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.

Directed by Marc Allégret

Marc Allégret (1900-1973) was a French film director, screenwriter and photographer, who was known for his technical skills and elegant images. His best period was the 1930s, when he made such classics as Fanny (1932), Lac aux dames (1934), with Jean-Pierre Aumont, Gribouille (1937), with Michèle Morgan and Entrée des artistes (1938) with Louis Jouvet. He helped launch the careers of Simone Simon, Michèle Morgan, Gérard Philipe, Odette Joyeux and Brigitte Bardot. During his long career that spanned four decades, Allégret wrote numerous scripts and directed more than fifty films.


French postcard by Imprimerie A. Breger Frères, Paris, issued for the cinema Max-Linder Pathé, 24, Boulevard Poissonière, Paris, where the film was presented on 14-20 September 1934. Jean-Pierre Aumont and Rosine Dérean in Lac au dames / Ladies Lake (Marc Allégret, 1934). The film is situated at Lake Konstanz. In Germany, the film was presented as Hell in Frauensee ('Frauensee' was the title of the novel by Vicki Baum, on which the film was based).


French postcard in the Raimu series by MPC (Marcel Pagnol Com), no. 27. Raimu and Fernand Charpin in Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932).


French postcard by Editions et Publications cinématographiques, no. 74. Photo: Films Roussillon. Josephine Baker in Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934).


French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, no. 91. Photo: Gray Film. An early postcard of Louis Jourdan, still in his twenties in L'Arlésienne (Marc Allégret, 1942).


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 2105, 1964. Brigitte Bardot in En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956).

To Africa as the 'secretary' of André Gide

Marc Allégret was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1900. He was the fourth of five sons of Élie Allégret, a Protestant missionary pastor. Marc's younger brother, Yves Allégret, later also became a director and assisted Allégret on several of his early films, including Mam’zelle Nitouche and Lac aux Dames. His father had been the tutor of the young André Gide. When Marc was 14, his father left to serve in Africa, and he asked Gide to oversee his sons' education. During World War I, the young Allégret became the lover and companion of the 30 years older author. Their relationship marked both their personal maturation. Thanks to Gide, Allégret met the artists and writers of France, such as Paul Valéry, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, and later Saint-Exupéry.

Allégret studied law and, in 1925, graduated from Sciences Po. He then accompanied André Gide as his 'secretary' on a ten-month expedition in French Equatorial Africa. French Equatorial Africa covered the modern nations of Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Chad. Allegret recorded the journey in film and photographs. He had no formal training in either job, though he had received some lessons from Man Ray in photography. The result, his first effort as a director, was the documentary Voyage au Congo / Travels in the Congo (Marc Allégret, 1927). Allégret and Gide carried out most of their journey on foot. Porters carried the film's negatives for months, through extreme heat and humidity. But the nitrate footage survived.

André Gide wrote two books about their time in Africa, 'Travels in the Congo' and 'Return from Chad', and went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Allégret, despite having no prior training in cinema, proved to be a pioneer by creating a strictly ethnographically driven type of documentary. Wikipedia: "The film depicts the daily lives of eight ethnic groups, focusing on their agriculture, hunting, and fishing practices. The architectural styles of their areas and several group rituals, athletic competitions, and dances are also covered. Allégret's primary interest in the project was ethnographic, and he was genuinely attempting to promote understanding of the cultures he depicted. His depictions managed to avoid the "sensationalism" and stereotyping of the newsreels of the time." The documentary was not commercially successful, but was well-received by critics. Today, Allegret's debut is considered a pioneering ethnographic film. Its methodology influenced the genre.

Allégret decided to pursue a career as a filmmaker. The African trip ended his decade-long relationship with Gide, although they remained friends. His first cinematic experiment was reportedly the famous Dada short film Anémic Cinéma / Anaemic Cinema (Marcel Duchamp, 1926), on which Man Ray and Allégret collaborated. The seven-minute film is composed of alternating static camera shots of spinning animated drawing disks — which Marcel Duchamp called 'Rotoreliefs' — inscribed with puns and alliterations in French. The text, which spirals in a counterclockwise motion, suggests erotic scenarios, and the words, if read aloud, produce repetitive patterns of sounds that lead to scatological or obscene associations in reference to pulsating human sexual activity. The film premiered in a private screening in Paris in August 1926 and was acquired by MoMA in 1938, the first Duchamp work to enter a museum. Pierre Braunberger, who produced Voyage au Congo, hired him to work for his production company. He made several short films, comedies starring Fernandel, such as La Meilleure Bobonne / The Best Wife (Marc Allégret, 1930) and J'ai quelque chose à vous dire / I have something to say to you (Marc Allégret, 1931).

