Italian stage and screen actor and playwright Annibale Ninchi (1889-1967) became famous as the title character in Scipione l’Africano (1937) but also as the father in Fellini’s La dolce vita (1960) and 8½ (1963).


Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna. S.I.F., no. 11.


Italian postcard by Edizioni Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 540.

Love Interest

Annibale Ninchi was born in Bologna, Italy, in 1889 as the son of Arnaldo Ninchi and Lidia Bedetti. Father Arnaldo was from Ancona and worked as colonel of the artillery.

In 1903 Annibale registered at the Regia Scuola di recitazione Tommaso Salvini in Florence, directed by Luigi Rasi. He stemmed from a family of actors. His elder brother Carlo Ninchi (1887-1967) and his cousin Ave Ninchi (1915-1997) were actors as well.

In 1910 Annibale became Mason at the Loggia XI Settembre 1860 of the Oriente in Pesaro. In the same year he started his stage career as ‘primo attore giovane’ (first young actor) in the company of Giacinta Pezzana en Flavio Andò. In 1911-1913 he was ‘first actor’ at the Roman Teatro Argentina, and in 1914-1916 he was artistic leader of the Compagnia drammatica in Rome.

In the meantime Ninchi had also become actor in silent cinema. His first part he played in Carmen (Gerolamo Savio, 1909) for the company Film d’Arte Italiana. Ninchi played the toreador Escamillo, while the leads were for Vittoria Lepanto as Carmen and Dante Testa as Don José. Some scenes were shot in Vergato near Bologna, Ninchi’s hometown.

In 1914 Ninchi started to act at Cines on a more regular basis, first in Ninna nanna/Il sorriso dell’innocenza/The Lullaby/The Smile of Innocence (Guglielmo Zorzi, 1914). He played Giovanni, the editor of a socialist magazine, who marries Maria (Pina Menichelli). They have a child called Speranza (hope), but when the family loses its capital, the journal goes broke and conservatory newspapers refuse to help him, the couple decides to kill themselves. The smile of the child wakened up by the mother’s lullaby ('ninna nanna' in Italian) saves the family.

In the same year Ninchi acted again opposite Pina Menichelli in Il grido dell’innocenza/The Cry of Innocence (Augusto Genina, 1914), in which Menichelli is a scheming adventuress who separates a noble family father and his young male secretary (Ninchi), who loves the family’s daughter (Lea Giunchi). The evil woman wants to marry the father for his money and when the daughter opposes, the golddigger shoots the father and accuses the daughter, who gets imprisoned. But in the end justice calls. Menichelli’s part seems to have been a prologue to her later diva and femme fatale roles with the company Itala.

In Turin, Ninchi acted at Ambrosio in the films La Gorgona/The Gorgon (Mario Caserini, 1915) and I pagliacci (Francesco Bertolini, 1915). La Gorgona was based on the homonymous play by the then popular Italian playwright Sem Benelli, and starred the French actress Madeleine Céliat as a kind of Vestal Virgin in the Middle Ages, who needs to keep a fire burning for the return of her co-citizens fighting the Saracenes. She neglects her duty when she falls in love with a Florentine man (Ninchi). The film was an opulent production with a much praised choreography of the masses and with a lauded performance by Céliat.

In I pagliacci, based on Leoncavallo’s opera, Ninchi played Silvio, the man with whom Nedda (Bianca Virginia Camagno) falls in love with, though she is married to travelling clown Canio (Achille Vitti). When Canio, warned by the jealous Tonio, catches the lovers, he first kills Nedda, then Silvio.

During the last years of the First World War, Ninchi acted in L’ombra del sogno (Rastignac aka Vincenzo Morello, 1917) starring the dilettante actress Marchioness Clelia Antici-Mattei. In La piccola fonte/The Little Well (Roberto Roberti, 1917) the acclaimed film diva Francesca Bertini had the female lead. Ninchi played an aspiring writer who dumps his fragile wife for a princess, after which his frail, good wife loses her mind.

In the same year 1917, Ninchi also acted in the romantic comedy Le mariage de Chiffon/The Marriage of Chiffon (Alberto Carlo Lollo, 1917), released in 1918 and based on the novel by Gyp. The press praised in particular Ninchi’s performance as the love interest of the protagonist, played by Mary Bayma-Riva. Bayma-Riva and Ninchi were reunited in Il pastor fido/The Loyal Shepherd (Telemaco Ruggeri, 1918), an archaic idyll based on a late 16th century poem. Tito Alacci in the journal Film raved about the beauty of the actresses and actors, including Ninchi, who had the male lead.




Italian postcards. Photos: Ambrosio Film. Publicity stills for the Italian silent film La Gorgona/The Gorgon (Mario Caserini, 1914), scripted by Arrigo Frusta and starring Annibale Ninchi and Madeleine Céliat. The film was based on a play by Sem Benelli. The film was released in Rome on 9 March 1915.

Gigantic Sets and Mass Scenes

Annibale Ninchi focused on his stage career. In 1919 he was ‘capocomico’ of the Ernesto Ferrero-Maria Letizia Celli company, triumphing as Glauco in the homonymous work by Morselli. In subsequent years he created the Compagnia drammatica italiana Annibale Ninchi of which he was ‘primo attore’. In 1925 he interpreted with his company Le cocù magnifique/The Magnificent Cuckold, but the fascist government forbid the spectacle.

In 1926-1929 Ninchi toured in Alexandria in Egypt. In 1936 he performed Oedipus at Colonus at the Greek theatre of Siracuse for the Istituto del dramma antico. In 1937 he played Aligi in La figlia di Jorio/The Daughter of Jorio by D’Annunzio, and again in Siracuse, Euripides'Cyclops.

In the mid-1930s Ninchi returned to the film set. First he played the protagonist in Fiordalisi d'oro'Golden Cornflowers (Gioacchino Forzano, 1936), and then in the film he is well remembered for: Scipione l’Africano/Scipio Africanus (Carmine Gallone, 1937). It was the first epic shot in the then new film studios of Cinecittà.

Scipione l’Africano/Scipio Africanus (Carmine Gallone, 1937) contained gigantic sets and mass scenes, culminating in the recreation of the Battle of Zama. Scipio, the proud, heroic and honest hero, was clearly designed as a mirror figure to the Duce, thus giving the Italians an alibi to invade Africa. The film was not a huge box office success and this clashed of course with Mussolini’s aspirations of mirroring his own ‘Third Rome’ with the First (i.e. Ancient) Rome.

Only from the late 1940s on, Roman Antiquity would become popular again as setting for historical films, starting with Fabiola (Alessandro Blasetti, 1949) and Quo vadis? (Mervyn LeRoy, 1951). Ninchi might have been affected by the flop of Scipione l’Africano. After a part in the Italo-French coproduction Adrienne Lecouvreur (Marcel L’Herbier, 1938) he focused on stage again.

He became ‘capocomico’ of the Compagnia Ninchi-Abba-Pilotto, and in 1939 he was the protagonist of Il ventaglio/The range by Goldoni, Aminta by Tasso, Ajax by Sophocles and Hecuba by Euripides. In 1944-1945, after the liberation of Rome, Ninchi staged La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu/The Trojan War will not take place by Jean Giraudoux at the Teatro Eliseo. He also acted in the Shakespeare tragedies Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear.

In 1948-1950 he was artistic manager of the Istituto del dramma antico in Siracuse, and in 1952 he toured Malta and Tripoli with the company Ninchi-Picasso. Later he played in Veglia d’armi/Vigil of Arms by Diego Fabbri and toured all over Italy with the play. Also popular were his performances in Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac and Neri Chiaramantesi in Sem Benelli’s La cena delle beffe/The Jesters' Supper.

In 1958, Ninchi acted in the play Veglia la mia casa, Angelo/Look homeward, angel written by Ketty Frings and directed by Luchino Visconti. After Ariosto’s Lena, staged in 1960 at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Ninchi focused in film acting again for a while.


Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Florence, no. 3725. Photo: E.N.I.C. Annibale Ninchi in the title role of Scipione l'Africano/Scipio Africanus (Carmine Gallone, 1937).

Federico Fellini

During the 1950s, Annibale Ninchi had played in a handful of films: Il diavolo in convento/The Devil in a convent (Nunzio Malasomma, 1950), Non c'è amore più grande/There is no greater love (Giorgio Bianchi, 1955), Adriana Lecouvreur (Guido Salvini, 1955), Papà Eccellenza/Excellent Dad (Tat'jana Pavlovna Pavlova, 1957), Medea (Claudio Fino, 1957), and Vento del Sud/South Wind (Enzo Provenzale, 1959), but it would be Federico Fellini who brought international fame to Ninchi.

Fellini invited him to play the father of the protagonist Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) in La dolce vita (1960). Ninchi plays an aged travelling salesman who visits modern Rome and, taken along by his son, he enjoys a cabaret where the French dancer Fanny (Magali Noël) performs and Polidor has an act with a trumpet and countless balloons. The father dances and jokes with the French girl and drinks too much champagne, so he has a mild heart attack at the dancer’s house. Marcello rushes to him and tries to persuade him to stay, but the father, aloof, sits still, watching the city, then takes a cab and leaves. Marcello’s attempt to reunite with his father is broken off.

A reprisal of his role as the protagonist’s father occurred in Fellini’s Otto e mezzo/8½ (1963), this time together with Marcello’s mother (Giuditta Rissone), who has a bigger part in the film. The protagonist, the film director Guido (again Mastroianni) meets his parents in a cemetery. In the end they join the crowd that descends a staircase to join in for a polonaise around the circus arena, as being part of Guido’s world.

In the early 1960s Ninchi acted in films like Che gioia vivere/Quel joie de vivre/The Joy of Living (René Clément, 1961), Un soir sur la plage/One Night at the Beach (Michel Boisrond,1961), and Edipo a Colono/Oedipus at Colonus (Maner Lualdi, 1966).

Ninchi last stage role was in 1965 in Sophocles’ Antigone, after which he retired. He also worked for the Italian and the Swiss radio, acting in various stage plays such as Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. He also played on television, recorded monologues of his plays on records and wrote numerous stage plays.

In his autobiography Annibale Ninchi racconta... (Pagine spregiudicate di un chierico-vagante)/Annibale Ninchi Tells... (Unscrupulous pages of a wandering cleric), he described the life of actors in the early 20th century as well as his own experiences in those years.

Finally, Ninchi taught several years at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico in Rome. He was decorated Commendatore, then Grande Ufficiale of the Republic, by Italian president Einaudi.

At 79, Annibale Ninchi died in Pesaro in 1967. He is the father of actor Arnaldo Ninchi, and grandfather of actor Alessandro Ninchi.


Scene from Scipione l’Africano (1937). Source: Caesar Fidelis (YouTube).


Scene from La dolce vita (1960). Source: RERH (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb.

Dutch singer and actor Hein Simons (1955) was a famous child star in the 1960s under the name Heintje. He sang in Dutch, English, German, Japanese and Afrikaans, and sold more than 40 million records worldwide. His greatest hit was 'Mama'. Between 1968 and 1971 he also starred in six German light entertainment films. One became surprisingly popular in Red China.


German promotion card by Ariola, no. Ar 108. Photo: Norbert Unfried.


German promotion card by Ariola, no. Ar 108. Photo: Norbert Unfried.


German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg, no. F-28. Photo: Constantin. Heintje in Heintje – ein Herz geht auf Reisen/Heintje: A Heart Goes on a Journey (Werner Jacobs, 1969).


Dutch postcard by N.V. Platenmaatschappij CNR, Leiden. Promotion card for the LP 'Ich sing ein Lied für dich'.

Gold and Platinum

Hendrik (Hein) Nicolaas Theodoor Simons was born in Kerkrade-Bleijerheide, in the south of the Netherlands, in 1955.

Heintje was discovered after a talent contest in the Dutch town of Schaesberg by Addy Kleijngeld, a producer of the CNR record company. Kleijngeld went on to compose and record all his hit songs - mostly together with the German producer Wolfgang Roloff.

Heintje’s first hit was 'Mama' (1967), a Dutch version of the evergreen sung in the 1940s by opera tenor Beniamino Gigli. It became a success in the Netherlands and a German version was produced for the German countries. In 1968 Mama reached the #2 position in the German hit parade.

Heintje’s next German record, 'Du sollst nicht weinen' (You should not cry) (1968), even became #1. Other huge hits soon followed as the # 1 hit in Germany and the Netherlands 'Ich bau' dir ein Schloss' (I’ll build you a castle) (1968), 'Heidschi bumbeidschi' (1968) – another # 1 in both Germany and the Netherlands, 'Ich sing ein Lied für dich' (I sing you a song) (1969) – another # 1 in Germany, the Dutch song 'Ik hou van Holland' (I love Holland) (1970), the English song 'I'm your little boy' (1970) and another Dutch song 'Jij bent de allerbeste'(You are the best) (1971).

In 1971, Heintje started a USA tour with 10 shows. He received 45 Golden records all over the world (at the time the award for 250,000 sold records in Europe and for 1 million records in Great-Britain) and a dozen Platinum records. Worldwide he sold more than 40 million records.


German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. AX 7068.


German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. AX 7080. Photo: Norbert Unfried / Ariola.


German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg, no. 4825. Photo: Ariola / Unfried.


German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. AX 7080. Photo: Norbert Unfried / Ariola.

Big in Communist China

Between 1968 and 1971, Heintje appeared in six German films. His first film was Zum Teufel mit der Penne/To Hell with School (Werner Jacobs, 1968) with Peter Alexander and Theo Lingen.

This comedy was the second of the Lümmel film series (6 in total), stuffy but harmless farces in which young students and other youths dissociate themselves from the older generation. Heintje played a supporting role and sang his hit 'Mama'.

In the following years he starred in three sentimental Heintje-films opposite Heinz Reincke and Ralf Wolter: Heintje – ein Herz geht auf Reisen/Heintje: A Heart Goes on a Journey (Werner Jacobs, 1969), Heintje – einmal wird die Sonne wieder scheinen/Heintje: Once the Sun Will Be Shining Again (Hans Heinrich, 1970) with Paul Dahlke, and Heintje – mein bester Freund/Heintje: My Best Friend (Werner Jacobs, 1970) with Corny Collins.

Heintje – ein Herz geht auf Reisen was awarded a Golden Screen in Germany for more than 3,000,000 attendances within 12 months. With subtitles the Heintje films were shown all over the world.

Surprisingly, the film became also popular in communist China in the early 1980s. On IMDb, a Chinese reviewer comments: “In the West, this film may be easily neglected as time goes by. But amazingly, Heintje would definitely be crowned as one of the memorable western films on Chinese screen even from today's perspective. Although filmed in 1960's, the film wasn't available in Red China until earlier 1980's. When the film was introduced, it was given a Chinese title, Handsome Boy. Actually, Heintje conforms with Chinese traditional values to great extend, such as parental and grandparental love, the theme of the harmonious family, the main character's righteous and courageous virtue. All of which seem pretty familiar and quite acceptable to the Chinese point of view. What's more, the songs performed by little Heintje Simons also contributed a lot to the popularity of the film in China. Without any exaggerating, the film is a household name among those middle-aged and well-educated.”

Heintje also appeared - now in starring roles – in two more Lümmel farces, Hurra, die Schule brennt/Hurrah, the School is Burning (Werner Jacobs, 1969) and Morgen fällt die Schule aus/No School Tomorrow (Werner Jacobs, 1971), his final film.


German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg, no. 5093. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Hurra, die Schule brennt/Hurrah, the School Is Burning (Werner Jacobs, 1969).


German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg, no. 5123. Photo: Constantin. Heintje, Gerlinde Locker and Heinz Reincke in Heintje - Ein Herz geht auf Reisen/Heintje: A Heart Goes on a Journey (Werner Jacobs, 1969).


German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg, no. 5132. Photo: Constantin / Seitz / Klaus. Heintje and Hansi Kraus in Hurra, die Schule brennt - Die Lümmel von der ersten Bank IV. Teil/Hurrah, the School Is Burning (Werner Jacobs, 1969).


German postcard by Modern Times. Photo: Interfoto. Caption: Alles schlampen, ausser mama (All bitches, except mama).

A Broken Voice

When Heintje was 16, the inevitable happened: his voice changed. His last hit in the Netherlands was 'Meine Liebe für dich' (My love for you) (1972).

