Before Hollywood: Kalem

The Kalem Company was an early American film studio founded in New York City in 1907. It was one of the first companies to make films abroad and to set up winter production facilities, first in Florida and then in California. Kalem was sold to Vitagraph Studios in 1917.


British postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Alice Joyce (1890-1955) was an American screen actress who, at the peak of her career, was nicknamed the "Madonna of the Screen". From 1910 on, she quickly rose to become one of the biggest stars of Kalem Studios. Joyce played mostly well-behaved ladies of the better society in melodramas, comedies, and occasionally crime stories.


British postcard, no 11. Photo: Kalem. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Anna Q. Nilsson (1888-1974) was a Swedish-American actress who peaked in the silent era. She became one of the first major stars in the US film industry and contributed to about 200 silent films.


British postcard, no. 13. Photo: Kalem.

Gene Gauntier (1885-1966) was an American screenwriter and actress who was a pioneer of the motion picture industry. A writer, director, and actress in films from mid-1906 to 1920, she wrote screenplays for 42 films. She performed in 87 films and is credited as the director of The Grandmother (1909).


British postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Jack J. Clark (1879–1947) was an American director and actor of the early motion picture industry. In 1907, he was persuaded to enter motion pictures by Sidney Olcott of the New York-based Kalem Studios. Clark travelled through 24 countries with Kalem, becoming one of the first American film stars to film in foreign locations. While in the Holy Land, Kalem produced the first American passion play, From the Manger to the Cross (Sidney Olcott, 1912), with Clark as John the Apostle. Clark and his co-star Gene Gauntier were married during the filming, in 1912. They divorced in 1918.


British postcard, no. 12. Photo: Kalem.

George H. Melford (1877-1961) was an American stage and film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He was an accomplished stage actor working in Cincinnati, Ohio, before joining the Kalem Company in New York City in 1909. Hired by director Sidney Olcott for character actor roles, he was sent in the fall of 1910 to work with a film crew on the West Coast. In 1911, with Robert Vignola, he co-directed Ruth Roland in his first short film, Arizona Bill, based on a script he had written. Melford directed another 30 films for Kalem until 1915. Often taken for granted as a director today, the stalwart Melford's name by the 1920s was, like Cecil B. DeMille's, appearing in big, bold letters above the film title.


British postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Ruth Roland (1892-1937) was an American stage and film actress and film producer. Between 1911 and 1914, she was the leading actress of Kalem.


British postcard, no. 109. Series on the actors of the American early cinema company Kalem.

Guy Coombs (Washington, DC, June 15, 1882 – Los Angeles, September 25, 1944) was an American stage and screen actor. Coombs had a prolific career during the silent era as a leading man in early historical dramas and romances, particularly during his prolific tenure with Kalem Studios from 1911 to around 1914, where he often starred opposite actresses like Alice Joyce and his second wife, Anna Q. Nilsson.


British postcard, no. 110. Series on the actors of the American early cinema company Kalem.

Hal Clements (1869-1957) was a New York-born actor and director of silent films. He starred in dozens of silent films. He married Mary Moore and afterwards writer/screenwriter Olga Printzlau.


British postcard, no. 111. Series on the actors of the American early cinema company Kalem.

Alice Joyce (1890-1955) was an American silent screen actress who appeared in more than 200 films during the 1910s and 1920s. Joyce spent time with Kalem (1910–1915) and Vitagraph (1916–1921) and later worked freelance for various studios. At the peak of her career, she was nicknamed 'the Madonna of the Screen'.


British postcard, no. 116. Series on the actors of the American early cinema company Kalem.

Miriam Cooper (1891-1976), aka Marion Cooper and Marian Cooper, was an American silent film actress who is best known for her roles in D. W. Griffith's silent epics The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). She also starred in The Honor System (1917) and Evangeline (1919) for her husband Raoul Walsh. She retired from acting in 1924 but was rediscovered by the film community in the 1960s and toured colleges lecturing about silent films.


