Film programmes by Illustrierte Film-Bühne

Illustrierte Film-Bühne (IFB) was a West German 'Filmprogrammheft' (film programme) that existed between 1946 and 1969. The regular, consecutively numbered film programmes included plot details, cast lists, and lots of photos. Publisher Paul Franke founded Illustrierte Film-Bühne in Munich in 1946. The issues had four and sometimes eight pages and were often printed in sepia, but also in blue, green or red. From 1951 on, full-colour editions also became available. The final issue of Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 8069, was published in 1969. The programmes provide an insight into the history of cinema in West Germany.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne (merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier), no. 4417, page 1 (cover). Photos: Pallas Film. Maurice Ronet and Jean Wall in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958). The German title was Fahrstuhl zum Schafott.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne (merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier), no. 4417, page 2. Photos: Pallas Film. Maurice Ronet, Lino Ventura and Jeanne Moreau in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958). The German title was Fahrstuhl zum Schafott.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne (merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier), no. 4417, page 3. Photos: Pallas Film. Maurice Ronet, Félix Marten, Lino Ventura, Elga Andersen, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin and Jeanne Moreau in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958). The German title was Fahrstuhl zum Schafott.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne (merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier), no. 4417, page 4. Photos: Pallas Film. Georges Poujouly, Iván Petrovich, Jeanne Moreau, Félix Marten, Maurice Ronet, and Yori Bertin in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958). The German title was Fahrstuhl zum Schafott.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 431. Michèle Morgan in Fabiola (Alessandro Blasetti, 1949).

Illustrierte Film-Kurier and Illustrierte Film-Bühne

Film programmes have been in use at cinemas since the end of the 19th century. A film programme is a printed flyer or booklet accompanying cinema films. It provides filmgoers with details of the cast and crew, as well as a brief overview of the plot. Unlike film magazines, it focuses solely on one film and does not cover other news from the world of cinema. A distinct type of film programme is intended for cinema owners and not for the audience. Such publications, which appear periodically – for example, weekly – are produced by both independent publishers and the film distributors themselves, and contain relevant information on all films currently in distribution to help cinema owners select which films to screen.

The first German-language film programmes for audiences appeared in Austria by 1911 at the latest and in Germany from 1919. Initially, they were in black and white or they were produced using a halftone printing process, in which black was replaced by shades of blue, green or sepia to evoke the look of the old black and white films. From around 1951, colour editions also became available. Often, for cost reasons, only the front and back covers of the programme booklets were in colour, whilst the inside pages remained in black and white. Until around 1943, the paper size chosen was usually roughly equivalent to today’s A4 format. Later, the size of the programmes was reduced. The 'Illustrierte Film-Kurier' was one of Germany’s first major film programme magazines. The series was first published in 1919 by Vereinigte Verlagsgesellschaften Franke & Co. KG. Their advertising slogan was ‘serving German film journalism since 1919. Up until 1944, it was possible to purchase an issue covering almost every film screened in Germany.

In 1945, the first issues of the post-war programmes of the 'Illustrierte Film-Kurier' were published. In 1946, the Munich publisher Paul Franke founded 'Illustrierte Film-Bühne' and modelled it on the 'Illustrierte Film-Kurier', which had been popular before the Second World War. Film distribution companies provided Franke with photographic material, synopses, cast lists and the original titles of the respective films. Using these materials, Franke and his graphic designers produced the programme booklets. In September 1946, the cover price was 10 pfennigs per issue. Most issues had 4 pages: a double-sided sheet in A4 format with 10 tot 15 images. There were exceptions. Illustrierte Film Bühne, no. 5440 on the German film Faust (Peter Gorski, 1960) had 8 pages. Faust, starring Will Quadflieg as Faust and Gustaf Gründgens as Mephisto, was a prestigious film adaptation of Gustaf Gründgens’ stage production of Goethe’s 'Faust I' at the Hamburg Schauspielhaus.

