Souvenirs from Bologna (1)

Last month, we had a great time in Bologna. At the Cinema Ritrovato Festival 2026, we met friends, saw great classic films, and we also took several souvenirs back to Amsterdam. We bought books and vintage postcards at the film book fair, 'Mostra mercato dell'editoria cinematografica'. Our favourite seller there is Primo Giroldini. But we also found some new and interesting postcards. This month, we will share our treasures in three posts at EFSP. First, Ivo Blom selected his postcard souvenirs of Italian stars and films.


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. unknown. Photo: Fert. Maria Jacobini as Giovanna Landi and Carlo Benetti as Professor Velati in Il richiamo / The Call from the Past (Gennaro Righelli, 1921), scripted by Fausto Maria Martini. A print of this film is in the Komiya Collection at the National Film Center in Tokyo. A restored version was shown at the festival Cinema Ritrovato in 2012.


Italian postcard. Photo: Ambrosio. Ruggero Ruggeri as/in Amleto (Eleuterio Rodolfi, 1917), based on William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'. Caption: The pantomime at the Court. Hamlet to the Queen: 'How do you like my drama, oh my Lady?' The king and queen can be seen left, on their back while at the centre Hamlet (Ruggeri) and Ophelia (Helena Makowska) look at them. The Queen was played by Mercedes Brignone, the King by Armand Pouget. We already had 7 of the 8 cards of the series on Amleto, but we now found the missing card at the Bologna film fair.


Italian postcard. Photo: Riccardo Bettini, Rome, no. 151. Salvatore Di Giacomo (1860–1934) was an Italian poet, songwriter, playwright, famous for his play 'Assunta Spina'. It appeared first as novella in 1888 and was first staged in Naples in 1909. 'Assunta Spina' was first adapted to film in 1915 by Francesca Bertini and Gustavo Serena, and in 1948 to TV by Eduardo De Filippo, starring Anna Magnani. Di Giacomo was also famous for his poetry in Neapolitan dialect, of which some verses became famous as songs.


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 400. André Habay aka Andrea Habay (and as Habaj or Kabaj) (1883-1941) was an actor in Italian silent cinema, mainly in modern dramas and divafilms such as Sangue blu (1914) and Rapsodia satanica (1917), but also in epics such as Quo vadis? (1924).


Italian postcard by La Fotorotografica, no. 39. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana (U.C.I.), Roma. Mario Bonnard aka Mario Bonard (1889-1965) was an Italian actor and director, whose career spanned from 1909 to the early 1960s.


Italian postcard by G. Modiano & Co., Milano, no. 23553. Photo: Varischi, Artico & Co. Arturo Falconi and Napoleon Masi. Arturo Falconi (1867–1934) was the elder brother of Armando Falconi. While mainly a stage actor, he starred in 11 silent films in 1916-1918, most of which were directed by Guido Brignone and produced by Volsca films. In the sound era, Arturo Falconi returned to the sets for 8 more film comedies between 1931 and 1934, either as the male lead (Zaganella e il cavaliere, 1932), or as major supporting actor opposite e.g. Germana Paolieri, Carlo Lombardi, and Eduardo De Filippo.


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 41. Camillo De Riso (1854-1924) was an Italian actor and director of the Italian stage and screen, most famous for his comic acting and directing at the companies Ambrosio, Gloria, and Caesar.


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna. Photo: Badodi, Milano. Fernanda Fassy aka Fernanda Fassi (1898-?) was an Italian actress who peaked in Italian silent cinema between 1916 and 1921, first at Pasquali and later on at companies such as Medusa Film and Chimera Film.


American postcard by A.G.F. Photo: Photocine. Letizia Quaranta (1892–1977) was an Italian actress, who peaked in the silent era, working for the Turinese companies Itala, Gloria, and Ambrosio, and for the company of her husband, director Carlo Campogalliani.


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano. Photo: La Fotominio, unnumbered. Olga Benetti (?-1958) was an Italian actress who acted in many films of the Roman film companies Cines, Celio and Caesar in the 1910s and early 1920s. She often performed opposite Francesca Bertini, Gustavo Serena and her husband Carlo Benetti (1885-1949).


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, 721. Fascinating and enigmatic Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale at Itala Film. In the early 1920s, she discarded her vamp roles and instead acted in melodramas at Rinascimento Film. She ended her film career as a comédienne.


