Christopher Lee

British film actor Christopher Lee (1922-2015) was best known as Count Dracula, the bloodsucking vampire. But he created more unforgettable characters on screen, like Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), Saruman in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014), and as the title figure in the Hammer Horror film The Mummy (1959). Lee acted in nearly 230 films in a career spanning 70 years.


British postcard by A Bigger Splash LTD, Manchester, no. X718. Photo: Hammer Film Productions LTD. Christopher Lee in Dracula A.D. 1972 (Alan Gibson, 1972).


British postcard by EON Productions Limited. Photo: Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. Christopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun (Guy Hamilton, 1974).

West German postcard by Polyband Medien GmbH. Photo: BBC.Christopher Lee in the TV mini-series Gormenghast (Andy Wilson, 2000). The German film title is Schloss im Nebel.


British postcard by GB Posters, Sheffield, no. PC0462. Photo: New Line Cinema. Christopher Lee as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001).


Vintage postcard, no. 743. Photo: Christopher Lee as Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002).

Charm school

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was born in 1922 in London, England. He came from an acting dynasty. His great-grandparents founded the first Australian opera company. His parents were Contessa Estelle Marie (Carandini di Sarzano) and Geoffrey Trollope Lee, a professional soldier. They divorced in 1926.

Later, while Lee was still a child, his mother married (and later divorced) the banker Harcourt George St.-Croix. After attending Wellington College from age 14 to 17, Lee worked as an office clerk in a couple of London shipping companies until 1941, when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force during World War II.

Following his release from military service, Lee joined the Rank Organisation in 1947, training as an actor in their Charm School and playing several bit parts in such films as the Gothic romance Corridor of Mirrors (Terence Young, 1948) with Eric Portman.

He made a brief appearance as a spear carrier in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948). A few years later, he appeared in Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (Raoul Walsh, 1951) as a Spanish captain.

Lee had numerous parts in film and television throughout the 1950s. He also dubbed foreign films into English, including Jacques Tati's Les Vacances de M. Hulot / Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953).


German autograph card by Bravo. Photo: Christopher Lee as Dracula.


Vintage collector card, no. 870. Christopher Lee in The Brides of Fu Manchu (Don Sharp, 1966).


Vintage autograph card by the Christopher Lee Fan Club.


Dutch postcard by Loeb Uitgevers BV, Amsterdam, no. 5992109, 1985. Photo: Eon Productions / Gilrose Publications / Danjaq S.A. Publicity still for The Man with the Golden Gun (Guy Hamilton, 1974) with Roger Moore.


Vintage postcard by Memory Card, no. 734. Christopher Lee as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001).

A blessing in disguise

Christopher Lee struggled to get work early in his career as a supporting actor because almost all the male stars were shorter than he. However, playing the monster in the Hammer film Frankenstein (Terence Fisher, 1957) proved to be a blessing in disguise. The film was a success and the jumping-off point for Hammer, a small company which had been in production for many years, and now filled the void left by the American majors in the production of the Horror film. Lee was signed on for future roles in Hammer productions. His deeply melodic basso voice, towering height and slender frame were perfect for imposing, menacing villains.

Lee often played contrasting roles with Peter Cushing in the Hammer films. Cushing was often the protagonist and Lee the villain, whether it be Van Helsing and Dracula respectively in Dracula/Horror of Dracula (Terence Fisher, 1958), or John Banning and Kharis the Mummy respectively in The Mummy (Terence Fisher, 1959). Lee continued his role as Dracula in several Hammer sequels throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s. He also co-starred with Cushing in The Hound of the Baskervilles (Terence Fisher, 1959) and made numerous appearances as Fu Manchu, most notably in the first of the series, The Face of Fu Manchu (Don Sharp, 1965).

He also made many films in other European countries. With his own production company, Charlemagne Productions, Ltd., Lee made Nothing But the Night (Peter Sasdy, 1973) and To the Devil a Daughter (Peter Sykes, 1976) with Richard Widmark and Nastassja Kinski. Lee was tiring of his Horror image and tried to widen his appeal by participating in several mainstream films, such as The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (Billy Wilder, 1970), The Three Musketeers (Richard Lester, 1973), The Four Musketeers (Richard Lester, 1974), and the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (Guy Hamilton, 1974) with Roger Moore.

