18 September 2026

Directed by Paul von Woringen

Dutch-born, German film director Paul von Woringen (1859-1928) was the screenwriter-producer-director of the Deutsche Mutoskop & Biograph (DMB). He made the Autorenfilm Die Landstrasse (1913), but also directed several films with Lotte Neumann in her own series of melodramas for DMB.

Lotte Neumann in Die Ehe der Charlotte von Brakel (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2168. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film. Lotte Neumann in Die Ehe der Charlotte von Brakel / The Marriage of Charlotte von Brakel (Paul von Woringen, 1918).

Lotte Neumann in Die Richterin (1917)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2095. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film. Lotte Neumann in Die Richterin / The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Lotte Neumann in Der Geigenspieler
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2103. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Der Geigenspieler / The Violin Player (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Magda Madeleine in Die einsame Frau (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2968. Photo: Deutsche Mutoskop & Biograph GmbH, Berlin. Magda Madeleine in Die einsame Frau / The Lonely Woman (Paul von Woringen, Willy Zeyn, 1918).

Hilde Wolter
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 359/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin / Deutsche Mutoskop & Biograph.

Artistic director of Deutsche Mutoskop- und Biograph


Ernest Guillaume Paul von Woringen was born in 1859 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He was the son of German parents. Thanks in part to his wife, the variety artist Nora Gilis, he started his film career as artistic director of the Berlin film company Deutsche Mutoskop- und Biograph GmbH, as the German subsidiary of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. The trademark of the company, usually referred to simply as Deutsche Mutoskop or DMB, was ‘DB’ within a circle. DMB distributed and produced several hundred films between 1898 and 1924. From the early 1910s, Deutsche Mutoskop- und Biograph shifted its focus increasingly towards film production, though it remained active in the distribution business until 1919. The company’s first large film studio was built at 10 Zietenstraße in Berlin-Lankwitz: a glass hall measuring approximately 700 m² on a multi-storey base.

In January 1911, Von Woringen became the company's general manager. He directed the production of feature films, mainly comedies and film dramas, and maintained the company in a time of rapidly evolving public taste for fictional action films. Von Woringen also quickly made the transition to long feature films. He was responsible for the prestigious and ambitious historical production Theodor Körner (1912), typical of the wave of nationalist, anti-French films from just before the First World War, in this case about the fight against Napoleon's marauders in Germany. The film was directed by Franz Porten and Gerhard Dammann, with Friedrich Feher in the title role and 300 soldiers in historical costumes.

From 1913, Paul von Woringen was active behind the camera as director of his own films. His directorial debut was Die Landstrasse / The Country Road (1913), in which an escaped convict commits a murder in a small village. The murder is blamed on a passing beggar, played by Carl Goetz. The original screenplay was written by renowned author Paul Lindau and used a short story by Duke Ernst of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the basis for the film. The story was thematically based on the Rannersdorf murder trial, which attracted considerable attention at the time.

In 1915, Von Woringen started to make films with Lotte Neumann (1896-1977). Neumann was one of the most successful actresses in the early days of the German silent cinema and the female star of the Deutsche Mutoskop- und Biograph GmbH, such as the Detective film Der rote Faden / The Common Thread (1915) with Rudolf Klein-Rhoden as Detective Barker Swift. Lotte Neumann also worked as a screenwriter and a producer. In 1917-1918, Von Woringen directed Neumann in films for her own company, Lotte Neumann-Film, founded within DMB.

The first film Neumann produced herself with Lotte Neumann-Film was Der Mut zum Glück / The Courage to Happiness (Paul von Woringen, 1917). The film was shot at the Mutoskop studio in Berlin-Lankwitz and co-starred Erich Kaiser-Titz and Heinrich Schroth. It passed censorship in July 1917 and then soon premiered at the Berliner Sportpalast. The Neue Kino-Rundschau (September 1917): "A very excellent film that met with undivided applause from those appearing in it. It is particularly characterised by the excellent interaction between Lotte Neumann and Erich Kaiser-Tietz [sic!]. A truly rare pleasure to immerse yourself in the performance by these two, where one is forced to wonder how much an artist can do from a role that he grasps and thinks through with all his soul! The direction also has its share in the completed whole and must be lauded."