Italian postcard by La Rotofotografica, no. 79. Photo: Rinascimento Film. We adore Pina!


Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed. Roma), no. 256. Clara Calamai in Ettore Fieramosca (Alessandro Blasetti, 1938). Though she acted in many light entertainment films, Clara Calamai's (1909-1998) most famous role will forever be femme fatale Giovanna in Luchino Visconti's steamy (proto-)neorealist film Ossessione (1943).


Italian postcard by Rizzoli, 1942. Photo: Gneme. Oretta Fiume (1919-1994) was an Italian actress who became a star during the Fascist era after winning a competition.


Italian postcard by Scalera Film, printed by Civicchioni. Caricature: Za. Handsome Italian actor and director Rossano Brazzi (1916-1994) personified the Latin Lover and romantic aristocrat in such Hollywood classics as Three Coins in a Fountain (1954), Summertime (1955) and South Pacific (1958), but he also starred in many European productions. In his 55-year career, he did over 100 films, mainly in Italy and France, but also in Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Brazil, Argentina, and the US. In Italy, he was also a hugely popular stage and TV actor, and an accomplished stage director.


Italian postcard by Scalera Film, printed by Civicchioni. Caricature: Za. Dina Sassoli (1920-2008) was an Italian stage and screen actress, who broke through with I promessi sposi (Mario Camerini 1941).


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2895. Photo: Dear Film. Alida Valli in La mano dello straniero (Mario Soldati, 1954). The card was mailed by post in 1957. Strikingly beautiful actress Alida Valli (1921-2006) was Italy’s Sweetheart of the early 1940s. She fascinated audiences not only with her flawless porcelain face, her dark, voluptuous hair and her green, expressive eyes, but also with her ability to simultaneously hide and reveal a character's thoughts and emotions. In a career that spanned seven decades, she appeared in more than 110 films, including such classics as The Third Man (1949) and Senso (1954).


Italian postcard by Vetta Traldi in the Divi del cinema series, no 92. Photo: Gabriele Ferzetti (1925-2015) in Le avventure di Giacomo Casanova / The Loves of Casanova (Steno, 1955). Italian actor Gabriele Ferzetti had more than 160 credits to his name across film, television and stage. His career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, when he worked with such directors as Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergio Leone and John Huston.


Ivo Blom and Primo Giroldini at the Cinema Ritrovato Festival 2026. Photo: Paul van Yperen.

Next week, the second 'souvenirs from Bologna' post will follow.

Pauley

Pauley or Paul Pauley (1886-1938) was a French actor and singer who had a prolific career in French cinema of the 1930s. His obesity was his trademark, but also his handicap because it got him mainly vaudeville parts.


French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leurs expressions by Paris sur Scene, no. 1046.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 345. Photo: Photo Alban.

Heavy antics

Paul Pauley was born Paul Eugène Louis Marien in Paris in 1886. From 1904 on, he sang in several café-concerts in the capital, and he would eventually record six records in 1919.

He was also the interpreter of such revues and plays as: 'T’as-t-y les tickets?' (You got the tickets?, 1915) with Félicien Tramel and Dranem, 'Si que j’serais roi' (If I were King, 1921) with Arletty and Marguerite Deval, 'La Belle Angevine' (1922) by Maurice Donnay and Andre Rivoireau, and 'Un miracle' (A Miracle, 1927) by Sacha Guitry. The latter plays were presented at the Parisian Théâtre des Variétés, where Pauley became a regular.

In 1923, he created the role of Father Grenu in the operetta Ciboulette by Reynaldo Hahn. Critics accused him of being unable to play anything other than heavy antics in comedies and of singing silly songs, sometimes close to the repertoire of Dranem. According to playwright and director André Antoine, "The authors, theatre directors, and probably he himself too abused his obesity."

In 1928, he created the role onstage of Régis de Castel-Bénac in 'Topaze' by Marcel Pagnol. Apparently, Pagnol had selected Pauley himself. The subtlety of his playing was recognised. When a critic was surprised he had so long hidden his talent by giving his audience only these antics, Pauley answered that he played the roles that were given to him, and had no choice. Pauley was a highly educated and bibliophile man, and played Vaudeville with great finesse. Actually, Colette said of him: "Paradoxically, when he plays, his physique becomes light as a balloon."

