La Collectionneuse: a memorable retirement reception

On the 30th of April, a reception was held at my office to celebrate my retirement. On this occasion, the President made a personalised speech, which I enjoyed very much. It was a quality text, cleverly and wittily written. As he had learned that I've been collecting vintage postcards of film actresses for a long time, he notably included references to the Golden Age of Hollywood. He took the time to research it, and I really appreciated it. He astutely stressed the fact that, through my pastime, I was helping to bring back to life the distinctive aesthetic of a bygone era. I hope he enjoyed writing his text as much as I was delighted to hear it.

This gave me the idea to select from my collection a few postcards of actresses he mentioned in his fine and one-of-a-kind speech.


Gloria Swanson. Swedish postcard by Ljunggrens Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 132.


Greta Garbo. Italian postcard by G.B. Falci Editore, Milano, no. 800. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


Mae West in I’m No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933). Dutch postcard by M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam, no. B315. Photo: Paramount.


Jean Harlow. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7241/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


Marlene Dietrich. Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2982.


Joan Crawford. Italian postcard by Fotocelere, no. 33. Photo: M.G.M.

Text and postcards: Marlene Pilaete.

Angelica Domröse

On 15 May 2026, German actress Angelica Domröse (1941) passed away in Berlin. She was one of the most famous actresses of former East Germany. Domröse became a superstar through her role as the young mother Paula in the cult classic Die Legende von Paul und Paula (1973). The actress was 85.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1326 F, 1960. Photo: DEFA-Neufeld.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2091, 1964. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Klaus Fischer.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2255, 1965. Photo: Schirmer.


East German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 2400, 1965. Photo: Balinski.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 4/F/73, 1973. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Linke.

Confusion of love

Angelica Domröse was born in Berlin in 1941. Her Mediterranean appearance is the result of her biological father being a POW (prisoner of war) from France. Her mother married a locksmith, Rudolf Otto, to legalise her daughter, but Angelica did not get along with her stepfather.

After training as a stenographer, Domröse worked in a state-run foreign trade company in the GDR. In 1958, director Slátan Dudow selected her out of 15,000 competitors to appear in his film Verwirrung der Liebe / Confusion of Love (Slátan Dudow, 1958). This was the only East German film made at the time that lacked the usual state propaganda. Therefore, it was panned by the official GDR critics.

Meanwhile, Angelica also attended the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Potsdam (Film and Television Academy at Potsdam-Babelsberg) until 1961. During her acting training, she already received the offer to play the title role of Irene Sauer in the TV film Papas neue Freundin / Dad's New Girlfriend (Georg Leopold, 1961), and she became known to a broad audience.

From 1961 to 1966, she joined the Berliner Ensemble, the company founded by Bertolt Brecht and his wife Helene Weigel. Here she performed in Brecht's 'Dreigroschenoper' (Threepenny Opera), 'Schwejk im Zweiten Weltkrieg' (Schweik in the Second World War) and 'Die Tage der Commune' (The Days of the Commune), as well as in Helmut Baierl's 'Frau Flinz' (Mrs. Flinz).

In 1966, she was chosen 'Actress of the Year'. Thereafter, she worked with the Volksbühne Berlin until 1979. She starred in plays by George Bernard Shaw, William Shakespeare and Peter Hacks.


East German postcard by Progress Starfoto, no. 1034, 1959.Photo: Neufeld / DEFA. Angelica Domröse in Verwirrung der Liebe / Confusion of Love (Slátan Dudow, 1958).


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1401, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Jadke.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1649, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Schütt / DEFA.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1650, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: W. Denger.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1724, 1962. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: W. Denger.

The legend of Paul and Paula

Angelica Domröse also worked for the Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA) in films like the war drama An französischen Kaminen / At a French Fireside (Kurt Maetzig, 1962), Chronik eines Mordes / Story of a Murder (Joachim Hasler, 1965), based on a book by Leonhard Frank, and Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt / The Adventures of Werner Holt (Joachim Kunert, 1965).

