Jeanine Guyon, then the only female producer in French television. He starred in two enormously successful operettas by Francis Lopez, Pour Don Carlos (420 performances at the Théâtre du Châtelet, the temple of operetta) and La Route fleurie/The Flowery Path (four years at the ABC theatre) with comedian Bourvil and Annie Cordy. Guétary starred in several more stage operettas, including Pacifico (1958), La Polka des lampions (1962), and Monsieur Carnaval (1965), with music by Charles Aznavour. In 1981, Francis Lopez again asked Georges Guétary for a new operetta, Aventure à Monte-Carlo, which had a honourable succes. After this the two created more operettas like L'Amour à Tahiti (1983), Carnaval aux Caraïbes (1985) and Le Roi du Pacifique (1986), but they couldn’t repeat their successes of the 1950’s. Among Guétary’s most popular recordings were Bambino, Papa Aime Maman and La Samba Bresilienne. He appeared in French, Spanish and German films, including Pluma al viento/Plume au vent/Feather in the Wind (1952, Louis Cuny, Ramon Torrado), Le Baron Tzigane/The Gypsy Baron (1954, Arthur Maria Rabenalt) - an adaptation of the Johann Strauss operetta Der Zigeunerbaron, and Le chemin du paradis/The Road To Paradise (1955, Hans Wolff, Willi Forst) with Christine Carrère. The latter was an alternate language version of Die Drei von der Tankstelle/The Three of the gas Station (1955, Hans Wolff), a remake of the 1930 hit musical starring Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch. Guétary also sang and danced on television. 'The Eternal Young Man' continued to give some 40 gala performances a year until his retirement on the Riviera in 1995. Georges Guétary died of a heart attack in 1997 in Mougins at the French Riviera. He was 82, and was survived by his wife and two children, director Hélène Guétary and actor François Guétary. In his obituary in The Independent, James Kirkup comes far while trying to capture Guétary's enduring appeal: "Part of Guetary's exotic charm, and much of his stage persona as a 'Latin lover' with a voice of Creme Chantilly resided in his mischievous innocence combined with an erotic mystery inherent in his ancestry. (...) The warm good-natured Guetary's teasing was always tender, and la Miss (Mistinguett) adored him, as did many of the ladies (and some of the gentlemen) who fell under his irresistible spell."

Georges Guétary and Martine Carol in Trente et quarante/Thirty and forty (1946, Gilles Grangier). Source: Stephenjoeagi (YouTube).

Theatrical trailer An American In Paris (1951). Source: Astor Theatre (YouTube).

Georges Guétary sings Les enfants du Pirée. Source: Avec Joie (YouTube).

Sources: Lawrence van Gelder (The New York Times), James Kirkup (The Independent), Jean-Claude Fournier (perso.orange.fr) (French), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Queenie Thomas

2012-01-17T13:01:00.026+01:00

British actress Queenie Thomas (1898 – 1977) appeared in dozens of silent British films. She often worked with writer-producer-director Bertram Phillips.

British postcard in the series Screen Plays. Photo: Bertram Phillips.

Aerial Honeymoon
Marjorie Violet Queenie Thomas was born in Cardiff, Wales, Great Britain in 1898. In 1914 she made her film debut, probably in Jessie (1914) for the Bamforth Company. In the next year she played the lead role in several films, such as The White Star (1915, Bertram Phillips), John Halifax, Gentleman (1915, George Pearson) with Fred Paul, and Infelice (1915, L.C. MacBean, Fred Paul). During the First World War she also appeared in leading roles in several more silent films, such as Frills (1916, Bertram Phillips), and What Would a Gentleman Do? (1918, Wilfred Noy). In the post-war years she continued to star in comedies and romantic dramas, often written, produced and directed by Bertram Philips. These films include A Little Child Shall Lead Them (1919, Bertram Phillips) with South African actor Bruce Gordon, and Trousers (1920, Bertram Phillips). In 1919 Queenie Thomas was married to George Newman. After their wedding ceremony at St. Margaret's Church in Westminster they had an ‘aerial honeymoon’, while they flew from London to Paris. See the Pathé Gazette clip about their flight.

Hiatus
During the early 1920’s, the film appearances of Queenie Thomas were less frequently. She returned to the screen in the comedy Tut-Tut and His Terrible Tomb (1923, Bertram Phillips). It was one of six episodes in the Syncopated Picture Plays 2-reel series. Another series in which she appeared was the Rainbow comedy series, produced by the company of Bertram Phillips and directed by Bernard Dudley. Other comedies in which she starred were The School for Scandal (1923, Bertram Phillips) with Basil Rathbone, and The Alley of Golden Hearts (1924, Bertram Phillips). She also played in crime dramas, such as Her Redemption (1924, Bertram Phillips) with John Stuart, and The Last Witness (1925, Fred Paul) starring Isobel Elsom. In the comedy Safety First (1926, Fred Paul) she starred with Brian Aherne. At the end of the 1920’s there was a new hiatus in her film career and then she played in her last film, the late silent production Warned Off (1930, Walter West). Queenie Thomas died in 1977 in Great Britain. She was 79.

Pathé newsreel (23/10/1919) item 'Film Star's aerial honeymoon'. Source: British Pathé.

Sources: BFI, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Lya de Putti

2012-01-16T13:01:00.217+01:00

Hungarian born film star Lya de Putti (1899 - 1931) portrayed vamps in German and American silent films.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1273/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Hans Natge.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3370/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Frenkel.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 2023/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Fanam.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3178/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Frenkel.

Vamps
Amalia 'Lia' Putty was born in Vécse, Austria-Hungary (now Vojcice, Slovakia) in 1897. She was a daughter of a Hungarian baron/cavalry officer and a former countess. Lia had two brothers, Geza and Alexander, and a sister, Mitzi. In 1913 (or 1912 according to some sources) she married county magistrate Zoltán Szepessy and she had two daughters with him. In Budapest, she began her stage career with a short stint in the vaudeville circuit. In 1918 she made her screen debut with A császár katonái/The Emperor's soldiers (1918, Béla Balogh). That year she also divorced Szepessy. Shortly after her divorce she married Ludwig Christensen, who died in 1922. She made her next film in Romania, Pe valurile fericirii/The waves of happiness (1920, Dolly A. Szigethy). Then she moved on to the capital of the European silent cinema of the 1920's, Berlin.

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 134. Photo: Phoebus Film. Publicity still for Im Namen des Kaisers/In the Name of the Emperor (1925, Robert Dinesen)

German postcard by Ross Verlag. Number and dating unknown.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 878/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Ernst Sandau, Berlin. Early card of De Putti in which her name is still spelled Lia instead of Lya.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1562/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.

Varieté
In 1920, Lya de Putti progressed to perform classical ballet in Berlin. She became the premiere danseuse at the Berlin Winter Garden in 1924. In Germany she played supporting roles in films by famous directors. She worked twice with F.W. Murnau , at the drama Die brennende Acker/Burning Soil (1921) with Vladimir Gajdarov, and Phantom (1922) starring Alfred Abel. She starred in six films produced by Joe May, including the exotic adventure epic Das Indische Grabmal/The Indian Tomb (1921, Joe May) starring Olaf Fønss. Her biggest hit – especially in the US – was the UFA production Varieté/Jealousy (1925, Ewald André Dupont). De Putti played the alluring femme fatale Bertha-Marie, who seduces the simple carnival concessionaire Stephan Huller (Emil Jannings) and then betrays him with the handsome acrobat (Warwick Ward). Feeling doubly impotent because he himself had been a famous aerialist before suffering a crippling accident, Jannings fantasizes about killing his rival - and, finally, does so. De Putti followed this success with star performances in Manon Lescaut (1925, Arthur Robison) opposite Vladimir Gajdarov, and Junges Blut/Young Blood (1926, Manfred Noa) with Walter Slezak.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1267/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder/UFA.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1819/4, 1927-1928. Photo: Fanam.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3817/9, 1928-1929.

Hollywood
Studio mogul Adolph Zukor invited Lya de Putti to come to Hollywood. At her arrival in New York in February 1926, she told American reporters that she was twenty-two years old. Her ocean liner's records list her as having been twenty-six. Her American debut was David Wark Griffith's Sorrows of Satan (1926, D.W. Griffith) starring Adolphe Menjou. The film was released in two versions, one in America and the other in Europe. In the American version one scene had De Putti fully dressed. The same scene in the European release had De Putti topless. She went to work for Universal in such films as The Heart Thief (1927, Nils Olaf Chrisander) starring Joseph Schildkraut, Buck Privates (1928, Melville W. Brown) with Zasu Pitts, and The Scarlet Lady (1928, Alan Crosland). Hollywood generally casted her as a vamp, and she often wore her dark hair short in a style similar to that of Louise Brooks.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1028/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1028/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1269/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder/UFA.

Broadway
Lya de Putti was rumored to be engaged to Count Ludwig Salm von Hoogstraten, a former husband of the American oil heiress Millicent Rogers, but she denied the engagement. She failed to make it big in Hollywood and her Hollywood efforts were inhibited by her foreign accent when the sound film arrived. She left the screen by 1929 to attempt to make a re-start on Broadway. Later that year she returned to Europe. In Germany she had a part in Rund um die Liebe/About Love (1929, Oskar Kalbus), an all star women's picture with a.o. Lilian Harvey and Valerie Boothby. She went to England to study the language and also made there the silent film The Informer (1929, Arthur Robison) with Lars Hanson and Warwick Ward. It would turn ou to be her final film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3494/2, 1928-1929. Photo: probably a still from The Heart Thief (1927, Nils Olaf Chrisander).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1268/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder/Ufa.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1931/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Melbourne Spurr, Hollywood.

Chicken bone
Lya de Putti returned to America. At the end of 1931 followed a macabre and bizarre accident. De Putti swallowed a chicken bone which had to be surgically removed. At the hospital, she reportedly behaved irrationally and eluded her nurses. Eventually she was found in a corridor. She contracted an infection, then pleurisy in her right side, followed by pneumonia in both lungs. Lya de Putti died in 1931 in the New York hospital. She was only 32. According to Wikipedia, she left "just £800 (UK equivalent at the time) and a few bits of jewellery. Four years earlier, £800 was her weekly wage." She was survived by her third husband, Louis Jahnke, whom she had married in 1922. Her first husband, Zoltán Szepessy, committed suicide shortly after her death. They had two daughters, Ilona (1914) and Judith (1916). Both daughters were interviewed as old ladies for the documentary Das dritte Leben der Lya de Putti/The Third Life of Lya de Putti (1996, Gisela Scheelein).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3452, 1928-1929. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères, Paris.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3178/1, 1928-1929.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3020/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Frenkel.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3020/3, 1928-1929.

Sources: Hal Erickson (Rovi), Jessica Keaton (Silence is Golden), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Jarod Hitching (IMDb), Wikipedia, Filmportal.de and IMDb.

Adrian Hoven

2012-01-15T13:01:00.070+01:00

Austrian actor Adrian Hoven (1922 - 1981) was the athletic and dynamic Sonnyboy of the German cinema in the 1950’s, who would become one of the stars of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's films in the 1970's. As a writer, producer and director he made horror and erotica with SM overtones.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden (Westf.), no. F 4. Retail price: 25 Pf. Photo: Melodie/Dt. London. Publicity still for Bonsoir Paris.