In 1931, Pauley imitated Lucienne Boyer, having the audience roar with laughter. He sang on several records for Polydor between 1931 and 1934, such as the famous song 'Amusez-vous' from the operetta by Guitry, Willemetz and Heymann, Florestan Ier, prince de Monaco (1934), in which Pauley performed as Rosambeau. In 1936, he participated in one of the first television broadcasts by French television, in the company of the Tyrolean Esther Kiliz.


French postcard for Campari. Photo: Studio Lorelle. Caption: 'Ever since I drink Campari, oh my friends, what an appetite!'


Belgian postcard by S.A. Cacao et Chocolat Kivou, Vilvorde / N.V. Cacao en Chocolade Kivou, Vilvoorde. Photo: Paramount.

Waiting for Godeau

Pauley was a typical actor of French sound cinema of the 1930s, but he had started in the silent era. From 1904 on, he already acted in one- and two-reelers by Pathé. In 1921, he landed a role in Asmodée à Paris / Asmodeus in Paris, a short film directed by Chaudy. Three years later, he played the pope Alexis in Le Comte Kostia / Count Kostia (Jacques Robert, 1924) opposite Conrad Veidt. He also acted in Luitz Morat’s La Ronde Infernale/The Infernal Circle (1927).

With the advent of talking pictures, his film career really took off. Between 1930 and 1938, he would appear in over thirty feature films and twenty shorter films. Filmmakers often used Pauley’s obesity for comic effect, but some of his parts were more remarkable. In 1931, he retook on screen the role he had played on stage in Sacha Guitry's Le blanc et le noir / The White and the Black (Marc Allégret, Robert Florey, 1931).

He also repeated his stage role Régis de Castel-Bénac in the film adaptation of Topaz (Louis J. Gasnier, 1933) with Louis Jouvet in the title role. Pauley then played Piedalouette in L’affaire Coquelet /The Coquelet case (Jean Gourguet, 1934) with Marcel Levesque and Alice Tissot. He was the Marquis de la Tour-Barrée in On ne roule pas Antoinette / You Don’t Fool Antoinette (Paul Madeux, 1936) with Armand Bernard and Simone Renant.

He had the male lead of Mercadet in the Honoré de Balzac adaptation Le faiseur / The Fixer (André Hugon, 1936), a story about a man who invents a fictitious associate to fight his creditors. Just like Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot', the associate - called Godeau! - never shows up. He also played Gaston in Au son des guitares / At the Sound of the Guitars (Pierre-Jean Ducis, 1936), a star vehicle for Tino Rossi singing 'Bella Ragazzina', 'Tant qu’il y aura des étoiles' and 'Chanson pour ma brune'.

Pauley then was Baron de la Carbonnière in Mon député et sa femme / My Deputy and his Wife Maurice Cammage, 1937) starring Pauline Carton. Moreover, he played Schuppanzigh in Un grand amour de Beethoven / A Great Love of Beethoven (Abel Gance, 1937), with Harry Baur in the role of the famous composer.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1062. Photo: Paramount.


French postcard.

An unforgettable part

Pauley’s career was crowned with his unforgettable part of Mr Woss in La rue sans joie / Joyless Street (André Hugon, 1938), a remake of the classic silent film by G.W. Pabst. The film starred Albert Préjean and Dita Parlo, while the great singer Fréhel sang 'L’Amour des hommes'.

In La rue sans joie, Jeanne de Romer (Dita Parlo) works to feed four mouths: her mother, her crippled grandfather, a brother and a sister, all depending on her modest salary. When her boss, Mr Woss (Pauley), is arrested for fraud, she is forced into misery and falls into the hands of a dubious owner of a fashion house (Marguerite Deval) and a rich cattle merchant (Pierre Alcover). The film hinted at the crisis in France during the years of the Popular Front.

It was Pauley’s last film performance. His definite trademark had been his roundness. Wherever he appeared, what first struck was his size of one meter fifty-six, in all directions. His obesity was also his handicap because it got him mainly vaudeville parts, especially in the cinema. Still, he made himself remarkable, not because of his size but because of his acting, which was full of finesse, grace and flexibility, as Pascal Donald remarks at Ciné-Artistes.

Although he sang a lot, Pauley has never been a real singer of chansons like Polin, even if early in his career he was one of Polin’s emulators, so not just an imitator. Especially in his early recordings, his art resulted in a contrast between his looks and his voice. Later, when acting in the cinema, he would practice with much finesse a more natural voice.

Victim of a heart attack, Paul Pauley died prematurely in Paris in 1938. He was only 52.


