European Film Star Postcards

Lya Mara (1893-1969) was one of the biggest stars of the German silent cinema. Some immensely successful silent operettas presented her the perfect Viennese Girl. Hundreds of postcards and trading cards cemented her stardom, which was even the subject of a novel, published in 100 episodes between 1927 and 1928. Her career virtually ended after the arrival of sound film. Recently, Marlene Pilaete discovered new facts about this forgotten diva.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 241, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1455/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1889/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin / Zelnik-Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3599/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3831/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

Prima Ballerina

Lya Mara was born as Aleksandra Gudowiczóna in a Polish family in Riga, Russian Empire (now Latvia) in 1893 or 1897. She was the daughter of a civil servant and went to a Catholic boarding school.

As a young girl, she wanted to become a chemist, like Marie Curie, the then famous French woman scientist who was also Polish-born, but instead, Lya went to the ballet school of Riga. One year later, she was already a solo dancer and in the following years, she danced for the Riga State theatre and became astonishingly famous. This success was crowned with her promotion to prima ballerina in 1913.

Just before World War I, Lya moved with her family to Warsaw. Credited as Mia Mara, she played her first small part in the short silent comedy Wsciekly rywal/The Rival (Aleksander Hertz, 1916), and soon thereafter she played another part in Bestia/The Polish Dancer (Aleksander Hertz, 1917). Star of this film was another Polish actress, Pola Negri, who would make an extraordinary career in Germany and Hollywood. Negri left for Berlin, and soon Lya Mara would follow her steps.

Newspaper articles and pictures of Mara had appeared in Berlin newspapers, and she was spotted by the young and energetic actor-director-producer Friedrich Zelnik (later credited as Frederic Zelnik). He summoned her to Berlin. After some screen tests, she signed a contract that obligated her for a total of seven pictures with Zelnik.

Among their first films were Das Geschlecht der Schelme/The sex of the Scoundrel (Alfred Halm, 1917) opposite Zelnik himself, Halkas Gelöbnis/Halka's Vow (Alfred Halm, 1918) opposite Hans Albers, Die Rose von Dschiandur/The Rose of Dschiandur (Alfred Halm, 1918) again opposite Zelnik, and Die Serenyi (Alfred Halm, 1918) opposite Conrad Veidt.

Lya Mara in Das Geschlecht der Schelme (1917)

German postcard by Verl. Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 5073. Photo: Berliner Film-Manufaktur. Lya Mara and Friedrich Zelnik in Das Geschlecht der Schelme/The sex of the scroundel (H. Fredall a.k.a. Alfred Halm, 1917). Alfred Halm directed this film and the following films under his regular pseudonym H. Fredall, while he also scripted the film.

Lya Mara and Friedrich Zelnik in Die Rose von Dschiandur (1918)

German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm, no. 3216. Photo: Rudolph Schlesinger. Photo: Berliner Film-Manufaktur. Friedrich Zelnik and Lya Mara in Die Rose von Dschiandur/The Rose of Dschiandur (Alfred Halm, 1918).

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2268. Photo: Berliner Film-Manufaktur. Lya Mara and Victor Janson in Die Serenyi (Alfred Halm, 1918). This is one of two cards Photchemie issued on this film.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2271/2. Photo: Berliner Film-Manufaktur. Lya Mara in Halkas Gelöbnis/Halka's Vow (Alfred Halm, 1918).

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2273. Photo: Berliner Film-Manufaktur. Lya Mara in Halkas Gelöbnis/Halka's Vow (H. Fredall a.k.a. Alfred Halm, 1918). This is one of a set of three cards that Photochemie issued on the film.

Lya Mara in Die Nonne und der Harlekin (1918)

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2281. Photo: Berliner Film-Manufaktur. Lya Mara in Die Nonne und der Harlekin/The Nun and the Harlequin (Alfred Halm, 1918). This one of three cards Photochemie issued on the film.

Immensely Successful Operettas

Friedrich Zelnik and Lya Mara married in 1918. Zelnik promoted her to a major star in Germany. Among the following films, he directed and produced with her were Manon (1919), Charlotte Corday (1919), and Anna Karenina (1919) with Johannes Riemann.

From 1920 on, Zelnik's film production company was named Zelnik-Mara-Film GmbH. Lya starred in lightweight fare like Die Ehe der Fürstin Demidoff/The Marriage of Princess Demidoff (1921), and Das Mädel vom Picadilly/The Girl from Picadilly (1921), in which she either played noble ladies or naïve girls from the countryside.

From 1924 on, she only made two Zelnik films a year, among them immensely successful operettas like Die Försterchristel/The Bohemian Dancer (1926), An der schönen blauen Donau/The Beautiful Blue Danube (1926), and Das tanzende Wien/Dancing Vienna (1927), often with Harry Liedtke or Alfred Abel as her screen partner.

Lya Mara perfectly embodied the Viennese Girl, and she enjoyed great popularity all over Europe. Her stardom also was the subject of a novel, 'Lya. Der Herzensroman einer Kinokönigin' (Lya, The Heart Novel of a Cinema Queen), which was published in 100 episodes between 1927 and 1928.

Lya Mara and her husband became real celebrities and received at their home many known artists. Her popularity was further cemented by hundreds of her photographs issued as postcards, chocolate and cigarettes trade cards.

Lya Mara in Auf Befehl der Pompadour (1924)

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 914/4, 1925-1926. Photo: Phoebus Film / Zelnik-Mara Film. Lya Mara in Auf Befehl der Pompadour/By Order of Pompadour (Friedrich Zelnik, 1924).

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

Alfred Abel and Lya Mara in Das tanzende Wien (1927)

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 82/2. Photo: Defu. Alfred Abel and Lya Mara in Das tanzende Wien/Dancing Vienna (Friedrich Zelnik, 1927).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1608/6, 1927-1928. Photo: Zelnick-Film. Lya Mara in Die lachende Grille/The Merry Madcap (Friedrich Zelnik, 1926)

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3413/3, 1928-1929. Photo: Defina / DEFU.

Fred Louis Lerch and Lya Mara in Heut tanzt Mariett (1928)

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3414/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Defina / DEFU. Fred Louis Lerch and Lya Mara in Heut tanzt Mariett/Today dances Mariett (Friedrich Zelnik, 1928). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Lost Traces

A serious car accident at the end of the 1920s interrupted Lya Mara's career. There was an immensely huge sympathy from the audience, but somehow she could not adapt her acting to the sound cinema, introduced in Germany in 1929.

While Friedrich Zelnik became the first director in Germany who post-synchronised foreign films, Lya Mara's only film from the sound era is Jeder fragt nach Erika/Everyone Asks for Erika (Friedrich Zelnik, 1931).

In 1932, just before Adolf Hitler took over the power in Germany, Lya Mara and Friedrich Zelnik went into exile in London. There is no record of her acting there, although her husband continued to direct and produce films in England and The Netherlands until 1939.

Friedrich Zelnik died in London in 1950, and since then all traces of his wife were lost for a long time. Lya Mara probably spent her last years with her sister in Switzerland and most sources indicate that she died there in 1960 at the age of 62.

However, 'Ms. Sherlock'Marlene Pilaete discovered the correct facts: "Some passionate historians have found mention of her death in local newspapers. How lucky we are to have such people making research. For example, the Nouvelle Revue de Lausanne mentions on the 6th of November 1969 in its obituary page "Alexandra Zelnik-Gudowicz, 76 years old". At the time, nobody knew that she had been a famous movie star. Please note that, if she was 76 years old when she passed away, it seems that she was born in 1893 and not 1897. Maybe another case of 'rejuvenation'… It wouldn’t be the first time… especially regarding actresses."

So, Lya Mara settled down in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1966. She passed away in that city on 1 November 1969 and she was buried in the cemetery of Bois-de-Vaux. Her grave has been disaffected in 2007.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1218/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1368/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1401/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1455/4, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1608/3, 1927-1928. Photo: F. Zelnick-Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1740/7, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin / Zelnick Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3449/1, 1928-1929. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères, Paris.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3953/5, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4180/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4308/4, 1929-1930. Photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin.

Sources: Marlene Pilaete (La Collectionneuse - French), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

French actress and singer Gina Palerme (1885-1977) was the toast of the London music halls in the 1910s. In the next decade, she played in numerous French silent films and finished her career in the Moulin Rouge and other Paris cabarets.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 487. Photo: Ifuk-Film.

Gina Palerme and Roy Royston in Bric-a-brac

British postcard by J. Beagles & Co, London, no. 240 C. Photo: Rita Martin. Publicity still for the stage production Bric-a-brac (1915) with Roy Royston.

British postcard by J. Beagles & Co, London, no. 240 E. Photo: Rita Martin. Publicity still for the stage production Bric-a-brac (1915) again with Roy Royston.

The Glamour of the French Cocotte

Gina Palerme was born Marie Louise Irène de Maulmont in Bussière-Galant in the West of France in 1885.

In 1911, she was discovered by a British entrepreneur and debuted as Toinette in the musical comedy The Quaker Girl (1911) directed by Lionel Mockton at the Adelphi Theatre.

Her début was followed by appearances in West-end productions like The Dancing Mistress (1912), Betty (1914), Platons Les Capucines (1914), Bric-a-Brac (1915), Vanity Fair (1916), La Petite Chocolatière (1917), Finsbury (1917), and The Girl for the Boy (1919).

Until 1919, Palerme was the toast of the London music hall. Cecil Beaton enthusiastically wrote about her: “Gina Palerme brought the glamour of the French cocotte to London. Her off-stage appearances were as sensational as her stage escapades...sometimes she wore a velvet tam-o'-shanter and men's riding breeches while relaxing in the richly ornate gilt of her Maida Vale drawing-room.”

The National Portrait Gallery holds beautiful photos from those years, made by the famous photographer Bassano and by his colleagues Rita Martin and The Dover Street Studios Ltd.

British postcard, no. 10273 E. Photo: The Dover Street Studios Ltd, London.

British postcard. Photo: Wrather & Buys, London.

British postcard in the Arcadian Series, no. A 39. Photo: Dover Street Studios.

British postcard, no. 8842 4. Photo: Dover Street Studios LTD, London.

Horror Comedy

Gina Palerme returned to France in 1919.

In the early 1920s she played in various silent French films like L’éternel féminin/The Eternal Female (Roger Lion, 1921), Margot (Guy du Fresnay, 1922), L’idée de Françoise/Françoise's Idea (Robert Saidreau, 1923) in which she played the title role of the foreseeing Françoise, and the Halevy & Meilhac adaptation Frou-Frou (Guy du Fresnay, 1923).

La bataille/The Danger Line (1923) was co-directed by Edouard-Emile Viollet and Hollywood star Sessue Hayakawa who also played the male lead, together with his wife Tsuru Aoki.

In the horror-comedy Au secours!/Help! (Abel Gance, 1924) she co-starred with the great comic Max Linder. It was his last surviving work;

Her final film was La clé de voute/The Keystone (Roger Lion, 1925), which Palerme produced herself. It was a drama about a young female factory worker who gives away her child but always repents.

After this film, Gina Palerme quitted the cinema. From then on, she would only work in such French cabarets as the Moulin Rouge and the Concert Mayol.

Gina Palerme died a natural death in 1977 in Les Pavillons-sous-Bois, France.

British postcard. Photo: Rita Martin.

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 57.

French postcard by Cinémagazine, no. 94.

Sources: John Culme (Footlight Notes), National Portrait Gallery, Les Gens du Cinema (French) and IMDb. And with thanks to Marlene Pilaete.

American actress Meryl Streep (1949) is one of the best actresses of her generation, known for her versatility and accents. She has been nominated for the Oscar an astonishing 21 times and has won it three times. Among her other accolades, she has received 32 Golden Globe nominations, more than any other person, and won eight.

British postcard, no. 140.

American postcard by Fotofolio, New York, NY, no. P 432. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe, 1988.

Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Ukrainian postcard by Magicard.biz.ua. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (David Frankel, 2006).

A real beauty bringing much freshness

Mary Louise 'Meryl' Streep was born in 1949, in Summit, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Mary Wilkinson Streep (née Mary Wolf Wilkinson), a commercial artist and art editor; and Harry William Streep, Jr., a pharmaceutical executive. She has two younger brothers: Harry William Streep III and Dana David Streep, who are also actors.

At the age of 12, Streep was selected to sing at a school recital, leading to her having opera lessons from Estelle Liebling. She quit after four years. Although Streep appeared in numerous school plays during her high school years, she was uninterested in serious theatre until acting in the play 'Miss Julie' at Vassar College in 1969, in which she gained attention across the campus.

She received her B.A. cum laude from the college in 1971, before applying for an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Streep played a variety of roles on stage, from Helena in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' to an 80-year-old woman in a wheelchair in a comedy written by then-unknown playwrights Christopher Durang and Albert Innaurato.

She received her MFA from Yale in 1975. That year, Streep made her stage debut in New York in 'Trelawny of the Wells' by Arthur Wing Pinero. The following year, she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for appearing in the 1976 double bill of '27 Wagons Full of Cotton' by Tennessee Williams and 'A Memory of Two Mondays' by Arthur Miller.

She made her screen debut in the television film The Deadliest Season (Robert Markowitz, 1977), a sports drama with Michael Moriarty. Her film debut was the award-winning Holocaust drama Julia (Fred Zinnemann, 1977), starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave. It is based on a chapter from Lillian Hellman's book 'Pentimento' about the author's relationship with a lifelong friend, 'Julia,' who fought against the Nazis in the years prior to World War II. Streep had a small role during a flashback sequence.

She received her first Oscar nomination for the epic war drama The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978). Critic Pauline Kael remarked that she was a "real beauty" who brought much freshness to the film with her performance. The film, starring Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken, was also successful at the box office, grossing $49 million.

She also won an Emmy Award for her role in the miniseries Holocaust (Marvin J. Chomsky, 1978), which recounts the trajectory of the Holocaust from the perspectives of the fictional Weiss family of German Jews and that of a rising member of the SS (Michael Moriarty), who gradually becomes a merciless war criminal.

Streep travelled to Germany and Austria for filming while her partner, actor John Cazale, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer, remained in New York. Upon her return, Streep found that Cazale's illness had progressed, and she nursed him until his death in March 1978.

Streep starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the legal drama Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton, 1979). It tells the story of a couple's divorce, its impact on their young son (Justin Henry), and the subsequent evolution of their relationship and views on parenting. For Kramer vs. Kramer, Streep won both the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, which she famously left in the ladies' room after giving her speech.

British postcard by Star Graphics, London, no. S 127.

Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)

British postcard. Photo: Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons in The French Lieutenant's Woman (Karel Reisz, 1981).

Portraying a Polish survivor of Auschwitz

Meryl Streep's first leading role was in the British romantic drama The French Lieutenant's Woman (Karel Reisz, 1981), a story within a story drama. The film paired Streep with Jeremy Irons as contemporary actors, telling their modern story, as well as the Victorian era drama they were performing. She got an Oscar nomination for her performance.