In the late 1970s, Christopher Lee moved to Hollywood. He remained a busy actor but made mostly unremarkable film and television appearances, and eventually moved back to England. The beginning of the new millennium relaunched his career to some degree, during which he played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002) and as Saruman the White in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Peter Jackson, 2001-2003). Lee played Count Dooku again in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (George Lucas, 2005) and as Johnny Depp's character's father in the Tim Burton film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).

In 2001, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to drama. He was created a Knight Bachelor in 2009 in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama and charity. In addition, he was made a Commander of the Order of St John in 1997. On 7 June 2015, Christopher Lee died of heart failure in London. He was 93. He had one child, Christina Erika Lee (1963), with his wife Birgit Kroencke Lee (Gitte Lee).


Small German collector card.


French poster card by Éditions F. Nugeron, no. E19. French poster by Guy-Gérard Noël / Hammer Film / Universal International. Christopher Lee in Horror of Dracula (Terence Fisher, 1958). The French title was Le cauchemar de Dracula.


British poster postcard by London Postcard Company, no. LU 537, Series 4, set of 9. Image: Anglo Amalgamated Film Distributors. British poster of Christopher Lee in The Blood of Fu Manchu (Jesús Franco, 1968).


Trailer Dracula / Horror of Dracula (Terence Fisher, 1958). Source: MOVIECLIPS Classic Trailers (YouTube).


Trailer The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973). Source: MOVIECLIPS Classic Trailers (YouTube).


Trailer The Three Musketeers (Richard Lester, 1973). Source: MOVIECLIPS Classic Trailers (YouTube).


Trailer The Man with the Golden Gun (Guy Hamilton, 1974). Source: MOVIECLIPS Classic Trailers (YouTube).

Sources: Lyn Hammond and Sidhartha Shankar (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Directed by Carmine Gallone

Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer Carmine Gallone (1885–1973) directed over 120 films in his fifty-year career between 1913 and 1963. Gallone was one of Italian cinema's leading early directors and has been compared to Cecil B. DeMille because of his predilection for historical epics. He was also controversial for his works of pro-Fascist Propaganda and historical revisionism. Gallone specialised in melodramas and costume epics, but from the 1950s, he also directed several international co-productions, including many musicals, opera films and biopics of composers.


Vintage postcard by C.E. & Co. Photo: Cines. Lyda Borelli in La donna nuda / The Naked Truth (Carmine Gallone, 1914).


Spanish postcard by Ed. L. Planas, Barcelona, no. 1 of 6 cards. Photo: Cines. Lyda Borelli in Fior di male / Flower of Evil (Carmine Gallone, 1915), written by Nino Oxilia. Stylistically, the film looks so much like Oxilia's Sangue bleu that some historians doubt whether Gallone directed it. Scene: When the film opens, Lyda is a poor dancer in a disreputable inn. She becomes a young mother and gives away her child, unable to care for his son. During a raid, she is arrested and ends up in a reformatory for fallen women.


Italian postcard, Ufficio Censura Torino, 9-10-1915, no. 6184. Lyda Borelli in Marcia nuziale / Wedding March (Carmine Gallone, 1915), one of the few lost films of her career, and based on the play 'La marche nuptiale' by Henry Bataille.


Spanish postcard, no. 6 of 6 cards. Photo: Cines. Lyda Borelli in La falena / The Butterfly (Carmine Gallone, Cines 1916), based on Henri Bataille's play 'La Phalène'.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex / Film Cines. Lyda Borelli and Amleto Novelli in Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917), adapted from the novel by Antonio Fogazzaro. Caption: For a moment he laid his hands on her arm. She shivered: her shoulders and her breasts lifted themselves.


