A rare find: an album with Pathé cards from 1911 (Part 3)

At the 2018 Autumn Collector's Fair in Utrecht, we found an album with over 100 vintage cards by Pathé Cinema with stills of films from 1911. The album contains 60 double pages with 120 collector cards, a bit bigger and thinner than the ordinary postcards issued by Pathé. All films date from the year 1911 and almost all are traceable on the website of the Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathé. In 2018, we selected 14 cards from this rare album for a post. Last month, we presented another 21 Pathé cards. Here are again 21 cards from 1911, which we have never published at European Film Star Postcards before.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Scene from Le bateau de Léontine (N.N., 1911). It is unclear who played the lead in the typical nasty lady series of Léontine ('Titine'), a girl always into terrible mischief.

Titine has received for her party a superb three-master. She has promised her parents to be very good in their absence, but she cannot resist the temptation to sail her boat. She turns the kitchen faucets wide-open, so the room serves as a pool to her exploits. Soon, the ship is sailing in the 'open sea', but Titine is still dissatisfied. However, the water, crossing the floor, flows in large streams onto the lower floors, drowning the tenants and transforming the stairs into impassable torrents. Titine, unsuspecting of the dramas that take place below her, quietly floats in a barrel amidst the disaster.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: SCAG / Pathé Frères. Andrée Marly in Deux vieux garçons (Michel Carré, 1911). Carré also scripted the film. Marly is playing the piano. Her lover (not visible) is played by Charles Maudru. The two old men, courting young Katje in vain and finally giving in, are Louis Baron fils and Georges Coquet. The old woman playing the maid is Marie Ernestine Desclauzas, who was a renowned stage actress in the late 19th century. In real life, Marly was married to Coquet. The setting and costumes in this film refer to the popular Dutch village of Volendam.

Van Peterbon and Van Hoosplott, who had grown old as bachelors, took in their orphaned niece, the pretty Katje. The presence of little Katje, charming beneath her bonnet with golden antennae, troubled the hearts and sleep of the two old bachelors. Meanwhile, Katje, unaware of their feelings, dreams of the young Kobe, who is courting her. The two young people, with the help of the maid, write a marriage proposal to each of the two uncles. Upon receiving this letter, Van Peterbon and Van Hoosplott explode with rage. Then indignation gives way to concern. Could Katje have found out something? When questioned, the maid reassures them, and the two uncles agree to bury the marriage proposals deep in their pockets. However, this move prompts them to each apply for her hand in marriage. But Katje's laughter puts an end to their declarations, and the young girl takes advantage of their confusion to introduce them to Kobe, whom she loves. Faced with the youthfulness of their rival, the two old bachelors become conscious of their wrinkles and white hair. So, gruff but benevolent, they give in to the pleas of the two lovers.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Young Maurice Mathieu or Renée Pré (sources differ) as the son André in Le dévouement d'un gosse (Alfred Machin, 1911).

In a fairground hut where a curious crowd gathers in front of the menagerie, a drama suddenly unfolds between the brave tamer and one of his wild animals. Seriously injured by the furious beast, the man soon dies, leaving his wife and two children in need. Without its tamer, the menagerie is soon abandoned by the public, and poverty descends on the poor caravan. However, little André makes a big decision. Accustomed since early childhood to entering the cage with his father, he will replace the deceased tamer. The public then returned in droves to applaud the world's youngest tamer, while prosperity, thanks to the child's courage, returned to the humble caravan.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Young Maurice Mathieu or Renée Pré (sources differ) as the son André in Le dévouement d'un gosse (Alfred Machin, 1911).


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Young Maurice Mathieu or Renée Pré (sources differ) as the son André in Le dévouement d'un gosse (Alfred Machin, 1911).


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Scene from the French silent film L'Homme de peine (Michel Carré, 1911). Carré also scripted the film.

A group of Parisians goes on a trip to Corsica, where they enjoy a carefree life. One of them, André Cartier (Dominique-Bernard Deschamps), discovers a pretty girl named Lina (Mme California), the daughter of a woodcutter, in the maquis. He falls in love with her and decides to take her back to Paris with him. Sciavola, the woodcutter (Jean Kemm), discovers his daughter's departure and lets his anger and despair explode. Months pass, bringing weariness on the part of the seducer and soon the end of his whim. Lina, abandoned, gives herself over to a dance from her country in the night restaurant where the break-up has just taken place. This dance wins her the affection of Prince Daniloff (Georges Tréville), who agrees to take her back to Ajaccio to see her country again. However, old Sciavola, aged, worn out and bent over with grief, has had to give up his job. He has become a labourer, working in the very hotel where Lina and her companion are staying. Finding himself in the presence of his guilty daughter, the old man is seized with terrible anger. He brandishes the log he was about to throw into the fire at the unfortunate girl. But just as he is about to strike her, Daniloff intervenes, and Sciavola, overcome with emotion, faints. The great lord, moved by his grief and genuinely enamoured with the young woman, will rehabilitate her by giving her his name.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Scene from the French silent film L'Homme de peine (Michel Carré, 1911).


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: SCAGL / Pathé Frères. Lucie Pacitti as the daughter and Théodore Thalès as the clown in La fille du clown (Georges Denola, 1911), scripted by Maurice Kéroul.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: SCAGL / Pathé Frères. Lucie Pacitti as the daughter in La fille du clown (Georges Denola, 1911), scripted by Maurice Kéroul.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères. Still for the film Le foyer perdu (N.N., 1911), scripted by Gustave Grillet (director unknown).

