Ross Verlag, Part 9: W.J. Mörlins

In this post in the Ross Verlag Tribute, EFSP presents film star postcards which were distributed by Ross Verlag but published by Verlag W.J. Mörlins. This German publisher located in Berlin operated in the early 1920s. Mörlins published besides postcards autobiographies of the actors Bruno Kastner ('Von mir über mir, 1921) and Hella Moja ('Nie wieder in meinem Leben!', 1921), as well as deluxe albums of the four-part film Fridericus Rex (1921-1922). The earliest postcard series in our collection (no. 420-430) are sepia-tinted star portrait postcards. A highlight is a series, no. 647, with postcards of the popular Fridericus Rex series (1921-1922) with the main actors in costume. Fridericus Rex is also the subject of the postcards of no. 651, but now with film stills in sepia. Then followed a green-tinted series (no. 8001-9011) with film star portraits. Remarkable is that every picture in this post - with one exception - was taken by master photographer Karl Schenker.

German postcard by Verlag Ross / W.J. Mörlins, Berlin, no. 420/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Karl Schenker.

Max Pallenberg (1877-1934) was an Austrian singer, actor, and comedian. He was one of the most important comedians of his time and often played under the direction of Max Reinhardt. Although Pallenberg was successful as a stage comedian, he only incidentally accepted roles in films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag / W.J. Morlins, Berlin, no. 427/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Karl Schenker.

Austrian-American soprano singer and actress Fritzi Massary (1882-1969) was one of the greatest 20th-century operetta divas. She was a superstar in Berlin and Vienna in the Weimar era, but after the rise of the Nazis, Massary was forced to flee Germany. In London, she appeared in an operetta Noel Coward wrote for her. The popular singer also starred in several early German ‘sound pictures’ and other silent films.


German postcard by W.J. Mörlins / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 540/3. Photo: Nini & Carry Hess, Frankfurt am Main.

Niddy Impekoven (1904-2002) was a German dancer and actress. Numerous tours took her all over Europe. In Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit - Ein Film über moderne Körperkultur (Nicholas Kaufman and Wilhelm Prager, 1925), she was recorded dancing. She also played in two fiction films, Die Pritzelpuppe (Ulrich Kayser, 1923) with Blandine Ebinger, and Armes kleines Mädchen (Ulrich Kayser, 1924), based on Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Match Girl'.

Fridericus Rex

German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/ 1. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Albert Steinrück as Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, the father of Frederick the Great, in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921-1922).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/2. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy Film Co. Otto Gebühr as Crown Prince King Frederick II in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921). Fridericus Rex was a four-part series with Otto Gebühr as King Frederick II as Crown Prince in parts I and II.


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/3. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy Film Co. Charlotte Schulz as Wilhelmine, Marchioness of Bayreuth, favourite sister of Frederick the Great, in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921-1922).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/4. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy Film Co. Erna Morena as Queen Elisabeth Christine, spouse of Frederick the Great, in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921-1922).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/5. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Otto Gebühr as King Frederick the Great in Fridericus Rex (Arzen von Cserépy, 1921-1922).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/6. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Georg John as Generalfeldmarschall von Zieten (Field Marshal von Zieten) in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921-1922).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/7. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Eduard von Winterstein as Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921-1922). Caption: Fürst Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau, "Der alte Dessauer" (Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, "the old Dessauer").


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/8. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Julia (here: Julie) Serda as the Empress Maria Theresia of Austria in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1922), starring Otto Gebühr.


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/9. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy Film Co. Alfred Abel as 'Voltaire, the genial friend of Frederick [the Great]' in the Fridericus Rex trilogy (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921-1922). NB. Alfred Abel is not listed as playing Voltaire in any of the Frederick the Great films, but the back of this postcard states this is the case.


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/10. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Maria Orska as the dancer Barberina of the Royal Theater in Berlin in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1922).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/11. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Otto Gebühr as Friedrich II in Der Alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/12. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Karl Geppert as the grenadier Damian Mampe in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1922).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 651/1. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Otto Gebühr as crown prince Friedrich (Frederick, the future Frederick the Great), and Albert Steinrück as his father Friedrich Wilhelm I in the Fridericus Rex series (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921-1922).


German postcard by W.J. Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 651/2. Otto Gebühr as crown prince Frederick (future Frederick II) and Lili Alexander as Doris Ritter in Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1921-1922).

The green series

German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins, Berlin / Vertrieb Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 9001/1. Photo: Karl Schenker.


German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins, Berlin / Vertrieb Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 9001/2. Photo: Karl Schenker.


German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins, Berlin / Vertrieb Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 9001/3. Photo: Karl Schenker.


German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins, Berlin / Vertrieb Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 9001/4. Photo: Karl Schenker.

Gunnar Tolnaes (1879-1940) had his most famous performance as an Indian prince in the Danish orientalist melodrama Maharadjahens Yndlingshustru/The Maharaja's Favourite Wife (1917), with Lilly Jacobson. It was so popular that it had a Danish sequel in 1919 and a German sequel in 1921. After a substantial film career in Denmark, he alternated acting in German films as well as in Danish films, until the end of the silent era.


German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 9007/3. Photo: Karl Schenker.

German actor Ernst Hofmann (1890-1944) was one of the most attractive actors of German silent cinema. in the 1910s He was the producer and star of Der Knabe in Blau (1918), the first film by legendary director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.


German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 9010/2. Photo: Karl Schenker.


German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 9010/3. Photo: Karl Schenker.

Dark-haired and wide-eyed Ressel Orla (1889-1931) was an actress of the German silent film who peaked in the late 1910s and early 1920s. The now mostly forgotten star appeared in some of the early films by Ernst Lubitsch and Fritz Lang.


German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 9011/1. (With the logo of Rotophot). Photo: Karl Schenker.

Rita Clermont (1894-1969) was a German film actress of the silent era. She received her first contract from Messter Film. Until 1924, she appeared in 60 silent films.

Source: Ross Verlag Postcards. And please check out our post on Karl Schenker and his Atelier Schenker.

With thanks to Jean Ritsema and Ivo Blom! Our Ross Verlag Tribute will be continued next week and please, remember to check out the Ross Verlag Movie Stars Postcards website.