Henry Seemann

Henry Frederik Seemann (1875-1948) was a Danish actor who appeared in a number of silent films between 1906 and 1926.


Hungarian postcard by Projectograph. Caption: Henry Seemann, film actor at Nordisk Films Kompagni.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Copenhagen. Henry Seemann in the operetta 'Valsedrømme' (Ein Walzertraum) (1907) by Oscar Strauss.

The most elegant gentleman of Danish operetta

Henry Frederik Seemann was born in 1875 in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. He was the son of wine merchant Emil Seemann and his wife Cathinka Elisabeth Edvardine Droskau. He trained as a wholesaler, but in 1902 chose to pursue acting and joined the Frederiksberg Theatre.

In 1904, he debuted in 'Det grønne håb' (The Green Hope) and soon became a much sought-after operetta actor. From 1907 to 1913, he performed at Casino under the direction of Herman Bang, replacing Holger Reenberg as Danilo in “The Merry Widow,” among other roles.

Seemann later became a star operetta singer at Scala, playing numerous roles in all of Scala's revues. His greatest success was as Schubert in 'Das Dreimäderlhaus'. Seemann had an excellent voice and was an adored operetta actor and singing enthusiast, described as the most elegant gentleman of Danish operetta.

In 1908, Henry Seemann made his film debut with Nordisk Film, where he appeared in around 60 silent films. He had major parts in Doktor Gar el Hama (Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen, 1911) with Aage Hertel in the title role.

He often played roles in films starring the Danish superstar Valdemar Psilander, including Mormonens Offer / A Victim of the Mormons (August Blom, 1911), Det bødes der for/ Vengeance (August Blom, 1911), Livets Løgn / A Fatal Lie (August Blom, 1912), also with Gerda Krum, Scenen og livet/ Stage and Life (August Blom, 1912), also with Gerda Krum and Clara Wieth.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Copenhagen. Henry Seemann in the operetta 'Valsedrømme' (Ein Walzertraum) (1907) by Oscar Strauss.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Copenhagen, no. 687. Henry Seemann and Gerda Krum in the Franz Lehar operetta 'Der Mann mit den drei Frauen' (Manden med de tre koner) (1907).

A leading man at Nordisk

For Nordisk, Henry Seemann had male leads in Bagtalelsens gift / The Poison of Slander (dir. unknown, 1912) and Kærlighedens firkløver/ The Four-leaf Clover of Love (Alfred Cohn, 1914), and he had a major part in Doctor X (Robert Dinesen, 1915) with Gunnar Tolnaes.

He played detective Jackson opposite Aage Hertel as the title character in parts III, IV and V of Manden med de ni Fingre/ The Man With Nine Fingers (A.W. Sandberg, 1916-1917). In Hjertestorme / Storms of the heart (August Blom, 1916), he is the ophthalmologist whose patient (Clara Wieth) falls in love with him.

In Troen, der frelser / Faith That Saves (Alexander Christian, 1917), he is a Western diplomat leading a happy life with his Japanese wife (Clara Wieth), until his assistant falls in love with her. From 1913 to 1914, Seemann also appeared in a small number of films for Kinografen. After 1918, Seemann's film career dwindled. The last film he acted in was Klovnen / The Clown (A. W. Sandberg, 1926).

After leaving the stage and screen in the late 1920s, Seemann obtained a cinema license for Bagsværd Biograf and later for Kinoteatret in Lyngby, which he ran together with his wife, actress Agnes Nørlund Seemann. In his spare time, he did a lot of work with dog breeding and introduced several breeds to Denmark. In 1941, he sold the 'Haraldslund' property near Lyngby to the municipality of Gladsaxe, which needed part of the land to expand the Ring Road between Lyngby and Bagsværd.

He was married to Bertha Amalie Marie Seemann, née Jakobsen. In 1919, he married Agnes Nørlund Seemann in Gentofte Church. Henry Seemann died in 1948 and was buried at Gentofte Cemetery.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, no. 1681. Henry Seemann and Gerda Christophersen in the Oscar Strauss operetta 'Ein Walzertraum' (1907).


