Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1926)

Within the framework of the British research project Museum of Dream Worlds, EFSP collaborator Ivo Blom co-organises two workshops at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2026. Tomorrow, the first workshop will be dedicated to unique prints of silent films on Greco-Roman antiquity in the collection of the British Film Institute. In the 'One Century Ago' section of The Time Machine programme of Il Cinema Ritrovato, the Italian-German silent film Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926) will be shown today. It was one of the many adaptations of the novel 'The Last Days of Pompeii' (1834) by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. The stars were the Hungarian actors Victor Varconi and Maria Corda, the Italian actress Rina De Liguoro and the German Bernhard Goetzke. Original release prints of the film were entirely colourised by the Pathechrome stencil colour process.

Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano, no. 8. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Victor Varconi as Glaucus in the Italian epic Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus (Victor Varconi) training at the gymnasium.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Maria Corda as the blind flower girl Nydia.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Pompeian street life with the rich Greek Glaucus (Victor Varconi) and his wealthy friends meeting the blind flower girl Nydia (Maria Corda), who also sings and plays the lyre. The bearded man left in the back is Burbo (Carlo Duse), the brutal tavern owner, who owns Nydia as a slave.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

A Pompeiian street with Burbo's tavern. Sets were by Vittorio Cafiero, costumes by Duilio Cambellotti.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Maria Corda as Nydia in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Caption: The human harmonica (referring to the orgies at Arbaces' house, where women are forced to perform and serve the men).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus (Victor Varconi) has saved Nydia (Maria Corda) from Burbo and taken into his house. Nydia loves Glaucus, but he can only think of Ione.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Nydia, in love with Glaucus, thinks she has given Glaucus a love potion, but instead it makes him delirious. It is Arbaces who has concocted this.

The novel and the painting

The novel 'The Last Days of Pompeii' was written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. Bulwer-Lytton was inspired by the painting 'The Last Day of Pompeii' by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan.

The novel culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. 'The Last Days of Pompeii' became a bestseller, thanks to the eruption of Vesuvius just before its publication.

'The Last Days of Pompeii' uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of 1st-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, a handsome Athenian nobleman and Ione's betrothed, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome.

His nemesis is Arbaces, a scheming Egyptian sorcerer, a high priest of Isis and the former guardian of Ione and her brother Apaecides. Arbaces represents the still older culture of Egypt. He murders Apaecides and frames Glaucus for the crime. Repeatedly, he attempts to seduce Ione.

Olinthus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favourably but not uncritically. The Christian converts Apaecides to Christianity and is sentenced to death for his religion.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 53/1. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Glaucus (Victor Varconi) and the rich Julia (Lia Maris, not Rina de Liguoro as this card pretends) meet on the streets of Pompeii, so the blind flower girl Nydia (Maria Corda) hears that Glaucus is back in town. Set designer Vittorio Cafiero copied various original artefacts from Pompeii for this film, such as the small burner held up by satyrs in the shop.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 53/2. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for the Italian silent epic Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Glaucus (Victor Varconi) listens to beautiful and rich Greek Ione (Rina De Liguoro) playing the harp. The statue left was copied from an original Roman one.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 53/3. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1344/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Victor Varconi as Glaucus.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1344/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Victor Varconi as Glaucus.


German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 1345/1, 1927-1928. Rina De Liguoro as Ione in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926), released in Germany as Die letzten Tage von Pompeji.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1346/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Maria Corda as Nydia in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1347/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Hisa Film-Vertrieb. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Bernhard Goetzke as the evil Egyptian priest Arbaces.

The star cast

Handsome Victor Varconi (1891–1976) was as Glaucus, the male star of Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii. The Hungarian Varconi, originally Viktor Varkony, was a highly successful matinee idol of the Hungarian-Austrian and German silent cinema in the 1910s and early 1920s. Later, he was the first Hungarian actor to become a Hollywood star until the sound film completely altered the course of his career.

Hungarian Maria Corda (1898-1975) played the slave girl Nydia, who is in love with Glaucus. Corda was an immensely popular star of the silent cinema of Austria and Germany. The pretty, blonde actress was a queen of the popular epic spectacles of the 1920s, which were often directed by her husband, Alexander Korda.

Not pictured on one of the postcards is Rina De Liguoro (1892-1966) as Ione. She was the last diva of the Italian silent cinema of the 1920s. De Liguoro had her breakthrough in 1924 as the sensual, untamed Roman empress Messalina, and the beautiful countess continued her glittering career in such epics as Quo Vadis (1924), Casanova (1927), and Cecil B. DeMille's notorious box office flop Madam Satan (1930).

Emilio Ghione (1879-1930), who played Calenus, was an Italian silent film actor, director and screenwriter. He is best known for writing, directing and starring in the Za La Mort series of adventure films, in which he played a likeable French Apache and 'honest outlaw.'

