European Film Star Postcards

German film, TV and stage actor Hans von Borsody (1929-2013) died Monday, 4 November, at his home in Kiel, Germany. During his decades-long career, he was seen in the war drama A Bridge Too Far (1977) and many other films. On stage, he starred as Faust and Cyrano de Bergerac. Borsody was 84 years old.

German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 2657. Photo: Lilo / Dörfler /Bavaria.

Jeune Premier

Hans Eduard Herbert von Borsody was born in Vienna, Austria in 1929.

His parents were the film director Eduard von Borsody and the concert pianist and violinist Maria Hochreiter. When Borsody was three, his family moved to Berlin and obtained German citizenship.

Von Borsody came early into contact with the film business, but at his father's request, he started a photography study.

From 1950 to 1952, he studied acting at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna. Later he stood on stage in many German and Austrian cities such as Munich, Vienna, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Berlin and Hamburg.

He made his film debut in Don Giovanni/Don Juan (Walter Kolm-Veltée, 1955) featuring Cesare Danova. This musical swashbuckler follows closely the plot of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni.

Thanks to his roles as a jeune premier in films like the Heimatfilm Der Schandfleck/The Disgrace (Herbert B. Fredersdorf, 1956), Hans von Borsody quickly made a name.

He starred in the crime thriller Das Rätsel der grünen Spinne/The Mystery of the Green Spider (Franz Marischka 1960) and the Austrian drama Sturm am Wilden Kaiser/Mountain wind (1963), written and directed by his father Eduard von Borsody.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 2204, 1964. Retail price 0.20 DM.

Stylish, Flamboyant Giallo-Thriller

During the 1960s, Hans von Borsody played in several pan-European co-productions.

He had supporting parts in the war films Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar, 1962), set during the Algerian War and starring Stewart Granger, and Sette contro la morte/The Cavern (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1964) with John Saxon. The latter is a claustrophobic WW II war drama, which chronicles the five months which six soldiers and one woman spent trapped within a deep cave in the Italian mountains.

He rode as a cowboy across the prairie in the Italian Spaghetti Western Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) featuring Gordon Scott.

In Germany, he played as Volker von Alzey in the two-part epic sword-and-sorcery fantasy Die Nibelungen (Harald Reinl, 1966-1967), a remake of the silent classic directed by Fritz Lang in 1924.

He became a household name in the German speaking countries as detective Cliff Dexter in the Krimi series Cliff Dexter (1966-1968), which kept millions of European TV viewers spellbound.

In Italy, he also appeared in Omicidio per appuntamento/Date for a Murder (Mino Guerrini, 1966). At AllMovie, Robert Firsching describes the film as a "stylish, flamboyant giallo-thriller clearly influenced by the striking work of genre pioneer Mario Bava".

Von Borsody fought as a rebel against the Romans in Hermann der Cherusker - Die Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald/Massacre in the Black Forest (Ferdinando Baldi, Rudolf Nussgruber, 1967), a historical drama film set in the German frontier in AD 9.

The film centers on Hermann, a chieftain of the Cherusci tribe (in what is now Hesse), who drew three Roman legions into an ambush in the Teutoburg Forest, known as the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. His co-stars were Antonella Lualdi and Cameron Mitchell.

Scene from Omicidio per appuntamento/Date for a Murder (Mino Guerrini, 1966). Source: Роман Мацнев (YouTube).

His Role of a Lifetime

During the 1970s and 1980s, Hans von Borsody played in several German TV films and series and in a few international films.

Among these films were the war epic A Bridge Too Far (Richard Attenborough, 1977) and the thriller Bloodline (Terence Young, 1979), based upon the novel by Sidney Sheldon, and starring Audrey Hepburn.

His role of a lifetime was Cyrano de Bergerac, which Von Borsody performed on stage in Vienna and Andernach. It was the role about which he had already dreamed during his studies at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar.

Hans von Borsody died in Kiel, Germany in 2013. He was 84.

He is survived by his fourth wife Karin and his daughters Suzanne and Cosima. After his first marriage with actress Rosemarie Fendel ended, he was married to actresses Alwy Becker and Heide Keller.

Suzanne von Borsody, his daughter with Rosemarie Fendel, is an award winning actress. Her half-sister Cosima von Borsody, his daughter with Alwy Becker, also works for the camera.

Trailer for Die Nibelungen - Teil II: Kriemhilds Rache (Harald Reinl, 1967). Source: R6dw6C (YouTube).

Sources: Robert Firsching (AllMovie), T Online (German), AllMovie, Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.

Danish actor and director Robert Dinesen (1874-1972) made his film debut in Afgrunden/The Abyss (1910) as Asta Nielsen's fiancé. One year later, he directed the successful circus drama De fire djaevle/The Four Devils (1911), in which he also played the lead. It launched a trend of sensational circus drama's, and Dinesen became one of the greatest stars of the Scandinavian cinema. As a director, he had another huge hit with the orientalist melodrama Maharadjahens yndlingshustru/The Maharaja's Favourite Wife (1917) .

Danish postcard, no. P.H. 1924. Sent by mail in 1908. Photo: Paul Hekscher. Publicity still for the play Nödebbo Prestigaard.

Sensational Circus Drama

Robert Dinesen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1874.

After being trained as a singer with William Herold and as an actor with Nicolai Neiiendam, he made his stage debut in 1894. He toured in the Nordic countries and played on several of the capital city stages, including Dagmarteatret (Dagmar Theatre).

He started his film career with the spectacular and ground-breaking Afgrunden/The Abyss (1910), as Magda's (Asta Nielsen) fiancé.

Already one year later, he co-directed his first film, the circus drama De fire djaevle/The Four Devils (Alexander Christian, Robert Dinesen, Alfred Lind, Carl Rosenbaum, 1911), in which he also played the lead as the wayward circus performer Fritz. The film, based on a story by Herman Bang, was an international success. The Four Devils launched a trend of sensational circus dramas. In 1928, Bang's story would be filmed again in Hollywood by legendary director F.W. Murnau.

Kinografen, the production company of De fire djaevle/The Four Devils built a large studio to expand, but to no avail.
Dinesen moved over to Nordisk, the biggest Danish film studio then.

From 1912 on, Robert Dinesen alternated playing in various Nordisk films by directors such as August Blom and Eduard Schnedler-Sorensen with making his own films, also at Nordisk. In 1913 he assisted Blom in directing his prestigious film drama Atlantis (August Blom, 1913).

All in all he acted in and directed some 70 films at Nordisk, working with such actors as Valdemar Psilander, Betty Nansenand Gunnar Tolnaes.

His biggest success was the orientalist melodrama Maharadjahens yndlingshustru/The Maharaja's Favourite Wife (Robert Dinesen, 1917) with Gunnar Tolnaes as an Indian prince and Lilly Jacobson as his love interest, the Danish Elly von Langen. The film was so popular that it had a Danish companion piece in 1919, again with Tolnaes and Jacobson, and a German sequel in 1921.

Robert Dinesen also produced such films as the sensationalistic series Gar el Hama (1911-1914) and Jefthas Dotter/Jephta's Daughter (1919), a Swedish production by Palladium.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K 2995. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Maharadjahens yndlingshustru/The Maharaja's Favourite Wife (Robert Dinesen, 1917) with Gunnar Tolnaes.

Lilly Jacobson and Gunnar Tolnaes in Maharadjahens Yndlingshustru

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.2992. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Maharadjahens yndlingshustru/The Maharaja's Favourite Wife (Robert Dinesen, 1917) with Gunnar Tolnaes and Lilly Jacobson.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin. Photo: Nordisk. Publicity still for Maharadjahens yndlingshustru/The Maharaja's Favourite Wife (Robert Dinesen, 1917) with Gunnar Tolnaes and Lilly Jacobson.

Lya de Putti

Robert Dinesen married German actress Margaretha Schön (his third wife), and he moved to Berlin.

Producer Joe May invited him to co-direct with him Die Frauen von Gnadestein/The Women of Gnadestein (1920). In the 1920s, while working for May-Film, Ufa and Phoebus, Dinesen directed some 25 films.

In several of his films starred Lya de Putti. These productions included Ilona (1921), Thamar, das Kind der Berge/Thamar, the Child of the Mountains (1924), Malva (1924), Claire (1924), and Im Namen des Kaisers/In the Name of the Kaiser (1925). Most of them were made shortly before her international breakthrough with Varieté/Variety (E.A. Dupont, 1925).

In 1922 Dinesen made one more film for the Swedish company Palladium, Odets reskap.

His last film was Der Weg durch die Nacht/The Way Through the Night (1929) starring Käthe von Nagy, and his wife Margarethe Schön.

Dinesen refused to work for Joseph Goebbels, neither as an actor nor director, and retired, dedicating his time to painting. His wife Margarethe continued acting after 1933, and did some 24 films until 1945.

Robert Dinesen remained in Berlin (later West-Berlin), but he returned to Copenhagen shortly before his death in 1972 at the age of 97. He had been married with the actresses Marie Dinesen, Johanne Dinesen and Margarethe Schön.

Danish postcard by Alex. Vincent's Kunstforlag. Eneret, no. 709. The title Inez fra Coimbra lacks in databases such as IMDb and the one of the Danish Film Institute. There was a musical play with this title, composed by Danish composer Adolph Julius Eggers. It was based on Portuguese folk music. The piece was edited as sheet music in 1908.

Austrian postcard by Projectograph Aktiengesellschaft, Wien (Vienna). Photo: Nordisk Films Co., Kopenhagen.

Sources: Hans J. Wollstein (AllMovie), Det Danske Filminstitut (Danish) and IMDb.

English actor Stewart Granger (1913–1993) made over 60 films but is mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. Tall, handsome, and athletic, Granger became England's top box office star in the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s. This attracted Hollywood's attention.

Vintage postcard.

German postcard by ISV, no. C 3. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.

Jimmy Stewart

Stewart Granger was born as James Lablache Stewart in London in 1913 He was the only son of Major James Stewart, OBE and his wife Frederica Eliza née Lablache, and the grandson of the actor Luigi Lablache.

He was educated at Epsom College and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. He changed his name to avoid confusion with Hollywood star James Stewart. Granger was his Scottish grandmother's maiden name.

In 1933, he made his film debut as an extra in A Southern Maid (Harry Hughes, 1933) and by 1935 he made his stage debut in The Cardinal at Hull. He was with the Birmingham Repertory Company between 1936 and 1937, and in 1938 he made his West End debut in The Sun Never Sets.

He had been gradually rising through the ranks of better stage roles when WW II began, and he joined the British Army in 1940. However, he was eventually disabled in 1942, which brought his release from military service.

British Postcard, nr. F.S. 31. Publicity card for Saraband for Dead Lovers (Basil Dearden, 1948).

Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, nr. 401.

British postcard in the Greetings Series, Photo: MGM. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer).

French postcard by Editions du Globe, no. 512. Photo: MGM. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer).

Dashing Hero Type

With a dearth of leading men for British films, Stewart Granger quickly landed The Man in Grey (Leslie Arliss, 1943). This was the first installment of Gainsborough’s successful series of costume melodramas.