German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. Fl 2. Photo: Melodie/Dt. London/Heil. Publicity still for Bonsoir Paris.

German postcard by UFA, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. 87. Photo: Arthur Grimm/Constantin Film.

Dashing
Adrian Hoven was born as Wilhelm Arpad Hofkirchner in Wöllersdorf, Niederösterreich (Austria) in 1922. He was discovered during WW II by director Helmut Weiss and made his debut in the Heinz Rühmann comedy Quax in Afrika/Quax in Africa (1943-1947, Helmut Weiss). After the war he decided to go to an acting school. He started to work on the Berlin stages, but again Weiss gave him a break in the cinema, the part of a cadet in Herzkönig/King of Hearts (1947, Helmut Weiss). After the circus drama Tromba (1949, Helmut Weiss), Hoven decided to concentrate solely on films. It would be the start of a successful career with more than 100 films. As the young hero or lover he seemed to excell in every genre; in melodramas like Dr. Holl/Affairs of Dr. Holl (1951, Rolf Hansen), in comedies like Die unentschuldigte Stunde/The Unexcused Hour (1957, Willi Forst), in romances like Mädchenjahre einer Königin/The Story of Vickie (1954, Ernst Marischka) and ...wie einst Lili Marleen/Like Once Lili Marleen (1956, Paul Verhoeven), but also in war films like Canaris/Canaris: Master Spy (1954, Alfred Weidenmann) and Rommel ruft Kairo/Rommel Calls Cairo (1959, Wolfgang Schleif). With his black hair and blue eyes he looked as dashing in a dinner jacket as in a uniform.

Dutch Postcard by UFA. Photo: Joe Niczky/UFA.

Vintage Postcard. Photo: Berolina.

Horror and Erotica
In 1965 Adrian Hoven founded with Pier A. Caminneci the production company Aquila Film Enterprises and made his first film as a director, writer and producer, the psycho thriller Der Mörder mit dem Seidenschal/The Murder With the Silk Scarf (1966, Adrian Hoven) starring Carl Möhner. The film was not a box office success so he switched to more commercial genres like horror and erotica. He produced the SM fantasy Necronomicon/Geträumte Sünden/Succubus (1966, Jesus Franco), which became an international cult hit. He also occasionally tried his hand at screenwriting under the nom de plume of Percy Parker. As an actor he could be seen in European thrillers and horror exploitation, including Avec la peau des autres/With the Lives of Others (1966, Jacques Deray) starring Lino Ventura, Rote Lippen, Sadisterotica/Two Undercover Angels (1969, Jesus Franco), and Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält/Mark of the Devil (1970) starring Herbert Lom.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel. Photo: Aristan/NF-Film/Brünjes.

German postcard by F.J. Rüdel, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 87. Photo: FAMA-Film/Niczky. Publicity still for Dr. Holl.

German postcard by Kolibri, no. 1940. Photo: Camera-Film.

Neue Deutsche Film
More challenging was Adrian Hoven's work for the Neue Deutsche Film. He played a transvestite in Schatten der Engel/Shadow of Angels (1976, Daniel Schmid) and he worked for several prestigious (TV-)films by the great director Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Welt am Draht/World on Wires (1973) with Klaus Löwitsch, Martha (1974) featuring Margit Carstensen, Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox and His Friends (1975) as the father of Peter Chatel, Angst vor der Angst/Fear of Fear (1975), Satansbraten/Satan's Brew (1976), Despair (1978) starring Dirk Bogarde, the 15-hour TV miniseries Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) and Lili Marleen (1981) with Hanna Schygulla. He also worked as a TV host. His son Percy Hoven works as an actor and TV presenter too. Adrian Hoven died in 1981 in Tegernsee, Germany. he was 58. His final film was the carnival drama Looping - Der lange Traum vom kurzen Glück/Looping (1981, Walter Bockmayer, Rolf Bührmann) with Hans Christian Blech.

Scene from Liebling mein Herz lässt Dich grüssen (1955). Source: Fritz 5152 (YouTube).

Trailer Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee (1961). Source: Rialto Film (youTube).

Trailer for Eurotrash Chinos y minifaldas/Scorpions And Mini Skirts (1967, Ramón Comas), "the most surprising production of the year". Source: Our Man in Havanna (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (Rovi), Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-Line), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Massimo Girotti

2012-01-14T23:01:00.000+01:00

Handsome, manly Italian actor Massimo Girotti (1918 - 2003) had a career that spanned seven decades. He is best remembered for three roles: the young wanderer Gino in Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943), the stern lover in Michelangelo Antonioni's Cronaca di un amore (1950) and the passionate patriot in Visconti's Senso (1954).

Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scaramaglia Ed. Roma), no. 223. Photo: Ciolfi.

Italian postcard by Bromostampa, Milano. Foto: Dial.

Luchino Visconti
Massimo Girotti was born in Mogliano, Italy in 1918. He was an engineering student, who thanks to his athletic physique - he was a champion swimmer and polo player - was noted by writer Mario Soldati. Soldati offered him a small part in his first feature as a director, Dora Nelson (1940, Mario Soldati) featuring Assia Noris. He also played a small part in Tosca/The Story of Tosca (1941, Jean Renoir, Carl Koch) with Imperio Argentina, for which Luchino Visconti was an assistant-director. Girotti had a bigger part in Alessandro Blasetti's mythological extravaganza La corona di ferro/The Iron Crown (1941). He took the double role of the fairytale King, killed in the prologue, and his Tarzan-like son Arminio, who has been nurtured by lions in the forest. Blasetti's film made him a popular star. Roberto Rossellini cast him in his next film, the war drama Un pilota ritorna/A Pilot Returns (1941, Roberto Rossellini), written by Benito Mussolini's son Vittorio Mussolini, who was then head of the Italian film industry. In this film Girotti plays a pilot shot down over Greece and captured by the British. After a love affair with the daughter of an Italian doctor, he manages to escape and return. In 1943 came a turning point in his career when Luchino Visconti cast him opposite the torrid Clara Calamai in Ossessione/Obsession (1943, Luchino Visconti), the unauthorized Italian version of James M. Cain's steamy novel The Postman Always Rings Twice. In Ossessione the camera's eye on Girotti's Gino shows Visconti's predilection for the actor. In his published memoirs Girotti confessed he felt embarassed about Visconti's amorous attention for him, not very clear to viewers then but quite clear to us now. Although Girotti was happily married for most of his life, his relationship with Visconti was reportedly not completely platonic. Girotti would go on to cooperate several more times with Visconti, both on stage and in films. The combined sexiness of Girotti and Calamai in Ossesione was provocative for the times - as was the daring earthiness of the story. The film marked the birth of what was later known as Neo-realism. Robert Firsching writes at Rovi: "the movie began to feature some of neorealism's defining characteristics: above all, an emphasis on outdoor shooting and natural light and a relentless focus on the lives of the poor. Ossessione caused a sensation not just because of its lurid subject matter but also because Visconti's realist style makes you practically feel the heat and dirt and sweat of the film's environment." When the fascists saw the film, it was hurriedly withdrawn.

Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 42920. Photo: E.N.I.C.

Clara Calamai. Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 20440. Photo: Venturini, Roma.

Michelangelo Antonioni's Debut
During the German occupation, Massimo Girotti played in La porta del cielo/The Gate of Heaven (1944, Vittorio De Sica) with Marina Berti, a film funded with Catholic money and also set in a Catholic environment. The film was released after the liberation, in the autumn of 1944. After the war, Girotti played in various neorealist films such as Desiderio (1946, Marcello Pagliero, Roberto Rossellini), Caccia tragica/The Tragic Hunt (1947, Giuseppe De Santis) with Vivi Gioi, and the early mafia western In nome della legge/In the Name of the Law (1949, Pietro Germi) with Charles Vanel. He also starred opposite Lucia Bosé in the modernist drama Cronaca di un amore/Story of a Love Affair (1950, Michelangelo Antonioni). Antonioni's feature film debut is the story of two lovers who plot to kill her husband, set among the Milanese rich. Michael Hastings reviews the film at Rovi: "Michelangelo Antonioni's first narrative feature is a stark, minimal interpersonal drama that would establish many of the themes and techniques that would recur in his work for the rest of his career. (...) Filled with stark, empty compositions, unpredictable camera movements, and static, self-obsessed characters, Story of a Love Affair would mark Antonioni as a maverick among the prevailing neorealists of the post-war Italian film community." From the early 1950's on, Girotti also played in various epic films, such as Fabiola (1949, Alessandro Blasetti) with Michèle Morgan, as slave-turned-leader Spartacus in Spartaco/Sins of Rome (1953, Riccardo Freda), and Romolo e Remo/Duel of the Titans (1961, Sergio Corbucci) featuring Steve Reeves. In 1954 he returned to Visconti to play in Senso/Livia (1954, Luchino Visconti), giving perhaps the finest performance of his career as the noble and passionate patriot Ussoni who is defeated by the Austrians.

Sequence from Ossessione (1943). Source: Voshliya (YouTube)

Scene from In nome della legge (1949). Source: Rolan 543 (YouTube).

Pier Paolo Pasolini
In his later career Massimo Girotti appeared in a large number of mainly Italian films for directors such as Carlo Lizzani, Mauro Bolognini, Vittorio Cottafavi, and Alberto Lattuada. As Gary Brumburgh writes at IMDb: "in the 60s, however, Girotti was reduced to support roles in swashbuckling adventure and badly-dubbed sand-and-spear spectacles". His most memorable roles at the time were the bourgeois industrialist in Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema/Theorem (1968), who, like the rest of his family, is seduced by Terence Stamp, and at the end strips in a train station and walks into the desert, and King Kresus/Creonte opposite Maria Callas in Medea (1970, Pier Paolo Pasolini). He played the pivotal role of the lover of Marlon Brando's dead wife Ultimo tango a Parigi/Last Tango in Paris (1972, Bernardo Bertolucci). Girotti also appeared in Le streghe/The Witches (1967, Luchino Visconti), Monsieur Klein/Mr. Klein (1976, Joseph Losey), L'Innocente/The Innocent (1976, Luchino Visconti), Passione d'amore (1981, Ettore Scola), and as the respectable neighbour of a suspected serial killer in the hilarious Il mostro/The Monster (1994, Roberto Benigni). Massimo Girotti's last role was a mysterious old wanderer - an old Gino? - in La finestra di fronte/Facing Windows (2003, Ferzan Ozpetek). He proves to be a Jewish homosexual baker who is tormented his whole life by sacrifying his lover to save the Jews from the Roman ghetto. Massimo Girotti died of a heart attack in Rome, in 2003, just after finishing the film. He was 84.

Scene from Theorema (1968). Source: xciccox (YouTube).

Trailer for La Finestra Di Fronte/Facing Windows (2003). Source: tccandler (YouTube).

Sources: John Francis Lane (The Guardian), Hal Erickson (Rovi), Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Pablito Calvo

2012-01-14T13:01:00.021+01:00

Pablito Calvo (1948 – 2000) was a Spanish child actor. After the international success of Marcelino, pan y vino/Marcelino Bread And Wine (1955), he became a star. At the age of 16, he retired.

