La Grande Illusion (1937)

La grande illusion / The Great Illusion (1937) is a French war drama directed by Jean Renoir. Renoir co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. During World War I, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German Prisoner-Of-War camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress. La grande illusion is one of the masterpieces of French cinema.


French postcard by Crépa Editeur, Paris. Photo: Sam Lévin / Production R.A.C. Erich von Stroheim in La grande illusion / The Great Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937).


French postcard by Crépa Editeur, Paris. Photo: Sam Levin / Production R.A.C. Jean Gabin in La grande illusion / The Great Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937).


French postcard by Crépa Editeur, Paris. Photo: Sam Levin / Production R.A.C. Dita Parlo, Marcel Dalio and Jean Gabin in La grande illusion / The Great Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937).


French postcard by Crépa Editeur, Paris. Photo: Sam Lévin / Production R.A.C. Jean Gabin, Dalio, Carette, Gaston Modot and Pierre Fresnay in La grande illusion / The Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937).

War is futile

The title of La grande illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937) comes from the 1909 book 'The Great Illusion' by British journalist Norman Angell, which argued that war is futile because of the common economic interests of all European nations. During the First World War, two French aviators of the Service Aéronautique, the aristocratic Captain de Boëldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin), set out to investigate a blurred spot found on reconnaissance photographs. They are shot down by German flying ace and aristocrat Rittmeister von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim), and both are taken prisoner by the Imperial German Army. Upon returning to the aerodrome, Rauffenstein sends a subordinate to find out if the aviators are officers and, if so, to invite them to lunch. During the meal, Rauffenstein and Boëldieu discover they have mutual acquaintances — a depiction of the familiarity, if not solidarity, within the upper classes that crosses national boundaries.

Boëldieu and Maréchal are then taken to a P.O.W. camp, where they meet a colourful group of French prisoners and stage a vaudeville-type performance just after the Germans have taken Fort Douaumont in the epic Battle of Verdun. During the performance, word arrives that the French have recaptured the fort. Maréchal interrupts the show, and the French prisoners spontaneously burst into 'La Marseillaise'. As a result of the disruption, Maréchal is placed in solitary confinement, where he suffers badly from lack of human contact and hunger. The fort changes hands once more while he is imprisoned. Boëldieu and Maréchal also help their fellow prisoners to finish digging an escape tunnel. However, just before it is completed, everyone is transferred to other camps. Because of the language barrier, Maréchal is unable to pass word of the tunnel to an incoming British prisoner.

Boëldieu and Maréchal are moved from camp to camp, finally arriving in Wintersborn, a mountain fortress prison commanded by Rauffenstein, who has been so badly injured in battle that he has been given a posting away from the front, much to his regret. Rauffenstein tells them that Wintersborn is escape-proof. At Wintersborn, the pair are reunited with a fellow prisoner, Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio), from the original camp. Rosenthal is a wealthy French Jew who generously shares the food parcels he receives. Boëldieu comes up with an idea after carefully observing how the German guards respond to an emergency. He volunteers to distract the guards for the few minutes needed for Maréchal and Rosenthal to escape. After a commotion staged by the prisoners, the guards are ordered to assemble them in the fortress courtyard. During the roll call, it is discovered that Boëldieu is missing. He makes his presence known high up in the fortress, drawing the German guards away in pursuit. Maréchal and Rosenthal take the opportunity to lower themselves from a window by a homemade rope and flee.

Rauffenstein stops the guards from firing at Boëldieu and pleads with his friend to give himself up. Boëldieu refuses, and Rauffenstein reluctantly shoots him with his pistol, aiming for his legs, but misses and accidentally and fatally hits him in the stomach. Nursed in his final moments by a grieving Rauffenstein, Boëldieu laments that the whole purpose of the nobility and their usefulness to both French and German culture is being destroyed by the war. He expresses pity for Rauffenstein, who will have to find a new purpose in the postwar world.

Maréchal and Rosenthal journey across the German countryside, trying to reach neutral Switzerland. Rosenthal injures his foot, slowing Maréchal down. They quarrel and part, but then Maréchal returns to help his comrade. They take refuge in the modest farmhouse of a German woman, Elsa (Dita Parlo), who lost her husband at Verdun, along with three brothers, at battles which, with quiet irony, she describes as "our greatest victories". She takes them in and does not betray them to a passing army patrol. She and Maréchal fall in love, despite not speaking each other's language, but he and Rosenthal eventually leave for a sense of duty after Rosenthal recovers from his injury. Maréchal declares he will come back to Elsa and her young daughter, Lotte, if he survives the war. A German patrol sights the two fugitives crossing a snow-covered valley. They fire a few rounds, but their commanding officer, hurrying to the scene, orders them to stop, saying the pair have crossed into Switzerland.


French postcard by Crépa, Editeur, Paris. Photo: Sam Lévin / Production R.A.C. Marcel Dalio, Gaston Modot and Jean Gabin in La grande illusion / The Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937).


French postcard by Editions Hazan, Paris, in the Collection Magie Noire, 1989, no. 6191. Photo: Sam Lévin. Jean Gabin and Erich von Stroheim in La Grande Illusion / The Great Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937).