Streep won the Oscar for Best Actress for Sophie's Choice (Alan J. Pakula, 1982). Streep was very determined to get the role. After obtaining a bootlegged copy of the script, she went after Pakula, and threw herself on the ground, begging him to give her the part. She portrayed a Polish survivor of Auschwitz, caught in a love triangle between a young naïve writer (Peter MacNicol) and a Jewish intellectual (Kevin Kline).

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote: "Though it's far from a flawless movie, 'Sophie's Choice' is a unified and deeply affecting one. Thanks in large part to Miss Streep's bravura performance, it's a film that casts a powerful, uninterrupted spell."

In 1983, Streep played her first non-fictional character, the nuclear whistleblower and labor union activist Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant, in Mike Nichols' biographical drama Silkwood (Mike Nichols, 1983) with Cher.

Then she portrayed a fighter for the French Resistance during World War II in the British drama Plenty (Fred Schepisi, 1985), adapted from the play by David Hare. Her next release, the epic romantic drama Out of Africa (Sydney Pollack, 1985), established her as a Hollywood superstar. In the film, Streep starred as the Danish writer Karen Blixen, opposite Robert Redford's Denys Finch Hatton. It earned her another Oscar nomination.

Karina Longworth notes in 'Meryl Streep: Anatomy of an Actor' (2013) that the dramatic success of Out of Africa led to a backlash of critical opinion against Streep in the years that followed, especially as she was now demanding $4 million a picture. Unlike other stars at the time, such as Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise, Streep "never seemed to play herself", and certain critics felt her technical finesse led people to literally see her acting.

French postcard by Editions "Humour à la Carte", Paris, no. ST-121. Photo: Meryl Streep in Plenty (Fred Schepisi, 1985).

Romanian postcard by Acin in the Colectia Cinefilului.

One of the greatest performances of her career

Meryl Streep's other Oscar-nominated roles were in Ironweed (Héctor Babenco, 1987) with Jack Nicholson, the Australian drama Evil Angels/A Cry in the Dark (Fred Schepisi, 1988), the comedy-drama Postcards from the Edge (Mike Nichols, 1990) with Shirley MacLaine, the romantic drama The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 1995), One True Thing (Carl Franklin, 1998) with Renee Zellweger, the musical drama Music of the Heart (Wes Craven, 1999), Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002) starring Nicholas Cage, the comedy-drama The Devil Wears Prada (David Frankel, 2006) with Anne Hathaway, the period drama Doubt (John Patrick Shanley, 2008), the comedy-drama Julie & Julia (Nora Ephron, 2009) with Amy Adams, August: Osage County (John Wells, 2013) with Julia Roberts, the musical fantasy Into the Woods (Rob Marshall, 2014), the biographical comedy-drama Florence Foster Jenkins (Stephen Frears, 2016) with Hugh Grant, and the historical political thriller The Post (Steven Spielberg, 2017), starring Tom Hanks.

Streep won the Best Actress Oscar again for The Iron Lady (Phyllida Lloyd, 2011), the British-French biographical drama based on the life and career of Margaret Thatcher. While the film was met with mixed reviews, Streep's performance was widely acclaimed and considered to be one of the greatest of her career.

Her stage roles include The Public Theater's 2001 revival of 'The Seagull', and her television roles include two projects for HBO, the acclaimed miniseries Angels in America (Mike Nichols, 2003), for which her performance won her another Emmy Award, and the drama series Big Little Lies (Andrea Arnold, 2019). Streep has also been the recipient of many honorary awards. She was awarded Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters by French culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon in 2003.

In the cinema, she appeared as Emmeline Pankhurst, a British political activist, and leader of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote in the period drama Suffragette (Sarah Gavron, 2015), co-starring Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter. Streep reprised the role of Donna Sheridan in the musical sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Ol Parker, 2018). She also played a supporting part in Mary Poppins Returns (Rob Marshall, ), starring Emily Blunt in the title role.

In 2019, she starred in the biographical comedy The Laundromat (Steven Soderberg, 2019), the first Netflix film in which Streep starred. The film focused on the Panama Papers in particular and Beneficial ownership in general. Streep was whistleblower John Doe who released incriminating documents to the media. In addition, she played Aunt March in Little Women (Greta Gerwig, 2019).

Despite her stardom, for decades Streep has managed to maintain a relatively normal personal life. Streep lived with actor John Cazale for three years until his death from lung cancer in March 1978. Streep married sculptor Don Gummer six months after Cazale's death. They have four children: one son and three daughters, son Henry Wolfe Gummer (1979), a musician; daughters Mary Willa 'Mamie' Gummer (1983), an actress; Grace Jane Gummer (1986), an actress; and Louisa Jacobson Gummer (1991), a model. In February 2019, Streep became a grandmother for the first time, through her eldest daughter Mamie.

Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro in Falling in Love (1984)

Vintage publicity photo. Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro in Falling in Love (Ulu Grosbard, 1984).

Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in Out of Africa (1985)

French postcard in the Collection Cinéma Couleur by Editions La Malibran, Paris, 1990, no. MC 41. Photo: Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in Out of Africa (Sydney Pollack, 1985).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Lately, we found these great 'Sammelkarten', collectors cards from West-Germany. There is little information about the publisher or the production dates on the cards, but we guess they were produced in 1955. The cards could be glued in an album that contained the biographies of the stars. There were four series: I, "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge" (German film favourites); II, "Filmgrössen aus aller Welt" (Film greats from all over the world); III, "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" (Film stars from Hollywood to Tokyo), and IV, "Deutsche Filmstars von heute und morgen" (German film stars of today and tomorrow).

German film favourites

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge" series I.

Blonde Winnie Markus (1921-2002) started as a Ufa star during the Nazi period and became in the 1950s one of Germany’s most famous actresses.

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge" series I.

Delicately lovely, dark-haired and innocent-looking Sonja Ziemann (1926-2020) was a German film and television actress, singer and dancer. Her roles in film operettas and Heimatfilms as Schwarzwaldmädel/The Black Forest Girl (1950) and Grün ist die Heide/The Heath is Green (1951) made her one of the first stars of Germany's post-war cinema. Her private life knew several tragedies.

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge" series I. Photo: O.E. Hasse in Canaris (Alfred Weidenmann, 1954).

German actor and director O.E. Hasse (1903-1978) became a star of the German cinema when he was already in his fifties. He also appeared in several international productions, including Hitchcock’s I Confess (1953) and Costa-Gravas’ État de Siège/State of Siege (1972).

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge" series I. Photo: Margit Saad in Der Zigeunerbaron/The Gypsy Baron (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1954).

German actress Margit Saad (1929) was a mysterious, exotic beauty, who worked largely in German film and television. During the 1960s, she also made occasional English-language appearances.

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge" series I. Photo: Ivan Desny in Die goldene Pest/The Golden Plague (John Brahm, 1954).

French-German actor Ivan Desny (1922-2002) was a cosmopolitan film star with a truly European film career that spanned four decades. In the years after the war, he appeared in British, French, Italian and German films before he became one of the protagonists of the Neue Deutsche Welle - the German New Wave of the 1970s.

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge" series I.

Grethe Weiser (1903–1970) was a German singer, comedian, film and stage actress. She made more than 140 films.

Heinz Rühmann in Keine Angst vor großen Tieren (1953)

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge" series I. Heinz Rühmann in Keine Angst vor großen Tieren/Don't be afraid of big animals (Ulrich Erfurth, 1953).

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

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge", series I.

Pretty, wide-eyed Austrian leading lady Maria Schell (1926-2005) became one of the first film idols to the European postwar generation. With her ‘smile under tears’, she appeared in dozens of German and Austrian popular films, but she also starred in British, French, Italian, and Hollywood productions.

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Film-Lieblinge", series I.

German actor Carl Raddatz (1912-2004) was much in demand by film producers in the 1940s and especially in the 1950s. He appeared in several Nazi propaganda films, but he also gave Joseph Stalin a German voice. Through the years he would become one of the leading character actors of the German theatre.

Film greats from all over the world

German collectors card in the 'Filmgrössen aus aller Welt" series II. Spencer Tracy in A Guy Named Joe (Victor Fleming, 1943).

American actor Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. He was the first actor to win back-to-back Oscars for Captains Courageous (1937) with Freddie Bartholomew, and for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938) with Mickey Rooney. Considered by his peers as one of the best Hollywood actors, Tracy was noted for his natural performing style and versatility.

Antonella Lualdi in Le rouge et le noir (1954)

German collectors card in the "Filmgrössen aus aller Welt", series II. Antonella Lualdi in Le rouge et le noir/The Red and the Black (Claude Autant-Lara, 1954).

Italo-Greek Antonella Lualdi(1931) was the fascinating leading lady of many Italian and French films of the 1950s and 1960s. Since 1949 her luminescent beauty has graced over 90 films.

German collectors card in the "Filmgrössen aus aller Welt", series II.

June Allyson (1917-2006) was an American stage, film, and television actress, dancer, and singer. Her sweet smile and sunny disposition made her the prototypical girl-next-door of American films of the 1940s.

Fernandel in Ali Baba et les 40 voleurs (1954)

German collectors card in the "Filmgrössen aus aller Welt" series II. Fernandel in Ali Baba et les 40 voleurs/Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Jacques Becker, 1954).

Actor and singer Fernandel (1903-1971) was for more than forty years France's top comedy star. He was perhaps best-loved for his portrayal of Don Camillo. His horse-like teeth and shy manner became his trademark.

Françoise Arnoul in Les compagnes de la nuit (1953)

German collectors card in the "Filmgrössen aus aller Welt" series II. Françoise Arnoul in Les compagnes de la nuit/Companions of the Night (Ralph Habib, 1953).

Pretty and petite actress Françoise Arnoul (1931) was in the early 1950s presented as the new French sex symbol but soon she would be overshadowed by the spectacular Brigitte Bardot. But, Arnoul had enough talent and range to forge a decent film career for herself.

Ulla Jacobsson in Herr Arnes penningar (1954)

German collectors card in the 'Filmgrössen aus aller Welt" series II. Ulla Jacobsson in Herr Arnes penningar/Sir Arne's Treasure (Gustaf Molander, 1954).

Swedish film and stage actress Ulla Jacobsson (1929-1982) achieved international fame with a nude scene in her second film, Hon dansade en sommar/One Summer of Happiness (1951). Another highlight was her serene performance in Ingmar Bergman's Sommarnattens leende/Smiles of a Summer Night (1955).

Film stars from Hollywood to Tokyo

German collectors card in the "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" series III. Betty Grable in Wabash Avenue (Henry Koster, 1950).

American film star Betty Grable (1916-1973) was known as 'The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs'. During World War II, the quicksilver blonde's famous pin-up pose - in a bathing suit, back to the camera, smiling over her right shoulder - adorned barracks all around the world. Her 42 films during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s grossed more than $100 million. One of her biggest successes was the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), which was also one of her last films.

Rhonda Fleming in La cortigiana di Babilonia (1954)

German collectors card in the "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" series III. Rhonda Fleming in La cortigiana di Babilonia/The Queen of Babylon (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1954).

American film and television actress Rhonda Fleming (1923) acted in more than forty films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day. She was nicknamed the 'Queen of Technicolor' because her fair complexion and flaming red hair photographed exceptionally well in Technicolor.

Vivien Leigh in The Deep Blue Sea (1955)

German collectors card in the "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" series III. Photo: Vivien Leigh in The Deep Blue Sea (Anatole Litvak, 1955).

Extraordinarily beautiful British actress Vivien Leigh (1913-1967) won two Academy Awards for playing ‘Southern belles’: Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). On stage she starred – often with her husband, Laurence Olivier - in parts that ranged from the heroines of Noël Coward and George Bernard Shaw comedies to Shakespearean characters like Ophelia, Juliet, and Lady Macbeth.

German collectors card in the "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" series III.

French actor Raymond Pellegrin (1925-2007) had the most beautiful voice of the French cinema. He appeared in more than 120 European films, both as good and as bad guys.

German collectors card in the "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" series III. Photo: Gabriele. Anouk Aimée in Ich suche dich/I search for you (O.W. Fischer, 1956).

Glamorous French film actress Anouk Aimée (1932) has appeared in 70 films since 1947 and worked with many talented directors. She had major international successes in the 1960s with Lola (1961) and Un homme et une femme/A Man and a Woman (1966) in which she defined a new kind of modern heroine.

German collectors card in the "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" series III.

An English film, stage and television actor Trevor Howard (1913-1988) is best known as the doctor in the classic romantic drama Brief Encounter (David Lean, 1945), in which his co-star was Celia Johnson. In the 1940s and 1950s, he often played the slightly dry, slightly crusty but capable British military officer, and in the 1960s he became one of England's finest character actors.

German collectors card in the "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" series III.

Fujiko Yamamoto (1931) is a Japanese film and stage actress. She appeared in over 100 films between 1953 and 1963. She was one of the top actresses of the Daei studio.

German film stars of today and tomorrow

Walter Giller in Die Drei von der Tankstelle (1955), cc

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Filmstars von heute und morgen" series IV. Walter Giller in Die Drei von der Tankstelle/The Three from the Filling Station (Hans Wolff, 1955).

German actor Walter Giller (1927-2011) was the cute boy next door of the German cinema of the 1950s. With Nadja Tiller, he became a Dream Couple of the European cinema.

Georg Thomalla in Bezauberndes Fräulein (1953)

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Filmstars von heute und morgen" series IV. Georg Thomalla in Bezauberndes Fräulein/Adorable Miss (Georg Thomalla, 1953).

German actor Georg Thomalla (1915-1999) was one of the most popular and prolific character comedians of the post-war German cinema. Thomalla was also known in Germany for dubbing Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and Jack Lemmon from 1955 to 1998.

Elma Karlowa and Vico Torriani in Gitarren der Liebe (1954)

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Filmstars von heute und morgen" series IV. Elma Karlowa and Vico Torriani in Gitarren der Liebe/Guitars of Love (Werner Jacobs, 1954).

Yugoslav actress Elma Karlowa (1932-1994) was a star of the German popular cinema of the 1950s and early 1960s. After a personal crisis, she returned to the screen in more serious films by directors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Swiss Schlager singer and actor Vico Torriani (1920-1998) was also a popular TV show master and an author of cookbooks. In the 1950s and early 1960s, he starred in a dozen German film musicals and comedies. The favourite Son of Switzerland sold more than twenty million records.

German collectors card in the "Deutsche Filmstars von heute und morgen", series IV.

Blond Swedish pop singer and actress Bibi Johns (1929) was very popular in Europe and the USA during the 1950s. She appeared in several European musical films. In Germany, where she lived from 1954 on, she would become a cult star of the Schlager music. Today she is also known as a painter.