Poster Die Landstrasse (1913)
German poster by DMB (Deutsche Mutoskop- und Biograph) for Die Landstrasse / The Country Road (Paul von Woringen, 1913). Design: A. Hubert. Collection: Eye Filmmuseum.

Lotte Neumann in Der Mut zum Glück
Gertman postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2089. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann as Eveline, Heinrich Schroth as her father and Franz Ramharter as Baron von Sanden in Der Mut zum Glück / The Courage to Happiness (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Lotte Neumann in Der Mut zum Glück
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2091. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Der Mut zum Glück / The Courage to Happiness (Paul von Woringen 1917). This was the first film Neumann produced herself with her company, Lotte Neumann-Film.

Lotte Neumann in Die Richterin
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin. no. K. 2094. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Die Richterin / The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Lotte Neumann in Hinter verschlossenen Türen
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, K. 2096. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann and Ernst Rückert in Hinter verschlossenen Türen / Behind Closed Doors (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Lotte Neumann in Hinter verschlossenen Türen (1917)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, K. 2097. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann and Ernst Rückert in Hinter verschlossenen Türen / Behind Closed Doors (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Left by Lotte Neumann


Paul von Woringen directed for Lotte Neumann-Film such melodramas as Die Richterin / The Judge (1917), Hinter verschlossenen Türen / Behind Closed Doors (1917), Die Ehe der Charlotte von Brakel / The Marriage of Charlotte von Brakel (1917), and the two-parter Das Schweige im Walde / The Silence in the Woods (1918, 2 parts).

In Die Richterin / The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917), Carl Clewing plays Fritz, a businessman who falls in love with his neighbour's daughter (Lotte Neumann), who was brought up in strict order by her father. The girl agrees to marry him. Since Fritz does not want to go into marriage with a lie, he admits to a misstep from a long time ago: in his youth, he falsified a check and went to jail. The strict paternal principles have turned the girl into a moral judge, and she lets the upcoming marriage burst at the last moment. The script was by Hans Land, a pseudonym of Hugo Landsberger. Die Richterin was shot at the Mutoskop studio in Berlin-Lankwitz. In October 1917, it was presented to the German Board of Censorship, and quite soon after, it was released.

Lotte Neumann also starred in Der Geigenspieler / The Violin Player (1917), a psychological crime movie which Von Woringen wrote and directed. Other actors were Johannes Müller, Paul Otto, Elisabeth Hruby, Marga Köhler, and Wilhelm Huch. It is not known when exactly the film premiered, but in August 1917 it was shown at the Berlin Passagetheater. In 1918, Lotte Neumann decided to continue her film career at Maxim Film, and she left DMB and Paul von Woringen.

In 1919-1920, Von Woringen made several films at DMB starring two new discoveries, Hilde Wolter and Magda Magdeleine. Magdeleine had debuted at Deutsche Mutoskop & Biograph in Das Licht in der Nacht / The Light in the Night (Emil Albes, 1917). After that, she had played leads in her own film series, often directed by Willy Zeyn. In 1918, Paul von Woringen directed her in Die einsame Frau / The Lonely Woman (Willy Zeyn, Paul von Woringen, 1918), Wenn Freunde zu Rivalen werden / When Friends Become Rivals (Paul von Woringen, 1919), Die Lüge der Pia Mahren / Pia Mahren’s Lie (Paul von Woringen, 1919), and Das Rätsel der Unbekannten / The Mystery of the Unknown (Paul von Woringen, 1919). Often, she was paired with actor Karl Beckersachs. Between late 1917 and early 1920, Madeleine made 16 films at Deutsche Mutoskop und Biograph. Hilde Wolter had the female leads or supporting parts in 9 films directed by Von Woringen between 1919 and 1920, such as Eine tolle Kiste / A Brilliant Box (1919), Wie das Schicksal spielt / How Fate Works (1920) and Sybill Morgan (1920). In 1921, she switched to Orplid-Film.

