29 June 2026

Ann Blyth

On 24 June 2026, American actress and singer Ann Blyth (1927) passed away in Rancho Santa Fe, California. She was often cast in Hollywood musicals, but she was also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The 98-year-old actress was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Ann Blyth in Another Part of the Forest (1948)
Dutch postcard by Foto-archief Film en Toneel, no. 3370. Photo: Universal-International. Ann Blyth in Another Part of the Forest (Michael Gordon, 1948).

Farley Granger and Ann Blyth in Our Very Own (1950)
Vintage postcard. Photo: Universal International. Farley Granger and Ann Blyth in Our Very Own (David Miller, 1950).

Mario Lanza and Ann Blyth in The Great Caruso (1951)
German photo-card. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Mario Lanza and Ann Blyth in The Great Caruso (Richard Thorpe, 1951).

Anthony Quinn and Ann Blyth in The World in His Arms (1952)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D. 213. Photo: Universal International. Anthony Quinn and Ann Blyth in The World in His Arms (Raoul Walsh, 1952).

Ann Blyth
West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/6.

A scheming, ungrateful daughter


Ann Blyth was born in 1927 in Mount Kisco, New York, to Harry and Nan Lynch Blyth. After her parents separated, she, her mother and her sister moved to a walk-up apartment on East 31st Street in New York City, where her mother took in ironing. Ann attended St. Patrick's School in Manhattan. Blyth performed on children's radio shows in New York for six years, making her first appearance at age 5. When she was nine, she joined the New York Children's Opera Company. Her first acting role was on Broadway at age 13 in Lillian Hellman's WWII drama 'Watch on the Rhine' (1941-1942). She played the part of Paul Lukas's and Mady Christians's daughter, Babette. The play ran for 378 performances and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.

After the New York run, the play went on tour. While performing at the Biltmore Theatre in Los Angeles, Blyth was noticed by director Henry Koster and given a screen test. She was offered a contract with Universal Studios. Blyth began her acting career initially as 'Anne Blyth', but changed the spelling of her first name back to "Ann" at the beginning of her film career. She made her film debut in 1944, teaming with Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan in the teenage musical Chip Off the Old Block (Charles Lamont, 1944). She followed it with two similar films: The Merry Monahans (Charles Lamont, 1944) with O'Connor and Ryan again, and Babes on Swing Street (Edward C. Lilley, 1944) with Ryan.

She had a support role in the bigger budgeted Bowery to Broadway (Charles Lamont, 1944), a showcase of Universal musical talent. On loan to Warner Brothers, Blyth was cast 'against type' as Veda Pierce, the scheming, ungrateful daughter of Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945). Her dramatic portrayal won her outstanding reviews, and she received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Blyth was only 17 when she made the film, for which Crawford won the Best Actress award. After Mildred Pierce, Blyth sustained a broken back while tobogganing in Snow Valley, and was not able to fully capitalise on the film's success. After a long convalescence (over a year and a half in a back brace), she made two films for Mark Hellinger's unit at Universal: Swell Guy (Frank Tuttle, 1946), with Sonny Tufts, and Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947) with Burt Lancaster. During this time, her father died.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer borrowed her to play the female lead in Killer McCoy (Roy Rowland, 1947), a boxing film with Mickey Rooney that was a box office hit. Back at Universal, she did a Film Noir with Charles Boyer, A Woman's Vengeance (Zoltan Korda, 1948). She was then cast in the part of Regina Hubbard in Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest (Michael Gordon, 1948), an adaptation of the 1946 play where Regina had been played by Patricia Neal. The play was a prequel to 'The Little Foxes'.

Blyth followed it with Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (Irving Pichel, 1948) with William Powell. She was top-billed in Red Canyon (George Sherman, 1949), a Western with Howard Duff. Paramount borrowed Blyth to play the female lead in Top o' the Morning (David Miller, 1949), a daughter of Barry Fitzgerald who is romanced by Bing Crosby. It was the first time she sang on screen. Back at Universal, she was teamed with Robert Montgomery in Once More, My Darling (Robert Montgomery, 1949), meaning she had to drop out of Desert Legion. She did a comedy with Robert Cummings, Free for All (Charles Barton, 1949). In April 1949, Universal suspended her for refusing a lead role in Abandoned (1949). Gale Storm played it.