Italian postcard by Ed. Villaggio del Fanciullo, Bologna. Photo: E.N.I.C. Publicity still for Marcelino, pan y vino/Marcelino Bread And Wine (1955).

Orphan
Pablito Calvo was born as Pablo Calvo Hidalgo in Madrid, Spain in 1948. At the age of 8, he played the lead role in Marcelino, pan y vino/The Miracle of Marcelino (1955, Ladislao Vajda). The film was written by José María Sánchez Silva, who based it on his novel, and directed by Ladislao Vajda. Pablito plays the orphan Marcelino who grows up in a monastery. One day when he eats his small meal in a room full of old things he gives a piece of his bread to an old wooden Jesus figure - and indeed it takes the bread and eats it. At the 1955 Cannes Film Festival the film won an award, and at the 5th Berlin International Film Festival it won the Silver Bear. Pablito, who had received a special mention from the Cannes festival jury, became Spain's most famous child actor. The following year he appeared in Mi tío Jacinto/Pepote (1956, Ladislao Vajda) which won the Golden Bear (Audience Award) at the Berlin International Film Festival. Hal Erickson notes at Rovi: “Though Pepote is hardly upbeat entertainment, the relaxed, natural performance of newcomer Pablito Calvo brightens every scene he's in.” A year later followed Un ángel se paseó por Brooklyn/An Angel Over Brooklyn (1957, Ladislao Vajda) with Peter Ustinov as a nasty, grasping Brooklyn slum lord who turns into a dog. Pablito even filmed in Italy, where he appeared with comedian Totò in Totò e Marcellino/Toto and Marcellino (1958, Antonio Musu).

Vintage postcard.

Italian postcard by Ed. Villaggio del Fanciullo, Bologna.

Mexican Revolution
During the early 1960’s, Pablito Calvo starred in Juanito (1960, Fernando Palacios) with Georg Thomalla, Alerta en el cielo/Alert in the sky (1961, Luis César Amadori) with Antonio Vilar, Dos años de vacaciones/Shipwreck Island (1962, Emilio Gómez Muriel) based on a story by Jules Verne, and Barcos de papel/Paper Boats (1963, Román Viñoly Barreto). Calvo sang in a few films, but his singing voice was always dubbed on screen, in Spain by a woman, Matilde F. Vilariño. In 1963, he retired from acting at the age of 16 to become an industrial engineer. Later, he worked in tourism and promoting buildings in Torrevieja. Pablito Calvo died of a brain hemorrhage in 2000 in Alicante, Spain. He was aged 52. He was married to Juana Olmedo since 1976. Pablito’s successful debut, Marcelino pan y vino, was remade several times. A Philippine remake, May Bukas Pa, was released in 1979. An Italian remake, Marcellino, was produced in 1991 in color. And also a Mexican remake was made in 2010, with the basic storyline and framed by the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The original version remains one of the most famous and successful Spanish films ever made in history, and one of the first Spanish films to become successful in the U.S. as well.

American trailer Marcelino, pan y vino/The Miracle of Marcelino (1955). Source: Jose Mattioli (YouTube).

Scene from Mi Tío Jacinto (1956). Source: Alfie1982Alfie (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (Rovi), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Eloisa Cianni

2012-01-13T21:03:00.000+01:00

Eloisa Cianni (1932) was Miss Italia 1952 and Miss Europe 1953. In the following decade the beauty queen appeared in 15 Italian films, mostly as herself.

Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Torino. Offered by Davide Bedarida 'Lane per materassi stabilimento', Livorno.

Beauty Contest Craze
Eloisa Cianni was born as Aloisa Stukin in Rome, Italy in 1932. She got her Polish surname from her stepfather, who had married her mother. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s beauty contests were the craze, and in 1952 Eloisa was elected Miss Italy in Merano. She then became Miss Europe in 1953 in Istanbul in Turkey. One of the prizes was a secondary part in the Italian-French comedy-drama Villa Borghese/It Happened in the Park (1953, Vittorio de Sica, Gianni Franciolini) starring Gérard Philipe. It was an anthology film about a day in the Villa Borghese park in Rome, consisting of five episodes. Eloisa appeared in the final episode, Beauty Contest. IMDb reviewer Gerald A. Deluca (a.k.a. Italian Gerry) calls the episode ‘racy’: “Beauty Contest is a Felliniesque dissertation about two rival Roman street–prostitutes, who as they are about to be rounded up by the police, wind up at a Miss Cinema beauty contest taking place in the park. The younger of the women (Eloisa Cianni) eludes the police by going off with an older man in his car. The other and older one (Franca Valeri) is not so lucky and the episode and the film end as she is driven off in a police vehicle.”

Sophia Loren. Belgian postcard by Bromophoto, Brussels.

I Loved A Diva
Eloisa Cianni’s film debut lead to more minor appearances in such Italian productions as the Peppino De Filippo comedy Peppino e la nobile dama/Peppino and the noble lady (1954, Piero Ballerini), the Racconti romani/Roman Tales (1955, Gianni Franciolini) with Franco Fabrizi and Totò, and the comedy-drama Il segno di Venere/The Sign of Venus (1955, Dino Risi) starring Sophia Loren. During the second part of the 1950’s she continued to work in the cinema, but she usually played just herself. These later films included Ho amato una diva/I loved a diva (1957, Luigi De Marchi), the comedy Amore a prima vista/Love at First Sight (1958, Franco Rossi) starring Walter Chiari, another comedy Adorabili e bugiarde/Adorable and a Liar (1958, Nunzio Malasomma) with Isabelle Corey, and Amore e guai/Love and trouble (1958, Angelo Dorigo) with Marcello Mastroianni. Finally, after a last role in the comedy Le magnifiche sette/The magnificent seven (1961, Marino Girolami) she gave up her acting career. At the time of her retirement, she was not yet thirty.

Italian singer Wilma De Angelis performs La storia di un amore sbagliato (1968), combined with clips from Le magnifiche sette (1961). Source: fardoneat66 (YouTube).

Sources: Pavel ‘Argenson’ Vlach (CSFD)(Czech), Wikipedia (Italian), and IMDb.

The Kessler Twins

2012-01-13T13:01:00.003+01:00

In the 1950’s and 1960’s the gorgeous twin sisters Alice & Ellen Kessler (1936) were very popular in Europe, especially in Germany and Italy. In 1959 the singing, dancing and acting duo represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/199. Photo: Gérard Decaux.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel. Photo: Gloria-Film.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/154. Photo: UFA.

German postcard by UFA (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof), no. CK-115. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Joe Niczky/UFA.

Featherlight
The German twin sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler (originally Kaessler) were born in Nerchau, Germany in 1936. They are usually credited as the Kessler Twins (Die Kessler-Zwillinge in Germany and Le Gemelle Kessler in Italy). Their parents, Paul and Elsa Kaessler, sent them to ballet classes at the age of six, and they joined the Leipzig Opera's child ballet program at age 11. In 1952, their parents used a visitor's visa to escape to West Germany, where the 18 year old twins performed at the Palladium in Düsseldorf. Soon followed parts in such featherlight films like Solang' es hübsche Mädchen gibt/Beautiful Girls (1955, Arthur Maria Rabenalt) with Georg Thomalla, Der bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (1955, Werner Jacobs) and Der Graf von Luxemburg (1957, Werner Jacobs) with Gerhard Riedmann. Between 1955 and 1960 they also performed at the famous Lido variety hall at the Champs-Élysées in Paris, and they also appeared in French musical films as La garçonne (1957, Jacqueline Audry) with Fernand Gravey, and Tabarin (1958, Richard Pottier) starring Michel Piccoli. A year later, the twins represented West Germany at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest. They finished in 8th place with Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n (Tonight we want to go dancing).

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 398. Photo: Polydor/Seitz/Constantin/Looschen.

German postcard by Netter's Star Verlag, Berlin.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 305. Photo: Defir.

German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 734. Photo: Polydor/Collignon.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 2964.

German Postcard printed by WS Druck, Wanne-Eickel. Photo: Carlton-Gloria, Niczky.

Playboy
Alice & Ellen Kessler moved to Italy in 1960. There they had already appeared as themselves in Le bellissime gambe di Sabrina/The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina (1959, Camillo Mastrocinque) featuring American sex symbol Mamie van Doren. Gradually they got more serious roles in such films as the adventure film Gli Invasori/Erik the Conqueror (1961, Mario Bava) starring Cameron Mitchell and Sodom and Gomorrah (1962, Robert Aldrich) starring Stewart Granger. In the USA, they were not as popular, but in 1963 they appeared on the cover of Life Magazine and during the 1960's they often worked for TV and in Las Vegas. During the following decades they worked mostly for TV in Europe. At the age of 40, they agreed to pose on the cover of the Italian edition of Playboy. That issue became reportedly the fastest-selling Italian Playboy up until that point. They moved back to Germany in 1986 and currently live in Munich. They received the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande (highest German order) in 1987 and the Premio Capo Circe for their achievements in German-Italian understanding. Recently, Alice and Ellen Kessler played in the episode Das Dorf/The Village (2011, Justus von Dohnányi) of the popular Krimi series Tatort.

The Kessler Twins and Peter Alexander perform Ich spiel mit dir (1962). Source: Fritz51251 (YouTube).

French scopitone of the Kessler Twins. Source: NYRainbow5 (YouTube).

The Kessler Twins sing Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest. Source: Joao Velado (YouTube).

'Gemelle' Kessler sing Le sirene siamo noi. Source: Mr. Dante Fonana (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Gilbert Bécaud

2012-01-12T01:01:00.023+01:00

French singer, composer and film actor Gilbert Bécaud (1927 - 2001) was known as Monsieur 100,000 Volts for his energetic performances. For nearly fifty years France hummed the melodies of this charming music hall star, dark blue suited, white shirted, and recordedly always wearing his lucky tie (but not on the postcards in this post).

French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 274. Photo: Sam Lévin.

French postcard by Mexichrome, no. 17. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Piaf
Gilbert Bécaud was born François Gilbert Silly in 1927, in Toulon, France. François had a relatively happy upbringing, despite the fact that his father abandoned the family while François was still in early childhood. Madame Silly’s new partner, Louis Bécaud, raised François and his siblings Jean and Odette as his own children, although he was never able to marry their mother (her first husband steadfastly refusing to consent to a divorce). François learned to play the piano when he was five, and by the age of nine, he went to the Conservatoire de Nice. In 1942, he left this school to join the French Resistance during World War II. In 1947, he made his first film appearance in an uncredited bit part as a pianist in La kermesse rouge/The Scarlet Bazaar (1947, Paul Mesnier). He began songwriting in 1948, after meeting Maurice Vidalin, who inspired him to write his early compositions. He began writing for Marie Bizet. Bizet, Bécaud and Vidalin became a successful trio, and their partnership lasted until 1950. While touring as a pianist with singer Jacques Pills, Bécaud met Édith Piaf, Pills’ wife at the time. At her suggestion, he began to sing songs like Mes Mains and Les Croix in 1953. Piaf also suggested his stage name.

