Lewis Milestone: of Wars and Men

A milestone of visual flair and virtuosity in American cinema, the career of Lewis Milestone – a Russian Jewish émigré – bridged silent cinema and the 70mm spectacles of the 1960s. Milestone is the subject of one of the programmes of Il Cinema Ritrovato 2025, curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht. Renowned for having one of the most distinctive and eclectic styles of his generation, his popular and dazzlingly original work ranged from the anti-war magnum opus All Quiet on the Western Front to the popular-front musical Hallelujah, I’m a Bum. As dense, dark, and daunting as his films could get, they were often laced with wit, camaraderie, and bravery amid mass atrocities. Yet, he barely survived the Hollywood blacklist, which forced him to drift into mediocre assignments. This programme, covering his silent films up until the blacklist, features new restorations and archive prints, aiming to recover the artistry of a man who fought many battles of humanity in the 20th Century with a sense of wisdom and poetry that can still shake us.


Dutch postcard by Croeze-Bosman-Universal, no. 65. Photo: Universal. Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim and Owen Davis Jr. in the American WWI, anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930), based on the novel 'Im Westen nichts neues' by Erich Maria Remarque.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4323/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount. Emil Jannings and Esther Ralston in Betrayal (Lewis Milestone, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5909/1, 1930-1931. Photo: United Artists. Mary Brian and Pat 'O Brien in The Front Page (Lewis Milestone, 1931). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Belgian collector card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine. Photo: M.G.M. Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman in Arch of Triumph (Lewis Milestone, 1948).

Taut editing, snappy dialogue and clever visual touches

Lewis Milestone was born Lev Milstein in 1895 in Kishinev, the capital of Bessarabia in the Russian Empire, now Chisinau, Moldova. ‘Milly’ was the son of a wealthy, distinguished clothing manufacturer. He was raised in Odessa in Ukraine. Milestone had an affinity for the theatre from an early age. Milstein's family discouraged his desire to follow the dramatic arts, and dispatched him to Germany to study engineering.

However, he started his career as a prop man and background artist. To escape being drafted into the Russian army during World War I, he travelled to the US in 1913 with $6.00 in his pocket. He had a succession of odd jobs, such as a dishwasher and a photographer's assistant. Shortly after the US entered World War I in 1917, he joined the Army Signal Corps to make educational short films for U.S. troops. After the war, he acquired American citizenship and legally changed his surname to Milestone.

An acquaintance from the Signal Corps, Jesse D. Hampton, now an independent film producer, secured Milestone an entry-level position as an assistant editor in Hollywood. Milestone quickly worked his way up the ranks to become editor, assistant director and writer. In 1920, he was chosen as general assistant to director Henry King at Pathé Exchange. Milestone's first credited work was as assistant on King's film Dice of Destiny (Henry King, 1920). He worked as editor for director-producer Thomas Ince, was general assistant and co-author on film scripts by William A. Seiter and worked as a gag writer for comedian Harold Lloyd.

These experiences would greatly influence his directing style in the years to come. Milestone directed his first film, Seven Sinners (1925), with Marie Prevost, for Howard Hughes. Two years later, he won his first of two Academy Awards for the comedy Two Arabian Knights (1927) starring William Boyd, Mary Astor, and Louis Wolheim. He received his second Oscar for his masterpiece, the anti-war picture All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque.

I.S. Mowis at IMDb: “The film, universally praised by reviewers for its eloquence and integrity, also won the Best Picture Academy Award that year. A noted Milestone innovation was the use of cameras mounted on wooden tracks, giving his films a more realistic and fluid, rather than static, look. Other trademarks associated with his pictures were taut editing, snappy dialogue and clever visual touches.” Milestone must be credited with a quirky sense of humour: when the producer of All Quiet on the Western Front, Carl Laemmle Jr., demanded a 'happy ending' for the picture, Milestone telephoned, "I've got your happy ending. We'll let the Germans win the war".


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4324/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount. Emil Jannings in Betrayal (Lewis Milestone, 1929). Jannings' final Hollywood film is thought to be lost. 


Dutch postcard by Croeze-Bosman-Universal, no. 66. Photo: Universal. Lew Ayres and Louis Wolheim in All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930), based on the novel 'Im Westen nichts neues' by Erich Maria Remarque.


Dutch postcard by Croeze-Bosman-Universal. Photo: Universal. Louis Wolheim in All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930).


Dutch postcard by Croeze-Bosman-Universal. Photo: Universal. Owen Davis Jr. in All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930). Owen Davis Jr. played Peter in the film. Croeze-Bosman was a Dutch film distribution company, founded in 1926 as a continuation of the Dutch American Film Co., a subsidiary of Universal.

A history of being ‘difficult’

In the 1930s, Lewis Milestone directed the Screwball comedy The Front Page (1931) with Adolphe Menjou, the melodrama Rain (1932) with Joan Crawford, based on a play by W. Somerset Maugham, the bravura adventure-melodrama The General Died at Dawn (1936), and an adaptation of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1939) with Lon Chaney Jr. as the childlike Lennie Small and Burgess Meredith as his keeper George Milton.