Allegret also became assistant to directors Robert Florey and Augusto Genina. He even replaced Florey in 1930 on the set of the comedy Le Blanc et le Noir / Black and White (Robert Florey, Marc Allégret, 1931), starring Raimu and Fernandel. The film was an adaptation of the 1922 play of the same title by Sacha Guitry, who wrote the screenplay. Allégret was also the art director, designing the film's sets. He co-directed with Genina the French-German crime drama Les amours de minuit / The Lovers of Midnight (Augusto Genina, Marc Allégret, 1931) starring Danièle Parola, Pierre Batcheff and Josseline Gaël. It is a Multiple-language version with a separate German-language version, Mitternachtsliebe, also produced. Les amours de minuit was the first sound film to be made at the Billancourt Studios in Paris. In his feature film debut as a director, Allégret directed Raimu in the Operetta Mam'zelle Nitouche (Marc Allégret, 1931). He also directed Raimu in La Petite Chocolatière / The Chocolate Girl (Marc Allégret, 1932) and Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932), also starring Orane Demazis and Pierre Fresnay. Fanny, based on the 1931 play of the same name by Marcel Pagnol, was the second part of Pagnol's Marseille Trilogy, which began with Marius (Alexander Korda, 1931) and concluded with César (Marcel Pagnol, 1936). Allegret and Pagnol did not get along very well during filming. However, Fanny was a box office success in France and is still considered a classic of French cinema. Marc Allégret went on to a long career.


French poster card by Editions F. Nugeron, no. E48. French affiche for Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932), starring Orane Demazis and Pierre Fresnay.


French poster postcard by CPM / Jean Dubout, 1982. French re-issue affiche for Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932), based on the play by Marcel Pagnol with Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis, and Charpin. Design: Albert Dubout, 1950.


French postcard in the Raimu series by MPC (Marcel Pagnol Com), no. 2. Photo: Roger Foster. Robert Vattier, Marcel Maupi, Raimu, Paul Dullac, Alida Rouffe and Fernand Charpin in Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932). Caption: A scene in front of the bar La Marine.


French poster postcard by Société des Amis de la Bibliothèque Forney, Paris. French affiche for Lac aux dames (Marc Allégret, 1934), starring Jean-Pierre Aumont. Design: Jean A. Mercier.


French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris, no. CF 40. Josephine Baker and Jean Gabin in Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934).

The most beautiful film of the year

In the 1930s, what is considered his best period, Marc Allégret directed such classics as Lac aux dames / Ladies Lake (Marc Allégret, 1934), Gribouille / Heart of Paris (Marc Allégret, 1937) and Entrée des artistes / The Curtain Rises (Marc Allégret, 1938). Between 1931 and 1933, Allégret had an affair with actress Simone Simon, who played the female lead in Lac aux dames. The film was a unique effort by mega-rich Playboy, wine grower, and race-car driver Philippe de Rothschild, then dabbling as a film producer. Based on Vicki Baum’s 1927 Tyrolean-set novel 'Hell in Frauensee', Lac aux Dames was written by Allégret and La Revue du Cinéma editor Jean-Georges Auriol.

The responsibility for the film’s dialogue fell to novelist Colette. At the time, she was in her early 60s and had basically no film experience. Colette was known for her knack for creating audience-pleasing youthful characters in novels like 'Chéri' and 'Le blé en herbe'. At Alt Film Guide, André Soares suggests that the author possibly received some input from André Gide, who hung around during the location shoot. Despite Marc Allégret’s previous credits and Lac aux Dames’ good-looking, sensual performers – 23-year-old Jean-Pierre Aumont’s impressive physique is displayed to advantage throughout the film, while second lead Illa Meery’s breasts are bared in one scene – Philippe de Rothschild had trouble finding a distributor for his production.