French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 339. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 250. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Let It Be Me
Gilbert Bécaud made his stage debut in the Olympia in Paris in 1954. A year later he headlined at this famous venue, attracting 6,000 on his first night, three times the capacity. His hits in the later part of the decade included La Corrida (1956), Le Jour où la Pluie Viendra (1957) and C'est Merveilleux L'amour (1958). He also began act in films during this period, starting with Le Pays D'où Je Viens/The Country I Come From (1956, Marcel Carné) opposite Françoise Arnoul. The multi-talented Bécaud was also responsible for writing the film’s soundtrack. Other films in which he appeared were Casino de Paris (1957, Claude Barma) with Vittorio De Sica and Caterina Valente, and the comedy Croquemitoufle (1958, Claude Barma). In 1960, he won a Grand Prix du Disque and composed L'enfant à L'étoile, a Christmas cantata. That same year, Let It Be Me, an English version of Je t’ai dans la peau, which he had once written for Édith Piaf, became a hit for the Everly Brothers. Over the years, it would also be performed by Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Jerry Butler, Sam & Dave, and James Brown.

French postcard by Editions P.I, Paris, no. 614. Photo: James J. Kriegsmann.

A Free Man
In 1961, Gilbert Bécaud wrote and recorded Et Maintenant, one of the biggest selling singles in French history. Translated as What Now My Love, the song became a hit by Shirley Bassey, Sonny & Cher, Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra. After writing the opera L'opéra d'Aran, Bécaud toured through Europe and continued to record a string of hits, including Nathalie (1964) and Tu le Regretteras (1965), his controversial song for Charles de Gaulle. He also co-wrote the international hit Love on the Rocks with Neil Diamond, which was featured on the soundtrack of The Jazz Singer (1980, Richard Fleischer). Marlene Dietrich recorded his Marie, Marie and performed it in her stage shows. In the 1970's, Bécaud focused more on touring than recording, and he also appeared in films like Un homme libre/A Free Man (1972, Roberto Muller) with Olga Georges-Picot, and Toute une vie/And Now My Love (1973, Claude Lelouch) with Marthe Keller . In 1973 he finally took time off, citing exhaustion. The following year, he was named Chevalier in the Légion d'honneur. Then he scored a hit all over Europe with A Little Love And Understanding (1975).

Vintage postcard.

French postcard by Lyna, Paris, no. 2019. Photo: Tony Frank.

Madame Roza
Later in the century, Gilbert Bécaud began writing with Pierre Grosz and then Neil Diamond, also co-penning the successful Broadway musical Madame Roza (1986), based on the novel La vie devant soi (Madame Rosa) by Emile Ajar. The 1990’s finally saw a slowdown of Bécaud's activity, releasing various compilations and touring occasionally. In 1993 he took an extended sabbatical, intending to get his health back in order. (Bécaud's heavy smoking habit was still placing a great strain on his voice). He did one more acting performance on television in the popular crime series Navarro (1995) starring Roger Hanin, but Bécaud really returned from his extended sabbatical in 1996, going back into the studio to work on a new album Ensemble. The Olympia in Paris, where he had debuted, was his favourite venue. In 1997 Becaud was present for the re-opening of the Olympia after its reconstruction. With a series of concerts at the Olympia, he celebrated his 70th birthday. Refusing to slip quietly into retirement, Bécaud returned to the media spotlight in 1999, releasing a new album entitled Faut faire avec…., and making a live comeback at the Olympia - for the 33rd time! Despite the fact that the singer was suffering from lung cancer, he nevertheless managed to pull out all the stops, giving a series of vibrant, energetic shows which went down extremely well with his fans. In 2001 Gilbert Bécaud died on his houseboat on the Seine, aged 74. He was interred in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. He had been married twice: to Monique Nicolas (they had three children), and to Kitty St John (two children). His eldest son, Gaya Bécaud, released his father’s last record after his death.

Gilbert Bécaud and Françoise Arnoul in Le Pays D'où Je Viens/The Country I Come From (1956). Source: Thierry (Daily Motion).

Gilbert Bécaud sings Nathalie. Source: Juanfrance (Daily Motion).

Sources: Wikipedia, RFI Musique and IMDb.

JosPe

2012-01-11T22:48:00.001+01:00

From 1925 on, the Dutch firm JosPe printed and published hundreds of film star postcards.

Greta Garbo. Dutch postcard by JosPe, Arnhem, no. 34. Photo: MGM.

Jenny Jugo. Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 371. Photo: Remaco.

Truus van Aalten. Dutch Postcard by Jospe, no. 462. Photo: Godfried de Groot, Amsterdam.

Real Industry
Postcards used to be a real industry in the Netherlands in the first decennia of the 20th Century. There were many firms who produced postcards. JosPe from the city of Arnhem was one of the biggest photo postcard publishers of the country. The firm was named after Joseph Peter Welker, a businessman from Hamburg in Germany, who founded the company in 1925. Between 1925 and 1989 JosPe produced thousands of postcards of cities and villages in the Netherlands, mostly pictures of streets and buildings. JosPe could aso be commissioned by local hotels, cafes, churches and industries to make postcards of the respective buildings.

Marta Eggerth. Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 547.

Marta Eggerth with operetta colleague Richard Tauber. Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 468.

Christmas with Marta Eggerth. Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 593.

Serrated Pictures
Through the years JosPe also published hundreds of film cards. The format of the JosPe postcards is 142 x 92 mm. Their pictures are sometimes serrated, and always printed glossy. There are many JosPe cards of film stars like Greta Garbo, Maurice Chevalier and Marta Eggerth (in Dutch Martha Eggerth), who very popular stars in the Netherlands during the 1930's. With operetta diva Eggerth, JosPe even made a special Christmas card. JosPe shut down in 1989. In 2005 the Regionaal Archief Tilburg in the south of the Netherlands bought all the negatives.

Maurice Chevalier. Dutch postcard by JosPe, Arnhem, no. 392.

Maurice Chevalier in the fishertown of Volendam, The Netherlands, 1932. Dutch postcard by JosPe, Arnhem, no. 298.

Maurice Chevalier in The Netherlands. Dutch postcard by Jospé, Arnhem. 'Den Haag 21 September 1932 is written on the back of the card. That night Chevalier performed at the Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Arts & Sciences building) in Den Haag/The Hague. The day before Chevalier had visited Volendam and Amsterdam and had performed at the - still existing - Amsterdam movie palace Tuschinski Theater.

Sources: Het Volkspark Enschede (Dutch) and DeWeekkrant.nl (Dutch).

Uno Henning

2012-01-11T13:01:00.030+01:00

Swedish actor Uno Henning (1895 – 1970) appeared from 1919 on in some 40 film and TV productions in Sweden, Germany and Great Britain.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1940/1, 1927-1928. Photo: UFA. Publicity still for Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney/The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927).

Handsome
Knut Uno Henning was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1895. He was the son of Karl Bernard Henning and Eleonora Henning-Martin. From 1915 till 1917, he studied at Dramatens elevskola, the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school, and in 1918 he was engaged at the Dramaten (Royal Dramatic Theatre) He worked there till 1925 and later again from 1935 till 1965. Here he starred in plays by August Strindberg, Jean-Paul Sartre and Eugene O’Neill. The handsome, blonde actor made his film debut in Rune Carlsten’s comedy Ett farligt frieri/A dangerous courtship (1919) starring Lars Hanson. He played another supporting part in Bodakungen/Tyranny of Hate (1920, Gustav Molander). His first leading role was in Det omringade huset/The House Surrounded (1922, Viktor Sjöström) opposite Meggie Albanesi. He also starred in the silent Swedish productions Ödets man/Man of destiny (1924, John Lindlöf) and the Alexandre Dumas fils adaptation Damen med kameliorna/The Lady with the camellias (1925, Olof Molander) with Tora Teje as Marguerite Gautier and Henning as Armand. He appeared again opposite Teje in the August Strindberg adaptation Giftas/Married (1926, Olof Molander). Director Molander’s next film was the German-Swedish coproduction Bara en danserska/Just a Dancer (1926), in which Henning appeared opposite the German star Lil Dagover. In 1926 Henning married Ragni Wærn-Frisell.

Lil Dagover. German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 14701/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Angelo Photos.

Politicized Paramour
Uno Henning stayed in Germany, where he played the male lead as a Bolshevik revolutionary in Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s romantic drama Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney/The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927, G.W. Pabst). Hal Erickson at Rovi: “Based on a sturm-und-drang story by Ilya Ehrenberg, the film travels from the Crimea to Paris and back again in unfolding a sprawling tale of sociological upheaval. The events are seen through the eyes of Jeanne Ney (Edith Jéhanne), who is forced to flee her Russian homeland when her Communist lover kills her diplomat father. The romance between Jeanne and her politicized paramour irrevocably links the lure of radicalism with the call of the flesh.” The success of this film lead to another German production, Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt/The Woman Men Yearn For (1929, Kurt Bernhardt a.k.a. Curtis Bernhardt) starring Marlene Dietrich. In Great Britain he starred in the excellent crime drama A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929, Anthony Asquith) with Hans Adalbert Schlettow. Wynter Tyson writes at his blog Cinema Scream: “This late silent classic tells the story of an ex-barber’s assistant called Joe who escapes from Dartmoor Prison to find the woman who spurned him. The majority of the action takes the form of an extended flashback explaining the reason for the man’s incarceration. This film is simply stunning. It hits the ground running with its portrayal of the central character’s escape across the moors. Forgoing naturalism the setting is a mass of expressionist shadows and storm leaden clouds. The convict (played by Uno Henning) stalks across the landscape like a phantom and director Anthony Asquith’s cunning use of perspective never lets the audience fully get to grips with the environment. When we finally arrive at the cottage it’s interior resembles something out of a fairytale whilst retaining a recognizable and realistic air.”

Jean Murat. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3950/1. Photo: United Artists.

Ingmar Bergman
Between 1929 and 1935 Uno Henning was engaged at the Blanche teatern in Stockholm. He also appeared in Swedish sound films. In the Paramount studio in Jointville, France he filmed the production När rosorna slå ut/When the roses turn out (1930, Edvin Adolphson), an alternate language production of the French comedy Un trou dans le mur/A Hole in the Wall (1930, René Barberis) starring Jean Murat. Another Paramount production was Lika inför lagen/Equal before the law (1931, Gustaf Bergman) with Karin Swanström. Again it was an alternate language version, this time for Manslaughter (1930, George Abbott) starring Claudette Colbert and Fredric March. In the following years he appeared in Swedish productions as Farmors revolution/Granny Revolution (1933, Per-Axel Branner), En natt/One Night (1935, Gustaf Molander), and Janssons frestelse/Jansson's Temptation (1936, Gösta Rodin). In these films he played supporting roles. Henning was the stepfather of actress Eva Henning. They appeared together in the historical war drama General von Döbeln (1942, Olof Molander). A memorable role was his cold and manipulative doctor in Var sin väg/On his way (1948, Hasse Ekman) with Gunn Wållgren. It was to be Henning’s final film. During the 1950’s and 1960’s he appeared in some TV productions. In 1954, he guest starred in the American series Foreign Intrigue (1951–1955, Lars-Eric Kjellgren, Steve Previn), which was filmed in Sweden. Later he worked with famous director Ingmar Bergman for the TV films Oväder/Storm Weather (1960) and Ett drömspel/A Dream Play (1963), both based on a play by August Strindberg. Uno Henning died in 1970 in Stockholm. He was 75.

First part of Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney/The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927). Source: Agent Tobias Reaper (YouTube).