Milestone was troubled by film directors' declining control within the studio system and supported King Vidor's proposal to organise a filmmakers' cooperative. Supporters for a Screen Directors Guild included Frank Borzage, Howard Hawks, Ernst Lubitsch, Rouben Mamoulian and William Wellman, among others. By 1938, the guild was incorporated, representing 600 directors and assistant directors.

Milestone had a history of being ‘difficult’. He clashed with Howard Hughes, Warner Brothers and a host of studio executives over various contractual and artistic issues. Nonetheless, he remained constantly employed and worked for most of the major studios at one time or another, though never on long-term contracts. In 1949, he was blacklisted for a year because of left-wing affiliations dating back to the 1930s. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was desperately trying to find ‘Communist subversion’ in Hollywood films. Milestone was not required to testify before the HUAC because he began making films abroad, in both Britain and Italy, but these films were not successful.

Milestone's final years as a filmmaker correspond to the decline of the Hollywood movie empire. His last three films were Hollywood productions with large budgets, but he had a bad time on all of them. Gregory Peck re-edited Pork Chop Hill (1959), which he co-produced. Frank Sinatra and his 'Rat Pack' seem to have largely ignored him on the set of Ocean's Eleven (1960). His career ended with the remake of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962). He replaced Carol Reed as director after Reed quit because he could not cope with the massive ego of the film's star, Marlon Brando. Milestone didn't find Brando any easier to work with and in the end let him do as he pleased. The result was a hugely expensive box-office failure.

Milestone was then scheduled to direct PT 109 (1963) starring Cliff Robertson and Robert Culp, a film about President John F. Kennedy's wartime adventures, but he was replaced by TV director Leslie H. Martinson. After that, Milestone seems to have given up on films, although he directed a few television series episodes, an experience he did not enjoy. Having suffered a stroke, Lewis Milestone spent the last ten years of his life confined to a wheelchair. He died in 1980, after surgery at the University of California Medical Centre in Los Angeles. He died five days before his 85th birthday. Milestone was married to actress Kendall Lee from 1936 till her death in 1978.


British postcard. Photo: Paramount. Tullio Carminati in Paris in Spring / Paris Love Song (Lewis Milestone, 1935).


British postcard in the Film Partners series, no. P 214. Photo: Paramount. Madeleine Carroll and Gary Cooper in The General Died at Dawn (Lewis Milestone, 1936).


Belgian collector card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 176. Photo: M.G.M. Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman in Arch of Triumph (Lewis Milestone, 1948).


Belgian postcard, no. 152. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Peter Lawford in Kangaroo (Lewis Milestone, 1952).

Sources: I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.

Masks and Music: The Films of Willi Forst

We're in Bologna for Il Cinema Ritrovato from 21 - 29 June. One of the highlights for us is a tribute to Austrian actor-turned-director Willi Forst curated by Lukas Foerster. A consummate craftsman, Forst was a versatile filmmaker who excelled in both dramas and comedies. The Festival website: "His films from the 1930s and 1940s, constituting the most accomplished body of work by any director active in Germany during the Nazi era, reveal a profound, almost obsessive love for music. Far from serving as mere background, music permeates every aspect of his work, shaping the plot, influencing the mise-en-scène, and driving the editing. In a Forst film, a single melody can lead to happiness, despair, or even both simultaneously. Remarkably, Forst largely avoided contamination by National Socialist ideology, preserving in his cinema the urbane and sophisticated spirit of the late Weimar Republic while cultivating a darker, more melancholic worldview uniquely his own."


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3149/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Tobis. Willi Forst in Bel Ami (Will Forst, 1939).

Willi Forst (1903-1980) was a darling of the German-speaking public. He was also one of the most significant directors, producers, writers and stars of the Wiener Filme, the light Viennese musical comedies of the 1930s. Bel Ami (Willi Forst, 1939), loosely based on the novel by Guy de Maupassant, would be his best-known film. He also played the title role, which would be his alter ego from then on. Forst was much courted by the Nazis but succeeded in avoiding overt political statements, concentrating on the light entertainment for which he was famous and which was much in demand during the war.


Spanish leaflet by Films Selectos, Suplemento Artistico, no. 176, 24.2.1934. Photo: Cine-Allianz. Hans Jaray in the Biopic Leise flehen meine Lieder / Gently My Songs Entreat (Willi Forst, 1933).

Leise flehen meine Lieder (Willi Forst, 1933 was Forst's first film direction, a Biopic about the life of composer and musician Franz Schubert. Leise flehen meine Lieder was so popular throughout Europe that it was reshot in a British version for the English language market as The Unfinished Symphony (Willi Forst, Anthony Asquith, 1934), also with Austrian actor Hans Jaray in the lead. Forst also wrote the scenario. The co-author of the original was Walter Reisch, who in later Hollywood exile would script Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939) and Gaslight (George Cukor, 1944), and work with Billy Wilder.


Dutch photo. Front of the Rembrandt Theatre in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On show was Leise flehen meine Lieder / Gently My Songs Entreat (Willi Forst, 1933). A gift from Roloff de Jeu.