Robert Desroches (Jean Kemm) lives apart from his wife (Eva Raynal) and son Lucien (Maria Fromet). On the occasion of Lucien's birthday, he begs the boy's mother to send him the child. Lucien, having received a beautiful pony from his father as a gift, gives him a present, and Robert Desroches is deeply moved when he sees that it is a portrait of his wife. A visit from a friend distracts him, and while Lucien rides his little horse, the two friends practise shooting with pistols. Suddenly, little Lucien, tired of his mount, grabs one of the guns and, before anyone has time to intervene, fires, seriously wounding his father. Mrs Desroches, seeing her husband's suffering, forgets all her grievances and comes to care for him. And when her rival (Gabrielle Robinne) has left, perhaps she will return.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères. Still for the film Le foyer perdu (N.N., 1911), scripted by Gustave Grillet.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères. Still for the film Le foyer perdu (N.N., 1911), scripted by Gustave Grillet.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères / Pathé Comica. Sarah Duhamel as Rosalie in Rosalie a trouvé du travail (N.N., 1911).

Rosalie is hired as a worker at a fashion shop, but has to promise to be at work always at 7 sharp. The next morning, she awakens at 10 to 7, shoots out of bed, dresses in haste, jumps down the stairs, and crosses the obstacles like a tornado. After a dishevelled run full of wild episodes, Rosalie arrives, red-headed and muddy, scarred with snags, at the fashion shop, only to read the sign on the closed front door, 'closed on Sundays and holidays'.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères / Pathé Comica. Sarah Duhamel as Rosalie in Rosalie veut en finir avec la vie (N.N., 1911).

Rosalie is fired, so she wants to commit suicide. She shoots herself with a revolver, but only destroys the mirror. She throws herself on the tramway rails, but, alas, this one takes another track. She throws herself from a parapet but in vain. Desperate, she goes into a gun shop, throws a bomb and mounts to heaven, but it only causes her to descend again, this time in the arms of a well-moustached police officer, so she gets lust for life again.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères. Max Linder and Olga Demidoff as the mother-in-law in Max et sa belle-mère / Max and His Mother-In-Law (Max Linder, Pathé 1911). The man in the back is Jacques Vandenne. The young woman to the right of Linder may be Paulette Lorsy, playing his wife.

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.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères / S.C.A.G.L. Charles Prince in Rigadin veut se faire arrêter (Georges Monca, 1911). Scripted by Gabriel Timmory.

Charles Prince (1872-1933), aka ‘Prince’, was a French film actor, director and writer. He was famous for his countless comical shorts with his alter ego Rigadin. Rigadin veut se faire arrêter (1911) was strongly based on an earlier film with a similar plot: La purée veut se faire arrêter (1908). A bum eats without paying, thus hoping to get food and lodging at the police station. Yet, he manages to get away with it. When he suddenly gets money and orders a huge meal, the restaurant owner warns the police and our poor bum is arrested after all.


French photo card by Cinéma Pathé. Photo: Pathé Frères / S.C.A.G.L. Georges Dorival (the father), Darmody (the mother), Marie Fromet (Pierrot) and little Carina (the little sweep) in the sentimental drama Oiseau de printemps, hirondelle d'hiver (Georges Denola, 1911). Scripted by E. M. Laumann.

Both boy roles were played by girls. The poor little sweep, maltreated by his boss, saves the life of little Jean and is afterwards adopted by the family of Jean. Georges Édouard Lemarchand, known as Dorival or Georges Dorival (1871-1939), was a French stage and screen actor of Norman origin, a painter and an important art collector.


French photo card by Pathé Frères. Georges Vinter as the detective Nick Winter in Le Pickpocket mystifié (N.N., 1911).

Nick Winter, the astonishing detective, is in Le Pickpocket mystifié (N.N., 1911) hot on the trail of a clever crook. Winter catches him in a bank where he is robbing a bank clerk's wallet with unparalleled skill and audacity, using a cleverly rigged cane. In an instinctive move, the detective reaches into the thief's pocket, but this gesture makes him look like a thief himself in the eyes of the bank clerk, who calls the police. Nick, handcuffed, is taken to the police station, followed by his thief, who has now become the complainant. But there, the roles are reversed, and the clever policeman has no trouble exposing his adversary.


French photo card by Pathé Frères. The title of the film is crossed, but it might have been the comedy Le chapeau de Jobard /Jobard's hat (Emile Cohl, 1911). Lucien Cazalis, aka Jobard, made 13 short comedies in 1911, directed by Emile Cohl.

Paris is so unsafe and the pickpockets so bold that Jobard, ever cautious, puts a large sum of money he has just received in banknotes into his top hat. Unfortunately, his bad luck means that during a visit to a client, a distracted maid exchanges Jobard's top hat for her boss's. When he realises what has happened, Jobard, in a panic, rushes to every hat he sees, but unfortunately fails to find the one hiding his treasure, and ends up being rebuffed time and time again. Mistaken for a madman, poor Jobard is taken to the hospital and showered without mercy. Fortunately, the doctor on duty happens to be Jobard's customer, and Jobard finally regains his hat, his treasure and his freedom.


French photo card by Pathé Frères. Photo: Pathé Frères. Scene from the comedy Le cache-poussière / The Dust-cover (N.B., 1911). The film was shot in the South of France.

Robert, allowed to go to lunch with his fiancée at the Réserve de Beaulieu, borrows his uncle's car, dust cover and... money. While the two lovers stroll along the enchanting shores of the Côte d'Azur, Robert's aunt encounters them, recognises her husband's car and dust cover, and, believing herself betrayed, hails a taxi and sets off in pursuit. After a turbulent chase, she catches up with them at the hotel, where the imbroglio is resolved to everyone's satisfaction.