Scene from A Cottage On Dartmoor (1929). Source: GJ Jacob (YouTube).

Sources: Wynter Tyson (Cinema Scream), Hal Erickson (Rovi), Wikipedia (Swedish) and IMDb.

Giovanna Ralli

2012-01-10T13:01:00.024+01:00

Since 1942, Italian actress Giovanna Ralli (1935) appeared in more than 80 films and TV series and during her career she worked with some of the greatest directors of the Italian cinema such as Vittorio de Sica, Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini and Ettore Scola. Twice she won the prestigious Nastri d'Argento award, including one for her supporting role in Scola’s classic comedy C'eravamo tanto amati (1974).

Czech postcard by Nakladatelstvi Orbis, Praha (Prague), no. F 03-03659. Retail price: 0,70 Kcs. Photo: Wilém Rosegnal.

Fresh Beauty
Giovanna Ralli was born in Rome, Italy in 1935. She is the sister of actress Patrizia Lari. Ralli began her screen career at age seven with bit roles in films like La maestrina/The school teacher (1942, Giorgio Bianchi) starring María Denis, and Vittorio de Sica’s I bambini ci guardano/The Children Are Watching Us (1942). Still very young she played many small parts in such films as the comedy Signori, in carrozza/Rome-Paris-Rome (1951, Luigi Zampa) and La famiglia Passaguai/The Passaguai Family (1951, Aldo Fabrizi) as Aldo Fabrizi’s daughter. Her most interesting film from this period was Federico Fellini’s directorial debutLuci del varietà/Variety Lights (1950), co-directed by Alberto Lattuada. As she matured into a fresh beauty, she began to play tough, spontaneous young women. In the 1950’s she stood out in films like Anni facile/Easy Years (1953, Luigi Zampa), the anthology Amore in Città/Love in the City (1953, Alberto Lattuada a.o.), Villa Borghese/It Happened in the Park (1953, Vittorio de Sica, Gianni Franciolini), Racconti romani/Roman Tales (1955, Gianni Franciolini), Le ragazze di San Frediano/Girls of San Frediano (1954, Valerio Zurlini) with Rossana Podestà, Un eroe dei nostri tempi/A hero of our time (1955, Mario Monicelli) starring Alberto Sordi, and Il bigamo/The bigamist (1956, Luciano Emmer) featuring Marcello Mastroianni.

German postcard by VEB Progress-Filmvertrieb, Berlin.

Good Dramatic Performer
Eventually Giovanna Ralli graduated to playing leads in Italian and international films. She proved to be a good dramatic performer in three films directed by the legendary Roberto Rossellini, the war dramas Il generale della Rovere/General della Rovere (1959) featuring Vittorio de Sica, and Era notte a Roma/It was night in Rome (1960) with Renato Salvatori, and the historical drama Viva l'Italia!/Garibaldi (1961). For her role in the lesbian romance La fuga/The Escape (1964, Paolo Spinola) she won a Nastro d'Argento (the Silver Ribbon) as Best Actress. She also played strong roles in the comedies La vita agra/Sour Life (1964, Carlo Lizzani) opposite Ugo Tognazzi, and Se permettete parliamo di donne/Let's Talk About Women (1964, Ettore Scola) starring Vittorio Gassman. Her international productions include the war comedy What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966, Blake Edwards) with James Coburn, and the crime drama Deadfall (1968, Bryan Forbes) with Michael Caine. Ralli starred in a few westerns: Le Goût de la violence/Taste of Violence (1961, Robert Hossein), Il Mercenario/A Professional Gun (1968, Sergio Corbucci) with Franco Nero, and the American production Cannon for Cordoba (1969, Paul Wendkos) starring George Peppard.

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano (Milan), no. 1484. Photo: Cineriz.

Successful Comedies
During the 1970’s Giovanna Ralli returned in some successful comedies, including Ettore Scola’s C'eravamo tanto amati/We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974). Once again she played Aldo Fabrizi’s daughter in the film, for which role she won her second Nastro d'Argento, now as Best Supporting Actress. Another hit was Di che segno sei?/What's your sign? (1975, Sergio Corbucci). She also appeared in another popular genre, the giallo La polizia chiede aiuto/The Coed Murders (1974, Massimo Dallamano) opposite Mario Adorf. In 1977 she married Ettore Boschi. From the 1980’s on, she appeared mainly on stage and in TV productions, like the Rai series Un prete tra noi/A priest among us (1997, Giorgio Capitani, Lodovico Gasparini) and Ho sposato uno sbirro/I Married A Cop (2008) in which she played the mother of Flavio Insinna. Her later films include Verso sera/In the evening (1991, Francesca Archibugi) with Marcello Mastroianni, and Il pranzo della domenica/ Sunday lunch (2003, Carlo Vanzina) with Massimo Ghini, for which she was again nominated for another Nastro d'Argento as Best Supporting Actress. (She did not win this time.) In 1993 she obtained the Flaiano Award for Lifetime Achievement for her theatrical and cinematic merits. In 2008 she also received the Premio Chioma di Berenice, another award for her whole career. Recently she appeared in the comedy Immaturi/The Immature (2011, Paolo Genovese).

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3194, 1968. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Progress.

Sources: Sandra Brennon (Rovi), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Laura Solari

2012-01-09T13:01:00.004+01:00

Laura Solari (1913 –1984) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 30 films between 1936 and 1969.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3668/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann/UFA.

Queen of the Scala
Laura Solari was born as Laura Camaur in Triest, Austria-Hungary (now Trieste, Italy) in 1913. She was the daughter of sculptor and artist Antonio Camaur and his wife, Maria Taucer. In addition to being prominent in Triestine art and intellectual circles, Antonio Camaur was a prominent Irredentist and advocated annexation of Trieste by Italy. In late 1915, Camaur went into exile because of his pro-Italian sympathies, and Laura lived in Northern Italy until her family's return to Trieste in 1919. After World War I, Laura came under the tutelage of the Taucer family who sent her to be educated in Vienna. In 1930, Laura married an older Hungarian army officer, Oscar Szemere, but the couple separated after his business failed. Laura was spotted by a talent scout, who was taken by her beauty, at a function at the La Scala theater in Milan. She was recruited by the fledging Italian film industry and acquired the stage name Laura Solari. Her debut was Regina della Scala/Queen of the Scala (1936, Camillo Mastrocinque, Guido Salvini). In 1937 she participated in a talent contest of Era Film. She came in second and was spotted by director Camillo Mastrocinque. He gave her a big part in the mystery L'orologio a cucù/The Cuckoo Clock (1938, Camillo Mastrocinque) opposite Vittorio de Sica. Soon followed more roles in such films as Una moglie in pericolo/A Woman in Danger (1939, Max Neufeld), in which she appeared with the French actress Marie Glory.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 3421/1, 1941-1944. Photo: UFA.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. 3588/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann/UFA.

White Telephones
In 1940, Laura Solari divorced Oscar Szemere in the American city Reno in the state of Nevada. Much later, she would marry Arthur Roper Caldbeck, a colonel in the British army. During the early 1940’s, she was busy at the Cinecittà studios in Rome and starred in such sophisticated Telefoni Bianchi comedies as Validità giorni dieci/Validity of ten days (1940, Camillo Mastrocinque) opposite Antonio Centa. The German production Alles für Gloria/Everything for Gloria (1941, Carl Boese), in which she starred opposite Leo Slezak, was also filmed in Cinecittà. Other German productions in which she played lead roles were the crime comedy Die Sache mit Styx/The Styx Case (1942, Karl Anton) with Viktor de Kowa, and the action film G.P.U./The Red Terror (1942, Karl Ritter). Back in Italy she starred in a double role in La statua vivente/Scorned Flesh (1943, Camillo Mastrocinque) with Fosco Giachetti as a man who tries to form her into his dead girlfriend. After the war Solari’s position had changed. She was no longer offered leading roles, but had to play secondary parts. She was a secretary in the Hollywood comedy Roman Holiday (1953, Willy Wyler) starring Audrey Hepburn, and had a supporting role in the prostitution drama Il mondo le condanna/The World Condemned Her (1953, Gianni Franciolini) starring Alida Valli. Solari participated in the legitimate stage in Trieste's Nuovo Teatro. She also appeared on television in such series as Police Call (1955). Her later films include the gripping crime thriller Banditi a Milano/Bandits in Milan (1968, Carlo Lizzani) as Ray Lovelock’s mother, and Revenge (1969, Pino Tosini). Laura Solari retired in 1969 and moved to Switzerland. There she died in Bellinzona in 1983. She was survived by three sons.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. 3843/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann/UFA.

Sources: Rovi, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Moira Shearer

2012-01-08T13:01:00.024+01:00

Red headed Moira Shearer (1926 – 2006) was a luminous star of the British ballet. She became an international film idol with her unforgettable debut as the young ballerina Vicky in The Red Shoes (1948), a classic of the British cinema and probably the most popular film about ballet.

Mexican collector's card, no 345. Photo: London Films.

Flaming Red Hair
Moira Shearer King was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1926. She was the daughter of actor Harold V. King. In 1931 her family moved to Ndola, Northern Rhodesia. Her mother pushed her into ballet and Moira received her first dancing training under a former pupil of Enrico Cecchetti. She returned to Britain in 1936 and trained with Flora Fairbairn in London for a few months before she was accepted as a pupil by the Russian teacher Nicholas Legat. After three years with Legat, she joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet School. However, after the outbreak of the World War II, her parents took her to live in Scotland. The Scottish beauty with her flaming red hair made her debut with Mona Inglesby's International Ballet in 1941 before moving on to the famous Sadler's Wells in 1942. There she was second only to the world renowned prima ballerina, Margot Fonteyn. From 1942 to 1952 Shearer danced all the major classic roles and a full repertoire of revivals and new ballets. She came to international attention for her first film role as the doomed heroine in the ballet-themed film The Red Shoes (1948, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger). The film employs the story within a story device. Victoria Page (Shearer), a young, unknown dancer from an aristocratic background meets at a party Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), the ruthless but charismatic impresario of the Ballet Lermontov. He invites her to join his famous ballet company. She becomes the lead dancer in a new ballet called The Red Shoes, itself based on the fairy tale The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen. Vicky is torn between the powerful impresario and a struggling composer (Marius Goring) whom she loves. The film got rave reviews and became one of the highest earning British films of all time. Shearer’s role and the film were so powerful that although she went on to star in other films, she is primarily known for playing ‘Vicky.’ She toured the United States with the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1949 and in 1950/51. Moira Shearer’s second film was the magnificent spectacle The Tales of Hoffmann (1951, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger), an adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's final opera, Les contes d'Hoffmann. The film co-starred Robert Helpmann and Léonide Massine. It is not just a film of a staged opera, but a true cinematic opera that makes use of film techniques not available in an opera house. Powell and Pressburger were nominated for the Grand Prize of the 1951 Cannes Film Festival, and won the Exceptional Prize. They also won the Silver Bear award for Best Musical at the 1st Berlin International Film Festival.

British postcard by 'The People' Show Parade Picture Service, London, no. P. 1041. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 654. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd.

Yugoslavian postcard by IOM, Beograd (Belgrado). Photo: Sedmo Silo.