Spanish cromo (collector card) by Chocolate Imperiale, no. 6 of 6 cards. Photo: J. Muntañola, Barcelona / Cines. Lyda Borelli in La storia dei tredici / The Story of the Thirteen (Carmine Gallone, Cines 1917), after a script by Lucio d'Ambra based on 'La duchesse de Langeais', one of the three volumes of Honoré de Balzac's tripartite novel 'L'histoire des treize' (1833-1839), which appeared as Ferragus, 'La duchesse de Langeais' and 'La fille aux yeux d'or'. Together with Marcia nuziale / Wedding March (Carmine Gallone, 1915), La storia dei tredici is one of Gallone's lost films with Lyda Borelli. While most films of Borelli survive, or at least fragments remain (La falena, La dramma di una notte), no footage from this film has resurfaced, despite the opening up of film archives in the past decades.


Italian postcard by Alfieri & Lacroix, Milan, for Cinema Teatro Dante. Photo: Film d'Eccezione / Ligure Films. Soava Gallone in La storia di un peccato / The Story of a Sin (Carmine Gallone, 1918). Ligure Films had the film rights for the regions Piemonte and Liguria. This card may refer to a Cinema Dante in Savona, where Ligure Films was based. Still, it could also refer to a Cinema Dante in Milan, although the only one hitherto known opened in 1925. On the card, the film is indicated as Storia di un peccato.


Belgian postcard. Diana Karenne in Redenzione / Maria di Magdala (Carmine Gallone, 1919), presented as La Rédemption de Marie Madeleine at the cinema Oud-Gend in Ghent, Belgium, between 17 and 23 September 1920. The French company Gaumont distributed the film in Belgium.


Italian postcard by Unione Cinematografica Italiana - Palatino Film. Photo: Celio Films. Soava Gallone in Marcella / Mother Love (Carmine Gallone, 1921). Caption: Marcella can finally embrace her son again. The other woman may well be Fulvia Perini, playing Marcella's aunt.


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci Editori, Milano / La Fotominio, no. 71. Photo: Soava Gallone in La Tormenta / The Storm (Carmine Gallone, 1922).

The last of the great silent Italian epics

Carmine Gallone was born as Carmelo Camillo Gallone in 1885, in Taggia, in the province of Imperia, but grew up in Naples. He was the son of the Italian Pasquale Gallone and his French wife, Rosa Langery. He began writing plays at 15 and, in 1911, he travelled to Rome to participate in the National Drama Competition organised to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Unification of Italy. Although the play he submitted, 'Il Britannico', did not win, the examining committee gave it an honourable mention. That same year, he married Stanisława Winawerówna, a Polish actress born in Warsaw in 1880 and later famous as Soava Gallone. He was engaged as a writer and translator at the Teatro Argentina in Rome, where he and his wife stayed until the end of 1912.

During this period, he also worked as a film critic for several Roman magazines. In 1913, the young film director Nino Oxilia introduced him to Cines, where he debuted as a screenwriter, adapting several comedies by Henry Bataille. At the end of the year, Alberto Fassini, the head of the Cines film company, entrusted him with directing the drama film La donna nuda / The Naked Truth, based on Bataille's play of the same name and starring the prominent Italian silent film diva Lyda Borelli. Borelli played the leading female role in many of his early films. Gallone directed thirteen films for Cines in 1914 alone, including Amore senza veli, Il romanzo di un torero and Le campane di Sorrento. In 1915, he was chosen to direct Avatar / The Magician (1916), and he directed Malombra (1917), a loose adaptation of Antonio Fogazzaro's novel of the same name. Wikipedia: "Gallone's early films are characterised by a refined aesthetic sensibility influenced by the Decadent movement prevalent at the time. He carefully constructed each image, studying the relationship between lighting and composition to create original visual effects."

At the outbreak of World War I, Gallone was filming Cuor di neve / Heart of Snow, starring Leda Gys. He was drafted into the army at the end of 1915, serving in the 1st Regiment 'Granatieri di Sardegna', before being called up by the Ministry of the Navy in 1916 to direct propaganda films. Meanwhile, he began a collaboration with the novelist, screenwriter and director Lucio D'Ambra, a key figure in the development of sophisticated silent comedy in Italy. D'Ambra and Gallone collaborated on several films, including La chiamavano Cosetta / They Called Her Cosetta (1917), Storia dei tredici / The Story of the Thirteen (1917), and Il bacio di Cirano / Cyrano's Kiss (1920), a reimagining of Edmond Rostand's 'Cyrano de Bergerac'. In 1919, Gallone made his most successful film to date: the historical epic Redenzione / Redemption (1919), starring Diana Karenne and produced by the Medusa Film company. The film stood out from other historical films of the same period thanks to its elegant and sophisticated cinematography, and was a great success with both audiences and critics.