French photo card by Pathé Frères. Photo: Pathé Frères/ Modern Pictures, Scene from La ruse du petit ramoneur / The Little Sweep's Stratagem (Camille de Morlhon, 1911).

Jean, the little Savoyard boy (and a little sweep), having come into some money, enters a bakery to treat himself to the unusual luxury of a croissant. The baker, a kind woman, gives him a free cake, which Jean enjoys with delight. A few steps away, the little chimney sweep, struck by the suspicious behaviour of two individuals, follows them, spies on them and discovers their plot: to rob the bakery. As soon as they climb through the window, little Jean quickly secures the shutters with strong ropes, enters the shop and locks the door to the room where the two thieves are operating. The burglars, trapped, take refuge, one in the chimney, the other in the kneading trough. And it is black as coal and white as a baker's boy that they are caught by the police and taken to the station, thanks to the little chimney sweep, who has paid his debt of gratitude with interest.

Sources: Fondation-Jerome Seydoux - Pathe and IMDb.

Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942), starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, is one of the greatest films in history. The romantic drama is based on the play 'Everybody Comes to Rick's' (1940), written by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, from whom Warner Brothers purchased the rights. Although the production was an A-list film with well-known stars and first-rate writers, no one involved expected the film to be a big success. Warner rushed the film into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier. Casablanca became a surprise success and went on to win the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Now, Casablanca is a classic and the lead characters, several quotes, and the theme song 'As Time Goes By' have all become iconic.


French postcard in the Collection Magie Noire by Éditions Hazan, Paris, 1990, no. 6224. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942).


German postcard by Pwc-Verlag, München (Munich) from the Prestel-book 'Fashion in Film. Claude Rains, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Henreid and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942). Caption: Costumes by Orri-Kelly.


Vintage postcard. Sydney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942).

The beginning of a beautiful friendship

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) was based on an unproduced stage play, 'Everybody Comes to Rick's', written by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. Burnett, an American Jew, inherited a considerable sum of money from an uncle in 1938 and decided to use it to visit his wife's family in Europe. In the summer of that year, the couple travelled to Antwerp. Once there, the young American was asked to go to Vienna to help his family. After the Anschluss, Viennese Jews were forbidden to take valuable possessions with them if they wanted to leave the country. At the American consulate, he was strongly advised against this since he himself was also Jewish. Burnett was given a pin with the Stars and Stripes and urged not to set foot on the streets of Austria without wearing that symbol visibly. In Vienna, he was horrified to see how the Nazis were discriminating against and humiliating Jews. The Burnetts managed to smuggle a large quantity of valuables out of the country by carrying them on their bodies. Frances, Murray's wife, wore a fur coat in the middle of summer, and Murray wore expensive rings on every finger.

Later, he visited a nightclub in the south of France, where he encountered not only an African-American pianist, but also visitors of various nationalities. He incorporated his experiences into the play. The character Ilsa was then still called Lois Meredith. Lois meets Laszlo after her affair with Rick in Paris. At this point, Rick is not yet a nightclub owner but a lawyer. The script circulated among various studios, and opinions about its quality varied. Film analyst Stephen Karnot of Warner Bros. called it ‘intellectual pretentiousness’. Samuel Marx of MGM offered the writers $5,000, but was overruled by his boss, Louis B. Mayer. Despite Karnot's negative opinion, Warner Bros. bought the rights anyway. Jack Warner was persuaded by Irene Lee of the screenplay department to buy the rights for $20,000 in January 1942. That was the highest amount paid for the rights to a play that had not yet been produced.

Æneas MacKenzie and Wally Kline wrote the first version of the script. After six weeks, they disappeared, and the twins Julius and Philip Epstein took over. They were responsible for fleshing out the character of Renault and Rick's background. To make it plausible that Rick had retreated to Casablanca and had not reported for duty in the American army, they set the events before the attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941. They also changed Rick's background. He was no longer a lawyer, but a nightclub owner with a vague past. The reason why Rick cannot return to the US is not made clear in the film. The Epsteins admitted that they could not come up with a reason either, so in the end, they deliberately kept the reason vague. The brothers were also responsible for adding more comical elements. After a while, Howard Koch was brought in as an additional writer. He also wrote the screenplay, but separately from the Epsteins. He added more political and melodramatic elements. Casey Robinson and Lenore J. Coffee were hired for a few weeks to rewrite the different versions. Robinson also assisted in writing a number of scenes between Ilsa and Rick in the nightclub. Robinson and Coffee are not credited in the film, however. One of the things that the screenwriters copied wholesale from the play is the Vichy France transit papers, which play such an important role. In reality, these papers did not exist at all.

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) is set in December 1941 in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, which is controlled by the Vichy government of France. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) runs a famous nightclub with a casino here: 'Rick's Café Américain'. The nightclub attracts a varied clientele, including Vichy French and German officials, refugees desperate to reach the still-neutral United States, and those who prey on them. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, he ran guns to Ethiopia in 1935 and fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. One day, a petty crook, Ugarte (Peter Lorre), enters Rick's with travel documents that allow the bearer to travel freely around German-occupied Europe and to neutral Portugal. He gives the papers, obtained by murdering two German couriers, to Rick for safekeeping. Ugarte is then arrested by police commander Louis Renault (Claude Rains) and dies in his cell. No one now knows that Rick has the valuable documents. Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) then appear in the café. Ilsa sees Rick's friend and house pianist Sam (Dooley Wilson) and asks him to play ‘As Time Goes By’. Rick storms over to him, furious that Sam has ignored his order never to play that song again, and is then stunned to see Ilsa again. Ilsa is Rick's former lover from Paris, and Victor is a Czechoslovak resistance leader on the run. They desperately need these papers to flee to neutral Portugal and then to the United States.

German Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt) knows about the plan and comes to the café to prevent the transfer, making clear arrangements with police chief Louis Renault. The latter then closes the popular nightclub for two weeks due to illegal gambling. Rick now finds himself in conflict: he can give Victor and Ilsa the papers so that they can flee, he can seduce Ilsa and persuade her to leave for America with him, or he can sell the papers for a lot of money. Rick must choose between love and duty. When the café is empty, Ilsa demands the papers at gunpoint. Rick denies having them, and Ilsa does not dare to shoot. She then confesses that she is still in love with him. She explains that when they met and fell in love in Paris, she believed her husband had been killed while attempting to escape from a concentration camp. When she learned that Laszlo was alive and in hiding, she left Rick without explanation to nurse her sick husband. Rick sells his nightclub to Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), an underworld figure and Rick's friendly business rival, and withdraws his plan. Victor is then arrested by police commander Renault. However, Rick manages to persuade Renault to release Victor for the time being, so that he can be arrested later for possession of the travel documents. When Victor has the papers, and Renault wants to arrest him again, Rick manages to prevent this by threatening him with a gun. The four of them drive to the airport. When Major Heinrich Strasser appears at the airport, Rick shoots him dead. As Ilsa and Victor's plane departs, Louis shows another side of himself. He suggests to Rick that they leave for Brazzaville together to join the French resistance there. As they walk away into the fog, Rick says, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."


French postcard in the Collection Cinema by Editions Art & Scene, Paris, 1994, no. CA 86. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942).


Chinese postcard. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 136-32. Photo: The Ludlow Collection. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942).


American postcard by Ludlow Sales, New York, NY, no. FC-91. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Here's looking at you, kid

Woody Allen paid tribute to Casablanca in Play It Again, Sam (Herbert Ross, 1972) which he also wrote, based on his own 1969 Broadway play of the same name. Allen played a recently divorced film critic, Allan Felix, who identifies with the film Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) and the character Rick Blaine. ’Play it again, Sam' became the most famous quote from the film. However, these words are never said in the film. Ilsa says to pianist Sam: "Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake". Rick later says, "You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it!" But nowhere does anyone say, "Play it again, Sam". Six quotes from the film were added to the American Film Institute's top 100 film quotes. This is the highest number of quotes from a single film. The quotes are: "Here's looking at you, kid", "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", "I stick my neck out for nobody", "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine", "Round up the usual suspects" and "We'll always have Paris". The line "Here's looking at you, kid", said four times in the film, comes from Bogart himself. He had used it before in films. Rumour has it that he often said the phrase to Ingrid Bergman as she played poker with her English coach and hairdresser between takes. The music was written by Max Steiner, but the song 'As Time Goes By' by Herman Hupfeld had been part of the story from the original play. The song enjoyed a resurgence after the release of Casablanca, spending 21 weeks on the hit parade.

Humphrey Bogart was producer Hal B. Wallis' logical choice for the role of Rick. Earlier, Jack Warner had offered the role to George Raft, but he had declined. When Wallis chose Bogart, Raft became interested in the role after all and tried to persuade Jack Warner to choose him. However, Warner stood by his producer, and the role went to Bogart. There were no other candidates. Joan Alison, one of the writers of 'Everybody Comes to Rick's', disagreed with the choice of Bogart, whom she considered a drunkard. She would have preferred Clark Gable. Ingrid Bergman was also the first choice for the role of Ilsa from the outset. Unlike Bogart, she did have competition. Actresses Edwige Feuillère, Michèle Morgan and Tamara Toumanova were also in the running for the role. Bergman was under contract with producer David O. Selznick, who was preparing her for the lead role in For Whom the Bell Tolls (Sam Wood, 1943), which was to be released in 1943. Hal B. Wallis sent the Epstein brothers to Selznick to persuade him to loan Bergman. Selznick agreed when he was given an explanation of the script. What probably helped was that Warner Bros. loaned Olivia de Havilland to Selznick.

Many of the extras and actors who played Germans in the film were German Jews who had fled Germany or Germans who opposed the Nazi regime. Conrad Veidt, who played Major Heinrich Strasser, was also anti-Nazi. He had to flee Germany in the 1930s because the SS wanted to kill him. For his role in the film, he was paid £25,000 for five weeks of filming. This made him the highest-paid actor in Casablanca. Ferrari and Ugarte were played by Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, a duo who would later become known as ‘Little Pete-Big Syd’. Lorre had previously worked with Bogart and Greenstreet, and Koch had great confidence in his acting skills. He regretted that Lorre's role was so small. The role of pianist Sam was played by drummer Dooley Wilson. Wilson could not play the piano, so he imitated the hand movements of pianist Elliot Carpenter. Since the music was recorded at the same time as the film was shot, Carpenter was hidden behind a curtain, but in such a way that Wilson could see him. Incidentally, it was a close call whether the role of Sam would have been played by a woman. Producer Wallis considered hiring Hazel Scott, Lena Horne or Ella Fitzgerald.