Leise flehen meine Lieder / Gently My Songs Entreat took on the love affair between composer Franz Schubert and the Countess Esterhazy. In Lieder, Hans Jaray starred as Schubert, Luise Ullrich, fresh from Max Ophüls’s Liebelei, was Schubert’s innocent love, future comedic superstar Hans Moser was her father, and Marta Eggerth was the seductive Czardas-dancing countess who disrupts the composer’s life. Robert von Dassamowsky in Senses of Cinema: "The orchestration of image, lighting, music and performance in Lieder suggests a unique personal style that had not been previously seen in the new musical film. The style-cum-genre genre was certainly Viennese from its very roots: theatrical and visual values of the Baroque, the near operatic equality of dialogue and music, and the balanced blending of all aspects of the film into a seamless Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art."


German collector card in the series 'Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Tonfilm', album no. 11, picture no. 103. Photo: Tobis-Sascha-Film / Ross Verlag. Paula Wessely in Maskerade/Masquerade in Vienna (Willi Forst, 1934).

Distinguished stage actress Paula Wessely played her first major film role as Leopoldine Dur in Forst's second film, the Operetta Maskerade / Masquerade in Vienna (Willi Forst, 1934) alongside Adolf Wohlbrück. Maskerade, set in the Viennese high society of about 1900, was a hit that launched Forst's fame as a significant director and made an instant star of Wessely. The exceptional script of this classic example of the Wiener Film was written by Walter Reisch and directed by Willi Forst. Essential to the visual success of the film was the contribution of director of photography Franz Planer, with his lively and beautifully lit compositions. Maskerade received an award for best screenplay at the Venice Film Festival and ultimately proved to be so successful internationally that Hollywood 'borrowed' the story for a new, but less welcomed version entitled Escapade (Robert Z. Leonard, 1935) with Luise Rainer.


German postcard by Ross Verlag / Das Programm von Heute für Film und Theater G.m.b.H., Berlin. Photo: Cine-Allianz. Pola Negri in Mazurka (Willi Forst, 1935).

Willi Forst rapidly developed himself into a four-way talent, as producer, director, writer and actor in German films. For Mazurka (Willi Forst, 1935), he lured Pola Negri back from Hollywood. She played a woman who was put on trial for murdering a predatory musician. The title refers to the Polish folk dance. Mazurka gained much popularity in Germany and became one of Adolf Hitler's favourite films. Warner Bros. acquired the U.S. distribution rights but shelved the film in favour of its own scene-by-scene English language remake, Confession (Joe May, 1937), which starred Kay Francis.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 1523/1, 1937-1938. Photo: Willi Forst-Film. Igo Sym in Serenade (Willi Forst, 1937).

In 1937, Will Forst founded his own film company, Willi Forst-Film. His first production was the drama Serenade (Willi Forst, 1937), starring Hilde Krahl, Albert Matterstock and Igo Sym. Forst considered a move to Hollywood the same year, but stayed in Vienna. Following Austria’s annexation to Germany in March 1938, Vienna’s film industry was wholly integrated into the structure and ideology of the Third Reich and given a specific cultural mission – the production of lavish musicals, costume dramas and other 'Vienna style' entertainment films for the Reich and its Axis partners. With strong control from Berlin, the new Viennese mega-studio Wien-Film echoed the concept of the Hollywood studio system more closely than had been normal in previous Austrian cinema development. Many Austrian talents at Ufa in Berlin, including Forst, returned home to participate in this new phase of Vienna’s industry.


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

Austrian actress and singer Lizzi Waldmüller (1904-1945) had her breakthrough to stardom through her role as Rachel in Bel Ami (Willi Forst, 1939). Following the annexation of Austria in 1938, Willi Forst was much courted by the National Socialists but succeeded in avoiding overt political statement, concentrating entirely on the opulent period musical entertainment for which he was famous and which was much in demand. He changed the brash and ambitious ex-military man of Guy De Maupassant's novel into a likeable bon vivant and charmer in a dress suit. Bel Ami was made on the eve of the outbreak of the Second World War, at a time when Germany's going to war against France was already a very likely prospect. In Nazi Germany, the film industry was closely controlled by the Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. While Bel Ami was not conceived as an outright propaganda film, the theme of corruption in the French society and politics - prominently present in the Maupassant original - was well suited to the thrust of Nazi propaganda at the time the film was made.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3169/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien-Film / Tobis. Trude Marlen in Operette / Operetta (Willi Forst, Karl Hartl, 1940).

Unlike the other directors of Wien-Film, Forst preferred to use relatively untested talent as co-stars, and thus managed to create stardom for several leading ladies: Lizzi Waldmüller, Ilse Werner, and Trude Marlen. Willi Forst directed curly-locked Trude Marlen in Operette / Operetta (Willi Forst, Karl Hartl, 1940), also starring Forst, Maria Holst and Dora Komar. The film was made by Wien-Film. It is the first film in Forst's 'Viennese Trilogy', followed by Wiener Blut / Vienna Blood (1942) and Wiener Mädel / Viennese Girls (1945). The film, a mix of an operetta film and a Wiener Film, portrays the life of Franz Jauner (1832–1900), a leading musical figure in Vienna.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3765/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film. Marte Harell in Frauen sind keine Engel / Women aren't Angels (Willi Forst, 1943).