From 1954 onwards, circulation figures of 'Illustrierte Film-Bühne' fell. For this reason, it merged with Illustrierte Film-Kurier. Nevertheless, circulation figures continued to fall rapidly. Even 4,000 copies per film could no longer be sold. The programme was no longer produced for every film shown in Germany, but only for those titles that promised to be successful. The last issue, no. 8069, was produced in 1969. Today, almost all of the long-established film programme publishers have discontinued their series. As a result, many film programmes have become rarities. Much like film posters and postcards, some copies of the 'Illustrierte Film-Bühne' have become sought-after among collectors. They are traded for a multiple of their original retail price of just 10 pfennigs at e-Bay, flea markets and second-hand bookshops. Since 1977, the German magazine 'Filmprogramm' has been in publication.

In the GDR, 'Progress-Filmprogramm' continued to be published until around 1979, from 1966 under the name 'Film für Sie'. In Austria, the tradition of film programmes is still very much alive. Austrian film programmes included series such as ‘Neues Filmprogramm’, ‘Filmindex’ and ‘Neuer Filmkurier’. These programmes were initially published by publishing houses, and later also by individual distribution companies promoting their own films. Generally speaking, the various editions differ mainly in terms of their printing quality, their content in the form of images and text – and, of course, the different names of the respective series. To this day, film programmes are published in Austria for every film released in cinemas.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 770. Photo: Universal International. Burt Lancaster in Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947). The German title was Zelle 17.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 977. Harry Baur in La tragédie impériale / Rasputin (Marcel L'Herbier, 1938).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 1067. Anna Magnani in Vulcano (William Dieterle, 1950).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 1537. Claude Laydu in Le journal d'un curé de campagne / Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson, 1951). The German title was Tagebuch eines Landpfarrers.


West German Film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 2052. Design: Buss. Dieter Borsche and Georg Thomalla in Fanfaren der Ehe / Fanfare of Marriage (Hans Grimm, 1953). Fanfaren der Ehe / Fanfare of Marriage was the sequel of the comedy Fanfaren der Liebe / Fanfares of Love (Kurt Hoffmann, 1951), which was in turn a precursor of Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 2295. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr in Quo Vadis (Mervyn LeRoy, 1951).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 2571. Victor Mature and Susan Hayward in Demetrius and the Gladiators (Delmer Daves, 1954). The German title was Die Gladiatoren.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 3076. Photo: Paramount. Cary Grant in To Catch A Thief (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955). The German title was Über den Dächern von Nizza.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 3656. Design: W. Photo: Universal International. Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Dwight Frye in Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4373. Design: W. Photo: DFH. Tatyana Samoylova in Letyat zhuravli / The Cranes Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957). The German title was Wenn die Kraniche ziehen.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4386. (Probably) Teresa Izewska and Tadeusz Janczar in Kanal / The Sewer (Andrzej Wajda, 1957). The German title was Der Kanal.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4668. Photo: Paramount. James Stewart and Kim Novak in Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958). The German title was Aus dem Reich der Toten.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-bühne, no. 5142. Design: Buss. Photo: DFH. Nikolay Cherkasov in Ivan Groznyy / Ivan the Terrible (Sergei Eisenstein, 1944). The German title was Iwan der Schreckliche.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film Bühne, no. 5209. Photo: Paramount. Steve McQueen in The Blob (Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., 1958) with Aneta Corsaut and Olin Howland. The German film title was Blob - Schrecken ohne Namen.


West German film programme by Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 5768. Design: W. Tatsua Nakadai in Hingen no jóken / The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (Masaki Kobayashi, 1959). The German title was Barfuß durch die Hölle.

Sources: Wikipedia (German), Filmmuseum Potsdam (German), Rolf Aurich (Film Dienst - German), and Film- und Fernsehmuseum Hamburg (German). More information on German and Austrian film programmes: Herbert Wilfinger (Kino zum Mitnehmen - German), Herbert Holba (Filmprogramme in der DDR - German) and Ralph Nüntel (Vor dem Film – Nach dem Film – Zu jedem Film: Das Programm von Heute - German).

Souvenirs from Le Giornate

Recently, EFSP collaborator Ivo Blom visited the 45th edition of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone. At first, he thought he would not find any film postcards at the festival, but in the end he brought fifteen home. In addition to several cards on Italian silent film actors who were also famous stage actors like Ermete Novelli and Antonio Gandusio, a rare card on the diva film Tigre reale with diva Pina Menichelli, and a lovely sepia portrait of actress Cecyl Tryan, he found several Italian postcards from the 1920s depicting silent Hollywood couples or individual actors, mostly working at Fox and Paramount.


