New acquisitions at GDI: Heinz Rühmann and other European stars

In Noord Schwarwoude, the Netherlands, there is small film institute we love, the Geoffrey Donaldson Institute (GDI). Our friend Egbert Barten is the managing director and he regularly shares new postcards from his collection with EFSP. Tomorrow we'll have a post on a postcard album he lately found in France. Today we do a post on a series of fine postcards plus a photo of the popular German film star Heinz Rühmann. The pictures plus the text for an article on Rühmann, were acquired from Dutch film journalist and collector Thijs Ockersen. We combine them with other new acquisitions by GDI and finish this post with one of the cards from the album on which we will focus tomorrow.


Heinz Rühmann in Bomben auf Monte Carlo (1931). German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 606. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Bomben auf Monte Carlo/The Bombardment of Monte Carlo (Hanns Schwarz, 1931). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Heinz Rühmann in Ich und die Kaiserin (1933). German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7848/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Ich und die Kaiserin/The Empress and I (Friedrich Hollaender, 1933). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Heinz Rühmann in Kleider machen Leute (1940). Dutch postcard by I.F.P. (Drukkerij Uitg. Int. Filmpers), Amsterdam, no. 1243. Photo: publicity still for Kleider machen Leute/Clothes Make the Man (Helmut Käutner, 1940). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Heinz Rühmann. German photo. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Heinz Rühmann

Actor, director and producer Heinz Rühmann (1902-1994) played in more than 100 films over nearly 70 years and was one of Germany's most popular film stars. He was a favourite actor of Adolf Hitler and Josef Goebbels but also of Anne Frank. She pasted his photo on the wall of her room in her family's hiding place during the war, where it can still be seen today.


Anny Ondra. French postcard by EC, no. 83. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Estrellita Castro in El barbero de Sevilla (1938). German postcard by Das Programm von Heute / Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Cando. Publicity still for El barbero de Sevilla/The Barber of Seville (Benito Perojo, 1938). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Estrellita Castro

Estrellita Castro (1914-1983) was a Spanish 'tonadillera' (little tune singer) and actress, who had a stirring and passionate style. Born Estrella Castro Navarrete to a humble family, she started singing from an early age and busked around in Sevilla streets. She was yet known in Andalusia when she appeared in Barcelona in 1929 with a variety show named 'La copla andaluza', where she was the first star together with 'Ángel Sampedro 'Angelillo''. From that moment on she enjoyed success all over Spain, Europe and America. Castro became one of the greatest 'copla' (Spanish popular song) performers.

Estrellita Castro's success as a singer paved her way to the film industry, and she became one of the most popular and highly-paid Spanish actresses of the time. She made many folkloric musicals, including and La Maja del capote/ (Fernando Delgado, 1943). She starred in 40 films of which the most important were filmed in Germany - Suspiros de España/Sighs of Spain (Benito Perojo, 1938), El barbero de Sevilla/The Barber of Seville (Benito Perojo, 1938) both with Miguel Ligero, and Mariquilla Terremoto (Benito Perojo, 1939). The charm of her movements in the cinema together with her powerful acute voice and beauty conquered the public. One of the iconic features of her personal looks was a hair-curl on her forehead. After the war, she became a living myth of the Spanish music and cinema.


Jean Murat in Vénus (1929). French postcard by EC, no. 648. Photo publicity still for Vénus/Venus (Louis Mercanton, 1929). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Pierre Blanchar in Pontcarral, Colonel d'Empire (1942). French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 187. Photo: Pathé Cinéma, Pierre Blanchar in Pontcarral, colonel d'empire/Pontcarral, colonel of the empire (Jean Delannoy, 1942). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Jean Tranchant. French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 87. Photo: Teddy Piaz. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Jean Tranchant

Jean Tranchant (1904-1972) was a French singer-composer, poster designer and painter, who also incidentally acted in films. Tranchant wrote songs for Lucienne Boyer (La Barque d'Yves, Moi j'crache dans l'eau), then for Marianne Oswald (Appel, La Complainte de Kesoubah, Sans repentir), Marlène Dietrich (Assez) and Lys Gauty. He performed with his wife Simone Naudet. Many of his songs were used in French films, and he also composed for the soundtrack of such films as Fanatisme (Tony Lekain, Gaston Ravel, 1934), starring Pola Negri. Tranchant himself starred in the film musical Ici l'on pêche (René Jayet, 1941) with Jane Sourza.