While Italian cinema was experiencing a period of crisis and a decline in production, Gallone continued to make successful films characterised by lavish sets and high production quality. These included the dark, sentimental drama La madre folle / Through the Shadows (1924); the melodrama I volti dell'amore / The Faces of Love (1924), based on the opera 'Adriana Lecouvreur' by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé, based in turn on the life of 18th-century French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur; and La signorina madre di famiglia (1925). In 1925, he directed La cavalcata ardente / The Fiery Cavalcade, a love story set against the backdrop of Garibaldi's 'Spedizione dei Mille' (Expedition of the Thousand), an event of the unification of Italy that took place in 1860. Starring his wife, Soava Gallone, Emilio Ghione, and Jeanne Brindeau, the film drew parallels between the Garibaldian and Fascist movements, a comparison that would later be endorsed by the fascist regime.

In 1926, Carmine Gallone directed the historical epic Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926), based on E.G. Bulwer-Lytton's novel. A spectacular, lavishly produced epic that ran for more than three hours with thousands of extras and an international cast. The film is notable for featuring scenes colourised by the Pathéchrome stencil colour process. Despite its grand scale, the film was a commercial disappointment, particularly when compared to earlier versions. The failure at the box-office of the last of the great silent Italian epics was a major setback for Italian cinema and marked the end of the first part of Gallone's career as a filmmaker.


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 217. Photo: Films Gallone. Soava Gallone in All'ombra di un trono / L'Ombra di un trono / In the Shadow of a Throne (Carmine Gallone, 1921-1923). Other actors were Umberto Casilini and Piero Schiavazzi. The film was based on a novel by Charles Folly, 'Fleur d'ombre'.


Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano. Gabriel de Gravone in the historical film La cavalcata ardente / The Fiery Cavalcade (Carmine Gallone, 1925).


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci Editori, Milano. Soava Gallone in La cavalcata ardente / The Fiery Cavalcade (Carmine Gallone, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1344/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Victor Varconi as Glaucus in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 1345/1, 1927-1928. Rina De Liguoro as Ione in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926), released in Germany as Die letzten Tage von Pompeji.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5261/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Ufa. Jan Kiepura and Brigitte Helm in Die singende Stadt / The Singing City (Carmine Gallone, 1930).


French postcard by P.C., Paris, no. 14. Photo: Films Osso. Albert Préjean sang the Slow-Fox 'Si l'on ne s'était pas connu' in Un soir de rafle / Sailor's Song (Carmine Gallone, 1931). Text by Léo Lelièvre fils, and music by Ph. Parès and G. van Parys. Copyright: Ed. Salabert, Paris, 1931.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 198/1. Photo: Cine Allianz / Ufa. Jan Kiepura and Mártha Eggerth in the musical comedy Mein Herz ruft nach dir / My Heart Calls You (Carmine Gallone, 1934).


Italian postcard by Grafiche N. Moneto, Milano. Photo: Itala-Film / Generalcine. Maria Cebotari in Mutterlied / Solo Per Te / Mother Song (Carmine Gallone, 1937).


Italian postcard by Rizzoli & C., Milano, 1937. Photo: Pesce. Francesca Braggiotti in Scipione l'Africano / Scipio Africanus (Carmine Gallone, 1937).