Forst was an extremely versatile genre filmmaker, who could as easily make a crime film, a contemporary melodrama or a sophisticated comedy. An example is the comedy Frauen sind keine Engel / Women aren't Angels (Willi Forst, 1943) starring Marte Harell, Axel von Ambesser and Margot Hielscher, which was also produced by Wien Film. During the seven-year Nazi rule in Austria, Willi Forst only made six films, none of them political.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 482. Photo: Wesel / Styria / Junge Film Union / Herzog Film. Hildegard Knef in Die Sünderin / The Sinner (Willi Forst, 1950).

Willi Forst had comparatively little success after the war except for the film Die Sünderin / The Sinner (Willi Forst, 1950) starring Hildegard Knef, which became a scandal because of the protests of the Roman Catholic church against its nudity, rare in contemporary German-speaking cinema, but which subsequently attracted an audience of seven million people. The film represented a major shift for Forst, who had previously been known for escapist films, which avoided controversial themes and embraced romanticised settings. Die Sünderin / The Sinner adopted instead a realist perspective, addressing taboo subjects like prostitution and euthanasia, which challenged the moral sensitivities of post-war West German society.


German postcard by F.J. Rüdel Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 81/2. Photo: Junge Film Union / Herzog / Foto Wesel. Hildegard Knef in Es geschehen noch Wunder / Miracles Still Happen (Willi Forst, 1951).

Rebellious, gravel-voiced actress, chanteuse and author Hildegard Knef (1925-2002) was one of the most important film stars of post-war Germany. Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, Die Sünderin / The Sinner marked a turning point in Knef’s career, after which she appeared in notable Hollywood films such as the War film Decision Before Dawn (Anatole Litvak, 1951) and the romantic adventure film The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Henry King, 1952). Es geschehen noch Wunder / Miracles Still Happen (Willi Forst, 1951) was intended by Forst as a less risqué follow-up to his controversial Die Sünderin / The Sinner (Willi Forst, 1950).


West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden-Westf, no. 2337. Photo: Sascha / Herzog / Michaelis. Günther Philipp in Kaiserjäger / Emperor Hunter (Willi Forst, 1956).

Austrian film actor Gunther Philipp (1918-2003) appeared in 147 mostly German films and TV productions, mainly in comic roles, like as Leutnant der Reserve Otto Schatz in Kaiserjäger / Emperor Hunter (Willi Forst, 1956). The film didn't revitalise Willi Forst's career. The following year, Forst directed his final film, after which he retired from the industry. IMDb cites him saying: "My style is no longer in demand: I go off, a little bit battered, but in proud greatness à la [Greta Garbo]. It is better to go than to be asked to go." Forst is today considered one of Europe's important early sound directors. In his study, Willi Forst. Ein filmkritisches Porträt', Italian film historian Francesco Bono notes that Forst's last film, Wien, die Stadt meiner Träume (1957), is more than a superficial narrative. It is a film that exposes the superficial, fictional image of Vienna promoted by Austrian cinema of the 1950s precisely as an illusion. That Vienna of your dreams exists only in film.'

Sources: Robert von Dassanowsky (Senses of Cinema), Ivo Blom (review 'Willi Forst. Ein filmkritisches Porträt' in TMG Online, 2011), Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.

Back to 1905

From 21 to 29 June, we're in Italy for Il Cinema Ritrovato 2025, as the festival's website boasts 'the world’s premiere festival dedicated to cinematic masterpieces, timeless classics, and hidden gems'. In other words, pure cinema. This year’s selection promises a wealth of treasures. Among the strands is a small programme called '1905'. For this post, Ivo Blom selected postcards with a link to cinema and to 1905.


French postcard by Edition Bergeret.

Pathé and Gaumont in 1905

French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3573. Photo: Film Pathé. This is the final scene from La poule aux oeufs d'or / The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs (Gaston Velle, 1905). Caption: The gold fairy.

La poule aux oeufs d'or /The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs (Gaston Velle, 1905) was adapted from the fable of Jean de la Fontaine. The cinematography and special effects were done by Segundo de Chomón. A poor farmer wins a chicken in the lottery at the fairground. The chicken is an enchanted animal (doing a chicken dance with the other chicken girls), laying big eggs full of money. Thieves whom we already saw 'working' at the fairground, steal rabbits from the farmer. The farmer turns into a rich man, but his wealth is short-lived. The thieves steal an egg, but a bat flies out of it. Another egg contains a devil spitting gold, and it explodes. At night, the thieves witness how the farmer takes an egg to a secret cellar where he cherishes all his gold, despite nightmare visions of staring eyes and grabbing arms. After the thieves have stolen the money, the creditors appear. Desperately, and inspired by a devil, the man slaughters the chicken. He finds a last egg, but an evil witch comes out of it, who sends him to a fairyland. There, the man is led away, after which an apotheosis follows with a dance of chicken girls and fairies, emptying eggs with gold coins.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3662. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Le Petit Poucet / Hop o'my Thumb (1905). Caption: Here's a game that comes in handy.