Italian postcard, no. 107. Photo: Sciutto.

Italian actor Ermete Novelli (1851-1919) was a legendary monstre sacré of the theatre. In the 1910s, he appeared in films by Film d'Arte Italiana, Ambrosio and Raggio Film.


Italian postcard by Ed. Fotocelere, no. 293. Photo: Badodi.

Antonio Gandusio (1873-1951) was an Italian stage and screen actor with a rich career in 1930s and 1940s Italian cinema.


Italian postcard by Ed. Fotocelere, no. 296. Photo: Badodi.

Annibale Betrone (1883-1950) was an Italian film, stage, and radio actor who did some silent films but was rather highly active in Italian sound cinema of the 1930s and 1940s.


Vintage postcard by K Ltd.

Handsome Nerio Bernardi (1889–1971) was an Italian stage and screen actor and voice actor. In his long career, he acted in some 210 films.


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 1058. Photo: Itala Film. Pina Menichelli and Alberto Nepoti in Tigre reale (Giovanni Pastrone, 1916).

Fascinating and enigmatic, Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale.

Celluloid Dreams, Silentscapes

At Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, Ivo Blom (EFSP) co-programmed two slots of mainly French and Italian early silent films dealing with Greco-Roman antiquity. For this occasion, he published at EFSP the posts Ancient Greece in early cinema, and Augusto Mastripietri, about the actor who played Julius Caesar in Bruto / Brutus (1911), one of Enrico Guazzoni's earliest Antiquity films.

On 12 October, Ivo also co-presented with Maria Wyke (UCL) and Bryony Dixon (BFI) the Museum of Dreamworlds website about their research project. It systematically investigates all the silent films in the BFI National Archive that concern ancient Greece or Rome.

In November, a new exhibition opens, inspired by the Museum of Dreamworlds. You can visit the exhibition, 'Celluloid Dreams, Silentscapes', between 20 November and 4 December at University College in London.

The exhibition juxtaposes some of the antiquity films preserved by the BFI with contemporary responses to them. These works are interconnected through their depictions of ancient Greek and Roman architecture, for architecture lies at the heart of these imagined worlds. Monumental temples, ruined cities, and spectacular landscapes became visual stages where historical knowledge intertwined with artistic interpretation.

The exhibition is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm; Saturday and Sunday, 11am-3pm. Address: The UCL Bartlett School of Architecture (Exhibition Space), 22 Gordon St., London WC1H 0QB. Admission is free, and no booking is required. Click here for more information.


Italian postcard by Ed. Traldi, Milano, no. 452. Photographer unknown.

Cecyl Tryan (1897-?) had a prolific career in the Italian silent cinema, from 1913 to the late 1920s. She first starred at Cines, later also at companies like Gladiator Film and Fert.


Italian postcard, no. 2508. Photo: Fox Film Corp., Roma. Sammy Cohen in What Price Glory (Raoul Walsh, 1926). The Italian title was Gloria.


Italian postcard. Foto: Ebang. Mistake alert! The man on the card is not Edmund Lowe but William Haines, and the woman is not Eleanor Boardman but Mary Brian. They acted together in the MGM drama Brown of Harvard (Jack Conway, 1926).

William 'Billy' Haines (1900–1973) was an American film actor and interior designer. By the end of the silent era, he was regularly named as Hollywood's no. 1 male box-office draw.

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


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 789. Photo: Fox Film Corp. Roma. Tom Mix and Billie Dove in the Western The Lucky Horseshoe (John G. Blystone, 1925). The Italian title was Come Don Giovanni (Just like Don Giovanni).

American film actor Tom Mix (1880-1940) starred in many early Westerns between 1909 and 1935. Mix appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent movies. He was Hollywood's first Western megastar and helped to define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed.

Stunningly beautiful and highly photogenic Billie Dove (1903-1997) was one of the most popular Hollywood actresses of the 1920s. She was dubbed 'The American Beauty', after the title of one of her films.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 699. Photo: Fox Film Corp., Roma.

American actor George O'Brien (1899-1985) was a muscular, barrel-chested, yet sensitively talented leading man in classic silent films, like John Ford's The Iron Horse (1924) and F. W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927). He became a different kind of star as a cowboy in B-Westerns during the sound era.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 752. Photo: Films Paramount Roma. Ricardo Cortez and Frances Howard in The Swan (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1925), based on the play by Ferenc Molnar. The Italian release title was Il Cigno.