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 927. Photo: H. Paetz. In 1910, Gerda Krum, then called Krum-Juncker, performed opposite Henry Seemann at the Casino in Copenhagen in the operetta 'Greven af Luxemburg' (Der Graf von Luxemburg) (1909) by Franz Léhar.

Source: Wikipedia (Danish), Danskefilm (Danish) and IMDb.

Christian Slater

American actor Christian Slater (1969) began his career at the age of 7. At 17, he co-starred with Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose (1986). He became a teen idol in such cult classics as Heathers (1989), Pump Up the Volume (1990) and True Romance (1993). Slater acted in big-budget films like Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Broken Arrow (1996) and Hard Rain (1998). Since 2000, he mixed TV work with leading roles in lower-budget films. He received critical acclaim for the series Mr. Robot (2015-2019) and The Spiderwick Chronicles (2024), and the films Bobby (2006), Lars van Trier's Nymphomaniac (2013) and The Wife (2017) starring Glenn Close.


British postcard by Heroes Publishing LTD, London, no. SPC2570.


French poster postcard by Editions Mercuri, no. 604. Spanish poster for Christian Slater in Kuffs (Bruce A. Evans, 1992).


English postcard, no. C097. Caption: Christian Slater - Portrait.

A murderous high school student

Christian Michael Leonard Slater was born in 1969 in New York City. He was the son of Michael Hawkins, a well-known soap actor, and Mary Jo Slater (née Lawton), a casting agent. Christian started in show business early, appearing on the soap opera The Edge of Night (1976) at the age of 7. He made his theatre debut opposite Dick Van Dyke in the musical 'The Music Man' (1980). His other Broadway credits include 'Macbeth', 'David Copperfield' and 'Merlin'.

In Hollywood, he landed the role of Billie Jean's brother, Binx Davey, in The Legend of Billie Jean (Matthew Robbins, 1985) with Helen Slater. He then played alongside Sean Connery in the historical thriller In the Name of the Rose (Jean Jacques Annaud, 1986), based on the novel by Umberto Eco. Slater played Connery's apprentice monk, and they investigated a series of murders at a Benedictine abbey. In contrast to its box office success in Europe, The Name of the Rose was only moderately successful in the USA.

Christian Slater moved to Los Angeles in 1987 to pursue a further acting career after dropping out of high school. Slater next played Junior Tucker in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (Francis Coppola, 1988), starring Jeff Bridges. He had his breakthrough as a murderous high school student, Jason 'J.D.' Dean, in the black comedy Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1988), with Winona Ryder.

Further teenage roles followed. He played a young gunslinger in Young Guns 2 (Geoff Murphy, 1990) opposite Emilio Estevez and a cynical pirate radio host in Pump Up the Volume (Allan Moyle, 1990) with Samantha Mathis.

In the cult film True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993), based on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino, he and Patricia Arquette played the lead roles of a newlywed couple on the run from the mafia. Privately, he became somewhat known as the Hollywood bad boy, having many run-ins with the law. He dated stars such as Christina Applegate, Samantha Mathis and was engaged to actress/model Nina Huang.


Spanish postcard by Memory Card, no. 87. Image: lobby card with Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater in True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993). The Spanish title is Amor a quemarropa.


Spanish postcard by Memory Card, no. 88. Image: lobby card with Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater in True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993). The Spanish title is Amor a quemarropa.

One of the major A-list stars of the 1990s

Christian Slater's career reached its peak when he appeared as Will Scarlet in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Kevin Reynolds, 1991), starring Kevin Costner. The film was a commercial success, taking US$390 million worldwide, and Slater became one of the major A-list stars of the 1990s.

He played leading roles or larger supporting roles in big-budget Hollywood films such as Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan, 1994), Broken Arrow (John Woo, 1996), and Hard Rain (Mikael Salomon, 1998). In 2000, he married Ryan Haddon, the daughter of 1970s model Dayle Haddon. The couple had two children, Jaden Christopher (1999) and Eliana Sophia (2001). They divorced in 2006.