Le Petit Poucet / Hop o'my Thumb (1905) was an adaptation of Charles Perrault's famous story of 1697. The film by Pathé was worldwide released, in Spanish-speaking countries as Pulgarito, and in the US as Hop o'my Thumb. The director and actors are unknown. The Spanish film scholar Juan-Gabriel Tharrats claimed the Spanish trick filmmaker Segundo De Chomón (1871-1929), who worked for Pathé in those years, made Le Petit Poucet. French Wikipedia claims the director was Vincent Lorant-Heilbronn. The Fondation Jerôme Seydoux-Pathé, keeper of the Pathé heritage, lists no director at all. The doubt about De Chomón as director is confirmed in the recent volume 'Les mille et un visages de Segundo De Chomón' (2019).


French postcard by Croissant, Paris. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Au pays noir / Tragedy in a Coal Mine (Ferdinand Zecca or Lucien Nonguet, 1905). Caption: In the mine galleries. This refers to the 5th scene of the film.

Au pays noir / Tragedy in a Coal Mine (Ferdinand Zecca or Lucien Nonguet, 1905) narrates the life of the miner: his life at home, going to work, gathering at the pit and descending, having a break. But then an explosion takes place and water crushes the beams that uphold the galleries, killing the miners. A few manage to escape and withdraw to a higher gallery where the water can reach them only to their middle. They hear their liberators, who finally free them. Outside, gendarmes try to hold the crowd, who, frightened, see the rescuers bringing dead bodies one by one to the ground. When the foreman's dead son is brought to earth, his father explodes with grief and clenches his fist against the murderous mine. The film was partly inspired by Emile Zola's novel, the popular workman's drama 'Germinal' (1885). Ferdinand Zecca had already filmed Germinal in 1903. It is unclear whether Zecca or Lucien Nonguet directed Au pays noir. In 1906, a year after the film, the worst mine disaster of Europe occurred in Courrières, France, when on 10 May 1906, a coal dust explosion killed almost 1100 mine workers.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3664. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Le chemineau / The Tramp (Albert Capellani, 1905). Caption: Give me some charity.

Le chemineau / The Tramp (Albert Capellani, 1905) is based on the first part of Victor Hugo's novel 'Les misérables'. An exhausted tramp in vain asks for alimony from passers-by. He presents himself at the presbyterium and is hosted by the pastor, who lets him dine at his table and sleep in his bed, sleeping himself in his chair. At night, the tramp sees golden objects that serve as a mass in a cupboard in the bedroom. He sticks them in his bag and secretly sneaks away, trying not to awaken the pastor. Arrested at a jeweller, to whom he tries to sell his loot, the gendarmes bring him back to the pastor. Despite all, the pastor wants to exonerate the miserable man's soul and tells a lie to the gendarmes: I gave the objects myself to him. The thief repents. Unclear is who the actors are, but the sets were designed by Hugues Laurent. The film appeared in the 'Scènes dramatiques et réalistes (8ème Série)' by Pathé.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3680. Photo: Gaumont. Scene from Faust (Alice Guy, ca. 1905). Caption: Remember the past.

Postcard for the phonoscène Gaumont Faust by Alice Guy. The earliest proof of a showing of the film dates from 1905, so the film was produced that year or just before. The captions on the cards refer to lines from the opera libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré for the opera 'Faust' (1859) by Charles Gounod. This card refers to no. 21 of the Fourth Act. The film is not to be confused with Faust et Méphistophéles (1903), also made by Alice Guy, which is another film.


French postcard by Pathé Frères for Théâtre Pathé Grolée, Lyon. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Rêve des marmitons / The Dream of the Kitchen Staff (Segundo de Chomón, 1905).

In the kitchen of a medieval castle, cooks and kitchen hands fall asleep. In Rêve des marmitons / The Dream of the Kitchen Staff (Segundo de Chomón, 1905), we see mysterious hands which, with the help of big knives, are separated from arms, start to cut the cabbages, carrots and other vegetables. Other hands chalk the menu on a blackboard. Director Segundo de Chomón also created the special effects in this short fantasy.


French postcard by Pathé Frères for Eden Cinema Pathé, Nice. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Les petits vagabonds / Young Tramps (Lucien Nonguet, 1905).


French postcard by Pathé Frères for Théâtre Pathé Grolée, Lyon. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from L'inspection du capitaine / The Captain's Inspection (N.N., 1905).

After inspection, the soldiers lie down for a well-earned nap. A drunkard enters the room and disturbs the soldiers, who throw him out. He keeps coming back, and they finally decide to throw water on him, but the captain gets the shower.

5 stage postcards from 1905

French postcard by P. Helmlinger & Co., Nancy, for Théâtre Moncey in Paris, where the stage production 'L'Assommoir' was presented from 24 February - 3 March 1905. Photo: Nadar. Caption: The death of Gervaise (Hélène Petit).