British postcard, no. 120. Series on the actors of the American early cinema company Kalem.

Knute Rahm (1876-1957) was a Swedish-born American actor who debuted in 1911 at Kalem as a screen actor. Rahm stayed his whole career working for Kalem, where he acted in 44 films, first in 1912-13 in a string of shorts starring Carlyle Blackwell, Alice Joyce and Marin Sais. He was mostly a supporting actor at Kalem in one-reeler dramas. But from 1915 he also acted in a few episodes of Kalem serials such as the Ruth Roland and Cleo Ridgely serial The Girl Detective (1915), and the Marin Sais series The Girl from Frisco (1916). He stopped his film career in 1917.

Shooting in Ireland

The Kalem Company was founded in 1907 by George Kleine, Samuel Long, and Frank J. Marion. The company was named for their initials K, L, and M. Kalem immediately joined other studios in the Motion Picture Patents Company, which held a monopoly on production and distribution. Frank Marion had been the sales manager at Biograph Studios, and Samuel Long was the manager of the Biograph production facility at Hoboken, New Jersey. Needing to raise more capital, the two experienced filmmakers approached Chicago businessman George Kleine to enter as a partner.

Kleine, already a successful film distributor, was involved only a short time, but it was a profitable investment for him. Soon, his partners were successful enough to buy out his shares at a considerable premium. The company began operations from a small office in a loft building in New York City. The partners were able to lure the general manager and director Sidney Olcott away from Biograph. Olcott eventually became Kalem Company's president and was rewarded with one share of its stock. Kalem had no indoor studios, so most of its films were shot on location. In February 1907, the company made its first motion picture, titled The Sleigh Belle (Sidney Olcott, 1907). While Kalem scored successes in its first year, the production rate at the once-powerful Biograph stagnated, hampered by the loss of important personnel.

Under the direction of Sidney Olcott, Kalem made several significant films, including the first adaptation of Ben Hur (Sidney Olcott, Frank Oakes Rose, 1907) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Otis Turner, 1908) starring Hobart Bosworth. In 1910, Olcott gave actress Alice Joyce her first acting job in his production of The Deacon's Daughter (Sidney Olcott, 1910). For the one-reel version of Ben Hur (Sidney Olcott, Frank Oakes Rose, 1907), Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, was used as the location for the Holy Land. The film was made without obtaining the rights to the book, which was the usual procedure in the industry at the time. Kalem was sued by the estate of the author, Lew Wallace. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Kalem in 1911 in Kalem Co. v. Harper Bros., they reached a settlement which paid the estate $25,000 – an extremely large amount for the time. The action helped to establish the necessity for film studios to obtain motion picture rights to the properties they used for their stories.

In 1910, the company shot a film in Ireland, making Kalem the first film studio to travel outside the United States to film on location. As a director, Olcott headed a small team in Ireland: Kalem's leading lady and principal screenwriter, Gene Gauntier, and cameraman, George Hollister. There, they notably filmed A Lad from Old Ireland (Sidney Olcott, 1910) in the Cork area plus a scenic film, The Irish Honeymoon, shot in Blarney Castle, Glengarriff, Gap of Dunloe, the Lakes of Killarney, and Dublin. Afterwards, the team went to Germany to film The Little Spreewald Maiden (Sidney Olcott, 1910), a love story in the Spreewald with Gauntier and Olcott as the lead characters.

Olcott and others from the studio returned to Ireland for most of the summer in the next two years. The O'Kalems, as the American entourage was affectionately dubbed, made such Irish films as Rory O'More (Sidney Olcott, Robert G. Vignola, 1911), The Vagabonds (Sidney Olcott, 1912), You Remember Ellen (Sidney Olcott, 1912), and The Colleen Bawn (Gene Gauntier, Sidney Olcott, 1911), one of the first American three-reelers (40 minutes). 22 films in total for Kalem. Later on, the outbreak of World War I prevented Olcott, who had resigned from Kalem and shot films for himself, from following through with his plans to build a permanent studio in Beaufort, County Kerry.