She also appeared on the Deutscher Fernsehfunk (the East German TV). In 1971, 1973 and 1975, she was nominated as the 'DDR-Fernsehkünstlerin des Jahres' (GDR television artist of the year), and in 1976 she won the 'Nationalpreis der DDR II' (National Prize of East Germany).

Very popular were her (TV) films Effi Briest (Wolfgang Luderer, 1970) based on the book by Theodor Fontane, Unterm Birnbaum / Under the Pear Tree (Ralf Kirsten, 1972) based on another book by Fontane, and especially Die Legende von Paul und Paula / The Legend of Paul and Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973), probably the most successful East German film ever. The film is a realistic and honest view of everyday life in East Berlin in the 1970s. Eva-Maria Hagen and Winfried Glatzeder also feature in the film.

GDR leader Erich Honecker finally permitted the film to be shown, and 3 million of the 17 million people of East Germany went to see the film. The romance of Paul and Paula has a simple charm that captivates audiences. Her role made Domröse a superstar in her country.

Five years later, she made another film with Carow, Bis daß der Tod euch scheidet / Until Death Do Us Part (Heiner Carow, 1978). After signing the resolution of protest against the expulsion of Wolf Biermann from the GDR in November 1976, she was increasingly hampered in her work. In 1979, she did a guest performance as Helena in a production of 'Faust' at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg. In 1980, she and her husband, Hilmar Thate, emigrated to West Germany, where they could continue their careers with demanding roles.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1919, 1963. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Blümel / DEFA.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2229, 1965. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Schwarz.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2589, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Arno Fischer.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2781, 1967. Photo: Schirmer. Angelica Domröse and Jiří Vršťala.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2779, 1967. Photo: Schirmer.

I catch myself

Angelica Domröse worked mostly in the Schiller Theatre in Berlin, but she also made guest appearances in Stuttgart, Hamburg, Bochum and Vienna. On TV, she was seen in such productions as the ironic mini-series Kir Royal (Helmut Dietl, 1986) with Franz-Xaver Kroetz, and the Krimi series Der Alte / The Old Fox (1988-1990).

She appeared in TV films by directors like Egon Günther (Hanna von acht bis acht / Hanna From Eight to Eight (1983) and Mamas Geburtstag / Mom's Birthday (1985)), Michael Haneke (Fraulein / Miss (1986)) and Carl Schenkel (Kalte Küsse / Cold Kisses (1997)). In 1988, she was awarded the Josef Kainz Medal.

In the early 1990s, she worked again with Heiner Carow for the cinema on Die Verfehlung / The Offence (Heiner Carow, 1992) with Gottfried John. On TV, she starred as Commissioner Vera Bilewski in the crime series Polizeiruf 110 / Police Call 110 (1994-1998), including the controversial episode Samstags, wenn Krieg ist (Saturdays, when it is war). After 1992, she has occasionally worked as a lecturer at the Universität der Künste (Art University) and the Ernst-Busch-Schule (Ernst Busch School) in Berlin. That same year, she directed at the Studio Theatre in Berlin and at the Meininger Theatre.

In 2003, her autobiography was published with the title 'Ich fang mich selbst ein – Mein leben' (I Catch Myself – My Life). Her most recent film was Tal der Ahnungslosen / Valley of the Unsuspecting (Branwen Okpako, 2003). In 2006, she needed to be treated in a hospital after a collapse. Her husband had found her lifeless in the bathroom. She returned triumphantly on stage at the Komödie am Kurfürstendamm as the aged diva Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's play 'Master Class'. She also starred opposite Hilmar Thate in the no less successful production of Peter Turrini's play 'Joseph and Mary', and played the role of Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey Into Night'.

In 2008, after more than three decades, the 'Traumpaar' (dream couple) of Paul and Paula were reunited on stage. Angelica Domröse and Winfried Glatzeder co-starred in Eduardo de Filippo's tragicomedy 'Filumena Marturano'. In September 2009, Domröse suddenly entered a sanatorium after a nervous breakdown, but she recovered soon. In 1976, Angelica Domröse married actor Hilmar Thate. From 1966 to 1975, she was married to actor Jiří Vršťala. The city of Berlin decided to name a path along a lake the 'Paul und Paula Ufer' with a 'Paul und Paula' bench to sit on. Domröse returned to the cinema in the melancholic comedy Bis zum Horizont, dann links / Fly Away (Bernd Böhlich, 2012) with Otto Sander. She played an old lady whose family sent her to an elderly home, where she takes part in a revolt. It was her final film role. Angelica Domröse died on 15 May 2026 after a long illness at the age of 85. She last lived in Berlin-Charlottenburg.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3140, 1968. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Schwarz. Angelica Domröse and Jiří Vršťala.