The emergence of the UFA in 1917 created formidable competition for DMB. Due to the declining success of his films, Paul von Woringen gave up his post at Deutsche Mutoskop und Biograph in 1921. After the DMB studio had remained largely unused for a time, it was bought by Muto-Großatelier für Filmherstellung GmbH in 1922. This was a joint venture between Flora-Film GmbH, Deutsche Mutoskop- und Biograph GmbH (DMB), Fern Andra Film-Atelier, Georg Bluen & Co. and Lixie Film-Atelier Weißensee GmbH. Von Woringen made only one more film with DMB, Im Schatten der Anderen / In the Shadow of Others (Paul von Woringen, 1924), again with Magda Magdeleine, before retiring completely. For Madeleine, it also meant her last leading role and her second-to-last film. Paul von Woringen died in Poortugaal near Rotterdam in 1928. Only a few of his films have survived, including the crime drama Der rote Faden. His first film, Die Landstrasse, is now part of Eye Filmmuseum's Desmet collection.

Lotte Neumann in Hinter verschlossenen Türen (1917)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2099. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Hinter verschlossenen Türen / Behind Closed Doors (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Lotte Neumann in Der Geigenspieler (1917)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2100. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann and probably Paul Otto in Der Geigenspieler / The Violin Player (Paul von Woringen, 1917). The first of a series of four cards.

Lotte Neumann in Der Geigenspieler (1917)
German postcard. Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2101. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Der Geigenspieler / The Violin Player (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Lotte Neumann in Die Ehe der Charlotte von Brakel
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2167. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Die Ehe der Charlotte von Brakel / The Marriage of Charlotte von Brakel (Paul von Woringen, 1918). Her co-stars were Bruno Kastner and Frieda Richard. The man collapsing is Rudolf Lettinger.

Hilde Wolter
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 359/4. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin / Deutsche Mutoskop & Biograph Film-Ges.

Hilde Wolter
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 400/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin / Deutsche Mutoskop & Biograph Film-Ges. Hilde Wolter.

Sources: Michael Wedel (The Encyclopedia of Early Cinema), Early German Film Database, Filmportal, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

17 September 2026

Pola Negri

In the late 1910s and the 1920s, Polish film actress Pola Negri (1897-1987) achieved notoriety as a femme fatale in silent films in Poland, Berlin, and Hollywood. Negri was an overnight sensation in Ernst Lubitsch's Madame Dubarry / Passion (1919). Her vamp roles were so popular that she was a direct rival of Theda Bara, and lived in a Hollywood palace, modelled after the White House.

Pola Negri
French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 433. Photo: Studio Lorelle, Paris.

Pola Negri in Madame Dubarry (1919)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 627/8. Photo: Union. Pola Negri in Madame Dubarry (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918).

Pola Negri in Mania (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2569. Photo: Union. Ernst Wendt, Pola Negri and Arthur Schröder in Mania (Eugen Illés, 1918).

Pola Negri in Sumurun (1920)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 642/5. Photo: Union Film. Pola Negri in Sumurun (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920).

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

Pola Negri in Hotel Imperial (1927)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 72/1. Photo: Parufamet / Paramount. Pola Negri in Hotel Imperial (Mauritz Stiller, 1927).

Pola Negri in Loves of an Actress (1928)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3814/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount. Pola Negri in Loves of an Actress (Rowland V. Lee, 1928).

Poverty and tuberculosis


Pola Negri was born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec in Lipno (some sources say Janowa), Russian Empire (present-day Poland), in 1897. Her father, Juraj Chałupiec, was a Slovak immigrant tinsmith. Her mother had to make a living alone after her father was arrested by the Russians and sent to a Siberian prison camp, where he died. In 1902, mother and her only daughter moved to Warsaw, where they lived in poverty. As a teenager, Pola auditioned for the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet. She was accepted. As a ballerina, she showed great promise until she contracted tuberculosis and was forced to cut short her dance career.

She switched to the Warsaw Imperial Academy of Dramatic Arts and became an actress. Her triumphant debut as Hedwig in Henrik Ibsen's 'The Wild Duck' brought her to the attention of the prestigious and daring Little Theatre of Philharmonic Hall. After a brief stay, Pola moved on to the Rozmaitosci, the national theatre of Poland.

