Published by Hercules

The Dutch publisher Hercules from the city of Haarlem issued in the 1960s "real" photocards in the genres film, music, and TV. These are mainly black and white pictures of film stars, who were not connected to a certain film. However, with a little detective work, we could link some of the cards to a foreign film. For this post, we selected 15 Hercules postcards.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 20. Brigitte Bardot in Manina, la fille sans voiles/The Girl in the Bikini (Willy Rozier, 1952).


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 245. Photo: Gofilex. Nina van Pallandt in Mandolinen und Mondschein/Mandolins and Moonlight (Hans Deppe, 1959). Danish Nina van Pallandt (1932) formed with her husband Frederik the singing duo Nina & Frederik, which was very popular in Europe during the late 1950s and the 1960s. They scored many international hits and also acted in several films together. After the couple split up in 1969, Nina had a solo career as a singer and Hollywood actress.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 262. Italian actress Claudia Cardinale (1938) is one of Europe's iconic and most versatile film stars. The combination of her beauty, dark, flashing eyes, explosive sexuality, and genuine acting talent virtually guaranteed her stardom.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 262. American Singer and actor Gus Backus (1937-2019) was at 19 a member of the Del-Vikings, and later became virtually the flesh-and-blood embodiment of rock and roll in Germany. Between 1959 and 1965 he also appeared in 25 German light entertainment films.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 279. Photo: Hafbofilm. Sabine Sinjen and Corny Collins in Schmutziger Engel/Imperfect Angel (Alfred Vohrer, 1958).


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 370. Photo: Hafbo film. Jan & Kjeld in Marina (Paul Martin, 1960).


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 399. Jan & Kjeld Wennick were only 14 and 16 years old when they hit it big with the classic song 'Banjo Boy'. In the early 1960s, the two brothers from Copenhagen performed their hits in several Schlagerfilms.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 662. The Blue Diamonds is one of the most successful Dutch pop acts ever. Incidentally the Dutch-Indonesian brothers Ruud and Riem de Wolff also acted in films and on TV.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 852. Dutch television TV host, actor, and singer Rudi Carrell (1934-2006) was hailed after his death as the greatest TV entertainer in Europe. After his breakthrough in the Netherlands, he went to Germany and gained enormous popularity there on TV. He was the first presenter to attract a TV audience of 20 million Germans, one-quarter of the total population.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 862. Legendary Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel (1929-1978) was one of the most important and influential representatives of the French chanson.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 946. Photo: Capitol. George Chakiris on a publicity still for West Side Story (Robert Wise, 1961).


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 1069. Photo: Brigitte Bardot in Les bijoutiers du clair de lune/The Night Heaven Fell (Roger Vadim, 1958).


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 1089. Photo: Capitol. American dancer, singer, and actor George Chakiris (1934) had his biggest success as Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks gang in the celebrated film musical West Side Story (1961). Later he starred with Catherine Deneuve in another classic, the charming French musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967).


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 1350 A. Photo: CBS. The Geschwister Jacob during a promotional visit to the Netherlands in the miniature town Madurodam in The Haghe. The Geschwister Jacob or Jacob Sisters was a group of four, later three German sisters who sang Schlager songs and appeared in a few films.


Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 1370. Photo: Artone Grammofoonplaten. Dutch pop group Z. Z. & De Maskers (ZZ and the Masks) was a 1960s beat band from Amsterdam. The singer and founder was Bob Bouber, who is at centre of the postcard. He was one of the pioneers in Dutch pop culture and was the grandson of film actress Aaf Bouber.

Source: Lodewijk van Duuren (VDP).