American actress, dancer, and singer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995) made 73 films during her long career. Her RKO musicals with Fred Astaire revolutionised the genre. She won an Oscar for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940).

Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet (1936)

Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3252. Photo: RKO Radio Films. Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet (Mark Sandrich, 1936)

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 60. Photo: Radio Pictures.

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 60.B. Photo: Radio Pictures.

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 60.C. Photo: Radio Pictures.

Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1939, for Orologi e Cinturini Delgia. Photo: Universal.

Her beauty and voice were enough to have the public want more

Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath in 1911 in Independence, Missouri. She was the only child of Lela Emogene née Owens, a newspaper reporter, scriptwriter, and movie producer, and William Eddins McMath, an electrical engineer.

She was raised in Kansas City. In 1915, Rogers moved in with her grandparents while her mother made a trip to Hollywood in an effort to get an essay she had written made into a film. Lela succeeded and continued to write scripts for Fox Studios.

One of Rogers' young cousins, Helen, had a hard time pronouncing "Virginia", shortening it to "Badinda"; the nickname soon became "Ginga". When Rogers was nine years old, her mother remarried, to John Logan Rogers. Ginger took the surname Rogers, although she was never legally adopted. They lived in Fort Worth. Her mother became a theatre critic for a local newspaper, the Fort Worth Record.

As a teenager, Rogers thought of becoming a school teacher, but with her mother's interest in Hollywood and the theater, her early exposure to the theater increased. Waiting for her mother in the wings of the Majestic Theatre, she began to sing and dance along with the performers on stage

Rogers' entertainment career began when the traveling vaudeville act of Eddie Foy came to Fort Worth and needed a quick stand-in. In 1925, the 14-year-old entered and won a 1925 Charleston dance contest. This launched a successful vaudeville career.

Rogers made her Broadway debut in the musical 'Top Speed', which opened on Christmas Day, 1929.
Two weeks later, Rogers was chosen to star on Broadway in 'Girl Crazy' by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin. This led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, and her first film was A Night in a Dormitory (Harry Delmar, 1930). Her contract ended after five films, all made at the Astoria Studios in Queens - and she moved with her mother to Hollywood.

At Warner Bros, Rogers had her first successful film role as in the backstage musical 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933), starring Warner Baxter and Bebe Daniels. The choreography was staged by Busby Berkeley. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and was very successful at the box office. It is now considered a classic.

The film that enamoured her to the public was the musical Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933) with Warren William and Joan Blondell. She did not have top billing but her beauty and voice were enough to have the public want more. She popularised in the film the evergreen 'We're in the Money'.

Her real stardom occurred when she was teamed with Fred Astaire in Flying Down to Rio (Thornton Freeland, 1933). Throughout the 1930s, Rogers and Astaire made they nine musical films at RKO, among which were some of her biggest successes: Flying Down to Rio (Thornton Freeland, 1933), The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich, 1934), Roberta (William A. Seiter, 1935), Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935), Follow the Fleet (Mark Sandrich, 1936), Swing Time (George Stevens, 1936), Shall We Dance (Mark Sandrich, 1937), Carefree (Mark Sandrich, 1938), and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (H.C. Potter, 1939).

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet (1936)

British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. F 195. Photo: Radio (RKO). Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet (Mark Sandrich, 1936).

David Niven and Ginger Rodgers in Bachelor Mother

British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. PC 211. Photo: R.K.O. Radio. Ginger Rogers and David Niven in Bachelor Mother (Garson Kanin, 1939).

French postcard by Viny, no. 7. Photo: RKO.

French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Paris, no. 97. Photo: RKO.

British Real Photograph postcard by Art Photo, no. 42. Photo: Radio Pictures (RKO).

Ginger Rogers in Magnificent Doll (1946)

Dutch postcard by J. Sleding N.V., Amsterdam (J.S.A.), no. S 68. Photo: Universal International. Photo: Ginger Rogers in Magnificent Doll (Frank Borzage, 1946).

One of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s

After two commercial failures with Astaire, Ginger Rogers began to branch out into dramatic films and comedies. Stage Door (Gregory La Cava, 1937) demonstrated her dramatic capacity, as the loquacious yet vulnerable girl next door, a tough-minded theatrical hopeful, opposite Katharine Hepburn.

Successful comedies included Vivacious Lady (George Stevens, 1938) with James Stewart, Fifth Avenue Girl (Gregory La Cava, 1939), where she played an out-of-work girl sucked into the lives of a wealthy family, and Bachelor Mother (Garson Kanin, 1939), with David Niven, in which she played a shop-girl who is falsely thought to have abandoned her baby.

Her acting was well-received by critics and audiences, and she became one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s. Her performance in Kitty Foyle (Sam Wood, 1940) won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

She followed it with the delightful comedies Tom, Dick en Harry (Garson Kanin, 1941), and The Major and the Minor (Billy Wilder, 1942) with Ray Milland. In Roxie Hart (William A. Wellman, 1942), based on the same play which later served as the template for the musical 'Chicago', Rogers played a wisecracking flapper in a love triangle on trial for the murder of her lover; set in the era of prohibition. Most of the film takes place in a women's jail.

Rogers remained successful throughout the 1940s and at one point was Hollywood's highest-paid actress, but her popularity had peaked by the end of the decade. She reunited with Fred Astaire in the commercially successful The Barkleys of Broadway (Charles Walters, 1949).

After an unsuccessful period through the 1950s, Rogers made a successful return to Broadway in 1965, playing the lead role in 'Hello, Dolly!'. In 1969, she had the lead role in another long-running popular production, 'Mame'. More lead roles on Broadway followed. Rogers' autobiography 'Ginger: My Story' was published in 1991.

Ginger Rogers died of a heart attack in 1995 in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 83. Her resting place is the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California. Rogers married five times with all of them ending in divorce and having no children. During her long career, she made 73 films.

British cigarette card in the Stars of Screen & Stage series by Park Drive Cigarettes, Gallaher Ltd., London & Belfast, no. 14. Photo: Radio. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Big Dutch postcard by 't Sticht / Takken, Utrecht, no. 3145. Photo montage: Film en Toneel.

Vintage card. Photo: RKO Radio Film.

French postcard by Erpé, no. 550. Photo: Film Radio (RKO).

Belgian postcard, no. 351. Photo: Warner Bros.

David Niven and Ginger Rogers in Magnificent Doll (1946)

Spanish postcard. David Niven and Ginger Rogers in Magnificent Doll (Frank Borzage, 1946).

Cornel Wilde and Ginger Rogers in It Had To Be You (1947)

Spanish postcard, no. 741. Cornel Wilde and Ginger Rogers in It Had To Be You (Don Hartman, Rudolph Maté, 1947).

Ginger Rogers in Perfect Strangers (1950)

Belgian collectors card by Fotoprim, Brussels, presented by De Beukelaer, Biscuits and Chocolates, Anvers/Antwerpen (Antwerp), no. A 41. Photo: Warner Bros. Photo: Ginger Rogers in Perfect Strangers (Bretaigne Windust, 1950).

American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, CA, no. 91. Photo: Anthony Rollo. Caption: 1980 Woodfin Camp.

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

Rolf Herricht (1927-1981) was one of East Germany's most celebrated comedians. He starred in several popular DEFA comedies during the 1960s and the 1970s.

Rolf Herricht in Geliebte Weiße Maus (1964)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 2041, 1964. Photo: Herbert Kroiss / DEFA. Rolf Herricht with chimpanzee in Geliebte Weiße Maus/Beloved White Mouse (Gottfried Kolditz, 1964).

Doris Abesser and Rolf Herricht in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle (1968)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 3335, 1969. Photo: DEFA / Wenzel. Doris Abesser and Rolf Herricht in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968).

Rolf Herricht and Klaus Piontek in Seine Hoheit - Genosse Prinz (1969)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 106e. Photo: DEFA / Pathenheimer. Rolf Herricht and Klaus Piontek in Seine Hoheit - Genosse Prinz/His Highness - Comrade Prince (Werner W. Wallroth, 1969).

The naïve, funny man

Rolf Oskar Ewald Günter Herricht was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1927.

He graduated from school in 1943 after passing a 'War Abitur', a form of an Abitur designated to free school pupils to be mobilised. In 1945, he was drafted to the Volkssturm and assigned as an anti-aircraft battery assistant.

After the war's end, the 18-years-old began working as a property master and stage manager in a theatre in his native Magdeburg, while studying acting in a local studio. After completion, he went to appear on the stages of theatres in Salzwedel, Stendal, Staßfurt, Güstrow and also in the Kleist Theater in Frankfurt am Oder.

Herricht first met fellow actor Hans-Joachim Preil in 1951, while they both worked in Bernburg. The two formed the 'Herricht and Preil' comedy duo, staging their first sketch, 'The Chess Match', in 1953. In the sketch, Preil vainly attempts to play chess with Herricht, who is completely oblivious to the rules of the game. In their act, Herricht played the naïve 'funny man', while Preil served as the instructing 'straight man'. Preil wrote the sketches and the two were active until Herricht's passing away in 1981.

In 1957, Herricht returned to the Magdeburg Theater, where he remained until 1961. He mainly played comical characters, like the scribe in 'The Beaver Coat' and the drunkard from Auerbach's Cellar in 'Faust I'. During his time in Magdeburg, he also worked on the radio.

He and Preil first performed on television when one of their sketches was broadcast by Deutscher Fernsehfunk in 1959. The show was well received by the audience and the two began making regular appearances on TV. Herricht and Preil became the German Democratic Republic's most celebrated comedians.

East-German postcard by VEB Bild und Heimat Reichenbach I.V., no. G 6104, 1964. Photo: Denger / Deutscher Fernsehfunk DDR, 1962.

Rolf Herricht in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle (1968)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 3317, 1969. Photo: DEFA / Wenzel. Rolf Herricht in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968).

Banned by the Socialist Unity Party

Rolf Herricht made his film debut in DEFA's comedy Bevor der Blitz einschlägt/Before the Lightning Strikes (Richard Groschopp, 1959), playing a minor part of a locomotive constructor. The same year, he starred in the romantic comedy Musterknaben/The Goodies (Johannes Knittel, 1959) with Hartmut Reck and Brigitte Krause.

Herricht later appeared in some twenty feature films, while also playing in many television films. In 1964, he joined the regular cast of the Metropol Theater in Berlin. He also had a career as a singer.

Herricht appeared on screen in relatively minor roles until writer Maurycy Janowski and director Gottfried Kolditz decided to create a film the plot of which would be based on his comical skill, the musical Geliebte weiße Maus/Beloved White Mouse (Gottfried Kolditz, 1964). Herricht portrayed a traffic policeman who falls in love with a woman and only dares speak to her when she makes an accident on the road. The picture met with considerable success.

Herricht starred in several other popular DEFA comedies during the 1960s and the 1970s: among others, he played the erratic National People's Army reserve soldier Ralf Horricht in Der Reserveheld/The reserve hero (Wolfgang Luderer, 1965) and the last-minute-travel-guide Hurtig in Meine Freundin Sybille/My Friend Sybille (Wolfgang Luderer, 1967) with Evelyn Opoczynski.

His crime comedy Hände hoch oder ich schieße/Hands Up or I'll Shoot (Hans-Joachim Kasprzik, 1965), in which he again appeared as the eccentric policeman officer Holms, was banned at the 11th plenary session of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.

His later films included Seine Hoheit - Genosse Prinz/His Highness - Comrade Prince (Werner W. Wallroth, 1969) with Rolf Ludwig, Husaren in Berlin/Hussars in Berlin (Erwin Stranka, 1971) with Manfred Krug, and Der Mann, der nach der Oma kam/The man who came after Grandma (Roland Oehme, 1972), also starring Ilse Voigt. Herricht was twice awarded the Kunstpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic): in 1973 and in 1977.

Rolf Herricht, a chain smoker, died of a heart attack at the age of 53, while performing the role of one of the gangsters in 'Kiss Me, Kate' on the stage of the Metropol. He is buried in Berlin's I Französischer Friedhof. He was married to Christa Herricht. They had one child, daughter Dana.

28 years after Herricht's death, the banned film Hände hoch oder ich schieße/Hands Up or I'll Shoot was finally completed and distributed in 2009, making it the last East German film to be released.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 56/77, 1977. Photo: Uhlenhut.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 30/80, 1979. Photo: Peter Söllner.

Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.

Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968) has a typical sixties subject: the alienation of young people. Unusual is that the film was made in East-Germany by . But typical for this Communist state was that the film was unofficially banned. The fresh and good looking stars of this little gem were Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3278, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

Rolf Ludwig, Katharina Lind and Jan Spitzer in Abschied (1968)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3279, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Rolf Ludwig, Katharina Lind and Jan Spitzer in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied (1968)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3281, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

A farewell to his class

During the 1960s, many films in Hollywood and Europe were made about alienated young men. Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968) is another film in that genre, but this one has the distinction of being made in East Germany, a country where you would not imagine a film celebrating non-conformity could be made.

The film was based on 'Abschied' a famous German novel by Johannes R. Becher and SED politician Alexander Abusch contributed to the scenario in an advisory capacity. Also, the society the lead character is rebelling about is Germany in the years leading up to the first World War. This explains how the unconventional film could be made.

In August 1914, amidst the public ecstasy surrounding the impending war, Hans Gastl (Jan Spitzer) is the seventeen year-old son of a prominent prosecutor (Rolf Ludwig) in Munich. The bullying and hypocrisy of his father and the other adults around him sicken him and he drifts into a life of petty crime. Will some new found friends save him from the road to ruin with their talk of socialism and Karl Marx?

He seeks refuge with Fanny (Heidemarie Wenzel), a prostitute who still has the strength for real feelings, but not the strength to break away from her milieu. Gastl finds new friends among artists. But the war turns some of them - once expressive opponents of the war - into fanatical war supporters. The artist Sack, a poet, remains his only companion.

Hans makes a decision: he will not take part in this war. This resolution signifies a turning point in his life; a farewell to his class and his family. His notions of 'transformation' are still nebulous, but are nevertheless linked with a sensible life in a just society.

Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968) is a visually striking film, with many shots and editing tricks that owe a debt to the French New Wave films of the 1960s. The film has an anachronistic look. Despite being set in the 1910s, everyone looks like they just stepped out of a 1960s fashion magazine. Director Egon Günther did not want to make a mere literary adaptation but translated it to the current GDR.

The film premiere was on 10 October 1968 in Berlin. Abschied was awarded the title 'Particularly valuable', but soon it was criticised for its "stylistic devices". Egon Günther and Günter Kunert had implemented the novel “as a modern satirical spectacle, anti-bourgeois and pacifist at the same time”. At the 9th plenary session of the Central Committee of the SED on 24 October 1968, the film was sharply criticised. When the film was to be shown at a ceremony in honour of Johannes R. Becher, Walter Ulbricht demonstratively left the cinema shortly before the start of the performance.