Italian programme card for Il Cinema Ritrovata 2012 by Cineteca Bologna. Photo: Sam Lévin. Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay in La grande illusion / The Great Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937).

Semi-autobiographical elements

La grande illusion / The Great Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937) examines the relationships between different social classes in Europe. The aristocrats Boëldieu and Rauffenstein are represented as cosmopolitan men, educated in many cultures and conversant in several languages. Their level of education and their devotion to social conventions and rituals make them feel closer to each other than to the lower class of their own nation. They share similar social experiences: dining at Maxim's in Paris, courting dalliances with the same woman, and even knowing of each other through acquaintances. They converse with each other in heavily formal French and German, and in moments of intimate personal conversation, escape into English as if to hide these comments from their lower-class counterparts.

Jean Renoir depicts the rule of the aristocracy in La grande illusion as in decline, to be replaced by a new, emerging social order, led by men who were not born to privilege. He emphasises that their class is no longer an essential component of their respective nation's politics. Both Rauffenstein and Boëldieu view their military service as a duty and see the war as having a purpose. Renoir depicts them as laudable but tragic figures whose world is disappearing and who are trapped in a code of life that is rapidly becoming meaningless. Both are aware that their time is past, but their reaction to this reality diverges. Boëldieu accepts the fate of the aristocracy as a positive improvement, but Rauffenstein does not, lamenting what he sarcastically calls the "charming legacy of the French Revolution".

Renoir contrasts the aristocrats with characters such as Maréchal, an engineer from Paris. The lower-class characters have little in common with each other. They have different interests and are not worldly in their views or education. Nonetheless, they have a kinship too, through common sentiment and experience. Renoir's message is made clear when the aristocratic Boëldieu sacrifices himself by distracting the prison guards by dancing around, singing, and playing a flute, to allow Maréchal and Rosenthal, members of the lower class, to escape. Reluctantly and strictly out of duty, Rauffenstein is forced to shoot Boëldieu, an act that Boëldieu admits he would have been compelled to do were the circumstances reversed. However, in accepting his inevitable death, Boëldieu takes comfort in the idea that "For a commoner, dying in a war is a tragedy. But for you and me, it's a good way out", and states that he has pity for Rauffenstein who will struggle to find a purpose in the new social order of the world where his traditions, experiences, and background are obsolete.

Some elements of La grande illusion are semi-autobiographical. In 1914, when the First World War began, Jean Renoir was a sergeant in the 1st Dragoon Regiment under the command of Captain Louis Bossut. He later received a change of post after being wounded in action. Renoir's life was saved by a French pilot, Armand Pinsard, when he was under attack by a German Fokker in 1915. In 1934, during the production of Toni (Jean Renoir, 1935), they met again by chance, and Pinsard recounted his WWI history. He was shot down seven times, captured seven times, and escaped seven times from German POW camps. His escape was facilitated by General Paul de Villelume, a character similar to Captain de Boëldieu. Pinsard became the model for Lt. Maréchal. Renoir used his own uniform as Jean Gabin's costume in the film. Several other cast members had also fought in the war. Marcel Dalio won the Croix de Guerre for his actions with the French artillery during the Action at Villers-Cotterêts (1914), and Pierre Fresnay was in the army between 1916 and 1919. Renoir developed the screenplay with Charles Spaak and spent several years trying to finance it. Through Albert Pinkévitch, an assistant to the financier, Frank Rollmer, and the attachment of Jean Gabin, private producers finally supported a small production budget.

The casting of Erich von Stroheim came as Jean Renoir was a great admirer of the director's films and had been inspired by him to pursue filmmaking. According to Renoir's memoirs, Stroheim, despite having been born in Vienna, Austria (then the Austro-Hungarian Empire), did not speak much German as he had been living in the United States since 1909, and struggled with learning the language along with his lines in between filming scenes. Renoir eventually resorted to hiring a dialect coach to help Stroheim with his lines. La grande illusion was filmed in the winter of 1936-1937. The exteriors of Burg Wintersborn were filmed at the Upper Königsberg Castle in Alsace. Other exteriors were filmed at the artillery barracks at Colmar (built by Wilhelm II) and at Neuf-Brisach on the Upper Rhine. The interiors were shot at Epinay and Billancourt Studios. Although the film was recognised at the Venice Film Festival for 'Best Artistic Ensemble' and was favoured to win the Mussolini Cup for best foreign film in 1937, Benito Mussolini overruled the jury and prevented its win, prompting Jean Zay, then France's Minister of National Education and Fine Arts, to propose the creation of a French festival that would become the Festival de Cannes. La grande illusion became a massive hit in France, with an estimated 12 million admissions. Bob Lipton at IMDb: "What makes a truly great movie, one whose value does not fade? (...) However, the problem with greatness is that it attracts imitators, and many of the sequences of this movie have been lifted from Casablanca to every POW movie I've ever seen. What they haven't replicated is the sheer sense of humanity, tired and crushed, like a geranium in a vast prison, somehow blooming where it has no right to."


French postcard by Collection Rozan, no. 684. Photo: Studio Star. Dita Parlo in La grande illusion / The Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937). Sent by mail in 1946.