In 1879, two years after its publication, Emile Zola's novel 'L'Assommoir'(The Assumption) was adapted for the stage by William Busnach and Octave Gastineau, with the help of Zola. The premiere took place on 18 January 1879 and was a great success. Afterwards, the play was often re-staged, in and outside of France. From 24 February 1905, the play was staged at the Parisian Théâtre Moncey, 50, Avenue de Clichy. The journal La Presse of 26 February 1905 lauded the play and the performances, in the first place by M. Pouctal as Coupeau and Gabrielle Fleury as Gervaise. Yet, this card and all the other ones in the Helmlinger series show a photo from the original 1879 stage adaptation, starring Hélène Petit as Gervaise and Gil Naza as Coupeau. The original photos were made by Nadar.


Danish postcard by Alex. Vincent's Kunstforlag, Neret, no. 1022. Ellen Aggerholm as Käthi in the stage play 'Hans Højhed / His Highness', mailed Flensburg, 10-11-1905. Her partner in the play, playing the Highness of the title, was her husband Svend Aggerholm.

Ellen Aggerholm (1882-1963) was a Danish stage and screen actress, who had many leading parts at the Danish film company Nordisk in the 1910s.


French postcard by Ed Etoile, Paris (G. Piprot), Series N. 867 - Th. 119. Posted 1905.

French dancer and actress Gaby Deslys (1881-1920) was an internationally celebrated - and notorious - star of the early 20th Century. She was famous for her extravagant clothes, jewels and millinery. She had many admirers, most notably King Manuel II of Portugal, and during World War I she reportedly worked as a spy for the French government. Before her tragic early death she also made a series of silent films.


French postcard by S.I.P., no. 854-14. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Caption: (Théâtre de l') Athénée. Sent by mail in Besançon in 1905.
Marthe Marie Aglaé Wary, known as Marcelle Yrven or simply Yrven (1877-1954), was a French stage and screen actress and operetta singer.


French postcard by S.I.P., no. 910, series 8. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. The card was mailed in 1905.

Amélie Diéterle (1871-1941) was one the most beloved actresses and singers of the Belle Epoque, who inspired poets and painters such as Mallarmé and Rodin. Between 1909 and 1913 she acted in some 25 shorts films at Pathé Frères, mostly Rigadin comedies directed by Georges Monca.

Exposition Universelle Liege (1905)

Finally, Ivo selected 3 cards from the 1905 Liege World Fair in Belgium, which took place between 27 April and 6 November 1905. On one of the cards, you can see Wagons-Lits wagons. Film pioneer Jean Desmet is said to have exhibited his fancy new saloon car at the Liege Exhibition at the time. On another card, you can see the Panorama Building, where, among other things, a panorama of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 was displayed. Very topical, then. Pathé and other firms re-enacted the war in their films. The Liège World Fair occupied a territory of 70 square meters, offered room for 29 countries, and had 7 million visitors. People could travel with a specially arranged railway along the pavilions and stands. Typical for its time, part of the French pavilion was a reconstructed Senegalese village, where Africans would dive for pennies thrown in by visitors. As was common at these fairs in the early 20th century, part of the old city centre of Liège was rebuilt, with the cathedral and a model of a coal mine. The Palais des Beaux-Arts, built in the Parc de Boverie for the art exhibition at the World Fair, became an art museum after the Fair, and reopened in 2016 as La Boverie. The Fair also marked the 75 years of Belgium's independence and the 40-year reign of King Leopold II.


Belgian postcard for the Exposition Universelle (World Fair) at Liège/Luik, no. 27. Caption: Intérieur du Palais de la Femme. Local women dressed in folkloristic costumes show old handicrafts like lacemaking. The exhibition of humans at World Fairs was quite common in the early 1900s.


Belgian postcard for the Exposition Universelle (World Fair) at Liège/Luik, no 37. Vaption: Les aéroplanes Maxim. Fairs often had fairground attractions too, such as the airplanes here. To the right, the large Panorama building is visible, as well as the Moresque minaret. The name Wijnand / Wynand Fockink refers to one of the oldest - and still running - Amsterdam jenever distillers. The Liège World Fair also had a water chute, an attraction often included in World Fairs.


Belgian postcard for the Exposition Universelle (World Fair) at Liège/Luik, no. 59a. Stand of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et des Grands Express Européens. The coaches also include so-called Wagons-Salons. To receive all the international and national visitors, a new train station was built in Liège, la Gare du Palais, which was destroyed in 1979 to make way for a new underground train station.

Katharine Hepburn: Feminist, Acrobat and Lover

We continue a yearly tradition, EFSP follows Il Cinema Ritrovato from 21 - 29 June. We love the festival dedicated to cinematic masterpieces, timeless classics, and hidden gems. For nine days, films will be screened across seven theatres and two open-air venues — Piazza Maggiore and the steamy and carbon-lit Piazzetta Pasolini. Molly Haskell curated 'Katharine Hepburn: Feminist, Acrobat and Lover' for this year's edition. Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) was a spirited performer with a touch of eccentricity. The actress introduced into her roles a strength of character previously considered to be undesirable in Hollywood leading ladies. She was also noted for her brisk upper-class New England accent and tomboyish beauty. Haskell: "She was bold and 'out there' in a way few women were - exhilarating, physically nimble, androgyne and lady rolled into one. There was a reason her career spanned 67 years and boasted a still-record number of Best Actress Oscar nominations (12) and wins (4). Her career was more varied than she’s given credit for, but it’s especially her screwball comedies (of which there’s a touch in all her best work) that she shines. Unique and irreplaceable, we are able to appreciate in our own time this woman who was so ahead of hers."


