French postcard by FA, no. 57. Photo: Félix. Caption: Paul Mounet, Comédie-Française.
Paul Mounet (1847–1922) was a French actor of the Comédie Française, who also acted in various Film d'Art films around 1910. He was the younger brother of actor Jean Mounet-Sully.
French postcard by FA, no. 58. Photo: Félix, Paris. Caption: Robinne, Comédie-Française.
Comédie-Française actress Gabrielle Robinne (1886-1980) was one of the first French film stars. The peak of her film career was in the 1910s when she starred in mundane and romantic dramas by Pathé. With her blond hair, passionate eyes and elegant posture, she was the perfect ‘femme du monde’.
French postcard by FA, no. 71. Photo: A. Bert. Caption: Grant (sic), Comédie-Française. The last name of Georges Grand is misspelt on the card.
French actor Georges Grand (1864-1921) was discovered by André Antoine and acted for him for over 15 years. In 1906, he entered the Comédie-Française, where he mostly played in modern repertory by Eugène Brieux, Henry Bataille and Henry Kistemaeckers. Between 1909 and 1913, Grand also acted in 11 films at Pathé Frères.
French postcard by F.A., no. 80. Photo: Paul Darby.
Félix Mayol (1872-1941) was a popular French singer of the Belle Époque. He became a success in Paris in 1895 as a singer performing in a campy, effeminate way. His hair tassel inspired many imitators. In 1905, he performed at Gaumont in 14 phonoscènes under the direction of Alice Guy.
French postcard by FA, no. 94. Photo: Henri Manuel. Caption: Firmin Gémier, Comédie-Française.
Firmin Gémier (1869-1933) was an actor, director and theatre manager at the French stage, promoter of the Théâtre Populaire and founder of the first Théâtre National Populaire in Paris in 1920. He also acted in the French silent and sound cinema of the 1910s to the 1930s.
French postcard by FA, no. 104. Photo: Talma.
French actress Andrée Spinelly (1887-1966) was commonly known as Spinelly. While she had a rich stage career between the 1900s and the 1920s, she acted in various films in the 1930s, in particular the thriller La Châtelaine du Liban / The Milady of Liban (Jean Epstein, 1934).
French postcard by FA, no. 148. Photo: Reutlinger.
Marthe Régnier (1880-1967) was a beautiful and famous French stage actress and singer of the Belle Époque and beyond. She launched her own perfume, designed fashion and jewellery, and was the companion of Baron Rothschild. Regnier also acted in six silent and sound films.
French postcard by FA, no. 203. Photo: A. Bert. Jules Leitner as Alceste in the play 'The Misanthrope' by Molière, performed at the Comédie Française in August 1908.
Jules-Louis-Auguste Leitner (1862-1940) was a French stage actor of the Comédie Française. Leitner acted in a few films of the company Film d'Art, including Jésus de Nazareth (André Calmettes, Henri Desfontaines, 1911).
Alfred Johannès Christensen
Alfred Johannès Christensen was born in 1877 in Copenhagen. He was the son of manufacturer Carl Christian Christensen and his wife Johanne Frederikke Klæbel. Four years later, his father died. In 1896, Alfred travelled to Berlin, where he became an apprentice at the Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, the first and for years the world’s biggest factory for real photographic bromide postcards, which were printed ‘by the kilometre’. The founder and driving force was Arthur Schwarz.
After a few years of further education in Switzerland, France and England, Christensen was employed in 1902 as technical director of Les Etablissements Photographiques de G. Piprot in France until he established a factory for the production of photographic reproductions in Rueil near Paris in 1908. Until 1914, his printing company 'FA' published postcards of theatrical, religious and other subjects, including the REX cards.
After the war, he named his company Établissement 'Magenta', Rueil. In 1922, he was appointed technical director of the large photographic company 'Le Film Ozaphone S/A'. In this capacity, Christensen worked in the following years till 1932 on the invention and industrialisation of the non-flammable celluloid film and carried out a pioneering effort in this area. Ozaphan film became a brand name for 16mm amateur films. Ozaphan was released as a patented, safe film process for short films up to a maximum length of 140 meters and was aimed at technically minded laypeople who could use it to operate their own home cinema.