He continued to be quite popular in Germany, but couldn’t lay off his image as a former child star.

In 1975, he made two LPs with songs in Afrikaans, which were quite successful in South-Africa. His performances in the state of apartheid lead to some criticism in his home country though.

As a young adult, he tried to make a come-back in the Netherlands with the song 'Und das alles nur weil wir uns lieben' (And that's just because we love each other) (1978), but it only became a modest success. He also tried several come-backs in the German speaking regions, and in 1995 he even recorded a techno version of his first hit 'Mama'.

Nowadays Hein Simons resides with his family on a horse ranch in Neu-Moresnet, a part of the city of Kelmis in the east of Belgium. In 1981, he married Doris Uhl, and they have three children, Pascal (1982), Gina (1989) and Hendrik (1992). Hein Simons still performs and records regularly.


German promotion card by Philips.


German promotion card by Jupiter Records. Photo: Manfred Esser.


Heintje sings 'Mama'. Source: ArcadeNL (YouTube).


Heintje sings the Dutch version of 'Mama' in Zum Teufel mit der Penne/To Hell with School (1968) with Peter Alexander. Source: 88Kaetzchen88 (YouTube)..


Heintje sings 'Heidschi bumbeidschi' in Heintje - Ein Herz geht auf Reisen (1969). Source: Een retrospectief van musicus Addy Kleijngeld (YouTube).


Hein Simons sings 'Heidschi bumbeidschi' again in 2007. Source: Fritz5109 (YouTube).

Sources: International Hein Simons Website, Foreignski (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch) and IMDb.

Pasquali Film was one of the pioneering Italian film companies. Pasquali had its golden years in the period 1912-1914, with a yearly large output in films. In 1912 it was the second biggest producer of feature-length films in Italy, after Cines. Stars were the comedian Polidor (Ferdinand Guillaume), strongman Mario Guaita aka Ausonia, and diva Diana Karenne. With the death of its founder Ernesto Maria Pasquali in 1919, Pasquali was integrated into the consortium Unione Cinematografica Italiana (UCI) which brought together the main Italian film companies at the time. Today, in a panel at the International film and media studies conference at the Sapientia University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Ivo Blom will discuss the work of Piero Marelli, cinematographer of countless travel films for Pasquali.


Italian postcard by La Rotofotografica / Unione Cinematografica Italiana, no. 137. Ferdinand Guillaume (1887-1977) was an Italian comical actor, famous in the 1910s as Tontolini and Polidor. After some 100 shorts as Tontolini and after the success of his first feature-length film, Pinocchio (Giulio Antamoro, 1911) at Cines, Ferdinand Guillaume moved to the Pasquali company. Here he created the character of Polidor, named after a horse in his previous circus shows. He continued his double profession of leading actor and director, being often the scriptwriter of his films too. In the years 1912-1914, he made some 100 films, up to four films a month. The Polidor films were distributed all over Europe and the US. Guillaume's output shrunk considerately from the outbreak of the First World War, although he still had a large output in 1916-1917.


Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Mario Guaita aka Ausonia in Spartaco/Spartacus (Enrico Vidali, 1913). Caption: Crasso muove contro Spartaco fra i saluti del popolo festante (Crassus moves against Spartacus amongst the celebrating people). Eventually Spartacus (Mario Guaita-Ausonia) will beat Crassus (Enrico Bracci).


Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Mario Guaita aka Ausonia in Spartaco/Spartacus (Enrico Vidali 1913). The Italian epic Spartaco - Il gladiatore della Tracia (Enrico Vidali, 1913) was based on a novel by Raffaello Giovagnoli. Caption: Il Senato vota solenni funerali a Silla (The Senate votes to hold a solemn funeral for Silla).


British postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Alberto Capozzi and Umberto Paradisi embrace in the Italian silent film I due sergenti/The Two Sergeants (Eugenio Perego, 1913).

The First Successes

Pasquali Film was founded in 1908 in Turin by the journalist and theatre critic Ernesto Maria Pasquali, in association with his friend, the pharmacist Giuseppe Tempo. Pasquali was already a collaborator at Ambrosio Film.

The new film company bore the name Pasquali & Tempo, but was renamed on 1 July 1910 as Pasquali & C. s.a.s. or in short Pasquali Film. During its first two to three years of existence, the company produced short films, mostly made by Pasquali himself. Most of these were historical films.

In 1909, the Pasquali Film had its first successes with Ettore Fieramosca (which was remade in 1915), Cirano de Bergerac, Capitan Fracassa, and Teodora Imperatrice di Bisanzio. Ernesto Pasquali flourished, paid back Tempo and exchanged him for two new investors, increasing his investments.

Thanks to this Pasquali built in 1911 a new, larger studio complex in Rome, luring the Ambrosio star couple Alberto Capozzi and Mary Cléo Tarlarini from Turin to Rome. In 1913 Pasquali hired the former Celio studio from Cines. Thus Pasquali really expanded, but also expanded genre wise, focusing more on modern subjects and crime films.

Between 1911 and 1914, the company produced the films of the hit crime series Raffles, directed and performed by Ubaldo Maria Del Colle. Also, Pasquali launched the production of comic films, first with Emile Vardannes (in the role of Totò) and then from 1912 with Ferdinand Guillaume (as Polidor), who previously had been a success at Cines as Tontolini. The Polidor comedies were numerous and an important backbone for Pasquali in the early 1910s.

The cameraman Piero Marelli shot several ‘dal vero’ travel films in Italy. In 1911-1912, he was sent on a long-lasting trip to Northern Europe (Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, etc.), to record the local landscape, cityscape, folklore, and native types. He often embellished his images with picturesque compositional strategies and subject matter but also with ingenious cinematic innovations such as split-screen effects.


Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 5 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Conchita Ledesma and Gustavo Serena in L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (Umberto Paradisi, 1914).


Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 6 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Conchita Ledesma and Gustavo Serena in L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (Umberto Paradisi, 1914).

L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (1914) deals with Jean (Serena), a poor artist smitten with a successful Spanish dancer Conchita (Ledesma), and in vain hoping to paint her. His poor girlfriend Ninon (Laura Darville) sacrifices herself and begs the dancer to pose once for him, so he can paint his portrait. Conchita dances before him while he sleeps. The painting is a success, but the romance with the dancer finishes when she has finished his fortune. He returns to poverty, attended by his girlfriend. When he is about to die, Ninon desperately asks Conchita once more to dance for him. Jean dies in her arms after which the dancer prefers to follow him. Apparently, Conchita Ledesma was a popular Spanish dancer in real life, so the Italian press was eager to finally see her perform. Gustavo Serena played at Pasquali in the years 1914-1915, after which he returned to Rome to continue his career there.


Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 1 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Suzanne De Labroy in Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914), very freely adapted from Gustave Flaubert's classic novel.


Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 5 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Suzanne De Labroy and Mario Guaita-Ausonia in Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914). The picture shows Matho and Salambò in his tent.

Suzanne De Labroy plays the title role of the Carthaginian princess, keeper of the sacred veil of the goddess Tanit and daughter of general Amilcar. When Matho (Mario Guaita-Ausonia), head of the mercenaries, steals the veil, Salambò is ordered to get it back. By doing so she falls in love and loses her dignity. Prince Narr Havas helps Amilcar conquer Matho's army and the latter is caught and destined to die. While in the book he is killed by Salambò after which she commits suicide, in the film there is a happy end, when Matho's aid Spendius pretends to be the Voice of Tanit, ordering marriage between Matho and Salambò.

Golden Years

Pasquali had its golden years in the period 1912-1914, with a yearly large output in films. In 1912 Pasquali was the biggest producer of feature-length films, after Cines.

In 1911-1912 a third studio was opened which was fully closed and equipped for artificial lighting. In 1913 Pasquali was the fourth largest Italian film company but again the second in the output of long films. The company now also opened various offices abroad.

Pasquali made its mark by impressive spectacular period pieces such as I promessi sposi (1913) and Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1913). Both films were produced in competition with rival versions by Ambrosio. Pasquali also presented two Antiquity films with Mario Guaita-Ausonia: Spartaco (Enrico Vidali, 1913) and Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914).

The only diva, Ernesto Maria Pasquali really launched was the Polish actress Diana Karenne. He presented her in Passione tzigana/Gypsy Passion (Umberto Paradisi, 1916), and immediately she became a star. Between 1916 and 1920, Karenne fascinated audiences with her eccentric dresses and make-up, and with her primadonna behaviour.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the Pasquali company experienced for the first time a decline in production because of a lack of raw film stock and bank loans. The modernisations undertaken did not allow the company to face the increasing competition, particularly from the United States. Production numbers went down fast.

With the death of its founder Ernesto Maria Pasquali in 1919 (who was only 36 years old), the house was integrated into the consortium Unione Cinematografica Italiana (UCI) which brought together the main Italian film companies, even if Pasquali still kept its name on the outside.

Pasquali's last successful production was the historical episode film Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domeno Gambino, 1921), starring Luciano Albertini, Antonietta Calderari, Garaveo Onorato and Carolina White, and set in Venice.


Spanish postcard for Chocolat Imperiale by Tip. Lit. Aubery, card no. 6 of a series of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Diana Karenne in the title role in Sofia di Kravonia (Ernesto Maria Pasquali, 1916).


Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Scene from La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Caption: Zoraide saves Fieramosca, sucking the venom of the wound and dies.


Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Scene from La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Caption: Valentino Borgia's local cronies press the sacristan to leave the door of the church open.

La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915) is an adaptation of the classic, nationalistic novel Ettore Fieramosca by Massimo D'Azeglio. The scenography was done by Domenico Gaido, according to film historian Vittorio Martinelli, while IMDb claims Gaido was co-director with Paradisi. Acclaimed actors Gustavo Serena and Domenico Gambino had supporting parts in the film. While already produced in 1915, Ettore Fieramosca was released late. When the film premiered in 1917 in Turin, Turinese critics claimed that the film would have been lauded before the First World War, but now looked old style, for instance in its performances, despite the tasteful sets and shots on location.


Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido 1921). Caption: Imperia tries to seduce Rolando (Luciano Albertini), but she is rejected, and will vilely take revenge.


Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido, 1921). Caption: Altieri stops Dandolo for a duel. Luigi Stinchi played Altieri, one of the conspirators, while Dandolo, Leonora's father, was played by Bonaventura Ibanez.


Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido 1921). Caption: The Conspiration of the young patricians in the crypt of San Marco. In the foreground one recognises Altieri (Luigi Stinchi).

Check out these two examples of the work of cameraman Piero Marelli: Le bellezze d’Italia. Trittico di visioni pittoresche and Vita d'Olanda. And also check out Ivo Blom's blog post on his lecture, ‘Dal vero’ in Cluj. New presentation & research coming up.

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

French singer, composer and film actor Gilbert Bécaud (1927-2001) was known as Monsieur 100,000 Volts for his energetic performances. For nearly fifty years France hummed the melodies of this charming music hall star, dark blue suited, white shirted, and recordedly always wearing his lucky tie (but not on the postcards in this post). He also appeared in several films.


French postcard by Editions P.I,, offered by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, no. 1092 A. Photo: Marcel Bougureau.


French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 274. Photo: Sam Lévin.


German promotion card by EMI Electrola, no. DrWa 1630. Photo: Serge Fleury.

Piaf

Gilbert Bécaud was born François Gilbert Silly in 1927, in Toulon, France. François had a relatively happy upbringing, despite the fact that his father abandoned the family while François was still in early childhood.

Madame Silly’s new partner, Louis Bécaud, raised François and his siblings Jean and Odette as his own children, although he was never able to marry their mother (her first husband steadfastly refusing to consent to a divorce).

François learned to play the piano when he was five, and by the age of nine, he went to the Conservatoire de Nice. In 1942, he left this school to join the French Resistance during World War II.

In 1947, he made his first film appearance in an uncredited bit part as a pianist in La kermesse rouge/The Scarlet Bazaar (Paul Mesnier, 1947).

He began songwriting in 1948, after meeting Maurice Vidalin, who inspired him to write his early compositions. He began writing for Marie Bizet. Bizet, Bécaud and Vidalin became a successful trio, and their partnership lasted until 1950.

While touring as a pianist with singer Jacques Pills, Bécaud met Édith Piaf, Pills’ wife at the time. At her suggestion, he began to sing songs like Mes Mains and Les Croix in 1953. Piaf also suggested his stage name.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 250. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 339. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 409. Photo: Teddy Piaz, Paris.

Let It Be Me

Gilbert Bécaud made his stage debut in the Olympia in Paris in 1954. A year later he headlined at this famous venue, attracting 6,000 on his first night, three times the capacity.

His hits in the later part of the decade included La Corrida (1956), Le Jour où la Pluie Viendra (1957) and C'est Merveilleux L'amour (1958).

He also began to act in films during this period, starting with Le Pays D'où Je Viens/The Country I Come From (Marcel Carné, 1956) opposite Françoise Arnoul. The multi-talented Bécaud was also responsible for writing the film’s soundtrack.

Other films in which he appeared were Casino de Paris (Claude Barma, 1957) with Vittorio De Sica and Caterina Valente, and the comedy Croquemitoufle (Claude Barma, 1958).

In 1960, he won a Grand Prix du Disque and composed L'enfant à L'étoile, a Christmas cantata. That same year, Let It Be Me, an English version of Je t’ai dans la peau, which he had once written for Édith Piaf, became a hit for the Everly Brothers. Over the years, it would also be performed by Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Jerry Butler, Sam & Dave, and James Brown.


French postcard by Editions P.I, Paris, no. 614. Photo: James J. Kriegsmann.


Dutch postcard by 't Sticht, Utrecht, no. AX 6173.


Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3648. Photo: Hafbo. Gilbert Bécaud in Casino de Paris (Claude Barma, 1957).

A Free Man

In 1961, Gilbert Bécaud wrote and recorded Et Maintenant, one of the biggest selling singles in French history. Translated as What Now My Love, the song became a hit by Shirley Bassey, Sonny & Cher, Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra.

After writing the opera L'opéra d'Aran, Bécaud toured through Europe and continued to record a string of hits, including Nathalie (1964) and Tu le Regretteras (1965), his controversial song for Charles de Gaulle.

He also co-wrote the international hit Love on the Rocks with Neil Diamond, which was featured on the soundtrack of The Jazz Singer (Richard Fleischer, 1980). Marlene Dietrich recorded his Marie, Marie and performed it in her stage shows.

In the 1970s, Bécaud focused more on touring than recording, and he also appeared in films like Un homme libre/A Free Man (Roberto Muller, 1972) with Olga Georges-Picot, and Toute une vie/And Now My Love (Claude Lelouch, 1973) with Marthe Keller.

In 1973 he finally took time off, citing exhaustion. The following year, he was named Chevalier in the Légion d'honneur. Then he scored a hit all over Europe with A Little Love And Understanding (1975).


French promotion card by Galeries Modernes Barjeaud. Photo: La Voix de son Maitre (HMV) / Larroque. Text: En souvenir de votre aimable visite aux Galeries Modernes Barjeaud pour le présentation de la collection ENTRÉE DE SAISON - Mars 1959. (In memory of your kind visit to the Modern Galleries Barjeaud for the presentation of the collection SEASON ENTRY - March 1959.)


French postcard by JPH. Photo: Disques La Voix de son Maitre.

Refusing to slip quietly into retirement

Later in the century, Gilbert Bécaud began writing with Pierre Grosz and then Neil Diamond, also co-penning the successful Broadway musical Madame Roza (1986), based on the novel La vie devant soi (Madame Rosa) by Emile Ajar.

The 1990s finally saw a slowdown of Bécaud's activity, releasing various compilations and touring occasionally. In 1993 he took an extended sabbatical, intending to get his health back in order. Bécaud's heavy smoking habit was still placing a great strain on his voice.

He did one more acting performance on television in the popular crime series Navarro (1995) starring Roger Hanin, but Bécaud really returned from his extended sabbatical in 1996, going back into the studio to work on a new album Ensemble.

The Olympia in Paris, where he had debuted, was his favourite venue. In 1997 Becaud was present for the re-opening of the Olympia after its reconstruction. With a series of concerts at the Olympia, he celebrated his 70th birthday.

Refusing to slip quietly into retirement, Bécaud returned to the media spotlight in 1999, releasing a new album entitled Faut faire avec…., and making a live comeback at the Olympia - for the 33rd time! Despite the fact that the singer was suffering from lung cancer, he nevertheless managed to pull out all the stops, giving a series of vibrant, energetic shows which went down extremely well with his fans.

