More J.R.P.R.

Last year, we had a beautiful post on French postcard publisher J.R.P.R. We love the sepia cards of this Paris-based company which produced more than 500 postcards with international stars or scenes of classic films. The French photos were mostly shot by either Studio Lorelle or Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. The J.R.P.R. series not only contains actors from stage and screen but also dancers, aviators and sports heroes such as boxers, jockeys, and football players. For this post, we selected 21 postcards that we recently acquired.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 18. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères. Jenny Golder, originally Rosie Sloman, was born in 1894 in Kyneton, Victoria, Australia. Her father was a jack of all trades: theatre director, magician, bookmaker, etc., while her mother's name was Golder. In the late 19th century they moved to Britain and lived in Brighton. In the 1920s under the name of Jenny Golder, Rosie Sloman became a popular vaudeville vedette first in London and Brussels, but eventually, it was in Paris she had her biggest triumphs. She appeared in many revues with American dancer Harry Pilcer, the former dance partner of Gaby Deslys. In 1925 she had her greatest success with the Folies Bergères revue at the London Palladium. However, in 1928 she committed suicide in her villa in Vesinet by shooting herself. Some say she was overworked, others speculate that after an operation on her leg she was afraid she couldn't act anymore. As far is known, Golder didn't act in a film.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 21. Paul Bernard (1898-1958) was a French actor, who appeared in thirty-five films between 1922 and 1958. His films included the silent serial film Les mystères de Paris/The Mysteries of Paris (Charles Burguet, 1922), and the drama Un ami viendra ce soir/A Friend Will Come Tonight (Raymond Bernard, 1946).


Charles Ray. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 47. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn [misspelled].


Suzy Vernon. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 69. Photo: Studio Lorelle.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 80. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères. Henry Roussel (1875–1946), also known as Henry Roussell, was a French silent film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for his silent films of the 1910s and 1920s. He starred in well over 40 films between 1912 and 1939 and directed such films as Visages voilés... âmes closes (1921), Les opprimés (1923), Violettes impériales/Imperial Violets (1924) and Paris' Girls (1929), while in the early 1910s he was a regular actor of the Eclair company, often directed by Maurice Tourneur, and later on had memorable parts in e.g. Les nouveaux messieurs (1929).


Rod La Rocque. French postcard by J.R.P.R, Paris, no. 125. Photo: Erka Prodisco.


Claude-Henri Tissier. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 150. Photo: Studio de la Madeleine.


Raquel Meller. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 151. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères, Paris.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., no. 213. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn. Ben Lyon and Billie Dove in The Tender Hour (George Fitzmaurice, 1927). NB. The film was a First National production, not an MGM film.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 318. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. The Marquita Sisters was a beautiful dancing duo around 1925. We could find more pictures of them on the net, but no more information.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., no. 321. Photo G.L. Manuel Frères. The sisters Mary and Christiane Guy performed in the 1920s in Paris music-halls, with their sister Edmonde, and her dance partner Ernest Van Duren. They were popular revue dancers at the Paris Palace Theatre.


Gaby Morlay. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 322. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères.


Vilma Bánky. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 325. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 351. Photo: Studio Lorelle, Paris. French actress Renée Héribel (1903-1952) knew to launch a short but impressive film career in the second half of the 1920s.


Pierre Blanchar. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 361. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.


Pierre Batcheff. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 368. Photo: Studio Lorelle.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 408. This card may well not refer to an actor but to a popular French-Spanish football (soccer) player known as René Petit (1899-1989), credited to have modernised Spanish football between the 1910s and 1930s. In 1920 he joined the French national equipe for the Olympic Games. In the 1930s he was active in Spain as an engineer too.


Pola Negri. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 433. Photo: Studio Lorelle, Paris.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 506. Photo: P. Apers. Mistinguett and Earl Leslie in the revue ' Paris Miss' at the Casino de Paris in 1930.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 811. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères. Caption: Jean Hervé de la Comédie Française. In 1925 Jean Hervé (1884-1966) became sociétaire at the Comédie Française, so the card may have been from before 1925, after which the handwritten word Sociétaire was added. Hervé was also known for his parts in film d'art cinema, the Rocambole films, La Terre (1921) and Feu Mathias Pascal (1926). Card signed by the artist.


Jean Murat. French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. ? Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.

More? Check out our earlier J.R.P.R. post.  At Ross Postcards, Jean Ritsema made a checklist of the J.R.P.R. collection.