His first starring role made him overnight a star in Britain. Next he starred in films like Madonna of the Seven Moons (Arthur Crabtree, 1943) with Phyllis Calvert, but the film work was unsatisfying.

He was often cast as the dashing hero type, while fellow up-and-coming actor James Masonalways garnered the more substantial Gainsborough part. When Mason left for Hollywood, Granger inherited better parts in films like Caesar and Cleopatra (Gabriel Pascal, 1945) and Saraband for Dead Lovers (Basil Dearden, 1948).

Granger first met the very young Jean Simmons when they both worked on Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). Three years on, Simmons had transformed from a promising newcomer into a star - and a very attractive woman.

They married in 1950 in a bizarre wedding ceremony organised by Howard Hughes - one of his private planes flew the couple to Tucson, Arizona, where they were married, mainly among strangers, with Michael Wilding as Granger's best man. Then, Granger and Simmons both moved to Hollywood.

Jean Simmons (1929-2010), Stewart Granger

With Jean Simmons. Vintage postcard. Photo: MGM.

Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons in Young Bess

British postcard in the Picturegoer series, no. D. 324. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM). Publicity still for Young Bess (George Sidney, 1953) with Jean Simmons.

Stewart Granger, Guy Rolfe, Kathleen Byron, Rex Thompson in Young Bess

British postcard in the Picturegoer series, no. D. 320. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM). Publicity still for Young Bess (George Sidney, 1953) with Guy Rolfe, Kathleen Byron, and Rex Thompson.

Dutch postcard by Filmphoto Service, Amsterdam, no. 704. Photo: MGM.

Swashbuckler

MGM had invited Stewart Granger to play Rider Haggard's hero Allan Quatermain in a film version of King Solomon's Mines (Compton Bennett, Andrew Morton, 1950) with Deborah Kerr. On the basis of the huge success of this film, he was offered a seven-year contract by MGM.

His theatrical voice, stature and dignified profile made him a natural heir to Errol Flynn as a swashbuckler in the popular remakes of The Prisoner of Zenda (Richard Thorpe, 1952) and Scaramouche (George Sidney, 1952), and in Moonfleet (Fritz Lang, 1955).

The audiences loved those romantic roles, but he found them still unsatisfying. He and Jean Simmons were paired in Young Bess (George Sidney, 1953), where Granger had the romantic lead, but Simmons was the focus of the movie. That sort of undeclared competition was poison to their marriage.

They also co-starred in the underrated 'Victorian' thriller, Footsteps in the Fog (Arthur Lubin, 1955). In 1960 they divorced. That year Granger starred with John Wayne in the comic western North to Alaska (Henry Hathaway, 1960). It would be the last Hollywood movie he made.

German postcard, no. 37. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

Stewart Granger and Götz George in Unter Geiern

With Götz Georgeand Mario Girotti a.o. German postcard by ISV, no. C 11. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

German postcard, no. 28. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.

German postcard by ISV, no. C 4. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.

Old Surehand

In Italy, Stewart Granger appeared in a comic pastiche on The Longest Day, Il giorno più corto/The Shortest Day (Sergio Corbucci, 1962) and in another good war film Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar, 1962).

In Germany he played Old Surehand next to Pierre Brice’s Winnetou in three Karl May Westerns, Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964), Der Ölprinz/Rampage at Apache Wells (Harald Philipp, 1965) and Old Surehand/Flaming Frontier (Alfred Vohrer, 1965).

In the Edgar Wallace film series of the 1960s he was seen in The Trygon Factor (Cyril Frankel, 1966).

His film career declined in the 1970s, and he later worked mainly for American television. One of his last roles was as Prince Philip in the TV film The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (1982). Towards the end of his career, Granger even starred in a German soap-opera called Das Erbe der Guldenburgs/The Heritage of the Guldenburgs (Jürgen Goslar, 1987).

In 1956 Stewart Granger had become a naturalized citizen of the USA, and in 1993 he died in Santa Monica from prostate cancer at the age of 80. He was married three times: to Elspeth March (1938–1948), two children, Jamie and Lindsay; to Jean Simmons(1950–1960), one daughter, Tracy; and to Caroline LeCerf (1964–1969), one daughter, Samantha.

In his autobiography Sparks fly upward (1981) he revealed that Deborah Kerr had tried to seduce him in the back of a London cab in 1950. Although they were married to others, they went on to have an affair and remained lifelong friends.

German postcard by Wilhelm Schulze-Witteborg (WS-Druck), Wanne-Eickel. Photo by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

Stewart Granger and Jean Kentin a scene from Caravan (1946). Source: Parysia 77 (YouTube).

Scene from the Italian film Lo spadaccino di Siena/Swordsman of Siena (Baccio Bandini, 1962) with Sylva Koscina. Source: Henk de Vos 63 (YouTube).

Sources: Tony Williams (Encyclopedia of British Cinema), IMDb and Wikipedia.

French actress Gina Manès (1893-1989) starred in some 90 films between 1916 and 1966. 'The Vamp with the Emerald Eyes' is best known for her roles in the silent films Coeur fidèle (1923) and Thérèse Raquin (1928).

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 686. Photo: Film Pathé-Natan.

Photogenic

Gina Manès was born as Blanche Moulin in Paris in 1893, as the daughter of a furniture salesman.

After small roles at the Theatre du Palais Royal and other theatres, and dance performances in the revues by Rip, she was discovered by actor René Navarre. He considered her photogenic and introduced her to film director Louis Feuillade.

Changing her name to Gina Manès, she made her film debut in Les Six Petits Coeurs des Six Petites Filles/The Six hearts of Six Little Girls (Edouard-Emile Viollet, 1916).

After some more years on the stage, her film career really went off with L’Homme sans visage/Eyes Without a Face (Louis Feuillade, 1919).

She became a well-known film actress thanks to her role as the innkeeper’s daughter in L’Auberge Rouge/The Red Inn (Jean Epstein, 1923), who subsequently gave her the lead in his Coeur fidèle/The Faithful Heart (1923) both opposite Léon Mathot.

In this film Manès is a woman married to a drunken brute from whom she does not dare to separate, although she dreams of running off with a sympathetic dockworker.

Next she played an actress in a film by the avant-garde director Germaine Dulac, Ame d’artiste/Heart of an Actress (1924).

French postcard, no. 102. Studio Pathé Consortium Cinéma.

French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 708.

The Vamp with the Emerald Eyes

Because of her troubling beauty, her heavy and poisonous look and her feline movements, Gina Manès soon became type-casted as seductress and femme fatale. Her nicknames became 'The Vamp with the Emerald Eyes', and 'The Athena with the Green Look'.

In 1927, director Abel Gance casted her as Joséphine de Beauharnais in his epic production Napoléon (1927).

Gance asked her to do a screen-test in the studio dressed only in a nightgown and jewels, Directoire styled. "I had to hum a cheerful song, then a complaining song, after which he decided that I was the perfect character for the role, as I had the historic Creole mood."

In the following year Jacques Feyder directed Manès in what is considered to be her best role, the title character in Thérèse Raquin/Shadows of Fear (1928), after the novel by Émile Zola.

The film was a Franco-German production, involving German scriptwriters, a German production manager, art direction by a Russian and a German, cinematography by a Dane and a German, and both French and German actors (including Hans Adalbert Schlettowand La Jana).

The story deals with a truck driver (Schlettow) who kills the husband of the woman (Manès) he loves, but a blackmailer threatens to reveal the murder. Unfortunately no copy of the film remains.

In the late 1920s foreign studios called, so Manès acted in Germany and Sweden in Die Heilige und ihr Narr/The Saint and Her Fool (Wilhelm Dieterle aka William Dieterle, 1928), Die Todesschleife/Looping the loop (Arthur Robison, 1928), and Synd/Sin (Gustav Molander, 1928) with Lars Hanson.

Manès married Georges Charlia, her partner in Naples au baiser du feu/The Kiss of Fire (Serge Dadejdine, 1925) and Le trains sans yeux/Train Without Eyes (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1927).

The following years they were often coupled in films.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3225/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Defu (Deutsche Film-Union). This card was issued for Manès' lead in Die Heilige und ihr Narr/The Saint and Her Fool (Wilhelm Dieterle aka William Dieterle, 1928), the only film she made for Defu. She plays an envious stepmother who wants to destroy the happy marriage of her stepchild (Lien Deyers) with the young neighbour (William Dieterle).

French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 191.

Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5868. Photo: Gaumont Film. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Plotting Demi-mondaines

The arrival of sound cinema did not change her status and Gina Manès continued to be a star.

She had a big commercial success in 1931 as – again – a vamp in Une belle garce/A Beautiful Bitch (Marco de Gastyne, 1930).

At the apex of her career, Manès quitted it all and with her husband Georges Charlia, she went to Morocco to open a bar on a road 100 km from Marrakech.

When she returned after two years, the film business considered her too old for being a star – she was 40 by now. Younger actresses such as Ginette Leclerc, Mireille Balin and Viviane Romance had taken over as the femme fatales of the French cinema.

Manès had to be content with secondary roles as older women still in love but neglected, such as the plotting demi-mondaine Marinka in Mayerling (Anatole Litvak, 1935) starring Charles Boyerand Danielle Darrieux.

In Les caves du Majestic/Majestic Hotel Cellars (Richard Pottier, 1944) she even became the female equivalent of Emil Jannings in Der letzte Mann/The Last Laugh (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1924): a toilet cleaner.

French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 374. Photo: Studio Lorelle.

French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 373. Photo: Studio Lorette, Paris. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Tiger Act

More and more attracted to the circus, Gina Manès started an act with tigers at the Cirque du Hiverand the Médrano. But in November 1942 she was severely wounded by a wild animal and had to retire.

After the war, while in Morocco for the shooting of La Danseuse du Marrakech/The Dancer of Marrakech (Léon Mathot, 1949), Manès stayed there and opened up a drama course in Rabat.

She acted in two shorts, but disappointed she returned to France in 1954. Almost forgotten, she only was offered bit parts in French cinema – which she played frequently in the mid-1950s.

She turned towards the stage with the Grenier de Toulouse, where she could play parts that fit her age.

After two memorable film roles in Bonheur est pour demain/Happiness is for Tomorrow (Henri Fabiani, 1960) and Pas de panique/No Panic (Sergio Gobbi, 1966) with Pierre Brasseur, Gina Manès ended her career.

Gina Manès moved to a home in Toulouse, France, where she died in 1972, at the age of 96.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 172. Photo: Star.

Gina Manès sings Mois je n´dois rien à personne, the French version of Brigitte Horney's success So oder so ist das Leben in Liebe, Tod undTeufel/Love Death and Devil (1934). The French film version is called Le diable en bouteille/The Devil in the Bottle (1935). Source: Alparfan (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia (English and French), and IMDb.