Christensen played a significant active role in promoting unity among the Danes in France and their connections to Denmark. In 1913, he became chairman of the Danish Association, where he created strong activity until World War I. In 1920, he took the initiative to continue the association's work through the foundation of the Danish Committee in Paris, just as from 1917 he sat as a member of the board of directors of the Franco-Danoise Association.
He was one of the main organisers of the humanitarian work carried out by the Danish colony in France in the years during and after the war. This was expressed, among other things, by his financial support for and hospitality towards the Danish war participants in the French army and later by his founding of the Memorial Fund for the Danish Volunteers and the initiative to erect a memorial in the town of Braine for the fallen Danes. In 1925-1934 he was a delegate in France for Denmark's aid to fatherless French children. In 1935, Alfred Johannès Christensen died in Vieux Port, France. He was married twice. His first wife was Karen Hviid. After their marriage was dissolved. he married Marthe Georgette Tetzlaff.
French postcard by FA, no. 208. Photo: A. Bert. Georges Berr as 'Le bon roi Dagobert' at the Comédie Française.
French actor and dramatist Georges Berr (1867-1942) was a member and Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française from 1886 to 1923. Under the pseudonyms Colias and Henry Bott, he wrote several plays, particularly in collaboration with Louis Verneuil. He was Jean-Pierre Aumont's uncle. He only acted in one film, Les précieuses ridicules (1910), directed by himself, and directed one other film, L'enfant prodigue (1909), both for Pathé Frères. However, Berr was a most active playwright whose plays were often adapted for the cinema, such as Le Million, filmed by René Clair, and scripted by Clair and Berr himself. Berr worked on three other film scenarios, while he was the dialogue writer for four more films, including La porteuse de pain (René Sti, 1934).
French postcard by FA, no. 263. Photo: Boissonnas et Taponier. Édouard de Max in the stage play 'Le Roi de Rome'.
Édouard de Max (1869-1924) was a leading man and 'monstre sacré' of the French stage. He also appeared in silent films of the 1910s and 1920s, including two versions of The Three Musketeers. The stage play 'Le Roi de Rome' was based on Pouvillon and adapted to the stage by Armand d'Artois. It premiered on 10 January 1899 at the Nouveau Théâtre in Paris, with De Max in the title role as the Duke of Reichstadt, Napoleon's son. The play would inspire Edmond Rostand when he wrote 'L'Aiglon' for Sarah Bernhardt, which was first performed in 1900.
French postcard by FA, no. 275. Photo: Félix. Caption: Colonna Romano, Comédie-Française.
French stage actress Gabrielle Colonna-Romano (1883-1981) was a pupil of Sarah Bernhardt and a famous tragedienne of the Comédie-Française from 1913 till 1936. She also appeared in Film d'Art shorts and other early silent films. Her love life was tempestuous and legendary.
French postcard by F.A. Christensen, Rueil, no. 303. Photo: Reutlinger.
French singer and actress Yvonne Printemps (1894-1977) was a huge star of the European stage. She also appeared in ten international silent and sound films. A true diva, she loved the spotlight and would be seen draped in jewels, wearing enormous hats, and walking her pet dogs on leashes.
French postcard by FA, no. 317. Photo: Félix. Caption: Roger Galliard (sic), Comédie-Française. Roger Gaillard's second name is misspelt on this card.
Roger Gaillard (1893-1970) was a French stage and screen actor. He was a respected actor at the Comédie-Française between 1916 and 1924 but mainly acted in cinema a decade later, in the 1930s French sound cinema.
French postcard by FA, no. 320. Photo: Reutlinger. Caption: Provost, Comédie-Française.
Jeanne Provost (1897-1980) was a member of the Comédie-Française only between 1907 and 1912. She would act in some 25 silent and sound films.
French postcard by FA, no. 321. Photo: Reutlinger. Caption: Cécile Sorel, Comédie-Française.
Legendary actress Cécile Sorel (1873-1966) was the ‘queen of the French stage’ during the Belle Époque, the period between the Paris Exposition of 1900 and the First World War. Her public appearances, often in extravagant costumes, created a sensation. During her long life, she played in five films.
Sources: Erik Korr Johansen (Dansk Biografisk Leksikon - Danish), Wikipedia (German) and rthcards.
No comments:
Post a Comment