In 2001 Gilbert Bécaud died on his houseboat on the Seine, aged 74. He was interred in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. He had been married twice: to Monique Nicolas (they had three children), and to Kitty St John (two children). His eldest son, Gaya Bécaud, released his father’s last record after his death.


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam (Sparo), no. 811. Photo: HMV.


French postcard by Lyna, Paris, no. 2019. Photo: Tony Frank.


Vintage postcard.

Sources: Wikipedia, RFI Musique and IMDb.

Last Saturday, 26 October 2019, French actress Pascale Roberts (1933) passed away. She had been active in the French cinema and television since 1954. From her femme fatale parts in B-thrillers and comedies in the 1950s, she grew into mother roles. She is best known for her parts in A-films by Costa-Gravas, Yves Boisset and Robert Guédiguian, and for her many appearances on French TV.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, presented by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, no. 813. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 466. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Hard Boiled Crime Film

Pascale Roberts was born in Boulogne-sur-Seine, France in 1933. Her mother was a director at Elisabeth Arden and among her clients were Martine Carol, Edwige Feuillère and Dora Doll.

Through Martine Carol, Pascale became an extra in Madame du Barry (Christian-Jaque, 1954). Pascale decided to go to acting classes in Paris, against the wishes of her mother. She had a small part in the comedy Une vie de garçon/A Boy’s Life (Jean Boyer, 1954) and a bit part as a girl at a poker game in the hard boiled crime film Les femmes s'en balancent/Dames Don’t Care (Bernard Borderie, 1954) starring Eddie Constantine as FBI agent Lemmy Caution.

Pascale Roberts would appear several times opposite Constantine such as in Ces dames préfèrent le mambo/Dishonorable Discharge (Bernard Borderie, 1957) as a femme fatale. She could also be seen in other film noirs such as Cherchez la femme/Look for the woman (Raoul André, 1955) with Pierre Mondy, and Dans la gueule du loup/In the Mouth of the Wolf (Jean-Charles Dudrumet, 1961) based on a crime novel by James Hadley Chase.

In 1957, she married Pierre Mondy but they divorced a few years later. After dozens of mediocre comedies and thrillers, Roberts was really remarkable as the victim in Costa-Gravas’ first film, the fast-moving and entertaining thriller Compartiment tueurs/The Sleeping Car Murder (Costa Gravas, 1965) starring Catherine Allégret and her mother Simone Signoret.

Hal Erickson writes at AllMovie: “During a Marseilles-to-Paris overnight train trip, a girl is found dead in a sleeping car. As Paris detective Yves Montand steps up his investigation, more and more passengers turn up murdered. The unlikely climax is the only sore point of this otherwise well-wrought mystery. Bereft of the politicizing of Costa-Gavras' later works, The Sleeping Car Murders exhibits the director's fondness for American ‘film noir’ thrillers.”

On television, Roberts was that same year a co-star of Geneviève Grad in the comedy series Chambre à louer/Room for rent (Jean-Pierre Desagnat, 1965), and she appeared on TV in another popular comedy series Les saintes chéries/The holy darlings (Jean Becker, 1965) starring Micheline Presle.

Later she featured with Jean-Claude Pascal in a daily soap opera, Le Temps de vivre et le temps d'aimer/Time To Live and Time To Love (Louis Grospierre, 1973).


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 467. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 666. Photo: Andre Nisak.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 924. Photo: Studio Vallois.

Urban Dramas

In 1975, Pascale Roberts played her arguably best known film role as the mother of rape and murder victim Isabelle Huppert in Dupont Lajoie/Rape of Innocence (Yves Boisset, 1975). This and her later roles were all supporting parts.

During the 1980s she appeared with Alain Delon in the Film Noir Trois hommes à abattre/Three Men to Destroy (Jacques Deray, 1980) and the policier Pour la peau d'un flic/For a Cop's Hide (Alain Delon, 1981), in which she played a junkie.

She also taught theatre at the École internationale de création audiovisuelle et de réalisation in Paris. Most of her later films are mediocre comedies and action films, but interesting were the delightful award-winning drama Le grand chemin/The Grand Highway (Jean-Loup Hubert, 1987) about the summer vacation of a high strung 9-year-old, the historical adventure La Fille de d'Artagnan/Revenge of the Musketeers (Bertrand Tavernier, 1994) starring Sophie Marceau, and the urban drama À la vie, à la mort!/'Til Death Do Us Part (Robert Guédiguian, 1995) about a family of Spanish immigrants in France featuring Ariane Ascaride.

Gradually Roberts had grown from femme fatale into mother roles. With the husband and wife team of Robert Guédiguian and Ariane Ascaride she worked again at Marius et Jeannette/Marius and Jeanette (Robert Guédiguian, 1997), a comedy-drama set in Marseille about a couple, which puts faith in love to get them through times of extreme poverty.

For her role in this box office hit in France she was nominated for the César for Best Supporting Actress. They continued their cooperation with the urban dramas À la place du coeur/In the space of the heart (Robert Guédiguian, 1998), La ville est tranquille/The Town is Quiet (Robert Guédiguian, 2000), Mon père est ingénieur/My Father is an Engineer (Robert Guédiguian, 2004) and Lady Jane (Robert Guédiguian, 2008).

Since 2008, Roberts appeared in the successful TV series Plus belle la vie/More beautiful than life (2004-2011). Her character in the show, Wanda Legendre, also featured in the TV comedy Course contre la montre/Race against the clock (Roger Wielgus, 2011). Her most recent screen appearance was a guest part in the comedy series Working girls (2016).

Pascale Roberts died after a long illness on 26 October 2019 in Paris. She was 89. Roberts was married to and divorced from Pierre Mondy, Pierre Rey and Michel Le Royer.


Leader Compartiment Tueurs (1966). Source: Michel8665 (YouTube).


Trailer Marius et Jeannette (1997). Source: Films Bonheur / Feel-Good Movies (YouTube).

Sources: James Travers (Films de France), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Notre Cinema (French), Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.

German silent film diva Mia May was the star of Wogen des Schicksals/Waves of fate (1918). Her husband Joe May was the producer, writer and director of the melodrama. Rotophot published the sepia postcards of the film in their Film Sterne series.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 527/1. Photo: May Film. Mia May in Wogen des Schicksals (Joe May, 1918). The man on the dance floor signing to her is Erich Kaiser-Titz, while the man sitting next to Mia May is Rolf Brunner.

Life as a Nightmare

Bank director Von Letzow (Erich Kaiser-Titz) meets in an antique shop Vera von Bergen (Mia May) who wears a medallion of a noble lady, her mother.

She tells him how, after the death of her mother, her stepmother together with her brother, who became Vera's warden after her father died too, turned Vera's life into a nightmare. They sent her to boarding school and made her flee to her only friend, her former nurse and now a poor grocery shop lady.

Letzow offers to marry her so she can repossess her castle and chase the intruders. He also promises to divorce her when necessary, so she can marry her love Alfred, who is in the US.

In the castle, Vera discovers a bottle of 'medicine' which she suspects to be the poison the stepmother used to kill off Vera's father. Letzow finds out this is truly so.

When Alfred comes back penniless from the US he proves to be an unreliable gambler, so Vera's eyes are opened and she stays with Letzow.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 527/2 Photo: May Film. Mia May and Erich Kaiser-Titz in Wogen des Schicksals (Joe May, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 527/3. Photo: May Film. Mia May in Wogen des Schicksals (Joe May, 1918).

Brilliantly and effectively staged

Wogen des Schicksals/Waves of fate was filmed in early 1918 and premiered in March that year.

Neue Kino-Rundschau wrote on 29 June 1918 about Wogen des Schicksals: "A film that appeals to the taste of the big audience! It contains a series of strong conflicts, a good portion of excitement, and finally a happily united loving couple.

It is also brilliantly and effectively staged, as the name Joe May vouches for. (...) Mia May ... holds the female lead, which embodies her full of charm and grace.

Erich Kaiser-Titz is her partner, whose noble calm and gentle pantomime always captivates and delights. Finally, the photography must also be mentioned, as it is simply exemplary."

While sometimes direction is attributed to Leopold Bauer, most designate Joe May as both the scriptwriter and director of the film. Cinematographer was Curt Courant.

Wikipedia suggests Frieda Richard and Hermann Vallentin played the stepmother and her brother, and Rolf Brunner Alfred, but no hard proof about their casting is available.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 527/4 Photo: May Film. Mia May and Georg John in Wogen des Schicksals (Joe May, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 527/5. Photo: May Film. Mia May in Wogen des Schicksals (Joe May, 1918).

Sources: Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Charles Ray (1891-1943) was an American actor, scriptwriter, and director of the silent screen, who knew a parabola from rags to riches and back again. He worked for e.g. Paramount, his own company, United Artists and MGM. In the late 1910s and early 1920s, he was a very popular actor and one of Hollywood's best-paid stars.


Spanish collectors card in the Collecciones Amatller Series, Serie X, artist no. 28, no. 63, by Chocolate Amatller. Photo: United Artists. Charles Ray and Lon Poff in The Old Swimmin' Hole (Joe de Grasse, 1921).


Spanish postcard.


Spanish postcard. Photo: Evans, Los Angeles.

A film every two weeks

Charles Edgar Ray was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1891. He moved several times in his youth before settling Los Angeles, where he finished his education.

Ray started his career as an actor on stage. Later he also began to act in short silent films, making his debut as an extra in The Fortunes of War (Thomas Ince, 1911). He appeared in several bit parts before moving on to supporting roles.

From 1913 he had a steady career as the male lead in one- and two-reel short Western, Quaker, and Civil War dramas at Kaybee Pictures, Broncho Pictures, and Domino Pictures. In these films, he would be paired with actresses such as Enid Markey, Bessie Barriscale, Louise Glaum, and Dorothy Davenport.

Ray must have worked fast then, as in 1913 and in 1914 he had a ratio of a film every two weeks. At Kaybee, Ince would direct him at times, at times also Raymond West, while at Bronco he was often directed by Charles Giblyn, and in 1915 a few times by William S. Hart.

In 1915, Ray had his breakthrough in his first feature The Coward, produced by Thomas Ince for Kay-Bee and directed by Reginald Barker. In this Civil War drama, Ray played the son of a Virginia colonel (Frank Keenan), who needs to overcome his cowardice.


British postcard by Cinema Chat. Photo: Paramount.


British postcard, presented with Girl's CINEMA, May 20th, 1922.

Country Bumpkins

Charles Ray's popularity rose after appearing in a series of films, as Wikipedia writes "which cast him in juvenile roles, primarily young, wholesome hicks or naive 'country bumpkins' that foiled the plans of thieves or con men and won the heart of his dream girl."

Ray's Kay-Bee films were now distributed by Triangle Distributing. Victor Schertzinger, the musician who had provided the music for The Coward, turned director at Kay-Bee and directed Ray in several films in 1917.

Ray, Ince, and Schertzinger moved over to Paramount in 1917, where Ince got his own production company and where Schertzinger directed Ray in more films, such as The Claws of the Hun (Victor Schertzinger, 1918), a propaganda film signalling the US's participation in the First World War.

Ray's star rose and rose. By 1920, he was earning a reported $11,000 a week (approximately $138,000 today). Ray had also earned a reputation for being egomaniacal and difficult to work with.

In 1920, he left Paramount after studio head Adolph Zukor refused to give him a substantial pay raise. Ray started his own production company. Charles Ray Productions, and bought a studio on Sunset Boulevard where he began producing and shooting his own films.

While he initially was fairly successful, an experiment for First National with a film without intertitles, The Old Swimmin' Hole (1921), co-starring Laura La Plante, had critical but not a huge popular success. Mind you, this was years before Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's famous Der Letzte Mann/The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau, 1924), which was made with only one intertitle.


French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 221. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 79. Photo: not indicated but possibly by Evans.

The Sinking of the Mayflower

In 1922, Charles Ray signed a contract with United Artists and starred in e.g. The Girl I Loved (1923) with Patsy Ruth Miller. He was fed up with the hillbillies types and strove to profile himself as a romantic lead and man of the world.

Against everybody's advice to avoid lengthy historical drama, Ray insisted on the making of The Courtship of Miles Standish (1923), investing $500,000 (approximately $7,353,000 today) of his own money, including a $65,000 (approximately $956,000 today) 180-ton replica of the Mayflower. The film was a box office failure, Ray lost all his money and his reputation went down too.

It did not mean his career was all over (despite what Wikipedia writes), because he first continued as a leading actor at smaller companies, produced by Ince, and in 1925 he got a contract at MGM, where he played for two years and acted as the male lead opposite actress such as Pauline Starke, Joan Crawford, and May McAvoy.

In those years Ray and his wife Clara Grant were enormous spendthrifts, with an over-the-top villa in Beverly Hills, a huge staff, and expensive cars. Grant would never wear a dress two times. Yet, in December 1925 Ray had to file for bankruptcy and his production company went under as well.

Though he continued to act, after MGM the companies he worked for were less prestigious, such as Universal. In 1928 he made his last silent film, The Count of Ten (James Flood, 1928), after which he acted on stage for years, in off-Broadway productions, without much success.

In 1932 Ray returned to the sets, but without success and in 1934 he declared for bankruptcy again. In 1935 he got divorced from Clara Grant, from whom he was already separated as of 1930. Ray still acted in cinema but in the mid-1930s in minor parts and in the early 1940s on uncredited parts. He tried to earn money by writing short stories and a popular movie magazine but to no avail.

Charles Ray died of a systemic infection caused by an impacted wisdom tooth in 1943. He was only 52. In 1960 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the motion picture industry.


British postcard.


American postcard.


American postcard. Home of Charles Ray, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Cal.

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

Laura La Plante (1904–1996) was an American actress, best known for such silent films as Smouldering Fires (Clarence Brown, 1925), Skinner's Dress Suit (William Seiter, 1926), and The Cat and the Canary (Paul Leni, 1927) with Creighton Hale. In the 1920s she acted in over 60 films, mostly for Universal, including the two part-talkies The Love Trap (William Wyler, 1929) and Showboat (Harry A. Pollard, 1929). During this period she was Universal's most popular star, and almost always enjoyed top billing.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1636/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Universum Film-Verleih-Betrieb / Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag Foreign, no. 3880/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Roman Freulich.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4465/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Universal.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4717/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Universal.


Dutch postcard, no. 83. Photo: Croeze Bosmann / Universal. Laura La Plante in Captain of the Guard (John S. Robertson,

A Christie Comedy Bathing Beauty

Laura La Plante was born Laura Isobel La Plant in 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She was the older sister of actress Violet La Plante, later known in life as Violet Benson.

Laura was 15 years old when she was discovered by film producer Al Christie and entered films as a Christie Comedy Bathing Beauty.

By 1921, she had played a number of roles including a Tom Mix Western called The Big Town Round-Up (Lynn Reynolds, 1921) for Fox and The Old Swimmin' Hole (Joseph De Grasse, 1921) opposite Charles Ray for First National.

Laura, now 17, next signed with Universal, where she appeared in shorts, serials and many supporting roles. Over the next few years, she would become one of the leading stars at Universal and acted in in dramas, mysteries and comedies.

Some of her more important films were the adventure Crooked Alley (Robert F. Hill, 1923) with Thomas Carrigan, the comedy Sporting Youth (Harry A. Pollard, 1924) with Reginald Denny, and the drama Smouldering Fires (Clarence Brown, 1925) starring Pauline Frederick.


French postcard by Ross, no. 506. Photo: Universal.


French postcard by Europe, no. 305. Photo: Universal.


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 392.


French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 238. Photo: Universal Film.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 914. Photo: Universal Pictures Corporation. Laura La Plante in The Midnight Sun (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1926).


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 917. Photo: Universal Pictures Corporation. Raymond Keane and Laura La Plante in The Midnight Sun (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1926).

One of the most stylish films of the silent era

Laura La Plante married in 1926 director William A. Seiter, who directed her in the successful comedy Skinner's Dress Suit (William A. Seiter, 1926), again opposite Reginald Denny. John Howard Reid at IMDb: "I enjoyed the way the script cleverly turned the tables, and I'm not at all surprised the film was so popular on first release."