Suave, dark-haired Ricardo Cortez (1900-1977) was an American screen actor and director who peaked in the 1920s as Paramount's romantic lover opposite the big female stars of the decade, while in the 1930s he rather played tough men such as the first Sam Spade on the screen.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 754. Photo: Films Paramount, Roma. Adolphe Menjou and Helen Lee Worthing in The Swan (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1925), based on the play by Ferenc Molnar. The Italian release title was Il Cigno.

Suave and debonair American actor Adolphe Menjou (1890-1963) with his trademark waxy black moustache was one of Hollywood's most distinguished stars and one of America's 'Best Dressed Men'. He started as a matinée idol in silent cinema in classics such as Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle (1924). His sound films included Morocco (1931) with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper, A Star is Born (1937), and Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957) with Kirk Douglas. In 1931, he was nominated for an Oscar for The Front Page (1931).


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 509. Photo: Films Paramount. Gloria Swanson and Lawrence Gray in The Untamed Lady (Frank Tuttle, 1926). The Italian release title was Capricci di donna (Female Caprice).

Gloria Swanson (1899-1983) was one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the silent era. She transformed from a typical Mack Sennett comedienne into a lively, provocative, even predatory star in Cecil B. DeMille films. She received Oscar nominations for Sadie Thompson (1928), The Trespasser (1929) and Sunset Blvd. (1950).

Lawrence Gray (1898-1970) was an American film actor of the silent screen. He often partnered with Hollywood's biggest female stars, such as Gloria Swanson (Stage Struck, 1925; The Untamed Lady, 1926), Norma Shearer (After Midnight, 1927), Colleen Moore (Oh, Kay!, 1928), and Marion Davies (The Patsy, 1928).


Italian postcard by Vettori, Bologna, no. 80. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Wallace Reid (1891–1923) was an American actor in the silent film era, referred to as 'the screen's most perfect lover'. A morphine addiction killed him at the age of only 31.


Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 552. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer S.A.J.

Aileen Pringle (1895-1989) was an American film actress of the silent screen. She was catapulted into stardom by her appearance in the Goldwyn production Three Weeks (Alan Crossland, 1924) with Conrad Nagel. Aileen's bob in the picture above was called the 'Pringle Shingle'.

Sources: UCL Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Museum of Dream Worlds. With special thanks to Marlene Pilaete for identifying the actress on the 'Eleanor Boardman' card and for additional information on Aileen Pringle.

Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh (1960) is a Northern Irish actor and film director, famous for his film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays.


British postcard by NT (National Theatre), no. NT142. Photo: Manuel Harlan. Kenneth Branagh in 'Edmond' (2003) by David Mamet at the Olivier Theatre.


French collector card by Edito-Service S.A., no. D2 482 48-03. Kenneth Branagh as Henry V in Henry V (Kenneth Branagh, 1990).

Kem, Em and Will

Kenneth Charles Branagh was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1960. His parents were William Branagh, a plumber and carpenter, and Frances (Harper). He is the middle of three children, with an older brother and a younger sister. When he was nine, his family moved to Reading, England.

At the age of eighteen, Branagh began studying at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In 1980, RADA's principal Hugh Cruttwell asked Branagh to perform a soliloquy from 'Hamlet' for Queen Elizabeth II during one of her visits to the academy. Branagh's first film appearance was as an uncredited role as a Cambridge student in the sports drama Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson, 1981). After completing his studies, Branagh made his West End debut in 1982.

The following year, he was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his role as Judd in Julian Mitchell's 'Another Country'. At 23, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he took on starring roles in 'Henry V' and 'Romeo and Juliet'. The 1984 production of 'Henry V', directed by Adrian Noble, played to sold-out audiences at the Barbican in the City of London. He found the RSC too large and impersonal, and in 1987, he co-founded the Renaissance Theatre Company with David Parfitt. It was here that he met his first wife, Emma Thompson. In 1992, the Renaissance Theatre Company was disbanded when he moved more fully into filmmaking. Branagh found his first leading film role as James Moon, a homosexual ex-army officer, in A Month in the Country (Pat O'Connor, 1987), with Colin Firth, also in his first major role.