Big East German card by Progress Starfoto, no. 176/69. Photo: Linke.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 179/70, 1970. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Linke.


Scene from Die Legende von Paul und Paula / The Legend of Paul and Paula (1973). Source: yDelicious (YouTube).

Sources: Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-line - German), Filmportal.de, Bild.de (German), Berliner Zeitung (German - now defunct), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Billy Mo

Billy Mo (1923-2004) was a German Schlager singer and Jazz trumpeter. He was born in Trinidad, moved to London in the 1940s and had his breakthrough in Germany in the 1950s.


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 5561. Photo: Hafbo Film. Billy Mo in Schlagerparade 1960 (Franz Marischka, 1960).


West German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg, for Decca, no. 4746. Photo: Teldec / Unfried

The youngest police officer in Trinidad

Billy Mo was born as Peter Mico Joachim in Trinidad in 1923. His father was the result of an affair between an officer stationed in Cameroon, named Peter Joachim and a local woman of colour. His parents later moved to the Caribbean Islands. According to another story, his German grandfather married his African girlfriend and moved to Trinidad with his illegitimate wife after completing his military service.

Yet another story from 1967 tells of the death of Joachim's parents when he was five years old, after which he ended up in an orphanage with his two sisters. According to the subsequent story, his mother died in childbirth, and his father died three years later in a car accident. According to music journalist Jan Feddersen, both parents died in an accident a year after his birth. In the orphanage, Joachim received music lessons and learned to play the harmonica. According to other sources, he learned to play the trumpet and horn at the age of six.

According to a later publication, he joined an orchestra at the age of seven and became a member of the local police band at the age of 14, making him the youngest police officer in Trinidad. There are also several versions of when and how Peter Mico Joachim came to Great Britain. According to a 1967 magazine, he was hired by a British naval officer in 1945 for a jazz band. Another statement by Joachim was that he stayed in London from 1945 to 1956. Other accounts claim that he received a music scholarship for the Royal Academy of Music in 1943.

When searching for sources in England, also a wife appears: Eldica Joachim (1922–2000). According to her short biography, she left Trinidad in 1946 and moved to Great Britain with her husband, Peter Joachim. There she acted in films from 1951 onwards, such as Cry, The Beloved Country (Zoltan Korda, 1951) with Sidney Poitier and Green Pastures (George Schaefer, 1957).

Eldica Joachim had to stop her career as an actress because of polio, but she continued as a costume designer for several national and international film studios. She had three children: Greta, Ruby and Sheila. Her granddaughters, Jayne James and Sandra Reed, are singers, and her grandson, Martin James, is a drummer.


West German autograph card by Decca Schallplatten. Photo: Teldec / Constantin-Film.

Struggling to make ends meet

It is evident that Peter Mico Joachim subsequently played in London with the Trinidad All Stars, led by Al Jennings, with whom he performed on BBC radio in November 1945. This band played for American and British soldiers and performed in nightclubs. The group disbanded during a tour of France due to declining public interest, leaving him unemployed and returning to England. In addition to his work as a musician and his part-time jobs in restaurants, he struggled to make ends meet. He also worked as a nurse in a Scottish psychiatric institution for three years.

From 1950 onwards, Joachim collaborated with the arranger Rupert Nurse from Trinidad, with whom he performed at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the show 'Pardon my French' (1953-1954), together with the Caribbean pianist Winifred Atwell. In the early 1950s, Joachim founded his own orchestra, performing at the River Club, the Stork Club and the Café de Paris, but without making a breakthrough as a musician.