Vintage postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Hazel Neason (1884-1920) was an American actress and screenwriter. From 1909 to 1916, she acted in 58 films for such pioneering studios as Vitagraph, IMP, and Kalem. Neason passed away in 1920, a victim of the Spanish flu.


Vintage postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Miriam Cooper or Marian Cooper (1891-1976) was an American silent film actress who started in 1912 at Kalem as an extra. As her roles grew, she was invited to join their stock performance company, which was heading to Florida to film. Cooper's roles grew in size, and she received favourable reviews. But when she requested a raise, Kalem fired her, and she moved to Biograph. She is best known for her roles in D. W. Griffith's silent epics The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). For her husband Raoul Walsh, she also starred in The Honor System (1917) and Evangeline (1919).


Vintage postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Alice Joyce (1890-1955) was an American screen actress who, at the peak of her career, was nicknamed 'the Madonna of the Screen'.


American postcard by R. & H., Chicago. Photo: Kalem.

Gene Gauntier (1885–1966) was an American screenwriter and actress who was one of the pioneers of the motion picture industry. A writer, director, and actress in films from mid-1906 to 1920, she wrote screenplays for 42 films. She performed in 87 films and is credited as the director of The Grandmother (1909).


American postcard by The Ess and Ess Photo Co., New York. Photo: Kalem.

Ruth Roland (1892–1937) was an American stage and film actress and film producer. Between 1911 and 1914 she was the leading actress of Kalem.


American postcard by Kraus Mfg. Co., N.Y. Photo: Kalem. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

American film actress Irene Boyle (1890-1976) starred in many early silent dramas, comedies, and crime films for the Kalem Film Company from 1913 on. She appeared in more than 40 films.


American postcard by Kraus Manufacturing Company, New York, 1913. Photo: Kalem.

Robert G. Vignola (1882-1953) was an Italian-American actor, screenwriter, and film director. A former stage actor, he appeared in many silent shorts produced by Kalem Company and later moved to directing, becoming one of the silent screen's most prolific directors. He directed a handful of films in the early years of talkies, but his career essentially ended in the silent era.


American postcard by Kraus Mfg. Co., N.Y. Photo: Kalem. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

An expedition to Egypt and Palestine

Galvanised by the success of Kalem's Irish films, Frank J. Marion decided on a more ambitious expedition: send a crew to Egypt and Palestine to shoot films, about thirty or so. The company stayed in Luxor, shot melodramas with titles such as An Arabian Tragedy (Sidney Olcott, 1912), Captured by Bedouins (Sidney Olcott, 1912), Tragedy of the Desert (Sidney Olcott, 1912), A Prisoner of the Harem (Sidney Olcott, 1912), and documentaries about the pulsing life on the Nile. But the great ambition of Kalem's expedition is the shooting of the first five-reel film. Titled From the Manger to the Cross (Sidney Olcott, 1912), it told the life story of Jesus. Robert Henderson-Bland played Jesus, Gene Gauntier played Mary, and Robert G. Vignola played Judas. In 1998, the film was selected for the National Film Registry of the United States Library of Congress.

Kalem was also one of the first studios to regularly film year-round by setting up facilities in Florida during the winter. The Florida company consisted of Sidney Olcott, George Hollister, cameraman; Allen Farnham, scenic artist; Arthur Clough, property man; Gene Gauntier, scenarist and leading actress; Jack J. Clark, leading male actor; Robert Vignola, the bad guy; J.P. McGowan, another leading actor; Alice Hollister and Ethel Eastcourt.