At 29, Branagh made his directorial debut with the Shakespeare adaptation Henry V (Kenneth Branagh, 1989). The film boasted a dream cast, featuring Branagh and Thompson, but also Derek Jacobi, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Briers and Judi Dench. Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times liked the result: "Branagh is not yet 30, and yet already the publicity machines are groaning to make him into the 'new Olivier'. Before his Henry V, he had made only one other movie (he was the sunburned young husband in High Season), but he has triumphed on the London stage in such talismanic roles as Jimmy Porter in Osborne’s 'Look Back in Anger', and his stock could not be higher. It was a risk to make this film, and it could have been a disastrous failure, but instead it is a success. That it is not a triumph is because Branagh the director is not yet as good as Branagh the actor. He knows better how to play Henry V than how to get him on and off the screen, and his pacing could be improved. The film begins slowly, bogs down in the seemingly endless battle scenes and then drags to its conclusion through Henry’s endlessly protracted and coy courtship of Katherine.

Henry V brought Branagh international fame, and he was nominated for Oscars for Best Director and Best Actor. Emma Thompson went on to star in all of Branagh’s films until their divorce in 1995. Their second film, the Neo Noir Dead Again (Kenneth Branagh, 1991), was again a critical and commercial success. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear. Although his third film, the comedy-drama Peter’s Friends (Kenneth Branagh, 1992), was a disappointment, his second Shakespeare adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing (Kenneth Branagh, 1993), more than made up for it. It featured an all-star cast that included Branagh and Thompson, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves. The film premiered at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. In 1994, a biography was released, 'Ken & Em: A Biography of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson' by Ian Shuttleworth.


British postcard in the Royal Shakespeare Company Series 6, no. 183. Photo: Stephen Macmillan. Kenneth Branagh as Henry V in 'Henry V', Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1984.


Canadian postcard by Canadian Postcard, no. A-250. Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Robert Sean Leonard and Kenneth Branagh in Much Ado About Nothing (Kenneth Branagh, 1993).


Canadian postcard by Canadian Postcard, no. A-369. Kenneth Branagh, John Gielgud and Derek Jacobi in Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh, 1996).

A stunning portrayal of Laurence Olivier

Kenneth Branagh’s career hit a low point when he directed and starred as Victor Frankenstein in the big-budget adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic Horror novel 'Frankenstein'. Producer Francis Ford Coppola had originally planned to direct the film as a companion piece to his Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola, 1992), but eventually stepped back to let Branagh direct. Coppola later regretted his decision after several disagreements with Branagh during filming. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh, 1994), co-starring Robert De Niro as the monster and Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth, received very poor reviews. His extramarital affair with Bonham Carter during the shoot ultimately precipitated his divorce from Emma Thompson in 1995.

Two years later, he made a comeback with another lavish Shakespeare adaptation, Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh, 1996). The film ran for four hours and, alongside Branagh as Hamlet, featured Kate Winslet, Derek Jacobi and Julie Christie, but also unusual suspects such as Charlton Heston and Jack Lemmon. Roger Ebert praised Branagh: "His Hamlet is long but not slow, deep but not difficult, and it vibrates with the relief of actors who have great things to say, and the right ways to say them. And in the 70-mm. version, it has a visual clarity that is breathtaking. It is the first uncut film version of Shakespeare’s most challenging tragedy, the first 70-mm. film since Far and Away in 1992, and at 238 minutes the second-longest major Hollywood production (one minute shorter than Cleopatra). Branagh’s Hamlet lacks the narcissistic intensity of Laurence Olivier’s (in the 1948 Academy Award winner), but the film as a whole is better, placing Hamlet in the larger context of royal politics, and making him less a subject for pity.

Towards the end of the 20th century, several films with Branagh either attracted poor box-office takings or were not well received by critics. The only commercial hit was the action comedy Wild Wild West (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1999) in which Branagh took on the role of the villain opposite the ‘good guys’ Will Smith and Kevin Kline. However, according to some critics, Branagh was the only good thing about the film. For the BBC, he provided the narration for the nature documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs (Tim Haines, Jasper James, 1999) and its sequel, Walking with Beasts (Jasper James, Nigel Paterson, 2001). In 2001, Branagh won an Emmy for his leading role as SS leader Reinhard Heydrich in the television film Conspiracy (Frank Pierson, 2001) about the Wannsee Conference. The following year, he appeared in the Australian drama Rabbit-Proof Fence (Phillip Noyce, 2002). He played Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Chris Columbus, 2002).

