Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3221. Photo: Universal-International.
Dominican film actress María Montez (1912-1951) gained fame and popularity as a tempestuous Latino beauty in Hollywood movies of the 1940s. In a series of exotic adventures filmed in Technicolor, she starred as Arabian princesses, jungle goddesses, and highborn gypsies, dressed in fanciful costumes and sparkling jewels. Over her career, ‘The Queen of Technicolor’ appeared in 26 films, of which five were made in Europe.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3440. Photo: 20th Century Fox. James Stewart in Call Northside 777 (Henry Hathaway, 1948).
American actor James Stewart (1908-1997) is among the most honoured and popular stars in film history. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart had a film career that spanned over 55 years and 80 films.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3443. Photo: Paramount.
During the 1940s, Veronica Lake (1922-1973) was Hollywood's Peek-a-boo Girl. We love her for Sullivan's Travels (1942), I Married a Witch (1942) and for her femme fatale roles opposite Alan Ladd in the Film Noirs This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942) and The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall, 1946).
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3454. Photo: M.G.M. Van Heflin, Gene Kelly, Gig Young, and Robert Coote in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.
The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948) is a classic Swashbuckler, starring Gene Kelly as D’Artagnan and Lana Turner as Milady De Winter. Other stars in the cast include Van Heflin, June Allyson, Gig Young, Angela Lansbury, and Vincent Price. It is one of the many, adaptations of the famous French book ‘Les trois mousquetaires’ by Alexandre Dumas père, and possibly the liveliest one, full of acrobatics, galloping horses, flapping cloaks, and sword fights with almost operatic intensity. Dumas’s story is followed quite faithfully, but the creative fantasy is in the theatrical way of depicting it.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3457. Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan.
German-American competition swimmer and actor Johnny Weissmuller (1904-1984) is best known for playing Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s and for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. After his swimming career, he became the sixth actor to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs's ape man, Tarzan, a role he played in twelve films. The first was Tarzan the Apeman (W. S. Van Dyke, 1932) with Maureen O'Sullivan.
American films being banned from Dutch cinemas
From 8 December 1941, when the US declared war on Nazi Germany, no Hollywood films were allowed to be shown in the occupied Netherlands. After the liberation on 5 May 1945, English, French and American films were again allowed to be shown in Dutch cinemas. But there was a problem.
American studios, represented by the Motion Picture Export Association (MPEA), wanted to increase their influence in the Netherlands. As in other European countries, they wanted to gain a monopoly position through cartel agreements. To do so, they wanted to conclude contracts with Dutch exhibitors and distributors outside the NBB (The Netherlands Cinema Association).
The NBB interpreted this as an outright declaration of war and banned its members from doing business with MPEA studios. This resulted in almost all American films being banned from Dutch cinemas. However, not everyone saw the absence of American films as detrimental.
On the contrary, the influential journalist Janus van Domburg saw it as a perfect opportunity to ‘improve [audiences’] film taste’. Just as the Filmliga had done before WWII, Van Domburg was very critical of the light entertainment films made in Hollywood and pleaded for more artistic films.
The boycott lasted almost a year until the MPEA caved in and the NBB emerged victorious. Suddenly, a flood of Hollywood films hit Dutch cinemas. Dutch film fans were finally introduced to such classics as Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood, 1939) and Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) and of course to all the light entertainment films the Dutch critics disliked. The postcards by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel illustrate what happened and indicate what Dutch audiences really liked.
Dutch postcard by Takken / 't Sticht, no. 3551. Sent by mail in 1953. Photo: Fotoarchief Film en Toneel. Red Skelton reading the Dutch magazine Film en Toneel, which existed from 1948 to 1952.