In the fall of 1910, Kalem began organising other studio locations. In November 1910, William Wright, company treasurer, was sent to the West Coast to assess the feasibility of a permanent studio for the making of Western-style films. Wright saw the potential and, after being given the go-ahead from the head office, he acquired a property in Verdugo Canyon in Glendale and a permanent crew was dispatched from New York City. Headed by director Kenean Buel, his crew consisted of star actress Alice Joyce, George Melford, Jane Wolfe, and others. With films from the Western genre much in demand, in 1911, a second California studio was opened in Santa Monica with actors Ruth Roland, Marin Sais, Ed Coxen, and Marshall Neilan taken under contract. The Santa Monica facility eventually would be used to make comedies. Kalem operated in these Southern California locations until October 1913, when they took over the Essanay Studios property in East Hollywood.

In November 1914, Kalem released the first of 119 episodes of the serial The Hazards of Helen (1914), releasing a new segment every Saturday until February 1917. Each segment had a self-contained story, so it was more of a film series than a serial. Helen Holmes played the lead character "Helen" and did most of her own stunts in the first 26 episodes until she and director J. P. McGowan left to set up their own film production company. The two began a relationship while working on the serial that led to marriage. Director J. Gunnis Davis (billed as James Davis) took over, and Elsie McLeod substituted in episodes 27–49 until a permanent "Helen" could be found for the remainder in the form of Helen Gibson.

On the heels of the immediate success of The Hazards of Helen, Kalem Studios simultaneously produced another 16-episode action/adventure series, which they released in October 1915, called The Ventures of Marguerite (Robert Ellis, John Mackin, Hamilton Smith, 1915) starring Marguerite Courtot. Allan Dwan joined Kalem for a short time, as did Mary Pickford, who also directed films in 1913. Over the years, Kalem contracted various other directors such as actor-turned-directors Robert Vignola and George Melford, as well as James W. Horne and William Beaudine. In 1915, the company lost Sidney Olcott, who left to work independently for World Film Corporation, Famous Players-Lasky, and other studios. In 1917, after having made close to 1500 silent films, the Kalem Company was sold to Vitagraph Studios.

Marin Sais (1890-1971) was an American actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. From 1915 till 1917, she appeared in Kalem serials. Sais' acting career spanned over four decades, and she is possibly best recalled for appearing in Westerns.


British postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Alice Joyce (1890-1955) was an American screen actress who, at the peak of her career, was nicknamed the Madonna of the Screen.


British postcard, no. 113. Photo: Kalem. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Helen Lindroth (1874- 1956) was a Swedish-born American screen and stage actress. She worked for the Kalem Company and Famous Players and had more than 90 screen credits.


British postcard, no. 29. Photo: Kalem.

Gene Gauntier (1885–1966) was an American screenwriter and actress who was one of the pioneers of the motion picture industry. A writer, director, and actress in films from mid-1906 to 1920, she wrote screenplays for 42 films. She performed in 87 films and is credited as the director of The Grandmother (1909).


British postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Alice Joyce (1890-1955) was an American screen actress, who, at the peak of her career, was nicknamed 'the Madonna of the Screen'.


American or British postcard. Photo: Kalem.

Alice Hollister (1886-1973) was an American silent film actress who appeared in around 90 films between 1910 and 1925. She is known for her roles in films such as From the Manger to the Cross (1912) and The Vampire (1913).


Canadian postcard by General Film Co., Poster Dept., Montreal. Photo: Kalem. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Jane Wolfe (1875-1958) was an American silent film character actress. From 1910 on, she worked for the Kalem Studios. She appeared in more than 90 films. After her acting career ended, she devoted the rest of her life to the study and teaching of Magick, an occult religion led by the English writer and occultist Aleister Crowley.


American Octochrome postcard published by Commercial Colortype Company, Chicago. Photo: Kalem. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Helen Holmes (1892 or 1893-1950) was an American silent film actress, producer, director, screenwriter, and stuntwoman. She is most notable as the strong-willed, independent, and resourceful heroine of The Hazards of Helen (1914-1915) for the Kalem Studios and other serials of the mid-teens and early 1920s.