Hildegard Knef. French postcard by Edition P.I., offered by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, no. 712. Photo: H.P.S. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Lana Turner and John Garfield in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 173. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute. Publicity still for The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett, 1946).

Egbert, thank you!

Heinz Rühmann

Actor, director and producer Heinz Rühmann (1902-1994) was one of Germany's most popular film stars and played in more than 100 films over nearly 70 years. He was a favourite actor of Adolf Hitler and Josef Goebbels but also of Anne Frank. She pasted his postcard on the wall of her room in her family's hiding place during the war, where it can still be seen today.


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 8247/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Fox / Badal.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6341/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Deutsche Lichtspiel-Syndikat (DLS). Publicity photo for the comedy Der Stolz der 3. Kompanie/The Pride of the Third Company (Fred Sauer, 1932).

Mean Son

Heinrich Wilhelm Rühmann was born in Essen, Germany, in 1902. He was born as one of three children (he had two sisters) to Hermann and Margarethe Rühmann. After his parents had divorced in 1916, his father committed suicide.

In 1919 Heinz decided to take acting lessons and six months later he got his first theatre engagement at the Lobe and Thalia theatre.

His first film part was in the silent film Das Deutsche Mutterherz/The German Mother's Heart (Géza von Bolváry, 1926) as a mean son who beats his mother (Margarete Kupfer).

After the introduction of the sound film, Ufa Producer Erich Pommer engaged the young actor for Die Drei von der Tankstelle/Three Good Friends (Wilhelm Thiele, 1930). His cheeky and cheerful role in this successful film operetta at the side of the dream couple Willy Fritsch and Lilian Harvey led to immediate stardom.

Rühmann was signed on by the Ufa and in the following years, he became one of the busiest comedians of the German cinema. His successes included Der Mann, der seinen Mörder sucht/Looking for His Murderer (Robert Siodmak, 1931) and Der Stolz der 3. Kompanie/The Pride of the Third Company (Fred Sauer, 1932).

According to Filmportal.de, Rühmann predominantly played roguish, street-smart characters who get on in their life by small cheatings and cheekiness but meet their fate and all contradictions surrounding it with indifference.

He found ideal complementing film partners in the comedians Theo Lingen and Hans Moser in such films as Meine Frau, die Hochstaplerin/My Wife, the Fraud (Kurt Gerron, 1931), Man braucht kein Geld/No Money Is Needed (Carl Boese, 1932) and 13 Stühle/13 Chairs (E.W. Emo, 1938).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6564/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Berkin. Photo: Tobis-Schmoll.


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 189/1. Photo: Elite-Cinema. Publicity still for Heimkehr ins Glück/Return to Happiness (Carl Boese, 1933).


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Berlin / Ross Verlag. Photo: Cine-Allianz. Collection: Miss Mertens.

Jewish Wife

Although Heinz Rühmann never supported the Nazi regime, his career survived – and flourished - only after he divorced his Jewish wife, Maria Bernheim. She married the Swedish actor Rolf von Nauckhoff and thus got the departure permission to Sweden. Rühmann supported her financially during the war and she survived the Holocaust. After the war the couple explained on German television that pressure by the Nazis had forced them to separate.

Two films which marked the height of his career in this period were Der Mustergatte/Model Husband (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1937) and Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war/The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (Karl Hartl, 1937). In the latter he starred as the reserved but smart partner of Hans Albers.

In 1938, he directed his first film Lauter Lügen/Many Lies (1938) starring Hertha Feiler, who later became his second wife. Hertha had a Jewish grandfather, a fact that caused Rühmann again problems with the Nazi cultural authorities. However, he retained his reputation as an apolitical star during the entire Nazi era.

Also from 1938 on, he produced his own films as well as films by other directors with the production company Terra. Among those films were Der Florentiner Hut/The Leghorn Hat (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1939), Kleider machen Leute/Fine feathers make fine birds (Helmut Käutner, 1940) and Quax, der Bruchpilot (Kurt Hoffmann, 1941).

From 1938 to 1943 he also played at the Preussische Staatstheater in Berlin and was awarded Staatsschauspieler (National Actor) in 1940.