Almost all of the scenes were shot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, where Rick's café was recreated. The set designers based the décor on the real Hotel El Minzah in Tangier. This was the only set that was built especially for the film. All other sets, such as the streets of Casablanca and Paris, were existing sets for the film The Desert Song (Robert Florey, 1943) that were adapted. For the train station in Paris, a set from the film Now, Voyager (Irving Rapper, 1942) was used. The reason for the reuse was a construction freeze imposed by the government in connection with the war. Some stock footage was used for the scenes set in Paris. The final scene of the film, where Rick, Ilsa and Laszlo board the plane, is famous for the fog, which gives the scene the right atmosphere. However, the fog was a trick to conceal the fact that the plane, a Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior, was actually a smaller cardboard replica. Lilliputians were used to give the illusion that the plane was larger than it actually was. The only scene shot outside the studio was Major Strasser's arrival at the airport. This was done at what was then called Metropolitan Airport, now known as Van Nuys Airport, near Los Angeles. When filming had ended and post-production was underway, American troops landed in North Africa. On 8 November 1942, Casablanca was captured. The film itself would not premiere until the spring of 1943. There was a brief attempt to mention the invasion in the film, but the studio bosses did not think this was a good idea. A preview screening showed that the film was so well put together that no changes were necessary.

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) received good reviews and was a substantial, but not spectacular, box-office success. In the decades since its release, the film has grown in reputation. Casablanca has remained popular ever since and ranks high in IMDb's top 250. Film critics praise the charismatic acting of Bogart and Bergman, who work exceptionally well together, the deep characterisation, the skilful direction, the witty dialogue and the emotional impact of the work as a whole. The film was nominated for eight Oscars in 1943, winning three: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay based on a novel. The film poster was created by American graphic designer Bill Gold in 1942, when he was still working for Warner Bros. in New York. The poster was initially rejected because it was not provocative enough, so he depicted the main character with a gun in his hand. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress selected the film as one of the first for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Roger Ebert: "Seeing the film over and over again, year after year, I find it never grows over-familiar. It plays like a favorite musical album; the more I know it, the more I like it. The black-and-white cinematography has not aged as color would. The dialogue is so spare and cynical that it has not grown old-fashioned. Much of the emotional effect of Casablanca is achieved by indirection; as we leave the theater, we are absolutely convinced that the only thing keeping the world from going crazy is that the problems of three little people do after all amount to more than a hill of beans."


American postcard by Ludlow Sales, New York, NY, no. FC-128-50. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942).


French postcard by Sonis, no. B. 15. Photo: Warner Bros Pictures. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942).


American A poster by Warner Bros for Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942). Design: Bill Gold.


Dutch poster postcard by Eye Filmmuseum for the Dutch re-release of Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942). French poster by Warner Bros.

Sources: Roger Ebert (RogerEbert.com), Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.

Rod Cameron

Rod Cameron (1910-1983) was a Canadian-born film and television actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in Horror, War, Action and Science Fiction films, but is best remembered for his many Westerns.


Vintage postcard, no. 216. Photo: Republic Pictures.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 692. Photo: Universal-International.


French postcard in the Entr'acte series by Éditions Asphodèle, Mâcon, no. 001/16. Rod Cameron and Yvonne de Carlo on the set of Frontier Gal (Charles Lamont, 1945). Caption: Rod Cameron and Yvonne de Carlo are besieged by autograph hunters as they film on location.

Star status in action serials for Republic Pictures

Rod Cameron was born Nathan Roderick Cox in Calgary, Canada, in 1910. He grew up in New Jersey. He played on his high school basketball team and on a semi-professional football team. Despite those activities and others such as swimming and playing ice hockey, he couldn't join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police because he failed the physical examination. He decided to seek fame and fortune as an actor in New York and initially grabbed some work as a labourer on the Holland Tunnel project in Manhattan. When no progress was made acting-wise, Cameron moved to Hollywood.

He made his "debut" in an unbilled bit in one of Bette Davis' scenes in The Old Maid (Edmund Goulding, 1939). Upon release, however, he discovered his bit in the scene had been deleted. He worked as a stuntman and bit player for Paramount Pictures as well as a stand-in for such stars as Fred MacMurray. His early films include Heritage of the Desert (Lesley Selander, 1939) with Donald Woods, Rangers of Fortune (Sam Wood, 1940) with Fred MacMurray, North West Mounted Police (Cecil B. DeMille, 1940) starring Gary Cooper, and Henry Aldrich for President (Hugh Bennett, 1941) with Jimmy Lydon.

He also played bit roles at Universal Pictures, including in If I Had My Way (David Butler, 1940), starring Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean. He appeared in a Horror film, The Monster and the Girl (Stuart Heisler, 1941) and played Jesse James in The Remarkable Andrew (Stuart Heisler, 1941) for Paramount. In 1943, Cameron gained star status in action serials for Republic Pictures.

As crime-busting secret agent Rex Bennett, Cameron battled enemy terrorists in 15 weekly episodes of G-Men vs the Black Dragon (Spencer Gordon Bennet, William Witney, William J O'Sullivan, 1943). He was already working on another serial when the audience reaction to Black Dragon made him a hit. Cameron was sufficiently popular for the studio to turn the new production into another Rex Bennett adventure, Secret Service in Darkest Africa (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1943).

This time, clench-jawed Bennet faces the Nazis rather than the Japanese. As with the earlier instalment, Bennet is supported by characters from some of the allied nations in World War II. When cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown left Universal Pictures for Monogram Pictures, Cameron replaced him as Universal's Western series star with Fuzzy Knight as his comic sidekick. Tall and rugged, Cameron looked good in the saddle and was very popular.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Editore, no. 2385. Photo: Universal International.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L Photo: Republic Pictures.