Another hit was the mystery The Cat and the Canary (1927), directed by German director Paul Leni. Relatives of an eccentric millionaire gather in his spooky mansion on the 20th anniversary of his death for the reading of his will. GFT Biloxi at IMDb: "In term of cinematography, CAT is a remarkably imaginative film, using a series of over-lapping images, close-ups, and dissolves to astonishing effect. In a visual sense it is easily one of the most stylish films of the silent era."

When sound came to Universal, La Plante was one of the silent film stars who made the transition. She played a leading role in the part-sound film Show Boat (Harry A. Pollard, 1929) opposite Joseph Schildkraut, and adapted from . Although it was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Edna Ferber and not of the famous musical also adapted from the 1926 novel, some songs from the play were tossed into the film as box-office insurance. La Plante did not actually sing in the film. To her surprise her singing was dubbed by Eva Olivetti, one of the first instances in which this was done in a film.

La Plante made her first all-talking picture with Hold Your Man (Emmett J. Flynn, 1929). La Plante was a natural and appealing presence in early talkies but the huge wave of new stars in those years overshadowed her. By 1930, she decided that she had enough and left Universal, which terminated her contract. Her last appearance for Universal was in the Technicolor musical King of Jazz (John Murray Anderson, 1930).

She appeared for Warner Bros in God's Gift to Women (Michael Curtiz, 1931) co-starring Frank Fay and Joan Blondell, and for Columbia in the drama Arizona (George B. Seitz, 1931), co-starring alongside a young John Wayne.

Laura La Plante went to England, where she worked at Warner Brother's Teddington Studios. The company had faced criticism for the low quality of its 'quota quickies', and her arrival coincided with an attempt to make more expensive productions. She starred in Man of the Moment (Monty Banks, 1935), with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. She returned to Hollywood in 1935, where she again retired from the screen.

She made only two later films. In 1954 she appeared as a contestant on the TV show You Bet Your Life under the name Laura Asher. Host Groucho Marx was told he might recognise her, and he realised she was Laura La Plante within minutes of being introduced. Her final film was Spring Reunion (Robert Pirosh, 1957) starring Dana Andrews.

She was extremely private and didn't care to speak about her Hollywood career. When David Gill and his crew arrived at her Rancho Mirage home in 1977 to interview her husband Irving Asher for his documentary series, she hid in her kitchen pleading not to be interviewed.

La Plante was married twice. Her first husband was director William A. Seiter (1926-1934). After their divorce, she married producer Irving Asher with whom she had two children: Tony and Jill. Irving passed away in 1985.

In 1996, Laura La Plante died of Alzheimer's disease in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA, at the age of 91. La Plante was cremated by Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California with her ashes scattered at sea.


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5097. Photo: Universal-Film. Laura La Plante and Oscar Beregi in Butterflies in the Rain (Edward Sloman, 1926).


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5318. Photo: Universal-Film.


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5733. Photo: Universal-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 834/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Roman Freulich / Universal.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3880/1. Photo: Roman Freulich.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4213/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Universal.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5056/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Universal.

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Ila Meery (1908-1974 (?)) was a Hungarian born actress who appeared in German and French late silent and early sound films. Her history was a mystery. French Wikipedia wrote she was one of the notorious 'Countesses of the Gestapo' in France and according to IMDb she was a Soviet spy during the Second World War. But recent research by Marlène Pilaete proved that she was neither. Marlene wrote a fascinating article about her research on Ila Meery at the French website L'encinémathèque. Especially for EFSP, she wrote a shorter English bio that tells the true story of this beautiful and fascinating actress.


French postcard by Editions Chantal, no. 56. Photo: Arnal, Paris.

The Prettiest Show Girl of Budapest

Il(l)a Meery was born as Ilona Mecsery in Kôrmend, Hungary, on the 31st of August 1908.

In the mid-20s, she became a show girl and notably worked at the Royal Theatre of Budapest. Alongside another future actress, Rose Barsony, she could be spotted for example in the chorus of the operetta 'Alexandra' by Albert Szirmai in 1925.

In 1928, she won the title of 'The Prettiest Show Girl of Budapest', following a newspaper contest.

She made her film debut in Germany, for the Super-Film GmbH company, in Das Raub der Sabinerinnen/The Abduction of the Sabine Women (Robert Land, 1928), in which she played, not surprisingly, a show girl named Ria.

Soon followed another part in Prinzessin Olala (Robert Land, 1928), featuring Carmen Boni. For her film career, she chose the pseudonym 'Meery', which is simply the contraction of her family name Mecsery'.

She then was the Countess de la Motte in the German-French co-production Cagliostro - Liebe und Leben eines großen Abenteurers/Cagliostro (Richard Oswald, 1929), featuring Hans Stüwe, in which she can be seen in one scene wearing a huge diamond necklace around her naked breasts.

Meery also had one of the leading roles in the Austrian film Das Weisse Paradies/The White Paradise (Max Neufeld, 1929). So ended her silent film career.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3638/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Schrecker, Berlin. Collection: Marlène Pilaete.

Two different persons

Ila Meery came back on the screen by appearing in Les aventures du Roi Pausole/The Adventures of King Pausole (Alexis Granowsky, 1933), starring Emil Jannings and Josette Day. The French film industry soon took the alluring young woman under its wings.

She had an interesting part in Lac au dames/Ladies Lake (Marc Allégret, 1934), in which she again bared her bosom, and followed it with Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934) starring Josephine Baker andJean Gabin, Pension Mimosas (Jacques Feyder, 1935) and Marius et Olive à Paris/Marius and Olive in Paris (Jean Epstein, 1935).

She made her last film, Tisztelet a kivételnek/There Are Exceptions (Ákos Ráthonyi, 1936), in her native country. The stars of this romantic drama were Imre Ráday and Klári Tolnay. Meery was credited as Ila Mecséry again.

In 1937, she married a British businessman, James Ole Herbert Willing, who, as a soldier, died during the Second World War, in 1941.

According to a few sources, I(l)la Meery passed away in Budapest in 1974 but, as we’ve not been able so far to view a death certificate, this date is given to you with some reservation.

Contrary to what you can often read on several websites, I(l)a Meery is not the Russian-born countess Mara Tchernycheff Besobrasoff (1915-2010), who was married to French actor Henri Garat from 1939 to 1942 and who was condemned after the War for having collaborating with the Nazis. Once and for all, these are two different persons.


French postcard by Imprimerie A. Breger Frères, Paris. Issued for the cinema Max-Linder Pathé, 24, Boulevard Poissonière, Paris, where the film was presented 14-20 September 1934. Lac au dames/Ladies Lake (1934) was directed by Marc Allégret and starred Jean-Pierre Aumont, Rosine Dérean, Simone Simon and Michel Simon. The films is situated at Lake Konstanz. In Germany the film was presented as Hell in Frauensee ('Frauensee' was the title of the novel by Vicki Baum the film was based on). The actress Aumont is holding is Rosine Dérean.


Lac au dames/Ladies Lake (1934). No subtitles! Source: FWIW (YouTube).

Thank you Mrs. Sherlock for this guest post!

Two years ago, EFSP had a post on the De Reszke film postcard series. De Reske was a, now forgotten, British cigarette brand, named after Jean de Reszke (1850-1925), a famous Polish opera star of the late 19th century. Ads suggested the cigarettes were 'mild and harmless' so that they would not damage De Reszke's voice. The brand was originally produced by J. Millhoff, a Russian living in London. In 1927, Millhoff sold out to Godrey Phillips, an international company which was a fellow competitor. In the early 1930s, Godfrey Phillips Associated brands published a series of hand-coloured film star postcards. Recently, I found 20 new cards of the series at eBay. Some numbers on the cards are the same, so there were probably more series of De Reszke postcards, including one with 24 and one with 48 postcards.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 4. Caption: Loretta Young made her film debut as a dancer, and was later given a small role in Naughty, but Nice. Her great chance came in 1927, when, at the age of fifteen, she was selected by Lon Chaney as his leading lady in Laugh Clown, Laugh. Raised to stardom in 1932. Her films include The Honourable Mr. Wong, Man's Castle, and House of Rothschild.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 5. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Caption: Robert Montgomery, who was born in 1904, was left penniless at the age of sixteen, and became a mechanic's mate on a railway, a deck hand, and finally property man to a touring company, which resulted in a stage career. Played in stock for some time, mostly old man characters, and eventually reached New York. Film debut in So This is College. Recent pictures are Nor More Ladies, Mutiny on the Bounty and Piccadilly Jim.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 6. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). W.C. Fields and Freddie Bartholomew in David Copperfield (George Cukor, 1935).


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 7. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Una Merkel (1903–1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress. Merkel relied mainly on numerous, mostly comical supporting roles. Often she was the wisecracking best friend of the heroine. One of the most famous appearances she had was in the 1939 comedy western Destry Rides Again, in which she delivers a 'cat-fight' with Marlene Dietrich. In addition, she played, among others, Sam Spade's secretary Effie in the first film version of The Maltese Falcon (1931), the streetwise choir singer Lorraine, buddy of Ginger Rogers, in the Busby Berkeley musical film 42nd Street (1933), and the eldest daughter of W. C. Fields in the comedy The Bank Detective (1940).


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 8. Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972) was a French actor, singer and entertainer with a very successful Hollywood career. His trademark was a casual straw hat, which he always wore on stage with a cane and a tuxedo.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 8. Photo: Paramount. American film actress Carole Lombard (1908–1942) was the highest-paid star in Hollywood in the late 1930s. She was particularly noted for her energetic, ditzy and often off-beat roles in screwball comedies of the 1930s.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 14. Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) is regarded as the first German actress to become successful in Hollywood. Throughout her long career, she constantly re-invented herself, starting as a cabaret singer, chorus girl and film actress in 1920s Berlin, she became a Hollywood movie star in the 1930s, a World War II frontline entertainer, and finally an international stage show performer from the 1950s to the 1970s. Eventually she became one of the entertainment icons of the 20th century.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 17. Caption: Frances Dee, born in 1907, was living in Los Angeles and hearing that Fox was making a college picture she suggested that they should use her to get the right college atmosphere. Her work in a minor role in Lubitsch's picture Monte Carlo attracted attention, and she was given the lead opposite Chevalier in Playboy of Paris. Since then she had principal parts in many important pictures, including Little Women, One Man's Journey and Blood Money.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 17. Caption: Fredric March, the star of Death Takes a Holdiday, secured a small part in 'Debureau'. Played for a few years in stock, and, when talkies came in 1928, was offered a part in The Dummy. His performances have steadily grown in dramatic appeal; with The Royal Family of Broadway, he became a star.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 18. Caption: Born in 1914, Mary Carlisle entered films at the age of fifteen as the result of a try-out of a drama. She and Ann Dvorak were chosen out of 600 applicants. Her first role was with Jackie Coogan in If I Were King, and after playing leads in short subjects appeared in Grand Hotel and other films, and soon started making a name for herself in featured roles.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 19. American film actress Rochelle Hudson (1916–1972) appeared in Hollywood films from the early 1930s through the 1960s. Her roles went from ingenue to leading lady to character actress. She is best remembered for costarring in the tense and gripping social drama Wild Boys of the Road (William A. Wellman, 1933), playing Cosette in Les Misérables (Richard Boleslawski, 1935), as the older sister of Shirley Temple in Curly Top (Irving Cummings, 1935), and as Natalie Wood's mother in Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955).


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 25. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Caption: Myrna Loy was born August 2nd, 1905, at Helena, Montana. Began as a prologue dancer in Hollywood and entered films in 1925 under the wing of Mrs. Rudolph Valentino. Gained fame as an actress of exotic roles, but recently her ability in straight comedy and dramatic roles has been recognised. Recent films, The Thin Man, Evelyn Prentice, Wife Versus Secretary and Wings in the Dark.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 31. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Swedish Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was one of the greatest and most glamorous film stars ever produced by the Hollywood studio system. She was part of the Golden Age of the silent cinema of the 1920s and was one of the few actors who made a glorious transition to the talkies. She started her career in the European cinema and would always stay more popular in Europe than in the USA.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 34. Photo: Radio (RKO). Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) was an indomitable American stage and film actress, known as a spirited performer with a touch of eccentricity. She introduced into her roles a strength of character previously considered to be undesirable in Hollywood leading ladies. As an actress, she was noted for her brisk upper-class New England accent and tomboyish beauty.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 35. Photo: British & Dominions. Tall and slim actor and singer Jack Buchanan (1891–1957) was known for three decades as the embodiment of the quintessential Englishman, despite being a Scot. During his career, he was one of the major British screen stars of his day and incarnated the elegant, always immaculately clothed man about town in about three dozen films. In America, he is best known for his role opposite Fred Astaire in the classic Hollywood musical The Band Wagon (1953).


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 40. Photo: M.G.M. American film and stage actress Jean Parker (1915–2005) landed her first screen test while still in high school. She played the tragic Beth in the original Little Women (George Cukor, 1933), starred as the spoiled daughter of an American chainstore millionaire who persuades her nouveau riche father to transport a Scottish castle in the hilarious British comedy The Ghost Goes West (René Clair, 1936), and she was a perfect stooge for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, as an innkeeper's daughter with whom Ollie falls in love in The Flying Deuces (A. Edward Sutherland, 1939). Parker remained active in film throughout the 1940s. Later in her career, she played in the West Coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 41. Photo: Columbia. Caption: One Night of Love, which gave Grace Moore her first starring role, was acclaimed one of the outstanding films of 1934-5. Miss Moore, famous American prima-donna, has had a distinguished career on the international opera and concert stages. Her previous films include New Moon and Jenny Lind. Has since made On Wings of Songs.


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 46. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper in Treasure Island (Victor Fleming, 1934).


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 47. Photo: M.G.M.. Joan Crawford and Clark Gable in Forsaking All Others (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934).


British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 48. French film star Annabella (1909-1996) was France's most popular actress during the mid 1930s, but she also achieved some success in Hollywood films of the late 1930s.

Check out our earlier post on De Reszke.

Film and TV actress Barbara Valentin (1940-2002) was dubbed the 'German Jayne Mansfield' and a 'Scandal Magnet'. Her resume includes sex films but also art films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Her private life was fodder for the tabloids. Pop star Freddie Mercury was ‘the love of her life’.


German Postcard by Krüger, no. 900/317.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/192. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.


German Postcard by Krüger, no. 900/272.

Das Busenwunder

Barbara Valentin was born Ursula ‘Uschi’ Ledersteger in Vienna, Austria in 1940. She was the daughter of the set designer Hans Ledersteger and actress Irmgard Alberti.

Her film debut was in the erotic Sci-Fi thriller Ein Toter hing im Netz/A Corpse Hangs in the Web (Fritz Böttgers, 1959).

In the 1960s, she became a well known personality who was called ‘das Busenwunder’ (the Buxom Wonder) because of her huge breasts and she was compared to Jayne Mansfield because of her sex pot roles.

The German tabloids had also plenty to write about her cocaine habit and other addictions, and about her numerous love affairs. Her three marriages, including one with film director Helmut Dietl, ended all in a divorce.

In the cinema she was seen in sexy films like Das Mädchen mit den Schmalen Hüften, literally The Girl with the Narrow Hips (Johannes Kai, 1961) with Claus Wilcke, and In Frankfurt sind die Nächte heiss/Hot Nights in Frankfurt (Rolf Olsen, 1966) starring Vera Tschechowa.

Later she was also seen in international films like Carmen, Baby (Radley Metzger, 1967) opposite Carl Möhner, and King, Queen, Knave (Jerzy Skolimowsky, 1972) starring David Niven.


German postcard by Kruger (UFA), no. 902/167. Photo: Herbert Fried (Fried Agency).


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/168. Photo: Herbert Fried (Fried Agency) / UFA.


German Postcard by Krüger, no. 900/272.


German postcard by Krüger.

New Career

In the 1970s, Rainer Werner Fassbinder offered Barbara Valentin a chance on a new career.

Under his direction she played in the futuristic TV tale Welt am Draht/World on a Wire (1974) opposite Klaus Löwitsch, and after that she became a permanent member of his troupe.

She played character parts in films and TV films by Fassbinder like the Henrik Ibsen adaptation Nora Helmer (1974) featuring Margit Carstensen, the touching melodrama Angst essen Seele auf/Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), the thriller Martha (1974), the Theodor Fontane adaptation Effi Briest (1974) starring Hanna Schygulla, and the controversial gay drama Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox and his Friends (1975).