According to music writer Friedel Keim, Joachim went to the Benson Institute of Music in the United States in 1949 and obtained a doctorate there. He also obtained a PhD at the age of 30 after completing a psychology degree in Edinburgh and was appointed professor of musicology at the University of Oxford, according to Keim. His gravestone bears the title Prof. Dr.

In April 1956, Peter Mico Joachim travelled penniless via Paris to Hamburg and was hired as a trumpet player by the house band at the St. Pauli pub Blauer Peter. He also played Dixieland and rock 'n' roll in other clubs and began singing.

In 1957, he was discovered by Viktor Reschke, the leader of the NDR television orchestra. Under the pseudonym Billy Mo, he released the swing numbers 'Buona Sera' and 'Oh Marie', both by Louis Prima. In the same year, he played a trumpet solo for Bert Kaempfert's orchestra in Franz Grothe's 'Mitternachtblues'. With the songs 'Darling, du weißt ja', 'Oh Jennilie' and 'Swing Methusalem', he established his name in the German music world as Billy Mo.


West German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 826. Photo: Teldec / Schade.

A Tyrolean as his trademark

With the song 'Das Fräulein Gerda' from 1938, Billy Mo made his transition to Schlager and folk music in 1960. With the hits 'Wenn die Elisabeth nicht so schöne Beine hätt' (1961, 17th place), 'Am Sonntag will der Billy mit mir segeln geh'n' (1961) and 'Was kann der Sigismund dafür' (1961), he brought back old songs from the 1920s and 1930s. His big commercial breakthrough came in 1962 with the song 'Ich kauf mir lieber einen Tirolerhut', which spent 17 weeks in the German charts at number 3, with sales of four million DM.

The Tyrolean hat then became Billy Mo's trademark. His later singles were unable to match this success, despite the songs 'Bierdeckel-Polka' (1963, 21st place), 'Humba Täterä' (1964, 15th place) and 'Der Salon-Tiroler' (1964, 15th place). In 1970, Mo's last single was released. His musical style could no longer keep up with the musical developments of recent years, which affected his record sales.

Nevertheless, he sang his songs in entertainment programmes and in live shows on the road. His musical ability was highly regarded by critics. In 1959, Billy Mo appeared in a German feature film for the first time. Together with Paul Dahlke, Günter Pfitzmann and Ingrid van Bergen, he played a gangster quartet disguised as ship's musicians in Heinz Erhardt's comedy Drillinge an Bord / Triplets on Board (Hans Müller, 1958).

His contribution to German Schlager films and TV shows was limited to playing small roles, such as in the television series Frei nach Mark Twain (Franz Marischka, 1971) as a footman and in the children's film Kleiner Mann, was tun? (Uschi Madeisky, Klaus Werner, 1981) as a civil servant. Between 1963 and 1965, he had his own ARD entertainment show, Cafe Mo, at Hagenbeck Zoo, which required spontaneity and improvisational skills.

In 1956, he met his first German wife, Margot Miranda, in Hamburg. They had two children, Susanna (1960) and Jeffrey-Gordon. In 1966, Mo obtained German nationality after a lengthy application process. Billy was an incorrigible womaniser. During his marriage, he met his future manager and, from 1990, his wife Sylvia Hartjenstein, the bass player of the group Silverstars, in 1967. Their daughter Micole was born from this marriage. From 1970, Mo lived in Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, where he became involved in the local music scene. Until the age of 79, he performed in jazz clubs, especially at the Jazz Club Hannover. After a performance in December 2001, he suffered a heart attack and was kept in an induced coma. In 2002, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon by Lower Saxony's Minister-President Sigmar Gabriel for his commitment to musical youth work. Mo died of heart failure in 2004 at the age of 81. As a member of the Zum Schwarzen Bär Masonic Lodge in Hanover, he was given a ritual funeral. The Big Band Die Auetaler, which he co-founded, played at his grave, and Deborah Sasson sang the song 'Ave Maria'. His gravestone in Wunstorf-Luthe features a trumpet and a Tyrolean hat.