French postcard, no. 104. Photo: Star. Publicity still of Dita Parlo for La grande illusion / The Great Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937). The blouse is identical, the scarf not.


French poster postcard by Carterie Artistique et Cinématographique, Pont du Casse in the Encyclopédie du Cinéma series, no. EDC 94, Vis. 5. Jean Gabin, Erich von Stroheim and Pierre Fresnay in La grande illusion / The Great Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937).


French postcard by L'Aventure Carto, Cinéastes, no. 6, 2003. Photo: Marcel Thomas / Collection Gérard Gagnepain. (Edition of 120 ex.). Jean Renoir.

Sources: Bob Lipton (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and French) and IMDb.

Gerard Philippe on stage

Gérard Philipe (1922-1959) is one of the icons of French cinema. Youthful and romantic, he was one of Europe's leading post-war stars until his untimely death. Less known is that he simultaneously pursued a very successful stage career. In 1951, he joined Jean Vilar's Théâtre National Populaire (TNP), with which he enjoyed continued success in Paris, at the Avignon Festival, and on tours. He performed in plays such as Pierre Corneille's classic 'Le Cid' and Heinrich von Kleist's 'Der Prinz von Homburg'. Philipe also directed several plays by Alfred de Musset, as well as works by contemporary authors such as Henri Pichette and Jean Vauthier.


French postcard by Bibliothéque nationale de France, 2003, no. CP 0341. Photo: Lipnitzki. Gérard Philipe in 'Les Épiphanies' (1947) by Henri Pichette at the Théâtre des Noctambules.


French postcard by Images d'Avignon, Avignon, no. 40. Photo Atzinger. Caption: Fifth Festival d'Avignon (1951). Gérard Philipe in 'Le Prince de Hombourg' (Der Prinz von Homburg, The Prince of Homburg) by Heinrich von Kleist.


French postcard by Bibliothéque nationale de France, 2003, no. CP 0344. Photo: Agnes Varda. Caption: Gérard Philipe and Jean Vilar, Suresnes, 1951.

A symbol of the new French theatre

Gérard Philipe was born in Cannes in 1922, the son of hotelier and lawyer Marcel Philip and his wife Marie Philip née Vilette. In 1941, Gérard Philip (still without the last e) began studying law in Nice, but was thinking of leaving this path to become an actor, a possibility his father opposed. That same year, filmmaker Marc Allégret met his mother, Marie, who enjoyed reading the cards for guests at her husband's hotel. Knowing that her son wanted to be an actor, she persuaded the director to audition him. He therefore auditioned Gérard for a scene from 'Étienne', a play by Jacques Deval in which a 17-year-old son sees his vocation as an actor thwarted by his father. Allégret was impressed by ‘a kind of violence that felt ready to boil over at any moment’. The filmmaker advised him to enrol at the Centre des jeunes du cinéma in Nice, then sent him to take drama classes with Jean Wall and Jean Huet in Cannes.

He finally made his theatre debut in 'Une grande fille toute simple by André Roussin, which premiered on 11 July at the Cannes Casino. The play was a great success and toured the south of France and Switzerland. His talent was already appreciated and recognised by his peers. To satisfy his mother's superstition, he added an -e to his surname, so that his first name and surname now had 13 letters. In November, the free zone was invaded by the German army. In 1943, Gérard Philipe starred in André Haguet's play 'Une Jeune Fille savait', which was a success in Paris. He confirmed his acting talents. Marc Allégret first hired him for a cameo in the film La Boîte aux rêves, directed by his brother Yves, then gave him a small role in Petites du quai aux fleurs.

The Philip family moved to Rue de Paradis in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Gérard became financially independent and lived with Jacques Sigurd on Rue du Dragon in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. His friend, who wrote numerous screenplays and dialogues for films in which Gérard starred, introduced him to modern literature and Albert Camus' 'Caligula'. In 1943, he achieved his first success and fame at the age of twenty, in the role of the angel in Jean Giraudoux's 'Sodome et Gomorrhe'. The theatre director, Jacques Hébertot, said: "From the very first rehearsals, we realised that we had nothing to teach this young actor. He was possessed." Despite his success, Gérard Philipe enrolled at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique (the Paris Conservatory) and took classes with Denis d'Inès. The following year, he won second prize in comedy. Although he was still in his first year, he had been admitted to the competition. From October 1944 onwards, he attended Georges Le Roy's classes and discovered his passion for live theatre: "He taught me to stand tall, with my legs straight, facing life like a healthy man." In November 1944, he performed in 'Au petit bonheur', a comedy by Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon.

In March 1945, Gérard Philipe met actress Maria Casarès in March 1945 through René Laporte's play 'Fédérigo'. Philipe's fame in the theatre grew further thanks to his role in Albert Camus's Caligula, again at the Théâtre Hébertot. He received rave reviews for his performance. It was through this play that director René Clair discovered him, with whom he would collaborate for many years: "I was disconcerted by the romantic and intellectual aspect of the young actor I saw." He resigned from the conservatory in October. In the following years, he landed his first leading film roles, including L'Idiot / The Idiot (Georges Lampin, 1946) and Le Diable au corps / The Devil in the Flesh (Claude Autant-Lara, 1947), in which he co-starred with Micheline Presle. The sensational success of the latter marked a turning point in his career. He was now a film star with international acclaim.