Later she also appeared in the box office hit Lili Marleen (1981), and Fassbinder's acclaimed 15-hour mini-series Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) with Günther Lamprecht.


German postcard by Kolibri, Friedrich-W. Sander-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 1597.


German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 550. Photo: Bellé.


German Postcard by Graphima, Berlin.

Freddie

Barbara Valentin appeared in numerous other films and TV productions, including Bomber & Paganini (Nicos Perakis, 1976) starring Mario Adorf, Flammende Herzen/Flaming Hearts (Walter Bockmayer, Rolf Bührmann, 1978) with Peter Kern, and Dorian Gray im Spiegel der Boulevardpresse/The Image of Dorian Gray in the Yellow Press (Ulrike Ottinger, 1984) with Delphine Seyrig.

In 1984-1985, she lived together with Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, whom she would come to call 'the love of her life'. She is featured in the music video for the Queen song, 'It's a Hard Life'.

After Mercury's death in 1991 she supported the fight of HIV organisations against AIDS, and became an icon of the Munich gay scene.

Her last film was Die Hunde sind schuld/The Dogs are Guilty (Andreas Prochaska, 2001) with Tilo Prückner.

Barbara Valentin died in 2002. She suffered a brain hemorrhage early in 2001, and was in a coma for quite some time, and was later confined to a wheelchair. She is buried in the Ostfriedhof cemetery in Munich.


German Postcard by Krüger, no. 900/272.


German Postcard by Poster XXL.


Swiss autograph card by Studio Onedin, Arbon.


Scene from Ein Toter hing im Netz (1959) with Alex D'Arcy. Source: R6dw6c (YouTube).


Sexy Catfight scene from Ein Toter hing im Netz (1959). Source: Polar Blair's Den (YouTube).

Sources: Absolute Facts.nl (Dutch), Britannica, Wikipedia, and IMDb

On Saturday 2 November 2019, French singer and actress of Armenian descent Marie Laforêt (1939) has passed away. After her first appearance in the drama Plein Soleil (René Clément, 1960) opposite Alain Delon, she became very popular and interpreted many roles in the 1960s. As a singer she is best loved for 'Marie douceur, Marie colère', her version of the Rolling Stones hit 'Paint it black'. Marie Laforêt was 80.


French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 69.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/344. Photo: Gérard Decaux.


French postcard by PSG, no. 931. Photo: P. de Mervellec.


French promotion card by Disques Festival.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

The Girl with the Golden Eyes

Marie Laforêt was born as Maïténa Doumenach in Soulac-sur-Mer in the Gironde in 1939. Her parents were of Armenian origin.

Marie’s career began accidentally in 1959 when she stepped in for her sister at the last minute in the French radio talent contest Naissance d'une étoile (Birth of a star) - and won.

Director Louis Malle then cast her in the film he was shooting at the time, Liberté (Freedom). The film was eventually abandoned but Marie went on to take the lead female role opposite heart throb Alain Delon in the classic Plein Soleil/Purple Noon (René Clément, 1960), based on the novel The talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith.

That same year she married director Jean-Gabriel Albicocco, who cast her later in some of his own works, including La Fille aux Yeux d'Or/The Girl with the Golden Eyes (1961), based on the Honoré de Balzac story. The film title would become her nickname.

In her second film, Saint Tropez Blues (Marcel Moussy, 1961), accompanied by a young Jacques Higelin at the guitar, she sang the title song. Immediately she started releasing singles.

Her first hit was the chirpy folkish 'Les Vendanges de l'Amour' in 1963. In a translated version, the song also gave Marie a top ten hit in Italy, as 'La vendemmia dell'amore', a year later.

She also recorded some rock songs, her most famous being 'Marie-douceur, Marie-colère' (1966), a cracking version of the Rolling Stones hit 'Paint It Black'.

Another popular recording was 1965s girl-groupish 'A demain, my darling', known by English-speakers as 'The Sha La La Song' and recorded by Marianne Faithfull on her debut album.

Her later songs offered a more mature, poetic, tender alternative to the light, teenage yé-yé tunes charting in France at the time. Her melodies borrowed more from exotic folk music, especially South American and Eastern European, than from contemporary American and British pop acts.

Laforêt worked with many important French composers, musicians and lyricists, such as André Popp and Pierre Cour, who provided her with a panoply of colourful, sophisticated orchestral arrangements, featuring dozens of musical instruments and creating a variety of sounds, sometimes almost Medieval, Renaissance or Baroque, other times quite modern and innovative.

Meanwhile she appeared in several French and Italian films, including Leviathan/Dark Journey (Léonard Keigel, 1962) with Louis Jourdan, À cause, à cause d'une femme/Because, Because of a Woman (Michel Deville, 1963) with Jacques Charrier, La chasse à l'homme/Male Hunt (Edouard Molinaro, 1964) opposite Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Le soldatesse/The Camp Followers (Valerio Zurlini, 1965) starring Anna Karina.

She also appeared opposite George Hamilton in the American comedy Jack of Diamonds (Don Sharp, 1967).


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. FK 125. Photo: Ufa.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 871. Photo: Studio Vauclair, Paris.


Belgian postcard by Editions Decker, Brussels, no. A 110.


Italian postcard by Diesse / Cristo San Pietro in Corte, Monticello.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

The Exile of Carlos Gardel

At the end of the 1960s, Marie Laforêt had become a rather distinctive figure in the French pop scene. Her music stood out, perhaps too much for her new label CBS Records, which expected of her more upbeat, simpler songs. Marie fell out with the record company’s bosses over her choice of material, which they felt not to be sufficiently commercial. She was interested in making more personal records, but finally gave in.

Although her most financially successful singles (Viens, Viens, a 1973 cover of a British hit, and Il a neigé sur Yesterday (1977), a ballad written by Michel Jourdan about the break-up of the Beatles) were released in the 1970s, Marie progressively lost interest in her singing career.

She moved to Geneva, Switzerland in 1978, where she opened an art gallery and abandoned music more or less altogether. She incidentally appeared in films, including the fairy-tale adaptation Le petit poucet/Tom Thumb (Michel Deville, 1972) and the action comedy Flic ou voyou/Cop or Hood (Georges Lautner, 1979) featuring Jean-Paul Belmondo.

In the 1980s, she concentrated on her acting career, appearing in such French and Italian films as the comedy Les diplômés du dernier rang (Christian Gion, 1982) with Michel Galabru, another Belmondo actioner Les morfalous (Henri Verneuil, 1984) and the little seen masterpiece Tangos, l'exil de Gardel/Tangos, the Exile of Gardel (Fernando E. Solanas, 1985) dedicated to Carlos Gardel, the legendary Argentinian tango star.

She also played regularly on TV as in the popular mini-series La piovra 3/The Octopus 3 (Luigi Perelli, 1987) starring Michele Placido. Laforêt eventually released some music singles, but they were not popular. She made a comeback, however, in 1993 with an album (her last) for which she wrote the lyrics.

In the 1990s, she again continued to work as an actress, both on stage and on screen in such films as the romance Dis-moi oui.../Say Yes To Me (Alexandre Arcady, 1995) with Jean-Hugues Anglade, and the Sci-Fi film Tykho Moon (Enki Bilal, 1996) with Julie Delpy.

She performed in a number of plays in Paris over the years, acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. In September 2005 she sang once again, going on tour in France for the first time since 1972. Every concert was sold out.

Her last film is the comedy-drama Les bureaux de Dieu/God’s Offices (Claire Simon, 2008) about dedicated social workers who devote their long shifts to helping pregnant women.

Marie Laforêt passed away in Geneva and had obtained Swiss citizenship. She was the mother of writer-director Liza Azuelos, with whom she worked on the film Ainsi soient-elles/That’s How Women Are (Liza Azuelos, Patrick Alessandrin, 1995) with Vincent Cassel and Thomas Kretschmann.


French promotion card by Festival. Photo: Studio du Marais.


French postcard by PSG, presented by Corvisart, Epinal, no. 474. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Librairie Hachette, Paris, no. 2. Photo: Parc Film Navarre & associes. Publicity still for Le Petit Poucet/Tom Thumb (Michel Boisrond, 1972).


Marie Laforet sings Ivan, Boris & Moi on French TV in the Sacha show (1968) with among the dancers Sacha Distel and Jean Yanne. Source: cyclopede (YouTube).


Marie Laforet sings je voudrais tant que tu comprennes in Surprise Partie (1997).

Sources: Ready Steady Girls, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Sexy Canadian-American actress and model Pamela Anderson (1967) is best known for the TV series Home Improvement, Baywatch and V.I.P., and a record 14 Playboy covers. Furthermore the platinum blonde but naturally born brunette is an international celebrity thanks to her rocky marriages, her animal rights activism and her changing bust sizes. But she also appeared in a dozen of feature films, including the cult film Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996), based on the Dark Horse comic.


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X670. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Publicity still for Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X671. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Publicity still for Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X672. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Publicity still for Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).

A Centennial Baby

Pamela Denise Anderson was born in Ladysmith, (Vancouver Island), BC, Canada, the daughter of Barry Anderson, a furnace repairman, and Carol (née Grosco) Anderson, a waitress. She was the first Canadian baby born in Ladysmith Canada's Centennial Day in 1967, A Centennial Baby.

As a child, Anderson suffered frequent sexual abuse, a fact she revealed publicly in 2014: she was molested by a female babysitter from ages 6 to 10, raped by a 25-year-old man when she was 12, and gang-raped by her boyfriend and six of his friends when she was 14. She also revealed that her father, though 'loving', had been an alcoholic.

Anderson attended Highland Secondary School in Comox, British Columbia. During high school, she played on the volleyball team. She graduated in 1985. In 1988, the 19-years-old Anderson moved to Vancouver and worked as a fitness instructor.

In 1989, Anderson attended a BC Lions Canadian Football League game at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, where the stadium camera featured her on the electronic scoreboard while wearing a Labatt's Beer T-shirt. The fans cheered her and she was brought down to the football field. Because of her fame in Vancouver, she signed a commercial contract with the brewing company to be the 'Blue Zone girl'. More advertising assignments followed.

Anderson appeared as the cover girl on Playboy magazine's October 1989 issue. She moved to Los Angeles to further pursue a modelling career. Playboy subsequently chose her as Playmate of the Month in their February 1990 issue, in which she appeared in the centrefold photo. Anderson then elected to have breast implant surgery, increasing her bust size to 34D.

She famously increased her bust size again, to 34DD, several years later. Anderson has since appeared in Playboy several times in the 1990s and the 2000s. Anderson's Playboy career spans 22 years, and she has appeared on 14 Playboy covers, more than any other model. Anderson was the last to pose nude in Playboy, on the magazine's January/February 2016 cover.

Anderson also became known as a lifelong animal rights and human advocate and is also an activist for environmental issues. In 2006, she posed naked in the window of Stella McCartney's store in London to protest against the use of fur for making clothes.


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X660. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Publicity still for Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X663. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Pamela Anderson in Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X666. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Publicity still for Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).

Lifeguard C. J. Parker

After Pamela Anderson moved to Los Angeles, she won a minor role as Lisa, the original ‘Tool Time girl’, on the television sitcom, Home Improvement (1991-1993), starring Tim Allen.

She left the show after two seasons and won the role of lifeguard C. J. Parker on Baywatch (1992-1997), the action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. She played C.J. for five seasons making her one of the longest serving and most popular cast members.

This has been her best known role to date and she later reprised her role to return in a reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (Douglas Schwartz, 2003). In 1994, she was cast in her first starring film role, in the action thriller Raw Justice (David A. Prior, 1994), co-starring with Stacy Keach. She also appeared in Naked Souls (Lyndon Chubbuck, 1996), starring Brian Krause.

Next she starred in the action-Science Fiction film Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996), based on the Dark Horse comic book series of the same name. The thinly veiled futuristic remake of Casablanca was poorly received by critics, bombed at the box office and resulted for Anderson in a Golden Raspberry Award for her interpretation.

In 1998, she came back as Vallery Irons in the TV series V.I.P. (1998-2002) about a bodyguard agency (V.I.P. aka Vallery Irons Protection). Blending action and humour in a fast-paced adventure series, with Anderson often poking fun at her tabloid image, the show explored the exciting and sometimes treacherous lives of the rich and famous. The series lasted through a successful four-year run. In 1999, Anderson had her breast implants surgically removed. The breaking news seemed like the end of an era.


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X667. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Publicity still for Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X668. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Pamela Anderson in Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X669. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Pamela Anderson in Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).

Don't worry, summer is coming

Pamela Anderson married Tommy Lee, drummer of Mötley Crüe in 1995, after knowing him for about 4 days. They wed on a beach, with Anderson in a bikini. Anderson's mother did not know, and learned of the marriage from People magazine. A sex tape of Anderson and Tommy Lee on their honeymoon was stolen from their home in 1995 and made a huge stir on the Internet.

Anderson sued the video distribution company, Internet Entertainment Group. Ultimately, the Lees entered into a confidential settlement agreement with IEG. During this time, she was known professionally as Pamela Anderson Lee. Together they have two sons, Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee. The couple divorced in 1998.

In 2000, Anderson became engaged to Swedish model Marcus Schenkenberg, but they broke up in 2001. In 2004, Anderson became a naturalised citizen of the United States, while retaining her Canadian citizenship. She became engaged to the singer Kid Rock (Robert J. Ritchie); and they married in 2006.

Later that year Anderson miscarried while shooting a new film, Blonde and Blonder (Dean Hamilton, 2006) with Denise Richards. Seventeen days later, Anderson filed for divorce. In 2007, Anderson married Rick Salomon in a small wedding ceremony at The Mirage, between her two nightly appearances at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Hans Klok's magic show. The couple separated later that year and Anderson requested through the courts that the marriage be annulled, citing fraud.

In 2014 they remarried and also divorced again in 2015. Her film work in the new millennium consisted mainly of cameos in such comedies as Scooby-Doo (Raja Gosnell, 2002) with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Scary Movie 3 (David Zucker, 2003), part of the franchise that parodied the horror, Sci-Fi, and mystery genres.

In 2004, she released the book 'Star', co-written by Eric Shaw Quinn, about a teenager trying to become famous. Her second book, the sequel 'Star Struck' (2005), is a thinly veiled look at her life with Tommy Lee and the trials of celebrity life. Anderson appeared in the mockumentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Larry Charles, 2006), as the title character (Sacha Baron Cohen) becomes obsessed with her, and plans to abduct and marry her. She appears as herself at a book signing at the end of the film, confronted by Borat in a staged botched abduction. The film opened at No. 1 in the US box office, maintaining first place for two weeks straight.

More recently she co-starred in the independent film The People Garden (Nadia Litz, 2016), a Canadian-Japanese drama starring Dree Hemingway, and for this year she’s scheduled to return in a cameo as the older C.J. in a new film version of Baywatch (Seth Gordon, 2017). The new film version stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Priyanka Chopra and Zac Efron and the tagline is promising: Don't worry, summer is coming.

Recently, Pamela Anderson, now 49, appeared in the erotic magazine The Amorist in new pictures by photographer Rankin for a new ad campaign for an erotic lingerie brand. The DailyMail Online commented: “Time may well be a cruel mistress, but Pamela Anderson goes some way towards proving the years have been kind in a stunning new photoshoot.”


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X658. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Publicity still for Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X673. Photo: Dark Horse Comics / Polygram. Publicity still for Barb Wire (David Hogan, 1996).

Sources: Pamelandersonfoundation.org, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Austrian singer and actor Willy Hagara (1927-2015) was a popular film and TV star from the mid 1950s till the mid 1960s. The discrete and elegant Schlager star had five Top 10 hits, including the evergreen Casetta in Canada (1958). The singer’s career did not survive the Beat wave, but in 1969 an inheritance made him a millionaire.


German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 110. Photo: Bayer.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. A 1698.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf. Photo: Deutsche Cosmopol Film (DCF). Elke Arendt and Willy Hagara in Paprika (Kurt Wilhelm, 1959).

The German Perry Como

Wilhelm ‘Willy’ Hagara was born in Vienna, Austria in 1927. He was initially trained as a postal clerk and practised this profession as well.

In 1946, he won a popular song contest in the Wiener Konzerthaus. He focused all his activities to this new career, and took singing and acting lessons.

During this time he was successful with folk songs and as the singer of the band of John Fehring, who later became the leader of the ORF Big Band Orchestra. Hagara was a classic band singer who performed one of his songs in an early Schlager show for the German ARD television, Schlager-Expreß/Schlager Express (1953).