A long string of outdoor action pictures

During World War II, Rod Cameron played in Commandos Strike at Dawn (John Farrow, 1942) starring Paul Muni, and played a US Marine in Wake Island (John Farrow, 1942) and Gung Ho! (Ray Enright, 1943), starring Randolph Scott. Universal also gave him roles in Salome, Where She Danced (Charles Lamont, 1945), Frontier Gal (Charles Lamont, 1945) and River Lady (George Sherman, 1948), all co-starring fellow Canadian Yvonne DeCarlo.

Universal reorganised as Universal-International and downsized its activities in 1947, leaving Cameron and other contract players unemployed. He was hired by Monogram Pictures for a long string of outdoor action pictures. In 1948, he starred in Panhandle (Lesley Selander, 1948), co-written by Blake Edwards, for Allied Artists, and with Bonita Granville in the comedy film Strike It Rich (Lesley Selander, 1949).

He then appeared in many Westerns and other films for Republic Pictures, including Santa Fe Passage (William Witney, 1955) with John Payne, and later The Gun Hawk (Edward Ludwig, 1963), Requiem for a Gunfighter (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1965) and The Bounty Killer (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1965) starring Dan Duryea.

Cameron travelled to Europe in 1964 to play the lead in Spaghetti Westerns such as Le pistole non discutono / Bullets Don't Argue (Mario Caiano, 1964) with Horst Frank, and Il piombo e la carne / Bullet in the Flesh (Marino Girolami, 1965).

In Germany, he made Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand / Winnetou and Old Firehand (Alfred Vohrer, 1966), starring Pierre Brice. He later appeared in such films as The Last Movie (Dennis Hopper, 1971), Evel Knievel (Marvin J. Chomsky, 1971) with George Hamilton, and the Horror film Psychic Killer (Ray Danton, 1975).


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès "Carboplane", no. 696. Photo: Republic Pictures.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L Photo: Republic Pictures.

A colourful private life

Rod Cameron starred in three syndicated television series: City Detective (1953–1955), State Trooper (1956–1959), and Coronado 9 (1960–1961). In City Detective, Cameron appeared as the tough New York City police Lieutenant Bart Grant. In State Trooper, a 1950s-style Western-themed crime drama, Cameron starred as Lieutenant Rod Blake of the Nevada State Police. In Coronado 9, set in the San Diego area, Cameron appeared as Dan Adams, a private detective.

State Trooper, in particular, was known for its surprise endings and guest stars despite not being affiliated with a network. Hal Erickson, in his book, 'Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987', cited Cameron's business sense in confining his work in TV series to syndication: "A canny businessman, Cameron knew that his City Detective residuals wouldn't have been as fat had a major television network been claiming a percentage of the action, and as a result the actor vowed to remain in syndication for the rest of his TV career.

By 1960, Cameron was drawing over $200,000 per annum in residuals [from his three syndicated programs]..." Cameron himself guest-starred in many TV Westerns, including six appearances on Laramie (1959), with John Smith and Robert Fuller, Bonanza (1959), and The Virginian (1962). Cameron also guest-starred in such dramatic series as Crossroads and Perry Mason, with Raymond Burr.

Cameron continued to work in motion pictures and television into the 1970s. He appeared in the very first Alias Smith and Jones (1971) episode that co-starred Roger Davis alongside series star Ben Murphy. Davis replaced Pete Duel after the actor committed suicide by gun on New Year's Eve 1971. He appeared in season 2 of James Garner's detective series, The Rockford Files.

Cameron's private life was colourful. In 1954, he divorced his second wife, Angela Alves-Lico (1950-1954) and later married her mother, actress Dorothy Alves-Lico Eveleigh (1960-1983), who was a few years older than him. They kept the marriage a secret until 1961. Hence, his former director, William Witney, publicly acclaimed Cameron the bravest man that he had ever seen. In his later years, Cameron lived on Lake Lanier in northern Georgia. In the 1970s, he was active in the Alcoholism Council of San Fernando Valley in Van Nuys, California, and he spoke to groups about problems related to alcoholism. An extended battle with cancer finally claimed the 73-year-old actor in 1983 at a Gainesville, Georgia, hospital. He had a daughter, Catherine Stanford Cox, with Doris Stanford, and a son, Anthony Roderick Cox Cameron, with Angela Alves-Lico. He was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


Dutch postcard, no. KF 42. Photo: Republic Pictures.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.I., Merksem (Anvers), no. C 24. Photo: Universal. Yvonne De Carlo, Rod Cameron and Beverly Sue Simmons in Frontier Gal (Charles Lamont, 1945).


British postcard in the Celebrity Autograph Series by Celebrity Publishers LTD., London, no. 181. Photo: Republic. Rod Cameron in Hell's Outpost (Joseph Kane, 1954).

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Jack Palance

Jack Palance (1919-2006) was an American actor and singer who portrayed some of the most intensely despised villains witnessed in Westerns and melodramas of the 1950s. In the late 1950s, he became an international star, who often played in Spaghetti Westerns and in the Nouvelle Vague classic Le Mépris / Contempt (1963) with Brigitte Bardot. He was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning an Oscar for his grizzled, eccentric role in City Slickers (1991).


Spanish postcard by Postalcolor, Hospitalet (Barcelona), no. 107. Photo: Warner Bros.


French postcard, no. 5979. French poster for Le Mépris / Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) starring Brigitte Bardot. Poster design: G. Allard.


Small West German collector card. Jack Palance in City Slickers (Ron Underwood, 1991).