Propaganda and opera films

In 1927, Carmine Gallone left Italy and worked in France, Great Britain, Hungary, Austria and Germany. While in Paris, he directed Celle qui domine / The Woman Who Squandered Men (Carmine Gallone, Léon Mathot, 1927) for the British film company Gaumont-British. That same year Gallone moved to Berlin, where he directed the drama film Die Stadt der tausend Freuden / The City of a Thousand Delights (1927), starring Paul Richter, Adele Sandrock and Langhorn Burton. His next film, Marter der Liebe / Pawns of Passion (Wiktor Biegański and Carmine Gallone, 1928), shot in Germany and Poland, was an explicit anti-Soviet and anti-communist Propaganda film. In 1929, Gallone shot his first sound film, Das Land ohne Frauen / Land Without Women (1929), stylistically one of his best works. Set in a community of gold diggers in Western Australia, the film was shot at the Staaken and Templehof Studios in Berlin with sets designed by the art directors Hans Sohnle and Otto Erdmann. Die singende Stadt / The Singing City (Carmine Gallone, 1930), which – as was customary at the time – was shot in two different language versions, marked the debut of Jan Kiepura, whom Gallone succeeded in establishing as a new European singing star through this film. After returning to Paris, Gallone directed Un soir de rafle / Sailor's Song (1931) starring Albert Préjean. Wikipedia: "Lively, engaging, sentimental, and funny, it was considered one of the greatest successes of French sound film."

In 1933, Gallone moved to London to make English-language versions of some of his films. In 1934, he filmed Lucean le stelle in Berlin, for which he made French and English versions. The following year, he directed the musical drama film Casta Diva (1935), starring Mártha Eggerth, and written by Hollywood screenwriter Walter Reisch. The film was a fictionalised biography of Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini and his problems with his opera 'Norma' (1831). It was filmed at the Cines studios in Rome and won the Mussolini Cup at the 1935 Venice International Film Festival. Gallone simultaneously shot an English-language version of the film, The Divine Spark, starring Marta Eggerth, Phillips Holmes, and Benita Hume. Gallone remade Casta Diva in 1954 in Technicolour, starring Antonella Lualdi and Maurice Ronet.

In 1937, Carmine Gallone was commissioned to direct Scipione l'Africano / Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal (1937), a historical epic about Scipio Africanus from his election as proconsul until his defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. Benito Mussolini sought to revive Italian cinema after the multiple box-office failures in the 1920s. His son Vittorio Mussolini oversaw the film's production. He refused to use miniatures, and 300 workers built sets up to 175 feet (more than 50 metres). The film is the most significant cinematic Propaganda effort of the Italian Fascist regime. It was intended to celebrate the victorious conclusion of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and to serve as a metaphor for the regime's imperial project. Scipione l'Africano glorified Roman culture and drew clear parallels between Scipio Africanus and Mussolini and, more generally, between Rome’s civilising mission in Africa and that of Fascist Italy. Although the film failed to impress Mussolini, it still premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was quite successful. Following the revival of the Italian film industry, Gallone settled permanently in Italy.

In the late 1930s, he directed several films inspired by the world of opera, most notably Giuseppe Verdi / The Life of Giuseppe Verdi (1938), Marionette / Marionets (1939), Il sogno di Butterfly / The Dream of a Butterfly (1939) and Amami Alfredo / Love Me, Alfredo! (1940). In 1940, he directed Le due orfanelle / The Two Orphans, a remake of D. W. Griffith's Orphans of the Storm (1921), starring Alida Valli and Maria Denis. In Melodie eterne / Eternal Melodies (Carmine Gallone, 1940), starring Gino Cervi and the Spanish actress Conchita Montenegro, Gallone recounts the precocious debut, unhappy love affairs and premature death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, skilfully blending elements of opera with exquisitely dramatic scenes. L'amante segreta / The Secret Lover (1941) is remembered for Alida Valli's provocative performance. Odessa in fiamme / Odessa în flăcări / Odessa in Flames (1942), an anti-communist Propaganda film about a family trapped in Soviet-occupied Bessarabia and its eventual liberation by Axis forces during Operation Barbarossa, was the first result of a collaboration agreement between Italian and Romanian filmmakers. Gallone directed Harlem / Knock Out (1943) with Massimo Girotti, set in the US and critical of the American lifestyle. Afro-American and colonial British war prisoners were employed in extra roles as coloured characters. Wikipedia: "Despite its setting in a stylised New York lifted directly from contemporary American films, the film stood out for its memorable sequences."

