Imported from the USA: Maria Montez

Dominican film actress María Montez (1912-1951) gained fame and popularity as a tempestuous Latino beauty in Hollywood movies of the 1940s. In a series of exotic adventures filmed in Technicolor, she starred as Arabian princesses, jungle goddesses, and highborn gypsies, dressed in fanciful costumes and sparkling jewels. Over her career, ‘The Queen of Technicolor’ appeared in 26 films, of which five were made in Europe.


French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 259. Photo: Universal International.


Italian postcard by Rotophot, Milano, no. 14.


Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, Barcelona. Photo: Universal. Photo: publicity still for Sudan (John Rawlins, 1945).


French postcard by Editions "Votre Vedette" (E.V.V.), no. 142. Photo: Universal Film.


French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 28. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

The Caribbean Cyclone

Maria Montez was born Maria Africa Gracia Vidal in Barahona, Dominican Republic in 1912. She was one of ten children born to Isidoro Gracía, and his wife Teresa Vidal. Her father was a textile exporter and the Honorary Vice Consul of Spain in the Dominican Republic. Despite what several sources write, Montez lived the first 27 years of her life in the Dominican Republic.

In 1932 she married William G. McFeeters, a wealthy banker who served in the British army. In 1939 they divorced and Maria moved to New York City, where she worked as a model. She was discovered by a Universal talent scout and left for Hollywood.

One of her first films for Universal was the Science Fiction comedy The Invisible Woman (A. Edward Sutherland, 1940) in which she had a bit part as a model. In the B-Western Boss of Bullion City (Ray Taylor, 1940) starring Johnny Mack Brown, Montez was the female lead. It was the first time she played a leading role and was the only one of her film roles where she speaks some Spanish. South of Tahiti (George Waggner, 1941) with Brian Donlevy and Broderick Crawford, helped to launch her as a pin-up star.

Her beauty soon made her the centrepiece of Universal's Technicolor costume adventures. Her most frequent costar was Jon Hall, who some critics claimed was even prettier and better built than she was. Their joint films were the big hit Arabian Nights (John Rawlins, 1942) with Sabu, White Savage (Arthur Lubin, 1943), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Arthur Lubin, 1944) with Turhan Bey, the camp classic Cobra Woman (Robert Siodmak, 1944), Gypsy Wildcat (Roy William Neil, 1944), and Sudan (John Rawlins, 1945).

Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “A 24-hour-a-day star, Ms. Montez was famous for her spectacular entrances at nightclubs and social functions; once, when her arrival at the Universal commissary failed to attract notice, she turned her heel and left the room, returning moments later with a huge entourage and accompanying loud noises.”

‘The Caribbean Cyclone’ often quarrelled with her directors and went on suspension for refusing the lead in the Western Frontier Gal (Charles Lamont, 1945). Her role was taken by Yvonne de Carlo who had become a similar sort of star and began to supplant Montez's position at the studio. Montez then appeared in the sepia-toned swashbuckler The Exile (Max Ophüls, 1947) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and the Technicolor Western Pirates of Monterey (Alfred L. Werker, 1947) with Rod Cameron. It was to be her last film for Universal.


Maria Montez and Jon Hall in White Savage (1943). Vintage card. Photo: Universal. Publicity still for White Savage (Arthur Lubin, 1943).


Maria Montez and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in The Exile (1947). Spanish postcard by Sobe, no. 452. Photo: publicity still for The Exile (Max Ophüls, 1947).


Maria Montez and Jean-Pierre Aumont. Dutch postcard, no. A x 447.


Maria Montez and Jean-Pierre Aumont. Dutch postcard, no. 3117. Photo: Universal International.


Maria Montez and Tina Aumont. Vintage postcard, no. 301.

Sadistic manager of a circus show

While working in Hollywood, Maria Montez met French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont. They married in 1943 at Montez's home in Beverly Hills. Aumont had to leave a few days after their wedding to serve in the Free French Forces fighting against Nazi Germany during World War II. At the end of the war, the couple had a daughter, Maria Christina (also known as actress Tina Aumont), born in Hollywood in 1946.

The couple starred together in the American adventure film Siren of Atlantis (Gregg G. Tallas, 1949), produced by United Artists. It was the first film Montez made after leaving Universal Pictures. By then, her career in the United States began to wane due to audiences' changing taste in films.