By now, Pola had become a popular and well-known actress in Warsaw, but the outbreak of World War I interrupted her rise and left her and her mother in dire financial straits. By the time the war receded, Pola had signed with the Polish film company Sphinx and debuted as a dancer in Niewolnica zmyslów / Slave of the Senses (Ryszard Ordynski, Jan Pawlowski, 1914).

She appeared in a variety of films, including Żona / The Wife (Aleksander Hertz, 1915), Bestia / Beast (Aleksander Hertz, 1915), and Studenci / Students (Aleksander Hertz, 1916). During that time, she adopted the pseudonym ‘Pola Negri’, after the Italian poetess Ada Negri.

As the situation in Warsaw stabilised, the city's theatres soon became active again, and Pola gained the chance of a lifetime. David Ordynski, a Polish director currently working with Max Reinhardt at his Deutsches Theater in Berlin, returned to Warsaw to stage the Polish premiere of Reinhardt's 'Sumurun'. This is the story of a mulatto dancer bought in the slave market for the Sheik but is loved by his son. She kills the Sheik in self-defence. Pola's success in the role of the slave girl took her to Berlin.

Pola Negri in Sumurun
Polish postcard, no. 6011. Photo: Malarski & Tavrell. Pola Negri in 'Sumurun'.

Pola Negri in Sumurun (1913)
Polish postcard. Photo: Malarski & Tavrell. Photo: Pola Negri in the play 'Sumurun'. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Pola Negri in Sumurun
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 234. Photo: Anny Eberth. Pola Negri in her costume of 'Sumurun'.

Pola Negri
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 302. Photo: Atelier Eberth, Berlin.

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 407/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Rembrandt Phot.

Pola Negri in Mania. Die Geschichte einer Zigarettenarbeiterin (1918)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 407/4, 1919-1924. Photo: Rembrandt Phot. Pola Negri in Mania. Die Geschichte einer Zigarettenarbeiterin/Mania: The Story of a Cigarette Girl (Eugen Illés, 1918).

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin / W.J. Mörling, Berlin, no. 425/2. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin.

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin / W.J. Mörling, Berlin, no. 425/3. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin.

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin / W.J. Mörling, Berlin, no. 477/1. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin. Pola Negri in the final scene of Sappho / Mad Love (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1921).

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 488/3. Photo: Ernst Sandau.

The Lubitsch touch


In Berlin, Pola Negri found considerable success at the Deutsches Theater. She met German fellow actor-turned-director Ernst Lubitsch, who became famous for the ‘Lubitsch Touch’, the skilful blending of sly wit and innuendo that confounded even the strictest censor in the 1920s.

Lubitsch introduced Pola to Paul Davidson, head of Germany's Union Film Alliance, and together they made such films as Die Augen der Mumie Ma / The Eyes of Mummy Ma (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918), Carmen / Gypsy Blood (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918) based on the Georges Bizet opera, a film version of Sumurun / One Arabian Night (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920), and Die Bergkatze / The Wildcat (Ernst Lubitsch, 1921).

The characters that Pola played were strong, earthy, passionate women - full of fire, and her roles to date were of women whose will and ardour were equal to Negri's own.

While Pola also hit it big in such non-Lubitsch films as Arme Violetta / Camille (Paul L. Stein, 1920) and Sappho (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1921), it was their pairing in the smash hit Madame Dubarry / Passion (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919) that made them an overnight sensation.

Madame Dubarry / Passion was such a success in the USA that by 1922, Negri and Lubitsch both signed contracts with Famous Players and headed for Hollywood.

Emil Jannings and Pola Negri in Die Augen der Mumie Ma (1918)
German collector card by Ross Verlag in the series 'Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film', picture no. 58, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Emil Jannings and Pola Negri in Die Augen der Mumie Ma / The Eyes of the Mummy (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918).

Pola Negri in Carmen (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2765. Photo: Atelier Eberth / Union. Pola Negri in Carmen (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918).

Pola Negri in Carmen (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2849. Photo: Union. Pola Negri in Carmen (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918).