The evil Egyptian priest Arbaces was played by German film actor Bernhard Goetzke (1884–1964). He was one of the impressive stars of German silent cinema, particularly in the films by Fritz Lang. Goetzke appeared in 130 films between 1917 and 1961.

Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Victor Varconi as Glaucus and Maria Corda as Nydia in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Lia Maris as Julia and Enrica Fantis as Julia's friend in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Caption: At the Villa on the [river] Sarno.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Rina De Liguoro as Ione in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi 1926).

The Forum with the Temple of Jove (Jupiter) in Pompeii.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

The funeral of Apecides (Vittorio Evangelisti). Apecides, brother of Glaucus' lover Ione and former pupil of the Egyptian high priest of Isis, Arbaces, has converted to Christianity and threatens to unmask Arbaces's frauds. Arbaces stabs him and puts the blame on Glaucus, who was unknowingly drugged by Nydia. The priest in the middle is Calenus (Emilio Ghione), who has seen Arbaces murdering Apecides. Arbaces himself (Bernhard Goetzke) can be seen at the extreme left.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

At the Via delle Tombe in Pompeii, the funeral service for the murdered Apecides is held. In the centre is the priest Calenus (Emilio Ghione).

Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Calenus (Emilio Ghione) tries to blackmail Arbaces (Bernhard Goetzke). Arbaces leads him to his treasury.

Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Calenus (Emilio Ghione) has been fooled by Arbaces and is locked up in the treasury, which is also a dungeon.

The adaptations

The first theatrical adaptation of 'The Last Days of Pompeii' was Errico Petrella's opera, 'Jone', with a libretto by Giovanni Peruzzini. It premiered at La Scala in 1858. It was successful and remained in the Italian repertoire well into the 20th century. In 1877, an ambitious theatrical adaptation followed, mounted at the Queen's Theatre, Long Acre in London. It featured a staged eruption of Vesuvius, an earthquake and a sybaritic Roman feast – the earth did not quake, the volcano did not erupt, acrobats fell onto the cast below, and the production was an expensive flop.

The first film version was the British short film The Last Days of Pompeii (1900), directed by Walter R. Booth. Eight years later followed Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Arturo Ambrosio, Luigi Maggi, 1908). In 1913 followed to more Italian silent film versions, Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Mario Caserini, 1913), and Jone ovvero gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / Jone or the Last Days of Pompeii (Giovanni Enrico Vidali, Ubaldo Maria Del Colle, 1913).

The first sound version was the Hollywood production The Last Days of Pompeii (Ernest B. Schoedsack, Merian C. Cooper, 1935), with Preston Foster and Basil Rathbone. It carried a disclaimer that, although the movie used the novel's description of Pompeii, it did not use its plot or characters. The film was a moderate success on its initial release but made an overall loss of $237,000.

After the war followed the French-Italian version Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / Les Derniers Jours de Pompéi / The Last Days of Pompeii (Marcel L'Herbier, Paolo Moffa, 1950), starring Micheline Presle and Georges Marchal. The amphitheatre scenes were filmed at the Arena di Verona. The next adaptation was another Italian version, Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Sergio Leone, 1959), starring Steve Reeves. Mario Bonnard, the original director, fell ill on the first day of shooting, so assistant director Leone and the scriptwriters finished the film. Later followed two TV versions and a German stage musical, Pompeji (2008).

But how was the 1926 version? David Melville reviews at IMDb: "The last of the great silent Italian epics, The Last Days of Pompeii is as lavish as anything produced by Hollywood at that time - only much, much raunchier. During an orgy in the house of the evil priest Arbaces, naked slave girls are served up (literally!) on platters decked with flowers. A nubile mummy rises out of her sarcophagus to do a striptease, and bare-breasted sphinx statues come to life as her chorus line. In the gladiators' tavern, wildly effeminate men (kohl-dark eyelids and lipstick as thick as clotted blood) drool and bat their eyes over so much naked, muscular flesh. All in all, the most satisfyingly decadent Ancient Rome saga until Fellini Satyricon in 1968!"


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Victor Varconi as Glaucus and Rina De Liguoro as Ione in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

At the basilica (courts of justice). Glaucus (Victor Varconi) is sentenced to die.


Italian postcard. C. Chierichetti, Milano. Grandi Films, Roma. Maria Corda as Nydia in Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus (Victor Varconi) and the Christian Olintus (Ferruccio Biancini), the man on the right, in the prison of the Christians, waiting for their ordeal in the arena.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus (Victor Varconi) is in prison. The man on the right is the Christian Olintus (Ferruccio Biancini), who had converted Apecides. Olintus will see the eruption and destruction of Pompeii as a punishment from God.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

Glaucus is sentenced to die in the arena, eaten by lions, when just in time, Glaucus's friends Sallustius, Nydia, Ione and Calenus expose Arbaces as the real murderer, and he threatens to be lynched by the mob. Suddenly, Vesuvius erupts, and the terrorised people flee.


Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926).

The destruction of the house of Glaucus.

Sources: David Melville (IMDb - Page now defunct), Wikipedia and IMDb.

All She Desires: Barbara Stanwyck

We are in Bologna for Il Cinema Ritrovato 2026. Molly Haskell curated this section on American actress, model and dancer Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990), a versatile professional with a strong, realistic screen presence. By 1944, Stanwyck had become the highest-paid woman in the United States. After a short but notable career as a stage actress in the late 1920s, she made 85 films in 38 years in Hollywood before turning to television. She was a favourite of her directors, including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra. Scheduled in Bologna are several classics including Capra's Ladies of Leisure (1930), King Vidor's Stella Dallas (1937), Preston Sturges' The Lady Eve (1941) and Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944).


French postcard by Editions P.I., offered by Victoria S.A. (Biscuits, Chocolates and Patisserie), Brussels. Photo: Paramount Pictures, 1950. Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944).


British Real Photograph postcard, London, no. FS 120. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck in His Affair (William A. Seiter, 1937).


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2011. Photo: Paramount Films.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2113. Photo: Warner Bros.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2639. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 3840. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor in His Brother's Wife (W.S. Van Dyke, 1936). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 8610. Photo: Paramount Films.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, no. W 68. Photo: Paramount.


German postcard, no. 87. Photo: Paramount / Warner Bros.


French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 323. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1953.

An extremely versatile actress who could adapt to any role

Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens in 1907 in Brooklyn, New York. She was the daughter of Catherine Ann (McPhee) and Byron E. Stevens, a bricklayer. Her mother died of complications from a miscarriage after she was accidentally knocked off a trolley by a drunk. Two weeks after the funeral, her father, Byron Stevens, joined a work crew digging the Panama Canal and was never seen again. Barbara was brought up by her elder sister, Mildred and was partially raised in foster homes. Ruby toured with Mildred during the summers of 1916 and 1917, and practised her sister's routines backstage.

At the age of 14, she dropped out of school to take a job wrapping packages at a department store in Brooklyn. Later, she went to work at the local telephone company, but she had the urge to enter show business. In 1923, a few months before her 16th birthday, Ruby auditioned for a place in the chorus at the Strand Roof, a nightclub over the Strand Theatre in Times Square. A few months later, she obtained a job as a dancer in the 1922 and 1923 seasons of the Ziegfeld Follies, dancing at the New Amsterdam Theatre.

In 1926, she played a chorus girl in the play 'The Noose'. It became one of the most successful plays of the season, running on Broadway for nine months and 197 performances. Ruby changed her name to Barbara Stanwyck by combining the first name of her character, Barbara Frietchie, with the last name of another actress in the play, Jane Stanwyck. Stanwyck became a Broadway star soon afterwards, when she was cast in her first leading role in 'Burlesque' (1927). She received rave reviews, and it was a huge hit. The producer had great plans for her, but the Hollywood offers kept coming.

In 1928, Barbara moved to Hollywood. Stanwyck's first sound film was The Locked Door (George Fitzmaurice, 1929) opposite Rod La Rocque, followed by Mexicali Rose (Erle C. Kenton, 1929). Neither film was successful. Nonetheless, Frank Capra chose Stanwyck for his romantic drama Ladies of Leisure (Frank Capra, 1930) with Ralph Graves, and it established an enduring friendship with the director. He would often choose her to be the star of his films.

Barbara Stanwyck soon proved to be an extremely versatile actress who could adapt to any role. She was equally at home in all genres, from melodramas, such as Forbidden (Frank Capra, 1932) and Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937), to thrillers, such as Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944), also starring Fred MacMurray. She was the ambitious woman sleeping her way to the top from 'the wrong side of the tracks' in Baby Face (Alfred E. Green, 1933), a pre-code classic. She also excelled in comedies such as Remember the Night (Mitchell Leisen, 1940) and The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941) opposite Henry Fonda, and in Westerns, such as Union Pacific (Cecil B. DeMille, 1939) with Joel McCrea.


Italian postcard by S.A. Arte della Stampa, Roma. Photo: Columbia. Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1932). Caption: In war, just like in love, you need to be feared... hated...


Vintage promotion card for Lux Toilet Soap. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


American postcard by Lux Soap, no. 008011E. Photo: R.K.O. Caption: Barbara Stanwyck, R.K.O. Star says: "Lux Toilet Soap's active lather leaves skin deliciously fragrant. It's the best way I know to protect daintiness!"


Italian postcard by Rizzoli & C., Milano, 1936. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


British postcard by Milton, no. 87. Photo: Warner Bros & Vitaphone Pictures.


