16 Misstakes: Who's this Lady?

This month, we had the first Truus, Bob & Jan Too! quiz at Flickr. Our followers could guess who the ladies on 16 postcards were, because all the cards were incorrectly captioned. These vintage 'Mistake' postcards were selected by Ms. Sherlock, our friend Marlene Pilaete. The postcards are all from her personal collection, and Marlene also wrote the comments. Marlene: "Guessing who the ladies really are can be difficult. Personally, regarding several postcards from my collection, it sometimes took me years to identify the actresses."

Mistake 1

Vintage European card.

This is Annette Bach, not Vera Carmi. This portrait is from the film Labbra serrate/Clenched lips (Mario Mattoli, 1942) in which the two actresses starred together.

Mistake 2

French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 557. Photo: Fox Film.

This is Sue Carol, not Sally Phipps. This has been confirmed to me by Sally Phipps's son, Robert Harned, who wrote a very interesting book about his mother in 2015: 'Sally Phipps - Silent Film Star'. Sue Carol and Sally Phipps were both under contract to Fox in the second half of the twenties and, at one time, even sported the same kind of hairdo, hence the confusion.

Mistake 3

French postcard by JRPR, Paris, no. 93. Photo: Universal.

This is Betty Compson, not Mary Nolan.

Mistake 4

Italian postcard, no, 93.

This is a young Joan Crawford, not Norma Shearer. This mistake is quite funny as those two ladies were not always on friendly terms in real life.

Mistake 5

Italian postcard no. 167.

This is Marion Davies, not Pauline Starke.

Mistake 6

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 464. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn.

This is Dorothy Devore, not Gloria Swanson.

Mistake 7

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no 3327/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

For many years this card stayed very mysterious. It was obvious that this lady was not Greta Garbo. Eventually, the website Rosscards.com gave me the answer: this is Paulette Duval in costume for The Divine Woman (Victor Sjöström, 1928), in which she played with Garbo.

Mistake 8

Vintage European postcard.

This is Nancy Gates, not Laura Elliott.

Mistake 9

Mexican postcard by C.I.F. no. 1674.

This is indeed one of the Gish sisters but it is Dorothy Gish, not Lillian. This portrait is from the film Romola (Henry King, 1924) in which the two sisters starred together.

Mistake 10

Hungarian postcard by Szinhazi Elet, Budapest.

This is Juanita Hansen, not Pearl White. Both were famous serial queens in the silent movie era.

Mistake 11

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 271. Photo: Paramount.

This is Phyllis Haver, not Belle Bennett. This portrait is from the film Nel gorgo del peccato/The Way of All Flesh (Victor Fleming, 1927) in which the two actresses starred together.

Mistake 12

Italian postcard by Vetta Traldi, Milano, no. 67.

This is Viveca Lindfors, not Margaret Lockwood.

Mistake 13

American postcard.

Vintage postcard featuring an alluring blonde 1940s star, but this is Virginia Mayo, not Adele Jergens.

Mistake 14

Italian postcard, no. 41.

Italian publishers seemed to see Norma Shearer everywhere. Here again, the card is incorrectly captioned. This is Carmel Myers, in a scene from The Devil's circus (1926), in which she co-starred with Norma Shearer.

Mistake 15

Mexican postcard by M.R.M., no. 3630.

This is Claire Rommer, not Ita Rina. This portrait is from the film Der Walzerkönig/The Waltz King (Manfred Noa, 1930), in which the two actresses starred together.

Mistake 16

Dutch postcard by van Leer's Fotodrukindustrie N.V., no. 31.

This is Martha Vickers, not Suzi Crandall.

Many thanks to Marlene! If you want to see more of her collection, check out her blog La Collectionneuse. Or check out our album at Flickr: Collection: Marlene Pilaete.