French postcard by Viny, no. 31. Photo: R.K.O.


Belgian postcard by N.V. Victoria, Brussels, no. 12. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 34. Photo: Radio (RKO).


British postcard. Photo: RKO / Radio Pictures. Katharine Hepburn in Christopher Strong (Dorothy Arzner, 1933).


Italian postcard by Generalcine, Roma / Off. Graf. 'La Lito', Milano. Photo: RKO Radio Pictures. Publicity still for Quality Street (George Stevens, 1937) with Franchot Tone.


British Art Photo postcard, no. 38-1.


American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, CA, no. CL/Personality # 130. Photo: Douglas Kirkland.

An unlikely Hollywood star

Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born in 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A. Her father was a wealthy and prominent Connecticut surgeon, and her mother was a leader in the women's suffrage movement.

From early childhood, Hepburn was continually encouraged to expand her intellectual horizons, speak nothing but the truth, and keep herself in top physical condition at all times. She would apply all of these ingrained values to her acting career, which began in earnest after she graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1928.

That year, she made her Broadway debut in 'Night Hostess', appearing under the alias Katharine Burns. Hepburn scored her first major Broadway success in 'The Warrior’s Husband' (1932), a comedy set in the land of the Amazons. Shortly thereafter, she was invited to Hollywood by RKO Radio Pictures.

Hepburn was an unlikely Hollywood star. Possessing a distinctive speech pattern and an abundance of quirky mannerisms, she earned unqualified praise from her admirers and unmerciful criticism from her detractors. Unabashedly outspoken and iconoclastic, she did as she pleased, refusing to grant interviews, wearing casual clothes at a time when actresses were expected to exude glamour 24 hours a day, and openly clashing with her more experienced coworkers whenever they failed to meet her standards.

She nonetheless made an impressive film debut in George Cukor’s A Bill of Divorcement (1932), a drama that also starred John Barrymore. Hepburn was then cast as an aviator in Dorothy Arzner’s Christopher Strong (1933). For her third film, Morning Glory (Lowell Sherman, 1933), Hepburn won an Academy Award for her portrayal of an aspiring actress.


British Real Photograph postcard, no. 40. A. Photo: Radio Pictures.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. (Ballerini & Fratini Firenze) Edit., no. 2737.


British postcard in the Filmshots series by British Weekly. Photo: Radio. Publicity still for Christopher Strong (Dorothy Arzner, 1933) with Colin Clive.


British postcard in the Filmshots series by British Weekly. Photo: Radio. Publicity still for Christopher Strong (Dorothy Arzner, 1933) with Colin Clive.


Dutch postcard by the Rialto Theatre, Amsterdam, 1934. Photo: Remaco Radio Picture. Publicity still for Little Women (George Cukor, 1933). In the picture are Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Frances Dee, Jean Parker and Spring Byington. The Dutch title of the film and the book by Louise M. Alcott is Onder moeders vleugels.


British postcard in the Film Partners Series, no. P. 183. Photo: RKO / Radio Pictures. Fred MacMurray and Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams (George Stevens, 1935).


American postcard by Fotofolio, NY, NY, no. P101. Photo: Photoworld. Katharine Hepburn on the set of Sylvia Scarlett (George Cukor, 1935).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, no. 1045a. Photo: R.K.O. Radio.

Box office poison

However, Katharine Hepburn’s much-publicised return to Broadway, in 'The Lake' (1933), proved to be a flop. And while filmgoers enjoyed her performances in homespun entertainments such as Little Women (George Cukor, 1933) and Alice Adams (George Stevens, 1935), they were largely resistant to historical vehicles such as Mary of Scotland (John Ford, 1936), A Woman Rebels (Mark Sandrich, 1936), and Quality Street (George Stevens, 1937).

Hepburn recovered some lost ground with her sparkling performances in the screwball comedies Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938) and Holiday (George Cukor, 1938), both of which also starred Cary Grant. However, it was too late: a group of leading film exhibitors had already written off Hepburn as “box office poison.”

Undaunted, Hepburn accepted a role written specifically for her in Philip Barry’s 1938 Broadway comedy The Philadelphia Story, about a socialite whose ex-husband tries to win her back. Howard Hughes, Hepburn's partner at the time, sensed that the play could be her ticket back to Hollywood stardom and bought her the film rights before it even debuted on stage. It was a huge hit.

She chose to sell the rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hollywood's number one studio, on the condition that she be the star. As part of the deal, she also received the director of her choice, George Cukor, and picked James Stewart and Cary Grant as co-stars. The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940) was a critical and commercial success, and it jump-started her Hollywood career. She continued to make periodic returns to the stage (notably as the title character in the 1969 Broadway musical Coco), but Hepburn remained essentially a film actor for the remainder of her career.