In December 1947, Gérard Philipe performed in Henri Pichette's play 'Les Épiphanies' (The Epiphanies) at the Théâtre des Noctambules, alongside Maria Casarès. He rented the venue at his own expense after the project had fallen through at the Théâtre Hébertot. The play became a symbol of the new French theatre, both for the emergence of new actors and new venues, and for the search for a new relationship with the audience. This was also what Jean Vilar was committed to with his Avignon Art Week, which took shape in September 1947. Jean Vilar, who had been impressed by his performances in 'Caligula' and 'Les Épiphanies', invited Philipe to his house. Vilar offered him the role of Le Cid in Pierre Corneille's play for the second Avignon Festival. Reportedly, Philipe replied: "Tragedy? Tragedy? Come on, I'm not cut out for that."


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1261. Photo: Raymond Voinquel.


French postcard by Images d'Avignon, Avignon, no. 5. Photo Atzinger. Caption: Fifth Festival d'Avignon (1951). Gérard Philipe in 'Le Cid' by Pierre Corneille. This postcard is a 1982 reproduction printed in a limited edition of 1000 cards, no. 760.


French postcard by Images d'Avignon, Avignon, no. 14. Photo Atzinger. Caption: Fifth Festival d'Avignon (1951). Gérard Philipe in 'Le Prince de Hombourg' (Der Prinz von Homburg, The Prince of Homburg) by Heinrich von Kleist.


French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris, no. T4. Jeanne Moreau and Gérard Philipe in Le Prince de Hombourg (1952), based on the play by Heinrich von Kleist and Jean Vilar.

Following Jean Vilar

After several successful films, Gérard Philipe finally visited Jean Vilar in his dressing room at the Théâtre de l'Atelier after a performance of Luigi Pirandello's Henry IV. Vilar later recounted: “While removing my makeup that evening, I glanced out of the corner of my eye at this famous young man whom I barely knew. Tall, upright, with few gestures and a clear, frank gaze, his presence was a blend of quiet strength and fragility. I told him I was preparing for Avignon 1951, that is, the fifth Festival, and that it was the only project I could guarantee him. He immediately replied that he would be at the next Avignon. Two days later, I gave him 'The Prince of Homburg'. He said yes. I added: And 'Le Cid'? He lowered his head, smiled, and then fell silent.” Two years earlier, the actor had refused the role of Rodrigue, much to the director's dismay. This encounter left a mark on Philipe: “A conversation with Vilar, his remarks about the theatre, his opinion on the plays I was eager to perform, won me over. One of Vilar’s great qualities is his patience. I, on the other hand, was always impatient. But when he had me read 'The Prince of Homburg', I no longer hesitated to follow him.”

The following year, Jean Vilar was appointed director of the Théâtre National Populaire (TNP) and led a company composed of promising young actors and actresses such as Philippe Noiret, Jeanne Moreau, and Charles Denner. Philipe declared, "For me, the TNP is my home, it's my house." Rehearsals for 'Le Cid' and 'The Prince of Homburg' began, and after a difficult start, Gérard Philipe managed to make the role of Rodrigue his own thanks to Jean Vilar: "Everything seems possible since Vilar, to my great surprise, asked me to play 'Le Cid'. He's the one who won, not me."

The premiere of 'The Prince of Homburg' took place at the 1951 Avignon Festival, in the Cour d'Honneur of the Palais des Papes. Philipe injured himself during the final rehearsal in costume, falling 2.5 meters, fortunately cushioned by his thick costume. Although he was forced to perform motionless or seated throughout the festival, considerably diminishing his acting ability, the play was nonetheless a triumph. This experience strengthened his commitment to the company and to Jean Vilar's project of making theatre accessible to all.

Gérard Philipe signed a one-year contract with the TNP, tacitly renewable. Despite his career and international renown, he reassured the new director about his salary: he was prepared to accept a lower fee than in film so as not to jeopardize the company's budget. His salary was set at 30,000 francs gross per month (€750 in 2019), plus 400 francs per rehearsal (€10 in 2019). Jean Vilar testified that in eight years, he never asked for a salary increase, preferential treatment, or any special clause. On the posters, his name appeared in its alphabetical place. Philipe was a strong believer in egalitarianism. He would also become president of the French actors' union, actively promoting the rights of actors.

In 1952, Philipe directed his first play, 'Nucléa', by Henri Pichette, a play denouncing nuclear war that divided critics. He also made his stage management debut at the TNP (Théâtre National Populaire) with Alfred de Musset's 'Lorenzaccio', a play that enjoyed great success at the Avignon Festival and then in Paris the following year. Vilar twice entrusted him with the responsibility of directing his colleagues. In 1954, he entrusted him with the title role and the direction of William Shakespeare's 'Richard II', a role he had played himself since the creation of the Avignon Art Week in 1947: “Each time, I marvel at his gifts, at this grace that knows how to remain discreet, at this pure technique. […] Yet, is there any actor performing on this monstrous stage who has ever inspired so much confidence in me? […] Gérard, playing this magnificent role in a completely different way, ultimately confounded my judgment, preventing me, by his very inventions, from any useful and serious analysis of his performance." In 1958, a year before he died, Gérard Philipe finally appeared on Broadway in the plays 'Le Cid' and Alfred de Musset's 'Lorenzaccio'.