Ann Blyth in Killer McCoy (1947)
Belgian card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 206. Ann Blyth in Killer McCoy (Roy Rowland, 1947).

Ann Blyth (1927-2026)
Dutch postcard by J. Sleding N.V., Amsterdam, no. 1051. Photo: Universal-International.

Ann Blyth
Dutch postcard by J. Sleding N.V., Amsterdam, no. 1250.

Ann Blyth
Dutch postcard.

Ann Blyth
Belgian postcard, no. 11. Photo: Universal-International.

Ann Blyth
West-German postcard by Netter's Star Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Universal International. A publicity still for Red Canyon (George Sherman, 1949).

Ann Blyth (1927-2026)
Vintage card. Photo: Universal Pictures.

Ann Blyth (1927-2026)
Vintage postcard. Photo: Universal.

A massive box office hit


Ann Blyth was borrowed by Sam Goldwyn to star opposite Farley Granger in Our Very Own (David Miller, 1950). Universal gave her top billing in a romantic comedy, Katie Did It (Frederick De Cordova, 1951). Blyth was borrowed by MGM for The Great Caruso (Richard Thorpe, 1951) opposite Mario Lanza, which was a massive box-office hit. She made Thunder on the Hill (Douglas Sirk, 1951) with Claudette Colbert and had the female lead in The Golden Horde (George Sherman, 1951) with David Farrar. Then, 20th Century Fox borrowed her to star opposite Tyrone Power in I'll Never Forget You (Roy Ward Baker, 1952), a last-minute replacement for Constance Smith. She appeared on TV in Family Theater in an episode called 'The World's Greatest Mother' alongside Ethel Barrymore. Universal teamed Blyth with Gregory Peck in The World in His Arms (Raoul Walsh, 1952). She was top-billed in the comedy Sally and Saint Anne (Rudolph Maté, 1952) and was borrowed by RKO for One Minute to Zero (Tay Garnett, 1952), a Korean War drama with Robert Mitchum where she replaced Claudette Colbert, who came down with pneumonia.

MGM had been interested in Blyth since The Great Caruso. In December 1953, Blyth left Universal, and she signed a long-term contract with MGM. She was the leading lady in All the Brothers Were Valiant (Richard Thorpe, 1953) with Stewart Granger and Robert Taylor, stepping in for Elizabeth Taylor, who had to drop out due to pregnancy. On television, she was in a version of A Place in the Sun for Lux Video Theatre alongside John Derek. Back at MGM, Blyth had the lead in the remake of Rose Marie (Mervyn LeRoy, 1954) with Howard Keel, which earned over $5 million but lost money due to high costs.

She was meant to be reteamed with Lanza in The Student Prince (Richard Thorpe, 1954), but he was fired from the studio and was replaced in the picture by Edmund Purdom. The film did well at the box office. Blyth and Purdom were reunited on a swashbuckler, The King's Thief (Robert Z. Leonard, 1955). She was teamed again with Keel on the musical Kismet (Vincente Minnelli, 1955). Despite strong reviews, the film was a financial flop. She was named for the female lead in The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955) but was eventually not cast in the film. MGM put Blyth in Slander (Roy Rowland, 1957) with Van Johnson. Sidney Sheldon cast Blyth in The Buster Keaton Story (Sidney Sheldon, 1957) with Donald O'Connor at Paramount. Warner Bros then cast her in the title role of The Helen Morgan Story (Michael Curtiz, 1957) with Paul Newman. Blyth reportedly beat 40 other actors for the part. Even though her voice was more like the original Helen Morgan, her vocals were dubbed by Gogi Grant. That soundtrack was much more successful than the film itself.

Blyth made no further films. In 1957, she sued Benedict Bogeaus for $75,000 for not making the film Conquest. From the late 1950s into the 1970s, Blyth worked in musical theatre and summer stock, starring in the shows 'The King and I', 'The Sound of Music', and 'Show Boat'. She also appeared on television, including co-starring opposite James Donald in The Citadel (1960), an adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel. She guest-starred on episodes of such series as The DuPont Show with June Allyson, The Dick Powell Theatre, Saints and Sinners, The Christophers, Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, and Burke's Law. Several of these appearances were for Four Star Television, with whom Blyth signed a multi-appearance contract.