Undaunted, he rented the (now defunct) Théâtre du Colisée on Paris’ Champs-Élysées to showcase Lac aux Dames, using a gigantic billboard to lure spectators. French critics were enthusiastic. As reported by the New York Times’ Herbert L. Matthews, a “majority” of them referred to Lac aux Dames as “the most beautiful film of the year.” Matthews agreed, stating that Marc Allégret’s effort “deserves a high place in any international compilation of ‘best’ pictures.” In addition to praise for Jean-Pierre Aumont’s performance, he wrote: “In Mlle. Simon, Mme. Colette … has found the perfect medium to express her profound knowledge of the adolescent mind. It is an exquisitely ingenious part, played with unerring taste. … Simone Simon is a moving, delicious Puck, so naturally played that the part seems made for her.”

During the 1930s, Marc Allégret also directed Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934) with Jean Gabin and Josephine Baker, the drama Sous les yeux d'Occident / Under Western Eye (Marc Allégret, 1936) with Pierre Fresnay and Michel Simon, an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1911 novel 'Under Western Eyes', the comedy Gribouille / Heart of Paris (Marc Allégret, 1937), in which Michèle Morgan played her first leading role opposite Raimu, and Entrée des artistes / The Curtain Rises (Marc Allégret, 1938), in which Louis Jouvet played a role similar to his own as a teacher at the Conservatoire. Claude Dauphin, Odette Joyeux and Bernard Blier played his students.

On 18 October 1938, Allégret married actress Nadine Vogel, from whom he divorced in 1957. In 1939, Charles Boyer returned from Hollywood to appear in his film Le Corsaire / The Pirate. The film would also mark the screen debut of Louis Jourdan. The screenplay was based on a play by Marcel Achard, and filming took place at Victorine Studios in Nice, in August and September 1939. However, production ceased on the declaration of World War II on 1 September 1939, and Boyer returned to America. The film was never completed, although some footage was later released, and a documentary about the making of the film was released in 1995.


French poster card in the series Encyclopédie du cinéma by Carterie artistique et cinématographique, Pont du Casse. Poster for Gribouille (Marc Allégret, 1937), starring Raimu and Michèle Morgan. Design: Pierre Segogne.


French mini-poster (collector card) by Pathé-Cinema. Raimu and Andrex in Parade en 7 nuits / Parade in 7 Nights (Marc Allégret, 1941).


French mini-poster (collector card) by Pathé-Cinema. Elvire Popesco and Victor Boucher in Parade en 7 nuits / Parade in 7 Nights (Marc Allégret, 1941).


French poster postcard in the series Encyclopédie du cinéma by Carterie artistique et cinématographique, Pont du Casse. French affiche for Maria Chapdelaine / The Naked Heart (Marc Allégret, 1950), starring Michèle Morgan. Design: Duccio Marvasi.


Cover page of a special issue of the German Progress Film Programm, no. 101/60. Mai Zetterling and Michael Gough in Blackmailed (Marc Allégret, 1951). In the early 1950s, Allégret directed a handful of films in the UK.


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1034. Erno Crisa in L'amant de Lady Chatterley / Lady Chatterley's Lover (Marc Allégret, 1955).

A landmark film of great daring

During the Occupation, Marc Allégret directed several comedies. His Parade en 7 nuits / Parade in 7 Nights (Marc Allégret, 1941) starring Raimu, is situated in a dog pound. One of the dogs tells stories about his former life, including adventures in a circus. Production commenced in 1940 at Francoeur Studios in Paris, but was interrupted by the war. It resumed almost a year later in the city of Nice at the Victorine Studios. The drama L'Arlésienne (Marc Allégret, 1942) starring Raimu and a young Louis Jourdan, was based on Alphonse Daudet's play 'L'Arlésienne'. Then followed Félicie Nanteuil (Marc Allégret, 1943), starring Micheline Presle, and Les Petites du quai aux fleurs (Marc Allégret, 1944), in which Odette Joyeux, Louis Jourdan and Bernard Blier appeared alongside Gérard Philipe, who was just starting out.