French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris / Saint-Dié, no. T 1. Photo: Tom Blau.


French postcard in the Collection Cinéma by Editions Malibran, Paris / Nancy, no. CF 54. Photo: Cyril Stanborough. Gérard Philipe in Monsieur Ripois / Knave of Hearts (René Clément, 1954).


East German postcard by VEB Volkskunstverlag Reichenbach L.V., no. G 591, 1956. Photo: Zentralbild, Berlin. With Christiane Minazzoli.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 115, 1956. Photo: Gerhard Puhlmann. Gérard Philipe and German actress Elfriede Florin.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 656. Photo: Sam Lévin.

More Gérard Philipe posts

Gérard Philipe in East Germany, 19 August 2023.
Gérard Philipe, 30 April 2023.

Sources: Wikipedia (French and German).

Ilona Karolewna

Ilona Karolewna (?-?) was a Ukrainian actress and dancer who starred in many successful revues in Austria and Germany. Between 1924 and 1932, she had a brief film career and acted in six Austrian, German and French films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3403/1, 1928-1929. Photo: d'Ora, Wien / Arthur Benda.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3403/2. Photo: Atelier Manassé, Vienna.

A black Pierrot in the snow

Ilona Karolewna was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ilona had a sister, Gina, with whom she performed a dance act throughout Europe in the late 1920s. She was also an advertising model for products including AEG refrigerators, Odol, and Pixavon shampoo.

She made her film debut in Max Linder's last feature, Max, der Zirkuskönig / King of the Circus / Le Roi du Cirque (Édouard-Émile Violet, 1924). It was shot at the Vita-Film studios in Vienna between January and April 1924. The film was restored by Lobster Film in 2021, based on material from 11 countries.

Next, she appeared in the Austrian film Haifische der Nachkriegszeit / Post-war Sharks (Eugen Preiß, Louis Seeman, 1926) with Vera Voronina and a then unknown Oskar Sima.

Then followed the Harry Piel film Der schwarze Pierrot / The Black Pierrot (Harry Piel, 1926), with exteriors shot in the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland. In Der schwarze Pierrot, Harry is the last of his dynasty, hunted and robbed by his enemies.

Karolewna plays Harry's love interest, Isabella Battista, who, however, abuses him for a political conspiracy. When he finally discovers this, a 'bal costumé' is going on, so he flees into the snow and ice dressed as Pierrot, a black dot within the white menacing nature.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5102. Photo: d'Ora, Paris.


German collector card by Eckstein-Halpaus, Dresden, in the series Die Tanzbühnen der Welt, Group 4 'Die Revue und Variétébühne', no. 206. Photo: Schneider. Caption: Ilona Karolewna, a beautiful dancer who was the centrepiece of many a successful revue.

A last will scribbled on the wall of a catacomb

Ilona Karolewna again acted with Harry Piel in his film, Was ist los im Zirkus Beely? / The Phantom of the Circus (Harry Piel, 1927). In this film, Piel's partner is not a woman but a giant tiger, called Bylard. Karolewna plays a blind girl, Rosa Johnson. Thanks to a giant capital which Harry finds at the end of the film, a clinic for the blind can be founded.

The film also includes a mysterious murder, a last will scribbled on the wall of a catacomb, a mysterious masked man, and a fight in the circus tent's cupola above a cage full of lions. Piel was never afraid of improbable scenarios, as long as they provided sensations.

Afterwards, Karolewna played the girlfriend of Jack Mylong in Die Villa im Tiergarten / The Villa in the Zoo (Franz Osten, 1927), a satire on the life of idle bourgeois people, including Mylong and Karolewna. The film starts as a comedy but evolves into a social drama when a desperate couple (Joe Stöckel and Aud Egede Nissen) invades the villa.

After many years of absence from the sets, Ilona Karolewna played one last minor part in the Paramount production Camp volant / Transit Camp (Max Reichmann, 1932). In this early sound film set in the circus world, all actors speak in their own language. The film was shot at the Paramount studios near Paris, and the leads were Ivan Koval-Samborsky, Meg Lemonnier and Thomy Bourdelle.

Our sources don't give information about Ilona Karolewna's later life.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 57. Photo: d'Ora.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3403/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Manassé. Imprint: Gelukkig Nieuwjaar (Happy New Year in Dutch).

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Sirens of the Silent Screen (Facebook), Mattias Bleckmann (Harry Piel: Ein Kino-Mythos und seine Zeit) and IMDb.