Montez and Aumont then moved to a home in Suresnes, a western suburb of Paris. In France, Montez appeared in several films and the play L'Ile Heureuse (The happy island), written by her husband. Her first French film was Hans le marin/Wicked City (François Villiers, 1949) with Jean-Pierre Aumont and Lilli Palmer. It was a success in Europe.

She then played the sadistic manager of a circus show, who uses her attractiveness to seduce men and force them to do dangerous acrobatic acts in Portrait d'un assassin/Portrait of an Assassin (Bernard-Roland, 1949). One of her victims was played by Erich von Stroheim.

She also wrote three books, two of which were published, as well as penning a number of poems. In Italy, she starred in the Italian-American coproduction Il Ladro di Venezia/The Thief of Venice (John Brahm, 1950) with another former Universal contract star, Paul Christian a.k.a. Paul Hubschmid. Her last film was the Italian adventure film La vendetta del corsaro/Revenge of the Pirates (Primo Zeglio, 1951).

At only 39, Maria Montez died in Suresnes, France in 1951 after apparently suffering a heart attack and drowning in her bath. She was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris where her tombstone gives her amended year of birth (1918), not the actual year of birth (1912). Shortly after her death, a street in the city of Barahona, Montez's birthplace, was named after her. In 1996, the city of Barahona opened the Aeropuerto Internacional María Montez (María Montez International Airport) in her honour.


Dutch postcard, no. 3208. Photo: Universal International.


Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3221. Photo: Universal-International.


Dutch postcard.


Vintage card. Photo: Universal.


Belgian postcard, no. 950. Photo: Universal Film.


Spanish card, 1948. Photo: Universal. Publicity still for Arabian Nights (John Rawlins, 1942).


Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, Barcelona. Photo: Universal. Maria Montez in Sudan (John Rawlins, 1945).


French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 259. Photo: Universal International.


French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 28. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 292. Photo: Pallas Film Verleih.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag. Photo: Universal International.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 556. Photo: Universal International. Photo: publicity still for The Exile (Max Ophüls, 1947).


British Real Photograph postcard, no. F.S. 61, ca. 1948. Caption: Lovely Maria Montez who recently starred opposite Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in The Exile, is now to be seen as the Queen in Siren of Atlantis.


Italian postcard by C.C.M., no. 16, presented in Belgium by NV Victoria, Brussels, no. 638. Photo: Universal International.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 10 September 2021.

EFSP's Dazzling Dozen: Boys Will Be Boys

During our trip to the Pordenone Silent Film Festival earlier this month, we did a post on twelve silent cowboys. We liked the concept. So we started a new series especially for Postcard Friendship Friday: a dozen postcards with a theme. This Friday and the next it is postcards of child stars. The following week twelve little girls who provided keen and tough competition to Shirley Temple. Today, postcards from different countries and different times which all confirm that boys will be boys....


Our Gang. Dutch postcard. Caption: "Gelukkig Nieuwjaar" (Happy New Year).


French postcard. Photo Eclectic Films.

Clément Mary (1905-1974) was as Bébé the best known child actor of the early 1910s. He would later act in French sound films as René Dary.


Italian postcard, no. 3373. Photo: Film Artistica Gloria, Torino. Ermanno Roveri in Il piccolo patriota padovano (Leopoldo Carlucci Gloria 1915). Caption: No longer able to stand the beatings and the hunger, he escapes his tormentor.

Italian actor Ermanno Roveri (1903-1968) started his career as child star, a.o. in various adaptations of the stories from Cuore, such as Dagli Appennini alle Ande, Naufragio, Il piccolo patriota padovano and Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino, all filmed in 1915-1916 for the company Gloria Film.


Dutch postcard by B. Brouwer, Amsterdam. Photo: Bernard Eilers, Amsterdam.

Little Henkie Klein (1921-?) was a child actor in German and Dutch films of the silent era. He was called the 'Dutch Jackie Coogan'.


French postcard. Photo Ajax, no. 172.

René Poyen (1908-1968) was a famous child star in silent French cinema, who started at the age of four as the popular character Bout-de-Zan at the Gaumont film company. Most of his burlesque comedies were filmed by Louis Feuillade.


French postcard by Cinémagazine, no. 238.

Jean Forest (1912-1980) is best remembered for his touching, naturalist and convincing performances as boy actor in the silent French films by Jacques Feyder: Crainquebille (1922), Visages d'enfants (1923-1925) and Gribiche (1926).


German Postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A1276/1. 1937-1938. Photo: Manassée-Ricoll, Wien / Mondial.

Actor, presenter and journalist Peter Bosse (1931) was a popular child star of the German cinema in the 1930s. The boy with his cheeky face made 28 films.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf., no. 2000. Photo: H. / Fü.

Oliver Grimm (1948) was Germany's favourite child star for more than a decade, He made 17 films between 1952 and 1963.


Italian postcard in the series Piccoli uomini nel cinema by Ed. Villaggio del Fanciullo, Bologna. Photo: Cino del Duca. Publicity still for Le ballon rouge/The red balloon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956).

French child actor Pascal Lamorisse (1950) is known by film lovers all over the world because of his parts in the short films Crin blanc: Le cheval sauvage (1953) and Le ballon rouge (1956), both directed by his father, Albert Lamorisse.


Italian postcard by Ed. Villaggio del Fanciullo, Bologna. Photo: E.N.I.C. Publicity still for Marcelino, pan y vino/Marcelino Bread And Wine (1955).

Pablito Calvo (1948–2000) was a Spanish child actor. After the international success of Marcelino, pan y vino/Marcelino Bread And Wine (1955), he became a star. At the age of 16, he retired.


German promotion card by Ariola, no. Ar 108. Photo: Norbert Unfried.

Dutch singer and actor Hein Simons (1955) was a famous child star in the 1960s under the name Heintje. He sang in Dutch, English, German, Japanese and Afrikaans, and he sold more than 40 million records worldwide. His greatest hit was Mama. Between 1968 and 1971 he also starred in six German light entertainment films, of which one became surprisingly popular in Red China.


Italian postcard. Photo: publicity still for Incompreso/Misunderstood (Luigi Comencini, 1966) with Stefano Colagrande. Caption: "Questo è il solo film che andro a vedere. James Bond" (This is the only movie I'll go to see. James Bond). This sweet and sad film is also a personal favourite of EFSP's editor-in-chief a.k.a. 008.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at the The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her by clicking on the button below.

Mary Kid

Mary Kid (1901-1988) was a popular actress of the Austrian and German silent cinema. She also played in two early sound films in Italy.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1615/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Bálazs, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1615/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Balázs, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3005/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Badekow, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3345/3, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Manassé, Vienna.

Lured by a Count

Mary Kid was born Marie Anna Albertine Keul in Hamburg, Germany in 1901 (IMDb wrongly states 1904). Mary took theatre lessons in her hometown Hamburg, but before she could start a stage career there, the Austrian film producer Count Sascha Kolowrat took her to Vienna to turn her into a film star. For Sacha Film she played in three films directed by Mihaly Kertesz (the future Michael Curtiz): Namenlos/Der falsche Arzt/Nameless (1923), Die Lawine/The Avalanche (1923), and Harun al Raschid (1923-1924) – in which she had the female lead.

In 1924 Kid returned to Germany and continued her film career in Berlin, performing in around 25 films between 1924 and 1930. Her first German film was the comedy of morals Lumpen und Seide/Rags and Silk (Richard Oswald, 1924 in which she played opposite Reinhold Schünzel, Mary Parker and Johannes Riemann.

This was followed by more Richard Oswald films: Halbseide/Half-silk (1925), Vorderhaus und Hinterhaus/Front Building and House at the Back (1925) - both again with Mary Parker, Wir sind vom K.u.K. Infanterieregiment/We are from the K.u.K. Infantry regiment (1926), in which Kid had the female lead as Lily opposite Paul Heidemann, and Lützows wilde verwegene Jagd/Lützows wild bold hunt (1926-1927), a film set in Napoleon’s times in which Kid starred as an actress from the Viennese Burgtheater.

Mary Kid had more major roles in Sumpf und Moral/Marsh and Morality (Rudolf Walther-Fein, 1924) with Wilhelm Dieterle, Der Bastard/The Bastard (Gennaro Righelli, 1925) with Maria Jacobini, Zirkus Renz/Circus Renz (Wolfgang Neff, 1926), Heimliche Sünder (Franz Seitz sen., 1926), Ich war zu Heidelberg Student/I Was a Student at Heidelberg (Wolfgang Neff, 1926) – in which Kid had the female lead, Die Tochter des Kunstreiters/The Daughter of the Circus Rider (Siegfried Philippi, 1927), and Die Geliebte seiner Hoheit/The Lover of His Highness (Jakob & Luisa Fleck, 1927).