After the war, he reunited with two of his earliest actors, Fernandel and Simone Simon, in the crime comedy Pétrus (Marc Allégret, 1946). Then he directed three films in Great Britain. Blanche Fury (Marc Allégret, 1948) is a Technicolour drama starring Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger and Michael Gough. Variety wrote: "It is a morose, moody tale of sex and unabashed villainy. The picture has been well produced, although cool calculation is visible in every move of the picture. French director Marc Allegret makes his English debut, and his technique is evident throughout. He has used color fo great advantage, while his settings and outdoor scenes have immense beauty. This should help put it over, although principal B.O. pull will be Stewart Granger." His next film, the Film Noir Blackmailed (Marc Allégret, 1951), starred Mai Zetterling and Dirk Bogarde. His third British production was the British-French historical drama Maria Chapdelaine / The Naked Heart (Marc Allégret, 1950) starring Michèle Morgan, Kieron Moore and Françoise Rosay. It tells the story of a convent girl in a remote Northern Canadian village at the beginning of the 20th century. The script was written by Allégret, C.K. Jaeger, J. McLaren-Ross, Hugh Mills and Roger Vadim based on the novel 'Maria Chapdelaine' by Louis Hémon. The film was released in separate English and French versions.

Back in France, he made the documentary Avec André Gide / With André Gide (Marc Allégret, 1952), which was narrated by Gérard Philipe and competed for the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion. Then he directed Dany Robin, Jean Marais and Jeanne Moreau in the romantic comedy Julietta (Marc Allégret, 1953). The film was important in the career of Allégret's assistant, Roger Vadim. A week before filming, star Jean Marais refused to do the film as he was unhappy with the script. Vadim rewrote the script to the star's satisfaction. Vadim and Allégret tried to have Vadim's wife, Brigitte Bardot, cast as the female lead, but the producer went with the better-known Dany Robin. The film was a big success, and this led to Vadim being given the job of rewriting Cette sacrée gamine / Naughty Girl (Michel Boisrond, 1956), which turned Brigitte Bardot into a star.

Marc Allégret travelled to Italy to direct Hedy Lamarr in the anthology film L'amante di Paride / Loves of Three Queens (Marc Allégret, Edgar G. Ulmer, 1954). Lamarr played a woman WHO IS going to a costume party and tries to work out which Queen she will dress up as. The film follows scenes from the lives of each of the queens. Genevieve, Josephine, and Helen. Then Allégret directed Brigitte Bardot and Jean Marais together in the drama Futures vedettes / School for Love (Marc Allégret, 1955). The screenplay, written by Marc Allégret, was based on a novel by Vicki Baum. The film performed poorly at the French box office. More successful was the comedy En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956) starring Daniel Gélin and Brigitte Bardot. The Los Angeles Times called it "a most delightful, naughty and very funny comedy... Bardot strikes pure gold... It's strictly a fun show that doesn't try to prove a thing.

Danielle Darrieux and hunky Italian film actor Erno Crisa starred in the drama L'Amant de Lady Chatterley / Lady Chatterley's Lover (Marc Allégret, 1955). Allégret co-wrote the screenplay with Philippe de Rothschild and Gaston Bonheur, based on D.H. Lawrence's classic risqué novel about an aristocratic wife who has a passionate affair with her gamekeeper, Oliver. Darrieux plays Lady Chatterley, and her first glimpse of Oliver naked from the waist upwards sets the sexual tone. Leo Genn as Lord Chatterley urges his wife to have sex with another man to produce a noble, honourable heir. He does not, of course, have his gamekeeper in mind. In 1955, the film was banned in New York because it "promoted adultery", but it was released in 1959 after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court's decision. The American public flocked to see the film. J. Roman Baker at IMDb: "It is the best version of D.H. Lawrence's book, and no other version since this one has been able to be as sexually explicit as the book. So for me, this is a landmark film of great daring in its ability to bring to the screen a banned book in the best way that it could."


Vintage postcard. Isabelle Pia and Brigitte Bardot in Futures Vedettes / School for Love (Marc Allégret, 1955).


West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. T 614. Photo: Pallas-Film. Isabelle Pia in Futures vedettes / School for Love (Marc Allégret, 1955).