15 cards from GDI: a gift by Peter Westervoorde

Here are 15 great postcards from the Geoffrey Donaldson Institute. These are from the last package in the two big bags with new acquisitions which Egbert Barton lent me a while ago to share them here with you. Actually, it's a small plastic bag with postcards, which was given to G.D.I. by Peter Westervoorde. Peter was a colleague at the Nederlands Filmmuseum (now Eye Filmmuseum) when Egbert, Ivo and I used to work there in the 1980s and 1990s. For decades, he catalogued the film collection and was also a board member of Schokkend nieuws (Shocking News), a Dutch/Flemish film magazine specialising in Horror films, Science Fiction, Fantasy films and Cult films. After his retirement, he became a volunteer at the Geoffrey Donaldson Institute. We selected 15 cards from Peter's gift which were never published here before.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3948/2, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists.

Hungarian-born silent film star Vilma Bánky (1901-1991) filmed in Budapest, France, Austria, and Germany, before Sam Goldwyn took her to Hollywood. There she starred opposite silent stars like Rudolph Valentino and Ronald Colman. She became Goldwyn's biggest money maker till sound finished her career.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 986. Photo: Paramount.

Mary Brian (1906-2002) was an American actress and film star with dark brown curls and blue/grey eyes who made the transition from silent films to sound films. She was dubbed 'The Sweetest Girl in Pictures.'


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6113/2, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa.

Strikingly beautiful Anna Sten (1908-1993) was a Ukrainian-born actress who became the most famous, or rather, the most notorious of the many ‘new Greta Garbos’ of the 1930s.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7138/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Ufa. Lilian Harvey in Der Kongress tanzt / The Congress Dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

British-born, German actress and singer Lilian Harvey (1906-1968) was Ufa's biggest star of the 1930s. With Willy Fritsch, she formed the 'Dream Team of the European Cinema'. Their best film was the immensely popular film operetta Der Kongress tanzt / The Congress Dances (Erik Charell, 1931).


Vintage postcard. Photo: Paramount. Allan Jones and Mary Martin in The Great Victor Herbert (Andrew L. Stone, 1939).

American singer Allan Jones (1907-1992) was a coal miner's son who was classically trained in opera. He worked on Broadway and in operettas until 1935. Jones was signed by MGM and performed in two Marx Brothers movies, A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), and co-starred in James Whale's Show Boat (1936). In Tarantella (1937), Jones sang 'Donkey Serenade', which became his signature song. After this, he was relegated to B musicals.

A daughter of Texas, Mary Martin (1913-1990) originally began work as a dance instructor until a local evangelical-adherent burned down her studio, citing her work as being too sinful for human nature. On Broadway, she introduced the song 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy'. She appearedin several Hollywood musicals during the 1940s and later in her career enjoyed huge success as Peter Pan, which she cited as her favourite role. She won four Tony Awards and is also known as the mother of actor Larry Hagman.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2598/2, 1939-1940. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.

Kristina Söderbaum (1912-2001) was born in Stockholm as the daughter of Professor Henrik Gustaf Söderbaum, secretary of the Nobel Prize Committee. After her graduation, she went to Paris to learn French and, by chance, got a role in the short instructional film Hur behandlar du din hund? / How to Handle Your Dog (Arne Bornebusch, 1934). In 1935, she studied art history in Berlin and attended acting classes with actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge. Her first film in Germany was Onkel Bräsig / Uncle Bräsig (Erich Waschneck, 1935). Then she met director Veit Harlan, and the two fell in love.


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Berlin.

American film star Buck Jones (1891–1942) starred in many popular B-Westerns of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Executive William Fox decided to use him as a backup to Tom Mix. This led to his first starring role, The Last Straw (Denison Clift, Charles Swickard, 1920). With his famed horse Silver, Jones would make more than 160 film credits.


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Berlin. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.

Sexy German dancer and film actress La Jana (1905-1940) was the most popular showgirl in Berlin in the 1930s. She appeared in 25 European films, often dancing in exotic costumes. In 1940, she suddenly died of pneumonia and pleurisy.


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Berlin. Photo: Sandau.

Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957) was one of the most famous Italian opera singers, internationally respected for the beauty of his voice and his vocal technique. Between 1935 and 1950, he also starred in various Italian fiction films.


French postcard by Travelling Editions, Paris, no. CP 66. Caption: Burt Lancaster, 1951.

Burt Lancaster (1913-1994) became a star with his first film role, as the doomed Swede in Universal's The Killers (1946), but the former circus acrobat knew better than to leave his career in other hands. After less than two years in Hollywood, Lancaster formed his own production company and took the lead in such popular successes as the Technicolour Swashbucklers The Flame and the Arrow (1950) and The Crimson Pirate (1952), and the Western Vera Cruz (1954). The athletic, savvy but passionate Lancaster remained a box office draw for 20 years, winning a 1961 Academy Award for playing the corrupt evangelist Elmer Gantry (1960). His best work through the next decades was often in European features like Luchino Visconti's Il gattopardo / The Leopard (1963) and Gruppo di famiglia in un interno / Conversation Piece (1974), Novecento/1900 (1976) and Atlantic City (1980), which netted him an Oscar nomination.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, 1955. Photo: Franco-London Film S.A. / Documento-Film. Danielle Darrieux in Le rouge et le noir / The Red and the Black (Claude Autant-Lara, 1954).