Blyth also became the spokesperson for Hostess Cupcakes. Her last television appearances were in episodes of Switch (1983), Quincy, M.E. (1983) and Murder, She Wrote (1985). In 1985, she officially retired. For her contributions to the film industry, Blyth has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6733 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1953, Ann Blyth married obstetrician James McNulty, brother of singer Dennis Day, who had introduced them. After her marriage, Blyth took somewhat of a reprieve from her career to focus on raising their five children: Timothy Patrick (1954); Maureen Ann (1955); Kathleen Mary (1957); Terence Grady (1960); and Eileen Alana (1963).

Ann Blyth
West-German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 414. Photo: Universal International.

Ann Blyth (1927-2026)
Dutch postcard by DRC, no. F 208. Photo: MGM.

Ann Blyth
Belgian postcard. Photo: M.G.M.

Ann Blyth (1927-2026)
Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2947. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

Ann Blyth (1927-2026)
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1262. Photo: Paramount.

MGM Stars, including Judy Garland
Dutch postcard by Sparo (Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam). Photos: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The picture stars are Judy Garland, Betty Hutton, Vivian Blaine (twice), Monica Lewis, Pier Angeli, Ann Blyth and Mario Lanza, Coleen Gray, and Jane Powell. The postcard must date from ca. 1951 when Blyth and Lanza starred together in The Great Caruso (Richard Thorpe, 1951).

Ann Blyth
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 675. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 1952.

Ann Blyth
Belgian postcard, no. 11. Photo: MGM.

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

28 June 2026

Tommy Sands

Tommy Sands (1937) is an American country, rockabilly and pop musician and actor. After scoring a national hit with the song 'Teen-Age Crush' in 1957, Sands embarked on a career as a singer and actor.

Tommy Sands
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 3675. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Tommy Sands in Sing Boy Sing (Henry Ephron, 1958).

Tommy Sands
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 3676. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Tommy Sands on the set of Sing Boy Sing (Henry Ephron, 1958).

Tommy Sands
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 5531.

Colonel Tom Parker


Thomas Adrian 'Tommy' Sands was born in 1937 in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ben Sands, was a pianist, and his mother, Grace Dickson, sang in Art Kassel’s big band. He moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, at a young age.

Sands' mother gave him a guitar for Christmas when he was seven. He taught himself to play, and within a year, he was performing twice a week on The Louisiana Hayride, a country music programme broadcast on KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was twelve (some sources say fifteen) when Colonel Tom Parker, who later also managed Elvis Presley, heard about him.

In 1951, he and his mother moved to Houston, where, he cut his first record for Freedom Records. Parker offered him a recording contract with RCA Records, but his first recordings did not sell well. After high school, Sands moved to Los Angeles. He was a regular guest on Tennessee Ernie Ford’s radio show and discovered a passion for acting.

In early 1957, he was invited to appear in an episode of ‘Kraft Television Theatre’, called 'The Singin’ Idol'. He played a singer who bore a striking resemblance to Elvis Presley, complete with guitar, an Elvis hairstyle and a host of enthusiastic teenage fans.

Colonel Parker helped Sands land the lead role. The song ‘Teenage Crush’ was played in the episodes, and it struck a chord with the young audience. Capitol Records released it, and it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 album charts. It turned Sands into a star overnight. He received eight times more fan mail than any other actor who had appeared on a Kraft Television Theatre episode.

Tommy Sands
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg, Rotterdam, no. 5228.

Tommy Sands
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 3663. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Tommy Sands
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 3665. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Sing Boy Sing


Tommy Sands no longer played country music, but instead the far more popular rockabilly, rock ’n’ roll and, from the late 1950s onwards, pop. His young age and good looks quickly made him a teenage idol, and further hits followed for Capitol, such as ‘Goin’ Steady’ (#16), ‘The Worryin’ Kind’ (#69) and ‘Ring My Phone’ (#16), though none of these came close to matching the success of his debut single. His 1957 album 'Steady Date with Tommy Sands' reached number four on the album charts.