French postcard by Erpé, no. 517. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Sources: Pascal Donald (Ciné-Artistes - now defunct), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Valdemar Psilander

Valdemar Psilander (1884-1917) was the most popular star of the Danish cinema of the 1910s. Psilander took the German, Russian and Hungarian audiences by storm. At Nordisk, he would play in 83 films in six years.


Austrian postcard by Projektograph, Vienna / Nordisk Films Compagni. Design by Theo Matejko, Wien (Vienna).


Austrian postcard by Projectograph Aktiengesellschaft, Wien. Photo: Nordisk. Card mailed in 1914.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1450. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Manden uden Fremtid / The Man Without A Future (Holger-Madsen, 1916).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1553. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Manden uden Fremtid / The Man Without A Future (Holger-Madsen, 1916). The German title was Prinz im Exil.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1617. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Manden uden Fremtid / The Man Without A Future (Holger-Madsen, 1916).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1850. Photo: Nordisk. Still for Das zweite Ich / Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1914. Photo: Nordisk Films. Valdemar Psilander in Sfinxens Hemmelighed / The Secret of the Sphinx (Robert Dinesen, 1918). The German title was Das Geheimnis des Sphinx.


German postcard by Photochemie Berlin, no. K. 1916. Photo: Nordisk. Still for Das zweite Ich / Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918) with Ebba Thomsen.


German postcard by Photochemie Berlin, no. K. 1921. Photo: Nordisk. Still for Das zweite Ich / Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2627. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psylander and Gudrun Houlberg-Nissen in Kærlighedsleg / Love Game (A.W. Sandberg, 1918). The German title was Der ewige Rausch.

Kneeling and begging

Valdemar Psilander was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1884. His family originated from Greece, and one of his ancestors was named Psilandros. They later lived in Sweden. Already at the age of 16, he played small parts on stage. Eventually, he got leads as a stage actor, but in 1910, he decided to finish his stage career and move over to the burgeoning cinema.

Psilander debuted in the fall of 1910 for the small company Regia Art Film, with the title role in the Oscar Wilde adaptation Dorian Grays Portræt / The Portrait of Dorian Gray (Axel Strøm, 1910) with Clara Wieth, credited as Clara Pontoppidan, co-starring.

Shortly thereafter, he was engaged by Nordisk Film. There he rose to stardom thanks to his role in the successful film Ved faenglets port / The Temptations of the Big City (August Blom, 1911) again opposite Clara Wieth. It was his first production at Nordisk, and he became the company's highest-paid actor.

Despite his imposing size and posture, we see him often vulnerable in this film: kneeling to mothers and girlfriends, begging for mercy for his behaviour. Striking is his habit of looking directly towards the spectator, as if he is begging the spectator as well.

Psilander took the German, Russian and Hungarian audiences by storm. The next six years, he would play in 83 films for Nordisk. Even when the film had a mediocre screenplay, it was - at least in the public's eyes - an attraction simply because of the charismatic star.


Danish postcard. Photo: Nordisk.


German postcard by Jarcho & Bening. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander and Else Fröhlich in En lektion / Avia tikeren og journalistens hustru / The Aviator and the Journalist's Wife (August Blom, 1911). It was Fröhlich's film debut. The German written release title was Der Aviatiker und die Frau des Journalisten. This card was made for publicity for the Hamburg-based cinema Park-Kino, Eidelstedtlerweg 9, owned by Karl Steigerwald. According to Filmmuseum Hamburg, Park-Kino was active in the years 1913-1921, so either the cinema showed a film that was at least two years old (not uncommon), or there was another Park-Kino in Hamburg before 1913.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin.


Austrian postcard by BKWI, no. 2. Photo: Projektograph Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna, distributor of Nordisk Films Co., Copenhagen. Valdemar Psilander and Ellen Aggerholm in Højt Spil / A Dash for Liberty (August Blom, 1913).


Austrian postcard by BKWI, no. 3. Photo: Projektograph Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna, distributor of Nordisk Films Co, Copenhagen. Publicity still for Gæstespillet / One Life, One Love (Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen, 1913) with Else Fröhlich.


Austrian postcard by Postkartenverlag Brüder Kohn, Vienna, 1916. Publicity still for Gæstespillet / One Life, One Love (Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen, 1913) with Else Fröhlich.


German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 1554. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Manden uden Fremtid / The Man without a Future (Holger-Madsen 1916). The German title was Prinz im Exil.