American Octochrome postcard by Commercial Colortype Company, Chicago. Photo: Kalem. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

American silent film actress Marguerite Courtot (1897-1986) is little-known today, but in her time, she was regarded as one of the screen's great beauties. She was a serial queen for the Kalem studio.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Check out our other Before Hollywood posts: Vitagraph, Essanay, Biograph, Lubin, and Flying A.

Film programmes by Illustrierte Film-Bühne

Illustrierte Film-Bühne (IFB) was a West German 'Filmprogrammheft' (film programme) that existed between 1946 and 1969. The regular, consecutively numbered film programmes included plot details, cast lists, and lots of photos. Publisher Paul Franke founded Illustrierte Film-Bühne in Munich in 1946. The issues had four and sometimes eight pages and were often printed in sepia, but also in blue, green or red. From 1951 on, full-colour editions also became available. The final issue of Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 8069, was published in 1969. The programmes provide an insight into the history of cinema in West Germany.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne (merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier), no. 4417, page 1 (cover). Photos: Pallas Film. Maurice Ronet and Jean Wall in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958). The German title was Fahrstuhl zum Schafott.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne (merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier), no. 4417, page 2. Photos: Pallas Film. Maurice Ronet, Lino Ventura and Jeanne Moreau in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958). The German title was Fahrstuhl zum Schafott.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne (merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier), no. 4417, page 3. Photos: Pallas Film. Maurice Ronet, Félix Marten, Lino Ventura, Elga Andersen, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin and Jeanne Moreau in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958). The German title was Fahrstuhl zum Schafott.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne (merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier), no. 4417, page 4. Photos: Pallas Film. Georges Poujouly, Iván Petrovich, Jeanne Moreau, Félix Marten, Maurice Ronet, and Yori Bertin in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958). The German title was Fahrstuhl zum Schafott.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 431. Michèle Morgan in Fabiola (Alessandro Blasetti, 1949).

Illustrierte Film-Kurier and Illustrierte Film-Bühne

Film programmes have been in use at cinemas since the end of the 19th century. A film programme is a printed flyer or booklet accompanying cinema films. It provides filmgoers with details of the cast and crew, as well as a brief overview of the plot. Unlike film magazines, it focuses solely on one film and does not cover other news from the world of cinema. A distinct type of film programme is intended for cinema owners and not for the audience. Such publications, which appear periodically – for example, weekly – are produced by both independent publishers and the film distributors themselves, and contain relevant information on all films currently in distribution to help cinema owners select which films to screen.

The first German-language film programmes for audiences appeared in Austria by 1911 at the latest and in Germany from 1919. Initially, they were in black and white or they were produced using a halftone printing process, in which black was replaced by shades of blue, green or sepia to evoke the look of the old black and white films. From around 1951, colour editions also became available. Often, for cost reasons, only the front and back covers of the programme booklets were in colour, whilst the inside pages remained in black and white. Until around 1943, the paper size chosen was usually roughly equivalent to today’s A4 format. Later, the size of the programmes was reduced. The 'Illustrierte Film-Kurier' was one of Germany’s first major film programme magazines. The series was first published in 1919 by Vereinigte Verlagsgesellschaften Franke & Co. KG. Their advertising slogan was ‘serving German film journalism since 1919. Up until 1944, it was possible to purchase an issue covering almost every film screened in Germany.

In 1945, the first issues of the post-war programmes of the 'Illustrierte Film-Kurier' were published. In 1946, the Munich publisher Paul Franke founded 'Illustrierte Film-Bühne' and modelled it on the 'Illustrierte Film-Kurier', which had been popular before the Second World War. Film distribution companies provided Franke with photographic material, synopses, cast lists and the original titles of the respective films. Using these materials, Franke and his graphic designers produced the programme booklets. In September 1946, the cover price was 10 pfennigs per issue. Most issues had 4 pages: a double-sided sheet in A4 format with 10 tot 15 images. There were exceptions. Illustrierte Film Bühne, no. 5440 on the German film Faust (Peter Gorski, 1960) had 8 pages. Faust, starring Will Quadflieg as Faust and Gustaf Gründgens as Mephisto, was a prestigious film adaptation of Gustaf Gründgens’ stage production of Goethe’s 'Faust I' at the Hamburg Schauspielhaus.