Abschied was taken from the East-German cinemas after a short time and later only ran occasionally in individual screenings. While the film never ran on television in the GDR, the ZDF showed him the film 1971 on West-German television. In 2007 the film was released on DVD by Icestorm.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3282, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3283, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzelin Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

Rolf Ludwig and Jan Spitzer in Abschied (1968)

East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3284, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Rolf Ludwig and Jan Spitzer in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

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

Antonio Gandusio (1873-1951) was one of the most famous comic actors of the twentieth-century theatre. He also had a rich career in the 1930s and 1940s Italian cinema. Gandusio appeared in 34 films between 1914 and 1948.

Italian postcard, no. 294. Photo: Badodi.

Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 32. Photo: Badodi, Milano.

Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Edizioni Roma), no. 299. Photo: Vaselli / Lux Film. 1940s.

A graceless voice, a slight hump, and an irregular face

Antonio Gandusio was born in 1873 in Rovigno d'Istria, what was then still Austro-Hungarian Istria, now Rovin, Croatia. He went to law studies pushed by his father, a lawyer. He graduated studying first in Genoa and then in Rome, where he cultivated his passion for acting.

It prompted him to study at a theatre school and, subsequently, to find engagements at some of the most renowned theater companies of the time. In 1899 he obtained an engagement with Alfredo De Sanctis.

After that, he began long collaborations with the companies of Irma Gramatica, Flavio Andò, Evelina Paoli, Lyda Borelli, Ugo Piperno, Virgilio Talli, Maria Melato, and Annibale Betrone. He obtained the opportunity to work with actors of the caliber of Tina Di Lorenzo, Sergio Tofano and Uberto Palmarini.

His physical characteristics, a graceless voice, a slight hump, and an irregular face, made him suitable for the role of a comedian. In the wake of his family's tradition of 'Irredentismo', which had historically provided captains to the Republic of Venice. He was sentenced to death by the Austrian military court in 1915 because he refused to join their army after the outbreak of the First World War.

In 1918, he became the leader of a theatre company, staging a repertoire based mainly on 'pochades' and farces. Among the various productions, however, were also those of the plays by Luigi Pirandello, of which Gandusio was a sensitive interpreter. The managerial activity led him to become an interpreter of part of the new Italian dramaturgy represented by the work of Luigi Chiarelli and Luigi Pirandello. In his role as manager, he had the opportunity to direct actors such as Paolo Stoppa, Nico Pepe, and Nando Gazzolo.

Italian postcard, no. 534. Photo: Vettori, Bologna. Lola Braccini and Antonio Gandusio in the play 'Il Diplomatico'.

Pina Menichelli and Luigi Serventi in Il romanzo di un giovane povero

Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori Bologna, no. 1052. Pina Menichelli, Luigi Serventi,Gustavo Salvini and Antonio Gandusio in Il romanzo di un giovane povero/The Story of a Poor Young Man (Amleto Palermi, 1920), based on the novel 'Le Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre' (1858) by Octave Feuillet. The proud Margherita (Menichelli), daughter of the rich Laroque (Salvini), falls in love with her father's administrator, Massimo Odiot (Serventi), but fears he is only after her money. The real vulture, however, is a corrupt count (Gandusio), to whom Margharita is betrothed, unknowing of the man's plans. When Massimo and Margherita are accidentally locked into an old tower, and she treats him cruelly, Massimo sacrifices himself and jumps from the tower, to get help. When afterward he gets hold of a fortune, nothing can prevent the marriage between the two anymore.

Peaking in the late 1930s

In the silent era, Antonio Gandusio had three scarce, supporting roles in Rinunzia (Carmine Gallone, 1914) starring Soava Gallone, Strana (Alfredo Robert, 1917), and Il romanzo di un giovane povero/The Story of a Poor Young Man (Amleto Palermi, 1920) starring Pina Menichelli, and Luigi Serventi.

From the early 1930s, Gandusio's film acting career really set off when sound had set in. He peaked in the later 1930s with such films as L'albero di Adamo/Adam's Tree (Mario Bonnard, 1938) based on a play by Alfredo Testoni, the comedy Per uomini soli/For Men Only (Guido Brignone, 1938), the romantic comedy Eravamo 7 sorelle/We Were Seven Sisters (Nunzio Malasomma, 1939), Eravamo sette vedove/We Were Seven Widows (Mario Mattoli, 1939), and the comedy Frenesia/Frenzy (Mario Bonnard, 1939) with Dina Galli.

In all these films, Gandusio played the lead or at least the male lead opposite such actresses as Elsa Merlini and Betty Stockfeld. Or he was the second man of films like Cose dell'altro mondo (Nunzio Malasomma, 1939). During the war years, Gandusio film career remained high with his leads in Manovre d'amore/Maneuvers of love (Gennaro Righelli, 1940), Se non son matti non li vogliamo/If I'm not crazy, we don't want them (Esodo Pratelli, 1941), and Le signorine della villa accanto/The ladies of the villa next door (Gian Paolo Rosmino, 1942).

Well-known films of the 1940s in which Gandusio had major parts were Stasera niente di nuovo/Nothing new tonight (Mario Mattoli, 1942) with Alida Valli, and La vispa Teresa/Lively Teresa (Mario Mattoli, 1943) with Lilia Silvi.

After the war, Gandusio still acted in a handful of films, including the drama Lo sconosciuto di San Marino/The Unknown Man of San Marino (Michał Waszyński, 1948) with Vittorio De Sica. He stopped acting after 1948.

Antonio Gandusio passed away in 1951 in Milan. He was 75. Gandusio died shortly before making some stageplay recordings for RAI television. In his hometown, the city theatre took his name.

Italian postcard by SIF. Photo: Badodi.

Italian postcard. Photo: Badodi, Milano. Antonio Gandusio in the play 'Baciatemi' by Bernard, Mirande and Quinson, Teatro Goldoni, 9 May 1927, "Serata in Onore di Antonio Gandusio". Other actors in the play were a.o. Giacomo Almirante, Olinto Cristina, Enrico Viarisio and Lola Braccini, all of whom had subsequent film careers in the 1930s and 1940s.

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

Former German Schlager singer and film actor Manfred Schnelldorfer (1943) started out as a figure skater, who became both World and Olympic champion in 1964.

German postcard by ISV, no. K 31. Photo E. Schneider.

German postcard by ISV, no. K 38. Photo: E. Schneider.

Olympic champion

Manfred Schnelldorfer was born in München (Munich), Germany in 1943. He was the son of two figure skating coaches. His father had skated in an ice revue but saw its milieu as a harmful influence.

He won his first competition at the age of eight. He was coached by his parents and skated for the Munich ERC club.

At the German Junior Championships, Schnelldorfer finished second behind Hans-Jürgen Bäumler. The following year, he won the German senior title while Bäumler finished fourth. Internationally, he represented the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany).

Manfred Schnelldorfer studied architecture at TH München (Technical University of Munich) but put his studies on hold for financial reasons. At age 20, he won the gold medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck and became one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic champions. His victory was a surprise. The favourite was Alain Calmat of France, who won the Europeans between 1962 and 1964 and was silver medallist at the 1963 Worlds.

The Olympic Championship in 1964 was the highlight of his career. In all, Schnelldorfer was an eight-time German champion, one-time World champion (1964), three-time bronze and two-time silver medallist at the Europeans.

After his Olympic win, the Ice Capades offered Schnelldorfer a $1.5 million three-year contract but he declined because of a promise to his parents. For two years beginning in 1967, he served as the sports director, officially 'national coach', of the Deutsche Eislauf Union. After his parents gave their approval, he performed with the Deutsche Eistheater on Berlin from 1969 to 1973.

Czech postcard by Pressfoto, no S 12/11, 1964. Photo: Zdenek Havelka. Manfred Schnelldorfer becoming Olympic champion in 1964 in Innsbruck.

Czech postcard by Pressfoto, no S 12/12, 1964. Photo: Zdenek Havelka. Manfred Schnelldorfer becoming Olympic champion in 1964 at the IX Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck. On the left, silver medallist Alain Calmat (France), and on the right, bronze medallist, Scott Allen (USA).

Dutch promotion card for Brio, no. BRI 434, 1964. Photo: Manfred Schnelldorfer kisses Dutch champion Sjoukje Dijkstra.

Schlagers

During the 1960s, Manfred Schnelldorfer also was a 'Schlagersänger' (pop singer) and film actor to finance his architecture studies. He had hits with such songs as 'Wenn du mal allein bist' (When you are once alone) and 'Deine schönen blauen Augen' (Your beautiful blue eyes).

He sang and acted ina half dozen light entertainment films. He made his film debut in Holiday in St. Tropez (Ernst Hofbauer, 1964) with Vivi Bach and Ann Smyrner.

His other films include Ich kauf' mir lieber einen Tirolerhut/I prefer to buy a Tiroler hat (Hans Billian, 1965) with Hannelore Auer and Gus Backus, Tausend Takte Übermut/Thousand takts high spirits (Ernst Hofbauer, 1965) with Vivi Bach and Rex Gildo, and Spukschloß im Salzkammergut/The Haunted Castle in Salzkammergut (Hans Billian, Rolf Olsen, 1966) with Udo Jürgens.

After that he became a coach and sports teacher. He was the first national coach of West Germany for figure skating (Eiskunstlauf-Bundestrainer) between 1974 and 1981.

Between 1981 and 1999 he owned his own sport shop and was a co-commentator for TV station Eurosport. Later he worked as a photographer.

Manfred Schnelldorfer lives in Munich. He is married and has two children. In 2018, he returned to the screen in an episode of the TV series Marie fängt Feuer/Marie is on Fire (2016-2019), starring Christine Eixenberger.

Manfred Schnelldorfer in Holiday in St. Tropez (1964)

German postcard by Kolibri / Friedich-W. Sander-Verlag, Minden/Westf. no. 2200. Photo: Constantin Film. Manfred Schnelldorfer in Holiday in St. Tropez (Ernst Hofbauer, 1964).

Margitta Scherr, Christiane Rücker and Manfred Schnelldorfer in Ich kauf mir lieber einen Tirolerhut (1965)

German postcard by Graphima, Berlin. Photo: Marhoffer / Musichouse / Ceres Film. Margitta Scherr, Christiane Rücker and Manfred Schnelldorfer in Ich kauf mir lieber einen Tirolerhut/I'd rather buy a Tyrolean hat (Hans Bilian, 1965).

Manfred Schnelldorfer sings 'Deine schönen blauen Augen' for Gus Backus in Ich kauf' mir lieber einen Tirolerhut/I prefer to buy a Tiroler hat (1965). Source: Fritz 5169 (YouTube).

Manfred Schnelldorfer sings his 1964 hit Wenn Du mal allein bist (If you're alone sometimes) in the TV show of Wim Thoelke (1965). Source: SportStudio (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Dria Paola (1909-1993) was an Italian film actress of the 1930s and 1940s. Her name is attached to the first Italian sound film La canzone dell’amore (1930) by Gennaro Righelli.

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci Editore, Milano, no. 617. Photo: Bragaglia / Augustus Films.

Italian postcard by Cines Pittaluga, Roma, no. 887. Photo: Cines, no. 38. Dria Paola in La canzone dell’amore/The song of love (Gennaro Righelli, 1930).

French postcard by Europe, no. 991. Photo: Produzione Pittaluga Cines, Roma.

Italian postcard by Cines-Pittaluga, no. 3. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Dria Paola in Vele ammainate/Lowered Sails ( Anton Giulio Bragaglia, 1931).

Exotic and Mysterious

Dria Paola was born Pietra Giovanna Matilde Adele Pitteo in Rovigo, Italy in 1909, as the daughter of Arturo Pitteo, owner of hunting arms store and Ione Volebele, a cafe owner. Already at a young age, little Etra showed artistic temperament, dancing at the age of three and reciting when she was ten.

She initially worked for the company of Carlo Lombardo. After adopting the exotic and mysterious name of Dria Paola, she managed to get a small part as Neda in the late silent epic Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926) starring Victor Varconi, Rina De Liguoro, and Maria Corda.

A more substantial part Paola had in the late silent film Sole!/Sun! (1929), Alessandro Blasetti's debut as a film director, on the drainage and cultivation of the marshlands near Rome, the Agropontino. Unfortunately, less than a quarter of the film remains, while the Nazis destroyed the negative during the war.

Sole! wasn’t a public success, but Paola was more fortunate with her successive film, La canzone dell’amore/The song of love (Gennaro Righelli, 1930), the first Italian sound feature, entirely produced in Italy. The quite absurd story about a young woman who adopts the baby her mother gave birth to, was taken from a story by Luigi Pirandello, 'In silenzio' (In Silence).

While her mother dies giving birth, Lucia adopts little Ninni, pretending to her fiancé Enrico (Elio Steiner) and her landlady it is her own child. Lucia breaks up her engagement with Enrico, who is about to become a big musician. Lucia’s rival Anna, played by another upcoming star: Isa Pola, gets hold of Enrico. But when Lucia and Enrico meet again in the big record store where Lucia works and Enrico is making a record, he admits he still loves her. The father of the child (Camillo Pilotto) shows up and claims the child. Heartbroken, Lucia gives in but tries to commit suicide afterward. Just in time Enrico saves her, the father gives the child to Lucia and all is well.

The film opens and closes with images of Rome, and is actually one of the few Italian films from the 1930s showing the city repeatedly. Stylistically important are the different moments of double framing, when Lucia looks out from her rented rooms and mimics neighbours how to change diapers and feed the child. Interesting is also Righelli’s visualisaton of Lucia’s frenzy at her suicide attempt and his pans across the enormous set of the record store.

La canzone dell’amore had its premiere on 7 October 1930 at the Supercinema in Rome (the actual Teatro Nazionale). The film was a popular success, not in the least because of the music composed by Cesare Andrea Bixio, whose well-known song 'Solo per te Lucia' became a hit as well. The film also caused two foreign remakes, one in German Liebeslied/Love Song (Constantin J. Davis, 1931) and one in French, La dernière berceuse/The last lullaby (Jean Cassagne, 1931).

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 43. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Dria Paola as Maria in Pergolesi (Guido Brignone, 1932).

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 65. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Dria Paola as Maria in Pergolesi (Guido Brignone, 1932). The man left could be Elio Steiner as Pergolesi.

Italian postcard by Cines Pittaluga, no. 71. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Dria Paola in Vele ammainate/Lowered Sails (Anton Giulio Bragaglia, 1931).

Italian postcard by Cines-Pattulaga, no. 91. Photo: Cines-Pattulaga. Dria Paola in Vele ammainate/Lowered Sails (Anton Giulio Bragaglia, 1931).