In Song/Schmutziges Geld (Richard Eichberg, 1928), Mary Kid played the evil antagonist Gloria who pushes knife thrower Jack (Heinrich George) to rob for her. When Jack is blinded because of the robbery Jack’s new friend Song (Anna May Wong) helps him out, pretending to be Gloria, but she pays for the disguise. She also appeared in Dornenweg einer Fürstin/Rasputin (Nikolaj Larin, 1928) in which Gregori Chmara played the notorious Russian monk.


German postcard. Photo: Westi, Berlin. Publicity still for Lumpen und Seide/Rags and Silk (Richard Oswald, 1925) with Ferdinand Bonn.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1076/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1864/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.


Italian postcard by Edizioni Aperol. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga, Roma.

Between Vienna and Berlin

Then Mary Kid returned to Vienna. During the last years of the silent era, she did various films there. In 1928 she starred in Die verschwundene Frau/The Woman Who Disappeared (Karl Hans Leiter, 1928) with Harry Halm and a young Peter Lorre, Die beiden Seehunde/The Two Seals (Max Neufeld, 1928) with Werner Pittschau, and Andere Frauen/Other Women (Heinz Hanus, 1928) with Rina De Liguoro.

In 1929 Mary Kid went back to Berlin to play in Die süsse Yvonne/Sweet Yvonne (Max Reichmann, 1929), in which Kid had the female lead opposite Fritz Schulz, and Der Leutnant ihrer Majestät/The Lieutenant of Her Majesty (Jakob & Luisa Fleck, 1929) starring Agnes Esterhazy as the Empress.

In Berlin, she also appeared in the First World War drama Die Herrin und ihre Knecht/The Boss and Her Servant (1929). Henny Porten stars as a German landlady who is helped by a Russian officer (Igo Sym) despite wartime, but is afraid he will choose her younger sister (Kid). She then must choose between love and patriotism. The film was directed by Kid’s old acquaintance Richard Oswald.

In 1930 Kid returned again to Vienna where she played in her last three silent films: General Babka (1930), directed by Hungarian director Desider/Deszö Kertesz, starring Wolf Albach-Retty, Eine Dirne ist ermordet worden/A Prostitute has been Murdered (Conrad Wiene, 1930), and Der Onkel aus Sumatra/The Uncle from Sumatra (Julius Szöreghy, 1930). In 1931 Kid went to Italy where she played in her only two sound films. The first was Rubacuori/Heartbreaker (Guido Brignone, 1931), a comedy about an old Casanova (Armando Falconi) who hunts young women until his wife (Tina Lattanzi) finds a jewel that belongs to one of his girlfriends. Falconi’s character comes between a prize fighter (Egon Stief) and his wife (Mary Kid).

Kid's second Italian film was Kennst Du das Land/Saltarello (Constantin J. David, 1931). Though produced by the Italian companies Pittaluga and Cines and shot by an Italian crew, the cast was German-Austrian. It was an alternative language version of Terra madre/Mother Earth (Alessandro Blasetti, 1931) starring Leda Gloria. After that, Mary Kid withdrew to her birth town Hamburg. There she died nearly sixty years later in 1988.


This is probably an Austrian postcard. Listo-Film was an Austrian film company. As no Listo-Film production with Kid is known at IMDb, Listo-Film may have been used as an Austrian distributor for one of Kid's German films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3345/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Manassé, Vienna. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3345/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 611. Sent by mail in 1932. Photo: Sascha.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 24 December 2024.

Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1926)

The Italian-German silent film Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926) was one of the many adaptations of the novel The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. The stars were the Hungarian actors Victor Varconi and Maria Corda, the Italian actress Rina De Liguoro and the German Bernhard Goetzke. Original release prints of the film were entirely colourised by the Pathechrome stencil colour process.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano, no. 8. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Victor Varconi as Glaucus in the Italian epic Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus (Victor Varconi) training at the gymnasium.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Maria Corda as the blind flower girl Nydia.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Pompeian street life with the rich Greek Glaucus (Victor Varconi) and his wealthy friends meeting the blind flower girl Nydia (Maria Corda), who also sings and plays the lyre. The bearded man left in the back is Burbo (Carlo Duse), the brutal tavern owner, who owns Nydia as a slave.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

A Pompeiian street with Burbo's tavern. Sets were by Vittorio Cafiero, costumes by Duilio Cambellotti.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Maria Corda as Nydia in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Caption: The human harmonica (referring to the orgies at Arbaces' house, where women are forced to perform and serve the men).