From 1954 onwards, circulation figures of 'Illustrierte Film-Bühne' fell. For this reason, it merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier. Nevertheless, circulation figures continued to fall rapidly. Even 4,000 copies per film could no longer be sold. The programme was no longer produced for every film shown in Germany, but only for those titles that promised to be successful. The last issue, no. 8069, was produced in 1969. Today, almost all of the long-established film programme publishers have discontinued their series. As a result, many film programmes have become rarities. Much like film posters and postcards, some copies of the 'Illustrierte Film-Bühne' have become sought-after among collectors. They are traded for a multiple of their original retail price of just 10 pfennigs at e-Bay, flea markets and second-hand bookshops. Since 1977, the German magazine 'Filmprogramm' has been in publication.

In the GDR, 'Progress-Filmprogramm' continued to be published until around 1979, from 1966 under the name 'Film für Sie'. In Austria, the tradition of film programmes is still very much alive. Austrian film programmes included series such as ‘Neues Filmprogramm’, ‘Filmindex’ and ‘Neuer Filmkurier’. These programmes were initially published by publishing houses, and later also by individual distribution companies promoting their own films. Generally speaking, the various editions differ mainly in terms of their printing quality, their content in the form of images and text – and, of course, the different names of the respective series. To this day, film programmes are published in Austria for every film released in cinemas.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 770. Photo: Universal International. Burt Lancaster in Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947). The German title was Zelle 17.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 977. Harry Baur in La tragédie impériale / Rasputin (Marcel L'Herbier, 1938).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 1067. Anna Magnani in Vulcano (William Dieterle, 1950).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 1537. Claude Laydu in Le journal d'un curé de campagne / Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson, 1951). The German title was Tagebuch eines Landpfarrers.


West German Film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 2052. Design: Buss. Dieter Borsche and Georg Thomalla in Fanfaren der Ehe / Fanfare of Marriage (Hans Grimm, 1953). Fanfaren der Ehe / Fanfare of Marriage was the sequel of the comedy Fanfaren der Liebe / Fanfares of Love (Kurt Hoffmann, 1951), which was in turn a precursor of Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 2295. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr in Quo Vadis (Mervyn LeRoy, 1951).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 2571. Victor Mature and Susan Hayward in Demetrius and the Gladiators (Delmer Daves, 1954). The German title was Die Gladiatoren.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 3076. Photo: Paramount. Cary Grant in To Catch A Thief (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955). The German title was Über den Dächern von Nizza.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 3656. Design: W. Photo: Universal International. Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Dwight Frye in Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4373. Design: W. Photo: DFH. Tatyana Samoylova in Letyat zhuravli / The Cranes Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957). The German title was Wenn die Kraniche ziehen.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4386. (Probably) Teresa Izewska and Tadeusz Janczar in Kanal / The Sewer (Andrzej Wajda, 1957). The German title was Der Kanal.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4668. Photo: Paramount. James Stewart and Kim Novak in Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958). The German title was Aus dem Reich der Toten.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-bühne, no. 5142. Design: Buss. Photo: DFH. Nikolay Cherkasov in Ivan Groznyy / Ivan the Terrible (Sergei Eisenstein, 1944). The German title was Iwan der Schreckliche.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film Bühne, no. 5209. Photo: Paramount. Steve McQueen in The Blob (Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., 1958) with Aneta Corsaut and Olin Howland. The German film title was Blob - Schrecken ohne Namen.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 5768. Design: W. Tatsua Nakadai in Hingen no jóken / The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (Masaki Kobayashi, 1959). The German title was Barfuß durch die Hölle.