German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 1851. Photo: Nordisk Films.


Hungarian postcard by Rubens, Budapest, no. 9. Photo: Strelisky, 1915.


Hungarian postcard by Rubens, Budapest. Photo: Strelisky, 1915. The back refers to the showing of a Psilander film at the Royal Orfeum in Budapest.

Asta Nielsen

In the same year, 1911, Valdemar Psilander played opposite the new female star of the Danish cinema, Asta Nielsen, in Den sorte drom / The Black Dream (Urban Gad, 1911). Director Urban Gad had also directed Nielsen in her film debut, Afgrunden / Abyss (Urban Gad, 1910), and he would soon marry his diva.

In Den sorte drom, Psilander again showed his character's vulnerability, this time using humour (clumsy mistakes). Asta Nielsen made another film with Psilander, Balletdanserinden / Ballet Dancer (August Blom, 1911), and then left with Gad for Berlin. She would have a prolific career there.

Valdemar Psilander stayed in Denmark and continued to appear in such films as Et drama paa havet / The Great Ocean Disaster (Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen, 1912), Den sorte Kansler / The Black Chancellor (August Blom, 1912), Evangeliemandens Liv / A Preacher's Life (Holger-Madsen, 1915), Pro Patria (August Blom, 1916), and Klovnen / The Clown (A.W. Sandberg, 1917).

Before and during the First World War, the Danish company Nordisk gained enormously, thanks to Psilander's success. Psilander earned 100.000 Danish crowns in 1915. In comparison, his colleague Olaf Fönss only gained 14.000 crowns that year. In 1916, Nordisk, however, refused him when he called for a raise to 250.000 Danish crowns, so he quit at the end of 1916. Psilander founded his own production company, Psilander-Film. But before it had really started, he suddenly died.

Only 32 years old, Valdemar Psilander passed away in 1917. At the peak of his career. Some say he died of a cardiac affliction, others say it was suicide. Valdemar Psilander had been married to actress Edith Buemann. She afterwards said that he had been on drugs and was warned by doctors not to combine this with alcohol. Yet another version, more apt to his film roles, was that a Russian rival in love had come from St. Petersburg to shoot him. After Valdemar Psilander's death, Nordisk still had so many of his films on the shelves that they continued to release new films with him until 1920.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1852. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Klovnen / The Clown (A.W. Sandberg, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1853. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander and Gudrun Houlberg in Klovnen / The Clown (A.W. Sandberg, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1854. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander and Gudrun Houlberg in Klovnen / The Clown (A.W. Sandberg, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1912. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Lydia (Holger Madsen, 1918).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1918. Photo: Nordisk Film Co. Valdemar Psilander in Favoriten (Robert Dinesen, 1917), released in Germany as Der tote Automobilist.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1922. Photo: Nordisk.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1930. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander and Else Fröhlich in Rytterstatuen / For the King's Statue (A.W. Sandberg, 1919). Its German release title was Um das Bild des Königs.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1932. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Lydia (Holger-Madsen, 1918).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1939. Photo: Nordisk. Alma Hinding and Valdemar Psilander in Das geheimnis des Sphinx, the German release title for the Danish silent film Sfinxens Hemmelighed / The Secret of the Sphinx (Robert Dinesen, 1918).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1943. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Rytterstatuen / For the King's Statue (A.W. Sandberg, 1919). Its German release title was Um das Bild des Königs. The woman is Augusta Blad, who played the mother of Psilander's character.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1944. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Rytterstatuen / For the King's Statue (A.W. Sandberg, 1919).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1945. Photo: Nordisk Films. Valdemar Psilander in Hans store Chance / Jernaktierne / His Big Breakthrough (Hjalmar Davidsen, 1919), released in Germany as Panik. The actress might be Johanne Blom Fritz-Petersen.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1960. Photo: Nordisk.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2626. Photo: Nordisk Films, Copenhagen. Gudrun Houlberg-Nissen and Valdemar Psylander in Kærlighedsleg / Love Game (A.W. Sandberg, 1918). The German film title was Der ewige Rusch.


German postcard by MMB, no. 452. Photo: F.J. Wesselsky. The card has on the back Dutch publicity for J. Bijloos, Eau de Cologne.

Sources: Det Danske Filminstitut (Danish), Schiave bianche allo specchio. Le origini del cinema in Scandinavia 1896-1918, Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos) and IMDb.