His reputation clearly suffered from negative publicity surrounding his personal life with substance abuse and some poorly received films, such as Windtalkers (John Woo, 2002) and Mindhunters (Renny Harlin, 2004). From then on, his films were almost exclusively direct-to-video. He eventually turned to television.

In 2002, he had a three-episode guest appearance in the popular series The West Wing. He subsequently played leading roles in the television series My Own Worst Enemy (2008), The Forgotten (2009–2010), Breaking In (2011–2012), and Mind Games (2014), all of which were cancelled after the first season. From 2015 to 2019, Slater played the title role, a computer hacker, in the series Mr. Robot, for which he received a Golden Globe Award. The series with Rami Malek ran for four seasons.

In the cinema, he played several character roles. He was the father of Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in Lars von Trier's controversial drama Nymphomaniac (2013). He also played gay porn producer Bryan Kocis in King Cobra (Justin Kelly, 2016) and a curious journalist alongside Glenn Close in The Wife (Björn Runge, 2017). In 2013, he married Brittany Lopez, with whom he has two children. For his role as Mulgarath in the fantasy series The Spiderwick Chronicles (2024), Slater received the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performer.


French poster card by Editions Avant Garde, no. P1239. Poster: Morgan Creek Entertainment / 20th Century Fox. Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips and Christian Slater in Young Guns II (Geoff Murphy, 1990). Caption: The West just got wilder.


Dutch postcard by Four Corners. Photo: Wild Bunch. Christian Slater in Nymphomaniac / Nymph()maniac (Lars von Trier, 2013). Caption: Forget about love.

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

Irén Varsányi

Irén Varsányi (1878-1932) was a renowned but now forgotten Hungarian stage actress who was one of the founders and first stars of the Vígszínház Comedy Theatre in Budapest, and also acted in four Hungarian silent films. Varsányi wonderfully acted the new type of woman of the time: the easy-going bourgeoise.


Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest.


Hungarian postcard by the magazine Shinhazi Elet (Theatre Life), Budapest, published by Jozsef Pécal. Photo: Angelo, Budapest, 1919. Irén Varsányi in Ferenc Molnár's play 'Liliom'.

The new type of woman of the time

Irén Varsányi was born in 1877 or 1878 (sources differ) as Malvin Wollner in a Jewish family in Györ, Hungary, a middle-class city at the time. She moved with her family to Budapest to enrol in drama school. Here she was discovered by theatre director Mór Ditrói, who immediately signed the 18-year-old, who had not even graduated, to the newly founded Vígszínház Comedy Theatre.

The theatre was founded in 1894 and opened in 1896, amidst Budapest's population explosion and hunger for theatre. She played the role of Ibolyka in the opening performance, 'The Barangók'. Varsányi was an instant success. After countless actresses portraying the traditional female roles of the time, naïve, comic, and dramatic heroines, with learned gestures, Varsányi's effortless naturalism was refreshing.

Irén Varsányi wonderfully brought out the new type of woman of the time: the easy-going bourgeoise. Her greatness lay in the fact that she could play far more than only one character. Varsányi was a universal actress, which was new for the time. She played Ferenc Molnár's 'Liliom', George Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion', Carlo Goldoni's 'Mirandolina', etc.

Between 1918 and 1920, Irén Varsányi acted in four Hungarian silent films: she debuted as the title character and protagonist of Anna Karenina (Márton Garas, 1918), based on Leo Tolstoy's classic novel. Dezsõ Kertész played her lover Vronsky, while Karenin was played by Emil Fenyvessy. In 1995, the Hungarian Film Institute and Compline Studio recreated the original Hungarian intertitles, thus restoring the film to its original state, while before only a version with German intertitles existed.

In 1919, Varsányi acted in two more films by Garas: A Táncosnö / The Dancer, starring Leopoldine Konstantin as the dancer, and again with Dezsõ Kertész and Emil Fenyvessy. Irén Varsányi also played a double role as the protagonist in Sappho, also with Fenyvessy and Victor Varconi. In 1920, Varsányi played a supporting part in her last film, A színésznö / The Actress (Antal Forgács, 1920), starring Helene von Bolvary and Paul Lukas.