Following the collapse of the Italian Social Republic, Carmine Gallone, one of the foremost figures in fascist cinema, was handed a six-month suspension by the Italian authorities. To distance himself from Scipione l’africano, he directed the major anti-fascist film Davanti a lui tremava tutta Roma / Before Him All Rome Trembled (1946), starring Anna Magnani. Between 1946 and 1947, he directed five film adaptations of operas, including La signora dalle camelie / The Lady of the Camellias (1947). A big hit was Rigoletto (1946), starring Tito Gobbi. Then followed more operatic films such as La leggenda di Faust / Faust and the Devil (1949) and La forza del destino / The Force of Destiny (1950), starring Nelly Corradi and Tito Gobbi, based on Giuseppe Verdi's opera 'La forza del destino'. Gallone's Puccini (1952), starring Gabriele Ferzetti as Giacomo Puccini, was also number one at the box office. Then Cavalleria rusticana / Fatal Desire (1953) followed in 3-D, starring May Britt and Anthony Quinn. For the vocal parts, Tito Gobbi dubbed Quinn. Gallone also directed Madama Butterfly / Madame Butterfly (1954) and Tosca (1956), but interest in opera films waned. Gallone returned to historical epics, with Messalina / The Affairs of Messalina (1951) and especially Cartagine in fiamme / Carthage in Flames (1960), one of the most expensive epic adventure films produced in Italy during the 1960s. He also directed Fernandel and Gino Cervi in La grande bagarre de Don Camillo / Don Camillo e l'onorevole Peppone / Don Camillo's Last Round (1955) and Don Camillo Monseigneur / Don Camillo monsignore... ma non troppo (1961). These were the third and fourth of five comedies featuring Fernandel as the Italian priest Don Camillo and his struggles with Giuseppe 'Peppone' Bottazzi, the Communist mayor of their rural town. The comedy Carmen di Trastevere (1962), starring Giovanna Ralli, was the last film of his long career. He was married to Soava Gallone, who died in 1957. Carmine Gallone died from pneumonia in Frascati in 1973 at 87. Having directed over one hundred films, he was one of the most prolific filmmakers in the history of Italian cinema.


Italian postcard. Ballerini & Fratini, Florence, no. 3725. Photo: E.N.I.C. Annibale Ninchi in the title role of Scipione l'Africano / Scipio Africanus (Carmine Gallone, 1937).


Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1941. Photo: E.N.I.C. Conchita Montenegro in Melodie eterne / Eternal Melodies (Carmine Gallone, 1940), a heavily fictionalised biopic on the life of Mozart, in which Montenegro played the soprano Aloysia Weber, Mozart's love interest.


Romanian postcard. Alida Valli and Maria Denis in Le due orfanelle / The Two Orphans (Carmine Gallone, 1942), based on the classic stage play by Eugène Cormon and Adolphe d'Ennery.


West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 525. Photo: Filmsonor / Gallone / Allianz-Film. María Félix in Messalina / The Affairs of Messalina (Carmine Gallone, 1951).


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 405. Photo: Allianz Film. Maria Félix in Messalina / The Affairs of Messalina (Carmine Gallone, 1951).


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano. Photo: DEAR Film. The hat Nadia Gray wears refers to her part as the singer Cristina Vernini in Puccini (Carmine Gallone, 1953). Yet, in the film she wears a high-necked dress and no fur.


West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. V 321. Photo: Unitalia / Vaselli. Ludmila Tcherina in La figlia di Mata Hari / Mata Hari's Daughter (Carmine Gallone, 1954).


German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3413. Photo: Allianz Film. Curd Jürgens in Michel Strogoff / Michael Strogoff (Carmine Gallone, 1956).


German postcard by UFA, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 1457. Photo: Arthur Grimm / CCC-Film / Allianz. Folco Lulli in Polikuschka (Carmine Gallone, 1958).


Cover page of an Austrian film programme by Das neue Film-Programm, unnumbered. Anne Heywood and Mario Girotti (Terence Hill) in Cartagine in fiamme / Carthage in Flames (Carmine Gallone, 1960). Heywood was loaned out from the Rank Organisation to make the epic.