Red Skelton (1906/1913-1997) was an American film and TV actor and comedian. He appeared in several musicals and comedies throughout the 1940s and 1950s and starred in 19 films, including Ship Ahoy (1941), I Dood It (1943), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), and The Clown(1953). Skelton is best known for TV's The Red Skelton Show (1951-1971). Skelton believed that his life's work was to make people laugh. H he wanted to be known as a clown because he defined it as being able to do everything.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. AX 141. Photo: Columbia Pictures. Joan Bennett reading the 9 April 1949 issue of the Dutch magazine Film en Toneel. On the cover: Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc (Victor Fleming, 1948).
Joan Bennett (1910–1990) was an American actress who had her breakthrough in Little Women (George Cukor, 1933). Producer Walter Wanger helped to manage her career and eventually married her in 1940. At the beginning of the 1940s, Bennett appeared in three classic Film Noirs by Fritz Lang. These turned her into an iconic femme fatale of the Film Noir.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3137. Photo: RKO Radio Films. Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc (Victor Fleming, 1948).
Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) was ‘Sweden's illustrious gift to Hollywood’. In the 1940s the fresh and naturally beautiful actress won three times the Oscar, twice the Emmy, and once the Tony Award for Best Actress. Little known is that before she went to Hollywood she already had a European film career.
Big Dutch postcard by 't Sticht / Takken, Utrecht, no. 3145. Photo montage: Film en Toneel.
American actress, dancer, and singer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995) made 73 films during her long career. Her RKO musicals with Fred Astaire revolutionised the genre.
Big Dutch postcard by 't Sticht / Takken, Utrecht, no. 3148. Photo montage: Film en Toneel.
American actress Betty Hutton (1921-2007) was an energetic, 'blonde bombshell' of the 1940s. She appeared in successful musicals and comedies, including The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943), Red, Hot and Blue (1949), Annie Get Your Gun (1950) and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952).
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3133. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Betty Grable in Down Argentine Way (Irving Cummings, 1940).
American film star Betty Grable (1916-1973) was known as 'The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs'. During World War II, the quicksilver blonde's famous pin-up pose - in a bathing suit, back to the camera, smiling over her right shoulder - adorned barracks all around the world. Her 42 films during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s grossed more than $100 million. One of her biggest successes was the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), which was also one of her last films.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3212. Photo: Universal International.
Dashingly handsome French film actor Louis Jourdan (1919-2015) is known for his cultivated, lead roles in several Hollywood films. With his polished good looks he often was typecast as the old-fashioned European lover, but in the 1980’s he could broaden his range with character roles like the eccentric villain opposite James Bond in Octopussy.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3234. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
With his natural charm and knowing smile, Clark Gable (1901-1959) was 'The King of Hollywood' during the 1930s. He often portrayed down-to-earth, bravado characters with a carefree attitude, and was seen as the epitome of masculinity. Gable won an Academy Award for Best Actor for It Happened One Night (1934), and was nominated for leading roles in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and for his best-known role as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939).
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3254. Photo: Universal International.
Yvonne De Carlo (1922–2007) was a Canadian American actress, singer, and dancer whose career in film, television, and musical theatre spanned six decades. From the 1950s on, she also starred in British and Italian films. She achieved her greatest popularity as the ghoulish matriarch Lily in the TV sitcom The Munsters (1964-1966).
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3283. Photo: Paramount.
Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020) was a Japanese-born British-American former actress, whose career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading stars during the golden age of Classical Hollywood. She is best known for her early screen performances in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Gone with the Wind (1939), and her later award-winning performances in To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949).
Dutch postcard by Foto Archief Film en Toneel, no. 3335. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
American film, stage and television actor Joseph Cotten (1905-1994) achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair. He first gained worldwide fame in the Orson Welles films Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and Journey into Fear (1943), for which Cotten was also credited with the screenplay. He went on to become one of the leading Hollywood actors of the 1940s, appearing in films such as Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Duel in the Sun (1946) and The Third Man (1949). One of his final films was Michael Cimino's epic Heaven's Gate (1980).
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3376. Photo: Warner.
In a career of five decades. American actress Ruth Roman (1922–1999) transitioned flawlessly from ingénue to leading lady to character actress. She is memorable as the murderous villain in the classic Film Noir The Window (1949) and as Farley Granger's elegant girlfriend in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Strangers on a Train (1951).