Dria Paola and Elio Steiner in La canzone dell'amore

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 883. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga, Roma. After an attempted suicide, Lucia (Dria Paola) and Enrico (Elio Steiner) make up towards the end of La canzone dell’amore (Gennaro Righelli, 1930). The cityscape of Rome in the background.

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 885. Photo: Cines Pittaluga, Roma. Dria Paola in La canzone dell’amore/The song of love (Gennaro Righelli, 1930).

Clumsy Damsel in Distress

Dria Paola was a star overnight. By now the thin actress with the big head and fluttering hands was typecasted as the fragile and sometimes clumsy damsel in distress. At the death of her father in 1932 she moved to Rome with her mother.

Her films included the avant-garde film Vele ammainate/Lowered sails (1931) - the only sound film by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, the biopic Pergolesi (Guido Brignone, 1932), and Fanny (Mario Almirante, 1933), based on Marcel Pagnol’s famous play, the sequel of his 'Marius'. While audiences liked Fanny, the press considered the film too stagey. The same happened with the original French adaptation, Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932).

Then, Paola played a department store worker opposite a young Vittorio De Sica as a shoplifter in Il signore desidera?/Mr. Desire (Gennaro Righelli, 1933).

Her following leads were in La fanciulla dell’altro mondo/The girl from another world (Gennaro Righelli, 1934) and La cieca di Sorrento/The Blind Woman of Sorrento (Nunzio Malasomma, 1934), while she played supporting parts in Il colpo di vento/The blast (Carlo Felice Tavano, 1936) starring Ermete Zacconi, and L’albero di Adamo/Adam's Tree (Mario Bonnard, 1936) starring Elsa Merlini.

Righelli gave Paola a lead again in the Pirandello comedy Pensaci, Giacomino!/Think It Over Jack (Gennaro Righelli, 1936) starring Angelo Musco as a professor who marries his caretaker´s daughter, who is pregnant.

After supporting roles in the Raffaele Viviani drama L’ultimo scugnizzo/The last urchin (Gennaro Righelli, 1938), L’albergo degli assenti/The property of the absent (Raffaele Matarazzo, 1939), and Lotta nell’ombra/Fight in the shade (1939) by former acrobat turned director Domenico Gambino, Righelli provided another female lead for Paola in the historical drama Il cavaliere di San Marco/The Knight of San Marco (Gennaro Righelli, 1939), starring Mario Ferrari.

After a bit part in La grande luce/The great light (Carlo Campogalliani, 1939), Paola had a substantial part opposite Camillo Pilotto and Germana Paolieriin the naval spy story Traversata nera/Crossing the black (Domenico Gambino, 1939). Paola also had a major supporting part in Guido Brignone’s musical comedy La mia canzone al vento/My Song to the Wind (1939) with Laura Nucci and the female lead in La notte delle beffe/The Night of Tricks (Carlo Campogalliani, 1939), opposite Amedeo Nazzari.

Paola’s last parts were in the drama Cuori nella tormenta/Tormented Hearts (Carlo Campogalliani, 1940) and La pantera nera/The Black Panther (Domenico Gambino, 1942) starring Leda Gloria. Dria Paola then retired. Later she published her autobiography and did sporadic performances on stage and on television. One last film appearance was in the drama Cortile/Courtyard (Antonio Petrucci, 1955) starring Edoardo De Filippo.

In 1993, Dria Paola died completely forgotten in Rome, at the age of 83.

Italian postcard in the Series Cines Pittaluga by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2550.

Italian postcard in the Series Cines Pittaluga by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2561. Photo: Cines Pittaluga.

Italian postcard, no. 618. Photo Bragaglia / Augustus Film.

Italian postcard by Cines-Pittaluga, Rome.

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

Ivo Blom found this series of French postcards of the 1910s. The publisher is unknown but we guess it was Pathé Frères while all the portrayed actors and actresses worked for Pathé in the 1910s. Most of the photos were taken by A. Bert or Félix, who both also worked for other postcard series by Pathé. The numbers on the cards double, so there were probably two or even more series.

French postcard, no. 1. Cliché Bert.

Charles Prince (1872-1933), aka just ‘Prince’, was a French film actor, director, and writer. He was famous for his countless comical shorts with his alter ego Rigadin.

French postcard, no. 2. Cliché Manuel.

Exotic Stacia Napierkowska (1886-1945) was a fascinating star of the silent film era. The French actress and dancer is best remembered as the seductive but cruel Queen Antinéa in the classic fantasy L’Atlantide/Queen of Atlantis (Jacques Feyder, 1921). Between 1908 and 1926 she appeared in 86 films.

French postcard, no. 3. Cliché X.

André Deed (1879-1940) was one the most popular comedians in French and Italian silent cinema under the names of Boireau and Cretinetti. He also was a film director and scriptwriter.

French postcard, no. 4. Cliché Félix.

Andrée Pascal (1892-1982) was a French actress who was highly active in French silent cinema. She did over 30 films for Pathé in the early 1910s but suddenly stopped her film career after acting in L'empereur des pauvres (1922).

French postcard, no. 6. Cliché Félix.

Madeleine Roch (1883–1930) was a reputed French 'tragédienne' from the Comédie Française, who between 1909 and 1913 acted in a series of 11 Film d'Art-like historical films at Pathé Frères. These included the Tolstoy adaptation Résurrection (1909), Messaline (Ferdinand Zecca, Henri Andréani, 1910), Cléopâtre (Ferdinand Zecca, Henri Andréani, 1910), Moïse sauvé des eaux (Henri Andréani, 1911), Radgrune (Camille de Morlhon, 1911), and Une intrigue à la cour d’Henry VIII (Camille de Morlhon, 1911). Madeleine Roch entered the Comédie-Française in 1903 and was a Sociétaire there between 1912 and 1930. Her quitting of film acting in 1912 may have had to do with becoming a Sociétaire. She was in particular a performer of the plays of Jean Racine, such as 'Andromaque', 'Brittanicus', and 'Phèdre', and of Greek tragedy. At the open air Théâtre des Arènes in Béziers, she starred in e.g. 'Le premier glaive' (1908), 'La fille du soleil' (1909), 'Héliogabale' (1910), and 'Les esclaves' (1910). In 1930, Roch gave her last stage performance. She died that same year.

French postcard, no. 7. Cliché Bert.

René Alexandre (1885-1946) was a French actor of the Comédie-Française. Between 1909 and 1940 he acted in some 53 films, mainly in shorts by Pathé but also om Antoine’s rural drama La Terre (1921).

French postcard, no. 7. Cliché Boyer.

Louis Ravet (1870-1933) was a French stage and screen actor. Ravet, who first acted at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord and the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, was pensionnaire of the Comédie-Française from 1899 to 1919, playing in the classics by Corneille, Hugo, and most often, Racine.

French postcard, no. 8. Cliché Bert.

Amélie Diéterle (1871-1941) was one of 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, no. 9. Cliché Gully.

Henri Étiévant (1870–1953) was a French actor, who started at Pathé Frères in 1908 and had a prolific career there until 1914, often - but not always - playing bad guys. In the four-part episode film Les misérables (Albert Capellani, 1913), he played Javert, the police commissioner pursuing Jean Valjean (Henry Krauss). In 1913, Henri Étiévant worked as a film director at Milano Films, in films with Pina Fabbri, Livio Pavanelli, and Thea Sandten. In 1913-1914, he also worked as a director in Germany for the company Vitascope, in films such as Pauline (1914), often with Sandten in the lead. Between 1915 and 1919, Henri Étiévant was absent from the sets, both as actor and director. In 1920 he retook his career as a director with the film Neuf. In the 1920s, he sporadically returned to the film sets but rather focused on directing, with films such as La fille de Camargue (1921) with Stacia Napierkowska and Charles Vanel, La fin de Monte-Carlo (1927) with Jean Angelo and Francesca Bertini, and La sirène des tropiques (codirected with Mario Nalpas, 1927) with Josephine Baker. With Nalpas he also co-directed his last film, the late silent film La symphonie pathétique (1930). He would still act in five sound films in the 1930s, such as the comedy La bande à Bouboule (Léon Mathot, 1931).

French postcard, no. 9. Cliché Nadar.

Lucien Cazalis (1878-1945) was a French stage and screen actor and singer. In the early 1910s, he was a popular Pathé comedian as the characters Jobard (1911) and Caza (1913-1916).

French postcard, no. 10. Cliché Félix.

Germaine Reuver (1885-1953) was a French actress, who acted in some 65 films between 1908 and 1953. Between 1909 and 1912, she often acted in the Rigadin comedies by Pathé. In the 1930s, she played many supporting parts in French sound cinema.

French postcard, no. 11. Cliché Félix.

Georges Coquet (?-?) was a French stage and screen actor. Coquet obtained his diploma at the Paris Conservatory in 1888. He first played classical stage roles, then moved over to vaudeville, and finally played at the Comédie-Française. After a first part in the Pathé thriller La main (1907), Coquet became a prolific Pathé actor between 1911 and 1914, mostly playing in comedies, e.g. those with Max Linder. He was married to Andrée Marly, with whom he also acted together in a number of Pathé shorts such as Deux vieux garçons (Michel Carré, 1911), Le Vase brisé (1912), Serment de fumeur (Camille de Morlhon, 1912), and À la française (1912). In 1912 René Leprince directed Coquet several times, such as in Le club des élégants and L'infidèle. Probably his last part Coquet had in the Gaumont comedy L'épreuve (Louis Feuillade, 1914), starring Renée Carl.

French postcard, no. 12. Cliché Félix.

Marie or Maria Ventura (1888-1954) was a Romanian-French actress and theatre director. She became well known in the silent cinema with her role in the popular serial Les misérables (1912). From 1919 till 1941, she worked at the Comédie-Française. In 1938, she directed 'Iphigénie' by Racine, becoming the first woman to direct a play at the Comédie-Française.

French postcard, no. 13. Cliché Femina.

Georges Dorival (1871–1939) was a French actor, who had a prolific career at Pathé Frères between 1909 and 1914, acting in 26 historical and modern dramas, such as Le bossu (André Heuzé 1912) and Rocambole (Georges Denola, 1914). In the 1920s he did only one film: Quatre-vingt-treize (André Antoine, 1921), in the 1930s five films.

French postcard, no. 13. Cliché Sartony.

Jean-Joseph-Dieudonné-Léonard Van den Kerckhove, known as Jacques Vandenne or simply 'Vandenne' (1864-?) was a French silent cinema actor, mainly at Pathé Frères. He was sometimes indicated as Maurice Vandenne.

French postcard, no. 14. Cliché Félix.

Jane Renouardt aka Jane Renouard (1890–1972), born Victorine Catherine Renouard, was a French actress of the silent screen. She played Jane, the partner of Max Linder, in many of his short comedies for Pathé Frères. During the First World War, she acted in various feature films, such as the pantomime L'Enfant prodigue (Michel Carré, André Wormser, 1916) with Cécile Guyon as Pierrot and Renouardt as 'his' beloved Phrynette, and the tragedy Clown/Le Clown (1917) by and starring Maurice de Féraudy, as an old clown who kills himself for his son (René Rocher). In 1919 Renouardt did her last film, En quatrième vitesse (Marcel Simon, 1919). She was the first manager of the Theater Danou, which opened in 1921. In 1936 she married the actor Fernand Gravey.

French postcard, no. 15. Cliché Félix.

Jeanne Provost (1897-1980) was a member of the Comédie-Française only between 1907 and 1912, and she would act in some 25 silent and sound films.

French postcard, no. 15. Cliché Henri Manuel.

Henri Desfontaines (1876–1931) was a prolific actor and director at Pathé Frères between 1909 and 1914, mostly with historical or contemporary dramas. All in all, he acted in 37 films between 1908 and 1920 (plus two early sound films) and directed 61 films between 1908 and 1928. While initially rather acting in films directed by Albert Capellani, he soon became a prolific director as well. In the early 1910s, Desfontaines often co-directed Film d'Art dramas such as L'assassinat d'Henri III (with Louis Mercanton, 1911), Madame Sans-Gêne (with André Calmettes, 1911) with Réjane, Les amours de la reine Élisabeth/Queen Elizabeth (with Mercanton, 1912) starring Sarah Bernhardt, Adrienne Lecouvreur (with Mercanton, 1913) again with Bernhardt, and Anne de Boleyn (with Mercanton, 1914). Probably his first feature-length film was La reine Margot (1914), starring Léontine Massart as Marguerite of Valois, Desfontaines as king Charles IX, Jeanne Grumbach as Catherine de Medici, and Paul Numa as Henri of Navarra. From 1920 onward, Desfontaines focused on film directing, such as L'espionne aux yeux noirs (1926) with Maria Dalbaicin, and Belphegor (1927) with René Navarre.

French postcard, no. 16. Cliché Bert.

French stage and screen actor Valentin Pierre Louis MacLeod is better known as Georges Grand (1864-1921). He was first acclaimed for his work with André Antoine before becoming a reputed member of the Comédie-Française. Grand also acted in 11 modern and historical dramas by Pathé Frères.

Émile Dehelly in Les trois mousquetaires (1913)

French postcard, no. 17. Cliché Bert. Émile Dehelly as D'Artagnan in Les trois mousquetaires (Henri Pouctal, 1913), based on Alexandre Dumas' famous novel.

Émile Dehelly (1871-1969) was a French stage and screen actor, who was a sociétaire of the Comédie-Française (1903-1928) and had a prolific career at Le Film d’Art between 1909 and 1913. He is the father of film actor Jean Dehelly (1896-1964).

French postcard, no. 19. Cliché Félix.

Andrée Marly (?-?) had a short but intense film career in the years 1909-1916, mostly acting in short comedies and dramas by Pathé. She was married to the actor Georges Coquet.

French postcard, no. 19. Cliché Félix.

Juliette Clarens (1887–1978) was a French actress who acted in some 35 films between 1910 and 1920. In 1910-1914, she played in many comedies, e.g. with Rigadin, and dramas at Pathé Frères. In Louis Feuillade's crime serial Judex (1916) she played Gisèle. In Henri Pouctal's Zola adaptation Travail (1920) she was Suzanne.

French postcard, no. 20. Cliché Bert.

Émile Mylo aka Milo (1889–1952) was a French actor, who started at Pathé Frères in 1909 and made many shorts there, both dramas and comedies, e.g. the burglar in L'épouvante (Albert Capellani, 1911), starring Mistinguett, the title character in Les aventures de Cyrano de Bergerac (Albert Capellani, 1912), and Thenardier in Capellani's four-part episode film Les misérables (Albert Capellani, 1913). From his later - feature - films his part as Hyacinthe, named Jésus-Christ, in La terre (André Antoine, 1920) was memorable. All in all he acted in 66 films.

French postcard, no. 20. Cliché Félix.