Flemish singer-songwriter, guitarist, comedian, actor and professional whistler Bobbejaan Schoepen (1925-2010) was a pioneer of the Belgian pop music, vaudeville and the European country music. He was the first Belgian singer who had an international breakthrough and who appeared in international films. He was also the founder and former director of the amusement park Bobbejaanland. And in 1957 he represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Belgian postcard by World Music, Brussel. Photo: Decca.

Belgian postcard by Samo Chips.

European Country Music

Modest Hyppoliet Joanna Schoepen was born in Boom, Belgium in 1925.

He made his stage debut in 1943 in the famous music hall Ancienne Belgiquein Brussels. He sang the South-African song Mama, ‘k wil ‘n man hé. Neen mamma, nee, ‘n Duitseman, die wil ek nie. Want Schweinefleisch dat lus ek nie (Mommy, I want a husband. No mommy no, I don’t want a German ‘cause I don’t like pig meat.) The song was perceived as being anti-German, provoking a few Nazis who were present at the show to take him away. The Ancienne Belgique was closed for three weeks.

Shortly thereafter he was forced to go work in Germany. As an alternative he chose to sing for the Flemish workers doing compulsory labour. For this he was locked up for three months in the Dossin barracks in Mechelen from October 1944, without a hearing or a trial.

In 1945 he and his village friend Kees Brug formed the duet Two Boys and Two Guitars, which had a repertoire of imitations, poems and South-African and country songs plus a lot of improvisation and adventure. He started to use the name Bobbejaan, from a South-African song.

In 1947 he met manager Jacques Kluger, who arranged engagements for him to perform for the American and Canadian troops in Germany. In 1948 he had his first hit with De Jodelende Fluiter (The Yodelling Whistler). He was a virtuoso whistler, a gift he lost after an operation.

Bobbejaan became the first Belgian singer with international success. He toured through more than 20 countries, and performed with stars like Josephine Baker, Caterina Valente, Gilbert Bécaud, Django Reinhardtand Toots Thielemans, the latter two were guitarists in his band in respectively 1948 and 1951.

Bobbejaan (in America: Bobby John and in France: Bobbi-Jean) was the first to use modern material, his own touring bus and circus tent, and a system of artist’s sponsoring. He introduced European country music in Western Europe, and in 1953 he performed in the Grand Ole Opryin Nashville, one of the most important country music halls in the US.

German postcard by Ariola.

Belgian postcard by Decca.

Cult Phenomenon

In 1957 Bobbejaan Schoepen represented Belgium at the second Eurovision Song Contest with the song Straatdeuntje (Street Tune). The performance is memorable in featuring a whistling solo. Schoepen is rumoured not to have known which song he was to perform at the Contest until he arrived, only rehearsing his entry a few days before performance. Belgium ended up tying for eighth place with the Swiss entry (out of ten entries).

He had more luck with the international hits Ik heb eerbied voor jouw grijze haren/Ich hab Ehrfurcht vor Schneeweißen Haaren (I honour your grey hair), the parody Café zonder bier/Ich steh an der Bar und ich habe kein Geld - covers of A pub with No Beer by Slim Dusty, and the chanson Je me suis souvent demandé (I was often asked).

He performed another hit song, Kili watch (a cover of The Cousins), in the German film Davon träumen alle Mädchen/That's What All the Girls Dream About (Thomas Engel, 1961).

He appeared in five film musicals in both Belgium and Germany. starting with Ah! 't Is zo fijn in België te leven/Ah, it's so good to live in Belgium (Jacques Loar, E.G. de Meyst, 1950) and ending with Bobbejaanland (Vladimir Sis, 1971) .

The absurdist comedy De Ordonnans/At the Drop of a Head (Charles Frank, 1962) became a cult phenomenon, when the band Dead Man Ray made a tour with the film in the 1990s.

Dutch postcard by Editie Harry Botschuijver, Amsterdam, no. A 15. Retail price: 18 ct. Photo: World Music Company, Bruxelles. The song Anneliese (1953) was composed by Hans Arno Simon (music) and Aleda-Jan Reno (Dutch text).

Belgian postcard by S.P.A.D.E.M., no. A 92-11. Sent by mail in 1974.

Bobbejaanland

From the 1970s on, Bobbejaan Schoepen focussed entirely on Bobbejaanland, which he had founded in 1961. The park, which was managed by Schoepen and his family, expanded to one of the most popular amusement parks in the Benelux.

When Bobbejaan was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 (he would later recover from this illness) he decided to sell the park.

Since the sale in 2004 he focussed again on his musical career. In 2008 he released his newest album, Bobbejaan. It got favourable reviews and a lot of media attention in Belgium.

In 2007 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award (ZAMU Award) in the Ancienne Belgique for his pioneering role in the Belgian music history. In 2008 the International Whistlers Convention gave him as the first European a place in the Whistlers Hall of Fame. In 2009 he was made Officier in de Kroonorde(Officer of the Crown Order), by the Flemish government.

Schoepen was a true professional who was able to turn his jazzy country-guitar playing, his deep, angelic voice and his wacky sense of humour into a trademark. Between 1948 and 1970 he sold more than five million copies from his repertoire of nearly 600 songs.

Bobbejaan Schoepen suffered a cardiac arrest in a hospital in Turnhout in 2010. The day before he had enjoyed his 85th birthday. He was married to Dutch former opera singer and photo model Josephina (Josée) Jongen, who passed away on 13 September 2013. They had five children: Robert ('Bob jr.', 1962), Myriam (1963), Jacky (1964), Peggy (1968) and Tom (1970).

Belgian postcard by Imp. Laline s.a., Jemappes. Publicity card for Nordbräu Beer.

Sources: Bobbejaan Schoepen, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Barbara von Nady's film career was very short. She appeared in only two films at the end of the 1950’s.

German Postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 260. Photo: Bavaria / Meroth.

Little Beast with Long Hair

Barbara von Nady's first film was the German-Austrian coproduction Meine schöne Mama/My Pretty Mama (1958), directed by veteran Paul Martin. In the 1930’s Martin had already directed some of the films of Lilian Harvey.

The stars of Meine schöne Mama were Paul Hubschmidand Nadia Gray. Gray played the beautiful mother of the title and young Barbara von Nady was her 16 year old daughter Mathilde.

The film was based on a 1956 novel written by Mathilde Walewska. Her book was obviously an imitation of the French bestseller Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan about a young girl who tries to sabotize the new relationship of her father.

The working title of the melodrama was Kleines Biest mit langen Haaren (Little beast with long hair) which described adequately Von Nady’s role.

German Postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.h., Minden-Westf, no. 2969. Photo: Bavaria / Schorchtfilm. Publicity still for Meine schöne Mama (1958).

Mean, Nasty and Terribly Conflicted

Barbara von Nady's second appearance was in the international production The Journey (Anatole Litvak, 1959).

The film was based on a screenplay by George Tabori about a group of international travelers held virtual prisoners in the Hungary of 1956 by invading Soviets.

Deborah Kerr and debutant Jason Robards play a British baroness and a Hungarian freedom fighter in love. Leading the pack of Soviet wolves is commander Yul Brynner: mean, nasty and terribly conflicted by his attraction to the lovely, patrician, & heroic Kerr.

In this political drama Barbara von Nady played the small part of Borbala. It would be her last film role.

More information about Barbara von Nady was unavailable through the internet.

Yul Brynner. French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 45 (ca. 1960). Photo: Sam Lévin.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) was an immensely popular German film operetta. It was the best film of the 'Dream Team' of the European Cinema of the 1930s, Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch.

Lilian Harvey in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931). German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 600. Photo: Ufa.

Lilian Harvey

The cast of Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) included many of the great stars of the Weimar Cinema: Willy Fritsch as Tsar Alexander I of Russia and his doppelgänger, Uralsky, Otto Wallburg as Bibikoff, his Adjutant, Conrad Veidt as Prince Metternich, Carl-Heinz Schroth as his Secretary, Pepi, Lil Dagover as the Countess and Alfred Abel as the King of Saxony.

The female lead of Christel Weinzinger, the lovely glove seller, was played by British born, German actress and singer Lilian Harvey, Ufa's biggest star of the 1930's.

Der Kongress tanzt takes place during the 1814 Congress in Vienna, when the crowned heads of Europe gathered together to devise a strategy for dealing with Napoleon and decide the shape (and fate) of the continent. It would hold - with some serious cracks - for exactly 100 years.

The Russian Tsar Alexander I is traveling incognito among the people in the tradition of his ancestor Peter the Great, coming across a witty and charming Viennese glove seller, Christel Weinzinger. She announces her business by throwing flowers with a visiting card into each carriage that drives past. As the story unfolds, Christel is accused of an assassination attempt and finally condemned. The punishment is however waived and Christel is again free.

The Tsar, having fallen in love with Christel, uses the visiting card, in order to visit her in her business. A romance develops, with Austrian prince chancellor Metternich and his army of spies intending to use the situation to further his own agenda. This however clashes with Pepi, his secretary, who is also in love with Christel. Christel tells her friends about the romance, which is naturally not believed. Only as the Tsar arrives with a splendid carriage to fetch her, does astonishment set in.

The romance is terminated when Napoléon Bonaparte escapes from the island of Elba and marches upon Paris. The Tsar, as all other rulers, has to leave. Christel stays behind, miserable, but finds solace with Pepi.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 131/1. Lilian Harvey and Carl-Heinz Schroth in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 131/4. Photo: Ufa. Still with Lilian Harvey, Reginald Purdell, Robert Arnout and Carl-Heinz Schroth in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 131/6. Photo: Ufa. Still with Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

Willy Fritsch

Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch had played together for the first time in the silent films Die keusche Susanne/The Innocent Susanne (Richard Eichberg, 1926) and Ihr dunkler Punkt/Her Skeleton in the Closet (Johannes Guter, 1928) with Harry Halm.

The two actors teamed up again for the seminal film operetta Liebeswalzer/The Love Waltz (Wilhelm Thiele, 1929), which established them as the immensely popular ‘Dream Couple of the German Cinema’.

They followed Liebeswalzer with a string of successful musical comedies, including Einbrecher/Burglars (Hanns Schwarz, 1930) with Heinz Rühmann, the box-office hit Die drei von der Tankstelle/Three from the Gasoline Station (Wilhelm Thiele, 1930), Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) and Ein blonder Traum/A Blonde's Dream (Paul Martin, 1932), also with Willi Forst.

Each of these films featured several Harvey/Fritsch songs, which became popular hits and were also released on records, and thereby further added to the popularity of the two stars.

After an intermezzo of Harvey in Hollywood, Willy Fritsch joined her in the propagandistic drama Schwarze Rosen/Black Roses (Paul Martin, 1935), as well as in the screwball comedy Glückskinder/Lucky Kids (Paul Martin, 1936).

Frau am Steuer/Woman at the Wheel (Paul Martin, 1939) was to be the last collaboration between Fritsch and Harvey, who had made twelve films together.