West German autograph card by Decca.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

A rare find: an album with Pathé cards from 1911 (Part 3)

At the 2018 Autumn Collector's Fair in Utrecht, we found an album with over 100 vintage cards by Pathé Cinema with stills of films from 1911. The album contains 60 double pages with 120 collector cards, a bit bigger and thinner than the ordinary postcards issued by Pathé. All films date from the year 1911 and almost all are traceable on the website of the Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathé. In 2018, we selected 14 cards from this rare album for a post. Last month, we presented another 21 Pathé cards. Here are again 21 cards from 1911, which we have never published at European Film Star Postcards before.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Scene from Le bateau de Léontine (N.N., 1911). It is unclear who played the lead in the typical nasty lady series of Léontine ('Titine'), a girl always into terrible mischief.

Titine has received for her party a superb three-master. She has promised her parents to be very good in their absence, but she cannot resist the temptation to sail her boat. She turns the kitchen faucets wide-open, so the room serves as a pool to her exploits. Soon, the ship is sailing in the 'open sea', but Titine is still dissatisfied. However, the water, crossing the floor, flows in large streams onto the lower floors, drowning the tenants and transforming the stairs into impassable torrents. Titine, unsuspecting of the dramas that take place below her, quietly floats in a barrel amidst the disaster.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: SCAG / Pathé Frères. Andrée Marly in Deux vieux garçons (Michel Carré, 1911). Carré also scripted the film. Marly is playing the piano. Her lover (not visible) is played by Charles Maudru. The two old men, courting young Katje in vain and finally giving in, are Louis Baron fils and Georges Coquet. The old woman playing the maid is Marie Ernestine Desclauzas, who was a renowned stage actress in the late 19th century. In real life, Marly was married to Coquet. The setting and costumes in this film refer to the popular Dutch village of Volendam.

Van Peterbon and Van Hoosplott, who had grown old as bachelors, took in their orphaned niece, the pretty Katje. The presence of little Katje, charming beneath her bonnet with golden antennae, troubled the hearts and sleep of the two old bachelors. Meanwhile, Katje, unaware of their feelings, dreams of the young Kobe, who is courting her. The two young people, with the help of the maid, write a marriage proposal to each of the two uncles. Upon receiving this letter, Van Peterbon and Van Hoosplott explode with rage. Then indignation gives way to concern. Could Katje have found out something? When questioned, the maid reassures them, and the two uncles agree to bury the marriage proposals deep in their pockets. However, this move prompts them to each apply for her hand in marriage. But Katje's laughter puts an end to their declarations, and the young girl takes advantage of their confusion to introduce them to Kobe, whom she loves. Faced with the youthfulness of their rival, the two old bachelors become conscious of their wrinkles and white hair. So, gruff but benevolent, they give in to the pleas of the two lovers.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Young Maurice Mathieu or Renée Pré (sources differ) as the son André in Le dévouement d'un gosse (Alfred Machin, 1911).

In a fairground hut where a curious crowd gathers in front of the menagerie, a drama suddenly unfolds between the brave tamer and one of his wild animals. Seriously injured by the furious beast, the man soon dies, leaving his wife and two children in need. Without its tamer, the menagerie is soon abandoned by the public, and poverty descends on the poor caravan. However, little André makes a big decision. Accustomed since early childhood to entering the cage with his father, he will replace the deceased tamer. The public then returned in droves to applaud the world's youngest tamer, while prosperity, thanks to the child's courage, returned to the humble caravan.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Young Maurice Mathieu or Renée Pré (sources differ) as the son André in Le dévouement d'un gosse (Alfred Machin, 1911).


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Young Maurice Mathieu or Renée Pré (sources differ) as the son André in Le dévouement d'un gosse (Alfred Machin, 1911).


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Scene from the French silent film L'Homme de peine (Michel Carré, 1911). Carré also scripted the film.