French poster postcard in the series Encyclopédie du cinéma by Carterie artistique et cinématographique, Pont du Casse. French affiche for En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956), starring Brigitte Bardot. Design: Clément Hurel.


French poster postcard by Éditions Zreik, Paris, in the Collection Télérama, la mémoire du cinéma, no. 149. German poster for En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956), starring Brigitte Bardot.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1975, 1963. Brigitte Bardot in En effeuillant la marguerite / Mademoiselle Striptease (Marc Allégret, 1956).

A sharp eye for new talent

In 1962, Marc Allégret directed a young Catherine Deneuve and the hot Yé-yé star Johnny Hallyday in Sophie, one of the four sketches of the anthology film Les Parisiennes / Tales of Paris (Marc Allégret, a.o., 1962).

Allégret was noted for his sharp eye for new talent. Fernandel, Raimu, Jean-Louis Barrault and Josephine Baker all made their film debuts in a Marc Allégret film. He was the first to give important roles to Simone Simon and Michèle Morgan, whom he brought to prominence. Roger Vadim was his assistant. He cast up-and-coming actors in his films, such as Bernard Blier, Louis Jourdan, Danièle Delorme, Gérard Philipe, Daniel Gélin, Brigitte Bardot, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, and Patrick Dewaere.

Shunned, like other French directors of his generation, by New Wave filmmakers and critics, Allégret went on to make documentaries. He directed and produced one last feature film, Le Bal du comte d'Orgel / The Ball of Count Orgel (Marc Allégret, 1970). Based on Raymond Radiguet's book of the same name, posthumously published in 1924, the film concerns a ball hosted by the Comte d'Orgel (Jean-Claude Brialy). The film premiered at the opening of the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. The 1970 audience was not able to relate to this story of the Belle Epoque people who live in luxury and do not seem to be aware that there's a world outside.

Three years later, in 1973, Marc Allégret died of natural causes at his home at 11bis rue Lord-Byron in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. He was 72 years old. Allégret was interred in the Cimetière des Gonards in Versailles, France. He was the uncle of actress Catherine Allégret, the daughter of his brother Yves Allégret and Simone Signoret, who were married from 1944 till 1949.

In 2018, Voyage au Congo / Travels in the Congo (Marc Allégret, 1927) was restored and digitised by Les Films du Panthéon in collaboration with Les Films du Jeudi, with the support of CNC and the Cinémathèque française, and with the help of the British Film Institute. This restored version also includes a newly commissioned instrumental score. IMDb: "Unusual for its time Voyage au Congo / Travels in the Congo (Marc Allégret, 1927) is a largely observational documentary (with one dramatized sequence) showing aspects of the lives, culture, and built environments of diverse groups in the region, amongst them the Baya, Sara and Fula peoples, and without trying to shoehorn them into a dramatic narrative. Travels in the Congo does, of course, retain a certain colonial gaze; in writing about the film, Allégret referred to its subjects as 'a humanity without history'. But overall it remains steadfast in its approach, presenting its subjects on their own terms."


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 3780. Mylène Demongeot in Sois belle et tais-toi / Be Beautiful But Shut Up (Marc Allégret, 1958). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


Cover page of a special issue of the German Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4684. Henri Vidal and Mylène Demongeot in Sois belle et tais-toi / Be Beautiful But Shut Up (Marc Allégret, 1958).


The retro of the cover page of a special issue of the German Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4684. Henri Vidal, Alain Delon, Mylène Demongeot and Darry Cowl in Sois belle et tais-toi / Be Beautiful But Shut Up (Marc Allégret, 1958).


French poster card in the series Encyclopédie du cinéma by Carterie artistique et cinématographique, Pont du Casse. Spanish poster for the episode film Les Parisiennes / Tales of Paris (Marc Allégret a.o., 1961). Design: Mexique. Allégret directed the episode Sophie, with Catherine Deneuve and Johnny Hallyday.


French postcard by Jean Dubout, Paris, 2009, D 49. Poster design by Albert Dubout (1950) for a re-issue of Fanny (Marc Allegret, 1932).

Sources: James Travers (French Films), Andre Soares (Alt Film Guide), J Roman Baker (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch, French and English), Encyclopaedia Britannica and IMDb.