Expressions of Terror
In 1953, a combination of ill-health, injury and her wish to make a name for herself as an actress made Moira Shearer decide to retire from the ballet stage at age 27. She co-starred with James Mason in a segment of The Story of Three Loves (1953, Vincente Minnelli, Gottfried Reinhardt), a romantic anthology film made by MGM. She appeared as Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the 1954 Edinburgh Festival. The following year she starred in the British film comedy The Man Who Loved Redheads (1955, Harold French) based on the play Who is Sylvia? by Terence Rattigan. She toured as Sally Bowles in the play I am a Camera in 1955 and appeared at the Bristol Old Vic as G.B. Shaw’s Major Barbara in 1956. Shearer worked again for Powell on the controversial film Peeping Tom (1960, Michael Powell) about a sexually repressed serial killer (Karlheinz Böhm) who murders women and films their expressions of terror and dying gasps on film. Its controversial subject and the extremely harsh reception by critics effectively destroyed Powell's career as a director. However, it attracted a cult following, and in later years, it has been re-evaluated and is now considered a masterpiece. A year later she appeared in the musical 1-2-3-4 ou Les Collants noirs/Black Tights (1961, Terence Young) with Zizi Jeanmaire and Cyd Charisse. It would be Shearer’s last film. She was on the BBC's General Advisory Council from 1970 to 1977 and the Scottish Arts Council from 1971 to 1973. In 1972, she was chosen by the BBC to present the Eurovision Song Contest when it was staged in Edinburgh. In 1977 she played Madame Ranevsky in Anton Chekhov's Cherry Orchard at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and, in 1978, was Judith Bliss in Noel Coward's Hay Fever. She wrote two books, biographies of the choreographer George Balanchine and the actress Ellen Terry, and a column for The Daily Telegraph. She also gave talks on ballet worldwide. The choreographer Gillian Lynne persuaded her to return to ballet to play the mother of artist L. S. Lowry (Christopher Gable) in the ballet film A Simple Man (1987, Gillian Lynne) for the BBC. In 1950, Moira Shearer had married writer and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy. The couple had a son, Alastair, and three daughters, Ailsa, Rachel and Fiona. In 2006, Moira Shearer died of natural causes in Oxford, England at the age of 80.

Trailer The Red Shoes (1948). Source: The World of Trailers (YouTube).

Trailer Peeping Tom (1960). Source: Optimum Releasing (YouTube).

Sources: Anna Kisselgoff (The New York Times), Steve Crook (IMDb), The Telegraph, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Ermete Novelli

2012-01-07T13:01:00.062+01:00

Ermete Novelli (1851 - 1919) was a legendary monstre sacré of the Italian theatre. When the famous actor and playwright appeared in films of the Film d'Arte Italiana, the press condemned his stagey performances on screen. But with later films he got even.

Italian postcard by Alterocca, Terni, no. 513.
Virgilio Alterocca (1853 - 1910) founded the first company for illustrated and photographic cards in Italy. He already founded a typographic company in 1877 working for newspapers and producing posters, but around 1896, thanks to modernising techniques in phototypography from Germany and Switzerland, he was able to make photographic cards a booming business. Below another photo of Alterocca.

Monstre Sacré
Ermete Novelli was born in 1851 in Lucca, Tuscany. His father was a prompter and he came from a noble and ancient family from Bertinoro. Already at an early age, in 1866, he started to act on stage and soon he became one of the 'monstres sacrés' of the Italian stage of the 1870's and 1880's. In 1885 he founded his own company and had triumphs in Paris in 1898 and 1902. He also performed in New York in 1907 as Antony Novelli. Inspired by the Comédie Française, he founded in 1900 his own 'teatro stabile', Casa Goldoni, at the Teatro Valle in Rome. In the 1910's he lead the company Fert, to which such actors as Lyda Borelli were attached. Together they did a.o. Sem Benelli's play Le nozze dei centauri (1915) at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan and elsewhere. On his own or in collaboration, Novelli also wrote several comedies and monologues. Rimini has a Teatro Ermete Novelli and Italy knows since 2002 the Premio Ermete Novelli for best stage actor.

Italian soprano Lina Cavalieri. Italian postcard by Alterocca, Terni, no. 1750.

Film d'Arte Italiana
Just a few years after the film d'art phenomenon had spread in France, Ermete Novelli started to act in film too, from Shakespearian costume dramas as Re Lear/King Lear (1910, Gerolamo Lo Savio) and Il Mercante di Venezia/The Merchant of Venice (1910, Gerolamo Lo Savio) to La Morte Civile/The civil death (1910, Gerolamo Lo Savio), based on the Italian play by Paolo Giacometti. These short, silent films were directed by Gerolamo Lo Savio for the Film d'Arte Italiana, a subsidiary of Pathé Frères. All the films were shot in Rimini, where Novelli had his villa, and partly in Venice (The Merchant of Venice). There were high expectations about seeing Novelli on screen, but the film press condemned the films because of Novelli's stagelike performance. He neglected the new medium and did not take it all too seriously. Years later, another star of the Italian stage, Eleonora Duse, was more conscient of cinema as a different medium. In the films by Lo Savio, a new young actress performed opposite Novelli: Francesca Bertini. Though she had had some stage training, she was a real film actress and soon she would become one of the divas of the Italian cinema A greater contrast was unimaginable.

Italian postcard. Photo: Ambrosio-Film.

Elettra Raggio
A few years later, Ermete Novelli tried his luck again. He returned to the screen, now for production company Ambrosio. The films were based on French pochades which Novelli had successfully performed on stage: Michele Perrin/Michael Perrine (1913, Eleuterio Rodolfi) and La gerla di Papa Martin/Honour Thy Father (1914, Eleuterio Rodolfi), both opposite Gigetta Morano, the regular Ambrosio comedienne. This time, the press was much more favorable. In 1915, Novelli acted in - unsuccessful and hardly noticed - films by his son, writer-director Enrico Novelli: the comedy Fiorenza mia!/My Florence! and the drama Il più grande amore/The Greatest Love. They were followed by the war propaganda film Per la Patria!/For the Motherland! (1915, Ugo Falena). Towards the end of the war Novelli played in two remarkable films, Automartirio/Selfmartyrdom (1917, Ivo Illuminati) and La morte che assolve/The death that performs (1918, Alberto Carlo Lolli), both starring the Milanese star Elettra Raggio, who was also the producer of these two films. While of the latter film a copy has been found and restored - and thus we can admire both Novelli and Raggio as the father & daughter of the story - of the former only the beautiful posters exist. In 1919, Ermete Novelli died in Naples, Italy (according to Wikipedia) or Paris, France (according to IMDb).Wikipedia adds that he was "survived by at least one child, his son, Enrico 'Yambo' Novelli."

Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 46. Photo: Trevisani, Bologna.

Sources: Wikipedia, Del Teatro (Italian), and IMDb.

Studio Harcourt

2012-01-06T22:01:00.004+01:00

From 1934 on, Studio Harcourt in Paris immortalized some of the greatest figures of the 20th century. The French dream factory produced 1,500 iconic black and-white photographs of film stars as Gérard Philippe, Simone Signoret and Michèle Morgan, and singers as Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet and Juliette Gréco.

Juliette Gréco. French postcard by Editions du Globe (EDUG), no. 191. Photo: Studio Harcourt, Paris.

Gilbert Bécaud. French postcard by Editions du Globe (EDUG), no. 250. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Louis Jourdan. French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 39. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Hello!
Cosette Harcourt founded Studio Harcourt in 1934, at a time when prestigious photo studios like Nadar closed for lack of clients. The new studio, located in a mansion on avenue Iéna, in the 16th arrondissement, was financed by the French publishers Jacques and Jean Lacroix, and Robert Ricci, son of Nina Ricci. Cosette Harcourt a.k.a. Germaine Hirschefeld (1900–1976) was a photographer who had worked in the studio of the brothers Manuel. The original concept was to photograph for Lacroix’s publications Hello! for the French intelligentsia. The change in direction came when Cosette Harcourt started to specialize in black-and-white glamour photography of figures from French cinema and culture. Harcourt photographed celebrities like Marlene Dietrich, Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, Josephine Baker, and Coco Chanel. She always used 24 x 30 cm prints immediately recognizable for their distinctive style and lighting. This typical Harcourt style consists in a photo taken at close distance to the subject in its best light, generally creating a halo of light and dark, on a gray-to-black background. At his blog, Belgian photographer-teacher Herman Huys writes that the studio uses only Tungsten lighting: “Each part of the body or the face is illuminated separately by a light with a power of 500watt. Each light have also barn doors, so the photographer can manipulate the beam of light, a small part is lighted.” Reflectors lower the contrast in the shadows. The attitude of the subject is personal, often wearing a slight smile, but somehow the Harcourt photos always feel a little staged. The Harcourt logo is featured prominently in the lower right-hand (sometimes left-hand) corner on every print and postcard.

Charles Trenet. German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3194, 1941-1944. Photo: Harcourt-Schostal.

Marika Rökk. French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 65. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Annie Ducaux. French postcard by GREFF, S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 16. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Odette Joyeux. French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 46. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Simone Signoret. French postcard by Editions O.P., no. 19. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Yves Montand. French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 11. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

German and American Officers
The Harcourt style was inspired by the lighting effects which cinematographer Henri Alekan used in black & white films of Jean Cocteau and other great French directors of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Around the time of World War II, Cosette Harcourt who was Jewish married one of the Lacroix brothers. Together they created a magazine, called Stars, to serve as an outlet for studio photos. During the occupation the German officers and many members of the regime of Vichy visited the studios, just as the Americans did after the French Liberation. After the war, Harcourt regained its momentum with the photography of stars like Jean Gabin, Gérard Philipe, Anouk Aimée, Brigitte Bardot and Alain Delon. The studio continued the tradition that made it successful initially and having one's photo taken at Harcourt a few times during one's life became standard for the French elite. In the 1960’s with the rise of the Nouvelle Vague and the dawn of a realist, anti glamorous aesthetic the studio’s peak was over. Clients demanded to be photographed at home, on location, away from anywhere that resembled a conventional studio. With the innovation of the flash, the magic and mystery of the studio disappeared. And nobody wanted black and white portraits anymore. After the death of Cosette Harcourt in 1976, the ownership of the studio changed several times. In 2000, under the leadership of Jack Lang, the French state bought the photos of Studio Harcourt from between 1934 to 1991: about 5 million negatives of 550,000 persons and 1,500 celebrities. The studio is now located in a multi-story 18th century town house at 10 rue Jean-Goujon in Paris, near the Champs-Élysées. Reportedly, having your photo taken at Harcourt in a 2 hour session costs about 1,600 Euros.

Edwige Feuillère. French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 12. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Alain Cuny. French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 252. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Gérard Philipe. French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 31. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Michèle Morgan. French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), no. 66. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Dominique Wilms. French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), no. 233. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Anouk Aimée. French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 702. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Sources: Margaret Kemp (Bonjour Paris), Sascha Lehnartz (Welt online) (German), Herman Huys, Studio-Harcourt.eu, and Wikipedia.