A group of Parisians goes on a trip to Corsica, where they enjoy a carefree life. One of them, André Cartier (Dominique-Bernard Deschamps), discovers a pretty girl named Lina (Mme California), the daughter of a woodcutter, in the maquis. He falls in love with her and decides to take her back to Paris with him. Sciavola, the woodcutter (Jean Kemm), discovers his daughter's departure and lets his anger and despair explode. Months pass, bringing weariness on the part of the seducer and soon the end of his whim. Lina, abandoned, gives herself over to a dance from her country in the night restaurant where the break-up has just taken place. This dance wins her the affection of Prince Daniloff (Georges Tréville), who agrees to take her back to Ajaccio to see her country again. However, old Sciavola, aged, worn out and bent over with grief, has had to give up his job. He has become a labourer, working in the very hotel where Lina and her companion are staying. Finding himself in the presence of his guilty daughter, the old man is seized with terrible anger. He brandishes the log he was about to throw into the fire at the unfortunate girl. But just as he is about to strike her, Daniloff intervenes, and Sciavola, overcome with emotion, faints. The great lord, moved by his grief and genuinely enamoured with the young woman, will rehabilitate her by giving her his name.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Scene from the French silent film L'Homme de peine (Michel Carré, 1911).


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: SCAGL / Pathé Frères. Lucie Pacitti as the daughter and Théodore Thalès as the clown in La fille du clown (Georges Denola, 1911), scripted by Maurice Kéroul.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: SCAGL / Pathé Frères. Lucie Pacitti as the daughter in La fille du clown (Georges Denola, 1911), scripted by Maurice Kéroul.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères. Still for the film Le foyer perdu (N.N., 1911), scripted by Gustave Grillet (director unknown).

Robert Desroches (Jean Kemm) lives apart from his wife (Eva Raynal) and son Lucien (Maria Fromet). On the occasion of Lucien's birthday, he begs the boy's mother to send him the child. Lucien, having received a beautiful pony from his father as a gift, gives him a present, and Robert Desroches is deeply moved when he sees that it is a portrait of his wife. A visit from a friend distracts him, and while Lucien rides his little horse, the two friends practise shooting with pistols. Suddenly, little Lucien, tired of his mount, grabs one of the guns and, before anyone has time to intervene, fires, seriously wounding his father. Mrs Desroches, seeing her husband's suffering, forgets all her grievances and comes to care for him. And when her rival (Gabrielle Robinne) has left, perhaps she will return.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères. Still for the film Le foyer perdu (N.N., 1911), scripted by Gustave Grillet.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères. Still for the film Le foyer perdu (N.N., 1911), scripted by Gustave Grillet.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères / Pathé Comica. Sarah Duhamel as Rosalie in Rosalie a trouvé du travail (N.N., 1911).

Rosalie is hired as a worker at a fashion shop, but has to promise to be at work always at 7 sharp. The next morning, she awakens at 10 to 7, shoots out of bed, dresses in haste, jumps down the stairs, and crosses the obstacles like a tornado. After a dishevelled run full of wild episodes, Rosalie arrives, red-headed and muddy, scarred with snags, at the fashion shop, only to read the sign on the closed front door, 'closed on Sundays and holidays'.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères / Pathé Comica. Sarah Duhamel as Rosalie in Rosalie veut en finir avec la vie (N.N., 1911).

Rosalie is fired, so she wants to commit suicide. She shoots herself with a revolver, but only destroys the mirror. She throws herself on the tramway rails, but, alas, this one takes another track. She throws herself from a parapet but in vain. Desperate, she goes into a gun shop, throws a bomb and mounts to heaven, but it only causes her to descend again, this time in the arms of a well-moustached police officer, so she gets lust for life again.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères. Max Linder and Olga Demidoff as the mother-in-law in Max et sa belle-mère / Max and His Mother-In-Law (Max Linder, Pathé 1911). The man in the back is Jacques Vandenne. The young woman to the right of Linder may be Paulette Lorsy, playing his wife.

French comedian Max Linder (1883-1925), with his trademark silk hat, stick and moustache, was an influential pioneer of silent film. He was largely responsible for the creation of the classic style of silent slapstick comedy, and he was the highest-paid entertainer of his day.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères / S.C.A.G.L. Charles Prince in Rigadin veut se faire arrêter (Georges Monca, 1911). Scripted by Gabriel Timmory.