Alan Ladd's biggest nightmare

Jack Palance was born Vladimir Ivanovich Palahniuk in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, in 1919. He was one of the six children of Ukrainian immigrants, Anna (née Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk, an anthracite coal miner. After his father had died of black lung disease, the sensitive, artistic lad worked in coal mines before becoming a professional boxer in the late 1930s. Fighting under the name Jack Brazzo, Palance reportedly compiled a record of 15 consecutive victories with 12 knockouts before losing a close decision to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi in a Pier-6 brawl. With the outbreak of World War II, Palance's athletic career ended, and his military career began as a member of the United States Air Force. He was honourably discharged from the United States Army Air Forces in 1944.

After the war, he attended Stanford University, leaving one credit shy of graduating to pursue a career in the theatre. During his university years, he worked as a short-order cook, waiter, soda jerk, lifeguard at Jones Beach State Park, and a photographer's model. His new last name, Palance, was a derivative of his original name. No one could pronounce his last name, and it was suggested that he be called Palanski. From that, he decided just to use Palance instead. In 1947, Palance made his Broadway debut in 'The Big', playing a Russian soldier, directed by Robert Montgomery.

His acting break came as Marlon Brando's understudy in 'A Streetcar Named Desire', and he eventually replaced Brando on stage as Stanley Kowalski. He debuted on television in 1949 and made his screen debut as a gangster in the Film Noir Panic in the Streets (Elia Kazan, 1950). As a plague-carrying fugitive, he stood out among a powerhouse cast including Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas. The same year, he made fine use of his former boxing skills and war experience for the film Halls of Montezuma (Lewis Milestone, 1951) about the United States Marines in World War II. He returned to Broadway for 'Darkness at Noon' (1951), by Sidney Kingsley, which was a minor hit.

Palance was second billed in just his third film, playing opposite Joan Crawford in the thriller Sudden Fear (David Miller, 1952). According to Gary Brumburg at IMDb, Palance found “the right menace and intensity to pretty much steal the proceedings”, and he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated in the same category the following year as well, for his role as the hired gunfighter Jack Wilson in Shane (George Stevens, 1953). Brumburgh again: “arguably his finest villain of the decade, that of creepy, sadistic gunslinger Jack Wilson, who becomes Alan Ladd's biggest nightmare (not to mention others) in the classic Western Shane (1953). Their climactic showdown alone is textbook.“ Shane was a huge hit, and Palance was now established as a film name. He played another villain in Second Chance (Rudolph Maté, 1953) opposite Robert Mitchum and was an Indian in Arrowhead (Charles Marquis Warren, 1953), opposite Charlton Heston.

Palance played the lead in Man in the Attic (Hugo Freegonese, 1953), a remake of The Lodger (1927), the classic silent film by Alfred Hitchcock. Palance was Attila the Hun in Sign of the Pagan (Douglas Sirk, 1954) with Jeff Chandler, and Simon Magus in the Ancient World epic The Silver Chalice (Victor Saville, 1954) with Paul Newman. He had the star part in I Died a Thousand Times (Stuart Heisler, 1955), a remake of High Sierra and was cast by Robert Aldrich in two star parts: as a Hollywood star in the Film Noir The Big Knife (1955) based on the play by Clifford Odets; and as a tough WW II soldier in Attack (1956). He was in a Western, The Lonely Man (Henry Levin, 1957), playing the father of Anthony Perkins, and played a double role in House of Numbers (Russell Rouse, 1957). In 1957, Palance won an Emmy Award for best actor for his portrayal of Mountain McClintock in the Playhouse 90 production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight.


German postcard by Netter's Verlag, Berlin.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D. 399. Photo: Paramount.


French postcard by Korès 'Carboplane', no. 328.

The meanest guy that ever lived

In the following years, Jack Palance became an international star. He was hired by British Warwick Films to play the hero in The Man Inside (John Gilling, 1958). He was reunited with Robert Aldrich and Jeff Chandler on Ten Seconds to Hell (1959), playing a bomb disposal expert, filmed in Germany. He made the drama Flor de Mayo / Beyond All Limits (Roberto Gavaldón, 1959), with Maria Felix, in Mexico, and Austerlitz (Abel Gance, 1960) in France. Then he did a series of adventure films in Italy: Revak the Rebel / The Barbarians (Rudolph Maté, 1961) with Milly Vitale, Rosmunda e Alboino / Sword of the Conqueror (Carlo Campogalliani, 1961) with Eleonora Rossi-Drago, and I mongoli / The Mongols (Andre DeToth, Leopoldo Savona, 1961) opposite Anita Ekberg.

Next, he appeared in the Commedia all'italiana Il giudizio universale / The Last Judgment (Vittorio De Sica, 1961) with Alberto Sordi, and the religious epic Barabbas (Richard Fleischer, 1961), starring Anthony Quinn. Jean-Luc Godard persuaded Palance to take on the role of Hollywood producer Jeremy Prokosch in the Nouvelle Vague classic Le Mépris / Contempt (1963) with Brigitte Bardot. Although the main dialogue was in French, Palance spoke mostly English. Palance returned to the US to star in the TV series The Greatest Show on Earth (1963–1964). He played a gangster in Once a Thief (Ralph Thomas, 1965) with Alain Delon.

Palance had a featured role opposite Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster in the Western The Professionals (Richard Brooks, 1966). He guest-starred on The Man from UNCLE and the episodes were released as a film, The Spy in the Green Hat (1967). Palance went to England to do Torture Garden (Freddie Francis, 1967) and did Kill a Dragon (Michael D. Moore, 1968) in Hong Kong. In 1969, Palance recorded a country music album in Nashville, released on Warner Bros. Records. It featured Palance's self-penned song ‘The Meanest Guy That Ever Lived’. His films continued to be international co-productions: They Came to Rob Las Vegas (Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi, 1968), the Zapata Western Il mercenario / The Mercenary (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) with Franco Nero, The Desperados (Henry Levin, 1969), and Justine ovvero le disavventure della virtù / Marquis de Sade: Justine (Jésus Franco, 1969), starring Klaus Kinski.