Sources: Wikipedia (English, Italian and German) and IMDb.

Van Williams

Hunky American film and TV actor Van Williams (1934-2016) was best known for his leading role as Kenny Madison in both Warner Bros. television detective series Bourbon Street Beat (1959–1960) and its sequel, Surfside 6 (1960–1962). For one season, he starred as the title character in The Green Hornet (1966–1967), with Bruce Lee as his partner Kato.


Spanish postcard by Ediciones Este, no. 18-T, 1964. Photo: Warner Bros. Van Williams in the TV series Surfside 6 (Charles R. Rondeau, a.o., 1960-1962). The Spanish title was Rompeolas.


Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. C. 168, 1964. Photo: Warner Bros. Van Williams in the TV series Surfside 6 (Charles R. Rondeau, a.o., 1960-1962). The Spanish title was Rompeolas.


Spanish postcard by Postal Oscar Color.

An irresistible, clean-cut private eye

Van Zandt Jarvis Williams was born in 1934 in Fort Worth, Texas. Williams grew up on a ranch outside Fort Worth and later studied cattle farming at Texas Christian University. He and the famous singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt were cousins. He moved to Hawaii in 1956 after differences with his father on how the ranch should be run. He worked there as a scuba diving instructor. His clients included film producer Mike Todd and his then-wife Elizabeth Taylor. Todd noticed Williams' good looks and suggested he pursue an acting career. Williams first went to college and got a degree. Todd died in a plane crash in 1958, but Williams followed his advice, moved to Hollywood and took voice and acting lessons.

He managed to get cast in episodes of General Electric Theatre (1958-1959), Lawman (1959) and Colt .45 (1959) and played minor theatre roles, including engagements on Broadway. Warner Brothers had a keen eye for photogenic hunks like Williams and signed him in 1959 for their television division. He was irresistible as the clean-cut private eye Kenny Madison on the Detective series Bourbon Street Beat (1959-1960), set in New Orleans. Although the show lasted only one season, Warner Bros. carried his Kenny Madison character into the more popular adventure drama Surfside 6 (1960-1962) about a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat. His new colleagues were played by Troy Donahue, Lee Patterson, Diane McBain, and Margarita Sierra.

Surfside 6 was one of four detective TV series produced by Warner Bros. around that time, the others being 77 Sunset Strip (set in Los Angeles), Hawaiian Eye (set in Hawaii), and the aforementioned Bourbon Street Beat (set in New Orleans). Plots, scripts (changing the names and locales), characters, and almost everything else crossed over from one series to another, not a difficult feat since they were all actually shot on the studio's backlots in Los Angeles. Williams also briefly appeared in the film Tall Story (Joshua Logan, 1960) as a smug jock stepping stark naked out of the men's locker room shower, giving a young Jane Fonda quite an eyeful of him, comically saying: "If it is alright with you, it is alright with me".

During the run of Surfside Street, Van Williams occasionally guest-starred on other Warner Bros. shows, such as Cheyenne (1962) and 77 Sunset Strip (1961-1962). He appeared with Jack Webb in an anti-communist short, Red Nightmare / Freedom and You (George Waggner, 1962), produced for and financed by the Department of Defence during the Cold War. Williams also starred in a World War II television pilot titled The Leathernecks (1962), broadcast as an episode of The Gallant Men. He also appeared as a young doctor in the film The Caretakers (Hall Bartlett, 1963) starring Robert Stack and Joan Crawford.

When his contract expired at Warner, Van Williams tried a comedy series next, The Tycoon (1964-1965). Walter Brennan starred as a busy, self-made millionaire, and Williams was his young assistant. Williams was signed to the series to provide the romantic interest, and he took the part to learn comedy. He worked in television commercials and guest appearances on various television series such as The Dick Van Dyke Show (1965), The Beverly Hillbillies (1965) and The Milton Berle Show (1966). He also had an uncredited bit role in the Spy-Fi comedy Our Man Flint (Daniel Mann, 1966) that parodies the James Bond film series. The film starred James Coburn as master spy Derek Flint.