One of his most popular and best films was Die Feuerzangenbowle/The Fire-Tongs Bowl(Helmut Weiss, 1944), a nostalgic and very funny comedy about mistaken identities. The premiere of Die Feuerzangenbowle was forbidden by the Nazi film censor for 'disrespect for authority', according to Wikipedia. Through his good relationships with the regime, however, Rühmann was able to screen the film in public. He brought the film to the Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze for a private screening for Hermann Göring and others. Afterward, Göring was able to get the ban on the film lifted by Adolf Hitler.

He was a favourite actor of both Adolf Hitler and his propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. In August 1944, Goebbels put Rühmann on the Gottbegnadeten list of indispensable actors and thus was spared having to take part in the war effort. At the end of the war he was forced to witness the rape of his wife Hertha Feiler by Russian soldiers in his Berlin villa.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3535/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra. Probably a publicity still for Quax, der Bruchpilot (Kurt Hoffmann, 1941).


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3852/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra. Heinz Rühmann in Die Feuerzangenbowle/The Punch Bowl (Helmut Weiss, 1944).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3227/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Ufa / Baumann.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3774/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.

Working Prohibition

After the Second World War, Heinz Rühmann's career had a tough start. First he was confronted with a working prohibition by the Allies. He toured the part of Germany occupied by the Soviets with his own production of Der Mustergatte/Model Husband and in 1947 he staged the play in Munich and Berlin.

In that year, he also founded the film company Comedia together with Alf Teich. They had a critical success with Berliner Ballade/The Berliner (Robert A. Stemmle, 1948), a satiric look at life in postwar Berlin, but Comedia went bankrupt in 1952.

Producer Gyula Trebitsch helped him get a comeback as an actor with Keine Angst vor grossen Tieren/No Fear for Big Animals (Ulrich Erfurth, 1953) . Subsequently his roles became more and more tragicomic.

He established himself again as a star with the title role of the internationally acclaimed Der Hauptmann von Köpenick/The Captain from Köpenick (Helmut Käutner, 1956). The Oscar-nominated film told the true story of a Prussian cobbler, Wilhelm Voigt, who dressed up as an army officer and took over the town hall in Köpenick. In the days of the German Empire, the army had an almost sacred status, and this cobbler embarrassed army officers and civil servants, who obeyed him without question.

Other big hits were the thriller Es geschah am hellichten Tag/It Happened in Broad Daylight (Ladislao Vajda, 1958) and the satire Der brave Soldat Schwejk/The Good Soldier Schweik (Axel von Ambesser, 1960) based on the novels by Jaroslav Hašek.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 213, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra.


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3555, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.


German postcard by K & B / Filmwelt Berlin Archiv für Film-Geschichte, no. 57. Photo: Deutsche London Film / T. von Mindszenty. Publicity still for Keine Angst vor grossen Tieren/No Fear for Big Animals (1953) with Ingeborg Körner.


German collectors card by Lux.

Germany's Most Beloved Actor

Heinz Rühmann played such popular character roles as the title role in Mein Schulfreund/My School Chum (Robert Siodmak, 1960) and as father Brown in Das schwarze Schaf/The Black Sheep (Helmut Ashley, 1960).

He was an ensemble member at the famous Vienna Burgtheater from 1960 to 1962. In Hollywood, he played a supporting role in Ship of Fools (Stanley Kramer, 1965).

From 1968 on, Rühmann mainly worked for TV productions. Twelve times he was voted Germany's most beloved actor and he won a large number of awards.

He also published several books: Heinz Rühmann erzählt vom Geschenk der Weisen und andren Begebenheiten (1978), his memories Das war's (1982) and the photo biography Ein Leben in Bildern (1987).

He gave his farewell performance in In weiter Ferne, so nah!/Faraway, So Close! (Wim Wenders, 1993).

Heinz Rühmann died in 1994 in Aufkirchen, Germany. He was married three times, with Maria Herbot (1924-1938), Hertha Feiler (1939-1970; her death) and Hertha Droemer (1974-1994; his death).

He was the father of Peter Rühmann (mother: Hertha Feiler) and the grandfather of actress Melanie Rühmann.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2642, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Progress. Publicity still for Hokuspokus oder: Wie lasse ich meinen Mann verschwinden...?/Hocuspocus (Kurt Hoffmann, 1966).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2662, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Progress. Publicity still for Hokuspokus oder: Wie lasse ich meinen Mann verschwinden...?/Hocuspocus (Kurt Hoffmann, 1966).

Sources: Filmportal.de, Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), IMDb and Wikipedia.