'The human harmonica' refers to the orgies at Arbaces' house, where women are forced to perform and serve the men.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus (Victor Varconi) has saved Nydia (Maria Corda) from Burbo and taken into his house. Nydia loves Glaucus, but he can only think of Ione.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Nydia, in love with Glaucus, thinks she has given Glaucus a love potion, but instead it makes him delirious. It is Arbaces who has concocted this.

The novel and the painting

The novel 'The Last Days of Pompeii' was written by the baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. Bulwer-Lytton was inspired by the painting 'The Last Day of Pompeii' by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan.

The novel culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. 'The Last Days of Pompeii' became a bestseller, thanks to the eruption of Vesuvius just before its publication.

'The Last Days of Pompeii' uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of 1st-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, a handsome Athenian nobleman and Ione's betrothed, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome.

His nemesis is Arbaces, a scheming Egyptian sorcerer, a high priest of Isis and the former guardian of Ione and her brother Apaecides. Arbaces represents the still older culture of Egypt. He murders Apaecides and frames Glaucus for the crime. Repeatedly he attempts to seduce Ione.

Olinthus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favourably but not uncritically. The Christian converts Apaecides to Christianity and is sentenced to death for his religion.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 53/1. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Glaucus (Victor Varconi) and the rich Julia (Lia Maris, not Rina de Liguoro as this card pretends) meet on the streets of Pompeii, so the blind flower girl Nydia (Maria Corda) hears Glaucus is back in town. Set designer Vittorio Cafiero copied various original artefacts from Pompeii for this film, such as here the small burner held up by satyrs in the shop.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 53/2. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for the Italian silent epic Gi ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Glaucus (Victor Varconi) listens to beautiful and rich Greek Ione (Rina De Liguoro) playing the harp. The statue left was copied from an original Roman one.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 53/3. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1344/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Victor Varconi as Glaucus.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1344/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Victor Varconi as Glaucus.


German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 1345/1, 1927-1928. Rina De Liguoro as Ione in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926), released in Germany as Die letzten Tage von Pompeji.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1346/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Maria Corda as Nydia in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1347/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Bernhard Goetzke as the evil Egyptian priest Arbaces.

The star cast

Handsome Victor Varconi (1891–1976) was as Glaucus the male star of Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii. The Hungarian Varconi, originally Viktor Varkony, was a highly successful matinee idol of the Hungarian-Austrian and German silent cinema in the 1910s and early 1920s. Later he was the first Hungarian actor to become a Hollywood star until the sound film completely altered the course of his career.

Hungarian Maria Corda (1898-1975) played the slave girl Nydia, who is in love with Glaucus. Corda was an immensely popular star of the silent cinema of Austria and Germany. The pretty, blonde actress was a queen of the popular epic spectacles of the 1920s, which were often directed by her husband, Alexander Korda.

Not pictured on one of the postcards is Rina De Liguoro (1892-1966) as Ione. She was the last diva of the Italian silent cinema of the 1920s. De Liguoro had her breakthrough in 1924 as the sensual, untamed Roman empress Messalina, and the beautiful countess continued her glittering career in such epics as Quo Vadis (1924), Casanova (1927) and Cecil B. De Mille's notorious box office flop Madam Satan (1930).

Emilio Ghione (1879-1930), who played Calenus, was an Italian silent film actor, director and screenwriter. He is best known for writing, directing and starring in the Za La Mort series of adventure films, in which he played a likeable French Apache and 'honest outlaw.'

The evil Egyptian priest Arbaces was played by German film actor Bernhard Goetzke (1884–1964). He was one of the impressive stars of German silent cinema, in particular in the films by Fritz Lang. Goetzke appeared in 130 films between 1917 and 1961.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Victor Varconi as Glaucus and Maria Corda as Nydia in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Lia Maris as Julia and Enrica Fantis as Julia's friend in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Caption: At the Villa on the [river] Sarno.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Rina De Liguoro as Ione in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


Italian postcar by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi 1926).