Jane Faber (1880-1968) was a Belgian actress, who was active in French cinema of the 1910s and is best known for her role as Princess Sonia Danidoff in the Fantomas crime serial (1913-14). She was also a notable actress of the Comédie-Française.

Myrna Loy (1905-1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934). Suddenly she was 'Queen of the Movies' and remained so until the late 1940s.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 355a.

French postcard by P.C., Paris, no. 38. Photo: George Hurrell, c. 1932 / MGM.

William Powell and Myrna Loy in Evelyn Prentice (1934)

British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. P 161. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. William Powell and Myrna Loy in Evelyn Prentice (William K. Howard, 1934).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 1496/1, 1937-1938. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 234, presented by Victoria, Brussels, no. 639. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer (M.G.M.), 1950.

Portraying Vamps

Myrna Loy was born Myrna Adele Williams in 1905 in Helena, Montana. Her parents were Adelle Mae (Johnson) and David Franklin Williams.

Loy was raised in rural Radersburg during her early childhood. Her mother was a talented pianist who encouraged Myrna's interest in the arts. When she was thirteen, Myrna's father died of influenza in the Spanish Flu epidemic, and the rest of the family moved to Los Angeles.

There, she began studying dance and trained extensively throughout her high school education. At the age of 15, she appeared in local stage productions in order to help support her family.

She appeared in staged prologues before the films in the famous Grauman's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. During this period, Loy saw Eleonora Duse in the play 'Thy Will Be Done', and the simple acting techniques she employed made such an impact on Loy that she tried to emulate them throughout her career.

Portrait photographer Henry Waxman took several pictures of her that were noticed by Rudolph Valentino when the actor went to Waxman's studio for a sitting. Valentino was looking for a leading lady for Cobra, the first independent project he and his wife Natacha Rambova were producing. Loy tested for the role, which went to Gertrude Olmstead instead.

Rambova hired Loy for a small but showy role opposite Nita Naldi in What Price Beauty? (Tom Buckingham, 1925-1928), a film she was producing. Shot in May 1925, the film remained unreleased for three years; but stills of Loy in her exotic makeup and costume appeared in Motion Picture magazine and led to a contract with Warner Bros. There, her surname was changed from Williams to Loy.

At Warner Bros., she began obtaining small roles, mainly portraying vamps or femmes fatales. She appeared along with Zasu Pitts and Joan Crawford in Pretty Ladies (Monta Bell, 1925). She also frequently portrayed characters of Asian or Eurasian background in films such as Across the Pacific (Roy Del Ruth, 1926) starring Monte Blue.

Finally, in 1927, she received star billing in Bitter Apples (Harry O'Hoyt, 1927). The excitement was short-lived as she returned to the usual smaller roles afterward. When her contract ran out with Warner, she signed with MGM where she got better roles.

British Real Photograph postcard by Sarony, no. 40. Photo: Warner Bros. Caption: No. 40 of a second Series of 42 CINEMA STARS issued with Sarony Cigarettes.

Italian postcard by Cinema-Illustrazione, Milano, no. 7, Serie I. Photo: Fox Film.

Dutch postcard. Photo: Max Munn Autrey / Fox-Film.

Myrna Loy in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)

German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie series, no 149 (out of 300). The series was produced by Ross Verlag for Kurmark as a supplement for their Edelzigarette. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer (M.G.M.). Myrna Loy in The Mask of Fu Manchu (Charles Brabin, 1932). She played the depraved sadistic daughter of the title character, played by Boris Karloff.

Ramon Novarro and Myrna Loy in A Night in Cairo/ The Barbarian (1933)

Dutch postcard, no. 484. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Ramon Novarro and Myrna Loy in The Barbarian (Sam Wood, 1933).

Queen of the Movies

Myrna Loy's role in The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934) with William Powell helped elevate her reputation as a versatile actress. Director W. S. Van Dyke chose Loy after he detected a wit and sense of humour that her previous films had not revealed. At a Hollywood party, he pushed her into a swimming pool to test her reaction and felt that her aplomb in handling the situation was exactly what he envisioned for Nora. Her witty perception of situations gave Loy the image that one could not pull a fast one over on the no-nonsense Mrs. Charles.

The Thin Man became one of the year's biggest hits and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. From then on, Myrna was a big box-office draw. She was popular enough that, in 1936, she was named 'Queen of the Movies' and Clark Gable the king in a nationwide poll of filmgoers. She reprised the role of Nora Charles five more times. William Powell and she proved to be a popular screen couple and appeared in 14 films together, one of the most prolific pairings in Hollywood history.

Such films as Wife vs. Secretary (Clarence Brown, 1936) with Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and Petticoat Fever (George Fitzmaurice, 1936) with Robert Montgomery gave her the opportunity to develop her comedic skills. She appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: The Great Ziegfeld (Robert Z. Leonard, 1936) and The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946).

With the outbreak of World War II, Loy focused on the war effort and began devoting her time working with the Red Cross. Earlier, she was so fiercely outspoken against Adolf Hitler that her name appeared on his blacklist, resulting in her films being banned in Germany.

After the war, Myrna Loy was paired with Cary Grant in David O. Selznick's The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (Irving Reis, 1947), co-starring a teenaged Shirley Temple. Following its success, she appeared again with Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (H.C. Potter, 1948). Loy's career began to slow in the late 1940s.

She appeared in only a few films in the 1950s, including a lead role in the comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (Walter Lang, 1950) opposite Clifton Webb, as well as supporting parts in The Ambassador's Daughter (Norman Krasna, 1956) and the drama Lonelyhearts (Vincent J. Donehue, 1958), starring Montgomery Clift.

Later in her career, she was often cast as maternal, heroic characters. In 1973, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of Clare Boothe Luce's 'The Women'. Between 1960 and 1981, she appeared in only eight films, after which she retired from acting. Her last acting role was a guest spot on the sitcom Love, Sidney, in 1982. Her autobiography, 'Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming', was published in 1987.

Although Loy was never nominated for an Academy Award, in March 1991 she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her life's work both onscreen and off, including serving as assistant to the director of the military and naval welfare for the Red Cross during World War II, and a member-at-large of the U.S. Commission to UNESCO.

Myrna Loy died in 1993 in New York City, aged 88. She married and divorced four times. Her husbands were Arthur Hornblow Jr. (1936-1942), John Daniel Hertz Jr. (1942-1944), Gene Markey (1946-1950), and Howland Hill Sargeant (1951-1960).

French postcard by Editions Chantal (EC), no. 40. Photo: George Hurrell / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1932.

British postcard by Film Weekly. Myrna Loy and John Barrymore in Topaze (Harry D'Abbadie D'Arrast, RKO 1933).

British postcard by Art Photo, no. 102. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Myrna Loy and Wiliam Powell.

British Real Photograph postcard by Milton, no. 47. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 47. A. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 47. B. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

Italian postcard. Art work: Giacomo Canestrari / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. William Powell and Myrna Loy in Double Wedding (1937).

Clark Gable and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)

British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. P 249. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Clark Gable and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (Victor Fleming, 1938).

British postcard by Valentine's, no. 5904 E. Photo: M.G.M.

French card by Massilia. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Amit Benyovits.

French postcard by Viny, no. 3. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Dutch postcard by J.S.A. (J. Sleding, Amsterdam). Photo: Universal / M.P.E.

Belgian collectors card by Chocolaterie Clovis, Pepinster, no. 25. Photo: Universal-International. Collection: Amit Benyovits.

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

During the 1930s, German stage and film star Joachim Gottschalk (1904-1941) was a romantic lead in the style of Clark Gable. He starred in a series of films opposite the popular German actress Brigitte Horney. When the Nazis demanded that he would separate from his Jewish wife, the Gottschalks committed suicide.

Joachim Gottschalk in Das Mädchen von Fanö (1941)

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3144/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Bavaria-Filmkunst. Joachim Gottschalk in Das Mädchen von Fanö/The Girl from Fano (Hans Schweikart, 1941).

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3253/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra. Joachim Gottschalk in Die schwedische Nachtigall/The Swedish nightingale (Peter Paul Brauer, 1941).

The German Clark Gable

Joachim Gottschalk was born in Calau, Germany, in 1904. He was the son of a doctor. He attended the Gymnasium in Cottbus and after his exams, he went to sea. Between 1922 and 1926 he sailed on the three-master Großherzogin Elisabeth to Chile and to Australia.

After leaving service, he took acting classes in Berlin and Cottbus. During an engagement at the Württembergische Volksbühne in Stuttgart, he met his future wife, the actress Meta Wolff. In May 1930 they married in Halberstadt and in February 1933 their son Michael was born.

A few months later Adolph Hitler came to power. Meta was Jewish and Michael thus half-Jewish, but the Gottschalks managed to avoid the anti-Semitic Nuremberg laws and the rising tide of anti-semitic violence in Nazi Germany because of ‘Joschy’ Gottschalk's immense popularity with the public. His wife had a Berufsverbot but Gottschalk could continue his acting if he stayed secret about his family situation.

After an engagement in Leipzig, Gottschalk played from 1934 to 1938 in Frankfurt am Main. There he had his breakthrough at the Municipal Theater in parts as a hero and romantic lover. In 1938 he moved to Berlin to play at the Volksbühne. There he had a smash hit with his title role in the play 'Fiesco' by Friedrich Schiller. His theatrical successes made him one of the most popular actors in the capital.

In 1938 he also began his film career with a starring role alongside Brigitte Horney in the Tobis production Du und ich/You and I (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1938). The film was a success, and the two leads subsequently made four more films together.

In Tripoli in Libya, they filmed Aufruhr in Damaskus/Tumult in Damascus (Gustav Ucicky, 1939). Then they starred in the successful romantic comedy Eine Frau wie du/A Woman Like You (Viktor Tourjansky, 1939) with Hans Brausewetter, which made Gottschalk ‘the German Clark Gable’. On the island Farnö, they next filmed the romantic drama Das Mädchen von Fanö/The Girl from Fano (Hans Schweikart, 1940) with Gustav Knuth.

Gottschalk also appeared with Paula Wessely in the melodrama Ein Leben lang/A whole life long (Gustav Ucicky, 1939), and with Hertha Feiler in Flucht ins Dunkel/Escape into Darkness (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1939).

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 2895/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien-Film / Tobis.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3030/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien-Film / Tobis.

No Way Out

After the start of the war, the pressure of the Propaganda Ministry on Joachim Gottschalk began to increase. Hans Hinkel, Special Representative for Kulturpersonalien (cultural celebrities) demanded Gottschalk to divorce, but the star refused.

He worked in the studio on Die schwedische Nachtigall/The Swedish Nightingale (Peter Paul Brauer, 1941) about the romance of fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen (Gottschalk) and the Danish singer Jenny Lind (Ilse Werner). It was again a huge success.

Another triumph was his stage role as Silvio in Carlo Goldoni's 'Servant of Two Masters'. But in early June as Volksbühne director Eugen Klöpfer presented his next production, Faust, Gottschalk's name was not on the cast list. He was not offered any more roles at any Berlin stage.

Wikipedia explains what had caused the ban. Naively, Gottschalk had taken his Jewish wife to a film industry Artist's Association dinner and introduced her to some of the prominent Nazis who were present. Although the Nazis were charmed, when Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels learned about this incident, he decreed that Gottschalk would be required to separate from his Jewish wife.

Klaus J. Hennig at DieZeit.de writes that Goebbels was even present at the dinner and was charmed by Gottschalk’s wife, but he became enraged when he later found out that Meta was Jewish. When Gottschalk refused to separate, Goebbels ordered Gottschalk's wife and child transported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Gottschalk insisted on accompanying Meta and Michael to Theresienstadt, but Goebbels ordered Gottschalk inducted into the German Army, the Wehrmacht.

The Gottschalks saw no way out. In November 1941, minutes before the expected arrival of the Gestapo at their apartment in Berlin-Grunewald, they first sedated their nine-year-old son and then committed suicide by gas poisoning. Joachim Gottschalk was only 37 when he died.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3144/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Binz / Tobis.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3253/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra.

Only a Few Courageous Colleagues

Joachim Gottschalk was buried with his wife and son in one grave (it was forbidden to bury Jews and non-Jews together) at the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf of Berlin. Only a few courageous colleagues attended the funeral, among them were Brigitte Horney, Gustav Knuth, Hans Brausewetter, Werner Hinz, Wolfgang Liebeneiner and Ruth Hellberg.

Joseph Goebbels forbade any obituary, but word about his death got out anyway and millions of German women were in mourning. Because of Nazi censorship, most of his devoted fans did not learn the awful circumstances of his death.

This incident poisoned the already-tense relationship between Goebbels and the German film community. At the end of WWII, Goebbels and his wife would also commit suicide in Hitler's Berlin bunker and poisoned their six young children. Goebbels' motive was fear of being captured by the advancing Soviet Army, which was less than a mile away. Goebbels had played a major role in the Holocaust, including the production of a series of anti-Semitic films, and he knew he would have been put on trial and executed, had he lived.

After the war, the DEFA studio made a film about Joachim Gottschalk, Ehe im Schatten/Marriage in the Shadows (Kurt Maetzig, 1949). Finally, the tragic fate of Gottschalk and his family became known to the German public. The film was based on the novella Es wird schon nicht so schlimm (It won’t become that bad), written by Gottschalk’s former director Hans Schweikart.

Since 1999, Joachim Gottschalk’s grave is an Ehrengrab (grave of honour) for the city of Berlin.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3376/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Rolf von Barm.

Silhouette in memory of Jews deported from the Grünewald Station in Berlin. Grünewald was the area, where Gottschalk and his family lived. This deportation memorial was erected fifty years after the beginning of deportations of Berlin's Jewish population to concentration camps. The Polish artist Karol Broniatowski created this concrete block embedded with human silhouettes representative of the passage taken to the rail tracks for deportation in 1991. Between October 1941 and February 1943 more than 50,000 Jews of Berlin were deported by the National Socialist state from Grünewald Station.

Sources: Klaus J. Hennig (Die Zeit), Hanns-Georg Rodek (Filmportal.de - German), Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.

Der Cowboy/The Cowboy (1918) is one of the first German wild west films ever. Star and director was Alwin Neuss, who was known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He was influenced by such American Western stars as William S. Hart and Tom Mix. The silent film was produced by Erich Pommer for the Decla Studio and was made in the Eiko film studio in Berlin-Marienfelde.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K 1439. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 545/1. Photo: Decla. Alwin Neuss in Der Cowboy/The Cowboy (Alwin Neuss, 1918).

German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 545/2. Photo: Decla. Alwin Neuss in Der Cowboy/The Cowboy (Alwin Neuss, 1918).

A cowboy at the castle

The script of Der Cowboy/The Cowboy (Alwin Neuss, 1918) was written by the Austrian actor and author Max Jungk. German Wikipedia offers the storyline: Fred Hagenow, a German gentleman, runs a large farm on Java. One day he travels to New York City to visit Gerd von Rauenstein (Alwin Neuss), the son of an old friend (Max Laurence). He learns from his friend that Gerd recently made an ominous acquaintance with a certain Baroness von Wartenberg, a fraudulent adventurer who has murdered men.