Finally in 1955, his breakthrough came with the song 'Eine Kutsche voller Mädels' (A coach full of girls). Willy Hagara moved to Frankfurt in Germany and he became something like the German Perry Como, whose songs in German versions he often would sing.

Two years later he appeared in his first film, the musical comedy Weißer Holunder/White Elder (Paul May, 1957) with Germaine Damar.

It was followed by a string of light entertainment films: Liebe, Mädchen und Soldaten/Love, girls and soldiers (Franz Antel, 1958), Mein ganzes Herz ist voll Musik/My whole heart is filled with music (Helmut Weiss, 1959), Der Haustyrann/The domestic tyrant (Hans Deppe, 1959) starring Heinz Erhardt, Laß mich am Sonntag nicht allein/Let me not be alone on Sunday (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1959) with Heidi Brühl, and Paprika/Pepper (Kurt Wilhelm, 1959).


Austrian postcard by Kellner, Wien, no. 82466. Publicity still for Paprika/Pepper (1959).


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. A 1836. Photo: Bavaria.

Beat Wave

Cinema attendance in Germany and Austria had spectacularly grown in the 1950s, but at the end of the decade it first stagnated and then went into freefall in the 1960s.

The once so popular Schlager films became outdated. In 1961 Willy Hagara appeared in his last Schlager film, Ramona (Paul Martin, 1961) with Senta Berger.

At the time, television was developing into a mass medium that could compete with the cinema. In 1962 there were already 7 million TV sets in West-Germany.

Hagara moved over to the small screen and appeared in such musical TV comedies as Mitternachtszauber/Midnight Magic (Ralph Lotar, 1964) with Werner Fuetterer, and Vom Ersten das Beste/From the first the best (Ekkehard Böhmer, 1965) with Hannelore Auer.

These TV productions were in the same genre as the films he had made in the 1950s for the cinema. Until the mid-1960s he starred in numerous TV films and sold many records.

In total he had five Top 10 hits, including the evergreen 'Casetta in Canada'. His song 'Du spielst 'ne tolle Rolle' (You play a great role) became in the version of Nat King Cole a Top 10 hit in the US.

But the Beat wave finished his singing career. His later TV-films included Ein Mädchen von heute/A girl of today (Dieter Finnern, 1966) with Karin Baal.

In 1969 he got a million inheritance: his father, the merchant Franz Hagara, left him with a villa and several lease lands in Vienna. He did not retire, but he bridged the 1970s with performances during galas.

Incidentally he appeared as a guest in such TV shows as Hit-Journal (H.B. Theopold, 1973), Tango-Tango (Horst Eppinger, 1976) and Ein kleines Glück auf allen Wegen/A small fortune on all routes (Ekkehard Böhmer, 1980).

After the death of his wife in 1986, Willy Hagara retired from the show business. His last public appearance was in a show from Schloss Schönbrunn in Vienna in 2002 on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

Willy Hagara passed away in 2015 in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. He was 87.


German postcard by Philips.


Willy Hagara & Die Maxis sing 'Maria Marietta' (Wie du küsst keine) in Weißer Holunder/White Elder (1957). Source: fritz5120 (YouTube).

Sources: Wälz Studer (Memoryradio.de - German), Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.

Piper Laurie (1932) is an American stage and screen actress known for her roles in the films The Hustler (1961), Carrie (1976), and Children of a Lesser God (1986), all of which brought her Oscar nominations. She is also known for her performances as Kirsten Arnesen in the original TV production of Days of Wine and Roses (1958) and as Catherine Martell in the cult television series Twin Peaks (1990-1991), for which she won a Golden Globe Award in 1991. She has been nominated twelve times for an Emmy Award.


German postcard by Kolibri Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 822. Photo: Universal International.


Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. 686. Photo: Universal International. Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie in The Prince Who Was A Thief (Rudolph Maté, 1952).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D. 434. Photo: Universal International.

Bathing in milk and eating flower petals for her luminous skin

Piper Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs in 1932, in Detroit, Michigan. She was the younger daughter of Charlotte Sadie (née Alperin) and Alfred Jacobs, a furniture dealer.

In 1938, the family moved to Los Angeles, where she attended a Hebrew school. For much of her early childhood, her parents placed Laurie and her older sister in a children's home, which they both despised. To combat her shyness, her parents provided her with weekly elocution lessons.

Piper studied acting with Benno and Betomi Schnider for three years. This eventually led to minor roles at nearby Universal Studios. In 1949, Rosetta Jacobs signed a long term contract with Universal Studios, and changed her screen name to Piper Laurie, which she has used since then.

At Universal, she met other soon-to-be familiar actors Julie Adams, Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson. Her breakout role was in the comedy Louisa (Alexander Hall, 1950), with Ronald Reagan, whom she dated a few times before his marriage to Nancy Davis. In her 2011 autobiography 'Learning to Live Out Loud', she claimed that she lost her virginity to him.

Several other roles followed: Francis Goes to the Races (Arthur Lubin, 1951) with Donald O'Connor, the Swashbuckler The Prince Who Was a Thief (Rudolph Mate, 1951) with Tony Curtis in his first starring role, and the comedy Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (Douglas Sirk, 1952) with Rock Hudson.

To enhance her image, Universal Studios told gossip columnists that Laurie bathed in milk and ate flower petals to protect her luminous skin. Other films were the adventures Son of Ali Baba (Kurt Neumann, 1952) again opposite Tony Curtis, and The Golden Blade (Nathan Juran, 1953) again co-starring Rock Hudson. She also co-starred with Rory Calhoun in the Western Dawn at Socorro (George Sherman, 1954), and the musical Ain't Misbehavin' (Edward Buzzell, 1955).

Discouraged by the lack of serious film roles, she moved to New York to study acting and to seek work on the stage and in television. She appeared on TV in Twelfth Night, produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame, in Days of Wine and Roses (John Frankenheimer, 1958) with Cliff Robertson, presented by Playhouse 90 (in the film version, their roles were taken over by Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick), and opposite Martin Balsam in Winterset (George Schaefer, 1959), also presented by Playhouse 90.


Vintage collectors card. Photo: Universal International. Piper Laurie and Scotty Beckett in Louisa (Alexander Hall, 1950).


Spanish postcard. Photo: Universal International. Piper Laurie and Donald O'Connor in Francis Goes to the Races (Arthur Lubin, 1951).

Supernatural horror

Piper Laurie was again lured to Hollywood by the offer to co-star with Paul Newman in The Hustler (Robert Rossen, 1961). She played Newman's girlfriend, Sarah Packard, and for her performance she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The Hustler was a major critical and popular success, gaining a reputation as a modern classic.

However, substantial film roles did not come her way, so Laurie and her husband moved to New York. In 1964, she appeared in two TV medical dramas — as Alicia Carter in The Eleventh Hour episode 'My Door Is Locked and Bolted', and as Alice Marin in the Breaking Point episode 'The Summer House'.

In 1965, she starred in a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams''The Glass Menagerie', opposite Maureen Stapleton, Pat Hingle, and George Grizzard. She devoted her energies to the Civil Rights movement and to the Vietnam War, feeling acting was less important.

Laurie did not appear in another feature film until she accepted the role of Margaret White in the supernatural horror film Carrie (Brian De Palma, 1976). Her co-star, Sissy Spacek, praised her acting skill: "She is a remarkable actress. She never does what you expect her to do — she always surprises you with her approach to a scene."

Laurie received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and the commercial success of the film relaunched her career. She appeared in the horror dramas Ruby (Curtis Harrington, 1977) and as Mary Horton in the Australian romance Tim (Michael Pate, 1979) opposite Mel Gibson.

After her 1981 divorce, Laurie relocated to California. She received a third Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Mrs. Norman in Children of a Lesser God (Randa Haines, 1986). That same year, she was awarded an Emmy for her performance in the TV film Promise (Glenn Jordan, 1986), co-starring James Garner and James Woods.


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 400. Photo: Universal International. Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie in The Prince Who Was A Thief (Rudolph Maté, 1952).


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1238. Photo: Universal International.

Twelve Emmy nominations

In 1990-1991, Piper Laurie starred as the devious Catherine Martell in David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks. She also appeared in Other People's Money (Norman Jewison, 1991) with Danny DeVito and Gregory Peck, and in horror maestro Dario Argento's first American film, Trauma (1993) with Asia Argento, the director's daughter.

On stage, she had a featured role in the Off-Broadway production of 'The Destiny of Me' in 1992, and later returned to Broadway for Lincoln Center's acclaimed 2002 revival of Paul Osborn's 'Morning's at Seven', with Julie Hagerty and Estelle Parsons.

On television, she played George Clooney's character's mother on ER (1995). Then, she appeared with Patty Duke in the TV film A Christmas Memory (Glenn Jordan, 1997) based on the story by Truman Capote, and in the Sci-Fi thriller The Faculty (Robert Rodriguez, 1998) with Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood.

She made guest appearances on television shows such as Matlock (1986), Frasier (1994 and 1999) and Will & Grace (2000). Laurie also appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2001) and in Cold Case (2005).

She returned to the big screen for independent films, such as Eulogy (Michael Clancy, 2004) and The Dead Girl (Karen Moncrieff, 2006), opposite Toni Collette.

Piper Laurie was married once, to New York Herald Tribune entertainment writer Joe Morgenstern. They met shortly after the release of The Hustler in 1961 when Morgenstern interviewed her during the film's promotion. They soon began dating, and nine months after the interview, they were married in 1962. In 1971, they had a daughter, Anne Grace Morgenstern.

In 1982, the couple divorced, after which she relocated to the Hollywood area and continued working in films and television. Laurie won an Emmy Award for her role in Promise (Glenn Jordan, 1986). In total, she received twelve Emmy nominations, including one for playing Magda Goebbels, wife of Joseph Goebbels, in The Bunker (George Schaefer, 1981), opposite Anthony Hopkins as Hitler, one for her role in the miniseries, The Thorn Birds (Daryl Duke, 1983), two nominations for her work in Twin Peaks, as Catherine Martell, and a nomination for her guest appearance on Frasier.

She has been nominated for an Academy Award for her performances in three films. Most recently, she appeared in the films Snapshots (Melanie Mayron, 2018) and White Boy Rick (Yann Demange, 2018), starring Matthew McConaughey.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag. Photo: Universal International.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag. Photo: Universal International.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, no. 476. Photo: Universal International.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

American film star Buck Jones (1891–1942) starred in many popular B-Westerns of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Executive William Fox decided to use him as a backup to Tom Mix. This led to his first starring role, The Last Straw (Denison Clift, Charles Swickard, 1920). With his famed horse Silver, Jones would make more than 160 films credits.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1339/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Albert Witzel / Fox.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3196/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Fox.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3909/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Fox.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 4401/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Fox.

Champion Bronco Buster

Buck Jones was born Charles Frederick Gebhart in 1891 in Vincennes, Indiana, USA.

Jones reportedly (but disputably) grew up on a ranch near Red Rock in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and there learned the riding and shooting skills that would stand him in good stead as a hero of Westerns.

He joined the army as a teenager and served on US-Mexican border before seeing service in the Moro uprising in the Philippines. Though wounded, he recuperated and re-enlisted, hoping to become a pilot.

He was not accepted for pilot training and left the army in 1913. He took a menial job with the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show and soon became champion bronco buster for the show. He moved on to the Julia Allen Show, but with the beginning of the First World War, Jones took work training horses for the Allied armies.

After the war, he and his wife, Odelle Osborne, whom he had met in the Miller Brothers show, toured with the Ringling Brothers circus. While in Los Angeles with the circus, Jones decided to leave the cowboy life behind and get a job in the film industry.


American postcard. Photo: Fox. Buck Jones in Pardon My Nerve! (B. Reeves Eason, 1922).


British postcard in the A Real Photogravure Portrait series.


French postcard, no. 5031. Photo: Max Munn Autrey / Fox.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 186. Photo: Fox Film.

The Rough Riders

Buck Jones was hired by Universal Pictures for $5 per day as a bit player and stuntman. In his early film appearances, he was billed as Charles Jones. He later worked for Fox as a stuntman.

He joined Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix, and Ken Maynard as the top cowboy actors of the 1920s. According to Jim Beaver at IMDb, he played "a more dignified, less gaudy hero than Mix, if not as austere as William S. Hart."

When sound film was introduced, the major studios weren't interested anymore in Jones. He signed with then-humble Columbia Pictures, starring in Westerns like The Lone Rider (Louis King, 1930) for $300 a week, a fraction of his top salary in the silent-film days.

His voice, a rugged baritone, recorded well and the films were very successful, re-establishing him as a major movie name. During the 1930s he starred in Western features and serials for Columbia and Universal Pictures.

His star waned in the late 1930s when singing cowboys became the rage and Jones, then in his late forties, was uncomfortably cast in conventional leading-man roles. He re-joined Columbia in the fall of 1940, starring in the serial White Eagle. The new serial was a hit, and Jones was again re-established.

His final series of Western features, co-produced by Jones and his friend Scott R. Dunlap of Monogram Pictures, featured The Rough Riders trio: Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, and Raymond Hatton.

Buck Jones was one of the 492 victims of the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston. Jones was horribly burned and died two days later.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 380. Photo: Fox Film.


British postcard by Film Weekly, London.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 146a. Photo: Albert Witzel, Hollywood.


British postcard. Photo: Buck Jones in White Eagle (Lambert Hillyer, 1932).

Source: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Ivo Blom recently acquired more than 20 postcards in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, published by the French journal Comoedia, located in Paris. The series offers a glimpse of many French actors and actresses of the 1910s and early 1920s in their dressing rooms. All these stage artists also appeared in films. Ivo wrote the accompanying short bios about the now forgotten actors. If you want to see more cards of this series, check out our earlier post on 'Nos artistes dans leur loge'.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 4. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Félix Mayol (1872-1941) was a popular French singer of the Belle Epoque. Born in Toulon, he made a modest debut on the stages of Toulon and Marseille. In 1895, he became a success in Paris in 1895 as a singer performing in a campy, effeminate way. An anecdote published in his memoirs reports that for lack of finding a camellia, that the elegant men wore at the time on the revers of their frock coat, he took a bit of lily of the valley which became his emblem. The improbable hair tassel he wore (and which gave him the nickname of 'the red-toupeed artist' or 'flame of punch') became so famous that it inspired many imitators. He knew his first great success in 1896 with 'La Paimpolaise' by Théodore Botrel. In 1900, after a brief stint at the Eldorado where he sang 'À la cabane bambou', he was engaged by La Scala. It was there that he created the title that would make him both rich and famous: 'Viens, poupoule!' (1902), an adaptation of a German song arranged by Henri Christiné and Alexandre Trébitsch. He recidivated in 1905 with 'La Matchiche', the adaptation of a fashionable Spanish dance song. The same year, he performed at Gaumont in 14 phonoscènes under the direction of Alice Guy, such as La Paimpolaise. These were short sound films using a sound on disc system. Several still exist. Already, Mayol had to his credit many recordings on cylinders and on discs. After the 1905 phonoscènes series at Gaumont, Mayol acted in five more films, according to IMDb. He appeared in three silent films, including Le filon du Bouif (Louis Osmont, 1922), and two early sound films, Aux urnes, citoyens!/Tu sera député (Jean Hémard, 1932) and La dame de chez Maxim's (Alexander Korda, 1933) starring Florelle.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 51. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Pierre Magnier (1869-1959) was a French stage and screen actor and director, acting in over 100 films and known for La roue (Abel Gance, 1923), Cyrano de Bergerac (Augusto Genina, 1923) and La règle du jeu (Jean Renoir, 1939).