Thanks to his sudden success, Tommy Sands was invited to sing the Oscar-nominated song, 'Friendly Persuasion' at the 1957 Academy Award ceremonies. He did another episode of Kraft Television Theatre, 'Flesh and Blood' (1957), playing the son of a gangster. He also made 'The Promise' for Zane Grey Theatre (1957), playing the son of a character played by Carl Benton Reid and the brother of a character played by Gary Merrill.

In 1958, he was offered the lead role in the musical film Sing Boy Sing (Henry Ephron, 1958), an expansion of 'The Singin' Idol'. The title track reached number 24 on the Hot 100, whilst the accompanying album peaked at number 17. In the long run, however, Sands was unable to establish himself in the record business. His hits faded from the charts again in the late 1950s. Between 1961 and 1967, Sands was signed to labels including Buena Vista, ABC-Paramount and Imperial Records.

Sands supported Pat Boone in a musical for Fox, Mardi Gras (Edmund Goulding, 1958), which was a moderate hit. In 1960, he married Nancy Sinatra. During the 1960s, Sands appeared in several films, including the Disney musical Babes in Toyland (Jack Donohue, 1961) with Ray Bolger, the war epic The Longest Day (Andrew Marton, a.o., 1962) and Ensign Pulver (Joshua Logan, 1964).

IMDb alleges that when Sands divorced Nancy Sinatra in 1965, his former father-in-law, Frank Sinatra, saw to it that Tommy's career went permanently on the rocks. In an interview with Cable TV host Skip E Lowe, Sands dispelled that and said Frank was warm, soft and kind and had nothing to do with it. Anyhow, his last feature film was The Violent Ones (Fernando Lamas, 1967) with Lamas and Aldo Ray. Sands moved to Hawaii and retired, though he would act in some TV episodes until 1978. In Hawaii, Sands operated the Tommy Sands Nightclub Tour for five years and performed at the Outrigger Hotel in Waikiki. In 1974, Sands married Sheila Wallace, a secretary, in Honolulu. Sands returned permanently to the mainland of the US in 1981, settling in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He toured regularly, performing concerts. With Sheila Wallace, he has a daughter, Jessica Sands, who became a singer, model and later, a make-up artist.

Tommy Sands
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, G.m.b.H, Minden / Westf., no. 1580.

Tommy Sands
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, licence holder for the Netherlands of Universum Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. 1175. Photo: Ufa/Film-Foto / Terb Agency.

Tommy Sands
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 5255.

Sources: Alan Eichler (YouTube), Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.

27 June 2026

One Hundred Years Ago

Today is our final day in Bologna. For our last post on Il Cinema Ritrovato 2026, we travel with the Time Machine to the section 'A Hundred Years Ago', curated by Oliver Hanley. For the 24th year in a row, Il Cinema Ritrovato devotes a portion of its programme to the cinema of 100 years past with a curated selection of films made and released in 1926. 'This year we’ll go mining for gold in the Yukon (by way of the Soviet Union) with Lev Kuleshov, witness the destruction of ancient Pompeii with Carmine Gallone and Amleto Palermi, make a Faustian bargain with the devil with F.W. Murnau, and visit two very different sides of Paris with Alberto Cavalcanti and Ernst Lubitsch', the festival website promises. For this post, we followed our own route and selected 30 remarkable postcards for films from 1926. Arrivederci, Bologna!

Gösta Ekman and Emil Jannings in Faust (1926)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 62/4. Photo: ParUfaMet / Ufa. Gösta Ekman and Emil Jannings in Faust (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1926). Collection: Didier Hanson.

Ivan Mozzhukhin and Nathalie Kovanko in Michel Strogoff (1926)
French postcard by Europe, no. 180. Photo: Société des Cinéromans. Ivan Mozzhukhin, Nathalie Kovanko and Acho Chakatouny in Michel Strogoff (Victor Tourjansky, 1926), based on Jules Verne's classic novel.

Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate (1926)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4777/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists. Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate (Albert Parker, 1926).