Pola Negri in Madame Dubarry (1919)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 627/1. Photo: Union. Pola Negri in Madame Dubarry (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918).

Pola Negri and Harry Liedtke in Madame DuBarry (1919)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 627/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Union. Pola Negri and Harry Liedtke in Madame Dubarry (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).

Pola Negri in Sumurun (1920)
German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 642/1. Photo: Union. Pola Negri in Sumurun (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920).

Pola Negri, Paul Wegener and Jenny Hasselquist in Sumurun (1920)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Union Film. Publicity still for Sumurun (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920) with Pola Negri, Paul Wegener, and Jenny Hasselqvist.

Pola Negri in Die Bergkatze (1921)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 760/5. Photo: Alex Binder. Pola Negri in Die Bergkatze / Wildcat (Ernst Lubitsch, 1921).

Pola Negri in Forbidden Paradise (1924)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1523/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Parufamet. Pola Negri in Forbidden Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1924).

Pola Negri in Forbidden Paradise (1924)
Italian postcard, no. 134. Photo: Films Paramount, Roma. Pola Negri in Forbidden Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1924), launched in Italy as La Czarina.

Excessive and lustful kissing


In 1923, Pola Negri landed the role of Maritana in The Spanish Dancer (Herbert Brenon, 1923) with Antonio Moreno and Wallace Beery. Her exotic style of glamour proved popular with filmgoers. Audiences equally liked her next productions, Bella Donna (George Fitzmaurice, 1923) and The Cheat (George Fitzmaurice, 1923). Negri lived in a palace in Los Angeles, modelled after the White House.

Forbidden Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1924), with Adolphe Menjou and Hotel Imperial (Mauritz Stiller, 1927) were two of her most successful films. However, her vamp style began to go out of vogue, and her popularity quickly began to fade.

Three things conspired to end her career in Hollywood. The display that she put on at the funeral of Rudolph Valentino in 1926 changed the public mood towards her. The Hays Office codes, which would not allow filming the 'scenes of passion' and 'excessive and lustful kissing' that had made her a sex-siren European star. And finally, her thick accent would not play in the sound pictures that were coming into vogue.

In 1928, Negri made her last film for Paramount Pictures entitled The Woman from Moscow (Ludwig Berger, 1928), opposite Norman Kerry. The film was only Negri's second talkie, the first being Loves of an Actress (Rowland V. Lee, 1928) opposite Nils Asther, and Paramount didn’t renew her contract.

Having divorced Eugeniusz Dąbski in 1921, Negri married the self-claimed Georgian prince Serge Mdivani in 1927. In 1929, Negri lost most of her fortune in the Wall Street Crash. The couple divorced, and she left Hollywood for Great Britain to make the drama The Way of Lost Souls / The Woman He Scorned (Paul Czinner, 1929).

Pola Negri
Dutch postcard by J.[Jos] M.H. Nuss, Laren, no. 4. Picture: Frank Godefroy.

Pola Negri
Dutch postcard by J.[Jos] M.H. Nuss, Laren, no. 6. Picture: Frank Godefroy. Pola Negri in The Spanish Dancer (1923).

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1093/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Paramount. Herbert Brenon directs Pola Negri in The Spanish Dancer (1923). This silent Paramount production is set in Spain in 1625. It tells of the adventures of Maritana, a Spanish gypsy singer, who is in love with the penniless nobleman and bon vivant Don César de Bazan. The lovers become involved in a court intrigue with the intention of driving the Spanish king and his French wife apart. Maritana's charm and shrewdness save the day.

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1093/2. Photo: Paramount. Pola Negri and director Dimitri Buchowetzki on the set of the film Men (1924).

Pola Negri in The Cheat (1923)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 939/5, 1925-1926. Photo: Paramount-Film. Pola Negri in The Cheat (George Fitzmaurice, 1923).

Pola Negri and Noah Beery in Lily of the Dust (1924)
Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 778. Photo: S.R.I. Films Paramount, Roma. Pola Negri and Noah Beery in Lily of the Dust (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1924).

Pola Negri
Italian postcard by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze. Photo: Pola Negri in Good and Naughty (Malcolm St. Clair, 1926).