Hungarian postcard. Photo: Båro Bianka, Budapest, 1918. Caption: Irén Varsányi and her little girl.


Hungarian postcard by the magazine Shinhazi Elet (Theatre Life), Budapest / City, no. 80. Photo: Báró Bianca. Irén Varsányi in Ernö Vajda's play 'Szerelem vására' (Love Fair), performed at Vígszínház (the Comedy Theatre).

A life refrained from scandals except one

In addition to her success on stage (and screen), Irén Varsányi led an exemplary family life. Her life was refrained from scandals, and she strictly protected her private life from the tabloids of the time.

In 1904, she married Illés Szécsi, an industrialist and landowner, one of the founding members of the Vígszínház. They lived opposite the Vígszínház, in a large bourgeois apartment. Their marriage was legendary, although contemporaries said that Varsányi had to give up much of her bohemian, easygoing spirit, honed in the acting world, to fit into the somewhat boring, bourgeois world.

Their two children were brought up in peace and affection. For Varsányi, it was important to spend time with them, to be part of their lives. During her long marriage, she only had one breakdown - she was said to be Ferenc Molnár's greatest love.

She met Molnár at the rehearsals of 'The Bodyguard' in 1910, and they fell madly in love. According to contemporaries, Varsányi then tried for once to break out of the bourgeois life, which was a little stifling, but also offered comfort and wealth. Molnár made her leave home and even initiated divorce proceedings. But when her daughter became ill, she returned to her family. Molnár attempted suicide soon after.

Irén Varsányi's career did not decline even as she aged out of her roles as young girls and naughty beauties, but we will never know what she would have been like as an elderly actress. She made her last appearance on stage in 1932, aged 54, by which time she had been battling illness for some time. In the autumn of that year, she underwent surgery for gallstones. The operation was a success, but Varsányi died two days later due to complications.


Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot, no. 8. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Irén Varsányi and Gyula Hegedüs in the stage comedy 'A kék róka' by Ferenc Herczeg.


Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Irén Varsányi and Gyula Csortos in the stage comedy 'A kék róka' by Ferenc Herczeg.


Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot, no. 14. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest 1917. Caption: the stage actors Irén Varsányi, Gyula Csortos, Frigyes Tanay, Frida Gombaszögi, and Gyula Hegedüs pose in the photo studio of Strelisky. 'Kék róka' means 'Blue fox,' referring to the eponymous stage comedy 'A kék róka' by Ferenc Herczeg. The play later became famous through the film adaptation Der Blaufuchs (Viktor Tourjansky, 1938) with Zarah Leander.

Sources: Nora Nemes (We love Budapest), Wikipedia (Hungarian) and IMDb.

Directed by Holger-Madsen

Holger-Madsen (1878-1943) was a Danish actor and film director. In 1911, he changed his name to Holger-Madsen and was also called Holger Bindestreg. He directed more than 40 films between 1912 and 1936. He also appeared in more than 20 films between 1908 and 1935.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2147. Photo: Nordisk Film. Lilly Jacobson as Marya, the Martian leader's daughter, in Himmelskibet / Das Himmelschiff (Holger-Madsen, 1918).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1850. Photo: Nordisk Films. Valdemar Psilander in Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German release title was Das zweite Ich.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2029. Photo: Union-Film / Nordisk. Hugo Bruun (also Hugo Brunn) and Lily Jacobson (Lilly Jacobsson) in Testamentets Hemmelighed / The Secret of the Testament (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German film title was Das trennende Band.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2149. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Himmelskibet / A Trip to Mars / Das Himmelschiff (Holger-Madsen, 1918) with Lily Jacobson as Marya, the Martian leader's daughter, and Gunnar Tolnaes as Avanti Planetaros.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 3131. Photo: Nordisk. Asta Nielsen and Alf Blütecher in Mod lyset / Towards the Light / Fackelträger (Holger-Madsen, 1919).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 821/2. Photo: National / Verleih Mondial A.G. Eliza La Porta and Walter Rilla in Die Sporck'schen Jäger / The Sporck Battalion (Holger-Madsen, 1927).