Later that decade, he played Major General Henning von Tresckow in Valkyrie (Bryan Singer, 2008), starring Tom Cruise, and he parodied government officer Tony Benn in the comedy The Boat That Rocked (Richard Curtis, 2009) about pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. In 2009, Branagh was nominated for an Emmy Award for the title role in Wallander (2008-2015), based on the Swedish detective novels by Henning Mankell. He gave a stunning portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn (Simon Curtis, 2011). His great performance was nominated for an Academy Award. Branagh directed and starred as the Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot in three popular Agatha Christie adaptations, Murder on the Orient Express (Kenneth Branagh, 2017), Death on the Nile (Kenneth Branagh, 2022), and A Haunting in Venice (Kenneth Branagh, 2023).

He frequently works with director Christopher Nolan and played supporting roles in Nolan's blockbusters Dunkirk (2017), Tenet (2020) and Oppenheimer (2023). In 2018, he finally portrayed William Shakespeare himself in the film All Is True, which he also directed. For his semi-autobiographical film Belfast (2021), he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, and won Best Original Screenplay. Kenneth Branagh has been nominated for an Oscar eight times – twice for Best Director and once each for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Producer, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Short Film. In 2012, he was made a Knight of the British Empire, a title that carries the honour of ‘Sir’. Branagh was married to Emma Thompson from 1989 to 1995. He then entered into a relationship with Helena Bonham Carter, which lasted several years. In 2003, he married art director Lindsay Brunnock. He has no children from either of his marriages.


Dutch poster postcard. Poster for Peter's Friends (Kenneth Branagh, 1992) with Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Imelda Staunton.


Vintage poster postcard by Memory Card, no. 107. Design: Castle Rock / Turner. Spanish poster for Kenneth Branagh, Laurence Fisbburne and Irene Jacob in Othello (Oliver Parker, 1995).


French poster postcard by Carte à Pub. Poster: UGC / Castle Rock / Turner. Kenneth Branagh in Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh, 1996).

Sources: Roger Ebert (RogerEbert.com), Wikipedia (Dutch, German, and English) and IMDb.

Warren William

American actor Warren William (1894-1948) was the 'King of pre-Production Code talkies'. Possessing a rich, deep speaking voice, he was a natural for the sound film. William was superb as the unequalled villain who lusts after every young lady he comes across. However, he is best remembered as the stuffy, wealthy lawyer who, against his better judgment, falls for Joan Blondell in Gold Diggers of 1933. He also played criminal lawyer Perry Mason and amateur sleuth The Lone Wolf in a series of 'second feature' programmers of the 1930s.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 985. Photo: Paramount. Warren William as Julius Caesar in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).


British Real Photograph postcard, no. 90. Photo: Warner Bros & Vitaphone Pictures.


British postcard in the Film Weekly Series, London.

Hard-nosed, sometimes amoral businessmen, lawyers and outright charlatans

Warren William Krech was born in 1894 (some sources say 1895) in Aitken, Minnesota. The son of a publisher, he initially wanted to become a journalist. He abandoned this plan and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts to become an actor. As his senior year at AADA was coming to an end, the United States had entered the First World War, and William served as a soldier. He was assigned from base to base, in charge of training new men at various locations.

In 1918 was assigned to Fort Dix, New Jersey, near New York City. During this period, he met his future wife, Helen Barbara Nelson, who was 17 years his elder. After the war ended, William appeared in his first Broadway play in 1920. He soon made a name for himself in New York. Between 1920 and 1931, he appeared in more than 20 plays on Broadway, including the H.G. Wells play 'The Wonderful Visit' (1924).

In New York, he also acted in two silent films, The Town That Forgot God (Harry F. Millarde, 1922) and the serial Plunder (George B. Seitz, 1923) starring Pearl White in her last serial. In 1931, William moved from New York City to Hollywood. He made the transition to sound film with Honour of the Family (Lloyd Bacon, 1931), an adaptation of Honoré de Balzac's novel 'Cousin Pons' with Bebe Daniels.

