Artistas Populares

Spanish cromos are a goldmine for fans of the silent film of the 1910s. Chocolate companies produced these collector cards for their customers who also liked to go to the cinema. The cromos often offer an impression of now-forgotten or even lost films. The cromo collection 'Artistas Populares' by Chocolates Piera & Brugueras does not present films but portraits of their stars. There were 42 cards in the series of which we selected 16 gems.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 1 of 42.

Francesca Bertini (1892-1985) was a majestic diva of the Italian silent cinema. She often played the 'femme fatale', with men devouring eyes, glamorous attire, clenched fists, and in opulent settings.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 3.

Tullio Carminati (1895-1971) was an Italian stage and film actor with a longstanding career from the 1910s to the 1960s. He played in Italian, German, American, British and French films and on Italian, American and British stages.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 4.

Fascinating and enigmatic Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 6. Gustavo Serena possibly in Assunta Spinana (Gustavo Serena, Francesca Bertini, 1915). Serena's outfit here resembles the one he wears in the final scene of that film.

Italian actor Gustavo Serena (1882-1970) is now remembered as Francesca Bertini's co-star, but he did much more than that.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 7.

Among the Italian divas, Maria Jacobini (1892-1944) was an island of serenity. She was the personification of goodness, of simple love. Her weapon was her sweet and gracious smile. In some Italian and later also in some German films. However, she could play as well the vivacious lady, the femme fatale, the comedienne, the hysterical victim and the suffering mother or wife.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 10.

Emilio Ghione (1879-1930) was an Italian silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing, directing, and starring in the Za La Mort series of adventure films, in which he played a likeable French Apache and 'honest outlaw.'


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 11.

Lyda Borelli (1887-1959) was already an acclaimed stage actress before she became the first diva of the Italian silent cinema. The fascinating film star caused a craze among female fans called 'Borellismo'.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 14.

René Cresté (1881-1922) was a French stage and film actor and director of the silent film era. He is best remembered as the amazingly cool title character in the crime-adventure serial Judex (1917-1918), directed by Louis Feuillade. Judex was the first superhero of the cinema.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 15.

French actress and singer Mistinguett (1875-1956) captivated Paris with her risqué routines. She went on to become the most popular French entertainer of her time and the highest-paid female entertainer in the world. She appeared more than 60 times in the cinema.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 16.

Charles Prince (1872-1933), a.k.a. just ‘Prince’, was a French film actor, director and writer. He was famous for his countless comical shorts with his alter ego Rigadin. Prince was known in Spain as Salustio.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 18.

French comedian Max Linder (1883-1925), with his trademark silk hat, stick and moustache was an influential pioneer of silent film. He was largely responsible for the creation of the classic style of silent slapstick comedy and he was the highest-paid entertainer of his day.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 20.

André Deed (1879-1940) was one the most popular comedians in French and Italian silent cinema under the names of Boireau and Cretinetti. He also was a film director and scriptwriter.André Deed was known in Spain as Toribio.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 26.

Georges Vinter (1879-1945), whose real name was Paul Georges Pinvert, was a French silent film actor and director. Between 1910 and 1915, he was the creator of the role and interpreter of the very popular detective Nick Winter, whose name was inspired by his own pseudonym.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 28. Caption: Harry Carey as 'Cayena'. Cayena' refers to Carey's character Cheyenne Harry.

American actor and cowboy Harry Carey (1878-1947) was one of silent film's earliest superstars. He was the father of Harry Carey Jr., who was also a prominent actor.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 33.

Josette Andriot (1886-1942) was a French film actress of the silent film era. From 1909 Andriot was a regular at the French company Eclair, where she did 60 films from 1911 and became known as the accomplice of Zigomar in the eponymous crime series. She is best known for playing the role of Protéa in a series of espionage films made between 1913 and 1919, dressed in a close-fitting black jersey, two years before Musidora would do so as Irma Vep in Louis Feuillade's Les Vampires.


Spanish cromo in the series 'Artistas Populares' by Ed. I.C. Plauber S.A., Barcelona, for Chocolates Piera & Brugueras, no. 37.

Frank Mayo (1889–1963) was an American actor, who appeared in 310 films between 1911 and 1949.