Fine and nuanced depictions of environments

Holger-Madsen was born Holger Madsen in Copenhagen in 1878. Holger Madsen debuted as an actor at Rønne Teater in 1896 and was a provincial actor until 1905. From 1905-1912, he was engaged at Casino and from 1912-1914 at Dagmarteatret. Holger-Madsen played significant roles at the theatre but distinguished himself especially by his talent for masking and was nicknamed 'Maske-Madsen' and 'Troldemads' in the theatre world. He never completely gave up his stage work, but between film assignments, he was engaged as a guest actor at various theatres.

Madsen debuted as a film actor at Nordisk Film in Den sorte hertug / The Black Duke (Viggo Larsen, 1907), now lost. He appeared in several films there until the end of the year. In 1911, he changed his name to Holger-Madsen. Until 1912, he appeared sporadically in quite a few films at various companies, including Ingvar Jørgensen Film.

In 1912, he directed his first film, Kun en Tigger / Only a Beggar (Holger-Madsen, 1912) at Filmfabrikken Skandinavien. He had also written the script and played the lead role of the beggar himself. The following year, he returned to Nordisk Film, and then his career really took off. In the period 1913-1919, Holger-Madsen directed around 80 films and became one of the company's leading director profiles. He often wrote the scripts himself, but only starred in a few films.

Holger-Madsen's films are distinguished primarily by fine and nuanced depictions of environments and beautiful photography and lighting. Evangeliemandens Liv / The Candle and the Moth (Holger-Madsen, 1915) was one of his most successful films, there is an intensity and surprising effect in the beautifully drawn environments and spaces: a harbor pub that exudes atmosphere and lots of depth, the 'evangelist's' ascetic room and not least the visually unforgettable scenes from the prison, where the prisoners with hoods over their heads are led to worship with the prison chaplain and placed side by side in their own small isolated 'window hole'.

The collaboration with the cinematographer Marius Clausen was exemplary and included at least 70 films. The pair were innovative in the use of camera angles and, not least, the lighting, which was a new 'discipline' in the early 1910s.


Danish postcards by Ed. Stenders. Holger-Madsen (standing right), Regnar Bjelke, and Sophus Neumann in the stage operetta 'Prins Incognito' by Preben Nodermann, performed at the Casino theatre in 1909.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1554. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Manden uden Fremtid / The Man Without A Future (Holger-Madsen, 1916). The German title was Prinz im Exil.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1916. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psiander and Ebba Thomsen in Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German release title was Das zweite Ich.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1921. Photo: Nordisk. Valdemar Psilander in Lykken / The Road to Happiness (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German release title was Das zweite Ich. NB. The card was sent from Czechoslovakia to Vienna, probably after the First World War. Czechoslovakia became a sovereign state in October 1918, one month before the war ended.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1937. Photo: Nordisk. Philip Bech (misspelt as Beck) as Baron Walden in Livets Gøglespil / An Impossible Marriage (Holger-Madsen, 1917), released in Germany as Die Spur der ersten Liebe. Here, .


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2017. Photo: Union-Film / Nordisk. Hugo Bruun in Børnenes Synd / Children's Sin (Holger-Madsen, 1917), released in Germany as Gottes Mühlen mahlen langsam. Bruun's last name is misspelt as Brunn.

Responsible for many of the period's blockbusters

Holger-Madsen was responsible for many of the period's blockbusters: the pacifist film Ned med Vaabnene! / Down with the Weapons! (1915), another pacifist film Pax Aeterna (1917) and the first Science-Fiction film, Himmelskibet / A Trip to Mars (1918). He also directed some of the more successful, intense, chamber-play-like dramas such as Elskovsleg / Liebelei (1914) after Arthur Schnitzler's play, Evangeliemandens Liv / The Candle and the Moth (1915) and En Kunstners Gennembrud / The Soul of the Violin (1919).