Vintage photo. Van Williams and Jane Fonda in Tall Story (Joshua Logan, 1960).


Spanish postcard by Oscarcolor, no. 16-T. Photo: Warner Bros. Troy Donahue, Lee Patterson, and Van Williams in the TV series Surfside 6 (1960-1962).


Spanish postcard by CyA, no. 45. Photo: Warner Bros. Van Williams in the TV series Surfside 6 (Charles R. Rondeau, a.o., 1960-1962). The Spanish title was Rompeolas.

A mysterious masked hero and a charming newspaper editor

20th Century-Fox gave Van Williams his most vividly recalled part in The Green Hornet (1966-1967), as the mysterious masked hero and his alter ego, charming newspaper editor Britt Reid. Bruce Lee played his agile, Robin-like counterpart Kato. Inspired by the huge cult hit series Batman (1966), ABC-TV had William Dozier revive George W. Trendle's famous radio character in this new series. Williams played the role straight, unlike the comedy approach of the same producer's Batman show. He and Bruce Lee also made three guest appearances, in character, on the series Batman (1966-1967) and in the film Batman / Batman: The Movie (Leslie H. Martinson, 1966).

The Green Hornet enjoyed a fast start but, like its predecessor, met an equally untimely finish. By the time he starred in The Green Hornet, Williams had become successful investing in various commercial ventures. Williams later said, "By the time The Green Hornet came along, I had pretty well decided to get out of the television business. About the only thing I enjoyed about those years was the location work. Basically I'm a shy person. I know that public appearances and autographs and all that are a necessary part of the business, but it wasn't for me."

However, after The Green Hornet ended, Van Williams guest-starred on shows such as The Big Valley (1968), Mannix (1970), Love, American Style (1970), Nanny and the Professor (1970), Ironside (1971), Mission: Impossible (1972), Apple's Way (1974), Gunsmoke (1974), and The Manhunter (1975). He returned to the lead in a regular series with Westwind (Christian Nyby, 1975), a children's adventure series filmed in Hawaii.

He co-starred with Dorothy McGuire in the TV movie The Runaways (Harry Harris, 1975) about a homeless teenage boy (Josh Albee) and an escaped leopard (Spot). William then again guest-starred in popular TV series such as Bert 'DAngelo/Superstar (1976), The Streets of San Francisco (1976), Barnaby Jones (1977), How the West Was Won (1978), The Night Rider (1979), Mrs. Columbo (1979) and The Rockford Files (1979). Ironically, he turned down the offer of a role in Falcon Crest (1981) because it involved too much location shooting. Williams retired from acting in 1982 to open a communications company in Santa Monica.

He was also a longtime reserve deputy sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and worked at the substation in Malibu, California. In 1993, Williams made a cameo in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (Rob Cohen, 1993) as the director of The Green Hornet television program. In 2010, the filmmakers of the Green Hornet film adaptation wanted him to make a cameo appearance as a cemetery guard, but Williams turned it down. Williams married Vicki Flaxman in 1959. Together they had two children, and one from Vicki's prior marriage to Jeff Richards. He had nine grandchildren. He also had twin daughters from a previous marriage to Drucilla Greenhaw, which also included four grandchildren. Outside the studios, Williams was also privately closely affiliated with Batman star Adam West. They were neighbours in Sun Valley and spent much leisure time together. West also claimed that when people saw them together outdoors, they would comment about Batman and The Green Hornet being on a secret case together. Van Williams died in 2016 from kidney failure at the age of 82 in Scottsdale, Arizona.


Spanish postcard by Oscarcolor, no. 252. Photo: Warner Bros. Publicity still for the TV series Surfside 6 (1960-1962).


Vintage card, no. 1444. Van Williams and Bruce Lee in the TV series The Green Hornet (1966-1967).


French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, no. E 283. French affiche by René Chateau for The Green Hornet (William Beaudine, Norman Foster, E. Darrell Hallenbeck, 1974). The French title was Le Retour du Dragon. After Bruce Lee's sudden death in 1973, several episodes of the TV series The Green Hornet (1966-1967) were edited and released as one feature.

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), J.E. McKillop (IMDb), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.