The Finest of the Fair: Ivo's selection

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Italian postcard, reproduction after the original. Design: Enzo Van Dock. During the 1900s and 1910s, Italian artist Enzo Van Dock designed many caricatures which were turned into postcards.

Last Saturday, 4 April 2026, the editors of EFSP visited the VerzamelJaarbeurs in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This collectors' fair is Europe's largest market for vintage items, antiques, curiosities and pop culture. Under the title, 'The Finest of the Fair' (April, 2026), we will post some of our newest acquisitions from the VerzamelJaarbeurs. Ivo Blom selected 16 of his postcards for this post.


German postcard by NPG (Neue Photographische Gesellschaft), no 548/8. Granogravure, NPG Stieglitz, 1906. Sarah Bernhardt, wo bist du? (Where are you?). Sarah isn't hard to find...

French vedette Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) has been referred to as 'the most famous actress in the history of the world'. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning her the nickname 'The Divine Sarah'. Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s and was soon in high demand in both Americas, too. And she was one of the first film stars. What a woman!


German postcard in the G.G. Series, no.475/2. Photo: Gerlach. Card mailed in 1908.

American soprano opera singer and film actress Geraldine Farrar (1882-1967) was noted for her glamorous beauty, acting ability, and the timbre of her voice. Barely 20, she was already the toast of Berlin. Later at the Met in New York, she had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed ‘Gerry-flappers’. Farrar also starred in more than a dozen silent films from 1915 to 1920. She was married to and co-starred with Dutch matinee idol Lou Tellegen.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, E.C., no. 11780 B. Photo: Foulsham and Banfield, London. Oscar Asche as Haji and Sarah Raleigh as Kut-al-Kulub in the play 'Kismet'.

'Kismet' was a three-act play written in 1911 by Edward Knoblauch/ Knoblock. It was produced by Oscar Asche and first staged at the Garrick Theatre, London, on 19 April 1911. Asche rewrote the play and starred himself as the beggar Haji, who poses as a prince. He drowns the evil Wazir of Police, catches the eye of the Wazir's voluptuous wife, serves as Emir of Baghdad, and sees his daughter wed to the handsome Caliph, who has posed as a gardener. Next to Asche, Lily Brayton starred as his daughter, Marsinah. The play was a gigantic success. After a successful tour with 'Kismet' in Australia in 1911–1912, Asche, upon his return to London, revived 'Kismet'. Asche and Brayton also appeared in a 1914 film adaptation. Afterwards, more film adaptations followed in 1920, 1930 and 1944. Asche repeated his role as Haji in the 1930 and 1944 film versions. In 1953, the story was adapted into the musical by Robert Wright and George Forrest, which in turn was adapted into a 1955 film.


Italian postcard by Garzini e Pezzini, Milan, 1903. Caption: Tipografia Fregoli. L'Onestà (1902). Gratis.

Leopoldo Fregoli (1867-1936) was one of the first vaudeville actors who used film in his acts. Fregoli was famous for his rapid transformation acts, in which he did impersonations of famous artistic and political characters. In 1898, he bought a Cinematographe from the Lumière brothers and started to show shorts, named Fregoligraph, as part of his stage act. They were recordings of his transformation acts. The Cineteca Nazionale in Rome has preserved many of the Fregoligraph acts.


British postcard. Fred Penley in 'The Timbertown Follies', interned in Holland.