Also memorable are his films Den mystiske Fremmede / A Deal with the Devil (1914) with Olaf Fønss, Lykken / The Road to Happiness (1918) and Lydia / The Music-Hall Star (1918) with Valdemar Psilander, and Mod lyset / Towards the Light (1919) with Asta Nielsen. A young Carl Th. Dreyer wrote several scripts for Holger-Madsen's films before debuting himself as a film director. Holger-Madsen also directed the first Danish film to be completely banned by the State Film Censorship Board: Opiumsdrømmen / The Opium Smoker (produced in 1914).

His actors were not necessarily enthusiastic about Holger-Madsen, who was portrayed by many as the opposite of the calm and amiable August Blom. Film star Ebba Thomsen described him in an interview as an impulsive and unbalanced gentleman who said everything he thought out loud and ordered around the actors. You couldn't get peace of mind working with him, she said. Zanny Petersen called him 'excited', 'fiery' and 'crazy'.

Around 1920, Holger-Madsen moved to Germany and directed 13 to 14 films for various companies. An example is Die Sporck'schen Jäger (1927) with Walter Rilla. At the end of the 1920s, he returned to Copenhagen, but it became difficult to find a foothold in the Danish film industry after the breakthrough of sound films.

He appeared in several feature films until 1935. The creative film assignments for Holger-Madsen waned. He wrote the script for a film, directed one, and dubbed a handful of the old Fy & Bi (Pat & Patachon) films. His last film was a documentary on eels: Aalens Livsmysterium / The Riddle of the Eel (1937). In 1937, he obtained a cinema licence for a small cinema, Enghave Bio, which he ran until his death. He was married to Rigmor Holger-Madsen, née Neuhaus. She was the daughter of photographer Even Neuhaus and thus the granddaughter of photographer Christian Neuhaus. Holger-Madsen, nicknamed, Holger Bindestreg, died in Copenhagen in 1943. He was 65 years old.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K 1931. Photo: Nordisk. Gunnar Tolnaes in Livets Gøglespil / An Impossible Marriage (Holger Madsen, 1917). The German title was Die Spur der ersten Liebe. The other man is Philip Bech, who plays Baron Walden.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1962. Photo: Nordisk. Gunnar Tolnaes in Livets Gøglespil / An Impossible Marriage (Holger-Madsen, 1917). It was released in Germany as Die Spur der ersten Liebe. Plot: Architect Erik Berndt (Tolnaes) has been hired by Baron Walden (Philip Bech) to restore the old castle, but falls in love with the baron's daughter, the young Lydia (Erna Schøyen). She elopes with him against her father's wishes. One year later, Lydia has a child with Erik, but their relationship cools down, and she returns to her father. The Baron plans to marry off his daughter to Count Herbert Rhena (Robert Schmidt), but he proves to be unworthy. A reconciliation between Erik and Lydia takes place, in which the child also plays a role.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2028. Photo: Union-Film / Nordisk. Lily Jacobson (Lilly Jacobsson) in Testamentets Hemmelighed / The Secret of the Testament (Holger-Madsen, 1918). The German film title was Das trennende Band.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2150. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Himmelskibet / A Trip to Mars / Das Himmelschiff (Holger-Madsen, 1918) with Lily Jacobson as Marya, the Martian leader's daughter, and Gunnar Tolnaes as Avanti Planetaros.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2161. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Himmelskibet / A Trip to Mars / Das Himmelschiff (Holger-Madsen, 1918) with Gunnar Tolnaes as Avanti Planetaros, Philip Bech as the Martian leader, Lily Jacobson as Marya, the Martian leader's daughter, Alf Blütecher (kneeling) as his friend Dr. Krafft and Nils Asther as the fallen Martian.