Adolphe Menjou in The Sorrows of Satan (1926)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1810/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Fanamet. Adolphe Menjou in The Sorrows of Satan (D.W. Griffith, 1926).

Pola Negri in Good and Naughty
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3068/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount / Fanamet. Pola Negri in Good and Naughty (Malcolm St. Clair, 1926).

Rudolph Valentino in The Son of the Sheik (1926)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3373/1, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists. Rudolph Valentino in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).

Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1795/3, 1927-1928. Photo: United Artists. Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky in The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926).

Maria Jacobini in Beatrice Cenci (1926)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci Ed. for Unica - Ciocolato Talmone al latte. Photo: Pittaluga Film. Maria Jacobini in Beatrice Cenci (Baldassarre Negroni, 1926).

Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni
Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 818. Photo: Pittaluga Films, Torino. Publicity still for Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni / Maciste in the Lions' Cage (Guido Brignone, 1926).

Oreste Bilancia in Die Flucht in die Nacht (1926)
Italian postcard by Edizione A. Traldi, Milano, no. 946. Oreste Bilancia in Die Flucht in die Nacht / The Flight in the Night (Amleto Palermi, 1926), based on the play 'Enrico IV' by Luigi Pirandello.

Maciste all'inferno (1926)
Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano. Photo: Pittaluga Films, Torino. Publicity still for the Italian silent film Maciste all'inferno / Maciste in Hell (Guido Brignone, 1926), starring Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste. Caption: The Inhabitants of the Underworld.

Maciste in Maciste contro lo sceicco
Italian postcard. Photo: Pittaluga Film, Turin. Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste in Maciste contro lo sceicco / Maciste against the Sheik (Mario Camerini, 1926).

Harry Piel in Was ist los im Zirkus Beely? (1926)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1629/1. Photo: Nero-Film, Berlin. Was ist los im Zirkus Beely? / The Phantom of the Circus (Harry Piel, 1927) was Harry Piel's 75th film. It was the first Harry Piel film with a full-grown predator as Piel's companion: the tiger Bylard from the Leipzig Zoo. Mathias Bleckmann, in his 1992 biography of Piel, tells a nice anecdote. To the admiration of the wrangler present, Piel calmly managed to have the animal adapt to the camera. To have the tiger lick his face as the script demanded, he smeared his own mouth with cheese, but he had forgotten that a tiger's tongue might be sharp as a blade - so he ended up a few days in hospital...

Richard Talmadge in The Night Patrol (1926)
Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5508. Photo: F.B.O. / Wiener Lichtbilderei. Richard Talmadge in The Night Patrol (Noel M. Smith, 1926).

Vasili Yaroslavtsev in Bukhta smerti (1926)
Soviet postcard: Photo: Vasili Yaroslavtsev in Bukhta smerti / The Bay of Death (Abram Room, 1926).

La Jana in Die Weisse Geisha (1926)
German postcard. Photo: Deutsch-Nordische Film-Union. La Jana in Die Weisse Geisha / Den hvide Geisha / The White Geisha (Valdemar Andersen, Karl Heiland, 1926). Caption: The white Geisha and the Rikshaman.

Leni Riefenstahl and Luis Trenker in Der heilige Berg (1926)
German postcard by Taschen, from the book 'Leni Riefenstahl: Five Lives' (2000). Leni Riefenstahl and Luis Trenker in Der heilige Berg / The Holy Mountain (Arnold Fanck, Leni Riefenstahl, 1926). Caption: The Ice Cathedral.

Agnes Esterhazy in Der Student von Prag (1926)
German postcard by Sokal Film, Berlin, for Residenz-Theater. Agnes Esterhazy in Der Student von Prag / The Man Who Cheated Life (Henrik Galeen, 1926).

Gunnar Tolnaes in Die Lieblingsfrau des Maharadscha (1926)
Danish postcard by Nordisk. Photo: Deutsch Nordische Film Union / Nordisk. Gunnar Tolnaes in Maharadjahens yndlingshustru / The Maharaja's Favourite Wife (A.W. Sandberg, 1926), released in Germany as Die Lieblingsfrau des Maharadscha.

