German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1436. Photo: Willinger, Berlin.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Wolff, Berlin, no. 9. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Wolff, Berlin, no. 38. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
Operetta singer
While the life dates of Melita Petri are unknown, and most German film sites only give her filmography, we discovered that Petri must have debuted as an operetta singer in the early 1910s.
In 1911-1912 she was engaged by the German-Dutch company Het Duitsche Tooneel (The German Theatre), which gave many German and Austrian operettas on the Dutch stages of Amsterdam, Rotterdam in The Hague. Under the direction of Hans Edmund, the star singers Paul Stampa, Willy Dietrich, Laura Bernauer and Lotte Gassner appeared.
Petri was first mentioned in November 1911 when she was performing in the 1856 play 'Robert und Bertram' (Robert and Bertram) by Gustav Räder.
In January 1912 she performed in the musical farce 'Bummelstudenten' (Career students) by Rudolph Bernauer, followed by Leo Fall's operetta 'Die Dollarprinzessin' (The Dollar Princess).
In March 1912 Petri performed as Prince Orlofsky in 'Die Fledermaus' (the Bat) and as Diana in 'Orpheus in der Unterwelt' (Orphée aux enfers/Orpheus in the Underworld) by Jacques Offenbach. There may have been more operettas but Het Duitsch Tooneel stopped its activities in the Netherlands after March 1912.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1935. Photo: Oliver-Film, Berlin. Leo Peukert, Melita Petri, and Herbert Paulmüller often played together but only a few times at Oliver-Film, in Resemanns Brautfahrt (1918), Der müde Theodor (1918), Logierbesuch in der Sommernacht (1918), sometimes in coproduction with BB-Filmfabrikation such as in Wenn der Bräutigam mit der Braut (1919), and Die blonden Mädels vom Lindenhof (1918).
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2631. Photo: Oliver-Film, Berlin. Leo Peukert, Melita Petri, and Herbert Paulmüller.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2632. Photo: Oliver-Film, Berlin. Leo Peukert, Melita Petri, and Herbert Paulmüller.
German postcard by Photochemie, no. K.2633. Photo: Oliver-Film. Leo Peukert, Melita Petri, and Herbert Paulmüller.
In 1915 Melita Petri debuted on screen in comedies by Heinrich Bolten-Backers for his own film company BB-Filmfabrikation in Berlin-Steglitz, starting with such films as Kulissenzauber/Scenery magic (Heinrich Bolten-Backers, Leo Peukert, 1915) with Leo Peukert and Alexander Moissi.
While Moissi's contribution was a one-off at BB-Film, both Melita Petri and Leo Peukert were regulars there, together with Herbert Paulmüller, and later on also with Conrad Dreher.
The number of her films increased by the year: 8 in 1916, well 22 in 1917 (the peak year), then 12 in 1918, and only 6 in 1919, the last year of Petri's output in film. Probably all if not most of these films were short comedies. As mentioned, most comedies were directed by Bolten-Backers, although from several titles the director is unknown.
Occasional additional actors to these comedies were Sabine Impekoven, Paul Heidemann, Carl Auen, Lily Flohr, Otto Treptow, and Richard Alexander. Also, occasionally, these comedies were produced by Oliver-Film such as Der müde Theodor/The tired Theodore (Leo Peukert, 1918), and Resemanns Brautfahrt/Resemann's Bridal Ride (N.N., 1918), director unknown.
German postcard by. Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1433. Photo: Willinger, Berlin.
German postcard by. Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1434. Photo: Willinger, Berlin.
After 1919 Bolten-Backers would continue to shoot short comedies with the BB Film regulars like Peukert, Impekoven and also Arnold Rieck, but henceforth without Petri. The latter may have retired or returned to the stage. All in all, Melita Petri acted in some 52 films.
German postcard by. Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1435. Photo: Willinger, Berlin.
Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos.ch), Filmportal de, Delpher (Dutch), and IMDb.
In March 1912 Petri performed as Prince Orlofsky in 'Die Fledermaus' (the Bat) and as Diana in 'Orpheus in der Unterwelt' (Orphée aux enfers/Orpheus in the Underworld) by Jacques Offenbach. There may have been more operettas but Het Duitsch Tooneel stopped its activities in the Netherlands after March 1912.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1935. Photo: Oliver-Film, Berlin. Leo Peukert, Melita Petri, and Herbert Paulmüller often played together but only a few times at Oliver-Film, in Resemanns Brautfahrt (1918), Der müde Theodor (1918), Logierbesuch in der Sommernacht (1918), sometimes in coproduction with BB-Filmfabrikation such as in Wenn der Bräutigam mit der Braut (1919), and Die blonden Mädels vom Lindenhof (1918).
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2631. Photo: Oliver-Film, Berlin. Leo Peukert, Melita Petri, and Herbert Paulmüller.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2632. Photo: Oliver-Film, Berlin. Leo Peukert, Melita Petri, and Herbert Paulmüller.
German postcard by Photochemie, no. K.2633. Photo: Oliver-Film. Leo Peukert, Melita Petri, and Herbert Paulmüller.
Comedy star
In 1915 Melita Petri debuted on screen in comedies by Heinrich Bolten-Backers for his own film company BB-Filmfabrikation in Berlin-Steglitz, starting with such films as Kulissenzauber/Scenery magic (Heinrich Bolten-Backers, Leo Peukert, 1915) with Leo Peukert and Alexander Moissi.
While Moissi's contribution was a one-off at BB-Film, both Melita Petri and Leo Peukert were regulars there, together with Herbert Paulmüller, and later on also with Conrad Dreher.
The number of her films increased by the year: 8 in 1916, well 22 in 1917 (the peak year), then 12 in 1918, and only 6 in 1919, the last year of Petri's output in film. Probably all if not most of these films were short comedies. As mentioned, most comedies were directed by Bolten-Backers, although from several titles the director is unknown.
Occasional additional actors to these comedies were Sabine Impekoven, Paul Heidemann, Carl Auen, Lily Flohr, Otto Treptow, and Richard Alexander. Also, occasionally, these comedies were produced by Oliver-Film such as Der müde Theodor/The tired Theodore (Leo Peukert, 1918), and Resemanns Brautfahrt/Resemann's Bridal Ride (N.N., 1918), director unknown.
German postcard by. Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1433. Photo: Willinger, Berlin.
German postcard by. Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1434. Photo: Willinger, Berlin.
After 1919 Bolten-Backers would continue to shoot short comedies with the BB Film regulars like Peukert, Impekoven and also Arnold Rieck, but henceforth without Petri. The latter may have retired or returned to the stage. All in all, Melita Petri acted in some 52 films.
German postcard by. Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1435. Photo: Willinger, Berlin.
Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos.ch), Filmportal de, Delpher (Dutch), and IMDb.
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