Palance had an excellent part in the Hollywood blockbuster Che! (Richard Fleischer, 1969) playing Fidel Castro opposite Omar Sharif in the title role, but the film flopped. Palance went back to action films and Westerns like the Macaroni-War film La legione dei dannati / Battle of the Commandos (Umberto Lenzi, 1970), with Curd Jürgens, and the Zapata Western Companeros (Sergio Corbucci, 1970) with Franco Nero and Tomás Milián. He had another good role in Monte Walsh (William A. Fraker, 1970), from the author of Shane, opposite Lee Marvin, but the film was a box office disappointment. So too was The Horsemen (John Frankenheimer, 1971) with Omar Sharif.

Palance supported Bud Spencer in Si può fare... amigo / It Can Be Done Amigo (Maurizio Lucidi, 1972) and Charles Bronson in Chato's Land (Michael Winner, 1972) and had the lead in the Spaghetti Western Tedeum / Sting of the West (Enzo G. Castellari, 1972). He returned to Hollywood for Oklahoma Crude (Stanley Kramer, 1973) with Faye Dunaway, and then went to England to star in Craze (Freddie Francis, 1974) opposite Diana Dors. In the late 1970s, Palance was mostly based in Italy. He supported Ursula Andress and Giuliano Gemma in Africa Express (Michele Lupo, 1976), Lee Van Cleef in Diamante Lobo / God's Gun (Gianfranco Parolini, 1976), and Thomas Milian in Squadra antiscippo / The Cop in Blue Jeans (Bruno Corbucci, 1976). Palance was in the exploitation film Eva Nera / Black Cobra Woman (Joe D’Amato, 1976) with Laura Gemser. He travelled to Canada to make the virtual reality film Welcome to Blood City (Peter Sasdy, 1977) and the US for the slasher film Alone in the Dark (Jack Sholder, 1982).


French postcard by P.I., no. 596, 1955. Photo: Paramount.


Spanish postcard by ANMAVI, no. 29.


Belgian postcard by Bromophoto, Bruxelles. Photo: Columbia CEIAD.

Billy Crystal... I crap bigger than him

In 1982, Jack Palance began hosting a television revival of Ripley's Believe It or Not!. The weekly series ran from 1982 to 1986 on the American ABC network. Palance had never been out of work since his career began. But his success on Ripley's Believe It or Not! and the international box-office hit of the German film Bagdad Cafe (Percy Adlon, 1987) resulted in a demand for his services in big-budget Hollywood films. He made memorable appearances as villains in Young Guns (Christopher Cain, 1988), Tango & Cash (Andrei Konchalovsky, 1989) and Batman (Tim Burton, 1989), starring Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker.

In 1992, four decades after his film debut, Palance won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as cowboy Curly Washburn in the comedy City Slickers (Ron Underwood, 1991). Stepping onstage to accept the award, the 6' 4" (1.93 m) actor looked down at 5' 7" (1.70 m) Oscar host Billy Crystal (also his co-star in the film), and joked, mimicking one of his lines from the film, "Billy Crystal... I crap bigger than him." He then dropped to the floor and demonstrated his ability, at age 73, to perform one-handed push-ups.

In 1993, during the opening of the Oscars, a spoof of that Oscar highlight featured Palance appearing to drag in an enormous Academy Award statuette with Crystal again hosting, riding on the rear end of it. Halfway across the stage, Palance dropped to the ground as if exhausted, but then performed several one-armed push-ups before regaining his feet and dragging the giant Oscar the rest of the way across the stage. His later films include Cyborg 2 (Michael Schroeder, 1993) with Angelina Jolie, Cops & Robbersons (Michael Ritchie, 1994) with Chevy Chase, and City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (Paul Weiland, 1994).

In 2003, he narrated the documentary Between Hitler and Stalin: Ukraine in World War II (Slavko Nowytski, 2003). In 2004, Palance, at the time chairman of the Hollywood Trident Foundation, walked out of a Russian Film Festival in Hollywood. After being introduced, Palance said, "I feel like I walked into the wrong room by mistake. I think that Russian film is interesting, but I have nothing to do with Russia or Russian film. My parents were born in Ukraine: I'm Ukrainian. I'm not Russian. So, excuse me, but I don't belong here." Palance was awarded the title of ‘People's Artist’ by Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, but Palance refused the title. His final performance was in the TV film Back When We Were Grownups (Ron Underwood, 2004), opposite Blythe Danner.

Jack Palance was married to his first wife, Virginia Baker, from 1949 to 1968. They had three children: Holly (1950), Brooke (1952), and Cody (1955–1998). On New Year's Day 2003, Baker was struck and killed by a car in Los Angeles. Palance's daughter, Brooke, married Michael Wilding, son of Michael Wilding Sr. and Elizabeth Taylor; they have three children. Cody Palance, an actor himself, appeared alongside his father in the film Young Guns. In 1987, Palance married his second wife, Elaine Rogers. In 2006, Jack Palance died of a sudden stroke at his daughter Holly's home in Montecito, California. He was 87.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 3484. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Publicity still for House of Numbers (Russell Rouse, 1957).


Vintage card. Jack Palance in Il mercenario / The Mercenary (Sergio Corbucci, 1968).


Spanish postcard by Soberanas / Sobe, no. 198.


French postcard by BS, no. 31, 2005. French poster for Le Mépris / Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) starring Brigitte Bardot. Poster design: Pierre Okley, 1963.

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.