In the midst of the Great Depression, he began as a contract player at Warner Bros. and quickly became a major Hollywood star. His breakthrough role was a district attorney who quits for the other side of the law, defending mobsters before a last-reel conversion in The Mouthpiece (James Flood, Elliott Nugent, 1932).

During the ‘Pre-Code era’ (1930-1934), American feature films often tackled controversial themes such as sexuality, violence and addiction. In these films, Warren William typically portrayed hard-nosed, sometimes amoral businessmen, lawyers and outright charlatans. Looking back at his career in 2011, The Village Voice christened him 'The King of Pre-Code', as it was during this era that he played his most significant film roles.


Dutch flyer, part 2. Photo: Warner Bros / First National Pictures. Loretta Young, Warren William and Alice White in Employees' Entrance (Roy Del Ruth, 1933).


Dutch flyer, part 3. Photo: Warner Bros / First National Pictures. Loretta Young and Warren William in Employees' Entrance (Roy Del Ruth, 1933).


Dutch postcard promoting a visit to the American epic Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934), starring Claudette Colbert (Cleopatra), Henry Wilcoxon (Marc Anthony) and Warren William (Julius Caesar). However, the guy on the right on this card is not Wilcoxon but Cleopatra's rival Pothinos (Leonard Mudie).

An investigating detective or a shady suspect

A striking example of Warren William's typical roles is the sadistic managing director in Employees’ Entrance (Roy Del Ruth, 1933), who steers his company through the economic crisis using heavy-handed methods. However, despite their detachment, his characters could also become likeable figures, such as the friendly gangster ‘Dave the Duke’ in Capra’s comedy Lady for a Day (Frank Capra, 1933), or the cynical but ultimately good-natured millionaire in the musical classic The Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933).


He played Julius Caesar in Cecil B. DeMille’s historical film Cleopatra (1934) alongside Claudette Colbert, with whom he also starred in the original version of the melodrama Imitation of Life (John M. Stahl, 1934). Between 1934 and 1936, he portrayed defence lawyer Perry Mason in four films. William also appeared in several whodunit films, either as an investigating detective or as a shady suspect.

When the Hays Code was introduced in Hollywood in 1934, there was an increasing demand for family-friendly entertainment. Warren William’s star began to fade rapidly. In the second half of the 1930s, he was cast in leading roles almost exclusively in B-grade crime films. He played a Raffles-like reformed jewel thief, The Lone Wolf, in nine films, beginning with The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (Peter Godfrey, 1939), and appeared as Detective Philo Vance in two of the series films, The Dragon Murder Case (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1934) and the comedic The Gracie Allen Murder Case (Alfred E. Green, 1939).

He also starred as Sam Spade (renamed Ted Shane) opposite Bette Davis in Satan Met a Lady (William Dieterle, 1936), the second screen version of 'The Maltese Falcon'. Among his more notable roles from this later period were a jealous district attorney in the James Whale film, Wives Under Suspicion (James Whale, 1938), the swashbuckling musketeer Charles d’Artagnan in Whale's The Man in the Iron Mask (James Whale, 1939), and the role of a scientist in the classic Werewolf film The Wolf Man (George Waggner, 1941), starring Claude Rains. B-movie director Edgar G. Ulmer cast him as a cunning, highly dangerous murderer in the stylish Film Noir Strange Illusion (1945).

In 1947, William made the last of his 65 films. He played Laroche-Mathieu in The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (Albert Lewin, 1947), starring George Sanders. Due to his deteriorating health, he was unable to work for most of 1947. In 1948, Warren William died of cancer in Encino, California, at just 53. In 1923, the actor had married Helen Barbara Nelson, and remained married to her until his death. His wife Helen was to die only a few months later. William’s ashes were scattered into Long Island Sound. Unlike his unscrupulous screen characters, William was frequently described as friendly and shy. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1559 Vine Street is dedicated in his honour.


British postcard by Film Weekly. Photo: Paramount. Warren William as Julius Caesar and Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra in Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934).


British postcard in the Film-Kurier Series, London, no. 24. Photo: First National Pictures.


Vintage postcard.


British postcard by Film Weekly.

Sources: Jon C. Hepwood (IMDb), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.