French actress and singer Danielle Darrieux (1917-2017) was a beautiful, international leading lady whose eight-decade career was among the longest in film history. From her film debut in 1931, she played in more than 110 films in which she progressed from playing pouty teens to mundane sophisticates. In the early 1950s, she starred in three classic films by Max Ophüls, and she played the mother of Catherine Deneuve in five films.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 195, 1956. Michèle Morgan in Les grandes manoeuvres / Grand Maneuver (René Clair, 1955).

French actress Michèle Morgan (1920-2016) was a classic beauty and one of her country's most popular leading ladies for over five decades. The delicate, sophisticated, and detached star was especially noted for her large, expressive eyes.


West German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 144. Photo: Allianz Film / Brünjes.

Swiss actress Liselotte Pulver (1929) was one of the most beloved stars of the German popular cinema of the 1950s and early 1960s. Despite a wide variety of roles, she is best remembered as the merry tomboy in sparkling comedies like Das Wirtshaus im Spessart / The Spessart Inn (Kurt Hoffmann, 1958).


West German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel. Photo: Roxy / NF / Filipp / Filmpress Zürich. Sent by mail in 1959.

Austrian actress Nadja Tiller (1929-2023) was one of the erotic stars of European cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. Her international breakthrough role was that of the high-class prostitute Rosemarie Nitribitt in the German film Das Mädchen Rosemarie / Rosemary (1958).


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 360. Photo: Hans Bresser, Rotterdam.

Dutch singer Anneke Grönloh (1942-2018) had a successful career starting in 1959 that lasted throughout the 1960s. She scored a hit with 'Brandend Zand' (Burning Sand), one of the best-selling Dutch songs of all time.

All postcards are from the collection of the Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Franco Nero

Blue-eyed Italian actor Franco Nero (1941) was discovered by legendary director John Huston. His best-known role is the coffin-dragging gunfighter in one of the best Spaghetti Westerns, Django (1966). Nero appeared in masterpieces by European directors like Luis Buñuel, Sergei Bondarchuk and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, but he was also great as the villain opposite Bruce Willis in the Hollywood blockbuster Die Hard 2 (1990).


Small Romanian card by Cooperativa Fotografia.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Publicity still of Franco Nero in Texas, Adios / Goodbye, Texas (Ferdinando Baldi, 1967). In Germany, the film was presented as Django 2 or Django, der Rächer, though it was not a sequel to the box office hit Django (1966).


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 211/70, 1970. Retail price: 0,20 M. Photo: publicity still for L'uomo, l'orgoglio, la vendetta / Man, Pride & Vengeance (Luigi Bazzoni, 1968).


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 108/71, 1971.


East German postcard by Reichenbach. Photo: Progress. Franco Nero in Cipolla Colt / Cry, Onion (Enzo G. Castellari, 1975). The East German title was Zwiebel-Jack räumt auf.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 28/77.

An angel of death

Franco Nero was born Francesco Sparanero in San Lazzaro in the Province of Parma, Italy, in 1941. He grew up in Bedonia, a northern Italian provincial town, as the son of a strict police sergeant. Nero studied briefly at the Economy and Trade faculty of Milan University before leaving to study at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. During that time, he was also appearing in Fotoromanzi, the popular Italian photo-novels.

His film debut was an appearance in Pelle viva / Living Skin (Giuseppe Fina, 1962). He then played bit parts in such comedies as La ragazza in prestito / Engagement Italiano (Alfredo Giannetti, 1964) with Rossano Brazzi, and La Celestina P... R... / Celestial Maid at Your Service (Carlo Lizzani, 1965) with Assia Noris. A year later, Nero’s handsome face was noticed by John Huston, who chose him for the role of Abel in the extravagant production La Bibbia / The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966).

But his breakthrough was the role of the lonely gunfighter, dragging a coffin behind him through a muddy and featureless landscape, in Django (Sergio Corbucci, 1966). The coffin, his dark coat, and the mystique around Django make him appear like an angel of death. Buzz McClain at AllMovie: "When the Italian movie studios saw Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1965) making dollars by the fistful, they began rolling out Spaghetti Westerns by the conestoga load.

One of the earliest efforts is still one of the genre's best, Sergio Corbucci's Django, a spare, hard-bitten, mean-spirited shot of pure adrenaline that counts Quentin Tarantino as one of its cult members (he stole the ear-cutting torture scene for Reservoir Dogs)." That year, Nero starred in a total of eight films, including the Spaghetti Westerns Texas, addio / Adios, Texas (Ferdinando Baldi, 1966) and Tempo di massacro / The Brute and the Beast (Lucio Fulci, 1966).

Nero made his Hollywood debut as Sir Lancelot in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s musical Camelot (Joshua Logan, 1967). During the filming, he met actress Vanessa Redgrave, who became his long-time partner. But the film was a disaster. Alexandre Paquin at FilmCritic.com: "Franco Nero's casting was a mistake, as his poor English leads him to talk slowly, and he does not seem to know how to sound realistic in English. Despite his good looks, he looks completely out of place in this production, and even physically, his performance looks exaggerated." A lack of proficiency in English tended to limit his Hollywood roles, although he would appear in more English-language films, including The Virgin and the Gypsy (Christopher Miles, 1970) and Force 10 from Navarone (Guy Hamilton, 1978), starring Harrison Ford.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: publicity still for Gente di rispetto / The Flower in His Mouth (Luigi Zampa, 1975) with Jennifer O'Neill.