Sources: Wikipedia (German), Filmmuseum Potsdam (German), Rolf Aurich (Film Dienst - German), and Film- und Fernsehmuseum Hamburg (German). More information on German and Austrian film programmes: Herbert Wilfinger (Kino zum Mitnehmen - German), Herbert Holba (Filmprogramme in der DDR - German) and Ralph Nüntel (Vor dem Film – Nach dem Film – Zu jedem Film: Das Programm von Heute - German).

Souvenirs from Le Giornate

Recently, EFSP collaborator Ivo Blom visited the 45th edition of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone. At first, he thought he would not find any film postcards at the festival, but in the end he brought fifteen home. In addition to several cards on Italian silent film actors who were also famous stage actors like Ermete Novelli and Antonio Gandusio, a rare card on the diva film Tigre reale with diva Pina Menichelli, and a lovely sepia portrait of actress Cecyl Tryan, he found several Italian postcards from the 1920s depicting silent Hollywood couples or individual actors, mostly working at Fox and Paramount.


Italian postcard, no. 107. Photo: Sciutto.

Italian actor Ermete Novelli (1851-1919) was a legendary monstre sacré of the theatre. In the 1910s, he appeared in films by Film d'Arte Italiana, Ambrosio and Raggio Film.


Italian postcard by Ed. Fotocelere, no. 293. Photo: Badodi.

Antonio Gandusio (1873-1951) was an Italian stage and screen actor with a rich career in 1930s and 1940s Italian cinema.


Italian postcard by Ed. Fotocelere, no. 296. Photo: Badodi.

Annibale Betrone (1883-1950) was an Italian film, stage, and radio actor who did some silent films but was rather highly active in Italian sound cinema of the 1930s and 1940s.


Vintage postcard by K Ltd.

Handsome Nerio Bernardi (1889–1971) was an Italian stage and screen actor and voice actor. In his long career, he acted in some 210 films.


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 1058. Photo: Itala Film. Pina Menichelli and Alberto Nepoti in Tigre reale (Giovanni Pastrone, 1916).

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.

Celluloid Dreams, Silentscapes

At Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, Ivo Blom (EFSP) co-programmed two slots of mainly French and Italian early silent films dealing with Greco-Roman antiquity. For this occasion, he published at EFSP the posts Ancient Greece in early cinema, and Augusto Mastripietri, about the actor who played Julius Caesar in Bruto / Brutus (1911), one of Enrico Guazzoni's earliest Antiquity films.

On 12 October, Ivo also co-presented with Maria Wyke (UCL) and Bryony Dixon (BFI) the Museum of Dreamworlds website about their research project. It systematically investigates all the silent films in the BFI National Archive that concern ancient Greece or Rome.

In November, a new exhibition opens, inspired by the Museum of Dreamworlds. You can visit the exhibition, 'Celluloid Dreams, Silentscapes', between 20 November and 4 December at University College in London.

The exhibition juxtaposes some of the antiquity films preserved by the BFI with contemporary responses to them. These works are interconnected through their depictions of ancient Greek and Roman architecture, for architecture lies at the heart of these imagined worlds. Monumental temples, ruined cities, and spectacular landscapes became visual stages where historical knowledge intertwined with artistic interpretation.

The exhibition is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm; Saturday and Sunday, 11am-3pm. Address: The UCL Bartlett School of Architecture (Exhibition Space), 22 Gordon St., London WC1H 0QB. Admission is free, and no booking is required. Click here for more information.


Italian postcard by Ed. Traldi, Milano, no. 452. Photographer unknown.

Cecyl Tryan (1897-?) had a prolific career in the Italian silent cinema, from 1913 to the late 1920s. She first starred at Cines, later also at companies like Gladiator Film and Fert.


Italian postcard, no. 2508. Photo: Fox Film Corp., Roma. Sammy Cohen in What Price Glory (Raoul Walsh, 1926). The Italian title was Gloria.


Italian postcard. Foto: Ebang. Mistake alert! The man on the card is not Edmund Lowe but William Haines, and the woman is not Eleanor Boardman but Mary Brian. They acted together in the MGM drama Brown of Harvard (Jack Conway, 1926).