While Lilian Harvey left Nazi Germany and emigrated via France to the USA, Willy Fritsch continued his career throughout the 1940s with new partners like Marika Rökk and Marte Harell.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6738/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa. Still with Lilian Harvey in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6059/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa. Still with Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

Dutch postcard, no. 204. Photo: Ufa. Still with Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

Erich Pommer

Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) was produced by Erich Pommer for the Ufa as one of the studio's first sound films.

Der Kongress tanzt is a particularly well achieved move in Ufa's attempt to challenge US supremacy in the European film arena, taking advantage of the introduction of sound.

As such, the studio released the film in three different language versions: in German, in French as Le congrès s'amuse, and English as The Congress dances. Lilian Harvey played in all three versions, as she spoke all languages with no accent; Henri Garat replaced Willy Fritsch for the French and English versions.

Ufa spared no efforts: the sets were lavish and top talent made up the entire technical cast.

Bruce Eder at AllMovie: "Der Kongress tanzt was one of the most ambitious and successful historical romances of its era, and marked one of the most serious attempts by Germany's Ufa Studios to compete with Hollywood on its own terms -- that it didn't make a lasting impact had more to do with political and cultural events in Germany than any shortcoming in this particular movie. "

Dutch postcard, no. 202, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa. Still with Lilian Harvey in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

Dutch postcard, no. 681. Photo: Ufa. Still from Der Kongress Tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) with Otto Wallburg.

Dutch postcard, nr. 688. Photo: Ufa. Still from Der Kongress Tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) with Lilian Harvey.

Dutch postcard, no. 675. Photo: Ufa. Still with Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

Erik Charell

Der Kongress Tanzt/The Congress Dances (Erik Charell, 1931) was the first - and only - German film of director Erik Charell.

The film operetta is not only a classic of the early German sound cinema, showing all the capabilities of the Ufa, but also a promising start of a film career that was not to be realized. Charell had to leave Nazi-Germany and was unable to continue his career as a film director abroad.

It is curious that the film was banned by Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels only but in October 1937.

Jan Onderwater at IMDb: "Der Kongress Tanzt may not be perfect technically, but this is a sensual, made with great fun, original, capricious and extravagant operetta. It has elegance, a great cast, brilliant music and songs, wit, great sets; some scenes are even a bit bizarre and fetishist. This is not a filmed operetta, but a real film-operetta. More than just direct, Erik Charell choreographed the film.

Although the film stands on its own feet, the influence of Ernst Lubitsch is evident. Many operetta films have been made, but none so innovative, brilliant as this one."

Otto Wallburg and Willy Fritsch in Der Kongress tanzt

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 131/3. Photo: Ufa. Still from Der Kongress Tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) with Otto Wallburg and Willy Fritsch.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 131/7. Photo: Ufa. Still with Conrad Veidt and Lil Dagover in Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 131/8. Photo: Ufa. Still from Der Kongress Tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) with Paul Hörbiger.

Sources: Jan Onderwater (IMDb), Bruce Eder (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

German starlet Monika Brugger started as a beauty queen at the Miss International Pageant. She had a short film career in Spaghetti Westerns and also appeared briefly on German TV.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/346. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Miss International 1964

Monika Brugger was the German contestant at the 4th Miss International pageant in Long Beach, California, USA. She became a semi-finalist, but the crown of Miss International 1964 went to Gemma Cruz from the Philippines.

Around this time she must also have posed for the camera of legendary glamour photographer, Bruno Bernard aka Bernard of Hollywood.

Monika began her film career in Italy. She was the leading lady of the spaghetti western Wanted Johnny Texas (Emimmo Salvi, 1967) with James Newman in the title role and Spanish actor Fernando Sancho. A highlight of the film was a catfight Monika did with another beautiful woman in a dancehall.

But it was not enough. The Spaghetti Western Data Base comments: “Erminio Salvi (Seven Adventures of Ali Baba) directed this bloody, peculiar spaghetti western shot in Florence, Italy. The U.S. Cavalry hires Johnny Texas to shepherd a wagon train through hostile territory. The clever Johnny runs afoul of a band of outlaws, blows up a fort, and mixes it up with a spy (Monika Brugger) undercover as a dancehall girl.

Salvi fills the film with bizarre touches, like dressing the Cavalry in blue and red (blue and gold was the proper combination) and having Brugger travel 400 miles to deliver blasting caps which are never used. This is a genuinely strange failure which might almost pass for pseudo-surrealism if it wasn't so obviously based on poor planning and bad research.”

Turkish poster for Wanted Johnny Texas (1967). Source: Fantasien Movie Poster World.

The Red Elvis

That same year Monika Brugger also starred in a second Spaghetti Western, Buckaroo/The Winchester Does Not Forgive (Adelchi Bianchi, 1967) starring Marxist American singer-actor Dean Reed (nicknamed The Red Elvis), who was a huge star in South-America and Eastern Europe. This western was not a success either.

Sebastian Bierbach writes at DeanReed.de: “the film moves rather unoriginal and boring. Even the music composed by Lallo Gori gets right soporific. The film recalls in its mood more of a weaker Karl May western than of an innovative Italian western.”

The performance of Monika Brugger was never mentioned on internet. Clearly this was the end of her Italian film adventure. She returned to Germany.

There she appeared on television in six episodes of the comedy series Suchen Sie Dr. Suk!/Are You Looking for Dr. Suk! (Helmut Förnbacher, 1972) starring Margot Hielscher and Ferdy Mayne. This was Monika's last credited film or TV appearance and she must have retired from show business.

If you have more information about Monika Brugger, please let us know.

Dean Reed performing the song Buckaroo from Buckaroo/The Winchester Does Not Forgive (1967) in 1970. Source: Straccio (YouTube).

Trailer for the documentary The Red Elvis (Leopold Gruen, 2007) about Dean Reed. Source: tommyblank (YouTube).

Sources: Sebastian Haselbeck (Spaghetti Western Data Base), Sebastian Bierbach (Dean Reed.de) (German), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Eta Hajdú or Eta von Hajdu was a Hungarian singer, actress and producer. Between 1924 and 1943, she appeared in and produced a dozen Hungarian romantic comedies.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8260/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Angelo. Photos / Phönix Film. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Film Industry In Ruins

There is not much information on the net about Eta Hajdú.

CITWF (Complete Index To World Film) indicates that Hajdú started her film career in the silent era with films like Orszem, az/The Kingdom (Bela Balogh, 1924) opposite matinee idol Ivan Petrovich, Mi Budapestunk, A/What is Budapest (József Daróczy, 1927) and Falu alu altatt folyik egy patak/Village with a stream flowing aluminium Anaesthetic (József Daróczy, 1927).

The aftermath of the First World War had left the sprouting Hungarian film industry in ruins. Directors like Michael Curtiz or Alexander Korda left the country.

In 1925 the government created the Hungarian Film Industry Fund, and a new law forced distributors to finance a Hungarian film after every 30 imported one.

In 1929 the government of István Bethlen began to tax imported films (enriching the Industry Fund), but the fee was significantly lowered for companies that produced Hungarian films.

326 Eta von Hajdu_Caid (Filmbilder 1; 326)

German collectors card by Ross in the series Filmbilder, no. 326. Photo: Angelo. Collection: Manuel Palomino Arjona (Performing Arts)@Flickr.

Rising To A Peak in 1937

As Eta von Hajdu, she appeared in the Hungarian sound comedy Az ellopott szerda/The stolen Wednesday (Viktor Gertler, 1933) as well in the alternate German language version Tokajerglut (Viktor Gertler, 1933) starring Szöke Szakall.

She played the leading female role in both versions. Four years later, she played in another Hungarian comedy Hotel Kikelet (Béla Gaál, 1937). She also played a supporting part in the comedy Az ember néha téved/Man Sometime Errs (Béla Gaál, 1938) with Anna Tõkés and Antal Páger. After the problems of the 1920s,

Hungarian film production boomed in the 1930s rising from 6 films in 1932 to a peak of 36 in 1937. In 1937, Eta Hajdú had started to produce films. The first production of Hajdu Film was the comedy Pesti mese/Tales of Budapest (Béla Gaál, 1937) with Ida Turay and Antal Páger.

Other films she produced were Tizenhárom kislány mosolyog az égre/13 Girls Smile at the Sky (Ákos Ráthonyi, 1938) with Imre Radáy, Igen vagy nem?/Yes or no? (Viktor Bánky, 1940) starring Lili Muráti, and the historical drama Rákóczi nótája/Song of Rákóczi (József Daróczy, 1943) with Klári Tolnay.

Her final production was Kásö/Late (József Daróczy, 1943) with Antal Páger.

Lili Muráti. German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3559/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.

Sources: CITWF, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Italian actor Franco Fabrizi (1926–1995) played in about 150 films, usually as the superficial opportunistic sidekick. He made his film debut under Michelangelo Antonioni and became known as a cynical but charming womanizer in Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni (1953). In later life, he appeared in Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice (1971) and Fellini’s Ginger and Fred (1986).

Italian postcard by Turismofoto, no. 80.

Lady-killer

Franco Fabrizi was born in Cortemaggiore, Italy in 1926 (according to Wikipedia, IMDb says 1916). He was the son of a barber and of a cinema cashier.

In 1947, Fabrizi started his career as a model and an actor in fotoromanzi (the Italian fotonovelas). He also starred in several revues and stage plays. His film debut was a supporting role as a fashion show presenter in Michelangelo Antonioni's first feature film, the drama Cronaca di un amore/Story of a Love Affair (1950).

Despite some neorealist background, the film was not fully compliant with the contemporary Italian neorealist style both in its story and image, featuring upper-class characters portrayed by stars like Massimo Girotti and Lucia Bosè. The film won two Nastro d’Argento (Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon) awards in 1951.

It was followed by several bit parts and a bigger role in Carica Eroica/Heroic Charge (Francesco De Roberti, 1952).

The following year, Fabrizi played Fausto in Federico Fellini's I vitelloni/The Spivs (1953), a part that made him known. In this comedy-drama he co-starred with Alberto Sordi, and Franco Interlenghi in a story of five small-town youths at crucial turning points in their lives. Fausto is the leader of the pack, who marries his sweetheart, but finds himself constantly distracted by other women.

Fellini’s film, a pivotal work in the director's artistic evolution, has autobiographical elements that mirror important societal changes in 1950s Italy. The film received both the 1953 Venice Film Festival Silver Lion, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing.

Elbert Ventura at AllMovie: “essentially the template for all young-men-stuck-in-adolescence movies, I Vitelloni has inspired filmmakers as disparate as Martin Scorsese and Giuseppe Tornatore. Generous and ultimately heart-breaking, I Vitelloni may well be the most big-hearted of the Italian master's movies.”

From then on, Fabrizi was inextricably linked to the character of a full-time lady-killer, a young not-so-young philanderer who refuses to grow up. But outside the cinema, the gossip links also linked him to a long line of actresses and society doyennes.

Alberto Sordi. Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano (Milan), no. 325. Photo: Galfano, Roma.

Franco Interlenghi. Italian postcard by Casa Edite. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 3155. Photo: Dear Film.