During World War I, a remarkable group of performers toured Dutch theatres. They called themselves The Timbertown Follies. They were part of the 1500 English soldiers who fled Belgium when invaded by the Germans and were imprisoned in a wooden camp (hence the 'Timbertown') near Groningen, in the neutral Northern Netherlands. Out of boredom, they started a theatre show. It became so popular that in 1915, the soldiers were allowed to perform at the Groningen city theatre and elsewhere. Despite shortages, they managed to put on a dazzling show, raising thousands of guilders for all sorts of charities, such as the Belgian people and the victims of the 1916 Dutch floods. While many Dutch visitors didn't speak English, the show was understandable to all. Fred Penley (1884-?), the leader of this troupe, who moved audiences with his song, was a London actor, brought up on the profession. His father was the actor W.S. Penley, who became famous in his own country with the play ‘Charley's Aunt’. In 1917, rules became less strict, and Penley became an actor at the Dutch Hollandia Film studio, e.g. as Sir John Warwick, the love interest of the married Mrs. Cranby (Annie Bos) in Een kino-toneelstuk (Jan van Dommelen, Fred Penley, 1917), for which the interiors were performed on stage and the exteriors shot on film. Penley was also the banker and spy Sorga in the three-part Oorlog en Vrede / War and Peace 1914/1916/1918 (Maurits Binger, 19128) starring Adelqui Migliar and Annie Bos. After the war's end, Penley stayed in the Netherlands as an actor, in the films Het goudvischje/ The Goldfish (Binger, 1919) and Circus Jim (Bernard Edwin Doxat-Pratt, Adelqui Migliar, 1921). In 1921, Penley started a new stage tour with a new group, still under the name of Timbertown Follies. In the early 1920s, Penley started a film rental company with Alex Benno, entitled Actueel Film. The two also produced the popular comedy Kee en Janus naar Berlijn / K & J. to Berlin, starring Adriënne Solser and Kees Pruis. In the Netherlands, he also worked as a film lecturer, accompanying, e.g. the expedition film The Great White Silence on Captain Scott's failed discovery of the Antarctic, shown to the Royal Family in May 1923 and afterwards all around the nation. In 1923, he also played on stage in Haarlem the 'Brazilian Aunt' in 'Charley's Aunt'. Penley, who in 1923 married a Dutch woman, M.G. Neervoort van der Poll, left for Paris himself in 1925.


French postcard, no. IV. Photo: Jean Bart, M.A. Caption: On the threshold of the final darkness, she measures out her mournful steps.

Paola Monti began her career in the 1900s in Paris as a barefoot dancer. Between late 1912 and late 1914, she was the leading actress in some thirty mostly short Italian films.


French postcard by Editeurs d'art, Paris, no.S.2180. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Regina Badet (Opéra-Comique) in the operetta 'Aphrodite'. Régina Badet played the dancer Théano in the operetta 'Aphrodite' (1906), performed at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Music by Camille Erlanger and libretto by Louis de Gramont, after Pierre Louÿs. Lead singers were Léon Beyle, Mary Garden and André Allard.

French actress and dancer Régina Badet (1876-1949) was a star of the Opéra-Comique in Paris. She also had a short career in the French silent cinema.


French postcard by Eds. B.J.C., Paris in the Series Gladiateurs, no. 8. Caption: La demande de grâce (Asking for mercy). Music-Hall Gallici-Rancy.

An imitation of the painting 'Pollice verso' by Jean-Léon Gérôme. Mark the 'exedra' curved bench with lion's head and claws, inspired by an original in Pompeii (Tomb of Mamia) and popularised by the paintings of Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Henri Gallici (1868-after 1921) and his wife Emma Rancy (1867-1956) ran a travelling music-hall in the 1900s, visiting the fairgrounds with their impressive Art Nouveau facade. They combined magic, theatre, and cinema. In the early 1900s, they also published 'Les forains peints par eux-mêmes'.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, no. 466. Photo: SBF/Svenska Biografernas Förening. Axel Lagerberg as Governor Olof Wibelius and Oscar Textorius as the Russian supreme commander General von Buxhövden in the historical film Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål (John W. Brunius, 1926). Caption: General, here you see a shield. For those you have threatened.

The two-part historical film Fänrik Ståls sägner / The Tales of Ensign Stål is set during the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia in 1808-1809, 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.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 1358/2, 1937-1938. Photo: Wog, Berlin.

German actress Kitty Jantzen (1916-1984) was the second wife of director Richard Eichberg and appeared in five films directed by him between 1936 and 1938. She made her film debut in 1936 in the lead female role as Christa Lessner in Eichberg's Es geht um mein Leben / My Life is at Stake, in which she starred alongside Karl Ludwig Diehl and Theo Lingen. Directed by her husband, she also starred in the two adventure films Der Tiger von Eschnapur / The Tiger of Eschnapur (1938) and Das Indische Grabmal / The Indian Tomb (1938). In both films, she played the role of Irene Traven, with La Jana as Sitha, Maharani of Eschnapur and Frits van Dongen as Chandra, Maharaja of Eschnapur. She also appeared in the French-language versions of these two films. She did not appear in any further films after that.