Residence of Pola Negri, Beverly Hills, Calif.
American postcard by Western Publishing & Novelty Co., Los Angeles, Calif, no. 828. Caption: Residence of Pola Negri, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Pola Negri and Jesse Lasky
Spanish collectors card by Amatller, Barcelona, in the 'Los artistas cinematograficos en la intimidad' Series, no. A. Photo: Pola Negri and Jesse Lasky.

James Hall and Pola Negri in Hotel Imperial (1927)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 72/4. Photo: ParUfaMet / Paramount. James Hall and Pola Negri in Hotel Imperial (Mauritz Stiller, 1927). The German film title was Hotel "Stadt Lemberg".

Flamboyant


After 1930, Pola Negri worked mainly in England and Germany, where she acted in films for the Joseph Goebbels - controlled Ufa. Mazurka (Willi Forst, 1935) gained much popularity in Germany and became one of Adolf Hitler's favourite films.

She fled Germany in 1938 after Nazi officials labelled her as having "part Jewish" ancestry. She moved to France, and then in 1941, she sailed from Portugal to New York and was temporarily detained at Ellis Island. After her release, she eventually returned to Hollywood. She briefly appeared in Hi Diddle Diddle (Andrew L. Stone, 1943), though her career was essentially over.

In 1951, Negri became a naturalised citizen of the United States. Her final film appearance was in the Walt Disney film The Moon-Spinners (James Neilson, 1964), with Hayley Mills. The same year, she received an honorary award from the German film industry for her career.

Negri lived her remaining years in San Antonio, Texas, with her companion, Texan heiress and composer, Margaret West. In 1970, she published her autobiography, 'Memoirs of a Star' (1970). Negri maintained her flamboyant persona to the end of her life and was often compared to the character role she once had turned down: Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950).

Pola Negri died in 1987 in San Antonio, USA, at the age of 90. Her death was caused by pneumonia. However, she was also suffering from a brain tumour for which she had refused treatment.

Pola Negri
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 448. Photo: Paramount. Pola Negri in The Woman from Moscow (Ludwig Berger, 1928).

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3261/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount.

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3261/3, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount / Parufamet.

Pola Negri in Loves of an Actress (1928)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3987/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount. Pola Negri in Loves of an Actress (Rowland V. Lee, 1928).

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4333/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount. Photo: Paramount. Pola Negri in Loves of an Actress (Rowland V. Lee, 1928).

Pola Negri in The Woman from Moscow (1928)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4733/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount. Pola Negri in The Woman from Moscow (Ludwig Berger, 1928).

Pola Negri in The Way of Lost Souls (Son dernier tango)
Belgian postcard issued by the Splendid-Cinéma for the showing of The Way of Los Souls / The Woman He Scorned (in French: Son dernier tango) (Paul Czinner, 1929), produced by Gaumont-British as an early sound film. Some say it was instead a late silent film, so maybe it was shot in both a silent and a sound version.

Albrecht Schoenhals and Pola Negri in Mazurka (1935)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 1393/1, 1937-1938. Photo: Atelier Sandau, Berlin. Albrecht Schoenhals and Pola Negri in Mazurka (Willi Forst, 1935).

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag / Das Programm von Heute für Film und Theater G.m.b.H., Berlin. Photo: Cine-Allianz. Pola Negri in Mazurka (Willi Forst, 1935).

Pola Negri
German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Berlin. Photo: Badal / Terra. Possibly Pola Negri in Der Weg nach Shanghai / Moskou Shanghai (Paul Wegener, 1936).

Pola Negri in Madame Bovary (1937)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 1047/1, 1937-1938. Photo: Euphono-Film / Terra. Pola Negri in Madame Bovary (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1937), based on the novel by Gustave Flaubert.


Scene with Pola Negri in A Woman of the World (Malcolm St. Clair, 1925). Source: Beruozinka (YouTube).

Sources: Glen Pringle and Kally Mavromatis (Silent Star of April - Now defunct), Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson (IMDb), David Gasten (Pola Negri Appreciation Site - Now defunct), Wikipedia and IMDb.