Opportunistic Philanderer

Franco Fabrizi reprised the character of the opportunistic philanderer in films like the comedy Schiava del peccato (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1954), and the drama La romana/Woman of Rome (Luigi Zampa, 1954) featuring Gina Lollobrigida.

He reunited with Fellini for Il bidone/The Swindlers (Federico Fellini, 1955) with Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart and Giulietta Masina.

That same year, he also worked again with Antonioni at the drama Le Amiche/The Girlfriends (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1955), also starring Eleonora Rossi Drago and Gabriele Ferzetti.

Adapted from Cesare Pavese's 1949 novel Tra donne sole, the film is about a young woman who returns to her native Turin to set up a new fashion salon and becomes involved with a troubled woman and her three wealthy women friends.

Le Amiche received the Venice Film Festival Silver Lion Award in 1955, and the Nastro d’Argento awards for Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Valentina Cortese) in 1956.

In the following years, he appeared in the comedy Calabuch/The Rocket From Calabuch (Luis García Berlanga, 1956), starring Edmund Gwenn in his last film role, the French-Italian drama Sait-on jamais.../No Sun in Venice (Roger Vadim, 1957) with Françoise Arnoul, the crime film Un maledetto imbroglio/The Facts of Murder (Pietro Germi, 1959) with Claudia Cardinale, and he had a small part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) starring Giulietta Masina.

Eleonora Rossi Drago. Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit, no. 3329. Photo: ENIC.

Giulietta Masina. German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 236. Photo: Filmpress Zürich.

Poliziottesco Genre

During the 1960s, Franco Fabrizi was mainly relegated in character roles in Italian, French and Spanish minor productions, like the Peplum Orazi e Curiazi/Duel of Champions (Ferdinando Baldi, Terence Young, 1961), starring Alan Ladd, or the Totó comedy Il comandante/The Commandant (Paolo Heusch, 1963).

However, in between he still appeared in some major works of the Italian cinema, including the Italian-Cypriot drama Il relitto/The Wastrel (Michael Cacoyannis,1961), which was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, the Commedia all'italiana A Difficult Life/Una vita difficile (Dino Risi, 1961) with Alberto Sordi, and the sex comedy Signore & Signori/The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (Pietro Germi 1966). At the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, Signore & Signori shared the Palme d’or, the Grand Prix with Un homme et une femme/A Man and a Woman (Claude Lelouch, 1966).

Other interesting films were the comedy-drama Una questione d'onore/A Question of Honour (Luigi Zampa, 1965), Roma bene/Good Rome (Carlo Lizzani, 1971), and the classic Morte a Venezia/Death in Venice (Luchino Visconti, 1971) starring Dirk Bogarde and based on the novella Der Tod in Venedig by the German author Thomas Mann.

A huge popular success in Italy was the crime film La polizia ringrazia/Execution Squad (Steno, 1972). The film is considered as the initiator of the Poliziottesco genre, the Italian police crime film.

He played a supporting part in the French-Italian surreal farce Touche pas à la femme blanche/Don't Touch The White Woman! (Marco Ferreri, 1974) starring Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve.

Then he was the show host in Fellini’s Ginger e Fred/Ginger and Fred (Federico Fellini, 1986) starring Marcello Mastroianni and Giulietta Masina as the Italian impersonators of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers who reunite after thirty years of retirement for a vulgar and bizarre television extravaganza.

It was followed by a part in the comedy Il piccolo diavolo/The Little Devil (Roberto Benigni, 1988) with Walther Matthau as a cynical, dry-humoured priest who is followed by a little demon (Benigni), whom he exorcised.

His final film was the comedy Ricky e Barabba/Ricky and Barrabas (Christian De Sica, 1992). In 1993 he had a serious car accident from which he recovered; immediately after, however, it manifested the illness that led him to death. Franco Fabrizi died of a bowel cancer in 1995 in his home village Cortemaggiore. He was 69.

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1744. Photo: Cineriz.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1343, 1960.

Sources: Elbert Ventura (AllMovie), Wikipedia (English and Italian) and IMDb.

Édouard Mathé (1886-1934) was an extremely popular French actor, in particular in the silent crime serials by Louis Feuillade.

French postcard. Sent by mail in 1922. Photo: Film Gaumont.

Les Vampires

Édouard Mathé was born in Australia (unknown where exactly), in 1886.

In 1914 he started his career as film actor at the French company Gaumont. He remained a fixed actor for Gaumont director Louis Feuillade, who already directed him in Mathé’s first film L'Hôtel de la gare (1914).

After some ten shorts in 1914-1915, Feuillade replaced his former leading actor René Navarre by Mathé and gave him the leading role of the journalist Philippe de Guérande, protagonist of the crime serial film Les Vampires (1915-1916).

Together with a reformed criminal, Mazamette (Marcel Lévesque), Guérande fights the gang of the Vampires including the fatal beauty Irma Vep, played by Musidora.

As the police was ridiculed in the series, the real police prefect of Paris forbade the screenings for a while.

Mathé also acted in Feuillade’s subsequents serials Judex (1916-1917), La nouvelle mission de Judex (1917-1918), Tih Minh (1918-1919), Vendémiaire (1918-1919), Barrabas (1919), Les deux gamines (1921), L’Orpheline (1921), and Parisette (1921-1922), the latter three starring Sandra Milowanoff.

In-between Feuillade continued to direct Mathé in several individual films, which though were less successful.

Edouard Mathé in La nouvelle mission de Judex

French postcard by Coquemer Gravures, Paris. Photo: Gaumont. Still for La nouvelle mission de Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1917-1918).

Judex

After the upheaval of Les Vampires (later on cherished by the Surrealists), Judex (Louis Feuillade (1916-1917) was less anti-establishment and closer to bourgeois morals.

The positive hero, played by René Cresté, is a black caped avenger who kidnaps the evil banker Favraux (Louis Leubas), who has caused his father's death.

Musidora is the banker's evil mistress and governess of his grandson, Marcel Lévesque the clumsy amateur detective Cocantin, Yvette Andreyor the banker's innocent daughter and widower Jacqueline, and Olinda Mano her little son Jean.

Mathé played Cresté’s brother, Roger de Tremeuse.

Henceforth Mathé often played a relative or buddy of René Cresté in subsequent Feuillade serials such as the sequel to Judex: La nouvelle mission de Judex/The New Mission of Judex (1917-1918), Tih Minh (1918-1919) and Vendémiaire (1918-1919), until Cresté was fed up with Feuillade’s serials

Cresté started his own film company, with disastruous effects. He died of tuberculosis in 1922.

Mathé himself quitted filmmaking with Feuillade in 1922 after Parisette (Louis Feuillade, 1921).

After a handful of films in 1923-1924, including the two Mario Ausonia films Mes p’tits (1923) and La course à l’amour/The raceto love (1924), both directed by Charles Keppens and Paul Barlatier, he quitted acting in film altogether.

Édouard Mathé died in Brussels in 1934.

French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 83. Photo: Studio Henri Lebrun.

French postcard by Coquemer Gravures, Paris. Photo: Gaumont. Still for La nouvelle mission de Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1917-1918) with René Cresté.

Sources: Wikipedia (English, French and Italian), and IMDb.

Italian character actress Marisa Merlini (1923–2008) was active in Italy's post-World War II cinema. She is best known for Pane, Amore e Fantasia/Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953) in which she married Vittorio De Sica. From World War II to 2005, Merlini appeared in over 160 films and TV productions.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1483, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM.

Born-and-bred Roman

Marisa Merlini was born in Rome in 1923. She was well known for playing the ‘romana verace’ (born-and-bred Roman) characters.

In 1942, she played a small role in the drama Stasera niente di nuovo/Tonight nothing is new (Mario Mattoli, 1942) starring Alida Valli.

After the war, Merlini played with Vittorio De Sica in Roma, città libera (La notte porta consiglio)/Rome Free City (Marcello Pagliero, 1946).

She also appeared in seven Totò comedies. The first, Totò cerca casa/Totò Looks for an Apartment (Mario Monicelli, Steno, 1949) is stylistically related to Italian neorealism, though it can be seen as a parody.

Her best known role is Annarella, a village midwife and unwed mother who marries the middle-aged marshal of carabiniers (Vittorio De Sica) in a mountain village in the romantic comedy Pane, Amore e Fantasia/Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953). At the 4th Berlin International Film Festival, the film won the Silver Bear award. The film's popularity resulted in two sequels, but Merlini returned only in the second part of the trilogy, Pane, amore e gelosia/Bread, Love and Jealousy (Luigi Comencini, 1954), also with Gina Lollobrigida.

Gina Lollobrigida. French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 55.

Commedia All'Italiana

Marisa Merlini's awards included the 1957 Nastro d'Argento (Silver Ribbon) award for portraying a tourist in Tempo di Villeggiatura/Time of Vacation (Antonio Racioppi, 1956) with Vittorio De Sica and Giovanna Ralli.

She reunited with De Sica for Padri e figli/Fathers and Sons (Mario Monicelli, 1957) and Il medico e lo stregone/The Doctor and the Healer (Mario Monicelli, 1957), both also with Marcello Mastroianni.

In the comedy Il Vigile/The Traffic Policeman (Luigi Zampa, 1960), she co-starred as the girlfriend of Alberto Sordi.

She played the wife of Ugo Tognazzi in a segment of the anthology film I mostri/The Monsters (Dino Risi, 1963) and had a supporting part in the Spaghetti Western Il grande silenzio/The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski. Merlini also appeared in a number of films opposite her real life friend, Anna Magnani.

Later films included the Commedia all'italiana Dramma della gelosia (tutti i particolari in cronaca)/The Pizza Triangle (Ettore Scola, 1970) with Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti and Giancarlo Giannini, the comedy-drama Oh, Serafina! (Alberto Lattuada, 1976) with Dalila Di Lazzaro, and the comedy La mazzetta/The Payoff (Sergio Corbucci, 1978) with Nino Manfredi.

During the 1980s and 1990s she often worked for Italian TV. Her last screen appearance came in La Seconda Notte di Nozze/The Second Wedding Night (Pupi Avati, 2005).

In 2008, Marisa Merlini died at home in Rome. She was 83.

Director Pupi Avati paid tribute to Merlini saying, "Marisa brought to the set the experience of somebody who had taken part in the golden years of Italian cinema, but she was down-to-earth both in front of and behind the camera...Working with her was an honour and a fantastic experience."

East-German postcard by VEB Progess Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1373. Photo: Star Foto Atelier. Marisa Merlini in the film Il medico e lo stregone/Doctor and the Healer (Mario Monicelli, 1957).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Today, it's Postcard Friendship Friday on the net. A weekly event in which postcard blogs present themselves. Start at Beth's blog with the great title The Best Hearts Are Crunchy, and enjoy some rare vintage postcards that are preserved on the net by bloggers like me.

The early Dutch sound film Op hoop van zegen (Alex Benno, 1934) is the most famous film adaptation of the 1900 play by the same name. The film, starring senior actress Esther de Boer-van Rijk, won a special mention at the Venice Film Festival of 1935. There are four film adaptations of the play about a fishermen's tragedy, produced in 1918, 1924, 1934, and 1986.