Friedrich Zelnik

2012-01-06T13:01:00.010+01:00

Austrian actor Friedrich Zelnik or Frederic Zelnik (1885 - 1950) was also one of the most important producers-directors of the German silent cinema. Already in the early 1910’s he became a film star in Germany, but during the 1920’s he had his greatest successes there as director-producer of operetta style costume films starring his wife, Lya Mara. A critical success was his drama Die Weber/The Weaver (1927). After 1933, he worked in Great-Britain and also directed two films in the Netherlands.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 82/5. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 82/5. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin.

Messter
Friedrich Zelnik was born in a Jewish family in Czernowitz, then the capital of the Duchy of Bukovina in the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (today Chernivtsi, Ukraine) in 1885. Czernowitz was largely populated by Jews. After Wilno it was the most important city for the Jewish culture in Eastern Europe. Zelnik studied law in Vienna, but then worked as an actor in theaters in Nürnberg, Aachen, Worms, Prague and finally Berlin - in the theaters Theater an der Königsgrätzer Straße, Berliner Theater and Komödienhaus. In 1910 he began to act in short silent films for Messters Projektion GmbH, such as Verkannt/Misunderstood (1910), Japanisches Opfer/Japanese victims (1910, Adolf Gärtner) with Max Mack, and Im Glück vergessen/Forget the luck (1911, Adolf Gärtner) with silent superstar Henny Porten. For another company he played the lead in Europäisches Sklavenleben/European slave life (1912, Emil Justitz). These films made him one of the first German film stars. Then there was an interval in his film career of three years during which Zelnik set up his own production company, Berliner Film-Manukfaktur, together with Walter Behrend and Max Liebenau. In 1915, he started to produce and direct films while he still also played parts in other directors’ films. Among these films were the Sherlock Holmes mystery Das dunkle Schloß/The Hound of the Baskervilles: The Dark Castle (1915, Willy Zeyn) starring Eugen Burg as Holmes, Arme Maria/Poor Mary (1915, Willy Zeyn, Max Mack) featuring Hanni Weisse, and Die Fiebersonate/The Fever Sonata (1916, Emmerich Hanus) with Lotte Neumann. This latter film he also produced. Other early productions were Ein Zirkusmädel/A Circus Girl (1917, Carl Wilhelm) with Lisa Weise, and the Charles Dickens adaptation Klein Doortje/Little Dorrit (1917, Friedrich Zelnik).

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 126/3. Photo: Nicola Perscheid, Berlin.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne Series, Berlin, no. 82/3. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 235. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

Among the Greatest Box Office Hits
In 1918 Friedrich Zelnik married a young Polish ballet dancer turned film actress named Lya Mara. He started to produce and direct films for her and made Mara a huge star of the German cinema. Between 1917 and 1922 the Berliner Film-Manukfaktur produced more than 120 films. From 1920 on Zelnik's companies ran under several names: Zelnik-Mara-Film GmbH, Friedrich Zelnik-film GmbH, and Efzet-Film GmbH. Zelnik-Mara-Film GmbH produced silent entertainment films in which Mara was the female star. Together they made very popular, operetta style costume films like An der schönen blauen Donau/The Beautiful Blue Danube (1926, Friedrich Zelnik) with Harry Liedtke, Die Försterchristl/The Bohemian Dancer (1926, Friedrich Zelnik) again with Liedtke, Das Tanzende Wien/Dancing Vienna (1927, Friedrich Zelnik), and Heut' tanzt Mariett/Marietta (1928, Friedrich Zelnik) with Fred Louis Lerch. These films brought Lya Mara and Zelnik enormous success in Germany and beyond. Filmportal.de: ”Zelnik's sentimental costume dramas (…) always ranked among the greatest box office hits of their respective season. Nevertheless, his filmic version of Gerhart Hauptmann's Die Weber/The Weaver (1927, Friedrich Zelnik) became popular even with ‘progressive’ critics. To this day, this rather untypical film for Zelnik still mainly accounts for his reputation as a filmmaker.” Several of his collaborators, including cameraman Frederik Fuglsang and production designer André Andrejew, are perceived today as notable artists of the German silent cinema. Another important collaborator was scriptwriter Fanny Carlsen. Busy with directing and producing these films, Zelnik did not find the time to appear himself in films anymore. His last film appearance was in Das Geheimnis der alten Mamsell/The Story of the Old Mademoiselle (1925, Paul Merzbach) starring Marcella Albani. In 1925, Zelnik was head of production at Deutsche Fox for six films, and in 1926 he became a board member and the art director of Defu (Deutsche Film Union AG) and Defina (Deutsche First National Pictures GmbH).

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 249. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 341/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass Phot.

Hollywood
Upon the introduction of sound film, Friedrich Zelnik became the first director in Europe to post synchronize a film, the Edgar Wallace adaptation Der rote Kreis/The Crimson Circle (1929, Friedrich Zelnik) starring Lya Mara and Stewart Rome. In London, he used the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, and added music by Edmund Meisel. In 1930, the Friedrich Zelnik-Film GmbH went into liquidation and Zelnik travelled to Hollywood, California. Upon his return he directed his first full sound film, a new version of his silent success Die Försterchristl/The Bohemian Girl (1931, Friedrich Zelnik) featuring Irene Eisinger. He had no problems adapting his operetta style to the sound film, and soon more musicals like Walzerparadies/Waltz Paradise (1931, Friedrich Zelnik) with Charlotte Susa, Jeder fragt nach Erika/Everyone asks for Erika (1931, Friedrich Zelnik) with Lya Mara in her only sound film role, and Spione im Savoy-Hotel/The Gala Performance (1932, Friedrich Zelnik) with Alfred Abel. After Adolph Hitler took power in 1933, Zelnik and Lya Mara left Germany for London. His first British film was the musical comedy Happy (1933, Friedrich Zelnik) with Stanley Lupino. It was an English remake of Es war einmal ein Musikus/There was once a musician (1933, Friedrich Zelnik), the last film he had made in Germany. In the years to follow Zelnik, now Frederic (or Fred) Zelnik, continued to direct and produce films in Great Britain and The Netherlands. Among his British films are the musicals Southern Roses (1934, Frederic Zelnik), The Lilac Domino (1937, Frederic Zelnik) with S.Z. Szakall in a supporting part, and I Killed the Count (1939, Frederic Zelnik) starring Ben Lyon. In the Netherlands he directed Vadertje Langbeen/Daddy Long Legs (1938, Friedrich Zelnik) based on the popular and often filmed novel by Jean Webster, and Morgen gaat ’t beter!/Tomorrow It Will Be Better (1939, Friedrich Zelnik). Both films were produced by German émigré producer and distributor Rudolf Meyer, and starred Dutch actress Lily Bouwmeester. Zelnik took the British citizenship. After 1940 he only worked as a producer, in cooperation with British National. His later work included the musical Give Me the Stars (1945, Maclean Rogers) and the British-Italian drama The Glass Mountain (1949, Henry Cass) with Michael Denison and Valentina Cortese. Together with Raymond Stross, he founded Zelstro Films to produce the film Hell Is Sold Out (1951, Michael Anderson) but did not live to see its completion. Friedrich Zelnik died in 1950 in London. He was 65. About what happened to his wife, Lya Mara there is only a rumor that she died in 1960 in Switzerland.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1089/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Bieber, Berlin.

Lya Mara. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4180/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

Sources: Filmportal.de, Film in Nederland (Dutch), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Giani Esposito

2012-01-05T13:01:00.050+01:00

Gianni Esposito aka Giani Esposito (1930 - 1974) was a Belgian actor, singer/songwriter and poet. He appeared in 50 films between 1951 and 1973.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 697. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Sartre
Gianni Esposito was born in Ixelles/Etterbeek, a part of Brussels, in 1930. His father was Italian, his mother French. He first lived in Paris and between 1939 and 1949, he grew up in Italy. In 1951, Esposito became an actor in French cinema, starting with a bit part in Maitre après Dieu/Skipper Next to God (1951, Louis Daquin) starring Pierre Brasseur. Around the same time he started a singing career, performing at the cabarets La Rose Rouge and L'Ecluse, and in 1957 he had success with the song Le Clown. From 1958 on he registered records with his texts and songs. He also published some books and did illustrations. Meanwhile he appeared in supporting parts in such films as the Jean-Paul Sartre adaptation Huis clos/No Exit (1954, Jacqueline Audry), the musical French Cancan (1955, Jean Renoir) staring Jean Gabin, Les mauvaises rencontres/Bad Liaisons (1955, Alexandre Astruc) with Anouk Aimée, and Les Misérables (1957-1958, Jean-Paul Le Chanois) based on the book by Victor Hugo. In 1959 he met Pascale Petit who became his partner. In 1966 their daughter Douchka Esposito was born.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress. Photo: Béatrice Altariba and Esposito played Cosette and Marius in Les misérables (1957, Jean-Paul Le Chanois).

Poems
Until 1971 Gianni Esposito played roles in many French and some Italian films, including Paris nous appartient/Paris Belongs to Us (1960, Jacques Rivette), the two-part experiment Françoise ou La vie conjugale/Anatomy of a Marriage (1964, André Cayatte) featuring Marie-José Nat, and its sequel Jean-Marc ou La vie conjugale/Anatomy of a Marriage (1964, André Cayatte) featuring Jacques Charrier, and Il Decameron/The Decameron (1971, Pier Paolo Pasolini), the first film in Pasolini's Trilogy of Life. Between 1957 and 1973 Esposito also played in telefilms and television series. In 1971 Esposito met Ersie Pittas, niece of the Greek director Michael Cacoyannis, and left his wife and daughter. With Pittas he started a show in which he recited poems while he danced, touring around France in 1972-1973. While having an overload of projects and plans Gianni Esposito was struck by a viral hepatitis and a brain tumor in late 1973, and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, on New Year's Day 1 January 1974.

Scene from Paris nous appartient (1961). Source: circeo59 (Daily Motion).

Giani Esposito sings Le Clown. Source: Infolinux (YouTube).

Sources: gianiesposito.chronobio.com, Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.

Vera Vergani

2012-01-04T13:01:00.115+01:00

Vera Vergani (1894 – 1989) was an Italian stage and film actress. She not only performed in the first stagings of Luigi Pirandello’s plays but from 1916 till 1921 she also had a career in the Italian silent cinema.

Italian postcard, no. 601/2. Photo M. Assagia, Torino.

Primattrice
Vera Vergani was born in Milan in 1894 She was the granddaughter of puppet master Vittorio Podrecca and sister of journalist and stagewright Orio Vergani. She debuted on stage in 1912 at the Benini company. Two years later she joined the Talli-Melato-Giovannini company and in 1916 she became ‘primattrice’ in the company of Ruggero Ruggeri. In the 1910's and 1920's she remained foremost a stage actress, appreciated not only for her beauty and elegance but also for her excellent interpretations. In 1916 the film industry managed to seduce the popular actress to start working for them, hoping to add prestige by attracting big names of the stage, just like earlier with Lyda Borelli and Ermete Zacconi. As the stage company was at rest in the summertime, Giovanni Xilo, owner of Monopol-Film of Rome proposed her to play in two films for which original scripts were written by Augusto Genina: Il presagio/The Presentiment (1916, Augusto Genina) with Tullio Carminati, and La menzogna/The Lie (1916, Augusto Genina) with Oreste Bilancia. They were produced at the same time, using the same cast and crew, at one of the Cines film studios, rented for the occasion. As the publicity indicates, Il presagio was "the drama of a beautiful woman who seems to be born for the joy of the eyes and for love, but instead meets futile caprice and tragic passion". La menzogna is "the violent story of a woman ready to sacrifice her honour to save her husband, but justice which protects the good ones will prevail in the end". The film did not have a very good reception and Vergani was accused of betraying the theatre. "It is a night without a moonbeam", one critic wrote, and Vera didn’t want to know about film anymore for several years. On stage she was very successful again both with critics and audiences in plays by Pirandello, Guitry and D'Annunzio.