The Forum with the Temple of Jove (Jupiter) in Pompeii.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

The funeral of Apecides (Vittorio Evangelisti). Apecides, brother of Glaucus' lover Ione and former pupil of the Egyptian high priest of Isis, Arbaces, has converted to Christianity and threatens to unmask Arbaces's frauds. Arbaces stabs him and puts the blame on Glaucus, drugged unknowingly by Nydia. The priest in the middle is Calenus (Emilio Ghione), who has seen Arbaces murdering Apecides. Arbaces himself (Bernhard Goetzke) can be seen at the extreme left.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

At the Via delle Tombe in Pompeii, the funeral service for the murdered Apecides is held. In the centre is the priest Calenus (Emilio Ghione).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Calenus (Emilio Ghione) tries to blackmail Arbaces (Bernhard Goetzke). Arbaces leads him to his treasury.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Calenus (Emilio Ghione) has been fooled by Arbaces and is locked up in the treasury, which is also a dungeon.

The adaptations

The first theatrical adaptation of 'The Last Days of Pompeii' was Errico Petrella's opera, 'Jone', with a libretto by Giovanni Peruzzini. It premiered at La Scala in 1858. It was successful and remained in the Italian repertoire well into the 20th century. In 1877, an ambitious theatrical adaptation followed, mounted at the Queen's Theatre, Long Acre in London. It featured a staged eruption of the Vesuvius, an earthquake and a sybaritic Roman feast – the earth did not quake, the volcano did not work, acrobats fell onto the cast below, and the production was an expensive flop.

The first film version was the British short film The Last Days of Pompeii (1900), directed by Walter R. Booth. Eight years later followed Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Arturo Ambrosio, Luigi Maggi, 1908). In 1913 followed to more Italian silent film versions, Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Mario Caserini, 1913), and Jone ovvero gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/Jone or the Last Days of Pompeii (Giovanni Enrico Vidali, Ubaldo Maria Del Colle, 1913).

The first sound version was the Hollywood production The Last Days of Pompeii (Ernest B. Schoedsack, Merian C. Cooper, 1935), with Preston Foster and Basil Rathbone. It carried a disclaimer that, although the movie used the novel's description of Pompei, it did not use its plot or characters. The film was a moderate success on its initial release but made an overall loss of $237,000.

After the war followed the French-Italian version Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/Les Derniers Jours de Pompéi/The Last Days of Pompeii (Marcel L'Herbier, Paolo Moffa, 1950), starring Micheline Presle and Georges Marchal. The amphitheatre scenes were filmed at the Arena di Verona. The next adaptation was another Italian version, Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Sergio Leone, 1959), starring Steve Reeves. Mario Bonnard, the original director, fell ill on the first day of shooting, so assistant director Leone and the scriptwriters finished the film. Later followed two TV versions and a German stage musical, Pompeji (2008).

But how was the 1926 version? David Melville reviews at IMDb: "The last of the great silent Italian epics, The Last Days of Pompeii is as lavish as anything produced by Hollywood at that time - only much, much raunchier. During an orgy in the house of the evil priest Arbaces, naked slave girls are served up (literally!) on platters decked with flowers. A nubile mummy rises out of her sarcophagus to do a striptease and bare-breasted sphinx statues come to life as her chorus line. In the gladiators' tavern, wildly effeminate men (kohl-dark eyelids and lipstick as thick as clotted blood) drool and bat their eyes over so much naked, muscular flesh. All in all, the most satisfyingly decadent Ancient Rome saga until Fellini Satyricon in 1968!"


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Victor Varconi as Glaucus and Rina De Liguoro as Ione in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

At the basilica (courts of justice). Glaucus (Victor Varconi) is sentenced to die.


Italian postcard. C. Chierichetti, Milano. Grandi Films, Roma. Maria Corda as Nydia in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus (Victor Varconi) and the Christian Olintus (Ferruccio Biancini), the man on the right, in the prison of the Christians, waiting for their ordeal in the arena.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus (Victor Varconi) is in prison. The man on the right is the Christian Olintus (Ferruccio Biancini), who had converted Apecides. Olintus will see the eruption and destruction of Pompeii as a punishment of God.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus is sentenced to die in the arena, eaten by lions, when just in time Glaucus's friends Sallustius, Nydia, Ione and Calenus expose Arbaces as the real murderer and he threatens to be lynched by the mob. Suddenly the Vesuvius erupts and the terrorised people flee.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

The destruction of the house of Glaucus.

Sources: David Melville (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 12 June 2024.