Esther de Boer-van Rijk in Op Hoop van Zegen

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z / M.H.D. Film. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag. Publicity still for Op hoop van zegen (Alex Benno, 1934). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z / M.H.D. Film. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag. Publicity still for Op hoop van zegen/The Good Hope (Alex Benno, 1934).

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / M.H.D. Film. Publicity still for Op Hoop van Zegen (Alex Benno, 1934). Collection Egbert Barten.

Herman Heijermans

The play Op Hoop van Zegen (1900) is still staged in the Netherlands, and it remains the most popular play by Herman Heijermans (1864–1924).

Heijermans was the leading Dutch dramatist at the close of the 19th century. He was a writer of strong realistic and socialistic tendencies who single-handedly brought Dutch theatre into the modern time.

Op Hoop van Zegen takes place in a fishing village. A conflict between the fishermen and their employer ends in tragedy with the unsound boat setting out to sea and sinking with all hands and the owner pocketing the insurance money.

The third film version of 1934 was the first sound version and is also the first too survive intact. Of the two silent versions, only bits and pieces remain.

Alex Benno, the director of the 1934 version, worked as a gopher on the 1918 version and also appeared as an extra.

It was his dream to make a sound version of the film and to use the same lead actress, Esther de Boer-van Rijk, who had become synonymous with the part of Kniertje on stage. Willem van der Veer, who played the youngest son Barendje in the 1918 version, was cast as the unscrupulous Reder Bos this time around.

Esther de Boer-van Rijk, Annie Verhulst, Op Hoop van Zegen

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / M.H.D. Film. Publicity still for Op Hoop van Zegen (Alex Benno, 1934). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Willem Hunsche, Anton Verheijen, August Kiehl, Op Hoop van Zegen

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / M.H.D. Film. Publicity still for Op Hoop van Zegen (Alex Benno, 1934). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Esther de Boer-van Rijk, Coen Hissink, Willem v.d. Veer, Op Hoop van Zegen

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / M.H.D. Film. Publicity still for Op Hoop van Zegen (Alex Benno, 1934). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Esther de Boer-van Rijk

The star of the 1934 film version was the 80-year-old Esther de Boer-van Rijk, the most popular Dutch actress ever.

She had played the tragic fisherwoman Kniertje in the first performance of Op hoop van zegen on stage and the role had made a national icon of her. Through the years, she had played Kniertje again and again.

Driven by poverty and honour, Kniertje sends the last of her kin to sea. Her two sons will work on the ship Op Hoop van Zegen, of which some people in town doubt it is seaworthy.

She played Kniertje again in the first silent film version of 1918 directed by Maurits Binger and repeated the role in the 1934 sound version directed by Alex Benno. In the latter, the film actors Frits van Dongen and Jan van Ees played her two sons.

De Boer-van Rijk also appeared in a dozen more Dutch silent films, but Kniertje would always be her biggest success.

Jan van Ees, Esther de Boer-van Rijk, Op hoop van Zegen

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / M.H.D. Film. Publicity still for Op Hoop van Zegen (Alex Benno, 1934). Collection Egbert Barten.

Esther de Boer-van Rijk, Aaf Bouber in Op Hoop van Zegen

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / M.H.D. Film. Publicity still for Op Hoop van Zegen/The Good Hope (Alex Benno, 1934).

Esther de Boer-van Rijk, Frits van Dongen, Op Hoop van Zegen

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z / M.H.D. Film. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag. Publicity still for Op hoop van zegen/The Good Hope (Alex Benno, 1934).

Aaf Bouber, Clara Visscher, Op hoop van zegen

Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / M.H.D. Film. Publicity still for Op Hoop van Zegen (Alex Benno, 1934). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Austrian-German actor Wolf Albach-Retty (1906-1967) is nowadays best known as the father of Romy Schneider, but during the 1930s he was a popular leading man of the German cinema, full of charm, presence and wit. After the war his theatre career was more satisfactory, notably his acclaimed performances in plays by Arthur Schnitzler.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 30067/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2516/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Binz / Tobis.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3478/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.

The Beautiful Adventure

Wolf Albach-Retty was born as Helmuth Walter Wolf Albach in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) in 1906. He was the son of officer Karl Albach and actress Rosa Albach-Retty, a star of the Viennese stage.

He studied at the Akademie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (Academy for Music and Performing Arts) in Vienna. When he was 20 he debuted at the famous Burgtheater.

He made his first film appearance in the leading role in the silent production Das Grobe Hemd/The Coarse Shirt (Fritz Kaufmann, 1927).

More leading roles followed in silent and early sound films, including Ein Wiener Musikantenmädel/ A Vienna Music Girl (1928) and Zwei Herzen und ein Schlag/Two Hearts Beat as One (Wilhelm Thiele, 1932) opposite Lilian Harvey.

In 1932 the Ufa had invited him to come to Berlin. That year he was the male star of Das schöne Abenteuer/The Beautiful Adventure (1932), a romantic comedy by the great director Reinhold Schünzel.

Schünzel and Emmerich Preßburger based their script on the French stage play La belle aventure by Gaston Arman de Caillavet, Robert de Flers and Etienne Rey.

Käthe von Nagystars as the lovely Helene engaged to a corpulent man of wealth (Otto Wallburg). On the wedding day she runs off with the man she really loves, her cousin André (Wolf Albach-Retty). They stay with her aged grandmother (Adele Sandrock) who assumes André (whom she doesn't know) to be the new husband and has prepared a bridal bed for them.

Schünzel also directed a French version with Roger Le Bon, La belle aventure (1932), starring Käthe von Nagy and Daniel Lecourtois in the role of Albach-Retty. Assistant director Kurt Hoffmann would later direct a remake, Das schöne Abenteuer (1959), with Liselotte Pulver and Robert Graf.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 142/2. Photo: Günther Pilz / Ufa. Publicity still for Das schöne Abenteuer/The Beautiful Adventure (1932) with Käthe von Nagy.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 142/3. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Das schöne Abenteuer/Beautiful Adventure (Reinhold Schünzel, 1932) with Adele Sandrock.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9055/1, 1934-1935. The photo is a still from Frühjahrsparade (Géza von Bolváry, 1934), also starring Franciska Gaál. The photo was cut out of the card by a former owner. Exception wise, we've photo shopped new edges.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7851/2, 1932-1933. Photo: Ufa.

Romy

Despite his acting talents Wolf Albach-Retty was mainly seen in commercial entertainment films. During the Nazi years he mainly performed the romantic lead in superficial musicals and mediocre comedies which pleased the crowds but did not make film history.

Among his most popular films were Liebe muß verstanden sein/Love Must Be Understood (Hans Steinhoff, 1933), the operetta Der Vogelhändler/The Bird Seller (E.W. Emo, 1935) and the comedy Sieben Jahre Pech/Seven Years of Bad Luck (Ernst Marischka, 1940) starring Hans Moser.

In 1940, two years after the 'Anschluss' of Austria to Nazi-Germany, Albach-Retty became a party member of the the NSDAP.

In 1936 he had married the German actress Magda Schneider. The so-called 'dream pair' co-starred in seven films including G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald/Tales from Vienna Woods (Georg Jacoby, 1934) and Winternachtstraum/Winter Night's Dream (Géza von Bolváry, 1935).

Temporarily Albach-Retty became a German citizen during his marriage. He and Schneider divorced in 1946 (some sources say 1945 or 1949). They had two children: Wolf-Dieter (1941) and Rosemarie, who would later become famous as Romy Schneider (1938-1982).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6884/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7202/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Ufa.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7974/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Ufa.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 6979/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa.

Back to the Burgtheater

After the war Wolf Albach-Retty played with his cultivated charm the same kind of romantic roles as before in films like Der Mann, der sich selber sucht/The Man Who Searches For Himself (Géza von Cziffra, 1950) with Vera Molnar, Weh dem, der liebt!/Woe to Him Who Loves (Sándor Szlatinay, 1951) and a remake of Der Vogelhändler/The Bird Seller (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1953) opposite Ilse Werner.

But the times had changed. In the late 1950's, his film career started to sour as his past successes were no longer remembered.

His parts became smaller and the films rarer, but he returned successfully to the stage of the Burgtheater in 1959. Till his death he starred in plays like Anatol by Arthur Schnitzler, which was also adapted for television in 1962 by Otto Schenk.

His last stage role was in Professor Bernhardi by Schnitzler.

His final TV-film was Die Tänzerin Fanny Elßler/Fanny Elßler, the Dancer (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1966).

Wolfgang Albach-Retty died in 1967 in his hometown Vienna. He was survived by his second wife, actress Trude Marlen.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 227, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien Film.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3769/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien film.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3821/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien Film. From Tatiana.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3585/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Binz, Berlin.

German postcard by Rüdel Verlag. Photo: Berolina / Allianz-Film / Filip.

Sources: Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-line) (German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Guy Bellinger (IMDb), AllMovie, IMDb and Wikipedia (German).

Tall, slim and blonde Ingrid Schoeller is best known for her roles as an action heroine in the 1960s. The gorgeous German actress played the lead role in such Italian spy films as 002 agenti segretissimi/Oh! Those Most Secret Agents (1964) and A008, operazione sterminio/Lightning Bolt (1965).

Italian postcard by Rotalcolor, Milano (Milan), no. 216.

Glamorous Eye Candy

Neither IMDb nor Wikipedia has information about when and where Ingrid Schoeller was born.

She was one of the starlets photographed by Peter Basch for the ‘The Girls from Germany’ spread featured in the November 1964 issue of Playboy magazine.

She had started her film career with a supporting part in the Italian-French coproduction Arrivano i titani/My Son the Hero (Ducio Tessari, 1962) starring Pedro Armendáriz and Giuliano Gemma.

The film had an interesting history. It started out as a straightforward Peplum (the Italian sword and sandal genre) about the quest for a magic helmet in ancient Thebes.

But according to Hal Erickson at AllMovie American audiences saw a comedy: “Well cast (Pedro Armendariz is the star) and extremely well photographed, the original film was still not sufficient different from all the other Italian strongman films glutting the American market in 1963. Thus the American distributors hit upon the notion of transforming the film into a satire, by redubbing all the actors and hoking up the sound effects. What resulted was a heady mixture of Yiddish accents, Borscht-belt one-liners and rippling pecs. The single joke wears out pretty quickly in My Son, the Hero, but the concept is a workable one, as Woody Allen proved two years later with What's Up, Tiger Lily?”.

IMDb reviewer John Seal denies that the film was transformed: “Incidentally, the rumours attributed to both the Maltin Guide and the Psychotronic Film Guide are wrong: there's no evidence that any of the dubbing was done to achieve comic effect (though there are some intentionally funny moments).”

John Seal adds about the film: ”it blends fantasy elements into the standard strong man vs evil king story. It even manages to foreshadow the 'stranger' themes of spaghetti westerns in its final scenes.”