Hepburn was also responsible for the development of her next project, the romantic comedy Woman of the Year (George Stevens, 1942), about a political columnist and a sports reporter whose relationship is threatened by her self-centred independence. The idea for the film was proposed to her by Garson Kanin in 1941, who recalled how Hepburn contributed to the script. She presented the finished product to MGM and demanded $250,000—half for her, and half for the authors. Her terms accepted, Hepburn was also given the director and co-star of her choice, George Stevens and Spencer Tracy. Woman of the Year was another success. Critics praised the chemistry between the stars.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2544. Photo: RKO / Generalcine. Katharine Hepburn in Quality Street (George Stevens, 1937). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


French postcard in the Collection 'Portraits de Cinema' (4th series, no. 2) by Editions Admira & Chapman Collection / SNAP Photos / Cosmos, no. PHN 662, 1989. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938).


French postcard by A.N., Paris, Paris, no. 996.


French postcard by Edition Chantal, Paris, no. 77. Photo: R.K.O.


French postcard by Viny, no. 2131. Photo: R.K.O.


Dutch postcard by S & v. H., Amsterdam.


French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 206. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1950. Although the postcard was produced in 1950, the photo was taken much earlier, probably for The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940).

An unprecedented fourth Oscar

Katharine Hepburn's stature increased in the following decades as she chalked up such cinematic triumphs as John Huston’s The African Queen (1951), in which she played a missionary who escapes German troops with the aid of a riverboat captain (Humphrey Bogart), and David Lean’s Summertime (1955), a love story set in Venice. Hepburn received an Academy Award nomination for the second year running for her work opposite Burt Lancaster in The Rainmaker (Joseph Anthony, 1956). Again she played a lonely woman empowered by a love affair, and it became apparent that Hepburn had found a niche in playing 'love-starved spinsters' that critics and audiences enjoyed.

After two years away from the screen, Hepburn starred in a film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' controversial play Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. She clashed with director Joseph L. Mankiewicz during filming, which culminated with her spitting at him in disgust. The picture was a financial success, and her work as creepy aunt Violet Venable gave Hepburn her eighth Oscar nomination. In Long Day’s Journey into Night (Sidney Lumet, 1962), an adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s acclaimed play, Hepburn was cast as a drug-addicted mother, opposite Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell. Long Day's Journey Into Night earned Hepburn an Oscar nomination and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. It remains one of her most praised performances.

Katharine Hepburn won a second Academy Award for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer, 1967), a dramedy about interracial marriage; a third for The Lion in Winter (Anthony Harvey, 1968), in which she played Eleanor of Aquitaine opposite Peter O'Toole as King Henry II; and an unprecedented fourth Oscar for On Golden Pond (Mark Rydell, 1981), about long-married New Englanders (Hepburn and Henry Fonda). Her 12 Academy Award nominations also set a record, which stood until 2003, when broken by Meryl Streep. In addition, Hepburn appeared frequently on television in the 1970s and 1980s. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her memorable portrayal of Amanda Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie (Anthony Harvey, 1973), and she won the award for her performance opposite Laurence Olivier in Love Among the Ruins (1975), which reunited her with her favourite director, George Cukor.

Though hampered by a progressive neurological disease, Hepburn was nonetheless still active in the early 1990s, appearing prominently in films such as Love Affair (Glenn Gordon Caron, 1994), which was her last film. At 87 years old, she played a supporting role, alongside Annette Bening and Warren Beatty. It was the only film of Hepburn's career, other than the cameo appearance in Stage Door Canteen (Frank Borzage, 1943), in which she did not play a leading role. Hepburn was married once. In 1928, she wed Philadelphia broker Ludlow Ogden Smith, but the union was dissolved in 1934. While filming Woman of the Year in 1942, she began an enduring intimate relationship with her costar, Spencer Tracy, with whom she would appear in films such as Adam’s Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952); both were directed by George Cukor.

Tracy and Hepburn never married — he was Roman Catholic and would not divorce his wife — but they remained close both personally and professionally until his death in 1967, just days after completing the filming of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Hepburn had suspended her own career for nearly five years to nurse Tracy through what turned out to be his final illness. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Hepburn the top female American screen legend of all time. She wrote several memoirs, including 'Me: Stories of My Life' (1991). Katharine Hepburn died in 2003 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She was 96.


Belgian postcard by Editions L.A.B., Bruxelles, no. 1035. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Katharine Hepburn, as Chinese character Jade Tan, in Dragon Seed (Harold S. Bucquet, Jack Conway, 1944). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 159. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Dragon Seed (Harold S. Bucquet, Jack Conway, 1944) with Turhan Bey.


Belgian collectors card by Chocolaterie Clovis, Pepinster. Collection: Amit Benyovits. Katharine Hepburn in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947).


Belgian collector card by Kwatta. Photo: M.G.M. Paul Henreid and Katharine Hepburn in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947).


Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 110. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 206. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. (Miraculously, the card has the same credits as this card).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 136-208. Photo: The Ludlow Collection. Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (John Huston, 1951).

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia and IMDb.