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 82. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Tarquini d'Or (1882-1949) was a French stage and screen actor and operetta singer, who was an operetta singer in the 1920s and acted in 8 French early sound films. He was e.g. the singer in the French version of Der Kongress tanzt: Le congrès s'amuse (Jean Boyer, Erik Charell, 1931). Another memorable role he had in the Zola adaptation L'assommoir (Gaston Roudès, 1933). Tarquini d'Or (first name Brutus), was the son of famous cabaret singer Aristide Bruant and his companion singer Mathilde Tarquini d'Or. He was born in La Chaux de Fond, Switzerland, and died in Sens, France. For one of his songs, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTE57hnE-Ko


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 135. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Denis d'Inès (1885–1968) was a renowned stage actor, who also knew a career in cinema. Born in Paris as Joseph-Victor-Octave Denis, he started acting by 1905 in plays directed by André Antoine and remained with him for many years. He entered the Comédie-Française in 1914, was a sociétaire there from 1920 to 1953, General administrator ad intérim in 1945, dean from 1945 to 1953, and honorary sociétaire from 1954. In the silent era d'Inès played in a handful of shorts at the company Eclipse, mostly film d'art-like adaptations of Shakespeare plays but also the 1914 exotic adventure film Le scarabée d'or (Henri Desfontaines, 1914), based on an Edgar Allen Poe story. After that Denis d'Inès only returned to the film sets from 1938 onwards. He played some 20 parts between 1938 and 1959, often as distinguished clergymen (cardinals, bishops, etc.) and generals. He was directed by Christian-Jaque in Boule de suif (Christian-Jaque, 1945), D'homme à hommes (Christian-Jaque, 1948), and Madame du Barry (Christian-Jaque, 1954). Other memorable parts he had in La tragédie impériale (Marcel L'Herbier, 1938) - his first sound film part, and Véronique (Robert Vernay, 1950).


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 142. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Jean Joffre aka Joffre, full name Jean François Omer Joffre, (1872-1944) was a French stage and screen actor. Born in Rivesaltes (Pyrénées-Orientales), Joffre started his stage career at least in 1905 and played at the Parisian Théâtre du Vaudeville till 1924. Between 1926 and 1929 he worked at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin. Joffre started acting on-screen from 1911-1912 at Pathé Frères, with directors such as René Leprince and Ferdinand Zecca. In the late 1910s, he played in Fauvette (Gérard Bourgeois, 1918) and Le petit café (Raymond Bernard, 1919). In the 1920s. he had a rich career in the French silent cinema, including major parts in such films as La Rafale (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1920), Fromont jeune et Risler aîné (Henry Krauss, 1921), and Les Trois Mousquetaires (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1921) as M. Bonacieux. He was also unit manager for the latter film. However, Joffre's most active film acting career he had in the 1930s and early 1940s, in particular in 1938 when he acted in some 8 films, though all in minor parts. Memorable parts he had in Amants et voleurs (Raymond Bernard, 1935) starring Florelle and Pierre Blanchar, and as Dantès' father in Le comte de Monte Cristo, 1ère époque: Edmond Dantès (Robert Vernay, 1943) starring Pierre-Richard Willm. The latter was Joffre's last film role.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 147. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

André Brunot (1879-1973) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than twenty films from 1910 to 1966. Brunot was a student at the Conservatoire de Paris and won first prize there in 1903. He entered the Comédie-Française in 1903 and was sociétaire between 1910 and 1944. He became dean here between 1939 and 1944, and sociétaire honoraire in 1952. After leaving the Comédie-Française in 1944, he joined the Renaud-Barrault company for at least two decades and almost 30 plays, almost all directed by Jean-Louis Barrault. While Brunot had done a handful of silent shorts in the silent era, including the lead in the silent comedy L'affaire Blaireau (Louis Osmont, 1923), he came back to the film sets in 1934 with the Molière adaptation Les Précieuses ridicules (Léonce Perret, 1934). Four years after, his career really set off with his part of Monsieur Grenaison in Entrée des artistes (Marc Allégret, 1938), starring Louis Jouvet, and his most outstanding role as Jane Marken's husband, hotel patron Père Lecouvreur in Hôtel du Nord (Marcel Carné, 1938). From then, he played many supporting roles on the screen until 1959. Brunot's last film part was that of the priest in Jean Renoir's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (1959).


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 156. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Amélie Diéterle (1871-1941) was one the most beloved actresses and singers of the Belle Epoque, who inspired poets and painters such as Mallarmé and Rodin. Between 1909 and 1913 she acted in some 27 shorts films at Pathé Frères: mostly Rigadin comedies directed by Georges Monca.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 163. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Roger Monteaux (1879-1974) was a French stage and screen actor. Born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Monteaux first acted at the Théâtre du Vaudeville and the Théâtre Réjane, then in the 1910s at the Théâtre de l'Athénée and the Théâtre du Gymnase, before entering the Comédie-Française in 1915. Between 1923 and 1936 he was sociétaire there, alternating classic plays by Molière or after classic famous authors such as Balzac and Hugo, with modern plays by e.g. Henri Bataille. Between 1909 and 1911 Monteaux played at Pathé Frères in some 13 short silent films, mostly historical and modern dramas, directed by André Calmettes, Georges Monca, Henri Pouctal, and others. In the early 1920s, he acted in 5 silent features, such as Roger la Honte (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1922) and the Honoré de Balzac adaptation Le cousin Pons (Jacques Robert, 1924). It then took until 1937 for Monteaux to act in films again. Between 1937 and 1960 he played in some 20 films, mostly in minor parts, sometimes even uncredited. He had a major part as a stern father in Dominique (Yvan Noé, 1950) starring Michel Barbey as the title character. Dominique is chased from his parents' house when they discover he works in a cinema and lives with a girl, Simone (Claire Muriel). He hence lives with Simone, who receives funding from a mysterious stranger, who proves to be none other than Dominique's father. The latter explains he wanted to free his son from his mother and her bourgeois relatives. Roger Monteaux died at the high age of 95 years in Monaco in 1974.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 167. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Félix Oudart (1881–1956) was a French stage and film actor. Born in Lille, he followed acting classes there, then played his first roles at the Grand Théâtre de Reims, where he also directed, and in Paris, in particular at the Théâtre de l'Odéon and the Gaîté-Lyrique. With Louis Jouvet he participated in the creation of two plays by Jean Giraudoux: 'Intermezzo' (1933) and 'Ondine' (1939). He acted in film between 1919 and 1953. While he played in only a handful films in the silent era, e.g. in Crainquebille (Jacques Feyder, 1922) and Tire-au-flanc (Jean Renoir, 1928), he had an enormous output in the 1930s. These films included the sound remake of Tire-au-flanc (Henri Wulschleger, 1933). Among his last films were Au diable la vertu (Jean Laviron, 1952) and L'Île aux femmes nues (Henri Lepage, 1953).


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 181. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Frédéric Duvallès (1884-1971) was a popular French comedian who knew a rich career in French sound cinema of the 1930s and 1950s. Examples of his films are L'héritier du Bal Tabarin (Jean Kemm, 1933), Train de plaisir (Léo Joannon, 1936), and Vacances payées (Maurice Cammage, 1938), in which he had the lead. All in all, he acted in some 46 films.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 184. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Jules-Adolphe Simon aka Marcel Simon, born in Brussels in 1872 and died in Paris in 1958, was a Belgian actor and director. As a friend of George Feydeau, he contributed to the creation of many of his plays, such as 'Monsieur chasse!' (1892), 'La Dame de chez Maxim' (1899), 'La Puce à l'oreille' (1907), and 'Occupe-toi d'Amélie' (1908). From 1908 he acted in film, first in comedies (with Rigadin) and dramas directed by Georges Monca. Then he appeared at Éclair in dramas directed by Maurice Tourneur such as the murder mystery Le Mystère de la chambre jaune (1913) and its sequel Le Parfum de la dame en noir (1914), but also in Feydeau adaptations such as Occupe-toi d'Amélie (1912). While absent from the screen in the 1920s, Simon returned with the arrival of sound cinema. In the 1930s, he had a very prolific screen career, playing major supporting parts as aristocrats, directors, and high-ranked military. Among his last films was Boule de suif (Christian-Jaque, 1950). Simon was also film director between 1913 and 1921, mostly of comedies such as the Feydeau adaptation La Puce à l'oreille (1914) and a few with the character Germain. Simon was married to actress Marguerite Pierry.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 194. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Élisabeth Nizan (1896-1969) was a French stage actress, who only played in four films, but two were classics: La dixième symphonie (1918) and J'accuse (1919), both directed by Abel Gance. She entered the Comédie-Française in 1915 and between 1932 and 1936 she was sociétaire there.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 210. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Pierre Bertin (1891-1984) was a French stage and screen actor, director and scenographer. As of 1912 he was acting on stage, at the Odéon and many other Parisian theaters, and in 1919-1921 he also directed several of his plays. He entered the Comédie-Française in 1923 and was sociétaire there between 1931 and 1944. After the war, he continued to act on stage for decades, mostly under direction of Jean-Louis Barrault, but at occasions also by Louis Jouvet. Between 1916 and 1978 Bertin acted in some 74 films and TV productions. He started out in  L'instinct (Henri Pouctal, 1916), starring Raphaël and Huguette Duflos. After just a few more silents, he left the film sets for years, returning when sound film had set in. He immediately had major parts in L'amour chante (Robert Florey, 1930), Je serai seule après minuit (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1931), Faubourg Montmartre (Raymond Bernard, 1931), and Le Cordon bleu (Karl Anton, 1932) - in which Bertin had the lead. Later followed Péchés de jeunesse (Maurice Tourneur, 1941), Mademoiselle Béatrice (Max de Vaucorbeil, 1943), L'Insaisissable Frédéric (Richard Pottier, 1946), and Cyrano de Bergerac (Fernand Rivers, 1946) - in which he was de Comte de Guiche opposite Claude Dauphin in the title role. In the classic Orphée (Jean Cocteau, 1950), Bertin played the commissioner. His later films included Véronique (Robert Vernay, 1950), the remakes of Tire-au-flanc (1950) and Knock (1951), Elena et les Hommes (Jean Renoir, 1955/56), and Les Bonnes Femmes (Claude Chabrol, 1959). In La Nuit des adieux (Jean Dréville, 1965) he was the father of Marius Petipa, and in Lo straniero/The Stranger (Luchino Visconti, 1967) he was the judge. Bertin was also a voice actor for documentaries and performed on television as well.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 225. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Louis Gauthier (1864-1946) was a French stage and screen actor, who played in some 32 films, between 1909 and 1938.  From the 1890s onwards, he had a rich career on the Parisian stages in stage plays and vaudeville. In 1909, Gauthier also started to act in films at Pathé Frères. In the early 1910s he also worked at Eclair. He was the foreman Hubert in  Gerval, le maître de forges (Henri Pouctal, 1912), starring Gilbert Dalleu. Gauthier had leads in Le ruisseau (Georges Denola, 1913) - which he had played on stage in 1907, L'aveugle (Maurice Mariaud, 1913), and Par la main d'un autre (Donald MacKenzie, 1914). In Les deux gosses (Adrien Caillard, 1916) he played Georges de Kerlor, who gives away his little son to a pretty criminal. Other memorable parts he had in Une vie sans joie (Jean Renoir, 1924), Poil de carotte (Julien Duvivier, 1932), La tête d'un homme (Duvivier, 1933), L'homme à l'Hispano (Jean Epstein, 1933), and in Stradivarius (Albert Valentin, Géza von Bolváry, 1935). Gauthier was also a sports director, director of hygiene at the National Federation of physical education and military preparation societies in France and the colonies, director of the swimming course of this federation, inventor of a method of learning of swimming, and instructor of the shooting company of Presles.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 230. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Thérèse Kolb (1856-1935) was a reputed French stage actress, who also had a career in French silent cinema. Born Marie-Thérèse Kolb in Altkirch (Alsace, Haut-Rhin), she won the first prize at the Conservatoire de Paris and began to act at the Théâtre de l'Odéon with partners Coquelin the Elder and Sarah Bernhardt, whom she went on a tour of the United States in 1882. Kolb entered the Comédie-Française in 1898, before becoming the 338th member in 1904. She was named honorary member in 1923. In the early 1910s she had only one film role in Le Fils prodigue (Camille de Morlhon, 1912), but from the late 1910s on, Kolb started a steady second career in the silent cinema. In 1921-1922 she was Mme Bicard in four Le Bouif comedies with Tramel, directed by Henri Pouctal and Louis Osmont, while she also had major parts in L'ami Fritz (René Hervil, 1920), Blanchette (Hervil, 1921), Yasmina (André Hugon, 1927), L'île d'amour (Berthe Dagmar, Jean Durand, 1929), L'appassionata (André Liabel, Léon Mathot, 1929), and Le crime de Sylvestre Bonnard (André Berthomieu, 1929). In 1935 Thérèse Kolb died in Levallois-Perret (Seine) and she was buried in the Altkirch cemetery. She was the mother of Jean Kolb.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 235. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Andrée de Chauveron (1890–1965) was a French stage and screen actress. De Chauveron entered the Comédie Française in 1911. She was sociétaire between 1929 and 1945 and became sociétaire honoraire in 1957. In 1961 she celebrated her 50 years at the CF. De Chauveron acted in 12 films and 2 TV-series between 1917 and 1963. One of her first main film parts was in Après lui (Maurice de Féraudy, Gaston Leprieur, 1918), but after four silent films in the late 1910s, she didn't act in film in the 1920s, and, what is more remarkable, in only one film in the 1930s. In e.g. Arlette et l'amour (Robert Vernay, 1943) she is the pushy mother who marries her daughter (Josette Day) with a crook who poses as a count (René Alié).


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 238. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Berthe Bovy (1887-1977) was a Belgian stage and screen actress. She was a regular stage actress at the Comédie Française since 1907, but Bovy also acted in some 30 early silent films, mainly at Pathé. Later she appeared in some 20 sound films between the 1930s and early 1970s. She also worked for TV.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 259. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Maurice Lehmann (1895-1974) was a French actor, director, and producer. He was one of the principal directors of Parisian theatres of the twentieth century. Lehmann, born in Paris, entered as a pensionnaire at the Comédie-Française in 1916 and remained so till 1919. He then directed the theatres of the Porte-Saint-Martin, the Ambigu, the Renaissance, Mogador, Edward VII and the Empire. From 1929 to 1965, he directed the Théâtre du Châtelet and offered lavish performances of musical comedies and big-screen operettas that were hugely successful: Nina Rosa by Sigmund Romberg with André Baugé, L'Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (1948), Francisco Lopez's Le chanteur de Mexico (1951) with Luis Mariano which made a thousand performances, Francis Lopez's Mediterranean with Tino Rossi, and Monsieur Carnaval (1965) by Charles Aznavour with Georges Guétary. Lehmann's only claim of fame as a film actor was as Philippe de Koenigsmark in Koenigsmark (Léonce Perret, 1923). More important was his career as film producer and director. In the 1930s Lehmann founded his film production company, Maurice Lehmann Productions, with which he produced or co-produced several films, e.g. La dame aux camélias (Fernand Rivers, Abel Gance, 1934), Pasteur (Sacha Guitry, 1935), and Le roman d'un jeune homme pauvre (Abel Gance, 1936). Some films he directed himself, such as L'affaire du courrier de Lyon (1937), Le ruisseau (1938), and Fric-Frac (1939), all of which he co-directed with Claude Autant-Lara (but mostly uncredited). Lehmann was also president of the 1956 Cannes Film Festival jury and a jury member in 1957 and 1966. Lehmann was named Commander in the Order of the Legion of Honor in 1970. He was buried at the Père-Lachaise Cemetery.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 268. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Roger Gaillard (1893-1970) was a French stage and screen actor. He started his career in the boulevard comedies of George Feydeau, but he was pensionnaire of the Comédie-Française between 1916 and 1924. Apart from a part in the silent film Molière, sa vie, son œuvre (Jacques de Féraudy, 1922), he was primarily an actor of sound cinema, playing supporting parts in some 20 French films. He acted for reputed directors such as G.W. Pabst, Jean Renoir,Rex Ingram, Max Ophüls, Marcel Carné, and Jean Cocteau.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 293. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Jacques Grétillat (1885–1950) was a French stage actor, who also played in 57 films between 1906 and 1947. Between 1918 and 1920 he also directed 8 films. He first appeared in a Charles Prince (the future Rigadin) comedy, directed by Georges Monca. In 1908 Grétillat acted in a few Film d'Art films at Pathé. He played the evil Lantier opposite Eugénie Nau's Gervaise in the Emile Zola adaptation L'assommoir (Albert Capellani, 1908). He also played the title role in Hamlet (Henri Desfontaines, 1908) and Leonardo da Vinci in Le tragique amour de Mona Lisa (Albert Capellani, 1912). Major parts in the 1910s he also had in L'ambitieuse (Camille de Morlhon, 1912), La proie (Georges Monca, 1917), Le coupable (André Antoine, 1917), and Géo, le mystérieux (Germaine Dulac, 1917). In Quarante H.P. (1919), Grétillat directed himself! He played a man who takes revenge on his former mistress and her new lover, who have been responsible for his ruin. In the 1920s, Grétillat played Vautrin In Le père Goriot (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1921), Nero in Néron (J. Gordon Edwards, 1922), and Dartès in La fille des chiffonniers (Henri Desfontaines, 1922). After that, the actor took a break of many years from the film sets and only returned when sound film had set in. In 1931, Grétillat returned to the screens, and especially in the years 1937-1938 he played many roles. Grétillat's last role was as Auguste in Quai des Orfèvres (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1947), starring Louis Jouvet and Suzy Delair.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 304. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Marcelle Géniat (1881-1959) was a French stage and screen actress. Born Eugénie Pauline Martin in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, Géniat started very young at the theatre. Already at the age of eight, she played in Zola's 'Assommoir' in Saint Petersburg, alongside Lucien Guitry. She entered the Comédie-Française in 1899, became a member in 1910 and left in 1912. In the 1930s, she was also the director of a correctional centre for girls in Boulogne-Billancourt. In the cinema, she appeared in fifty-three films between 1909 and 1956. Her film debut was in Le roi s'amuse (Albert Capellani, 1909). She played in four films in the 1910s including two by Léonce Perret. Her largest output was in the French sound film of the 1930s and 1940s. She had the lead in La joueuse d'orgue (Gaston Roudès, 1936), an adaptation of a classic novel by Xavier de Montepin which had already been filmed in 1925, and which deals with a woman who witnesses a crime but has become blind because of it. Géniat also had major parts as La Chouette in Les mystères de Paris (Félix Gandéra, 1935) with Madeleine Ozeray, as the mother of Raimu in L'étrange Monsieur Victor (Jean Grémillon, 1938), and opposite Pierre Fresnay as Mamouret in Le briseur de chaînes (Jacques Daniel-Norman, 1941). Marcelle Géniat was buried in the Parisian cemetery of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis). She was the mother of actress Gilberte Géniat.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 313. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Alexandre Arnaudy (1881-1969), born Marius Guarino, had a rich stage career on the stage, before expanding this with an additional career in French cinema from the early 1930s. In 1925, he had already played a minor part in the silent adventure film Surcouf (Litz-Morat, 1925). From 1932 to 1953, Arnaudy played in some 20 films, e.g. in the title roles of the Marcel Pagnol adaptations Cigalon (1935) and Topaze (1936). Both comedies were directed by Pagnol himself.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 315. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.