Ingrid Schoeller stayed in Italy after this debut and appeared as glamorous eye candy in the costume action film Il vendicatore mascherato/Gentlemen of the Night (Pino Mercanti, 1964) starring Guy Madison.

Margaret Lee. German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/361. Photo: Georg Michalke.

The Year of the Italian Spy Thriller

Ingrid Schoeller’s next film was the anthology film I Maniaci/The Maniacs (1964) by director Lucio Fulci who went on to find cult fame for his thrillers and horror films in the 1970s and 1980s. This comedy gives an hilarious portrait of the Italian society of the sixties.

I Maniaci, starring Walter Chiari, Margaret Leeand Barbara Steele, is divided in several sketches. Each segment spotlights a particular mania, with a special attention to the sexual ones (nymphomania gets an extended treatment).

That year Ingrid Schoeller also played the female lead in 002 agenti segretissimi/Oh! Those Most Secret Agents (Lucio Fulci, 1964) opposite the comedy duo of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia as two simple-minded Italian guys, who are mistaken for KGB spies.

1964 was the year of the Italian spy thriller. In the Italian cinema operated colleagues of secret agent 007, who was himself busy making Thunderball at the time.

One of Ingrid Schoellers’ best films in the Euro-spy genre was the fast-paced thriller A008, operazione sterminio/Lightning Bolt (Umberto Lenzi aka Antonio Margheriti, 1965). The British Secret Service sends agent 606 (Alberto Lupo) to Cairo, to collaborate with an American colleague, MacDonald, in search for a stolen anti-radar device. Arriving in Egypt, he finds that agent A008 is actually an attractive woman, played of course by Ingrid. Their assignment proves to be no picnic, as a criminal mastermind named Kemp has sent his henchmen out to destroy them.

Cult director Umberto Lenzi’s thriller offers plenty of action, but also great locations and a wonderful 1960s score by Angelo Lavagnino.

Ingrid Schoeller also appeared on TV in episodes of two popular TV series about spies: The Saint (1964) with Roger Moore as Simon Templar, and I Spy (1966) with Robert Culp and Bill Cosby.

Roger Moore and Dawn Addams in The Saint (1963-1966). Spanish postcard by Postal Oscarcolor, no. 553.

Spaghetti Western

Ingrid Schoeller then appeared in another typical Euro-genre: the Spaghetti Western. She played the female lead in Il figlio di Django/The Son of Django (Osvaldo Civirani, 1967) with Gabriele Tinti and Guy Madison.

In 1968 she starred in the costume adventure Il figlio di Aquila Nera/The Son of the Black Eagle (Guido Malatesta, 1968) with Edwige Fenech.

In her next film, the violent Italian/Spanish gangster film Tiempos de Chicago/They Paid with Bullets: Chicago 1929 (Julio Diamante, 1969) a country bumpkin rises to the top of the mafia game when he pits two rival gangs against each other.

The film featured a mostly German cast lead by Peter Lee Lawrence, who after arriving in Chicago quickly becomes an influential criminal. The gang rivalry gives ample opportunity to show plenty of machinegun battles. Ingrid Schoeller plays a particularly sly and nasty woman in the film.

Her last film was the gangster film C'era una volta un gangster/Once Upon a Time a Gangster (Marco Masi, 1969) with Richard Harrison.

Then she disappeared, at least from internet. I could only find that Ingrid Schoeller also recorded a 45 in the 1960s: Ieri, Domani (Today, Tomorrow). That’s all.

Original Italian trailer for I Maniaci/The Maniacs (1964). Source: FreakyMidnightShow (YouTube).

The leader and first scene of 002 agenti segretissimi/Oh! Those Most Secret Agents (1964). Source: ItaliaMovies (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Chris Mayo (Severed Cinema), Wesley Alan Britton (Onscreen and undercover: the ultimate book of movie espionage), John Seal (IMDb), The Wild Eye, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.

Italian postcard in the 'Hobby' series by Bromostampa, Milano, no. 1181/5310.

Seductive Sex Kitten

Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928.

Gray made her stage debut in 1950, and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema.

In 1951, she already had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala.

The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò,Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film Peppino De Filippo was awarded with a Silver Ribbon for best supporting actor.

She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy.

The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with starring Steve Cochran, Alida Valli and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim.

At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.

Giulietta Masina. Italian postcard by Casa Edite. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze (Florence), no. 3180. Photo: Titanus. Publicity still for Il Bidone/The Swindle (Federico Fellini, 1955).

Suicide By Gunshot

After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957.

She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960).

She also played in one of the Peplums of that era, La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this Italian sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor and bodybuilder Ed Fury.

She was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960).

She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter.

In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall.

That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance.

In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.

Trailer Il Grido (1957). Source Danios 12345 (YouTube).

Trailer Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (1957). Source: TrailerItaliano (YouTube).

Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Gertrud Arnold (1873-1931) was a German stage and screen actress.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 672/3. Photo: Decla-Ufa-Film. Publicity still of Gertrud Arnold as Queen Ute in Fritz Lang's silent film Die Nibelungen (1924).

Queen Ute

When she was 20, Gertrud Arnold trained as an actress in Berlin. She had her first engagement in 1894 in Cottbus, followed by engagements in theatres in Jena, Halle and Hannover.

In 1911 she reached Berlin, where she performed a.o. at the Schillertheater and the Theater am Nollendorfplatz. Memorable parts were those of Iphigenie in Iphigenie auf Tauris, Lady Milford in Kabale und Liebe, and Anna Mahr in Gerhart Hauptmann's Einsame Menschen.

As of 1914 she also acted on screen. Her debut was probably in Pauline (Henri Etievant, 1914). A unique copy of this Vitascope film was found back in the Desmet Collection of the Netherlands Filmmuseum (now EYE).

Between 1921 and 1930, Gertrud acted in various silent German films, mostly as the elder woman. Her most important performance being that of Queen Ute in Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang, 1924).

After that she played Matten in Zur Chronik von Grieshuus (Arthur von Gerlach, 1925), set in 1700 and starring Paul Hartmann, Lil Dagover, and Rudolf Forster.

Other memorable films were Im Namen des Kaisers (Robert Dinesen, 1925), the Austrian film Die Wiskottens (Arthur Bergen, 1926), Die Königin des Weltbades (Victor Janson, 1926) and the early sound film Rosenmontag (Hans Steinhoff, 1930) with Lien Deyers

Her last film was Brand in der Oper (Carl Froehlich, 1931) with Gustav Froehlich.

Gertrud Arnold died in Berlin in 1931.

Die Nibelungen: Margarethe Schön as Kriemhild

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 677/3. Photo: Decla-Ufa-Film. At the beginning of part 2 of Die Nibelungen, Kriemhild's Rache - after Siegfried has been killed by Hagen von Tronje - Margrave Rüdiger von Bechlam (Rudolf Ritttner) swears loyalty to the vengeful Kriemhild (Margarete Schön) in Fritz Lang's silent film Die Nibelungen (1924).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 673/6, 1919-1924. Photo: Decla-Ufa-Film. Publicity still for Die Nibelungen (1924, Fritz Lang) with Margarete Schön as Kriemhild near the corpse of Siegfried (Paul Richter). She points at the traitor Hagen Tronje (Hans Adalbert Schlettow). Her brother, king Gunther (Theodor Loos), is standing next to her.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 671/8, 1919-1924. Photo: Decla-Ufa-Film. Publicity still for Die Nibelungen 2: Kriemhilds Rache/Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (Fritz Lang, 1924). Kriemhild (Margarete Schön) has gotten the deathblow. In the back, king Hetzel (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) looks in astonishment.

Source: Wikipedia (German).

Austrian actress Hilde Krahl (1917-1999) was one of the most demanded stars of the German cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. She could shine in nearly all genres.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 177, 1941-1944. Photo: Wesel / Berlin Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3386/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Binz / Tobis.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 202, 1941-1944. Photo: Berlin Film.

Der Postmeister

Hilde Krahl was born as Hildegard Kolacný in Brod in former Austria-Hungary (now Slavonski Brod, Croatia) in 1917. She was the daughter of railway engineer Alois Kolacny and his wife Paula née Kolb.

She grew up in Vienna and after finishing her acting studies Hilde made her stage debut in 1936 at the Cabaret Literatur am Naschmarktin Vienna. Eventually followed an engagement at the Theater in der Josefstadt where she would play till 1966.

Her film career also began in 1936. She made her film debut with Die Puppenfee/The Fairy Doll (E. W. Emo, 1936) and was convincing in her next role in Mädchenpensionat/Girls' Boarding School (Géza von Bolváry, 1936).

Soon she got bigger roles and was successful starring in films like Serenade (Willi Forst, 1937) with Albert Matterstock, Gastspiel im Paradies/Guest Performance in Paradise (Karl Hartl, 1938) and Der Weg zu Isabel/The Road to Isabel (Erich Engel, 1940) with Ewald Balser.

Her great breakthrough was the Alexander Pushkin adaptation Der Postmeister/The Stationmaster (Gustav Ucicky, 1940). She played Dunja, the daughter of stationmaster Heinrich George. From then on she belonged to the most demanded stars of the German language cinema.

German postcard by Argenta. Photo: publicity still for Der Postmeister/The Stationmaster (Gustav Ucicky, 1940).

Spanish card by Cifesa.

German postcard by Verlag und Druckerei Erwin Preuss, Dresden-Freital, serie 1, no. 16. Photo: Charlott Serda.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9922/1, 1935-1936. Photo: Styria-Film.

Clara Schumann

Till the end of the war Hilde Krahl appeared in films like Komödianten/The Comedians (1941, Georg Wilhelm Pabst) opposite Käthe Dorsch, and Anuschka (Helmut Käutner, 1942) with Siegfried Breuer.

She played Clara Wieck Schumann in Träumerei/Daydream (Harald Braun, 1944) with Mathias Wieman as her husband, composer Robert Schumann.

From 1938 till 1944 Hilde also worked for the Deutschen Theater(German Theater) in Berlin under Heinz Hilpert.

In 1944 she married director Ufa head of production, Wolfgang Liebeneiner, with whom she had worked before on Das Andere Ich/The Other Me (1941) and Grossstadtmelodie/Melody of a Great City (1943).

Belgian postcard by Tobis, Brussel.Photo: Tobis.

German postcard by Ross Verlag. Photo: Tobis / Haenchen.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, enclosed in Das Programm von Heute, Zeitschrift für Film und Theater G.m.b.H., Berlin. Photo: Tobis / Haenchen.

Vintage postcard.

Versatile

After the war Hilde Krahl became a versatile actress who could play in nearly all genres. At the theater as well as in films she got demanding roles which she always fulfilled.

In Liebe 47/Love' 47 (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1949) she played the companion of a physically and emotionally torn soldier returning from war captivity.

To her well-known films of the 1950s belong Schatten der Nacht/Night Shadows (Eugen York, 1950), Weiße Schatten/White Shadows (Helmut Käutner, 1951), and Der Weibsteufel/A Devil of a Woman (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1951).

In Herz der Welt/No Greater Love (Harald Braun, 1952) she appeared as the courageous writer and first Nobel Peace Prize winner Bertha von Suttner.