William 'Billy' Haines (1900–1973) was an American film actor and interior designer. By the end of the silent era, he was regularly named as Hollywood's no. 1 male box-office draw.

Mary Brian (1906-2002) was an American actress and film star with dark brown curls and blue/grey eyes, who made the transition from silent films to sound films. She was dubbed 'The Sweetest Girl in Pictures'.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 789. Photo: Fox Film Corp. Roma. Tom Mix and Billie Dove in the Western The Lucky Horseshoe (John G. Blystone, 1925). The Italian title was Come Don Giovanni (Just like Don Giovanni).

American film actor Tom Mix (1880-1940) starred in many early Westerns between 1909 and 1935. Mix appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent movies. He was Hollywood's first Western megastar and helped to define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed.

Stunningly beautiful and highly photogenic Billie Dove (1903-1997) was one of the most popular Hollywood actresses of the 1920s. She was dubbed 'The American Beauty', after the title of one of her films.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 699. Photo: Fox Film Corp., Roma.

American actor George O'Brien (1899-1985) was a muscular, barrel-chested, yet sensitively talented leading man in classic silent films, like John Ford's The Iron Horse (1924) and F. W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927). He became a different kind of star as a cowboy in B-Westerns during the sound era.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 752. Photo: Films Paramount Roma. Ricardo Cortez and Frances Howard in The Swan (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1925), based on the play by Ferenc Molnar. The Italian release title was Il Cigno.

Suave, dark-haired Ricardo Cortez (1900-1977) was an American screen actor and director who peaked in the 1920s as Paramount's romantic lover opposite the big female stars of the decade, while in the 1930s he rather played tough men such as the first Sam Spade on the screen.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 754. Photo: Films Paramount, Roma. Adolphe Menjou and Helen Lee Worthing in The Swan (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1925), based on the play by Ferenc Molnar. The Italian release title was Il Cigno.

Suave and debonair American actor Adolphe Menjou (1890-1963) with his trademark waxy black moustache was one of Hollywood's most distinguished stars and one of America's 'Best Dressed Men'. He started as a matinée idol in silent cinema in classics such as Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle (1924). His sound films included Morocco (1931) with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper, A Star is Born (1937), and Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957) with Kirk Douglas. In 1931, he was nominated for an Oscar for The Front Page (1931).


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 509. Photo: Films Paramount. Gloria Swanson and Lawrence Gray in The Untamed Lady (Frank Tuttle, 1926). The Italian release title was Capricci di donna (Female Caprice).

Gloria Swanson (1899-1983) was one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the silent era. She transformed from a typical Mack Sennett comedienne into a lively, provocative, even predatory star in Cecil B. DeMille films. She received Oscar nominations for Sadie Thompson (1928), The Trespasser (1929) and Sunset Blvd. (1950).

Lawrence Gray (1898-1970) was an American film actor of the silent screen. He often partnered with Hollywood's biggest female stars, such as Gloria Swanson (Stage Struck, 1925; The Untamed Lady, 1926), Norma Shearer (After Midnight, 1927), Colleen Moore (Oh, Kay!, 1928), and Marion Davies (The Patsy, 1928).


Italian postcard by Vettori, Bologna, no. 80. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Wallace Reid (1891–1923) was an American actor in the silent film era, referred to as 'the screen's most perfect lover'. A morphine addiction killed him at the age of only 31.


Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 552. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer S.A.J.

Aileen Pringle (1895-1989) was an American film actress of the silent screen. She was catapulted into stardom by her appearance in the Goldwyn production Three Weeks (Alan Crossland, 1924) with Conrad Nagel. Aileen's bob in the picture above was called the 'Pringle Shingle'.

Sources: UCL Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Museum of Dream Worlds. With special thanks to Marlene Pilaete for identifying the actress on the 'Eleanor Boardman' card and for additional information on Aileen Pringle.