Saint-Granier (1890-1976) was a French journalist, singer, (song)writer, actor, director, and radio star. He first developed a career as theatre journalist. Between the two world wars, he was one of the great personalities of the French cabaret, and also of revues with Maurice Chevalier at the Casino de Paris. He was the director of Paramount Pictures in France in the early 1930s, and acted in several films at that time. In the 1930s, Saint-Granier also had a career in radio, eventually becoming the producer of the beloved Radio-Cité in 1937.

Yvonne de Bray (1887-1954) was a French stage and screen actress, famous for her role as Sophie in Jean Cocteau's film Les parents terribles (1948).


French postcard by Edition Pathé Frères. Photo: Henri Manuel.


French postcard in the Collection Artistique de Vins Désiles series by Ruckert & Cie. Photo: P. Berger.

Struck by lightning

Yvonne Laurence Blanche de Bray was born in 1887 in Paris. Already as a child, Yvonne de Bray started her career on stage alongside two famous 'monstres sacrés' of the French stage, Gabrielle Réjane, and Sarah Bernhardt.

When she was 15, she married a journalist but the marriage lasted only 3 years. Her real stage debut she had in 1907 in 'Le Ruisseau' by Pierre Wolf.

After that, she played in comedies such as 'Trains de luxe' by Abel Hermand in 1909 and 'Papa' by the fashionable duo Flers and Caillavet in 1911.

The same year, she met poet and playwright Henry Bataille (1872-1922) and was struck by lightning. For ten years they remained a couple, living in Rueil-Malmaison. She performed on stage in tailor-made plays by her husband, such as 'La Phalène' (1913), 'La Tendresse' (1921) and 'La Possession' (1921).

As Daniel Chocron writes on the site CinéArtistes, while afterwards denigrated, Bataille's plays had underneath their lightness a serious critique of society and morality regarding the situation of women versus men in the world of the bourgeoisie and aristocracy. In 1922, De Bray left the stage, devastated after the death of her husband.


French postcard in the Les Reines de la Mode series by Croissant, Paris, no. 3375. Photo: Saul Boyer.


French postcard by Imp. H. Bouquet, Paris. Photo: Waléry, Paris. Caption: Yvonne de Bray dans le rôle de Hélène Miran-Charville, Le Coeur dispose, Comédie en 3 Actes de Francis de Croissey. Théâtre de l'Athénée, Paris.

The lover of a former sports champion

For several years Yvonne de Bray would be the lover of the former sports champion Violette Morris (1893-1944), who helped De Bray with her dipsomaniac alcoholism.

In 1938, Jean Cocteau managed to convince De Bray to go back on stage to perform in his play 'Les Parents Terribles' the role of Sophie, which he had written especially for her. A health problem prevented her from performing, so Germaine Dermoz got the part.

Instead, in 1948, she would be Sophie in Cocteau's film adapted from the play, Les Parents Terribles (1948), opposite Jean Marais as Michel, Josette Day as Madeleine, and Gabrielle Dorziat as Léo.

In 1939, De Bray and her partner invited Jean Cocteau, whose lover Marais was then mobilised, to stay with them at their houseboat docked at Pont de Neuilly. There he wrote the three-act play 'Les Monstres sacrés' in which De Bray and Morris would act in 1940. The play was a success, so De Bray stepped out of her isolation.

But during the war, the relation with Morris collapsed and the latter, deluded in life, would collaborate with the Nazis and would be shot by the French Resistance in 1944 (even if no proof of Morris' collaboration has ever resurfaced in archives).


French postcard by F.C. et Cie, no. 16. 9. Photo: Manuel.


French postcard in the Collection Artistique de Vins Désiles by G.P., Paris, no. 8.

A landmark in the lesbian cinema

From 1943 Yvonne de Bray acted in the cinema. Her films include Jean Delannoy's L'Éternel Retour/The Eternal Return (1943) with Madeleine Sologne and Jean Marais, Jean Cocteau's L'Aigle à deux têtes/The Eagle with Two Heads (1948) starring Edwige Feuillère and Jean Marais, and Gigi (Jacqueline Audry, 1948) with Gaby Morlay.

During the 1950s she appeared in Olivia/The Pit of Loneliness (Jacqueline Audry, 1950) - a landmark in the lesbian cinema, Chéri (Pierre Billon, 1950), Nous sommes tous des assassins/We Are All Murderers (André Cayatte, 1952) with Marcel Mouloudji, and Quand tu liras cette lettre/When You Read This Letter (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1953) starring Juliette Gréco and Philippe Lemaire.

Forty years earlier, De Bray had acted in two silent shorts, Les Fiancés de Miss Maggy (?, 1909) and the Pathé production Le Poison du Professeur Rouff (René Leprince, 1911), but there may have been more early films.

At the theatre, De Bray performed not only with Cocteau. She also played in Jean Giraudoux's 'Pour Lucrèce' (1953), directed by Jean-Louis Barrault at the Théâtre Marigny.

Yvonne de Bray died in 1954 in Paris, at the age of 66 She was buried at the cemetery of Père-Lachaise.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 23. Photo: Manuel Frères.

Sources: Daniel Chocron (CinéArtistes - French), Ciné-Ressources (French), L'encinémathèque (French), L'info sans masque (French), Wikipedia (French and English), and IMDb.

Milton Sills (1882-1930) was a major American silent film actor and university professor. His relatively early death and his unusual career made him a legend.


Danish postcard by Stenders Kunstforlag, no. 39. Photo: First National Pictures. Nazimova and Milton Sills in Madonna of the Streets (Edwin Carewe, 1924).


Danish postcard by Eneret, no. 725. Photo: First National. Corinne Griffith and Milton Sills in Single Wives (George Archainbaud, 1924).


Danish postcard by J. Chr. Olsons Kunstforlag, Eneret. Photo: Milton Sills in The Making of O'Malley (Lambert Hillyer, 1925).


Danish postcard by J. Chr. Olsons Kunstforlag, Eneret. Photo: Milton Sills and Doris Kenyon in The Making of O'Malley (Lambert Hillyer, 1925).


Danish postcard by J. Chr. Olsons Kunstforlag, Eneret, no. 536. Photo: Milton Sills and Enid Bennett in The Sea Hawk (Frank Lloyd, 1924).

Stalwart personality and handsome looks 

Milton George Gustavus Sills  was born in 1882 in middle-class Chicago, Illinois, U.S. He was the son of William Henry Sills, a successful mineral dealer, and Josephine Antoinette Troost Sills, an heiress from a prosperous banking family.

Upon completing high school, Sills studied philosophy and psychology at the University of Chicago and worked there first as a researcher and later as a professor in both sections.

In 1905, stage actor-manager Donald Robertson visited the school to lecture on author and playwright Henrik Ibsen and suggested to Sills that he try his hand at acting. On a whim, Sills gave up his position to embark on a stint in acting. He joined Robertson's stock theatre company and began touring the country.

In 1908, he played on Broadway already. He made his Broadway debut in 'This Woman and This Man'. It was again a success. From 1908 to 1914, Sills appeared in about a dozen Broadway shows.

In 1910, Sills married English stage actress Gladys Edith Wynne, a niece of actress Edith Wynne Matthison. The union produced one child, Dorothy Sills. Gladys filed for divorce in 1925.

Wooed by producer William Brady, Sills made his film debut in 1914 in the big-budget drama The Pit  (Maurice Tourneur, 1914) for the World Film Company. It was another success. Sills made three more films for the company, including The Deep Purple opposite Clara Kimball Young.

Jim Beaver at IMDb: "His stalwart personality and handsome looks brought him a following, and his talent extended to a wide variety of roles in an equally wide variety of genres."

Sills worked for various companies in the 1910s, including that of Clara Kimball Young. He acted with Irene Castle (aka Mrs. Vernon Castle) in the 15 episodes Pathé serial Patria (1917), directed by Leopold & Theodor Wharton (episodes 1-10) and Jacques Jaccard (11-15). It was an anti-Japanese propaganda, and funded by William Randolph Hearst in the lead-up to the US's entry into World War I.


British postcard. Photo: Pathé Frères Cinema Ltd.


American postcard. Milton Sills in One Clear Call (John M. Stahl, 1922).


British postcard.


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 300.


Romanian postcard. Photo: Viola Dana and Milton Sills in The Silent Lover (George Archainbaud, 1926).

The only film that captured the sexual revolution of the Jazz Age

By the early 1920s, Milton Sills had become a matinee idol, working for various film studios, including Metro Pictures, Famous Players-Lasky, and Pathé Exchange.

In 1923 he was Colleen Moore's leading man in the box office hit Flaming Youth (John Francis Dillon, 1923). In his retrospective essay 'Echoes of the Jazz Age, writer F. Scott Fitzgerald cited Flaming Youth as the only film that captured the sexual revolution of the Jazz Age.

His biggest success was The Sea Hawk (Frank Lloyd, 1924), the top-grossing film of that year. It is a silent adventure film about an English noble sold into slavery who escapes and turns himself into a pirate king. The film is based on the 1915 novel by Rafael Sabatini. 

In 1926 he scripted Men of Steel (George Archainbaud, 1926), in which he acted opposite Doris Kenyon, whom he married in the same year. She became his second wife and in 1927, their son, Kenyon Clarence Sills, was born.

Sills was in 1927 one of the co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was also a founding member of Actors' Equity in 1913.

As early as 1928, Sills had begun to make the transition to sound pictures with the part-talking The Barker (George Fitzmaurice, 1928) with Dorothy Mackaill, Betty Compson, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. His last film was the sound version of The Sea Wolf (Al Santell, 1930).

Milton Sills died in 1930 of a heart attack during a game of tennis with his wife at their Brentwood home in Los Angeles. He was only 48. He was interred at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago, Illinois.

Posthumously in 1932, his book 'Values: A Philosophy of Human Needs – Six Dialogues on Subjects from Reality to Immortality' was published. It was co-edited by Ernest Holmes.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 730/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Transocean-Film-Co, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1185/1, 1927-1928. Photo: First National Pictures.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1249/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Paramount-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1249/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Paramount-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 2006/1, 1927-1928. Photo: First National / Fanamet. Betty Bronson and Milton Sills acted together in Paradise (Irvin Willat, 1926).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 403. Photo: Fanamet-Film.


Swedish postcard by Ljunggrens Konstforlag, Stockholm, no. 282.


Danish postcard by J. Chr. Olsons Kunstforlag, Eneret, no. 724. Photo: Milton Sills and his daughter.

Sources: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

The German silent film Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928) was one of the 16 films in which Otto Gebühr interpreted Friedrich II (Frederick the Great). It was the last of the Frederick the Great film cycle of the silent film era of the Weimar republic.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 87/1. Photo: National Film. Otto Gebühr in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 87/2. Photo: National Film. Otto Gebühr in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 87/3. Photo: National Film. Otto Gebühr in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 87/4. Photo: National Film. Otto Gebühr in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).

The Old Fritz

Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz was a two-part German historical film, made in 1927 and released in January 1928 in Germany. It was the last of the Frederick the Great film cycle of the German silent film era - several sounds films would follow still.

Star Otto Gebühr was a look-a-like of king Friedrich II (1712-1786), and ‘Friedrich dem Großen’ would become his role of a lifetime. Introduced by his colleague Paul Wegener, director Carl Boese cast him as the king of Prussia in the silent film Die Tänzerin Barberina (Carl Boese, 1920). The role would become his breakthrough and he would play the role again and again, both on stage and on the screen.

Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz was produced and directed by Gerhard Lamprecht, while the script was by Lamprecht, Luise Heilborn-Körbitz, and Hans Torius. Karl Hasselmann was the cinematographer, while Otto Moldenhauer took care of the art direction. National Film distributed the film.

In Part 1, the Seven Year War (1756-1763) has ended and Frederick has decided to restore his damaged country, but troubles pester him. His nephew, the Crown Prince Friedrich (Heinz Klockow), a persistent skirt-chaser, is married to Elisabeth von Braunschweig (Charlotte Ander), but the marriage is an unhappy one, while the prince courts a commoner, Wilhelmine Enke (Dina Gralla).

The King raises new taxes on alcohol, spices, and coffee. He only cares about war invalids and compulsory education. When he finds out about his son's affair, he expels the mistress. Frederick's friends are appalled, as he treats his son like once his father did to himself. Wilhelmine stands on her rights by claiming she is getting a child from the prince. The prince is separated from his wife, as not only he but also she has had several extramarital affairs. The King now marries his nephew to Friederike Luise von Hessen-Darmstadt (Renate Brausewetter).

Part 2 takes place in 1777. The young Emperor Joseph II (Peter von Hahn) wants to annex Ansbach-Bayreuth, because he thinks the Prussian king is already too old and too ill to lead another campaign anyway. Angered about this, Friedrich returns to the battlefield. But there is no battle, the war is undertaken and finished with treaties.

From now on, the king has to deal only with small stuff. He helps the miller Arnold to his right, because the latter is about to lose his mill to the Court of Appeal, so the King dismisses all the judges. Frederick is now despised by many because of his severity but also loved because of his care for his subjects. Lovingly and mockingly at the same time, they now call him "Old Fritz". He dies on 16 August 1786, seriously ill and bitter. Hardly anyone mourns for him.

Apart from the actors mentioned above, Julia Serda played the Queen in both parts, Berthold Reissig played Prince Heinrich, Wilhelm Hertwig played Prince Ferdinand, and Elsa Wagner played Princess Amalie. In Part 2, the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was played by Anton Pointner.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 87/5. Photo: National Film. Otto Gebühr in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 87/6. Photo: National Film. Otto Gebühr in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 87/8. Photo: National Film. Otto Gebühr in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3185/1. Photo: National Film. Otto Gebühr in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).


German postcard by WJ Morlins, Berlin / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 647/11. Photo: Karl Schenker / Cserépy-Film Co. Otto Gebühr as Friedrich II in Der Alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928).

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