Other films were 1. April 2000 (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1952), Die Mücke/The Mosquito (Walter Reisch, 1954), Kinder, Mütter und ein General/Children, Mother, and the General (Laslo Benedek, 1955) and Das Glas Wasser/A Glass of Water (Helmut Käutner, 1960), for which she won the Filmband im Gold award.

In the following decades she worked mainly for television. In 1989 she won again the Filmband im Gold, a German honorary award for her contributions to the German film.

Her last part was in the TV series Bruder Esel/Brother Donkey (1996).

Hilde Krahl died in 1999, in Vienna, Austria. Her daughter Johanna Liebeneiner is also a well known actress.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3633/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Binz / Tobis.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2.048, 1964. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Progress.

Bernhard Wicki, Hilde Krahl, Ewiger Walzer

German postcard by DLF. Promotion card for Ewiger Walzer/The Eternal Waltz (Paul Verhoeven, 1954) with Bernhard Wicki.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Flixter, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Only 14, Vanessa Paradis (1972) became a child star with the worldwide hit single Joe le taxi (1987). Since then, the French beauty made several films and albums, became the face of Chanel, and was in a long relationship with Johnny Depp.

French postcard, no C 198.

French postcard, no CP. 104.

Sensual, Untamed, Mysterious and Frankly Disturbing

Vanessa Chantal Paradis was born in the Paris suburb of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in 1972, to interior designers André and Corinne Paradis. Her younger sister is actress Alysson Paradis.

Vanessa began to develop her singing career at the age of eight when her uncle, record producer Didier Pain, helped her appear on the local television program L'École des fans, a talent show for child singers.

She recorded her first single, La Magie des surprises-parties, in 1983 and performed it in an Italian festival in 1985. Although La Magie des surprises-parties was not a hit, it paved the way for the song with which she became internationally famous, Joe le taxi (1987), when she was 14 years old.

Joe le taxi was no. 1 in France for 11 weeks and, unusually for a song sung in French, was released in the United Kingdom, where it reached no. 3. It was taken from her first album M&J (it stands for Marilyn & John) which, although it gained a number 13 placing in France, drew little attention in the UK and did not enter the chart.

From 1988 to 1991, Paradis dated French singer Florent Pagny. In March 1989, at age 16, she left high school in order to pursue her career. She released the album Variations sur le même t'aime in 1990, containing a remake of the Lou Reed song Walk on the Wild Side. The album was written by acclaimed French composer Serge Gainsbourg, whom she met when she received the best singer award at Les Victoires de la Musique in 1990.

Paradis made her film debut in Noce Blanche/White Wedding (Jean-Claude Brisseau, 1990) with Bruno Cremer. For her role as a moody 17 year old girl in love with her 47 years old philosophy teacher, Paradis won the 1990 César Award for Most Promising Actress.

James Travers at French Film Guide: “Although a teenager when she made this, her first, film, she portrays her character with an uncanny maturity and natural spontaneity. Sensual, untamed, mysterious and frankly disturbing, Paradis brings new depth and meaning to the traditional femme fatale of French cinema.” Regrettably, the promising young actress then decided to give up acting and concentrate on a singing and modelling career.

French postcard, no. A068.

Swiss postcard by Editions de la Lune, no. VP 106, 1989. Photo: Patrick Rouchon.

Smitten Men All Over The World

In 1991, Vanessa Paradis signed a lucrative contract with Chanel to be the spokesperson for Coco, their latest endeavor. In an advertisement shot by Jean-Paul Goude, she was covered in black feathers, portraying a bird swinging in a cage.

In 1992, she moved to the United States to work with Lenny Kravitz, whom she also dated at the time. She started working on a new album in English, a language in which she was now fluent. Written and produced by Kravitz, the album, titled Vanessa Paradis, topped the French chart and briefly made the UK listings (number 45).

One of the singles from it was Be My Baby, which made number 5 in France and gave her another Top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at no. 6. After the relationship with Kravitz ended, she dated French-Slovenian actor Stanislas Merhar, until their breakup in 1998.

In March 1993, Paradis started her first international tour, the Natural High Tour; she performed in France, England and Canada. In 1994, Live was released in France.

Paradis filmed Élisa (Jean Becker, 1995) with Gérard Depardieu as her father. The film was a big success in France.

Other films were Un amour de sorcière/Witch Way Love (René Manzor, 1997) with Jeanne Moreau and Jean Reno, and Une chance sur deux/Half a Chance (Patrice Leconte, 1998), with Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

The dreamy black-and-white romance La fille sur le Pont/Girl on the Bridge (Patrice Leconte, 1999) gave her worldwide the status as an emerging actress.

Jason Clark at AllMovie: “Playing the object of affection of acclaimed French actor Daniel Auteuil, Paradis earned rave reviews and a place in the hearts of smitten men all over the world.”

French postcard, no. C84.

French postcard, no C. 133.

Johnny

In Mon Ange/My Angel (Serge Frydman, 2004), Vanessa Paradis played a call girl in Amsterdam who reluctantly finds herself taking care of an orphaned teen-age boy after trying to do a favour for a fellow prostitute in trouble .

That same year Paradis promoted Chanel's new handbags called Ligne Cambon. The following year, she modelled for Chanel again for The New Mademoiselle handbag, and in 2008, she modelled for Miu Miu.

On the musical side, she was included in the French children's album and concert Le Soldat Rose (2006). In 2007 Paradis released the new album Divinidylle and started the Divinidylle Tour. Some concerts were filmed and a DVD/CD of the tour was released. Paradis won two Les Victoires de la Musique awards for this album in 2008.

Some of her later projects include the greatest hits CD Best of Vanessa Paradis, which includes the commercial jingle I love Paris in the Springtime.

In the cinema she starred in the romantic comedy L'arnacoeur/Heartbreaker (Pascal Chaumeil, 2010) featuring Romain Duris, and in the 3D animated musical adventure film Un monstre à Paris/A Monster in Paris (Bibo Bergeron, 2010).

In the Canadian film Café de Flore (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2011) she plays a single mother in the 1960s with a Down syndrome child. Paradis garnered a Genie Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2012 Genie Awards (the Canadian Oscars).

She released an acoustic album Une nuit à Versailles (2011), recorded at L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles. She also released Anthologie (2010), a set of DVDs with rare live performances and interviews from 1987–2007. In 2010, she also became the face of Chanel's new lipstick, Rouge Coco, and of their new handbag line Ranger. Her 2011 international tour included performances in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and Turkey.

From 1998 to 2012, Paradis was in a relationship with American actor Johnny Depp. They have a daughter, Lily-Rose Melody Depp (1999), and a son, John Christopher ‘Jack’ Depp III (2002).

Vanessa Paradis was most recently seen in the films Dubaï Flamingo (Delphine Kreuter, 2012) with Sergi Lopéz, the comedy Je me suis fait tout petit/Low Profile (Cécilia Rouaud, 2012) and the psychological drama Cornouaille/House in Brittany (Anne Le Ny, 2012), with Samuel Le Bihan. In 2013 follows the American comedy Fading Gigolo (John Turturro, 2013) with Liev Schreiber and Woody Allen, and in 2014 Homosapiennes (Audrey Dana, 2014) with Laetitia Casta and Isabelle Adjani.

French postcard by Ed. F. Nugeron, no. Record 235. Photo: Paul Cox / London Features.

French postcard, no A067.

Sources: Jason Clark (AllMovie), James Travers (French Film Guide), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Today, a new film institute will open its doors: the Geoffrey Donaldson Instituut (GDI) in the little town of Noordscharwoude in the Netherlands.

The GDI will promote research of film production, film screening and film culture in the Netherlands. The archive contains a large collection of films, books, photos, posters and other objects.

The institute is named after the first film historian of the Netherlands, Geoffrey Donaldson (1929-2002). Chairman of the board of GDI is our friend, film historian Egbert Barten.

To join today's festivities we present you ten wonderful postcards of Egbert Barten's collection, which will now be part of the GDI collection.

Truus van Aalten. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3618, 1928-1929. Photo: Ufa. Collection: Egbert Barten.

Maurice Chevalier. French postcard. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Le petit café/Playboy of Paris (Ludwig Berger, 1931). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Hansje Andriesen, De Big van het Regiment

Hansje Andriesen. Dutch postcard by Monopole Film N.V. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen. Still for De Big van het Regiment (Max Nosseck, 1935). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Ernst Winar. Vintage postcard, no. 988/1. Collection: Egbert Barten.

Henkie Klein. Dutch postcard by B. Brouwer, Amsterdam. Photo: Bernard Eilers, Amsterdam. Collection: Egbert Barten.

Lya Mara. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 56/3, 1925-1926. Photo: Zelnik Film. Publicity still for An der schöne blauen Donau/The Beautiful Blue Danube (Friedrich Zelnik, 1926). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Jan van Ees, Esther de Boer-van Rijk. Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag / M.H.D. Film. Publicity still for Op Hoop van Zegen (Alex Benno, Louis Saalborn, 1934). Collection Egbert Barten.

Lien Deyers. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5315/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Ufa. Collection: Egbert Barten.

Dutch postcard by Tobis filmdistributie N.V. Amsterdam. Photo: Tobis. Publicity still for La Kermesse Heroique (1935). Collection: Egbert Barten.

Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4026. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for The Diary of Anne Frank (George Stevens, 1959) with Millie Perkins. Collection: Egbert Barten.

Egbert, congratulations with the Geoffrey Donaldson Instituut. You've done it!

Today, it's also Postcard Friendship Friday on the net. A weekly event in which postcard blogs present themselves. Start at Beth's blog with the great title The Best Hearts Are Crunchy, and enjoy some rare vintage postcards that are preserved on the net by bloggers like me.

Jeune Premier

Stylish, Flamboyant Giallo-Thriller

His Role of a Lifetime

Sensational Circus Drama

Lya de Putti

Jimmy Stewart

Dashing Hero Type

Swashbuckler

Old Surehand

Photogenic

The Vamp with the Emerald Eyes

Plotting Demi-mondaines

Tiger Act

European Country Music

Cult Phenomenon

Bobbejaanland

Little Beast with Long Hair

Mean, Nasty and Terribly Conflicted

Lilian Harvey

Willy Fritsch

Erich Pommer

Erik Charell

Miss International 1964

The Red Elvis

Film Industry In Ruins

Rising To A Peak in 1937

Lady-killer

Opportunistic Philanderer

Poliziottesco Genre

Les Vampires

Judex

Born-and-bred Roman

Commedia All'Italiana

Herman Heijermans

Esther de Boer-van Rijk

The Beautiful Adventure

Romy

Back to the Burgtheater

Glamorous Eye Candy

The Year of the Italian Spy Thriller

Spaghetti Western

Seductive Sex Kitten

Suicide By Gunshot

Queen Ute

Der Postmeister

Clara Schumann

Versatile

Sensual, Untamed, Mysterious and Frankly Disturbing

Smitten Men All Over The World

Johnny

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