Dutch postcard by Foto-archief Film en Toneel, no. 3378. Photo: Columbia.
American actress Dorothy Malone (1925–2018) was a sultry, dreamy-eyed beauty. She started in Frank Sinatra musicals during the 1940s. She won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her sultry role in Written on the Wind (1956). Best known by the public for her starring role as Constance MacKenzie on Peyton Place (1964-1968). Her final role was as Sharon Stone's friend in Basic Instinct (1992).
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3441. Photo: Warner Bros.
American film, stage and television actress Geraldine Brooks (1925-1977) was a resolute, blue-eyed brunette with attractive, slightly pinched features. She played ingénue roles opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford. In Italy, she appeared in Vulcano/Volcano (1950) with Anna Magnani. Later she appeared in a long string of television dramas, interrupted by summer stock and occasional films.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3528. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Esther Williams and Peter Lawford in On an Island with You (Richard Thorpe, 1948).
From 1944 to 1954, pretty and athletic Esther Williams (1921-2013) was a top box office star and swam in numerous aqua-musicals. Comedienne Fannie Brice once said of her: "Wet, she’s a star. Dry, she ain’t". Indeed, her acting never matched her swimming but she brought joy to millions of her fans all over the world and managed to become a huge celebrity and an undisputed queen in her domain. English-American actor Peter Lawford (1923-1984) is mainly known as a member of the Rat Pack from which he was later banned due to an argument with Frank Sinatra and as the husband of Patricia Kennedy. Although he was never considered a very important actor, he has played in many famous films. He also appeared frequently on television. He was the first one to kiss Elizabeth Taylor and, according to him, the last one to speak to Marilyn Monroe before she died.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief: Film en Toneel, no. 3532. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
American film actor Dana Andrews (1909-1992) was a major Hollywood star during the 1940s. He continued acting in less prestigious roles into the 1980s. He is remembered for his roles as a police detective-lieutenant in the Film Noir Laura (1944) and as war veteran Fred Derry in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), the latter being the role for which he received the most critical praise. During his career, he worked with such directors as Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang, William Wyler, Jean Renoir, and Elia Kazan.
Dutch postcard by Foto Archief Film en Toneel, no. 3537. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
Glamorous and seductive film star Hedy Lamarr (1913–2000) was born in Austria. The notorious Czechoslovak film Ekstase/Symphonie der Liebe/Ecstasy (1933) made her an international sensation. Louis Mayer invited her to Hollywood where she became ‘the most beautiful woman in films’.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel / Takken, Utrecht, no. 3559. Photo: Universal International.
Marta Toren (1926-1957) was a Swedish-American stage and film actress of the 1940s and 1950s with mesmerising eyes. In her tragically short career, she spent more time in Hollywood and Italy than in her native country.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. AX 269. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
American film actress Jane Russell (1921-2011) was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She had her first film role in 1943 in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw. In 1947, Russell delved into music. Her film career revived when she was cast as Calamity Jane opposite Bob Hope in The Paleface (1948). After starring in several films in the 1950s, including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Russell again returned to music while completing several other films in the 1960s. She starred in more than 20 films throughout her career.
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. AX 281. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Org. Sent by mail in 1951.
Blonde and Curvey Diana Dors (1931-1984) was called ‘The English Marilyn Monroe’, to her disgust. In her own words: “I was the first home-grown sex symbol, rather like Britain's naughty seaside postcards. When Marilyn Monroe's first film was shown here [The Asphalt Jungle (1950)], a columnist wrote, 'How much like our Diana Dors she is'."
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. AX 304. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
American actress and singer Gloria DeHaven (1925-2016) was a contract star for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and often played the second lead in cheerful light musicals.
Sources: Eye, Ross Verlag Postcards, Last Dodo (Dutch) and Moviemags. And check out our post on Uitgeverij Takken.
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