Michel Strogoff (1936)

One of the best film adaptations of Jules Verne's 1876 novel is the French sound version Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg, 1936) starring Adolf Wohlbrück as Michel. It was made by the French subsidiary of Tobis Film and shot at the Epinay Studios in Paris and the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin. Location shooting took place mainly in Bulgaria and at the Johannisthal Air Field. A separate German version, Der Kurier des Zaren/The Czar's Courier (Richard Eichberg, 1936), was made also with Wohlbrück as Michel. A year later, an American version followed, The Soldier and the Lady (George Nicholls, Jr., 1937), produced by Pandro S. Berman. As his associate producer, Berman hired Russian film pioneer Joseph N. Ermolieff (Иосиф Николаевич Ермольев), who had produced the two earlier European versions. Berman also imported Wohlbrück, changing his name to Anton Walbrook to have him star in the American version. RKO Radio Pictures had purchased the rights to the French version and used footage from that film in the American production.


French postcard. Photo: Les Productions J.N. Ermolieff / Tobis. Adolf Wohlbrück as Michel in the French sound film Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg, 1936). Caption: A film based on the famous novel by Jules Verne.

Dark and handsome Anton Walbrook or Adolf Wohlbrück (1896-1967) was a distinguished Austrian actor who starred in early German sound films as Walzerkrieg (1933) and Viktor und Viktoria (1933). After the rise of Hitler, he settled in Great Britain where he appeared in such film classics as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and The Red Shoes (1948). He also played the ringmaster in La Ronde (1950).


French postcard. Photo: Les productions J.N. Ermoliev / Tobis. Yvette Lebon as Nadia in the French version of Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg, 1936). Caption: A film based on the famous novel by Jules Verne. On the back: shown at the Cinema Stanislas, between Thursday 8 and Monday 12 October. Nancy had a Cinema Stanislas (opened in 1925), but e.g. also Lunéville had one. Thursday 8 October refers to the year 1936, the year the film was released. The film premiered in Paris on 10 March 1936.

French actress Yvette Lebon (1910-2014) appeared in 39 films between 1931 and 1972. Her beautiful eyes made her one of the most attractive faces of the French cinema of the 1930s.


French postcard. Photo: Les productions J.N. Ermoliev / Tobis. Charles Vanel as the evil Ivan Ogareff in Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1936).

Charles Vanel (1892-1989) was a French actor and director. For 78 years, he had a career in film and played in over 200 silent and sound films, in France and abroad. He is best remembered for his roles as Javert in Les Misérables (Raymond Bernard, 1934), Charlot in La belle équipe (Julien Duvivier, 1936), the silent driver Jo in Le salaire de la peur (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953), the retired chief commissioner in Les diaboliques (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955), and the ex-resistance fighter in To Catch a Thief (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955), but he also played memorable parts in Italian films like Cadaveri eccellenti (1976) and Tre fratelli (1981), both by Francesco Rosi.


French postcard. Photo: Les productions J.N. Ermoliev / Tobis. Colette Darfeuil as the evil Sangarre, who plots together with Ivan Ogareff (Charles Vanel) in the French sound film Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg, 1936). Caption: A film based on the famous novel by Jules Verne. Postcard to promote the screening of the film at the Paris cinema Marivaux.

Coquettish Colette Darfeuil (1906-1998) was a French actress with beautiful green eyes who made 110 films between 1920 and 1953.


French postcard. Photo: Les productions J.N. Ermoliev / Tobis. Armand Bernard as the British correspondent Blount in the French sound film Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg, 1936). Caption: A film based on the famous novel by Jules Verne.

Armand Bernard (1893-1968) was a French actor, composer, and bandleader. With his heavy diction and his air of dignity, he brought a comical note to many French comedies.


French postcard. Photo: Les productions J.N. Ermoliev / Tobis. Charpin as Jolivet in the French sound film Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg, 1936). Caption: A film based on the famous novel by Jules Verne.

Heavy-set French character actor and singer Fernand Charpin (1887-1944) was known as Charpin. His most famous role was Panisse, the wealthy widower who marries Fanny, in Marcel Pagnol's Marseille trilogy. He had a busy but relatively short career in the cinema.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9451/1, 1935-1936. Photo: Europa / Eichberg Film / Les productions J.N. Ermoliev. Adolf Wohlbrück as Michel in Der Kurier des Zaren/The Czar's Courier (Richard Eichberg, 1936).

Sources: Wikipedia (English, French, and German), and IMDb.

Please, check out our earlier posts Michel Strogoff (1926) and Michel Strogoff by Albert Bergeret.