When Gerd, who had been rejected by his father because of this improper acquaintance, caught her 'in flagranti' with a rival, he drew a gun to shoot the competitor. Obviously, he then stopped himself from the murder and then fled to America to make a fresh start there as a cowboy. Fred invites Gerd to follow him to his farm, where he could be useful. That's what happens.

Fred connects behind Gerd's back with old Von Rauenstein's lawyer to find out whether a reconciliation between father and son would be possible. The lawyer asks Fred to send Gerd home as soon as possible since the old man is dying and Gerd von Rauenstein is the only heir. Gerd swings into the saddle and starts to ride to the next port. But a bad guy strikes him out of the ambush. His name is Hollmann (also Alwin Neuss), he is a cousin of Gerds and he wants to take advantage of the striking resemblance to his cousin in order to enjoy the inheritance himself. Hollmann steals from the wounded Gerd the documents that can prove his identity and leaves.

While Gerd, who has promptly lost his memory due to the grazing shot on the head, is being well cared for on the farm, Hollmann goes to Rauenstein Castle to deceive the old man as a false son and to take over the inheritance. Hollmann quickly swings himself up as the new gentleman on Rauenstein and has also cast an eye on the neighboring landlord's daughter Eulalia, who had previously been adored by Gerd.

Gerd has a fragmentary memory, only suddenly he believes that he is Hollmann and should take over the small inheritance of the windy, villainous cousin, whose mother has passed away. It is only when he has all his senses back together that he realises that Cousin Hollmann has obviously pushed him away to as the legitimate heir of Rauenstein Castle.

Gerd tries to confront the usurper. He comes across Eulalia, who admits that she, too, has long seen through the wrong Gerd alias Hollmann. Both make a plan to expose and get rid of the villain. At a lavish castle festival, Hollmann disguises himself as a cowboy to give truth to his past life. A second man appears in cowboy disguise and with a mask. He unmasks himself and reveals himself as a true Gerd von Rauenstein. Hollmann is unmasked, flees to an adjacent room and shoots himself.

German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 545/3. Photo: Decla. Alwin Neuss in Der Cowboy/The Cowboy (Alwin Neuss, 1918).

German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 545/4. Photo: Decla. Alwin Neuss in Der Cowboy/The Cowboy (Alwin Neuss, 1918).

German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 545/5. Photo: Decla. Alwin Neuss in Der Cowboy/The Cowboy (Alwin Neuss, 1918).

Sources: Wikipedia (German) and The German Early Cinema Database.

Photogenetic actress Isa Pola (1909-1984) became during the 1930s and 1940s a true diva of the Italian cinema. She showed her frankness and passion for acting in such films as La canzone dell'amore (1930), La telefonista (1932) and Vittorio de Sica's I bambini ci guardano (1943).

Italian postcard in the Cines Pittaluga series by Casa Edit. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2574. Photo: Cines Pittaluga.

Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 39. Photo: Cines. Pittaluga, Roma. Isa Pola and Elio Steiner in La canzone dell'amore (Gennaro Righelli, 1930).

Italian postcard. Photo: Pesce / Scalera Film. Isa Pola as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana (Amleto Palermi, 1939).

Italian postcard by Hector, no. 2.20, 1941. Photo: Pexce / Scalera Film. Isa Pola in Lucrezia Borgia (Hans Hinrich, 1940).

Isa Pola in Una signora dell'ovest (1942)

Italian card by ASER, Rome, no. 240. Photo: Pesce / Scalera Film. Isa Pola in Una signora dell'ovest/Girl of the Golden West (Carl Koch, 1942).

Something Captivating and Almost Perverse

Isa Pola was born Maria Luisa Betti di Montesano in Bologna, Italy in 1909. Isa had a passion for acting and cinema at an early stage, and picked as her stage name Pola. She was beautiful, photogenic, had something captivating and almost perverse.

She made her film debut with a small part in Martiri d'Italia/Martyrs of Italy (Domenico Gaido, 1927). Other small parts followed in which she was type-casted as the evil adventuress. This eventually lead to her first major part in Myriam (Enrico Guazzoni, 1928).

After the introduction of sound film, Pola’s career really took off. She played the antagonist of Dria Paola in the first Italian sound film La canzone dell’amore/The song of love (Gennaro Righelli, 1930). From that film on Pola became a true diva of the Italian sound cinema. With her photogenic qualities, frankness and pleasant voice she broke with the tradition of the languid divas of the silent era.

She continued her success throughout the 1930s with such hit films as Terra madre/Mother Earth (Alessandro Blasetti, 1931) opposite Leda Gloria, La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1931) featuring Germana Paolieri, L'ultima avventura/The Last Adventure (Mario Camerini, 1932), La telefonista/The switchboard Operator (Nunzio Malasomma, 1932), Acciaio/Steel (Walther Ruttmann, 1933) and the comedy L'anonima Roylott/The anonymous Roylott (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1936).

Her part as a serious and streetwise telephone operator in La telefonista contrasted with her previous vamp roles and gave her image a new, interesting twist. Thanks to this versatility, her career quickly marched on. As a popular diva of the Italian screens, she starred together with the big male stars of those years: Fosco Giachetti, Gino Cervi, Rossano Brazzi and Antonio Centa, alternating the type of the perfidious, insatiable woman with the honest and pious wife, and the defenseless girl with the adulterous bourgeois lady. She played Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana (Amleto Palermi, 1939) opposite Leonardo Cortese as Turiddu, she performed the title role in Lucrezia Borgia (Hans Hinrich, 1940), and did the female lead of Arianna in the now lost Western Una signora dell’ovest/Girl of the Golden West (Carl Koch, 1942) with Michel Simon, Rossano Brazzi and Valentina Cortese.

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 15. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga, Roma. Postcard for the Italian early sound film Terra madre/Mother Earth (Alessandro Blasetti, 1931), with on the right Leda Gloria as Emilia and Sandro Salvini as Duke Marco. Left in the back, Isa Pola as Daisy and her friend, played by Giorgio Bianchi.

Carlo Ninchi and Isa Pola in La Wally (1932)

Italian postcard. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Carlo Ninchiand Isa Pola in La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932).

Italian postcard., no. 6. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Germana Paolieri and Isa Pola in La cantante dell'opera (Nunzio Malasomma, 1932).

Isa Pola and Leonardo Cortese in Cavalleria rusticana

Italian postcard by Scalera, Roma/Zincografia, Firenze. Photo: Pesce. In the drama Cavalleria rusticana (Amleto Palermi, 1939), Isa Pola and Leonardo Cortese had the leads. The film was based on the work of Giovanni Verga, which was also turned into an opera by Pietro Mascagni.

German postcard by Das Programm von Heute, Berlin / Ross. Photo: Difu.

Italian postcard. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Perfidious and Adulterous Woman

A highlight in Isa Pola's career was her part of the wife of Emilio Cigoli who betrays her husband with Adriano Rimoldi in Vittorio De Sica’s realist melodrama I bambini ci guardano/The Children Are Watching Us (1943).

Joel Kanoff at Film Reference: "with I bambini ci guardano, De Sica teamed with Cesare Zavattini, who was to become his major collaborator for the next three decades. Together they began to demonstrate elements of the post-war realist aesthetic which, more than any other director except Visconti and Rossellini, De Sica helped shape and determine.

Despite the overt melodrama of the misogynistic story (a young mother destroys her family by deserting them), the filmmaker refused to narrow the perspective through an overwrought Hollywoodian mise-en-scène, preferring instead a refreshing simplicity of composition and a subdued editing style. Much of the film's original flavor can be traced to the clear, subjective mediation of a child, as promised in the title."

In the postwar era, Isa Pola returned to the cliché of the perfidious and adulterous woman in Furia/Fury (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1947) with Gino Cervi, Ombre sul Canal Grande/Shadows on the Grand Canal (1951, Glauco Pellegrini) with Antonio Centa, and Tre storie proibite/Three Forbidden Stories (1952, Augusto Genina) with Gabriele Ferzetti as the mother of Lia Amanda.

Until the late 1950s, Isa Pola stayed active in cinema, while pursuing a modest career on television on the side in the years 1957-1959. After having started on stage in revues with Nino Besozzi, Antonio Gandusio and Enrico Viarisio, Pola turned towards prose theatre.

Thanks to her clear voice and her perfect mastering of Venetian dialect she excelled on stage with the Compagnia del Teatro Veneto, in particular in 1936 with La vedova (The widow) and in 1947 alongside Cesco Baseggio in Il bugiardo (The Liar).

In addition to comedies by Carlo Goldoni, she also performed in texts by Giacinto Gallina, George Bernard Shaw (Non si sa mai/You Never Can Tell), Alberto Moravia (Gli indifferenti/The indifferent), Torquato Tasso (Intrighi d'amore/Intrigues of love), Gabriele D'Annunzio (La fiaccola sotto il moggio/The light under a bushel) and Luigi Pirandello. She was also striking in comical theatre alongside Alberto Bonucci in 1958.

After having retired, Isa Pola died in 1984 in Milan, at the age of 74.

Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1937. Photo: Demanins.

Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1938.

Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1939. Photo: Pesce.

Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1940. Photo: Pesce. Portrait for Cavalleria rusticana (Amleto Palermi, 1939).

Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1941.

Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1942. Photo: Scalera Film.

Sources: Joel Kanoff (Film Reference), CinéArtistes (French), Wikipedia (Italian), and IMDb.

Dranem (1869-1935) was a French comic singer, stage and film actor who was active in variety shows, café-concerts, and in operettas. He already appeared in Pathé film shorts in the early 1900s. The advent of sound film in the late 1920s made Dranem again much in demand for screen roles.

French postcard by F.C. & Cie., no. 121. Photo: Paul Darly.

French postcard.

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 79. Photo: Paramount.

His own comic absurdist genre

Armand Dranem or simply Dranem was born Charles Armand Ménard, in Paris, in 1869. He was the son of a craftsman-jeweler.

He was very early attracted by the café-concert. In September 1890, he launched himself on a local amateur stage, La Verrerie. He adopted the singular stage name of Dranem, an anagram of Menard. After his military service, he began working as an apprentice jeweler in a local shop and then became a seller of orthopedic instruments.

In 1894, Dranem made his professional stage debut at the Concert de l'Epoque. In 1895, he performed with fellow newcomers Félix Mayol and Max Dearly in the Concert Parisien.

One day in 1896, at the Carreau du Temple, he started to wear a strange outfit: a small skimpy jacket, yellow and green striped pants which are too wide and too short, enormous shoes without laces and a strange little hat. With his cheeks and nose covered in red, he came running on stage as if chased. He started to sing with his eyes closed, which he opened only to simulate the fear of spouting such incongruities. It was a triumph.

The genus Dranem was born. from where he went on to become a leading music hall entertainer in his own comic absurdist genre. In 1899, he was signed to perform at the famous Eldorado Club, the temple of the café-concert. There he appeared regularly for the next twenty years. Dranem's comedic singing routine brought a loyal following and his work made him a very wealthy man.

He also appeared under the direction of the director Antoine in Molière's comedy 'Le médecin malgré lui', at l'Odéon, in 1910. The critics reacted with rave reviews.

In 1910 he purchased the Château de Ris in the town of Ris-Orangis south of Paris and established a charitable foundation to operate the large building as a senior citizens home for retired performers. President Armands Fallières opened the home in 1911. On the grounds, a bandstand and an open-air theatre provided entertainment.

He then turned to the operetta. He shared the poster with Maurice Chevalier in 'Là-Haut' and shone in many musicals written by Albert Willemetz.

His Dranem Foundation continued to operate until the year 2000 and the property remains a government-operated retirement home open to all members of the public. During World War I, Dranem continued his benevolence by performing for the troops at music halls and for wounded soldiers at military hospitals.

French postcard. Photo Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. "Quand Paris est la ville lumière, Campari est le Roi des Amers."

French postcard by David Campari, Paris. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. Caption: Quand Paris est la ville lumière, Campari est le Roi des Amers.

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 740. Photo: Paramount.

A very energetic performer

Dranem also acted and sang in live theatre and in film. According to Alison McMahan in her study on Alice Guy, Dranem already acted in 1900 in the Pathé silent Ma Tante/My Aunt, though Laurent Mannoni in the Encyclopedia of Early Cinema dates this film as 1903.

According to Mannoni, Pathé launched his film career in 1901 with Le salut de Dranem/Dranem's Salute (Ferdinand Zecca, 1901), followed by several silent shorts by Pathé, sometimes with Dranem in drag, but often Dranem as the title character as well. Mannoni mentions Histoire grivoise racontée par une concierge/Saucy Story as Told by the Concierge (?, 1902), Ma Tante/My Aunt (Ferdinand Zecca, 1903), Le mitron/The Baker's Boy (Ferdinand Zecca, 1904), Le rêve de Dranem/Dranem's Dream (Ferdinand Zecca, 1906) to Le tondeur galant/The Gallant Shearer (1912).

IMDb also lists Les souliers de Dranem/Dranem's shoes (Ferdinand Zecca, 1908), Dranem fait ressemeler ses ribouis (?, 1910), Le mariage de Dranem/Dranem's wedding (Ferdinand Zecca, 1912) and Dranem sténo-dactyle/Shorthand Typist Dranem (?, 1912), and the Molière adaptation Le médecin malgré lui/The doctor in spite of himself (?, 1913). McMahan also mentions Man Eating Pomegranates (1903).

In 1905, Dranem also performed in a series of 11 early sound films, 'Phonoscènes', directed by Alice Guy for Gaumont: Allumeur Marche, Le trou de mon quai, Valsons, V'la retameur, Les p'tits pois, L'enfant du cordonnier, Etre légume, Le cucurbitacée, Le boléro cosmopolite, Bonsoir, M'sieurs, dames, Le Vrai Jiu-jitsu, and Five O'Clock Tea.

Alison MacMahan writes: "Dranem was a very energetic performer, moving around the entire stage, combining whole body language with pantomime and caricature. Although he wore the same 'bum' or 'clown' costume in each of his films, he had a different prop (a bucket, a poncho, a vegetable) in each one."

In the 1920s Dranem only acted in two films: he had a small part in La clé de voute/The Keystone (Roger Lion, 1925) with Gina Palerme, but he had the lead in the late silent comedy J'ai l'noir ou Le suicide Dranem/Dranem's suicide (Max de Rieux, 1929), in which Dranem is an unfortunate ostrich breeder.

The advent of synchronised sound film in the late 1920s made Dranem much in demand for screen roles featuring his singing routines.