German collector card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 113, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Paul Hartmann in Der Evangelimann / The Evangelist (Holger-Madsen, 1924).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 817. Photo: National / Mondial. Walter Rilla in Die Sporck'schen Jäger/ The Sporck Battalion (Holger-Madsen, 1927).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 818. Photo: National / Distr. Mondial. Anton Pointner in Die Sporck'schen Jäger / The Sporck Battalion (Holger-Madsen, 1927).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 820. Photo: National / Verleih / Mondial A.G. Albert Steinrück in Die Sporck'schen Jäger / The Sporck Battalion (Holger-Madsen, 1927).


French postcard by Europe, no. 365. Photo: Hegewald Film. Evelyn Holt in Freiwild / Free game (Holger-Madsen, 1928). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Sources: Filmdatabasen (Danish), Wikipedia (Danish and English) and IMDb.

Published by Partners

EFSP regularly squanders its name and pays attention to film memorabilia other than postcards. Today, we have a post on a British collector card series called 'Partners' published by the Victoria Gallery in London. To be honest, the cards are quite ugly. The star portraits by Stephen Woolley are clumsy, and the flipside captions are mediocre, but we still love the series. Why? All the cards feature comedy partners and apart from such well-known Hollywood stars as Lewis & Martin, Abbott & Costello and Lucille Ball & her husband Desi Arnaz, the series presents lesser-known American comedy teams of which postcards are very hard to find. There are 20 cards in the series, of which we present 13 examples.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 1 in a series of 20. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: HOPE, CROSBY & LAMOUR. Bob Hope - Born Leslie Town Hope, 1904. Bing Crosby - Born Harry Lillis Crosby, 1904-1977. Dorothy Lamour - Born Mary Leta Dorothy Kaumeyer. In 1940, Bob, Bing and Dorothy Lamour became an inseparable team, and their first film together was The Road to Singapore. Other successes were The Road to Zanzibar, The Road to Morocco, The Road to Utopia and others, which are known to be The Road pictures. All in all, there were seven films in The Road series. The last being in 1962, The Road to Hong Kong. By 1962, the nature of film comedy had changed, and the American audience wanted a different brand of humour.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 2 in a series of 20. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: ABBOTT & COSTELLO. Born: William Abbott (1895-1974), Francis Cristello (1906-1959). Bud Abbott and Lou Costello first met in New York in 1936. Apparently, they saw each other's acts and decided they would be better off together. Their success took them to Hollywood, and in 1941, One Night in the Tropics was the first of 36 films they made together. These included Hold That Ghost, Ride 'em Cowboy and Abbott and Costello Go to Mars. The last film was Dance Dance With Me, Henry in 1956. After their last film, they officially split up.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 3 in a series of 20. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: MARTIN & LEWIS. Martin - Born: Dino Paul Crocetti, 1917, Lewis - Born: Joseph Leuitch, 1926. In 1946, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis became friends and began working in Nightclubs in New Jersey. Their first picture in Hollywood was My Friend Irma. As far as the team of Martin and Lerwis was concerned, Dean was the straight man and Jerry a Solko comedian. They went on to make 16 films together, including That's My Boy, The Stooge and Money From Home. Their last film together in 1956 was Hollywood or Bust, about a pair of partners who were going to make it in the movies.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 6. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: THE RITZ BROTHERS. Born: Al Joachim. Jimmy Joachim. Harry Joachim. All three of the Ritz Brothers were born in New Jersey during the opening decade of the 20th Century. Their first feature film was Sing Baby Sing in 1936, and others included One in a Million, On the Avenue, Kentucky Moonshine, The Gorilla and many others. In 1939, The Three Musketeers was made and is considered to be one of their all-time funniest films and a Ritz Brothers classic. The brothers ended their career working on the stage in New Orleans when Al Joachim died of a heart attack.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 7. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: LEMMON & MATTHAU. Jack Lemmon - Born John Uhler Lemmon III (1925-2001). Walter Matthau (1920-2000). Matthau and Lemmon were stars in their own right before they even met in 1966, with their first film together, The Fortune Cookie. They went on to make five more; one of the most popular ones, The Odd Couple, became an instant hit in America. Kotch, The Front Page and Buddy, Buddy, the last one in 1981. They were quoted to have said, "We were too different to be brothers, but we have the best chemistry this side of Tracy and Hepburn."