British postcard by Valentine & Sons LTD., Dundee and London, no. 146.


Spanish postcard by SOBE, no. 499. Sent by mail in 1949. Photo: Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941).


French postcard by E.C., Rueil Malmaison, no. 543. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


Belgian collector card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 107. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.). Barbara Stanwyck in B.F.'s Daughter (Robert Z. Leonard, 1948).


Belgian collector card by Kwatta, Bois D 'Haine, no. C. 155. Photo: M.G.M. Richard Hart and Barbara Stanwyck in B.F.'s Daughter (Robert Z. Leonard, 1948).

A stormy marriage and gay rumours

Barbara Stanwyck was also well known for her TV roles as Victoria, the matriarch of the Barkley family in the Western series The Big Valley (1965). In 1983, she also played in the hit mini-series The Thorn Birds (1983), which did much to keep her in the public eye. She turned in an outstanding performance as Mary Carson. One of her last roles was in the hit drama series The Colbys (1985).

Barbara Stanwyck died in 1990 in Santa Monica, California. On the Cinema Ritrovato site, Molly Haskell writes: "Her ability to connect directly with an audience begins with the voice – lush, weary, tender, worldly, skeptical, ranging nimbly between hard and soft. It could be metallic, mannish and brittle or gentle as a down pillow, sometimes within the same film, as befits an actress who was at ease in every genre, from woman’s melodrama to the western, with noir and screwball comedy in between. More iconoclast than icon, more a character star on the order of Bogie or Cagney, she was neither a great beauty nor a glamour puss. The importance of this – her refusal or inability to be simplified into a single image – has to be seen as a major factor in her longevity. If she was underappreciated in her time, her minimalist gifts – the fluid movement, the stillness in repose, the sense of interiority – have come to seem ultramodern. A cross-genre retrospective will showcase the many facets of this iconoclast."

She was 82 and left 93 films and a host of TV appearances as her legacy. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress four times, for Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937), Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, 1941), Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) and Sorry, Wrong Number (Anatole Litvak, 1948).For her television work, she won three Emmy Awards, for The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1961), The Big Valley (1966) and The Thorn Birds (1983). Her performance in The Thorn Birds also won her a Golden Globe. She received an Honorary Oscar at the 1982 Academy Award ceremony and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1986. She was also the recipient of honorary lifetime awards from the American Film Institute (1987), the Film Society of Lincoln Centre (1986), the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (1981) and the Screen Actors Guild (1967).

Barbara Stanwyck was married twice, to film actors Frank Fay (1928-1935) and Robert Taylor (1939-1952). Her son, Dion Anthony 'Tony' Fay (1932), was adopted. Frank Fay and Stanwyck's marriage and their experience in Hollywood are said to be the basis of the Hollywood film A Star is Born (William A. Wellman, 1937). The womanising, alcoholic Fay's career floundered, while Stanwyck's flourished for decades. Their stormy marriage finally ended after a drunken brawl, during which he tossed their adopted son, Dion, into the swimming pool.

There were rumours of affairs with Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford, but Stanwyck wed Robert Taylor, who had gay rumours of his own to dispel. Their marriage started off on a sour note when his possessive mother demanded he spend his wedding night with her rather than with Barbara. In 1957, Tony, her adopted son, was arrested for trying to sell lewd pictures while waiting to cash his unemployment check. When questioned by the press about his famous mother, he replied, "We don't speak." They became permanently estranged in February 1951, when he was 19 years old. The rift never healed. She saw him only a few times after his childhood. He was reportedly bequeathed some money from Stanwyck's estate on condition he never speak publicly about her.


Dutch postcard, no. X 3216. Photo: Universal International.


Dutch postcard by S & v. H., A. Photo: M.P.E.A.


Dutch postcard, no. 3362. Photo: MGM.


Dutch postcard by PEB. Sent by mail in 1950.


American postcard by Godfrey Herbert, The World Explorer, 1941. Photo: Paramount.


Canadian postcard by Fan Club Post Card, no. PC9.


Belgian collector card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 312. Photo: M.G.M. Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin in East Side, West Side (Mervyn LeRoy, 1949).


Vintage collector card. Photo: Paramount.


American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, CA, no. SC17489. Photo: Tony Koroda / 1981 Sygma. Ronald Reagan and Barbara Stanwyck in Cattle Queen of Montana (Allan Dwan, 1954).


German postcard by Anco, no. 1/77. Photo: Four Star Margate. Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley in the TV series The Big Valley (1965).


German postcard by Anco, no. 1/77. Photo: Four Star Margate. Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley, Linda Evans, Lee Majors, Richard Long and Peter Breck in the TV series The Big Valley (1965). Caption: Familie Barkley (Barkley Family).

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.