Russian postcard, no. 109/76, 1976. Price: 5 Kop. Photo: N. Slezingera.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Agin. Publicity photo for La Salamandra / The Salamander (1982).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.


Russian postcard, 1984. Franco Nero in Krasnye kolokola, film pervyy - Meksika v ogne / Red Bells Part II: Ten Days That Shook the World (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1982).

Django lives!

Handsome Franco Nero appeared opposite the equally beautiful Claudia Cardinale in the mafia film Il giorno della civetta / The Day and the Owl (Damiano Damiani, 1968). In the late 1960s and during the 1970s, Nero often appeared in such political thrillers, which criticised the Italian justice system.

Then he played with Catherine Deneuve in Luis Buñuel's masterpiece Tristana (1970). In the war drama Bitka na Neretvi / The Battle of Neretva (Veljko Bulajic, 1969), he starred with Yul Brynner and Russian actor-director Sergei Bondarchuk. Later, Bondarchuk cast Nero for the role of famous American reporter John Reed in the two-part epic Krasnye kolokola II / Red Bells (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1982).

Although Franco Nero was often typecast as the hero in Italian action films, he also attempted an impressive range of non-heroic or psychologically complex characters. He starred as a strict and possibly psychotic young officer in Marcia trionfale / Victory March (Marco Bellocchio, 1976), as a white ninja in Enter the Ninja (Menahem Golan, 1981) and as a gay lieutenant in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Querelle (1982), in love with the sailor Querelle (Brad Davis) - a compelling performance.

At the beginning of the 1980s, Nero also began producing, writing and directing. He both wrote and starred in Jonathan degli Orsi / Jonathan of the Bears (Enzo G. Castellari, 1984). In 1990, he played terrorist General Esperanza, opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2 (Renny Harlin, 1990). Nero starred in Hungarian director Gábor Koltay's Honfoglalás / The Conquest (1996) and subsequently in his Sacra Corona / Holy Crown (Gábor Koltay, 2001).

During his career, Nero appeared in over 150 films, and in between, he participated in various theatrical events. He also works for charitable organisations. Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave separated for many years, during which they both had relationships with other people. In 1987, while filming in Cartagena, Colombia, he was involved in an affair with Mauricia Mena and fathered a son named Franquito.

Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave reunited and married in 2006. Their son Carlo Gabriel Sparanero (1969) is a screenwriter and director, known professionally as Carlo Nero. Franco and Vanessa were directed by their son in Uninvited (1999). They also appeared together in the romantic comedy Letters to Juliet (Gary Winick, 2001).

Later films with Franco Nero include the Horror film The Rite (Mikael Håfström, 2011) with Anthony Hopkins, Cars 2 (John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, 2011), in which he voiced Uncle Topolino and John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chad Stahelski, 2017) starring Keanu Reeves. Nero made cameo appearances in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012) and the TV series Django (Francesca Comencini, a.o., 2020), starring Matthias Schoenaerts. Franco Nero also appeared with Elyas M'Barek in the German conspiracy thriller Der Fall Collini /The Collini Case (Marco Kreuzpaintner, 2019), with Anna Galiena in the drama Giorni felici / Everlasting Days (Simone Petralia, 2023) and with Dario Argento and Fabi Testio in the Horror film The Run (Paul Raschid, 2025).


Russian postcard, no. 758.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 542. Photo: C.P.C.S. Franco Nero and Alberto Dell'Acqua (Cole Kitosch) in Texas, addio / Texas, Adios (Ferdinando Baldi, 1966).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 543. Franco Nero and Elisa Montes in Texas, addio / Texas, Adios (Ferdinando Baldi, 1966).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: publicity still for L'uomo, l'orgoglio, la vendetta / Man, Pride & Vengeance (Luigi Bazzoni, 1967) with Tina Aumont.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: publicity still for L'uomo, l'orgoglio, la vendetta / Man, Pride & Vengeance (Luigi Bazzoni, 1967) with Tina Aumont.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: publicity still for L'uomo, l'orgoglio, la vendetta / Man, Pride & Vengeance (Luigi Bazzoni, 1967).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 291. Claudia Cardinale and Franco Nero in Il giorno della civetta / Mafia (Damiano Damiani, 1968). Collection: Alina Deaconu.


Vintage card. Franco Nero Franco Nero in Il mercenario / A Professional Gun (Sergio Corbucci, 1968).


East German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 115/72. Franco Nero in Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica / Confessions of a Police Captain (Damiano Damiani, 1971).


French poster card by Encyclopédie du ciné, Paris. Poster design: Constantin Belinsky. French affiche for Le colt cantarono la morte e fu... tempo di massacro / Massacre Time/ Django the Runner / Colt Concert (Lucio Fulci, 1966), with Franco Nero, George Hilton and Nino Castelnuovo. The French title was Le temps du massacre / Les Colts chanterent la mort et ce fut... le temps du massacre.


Trailer Die Hard II (Renny Harlin, 1990). Source: Forever Cinematic Trailers (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Buzz McClain (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Tzvetislav Samardjiev (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.