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 8. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: MA & PA KETTLE. Pa Kettle - Born: Percy Kilbride. Ma Kettle - Born: Marjorie Main. The Egg and I set the course for the series of Kettle films in 1947. There were nine black and white films made between 1949 and 1956. These included Ma & Pa Kettle Go To Town, Ma & Pa Kettle at the Fair and Ma & Pa Kettle On Vacation, each making the top ten earning film list of each year. Percy Kilbride bowed out after 1955 and was replaced in the last of the Kettle films by Parker Fennelly.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 10. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: LUCILLE BALL & DESI ARNAZ. Lucille Ball, Born: 1910-1989. Desi Arnaz. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz started their show business career with the film Too Many Girls. They then married and formed a business partnership. I Love Lucy made them TV stars for many years, with the films The Long, Long Trailer and Forever Darling in between, until Arnaz retired from TV. They bought the old RKO studio and founded their own corporation. But in 1960, Lucy and Arnaz divorced and went their separate ways.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 11. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: THREE STOOGES. Larry Fine (1911-1975), Moe Howard (1895-1975), Jerry (Curly) Howard (1906-1952). The Stooges were a trio of American knockabout comics specialising in a peculiarly violent form of slapstick. They originally went from Vaudeville to Hollywood with Ted Healy (as Ted Healy and His Stooges). But broke away to become world famous in hundreds of two-reelers throughout the thirties, forties and fifties. Towards the end of their popularity, The Stooges appeared in a few features, Stop Look and Laugh, and The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 14. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: GEORGE BURNS & GRACIE ALLEN. George Burns - Born 1896(-1996). Gracie Allen - Born 1902/6-1964. George and Gracie made a successful team. They married quite early after their success. Films together included We're Not Dressing, College Humor, Love in Bloom, and many more. Between 1950 and 1957, they had a TV series called The Burns and Allen Show, which was extremely successful. At the age of eighty, George Burns became a big star again and a national institution.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 15. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: WHEELER & WOOLSEY. Bert Wheeler - Born: 1895-1968. Robert Woolsey - Born: 1889-1935. Wheeler and Woolsey were a great pair of American comedians in the thirties, and decided to team as a double act. They made their first film together in 1929 called Rio Rita. Then they went on to Half Shot at Sunrise, Cracker Nuts, and many more. Their last film as a double act was in 1937, On Again, Off Again. They then went on to make a popular TV series called Brave Eagle 55.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 16. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: BLONDIE FILM. Penny Singleton - Born: Mariana Dorothy McNutty, Arthur Lake - Born: Arthur Silver Lake, Larry Simms. The first of the Blondie films was in 1938. Altogether, there were twenty-eight films in the series. Blondie's Lucky Day, Blondie's Hero, Blondie's Secret and many more. Between 1938 and 1950, the first Blondie and the last Beware of Blondie, the films were very popular. But by 1950, the series held no surprises, and age had crept upon Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake, removing the freshness of young middle age from their performances.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 18. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: ROONEY & GARLAND. Mickey Rooney - Born: Joe Yule Junior, 1920(-2014). Judy Garland - Born: Francis Ethel Gumm, 1922-1969. Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland made a number of films together, including The Andy Hardy films. One of the first of these was in 1940 Andy Hardy Meets Debutante, and went on to Life Begins For Andy Hardy. The films served as an excellent training ground for studio starlet Judy Garland.


British collector card in the Partners series by Victoria Gallery, London, no. 19. Illustration: Stephen Bennett.

Caption: TOM & JERRY. Short cartoons featuring the mean-minded, accident-prone cat and likeable little mouse, Tom and Jerry. The original cartoons were drawn by William Hanna and Joe Barbara in 1937. There were an awful lot of these cartoons made, and some were always winning Academy awards - titles such as The Milky Way, Yankee Doodle Mouse, Mouse Trouble, Cat Concerto and The Little Orphan, as well as quite a few more.