Italian postcard by neg. Vettori, Bologna, no. 62.

Flaming Expression of the New
In 1919 Vera Vergani returned to the screen, when Giuseppe Barattolo, producer at Caesar Film, offered her to play in three films based on famous stage plays: Dora o le spie/Dora or the spies (1919, Robert Roberti) written by Victorien Sardou, La paura d'amare/Fear of love (1920, Robert Roberti) by Dario Niccodemi and Giulia di Trécoeur/Lucie de Trecoeur (1921, Camillo De Riso, Augusto Genina) by Octave Feuillet. Robert Roberti had made his career as director of films with Francesca Bertini. The critics didn’t like his direction too much but were full of praise for Vera’s lively interpretation of the dramas, along her style of performance on stage. Another film based on a play by Niccodemi followed, L'envolée/La volata/The sprint (1919). Vera is dressed in the film as a daring aviator, ‘flaming expression of the new’ as one critic wrote, who also noted in the aviation ‘the clearest emergence of these times’. The actress also played in the film La modella/The model (1920, Mario Caserini) based on a comedy by Alfredo Testoni, La buona figliola/The good daughter (1919, Mario Caserini) based on Sabatino Lopez, Fior d'amore/Flower of love (1921, Mario Caserini) again based on Niccodemi, Caterina (1921, Mario Caserini) written by Henri Lavedan and some minor productions, repeating on screen, of which by now she knew all the odds and outs, her previous stage performances. But after La Vittima/The Victim (1921, Jacques Creusy), a neglectable tearjerker, she definitely returned to the stage. The fundamental years of her stage career Vergani passed in the company of Dario Niccodemi. From 1921 on, she was the company's ‘primattrice’ for nine seasons. Her regular male co-star was Luigi Cimara. Memorable from these years were her performances in the first stagings of Luigi Pirandello’s plays Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore/Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921) and Ciascuno a suo modo/Each on His Own Way (1924). While she was a fascinating and elegant actress, she retired at only 35 years of age, after a last performance at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan in 1930. She starred in one of the plays which had contributed to her fortune: La figlia di Iorio by Gabriele D'Annunzio. The reason for her retirement was her marriage with Leonardo Pescarolo, a commander from the island of Procida. They had two children: assistant director Vera Pescarolo, who would become the wife of film director Giuliano Montaldo, and film producer Leo Pescarolo. Vera Vergano returned once to the cinema. In 1965 she appeared in a small role in Il morbidone/The Dreamer (1965, Massimo Franciosa). Vera Vergani died in Procida in 1989. Her great-grand children are also working in the film business: assistant director Inti Carboni and makeup designer Jana Carboni.

Italian postcard, no. 450. Photo: Cines. Vera Vergani and Nero Bernardi in Il filo d'Arianna/Ariadne's thread (1921, Mario Caserini).

Sources: Vittoro Martinelli (Le dive del silenzio) (Italian), Procidamia (Italian) and IMDb.

Viviane Romance

2012-01-03T13:01:00.024+01:00

Temperamental and beautiful Viviane Romance (1912 - 1991) played dozens of flirts, femme fatales and fallen women in black & white classics of the French cinema of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, nr. 126. Photo: Discina.

French postcard by SERP, Paris, no. 41. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

French postcard by EPC, no. 166. Photo: A.C.E.

Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 1923.

French postcard, no. 554. Photo: Films Derby. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Miss Paris
Viviane Romance was born Pauline Ronacher Ortmanns in 1912 in Roubaix, France. At 13, she made her debut as a bit player at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, and at 14, she joined the troupe at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. In 1930 Viviane was elected Miss Paris, and caused a small scandal because she had a child. She made her film debut with a cameo role in Paris-girls (1929, Henry Roussell) with Fernand Fabre. She appeared in several films over the next few years, including La Chienne/The Bitch (1931, Jean Renoir), Liliom (1934, Fritz Lang), Zouzou (1934, Marc Allégret), La Bandera/The Bandage (1935, Julien Duvivier) with Jean Gabin, and Princesse Tam Tam/Princess Tam Tam (1935, Edmond T. Gréville), a French adaptation of G.B. Shaw's Pygmalion with Josephine Baker as a beautiful native African woman, who is ‘westernized’ by a handsome writer and then introduced to high society as an exotic princess. Viviane Romance made a strong impression in La belle équipe/The Good Crew (1936 Julien Duvivier) as the sensual Gina who plots the destruction of Jean Gabin’s character because he refuses to make love to her. La belle équipe constituted a milestone in the French Cinema. From this time on Romance was regarded as one of France's leading film actresses and an insurance at the box office.

French postcard by Viny, no. 12. Photo: Paris Film.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 13.

French postcard by P.I., Paris, no. 2.

French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, no. 24. Photo: Discina.

French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, no. 554 B. Photo: Sirius.

Fallen Women With Hearts of Gold
Viviane Romance reportedly was offered a Hollywood film contract, but she rejected. She preferred to make films in her native France and many noted directors aked her to. However, she also resided for many years in Italy where she made several Italian language films in the 1950’s. Throughout her career she played dozens of exotic femme fatales, courtisans, vamps and fallen women with hearts of gold. Among her best films were Angélica/Blood Red Rose (1940, Jean Choux), the excellent melodrama Vénus aveugle/Blind Venus (1941, Abel Gance), the dark thriller Panique/Panic (1946, Julien Duvivier) based on a novel by Georges Siménon, Passion (1951, Georges Lampin) and the anthology film Les Sept péchés capitaux/The Seven Deadly Sins (1952, Yves Allégret). Her last film from this period was Pitié pour les vamps/Pity for the Vamps (1956, Jean Josipovici). After 1956 her acting roles were few, but she starred with Jean Gabin in the suspenser Mélodie en sous-sol/Any Number Can Win (1962, Henri Verneuil). In 1973 she made one last appearance in the thriller Nada/The Nada Gang (1974, Claude Chabrol), answering a special request by director Claude Chabrol. It was her 65th film. She published her mémoires, Romantique à mourir in 1986. Viviane Romance died of cancer in 1991 in Nice, France. She had married and divorced three times. Her spouses were actor Georges Flamant , actor Clément Duhour and director Jean Josipovici.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, nr. 37. Sent by mail in 1944. Photo: Star.

French postcard by Erpé, nr. 509. Photo: Star.

French postcard by O.P., Paris, no. 125. Photo: Star.

French postcard by A.C.E., nr. 138.

German postcard. Photo: IFA-Film. Publicity still for Carmen (1945, Christian-Jaque).

Sources: Hal Erickson (Rovi), Yvan Foucart (Dictionnaire des Comédiens Français disparus), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Soava Gallone

2012-01-02T13:01:00.076+01:00

Polish actress Soava Gallone (1880 - 1957) was directed in one silent film after another by her husband, Carmine Gallone. From the mid-1910's onwards, the diva starred in many Italian films as the 'femme fragile'.

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano. Photo: publicity still for La cavalcata ardente (1925).

Femme Fragile
Soava Gallone was born Stanislawa Winawerówna in 1880 in Warsaw, Poland. She left Poland for Italy, together with her mother and brother, in order to forget the bitterness of her previous marriage. In Sorento, Stanislawa, known as Soave, met a young man with high hopes: Carmine Gallone. While he wrote her poems, she hoped to perform in his stage plays. The two married in 1911 and left for Rome. Their start was not a success, as Gallone’s Coriolano was not well received. Soava was a stunning beauty but lacked correct Italian diction, so the two started to work at the Cines film company. The couple managed to shoot a series of films, set on their beloved coast around Amalfi, Sorrento and Capri. Soava played the fiancée of a sailor, a fisherman, a coastguard, a pirate etc., all with the local scenery as asset. Cines exported these films which international critics praised for their scenic beauty. However the films didn’t have a big success within Italy. In 1916, she finally became a big success in her own country, both critical and in audience response with Avatar (1916, Carmine Gallone) and subsequently with La chiamavano Cosetta/They Call Her Cosetta (1917, Eugenio Perego), for which the script was especially written for Soava by Lucio d’Ambra. A copy of La chiamavano Cosetta/They Call Her Cosetta has been traced by the film archive of Bologna, but still waits restoration. The dramatic story is about the writer Marco (Amleto Novelli), deluded by his rich girlfriend, who dreams of being Pygmalion. He meets his Galatea when he sees Cosetta (Soava), a wild girl from the woods, and makes her his model, becoming a sculptor himself. Matters run out of hand when Soava falls in love with Marco, who still loves his old girlfriend, while instead Marco’s son loves Cosetta and kills himself out of love for her when she refuses him. The devastated father kills his model with the marble.

Italian Postcard by G.B. Falci Editori, Milano. Photo: still from La Cavalcata Ardente (1925).

Femme Fragile
Carmine Gallone had the intelligence to pick films that fully sustained the image of Soava Gallone as refined, delicate soul. He limited her performances to no more than two per year. Among her best films are La storia di un peccato/The story of a sin (1918), Il bacio di Cirano/Cyrano's Kiss (1919), and in particular Madame Poupée/A Doll Wife (1919), based on an original script by Washington Borg. In the latter Soava plays a young mother whose happiness is destroyed by the evil scheming of a rival; a touching and delicate portrait by Gallone as 'femme fragile'. Memorable as well are Amleto e il suo clown/Hamlet and His Clown (1920) and La cavalcata ardente/The Man of Conquest (1925). This a highly successful melodrama was set against the background of the conquest of Naples by Garibaldi's volunteers. Soava is an aristocratic forced into marriage with an old prince (Emilio Ghione) but secretly in love with a patriot (Gabriel de Gravone). Masked, the lover leads a cavalry to save the girl during the betrothal party (hence the arduous cavalcade of the title), which leads to the girl hiding in a convent and the lover reaching for the troupes of Garibaldi. He is arrested, however, and the girl can only save his life by accepting marriage with the old prince. For the second time she is saved, however, when Garibaldi’s troupes are before Naples, the old prince dies in the following fight, and the two lovers are finally reunited. The crisis in the Italian cinema in the late 1920's forced Soava and Carmine Gallone to work abroad. Carmine worked in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, but Soava only played in one final silent film in France, Celle qui domine/Crossroad of Love (1927), which her husband co-directed with French director Léon Mathot, who also played the lead. In 1930, Soava Gallone played in an early sound film, Il segreto del dottore/The Doctor's Secret, directed by Jack Salvatori and shot at the Paramount Studios in Joinville, Paris. It was her last film. While her husband pursued a succesful career in sound cinema, she remained a star from the silent era. Soava Gallone died in 1957 in Rome, Italy.

Italian Postcard by G.B. Falci Editori, Milano. Photo: still from La Cavalcata Ardente (1925).

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Le dive del silenzio), Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano), and IMDb.

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