16 April 2015

Greetings from Utrecht, Part 2

Last weekend we visited the International Collectors Fair in Utrecht. It was fun! In three posts we share our new acquisitions. Today, part 2.

Roy d'Arcy in The Merry Widow (1925)
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 396. Photo: publicity still for The Merry Widow (Erich Von Stroheim, 1925).

American character actor Roy d'Arcy (1894-1969) played his most famous role as the villainous, arrogant Prince Mirko in Erich Von Stroheim’s classic The Merry Widow (1925), starring Mae Murray and John Gilbert. Because of the success of that film, D'Arcy was thrown into several other productions as the head villain, but also in several comedies.

Edna Best
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 71. Photo: Foulsham & Banfield.

British actress Edna Best (1900–1974) was known on the London stage before she entered films in 1921. She is best remembered for her role as the mother in the original 1934 film version of Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. Among her other film credits are Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939), Swiss Family Robinson (1940), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) and The Iron Curtain (1948).

Claude Rains
British postcard by the Picturegoer Series, London, no. B.8. Photo: Warner.

The career of English stage and film actor Claude Rains (1889-1967) spanned 47 years. In Hollywood he was a supporting actor who achieved A-list stardom. With his smooth distinguished voice he could portray a wide variety of roles, ranging from villains to sympathetic gentlemen. He is best known as the title figure in The Invisible Man (1933), as wicked Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), as a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and, of course, as Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942).

Ida Wüst
German postcard by NPG, no. 405. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

German actress Ida Wüst (1884-1956) was a popular Ufa star in the 1920s and 1930s. She appeared in almost 150 films.

Maria Widal
German postcard by NPG, no. 890. Photo: Anny Eberth, Berlin.

Between 1914 and 1922, actress Maria Widal played in the European silent cinema. She started her career as Luzzy Werne (or Werren) in 18 Danish films. From 1916 on, she appeared in the German cinema, where most of her films were directed by Urban Gad.

Marie Déa
French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, Paris, no. 57. Photo: C.P.L.F.

French actress Marie Déa (1912-1992) became famous through two classics of the French cinema, Marcel Carné 's Les Visiteurs du Soir/The Devil's Envoys (1942) and Jean Cocteau's Orphée/Orpheus (1950).

Maud Loty
French postcard. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. Caption: "A midi la vie en rose dans un verre de Campari."

Maud Loty aka Maud Loti and 'La Maud' (1894-1976), was a popular French vaudeville actress of the 1920s and 1930s, who was also active in silent cinema during the 1910s.

Hans Stüwe
French postcard by Europe, no. 538. Photo: Riccoli Film.

Hans Stüwe (1901-1976) was a German singer and opera director. From 1926 on he was also a big film star in Germany. Four times he was the film partner of Ufa diva Zarah Leander.

Ian Carmichael in Brothers in Law (1957)
British card by British Lion Films. Publicity still for Brothers in Law (Roy Boulting, 1957).

Unassuming, innocent-eyed and always ingratiating Ian Carmichael (1920-2010) was quite the popular chap in British comedies of the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the comedy Brothers in Law, he starred as a nervous fledgling barrister who brings laughter to the court.

Maria Melato
Italian postcard by A.G.F. Sent by mail in 1919.

Italian actress Maria Melato (1885-1950) appeared in the theatre, on radio and in the cinema. Her films included Ritorno/Return (1914), Anna Karenina (1917) and Il volo degli aironi/The flight of the herons (1920). Unfortunately, all her films are considered lost.

Senta Söneland
German postcard by NPG, no. 1419. Photo: Zander & Labisch, Berlin.

Senta Söneland (1882-1933) was a German actress whose peaks in her film career were in the later 1910s and the early 1930s.

Geschwister Jacob
German promotion card, no. 5/60. Photo: CBS.

The Geschwister Jacob (Jacob Sisters) is an incomparable German pop trio. The group was originally a quartet and was composed of the siblings Johanna (1939), Rosi (1941), Eva (1943) and Hannelore Jacob (1944-2008). After Hannelore Jacobs death, but also occasionally in earlier times, the group appeared as a trio. The small, blonde and jolly sisters with their white poodles are always fun, but as senior Heidis or as hamsters on speed they are hilarious.

Next Sunday, the third and final post on our new postcards.

1 comment:

Bunched Undies said...

Great stuff! Love the Claude Raines and Geschwister Jacob images.