André Roanne in Mlle. Josette ma Femme (1926)
French postcard by Europe, no. 190. Photo: Soc.té des Cinéromans. André Roanne in Mlle. Josette ma femme / Fräulein Josette - Meine Frau / A Marriage of Convenience (Gaston Ravel, 1926).

Angelo Ferrari and Agnes Esterhazy in Die Flucht in die Nacht (1926)
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 3536. Angelo Ferrari and Agnes Esterhazy in Die Flucht in die Nacht / The Flight in the Night (Amleto Palermi, 1926). The Italian title was Enrico IV.

Thor Christiernsson in Fänrik Ståls sägner (1926)
Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 467. Photo: SBF / Film AB Nordstjaernan. Thor Christiernsson as Lt. Colonel K.L. Lode in the two-part historical film Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926). The film is set during the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia in 1808-1909, during the Napoleonic era. The script by Ivar Johansson was based on the epic poem 'The Tales of Ensign Stål' (1848) by nineteenth-century writer Johan Ludvig Runeberg. The film was shot at the Råsunda Studios in Stockholm, and exteriors were shot at Tavastehus, Ritoniemi, Ruovesi and other places. Cinematography was by Hugo Edlund and Karl Andersson, and sets were designed by Vilhelm Bryde. Runeberg's work had already been filmed in 1910 and would be again in 1939.

Nils Asther and Lily Damita in Die goldene Schmetterling (1926)
Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, no. 2. Photo: Sacha Film / Phoebus Film. Nils Asther and Lily Damita in the Austro-German coproduction Die goldene Schmetterling / The Golden Butterfly (Mihaly Kertesz / Michael Curtiz, 1926).

La croisière noire. Indigenous Ubangi dressed for the ritual dance of the Gan'za
French postcard by Ed. Expédition Citroën. Still from La croisière noire / The Black Journey (Léon Poirier, 1926). Caption: Indigenous Ubangi dressed for the ritual dance of the Gan'za. Ubangi-Shari was a French colony in Africa, part of French Equatorial Africa. It is now the Central African Republic. The French expedition film La croisière noire / The Black Journey (1926) was one of the publicity missions sponsored by André Citroën, with support from the Société de géographie and the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, to promote his vehicles. The mission aimed to open a regular motor route in Africa and had political and cultural overtones. Starting at Béchaar, Algeria, on 28 October 1924, the expedition crossed the Sahara Desert and proceeded through Mali, Nigeria, Chad and Ubangi-Shari in French Equatorial Africa (AEF) and the Belgian Congo. The film and photos represent the European colonial gaze of a century ago.

Alice Terry and Antonio Moreno in Mare Nostrum (1926)
Italian postcard by BFF (Ballerini & Fratini), no. 423. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn, Roma. Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926).

Marion Davies in Beverly of Graustark (1926)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci Editore, Milano, no. 603. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Films. Marion Davies in Beverly of Graustark (Sidney Franklin, 1926).

John Barrymore in Don Juan (1926)
Reproduction of film still for Don Juan (Alan Crossland, 1926). Photo: Warner/ Vitaphone. John Barrymore as Don Juan fighting Count Giano Donati (Montague Love), while Cesare Borgia (Warner Oland) and Lucrezia Borgia (Estelle Taylor) look on. Set design by Ben Carré.

Lillian Gish in La Bohème
German postcard nu Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3424/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Lillian Gish in La Bohème (King Vidor, 1926).

Reinhold Schünzel in In der Heimat, da gibt's ein Wiedersehn! (1926)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no 69/1. Photo: Reinhold Schünzel-Film / Ufa. Reinhold Schünzel and Margot Walter in In der Heimat, da gibt's ein Wiedersehn! / We'll Meet Again in the Heimat (Reinhold Schünzel, Leo Mittler, 1926). It meant the screen debut for Margot Walter (1903-1994), later known as Margot Landa when married to actor-director Max Landa.

Dolores Del Rio and Edmund Lowe in What Price Glory? (1926)
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 331. Photo: Max Munn Autrey / Fox Film. Dolores Del Rio and Edmund Lowe in What Price Glory? (Raoul Walsh, 1926).