Charles Prince (1872-1933), aka ‘Prince’, was a French film actor, director and writer. He was famous for his countless comical shorts with his alter ego Rigadin. Rigadin veut se faire arrêter (1911) was strongly based on an earlier film with a similar plot: La purée veut se faire arrêter (1908). A bum eats without paying, thus hoping to get food and lodging at the police station. Yet, he manages to get away with it. When he suddenly gets money and orders a huge meal, the restaurant owner warns the police and our poor bum is arrested after all.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères / S.C.A.G.L. Georges Dorival (the father), Darmody (the mother), Marie Fromet (Pierrot) and little Carina (the little sweep) in the sentimental drama Oiseau de printemps, hirondelle d'hiver (Georges Denola, 1911). Scripted by E. M. Laumann.

Both boy roles were played by girls. The poor little sweep, maltreated by his boss, saves the life of little Jean and is afterwards adopted by the family of Jean. Georges Édouard Lemarchand, known as Dorival or Georges Dorival (1871-1939), was a French stage and screen actor of Norman origin, a painter and an important art collector.


French photo card by Pathé Frères. Georges Vinter as the detective Nick Winter in Le Pickpocket mystifié (N.N., 1911).

Nick Winter, the astonishing detective, is in Le Pickpocket mystifié (N.N., 1911) hot on the trail of a clever crook. Winter catches him in a bank where he is robbing a bank clerk's wallet with unparalleled skill and audacity, using a cleverly rigged cane. In an instinctive move, the detective reaches into the thief's pocket, but this gesture makes him look like a thief himself in the eyes of the bank clerk, who calls the police. Nick, handcuffed, is taken to the police station, followed by his thief, who has now become the complainant. But there, the roles are reversed, and the clever policeman has no trouble exposing his adversary.


French photo card by Pathé Frères. The title of the film is crossed, but it might have been the comedy Le chapeau de Jobard /Jobard's hat (Emile Cohl, 1911). Lucien Cazalis, aka Jobard, made 13 short comedies in 1911, directed by Emile Cohl.

Paris is so unsafe and the pickpockets so bold that Jobard, ever cautious, puts a large sum of money he has just received in banknotes into his top hat. Unfortunately, his bad luck means that during a visit to a client, a distracted maid exchanges Jobard's top hat for her boss's. When he realises what has happened, Jobard, in a panic, rushes to every hat he sees, but unfortunately fails to find the one hiding his treasure, and ends up being rebuffed time and time again. Mistaken for a madman, poor Jobard is taken to the hospital and showered without mercy. Fortunately, the doctor on duty happens to be Jobard's customer, and Jobard finally regains his hat, his treasure and his freedom.


French photo card by Pathé Frères. Photo: Pathé Frères. Scene from the comedy Le cache-poussière / The Dust-cover (N.B., 1911). The film was shot in the South of France.

Robert, allowed to go to lunch with his fiancée at the Réserve de Beaulieu, borrows his uncle's car, dust cover and... money. While the two lovers stroll along the enchanting shores of the Côte d'Azur, Robert's aunt encounters them, recognises her husband's car and dust cover, and, believing herself betrayed, hails a taxi and sets off in pursuit. After a turbulent chase, she catches up with them at the hotel, where the imbroglio is resolved to everyone's satisfaction.


French photo card by Pathé Frères. Photo: Pathé Frères/ Modern Pictures, Scene from La ruse du petit ramoneur / The Little Sweep's Stratagem (Camille de Morlhon, 1911).

Jean, the little Savoyard boy (and a little sweep), having come into some money, enters a bakery to treat himself to the unusual luxury of a croissant. The baker, a kind woman, gives him a free cake, which Jean enjoys with delight. A few steps away, the little chimney sweep, struck by the suspicious behaviour of two individuals, follows them, spies on them and discovers their plot: to rob the bakery. As soon as they climb through the window, little Jean quickly secures the shutters with strong ropes, enters the shop and locks the door to the room where the two thieves are operating. The burglars, trapped, take refuge, one in the chimney, the other in the kneading trough. And it is black as coal and white as a baker's boy that they are caught by the police and taken to the station, thanks to the little chimney sweep, who has paid his debt of gratitude with interest.

Sources: Fondation-Jerome Seydoux - Pathe and IMDb.