German postcard by GG Co., series 325/6. Photo: Gerlach.

Julian Eltinge, born William Julian Dalton (1881-1941), was an American showman, cabaret performer, and actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1904, dressed as a woman, in the musical comedy 'Mr. Wix of Wickham'. He also began working in vaudeville. The early film star Pauline Frederick and Eltinge were childhood friends. He dared her to apply to one of the music halls, which was the start of her career on stage and in films. Unlike many actors of the time who specialised in female impersonations, Eltinge did not portray women in a caricatured manner, but gave the illusion of being a woman in every respect. He toured simply as 'Eltinge', leaving his gender unknown to some. His performances included dancing, singing, and costume changes in a role-playing act that ended when the performer removed his wig, revealing to the often-unaware audience that he was a man. In 1906, he made his debut in London theatres, performing even before King Edward VII. In 1911, Eltinge performed in 'The Fascinating Widow' on the New York stage. His other stage comedies from that period included 'The Crinoline Girl' and 'Cousin Lucy', and he also directed film adaptations of both plays. His first cinematic success was The Countess Charming (Donald Crisp, 1917), in which he played both a man and a woman. In the same year, he also acted in Crisp's The Clever Mrs. Fairfax. After settling in Hollywood, Eltinge made more films while also performing in vaudeville. He starred in a Ruritania-like dramatic comedy, An Adventuress (Fred J. Balshofer, 1920), with Virginia Rappe as his co-star and a minor part for the upcoming star Rudolph Valentino. Initially, the film was made as an anti-German propaganda film called Over the Rhine, but after the war, the film was changed towards an action drama taking place in some Ruritania, in which Eltinge has to crossdress to flee the country in turmoil. In 1922, when Valentino had become a big star, his name and role became more prominent, and the drama, rereleased as The Isle of Love, became a light comedy. It didn't improve the quality of the film, and the press saw through the scam of cashing in on Valentino's stardom. Like other figures in the entertainment industry, Eltinge's career came to a sudden halt with the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. Furthermore, in the 1930s, female impersonations and vaudeville lost popularity. During those years, new laws were enacted to ban cross-dressing in public, and thus, his career came to a complete halt. Eltinge made ends meet by performing in nightclubs, with little success. He died in 1941, at the age of 59, from a cerebral haemorrhage.


French postcard by Europe, no. 728. Photo: Paramount.

American actress Clara Bow (1905-1965) rose to stardom in silent film during the 1920s. It was her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film It (Clarence G. Badger, 1927) that brought her global fame and the nickname 'The It Girl'. Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol.


British postcard in the "Pictures" Portrait Gallery, London, no. 11/212.

American actor Franklyn Farnum (1878-1961) appeared in more than 1,100 films. Farnum started in film acting in 1916, initially working for Rex/Universal. In the early 1920s, Farnum’s career was primarily dominated by Westerns made by smaller companies, including the serial Vanishing Trails (Leon de la Mothe, 1920) and the feature films The Firebrand Alan James (1922), The Drug Store Cowboy (Park Frame, 1925), and The Gambling Fool (J.P. McGowan, 1925). Farnum left the film industry in 1925 but returned five years later with the advent of sound films. Farnum continued in minor roles well into the 1950s. One of his three wives was actress Alma Rubens, whom he married briefly in 1918.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3336/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Ramon Novarro in The Midshipman (Christy Cabanne, 1925).

Mexican-American actor Ramon Novarro (1899-1968) was a popular Latin Lover of the 1920s and early 1930s. He was the star of silent Hollywood's biggest epic, Ben-Hur (Fred Niblo, 1925).


French postcard by M.A. Caption: La Vengeance. Mailed in Paris on 6 November 1903.

This postcard is part of a series of expressions of emotions by women.


French postcard by Eds. S.I.P. Photo: Paul Boyer, Paris. Caption: Martha.

This card is a prologue to a future EFSP blog post on remarkable headgear.

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