In the early 1930s, he played in some 13 films, from which several with himself in the lead, such as La poule/The Hen (René Guissart, 1932) with Arlette Marchal, and Ah! Quelle gare!/Ah! What a station! (René Guissart, 1933) with Jeanne Boitel, or at least as the main male antagonist. Dranem acted in the sound film until his death.

In 1891, Dranem married Lucie Isembert, who after a union of twenty-two years requested and obtained a separation in 1916 from bed and board and ordered her husband to pay a pension of 500 francs per month. IMDb mentions Ana Ruiz y Miyares as his wife from 1918 till 1923. In 1923 he met singer and actress Suzette O'Nill. They married in 1927, and he adopted her daughter, Francis Florence O'Neill (1921). The couple stayed together till his death.

Dranem died in Paris in 1935 at the age of sixty-six and was buried at the Château de Ris. That same year, he was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor. At his request, he is buried in the park of Ris Orangis with his wife.

French postcard. A.N [Noyer], Paris, No. 17. Photo G.L. Manuel Frères, Paris.

French postcard by A.N., Paris. 'Maquette de Giris'.

Dranem and Suzette O'Nill in Louis XIV (1929)

French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 410. Photo: Studio V. Henry. Dranem and Suzette O'Nill in the stage operetta 'Louis XIV' (1929)

French card by Editions Salabert, Paris, 1932. Photo: Paramount. Dranem sings the foxtrot 'J'en suis un' in the operetta film Il est Charmant/He Is Charming (Louis Mercanton, 1932). Words: Albert Willemetz. Music: Raoul Moretti.

Sources: Alison McMahan (Alice Guy-Blaché. Lost Visionary of the Cinema), Laurent Mannoni (Encyclopedia of Early Cinema), Wikipedia (English and French), and IMDb.

Australian-born actress and producer Violet Hopson (1887-1973) was one of the first British film stars. For companies like Hepworth and Broadwest, she starred with Stewart Rome in a string of dramas. Violet Hopson appeared in more than 100 British silent films and occasionally played supporting roles in sound pictures of the early 1930s.

British postcard. Photo: Hepworth. Caption: Miss Violet Hopson of the Hepworth Stock Company.

British postcard in the Hepworth Picture Player series. Photo: Hepworth.

British postcard in the Cinema Stars series by Lilywhite Ltd. Photo: Broadwest.

Dear Delightful Villainess

Violet Hopson was born as Elma Kate Victoria Karkeek in Port Augusta, South Australia, Australia in 1887. Violet's earliest performances were with the Pollard Opera Company in Australia and New Zealand from 1898 on. In 1900 she went to America with her older sister Zoe Karkeek. Zoe and Wilmot Karkeek were long-standing members of this company from 1892. Violet was known as Kate or Kitty to her family at this stage in her life.

In 1909, at the age of 21, she married actor Alec Worcester (a.k.a. Alexander Howitt Worster) in 1909, and they had two children Alexander Nicholas Howitt (1910) and Jessica Yvonne Howitt (1913). She made her film debut probably in the short British ‘fat man comedy’ Mr. Tubby's Triumph (David Aylott, 1910) as the wife of Mr. Tubby (Johnny Butt) for Cricks & Martin Films.

Two years later she moved over to Hepworth Pictures, where she made such short comedies as The Umbrella They Could Not Lose (Frank Wilson, 1912), Love in a Laundry (Frank Wilson, 1912) with husband Alec Worcester, and The Stolen Picture (Frank Wilson, 1912). Soon Cecil Hepworth cast her in other genres such as the crime drama The Jewel Thieves Outwitted (Frank Wilson, 1913) in which jewel thief Jack Hulcup is chased by motor-car and airplane, or the historical drama Drake's Love Story (Hay Plumb, 1913) in which she played Queen Elizabeth.

She played opposite other Hepworth stars such as Alma Taylor in the comedy A Little Widow Is a Dangerous Thing (Frank Wilson, 1913), Chrissie White in the drama The Vicar of Wakefield (Frank Wilson, 1913), and Stewart Rome in The Heart of Midlothian (Frank Wilson, 1914). In the years of WWI, she appeared in dozens of such short films for Hepworth. She soon became a major star of the silent British cinema of the 1910s. The audiences nicknamed her the ‘Dear Delightful Villainess’.

In 1917 she moved over to director-producer Walter West at his production company Broadwest. She appeared in such Broadwest productions as the sports drama A Gamble for Love (Frank Wilson, 1917), the crime film The Woman Wins (Frank Wilson, 1918), and the war film Sisters in Arms (Walter West, 1918). Then Stewart Rome was also lured from Hepworth to Broadwest and Hopson appeared in a string of dramas with her old co-star. The first was probably My Son, My Son (1918) which also featured Jack Cardiff who later became a famous cameraman.

The new pairing with Stewart Rome had a follow up in the sports drama The Gentleman Rider (Walter West, 1919) also with Cameron Carr, Snow in the Desert (Walter West, 1919) with the young Ronald Colman in a supporting part, A Daughter of Eve (Walter West, 1919), The Romance of a Movie Star (Richard Garrick, 1920), the mystery The Case of Lady Camber (Walter West, 1920), Her Son (Walter West, 1920) with her son Nicholas as her film son, The Imperfect Lover (Walter West, 1921), When Greek Meets Greek (Walter West, 1922) and The White Hope (Walter West, 1922). These films were all produced by Walter West for Broadwest and later for Walter West Productions.

British postcard in the 'Famous Cinema Star' series by J. Beagles & Co. Ltd., London, no. 143 E. Photo: Broadwest.

Violet Hopson in The Case of Lady Camber (1920)

British postcard in the 'Cinema Stars' Series by Lilywhite Ltd, London, no. CM 159. Photo: Broadwest. Violet Hopson in The Case of Lady Camber (Walter West, 1920).

British postcard in the 'Cinema Stars' Series by Lilywhite Ltd, London, no. CM 432 D. Photo: Broadwest.

Pioneer in the British Film World

Violet Hopson divorced Alec Worcester in February 1919 on the ground of his adultery and desertion. Wikipedia cites a December 1921 biography in Motion Picture Studio in which is suggested that she “had a breakdown which caused her to leave the stage and turn to films”. This biography has to be unreliable though because it cites her Californian birth falsely (researcher Janice Healey contradicted it by genealogical research in the Australia Birth Index) and Hopson turned to film already in 1910.

Hopson announced in Motion Picture Studio“that she has completed the biggest deal yet attempted by a woman in British film land” by selling the rights of her films for two years to Butchers. Hopson now owned her own production company Violet Hopson Productions and can be thus considered as a pioneer in the British film world. However, she produced and starred in only one film, The Scarlet Lady (Walter West, 1922).

According to IMDb, she starred in the following years in films produced by Walter West Productions, such as the sports drama Beautiful Kitty (Walter West, 1923), The Stirrup Cup Sensation (Walter West, 1924) with Stewart Rome, and The Great Turf Mystery (Walter West, 1924) with Warwick Ward.

Her next films, A Daughter of Love (1925) for Stoll Picture Production and Beating the Book (1926) for C&M Productions were again directed by West. Probably Walter West had gone bankrupt. In his bankruptcy papers, he claimed to have married Violet. It’s unclear if this is true.

Thomas Staedeli at Cyranos writes that West was indeed her husband. If so, it was probably after this divorce that she suffered a breakdown, as indicated by Wikipedia. Her last silent film was Widecomb Fair (Norman Walker, 1929) in which she played a supporting part. Occasionally, she later appeared in early sound pictures. Her final film was One Precious Year (Henry Edwards, 1933) with Basil Rathbone.

After that, she retired from the film business. Violet Hopson died as (as Elma Kate Worster) in 1973 in a London hospital at the age of 85.

French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 217.

British postcard in the 'Pictures Portrait Gallery' by Pictures, Ltd, London, no. 36. Photo: Claude Harris, Ltd.

British postcard in the 'Pictures Portrait Gallery' by Pictures, Ltd, London, no. 37. Photo: Claude Harris, Ltd.

British postcard. Photo: Broadwest.

British postcard. Photo: Broadwest.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), BritMovie, Women and Silent British Cinema, Wikipedia and IMDb.

The French publisher FA (F.A. Christensen) presented in the 1910s a postcard series with the stars of the Comédie-Française. The Comédie-Française is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. The membership of the theatrical troupe is divided into 'Sociétaires' and 'Pensionnaires'. The former are regular members of the organisation and as such receive a pension after 20 years of service, while the latter are paid actors who may, after a certain length of service, become 'Sociétaires'. The names of nearly all the great actors and dramatists of France have, at some time in their career, been associated with that of the Comédie-Française.

French postcard by FA, no. 2:1. Photo: Reutlinger. Caption: Robinne et Alexandre, Comédie Française.

Comédie Française actress Gabrielle Robinne (1886-1980) or Robinne was one of the first French film stars. The peak of her film career was in the 1910s when she starred in mundane and romantic dramas by Pathé. With her blond hair, passionate eyes and elegant posture, she was the perfect ‘femme du monde’. Robinne entered the Comédie-Française in 1907. She became a Societaire in 1924 and stayed there until 1938. In addition to her beauty, her versatility made her one of the most active and popular actresses on the French stage.

René Alexandre (1885-1946) or Alexandre was a French actor of the Comédie-Française. Between 1909 and 1940, he acted in some 53 films, mainly shorts by Pathé but also André Antoine’s rural drama La Terre (1921). In 1908, he entered the Comédie-Française, where he was a Sociétaire between 1920 and 1944 and became Sociétaire Honoraire in 1945. His repertory included the classics of Racine, Molière, Shakespeare and Victor Hugo, but also more modern authors such as Henri Lavedan, Paul Feerier, and Henri Marx.

French postcard by FA, no. 21. Photo: Henri Manuel. Caption: Julia Bartet, Comédie Française.

Julia Bartet (1854-1941) was a member (1879) and sociétaire (1880) of the Comédie Française, where she was one of the big stars of her time. She retired in 1919. She played in three Film d'Art films: Le Retour d'Ulysse (1908), Rival de son père (1910), and Louis XI (1910).

French postcard by FA, no. 32. Photo: Talbot. Caption: Faber, Comédie Française.

Jane Faber (1880-1968) was a Belgian actress, who was active in French cinema of the 1910s and is best known for her role as Princess Sonia Danidoff in the crime serial Fantomas (Louis Feuillade, 1913-1914). She was also a notable actress of the Comédie-Française, from 1910 (then becoming the 268th resident of the institution) to 1951. Among the many plays she performed at the Comédie-Française were Jules Renard's 'Poil de carrote' (1912), with Léon Bernard and Marie Leconte, Molière's and Jean-Baptiste Lully's comedy-ballet 'L'Amour médecin' (1920), with Georges Berr, 'La Dispute' (1938) by Marivaux with Jean Martinelli, 'La Reine morte' (1942) by Henry de Montherlant, with Jean-Louis Barrault, as well as 'Tartuffe ou l'imposteur' (1949) by Molière, with Jean Yonnel.

French postcard by FA, no. 35. Photo: Henri Manuel. Albert Lambert Fils de la Comédie Française.

Albert Lambert (1865-1941), a.k.a. Albert Lambert fils, was a French stage and screen actor, who was for a long time part of the Comédie-Française, but also played in several early French Film d’Art films, first of all, L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise (André Calmettes, Charles Le Bargy, 1908).

French postcard by FA, no. 41. Photo: Henri Manuel, Paris. Caption: (René) Alexandre, Comédie Française.

French postcard by FA, no. 51. Photo (Henri) Manuel. Caption: Pièrat, Comédie Française.

Marie-Thérèse Piérat (1883-1934), whose real name was Marie Panot, was a member of a theatre family. In 1900 she started drama school at the Paris Conservatoire (for which she swapped her birth certificate with a younger, stillborn girl) and graduated in 1901, starting her career at the Odéon theatre. She became a member (1902), Sociétaire (1905) and Doyenne of the Comédie-Française, where she mingled the classic repertory with more modern plays by Bataille, Kistemaeckers, Ibsen and Bernstein. She starred in only one film, the French silent film Pour régner (André Luguet, 1926), for which she wrote the script herself. Her early death in 1934 because of angina pectoris (she was only 50) created a stir in the international press.

French postcard by FA, no. 57. Photo: Félix. Caption: Paul Mounet, Comédie Française.

Paul Mounet (1847–1922), born Jean-Paul Mounet, was a French actor of the Comédie Française, who also acted in various film d'art films around 1910. He was the younger brother of actor Jean Mounet-Sully.

French postcard by FA, no. 58. Photo: Félix, Paris. Caption: (Gabrielle) Robinne, Comédie Française.

French postcard by FA, no. 71. Photo: A. Bert. Caption: Grant (sic), Comédie Française. Georges Grand's last name is misspelled.

Valentin Pierre Louis MacLeod, better known as Georges Grand (1864-1921), was a French stage and screen actor, who was first an acclaimed actor with André Antoine before becoming a reputed actor of the Comédie Française. He also acted in 11 modern and historical dramas by Pathé Frères. In 1906, he entered the Comédie-Française. Here he was Sociétaire between 1908 and 1921 and mostly played in modern repertory by Paul Hervieu, Eugène Brieux, Henry Bataille, Henry Kistemaeckers, etc.

French postcard by FA, no. 86. Photo Félix. Caption: Paul Numa, Comédie Française.

Paul Jules Numa Haëring named Paul Numa (1865-1953) was a French stage and screen actor. He was a Pensionnaire at the Comédie Française, but unclear is when this started. He remained attached to it for decades, and for sure even in the years 1927-1932 he was still Pensionnaire, but he never became one of the Sociétaires.

French postcard by FA, no. 94. Photo: Henri Manuel. Caption: Firmin Gémier, Comédie Française.

Firmin Gémier (1869-1933) was actor, director and theatre manager at the French stage, promotor of the Théâtre Populaire and founder of the first Théâtre National Populaire (Paris 1920). He also acted in the French silent and sound cinema of the 1910s to the 1930s.

French postcard by F.A. (F.A. Christensen), no. 150. Photo: A. Bert, Paris. Caption: Georges Berr, Comédie Française.

Georges Berr (1867-1942) was a French actor and dramatist, and a member and Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française from 1886 to 1923. Under the pseudonyms Colias and Henry Bott he wrote several plays, particularly in collaboration with Louis Verneuil. While he only acted in one film, Les précieuses ridicules (1910), directed by himself, and only directed one other film, L'enfant prodigue (1909), both for Pathé Frères, Berr was a most active playwright whose plays were often adapted for the cinema, such as Le Million (René Clair, 1931), scripted by Clair and Berr himself. Berr worked on three other film scenarios, while he was the dialogue writer for four more films, including La porteuse de pain (René Sti, 1934). He was Jean-Pierre Aumont's uncle.

French postcard by FA, no. 203. Photo: A. Bert. Caption: Jules Leitner as Alceste in the play 'The Misanthrope' by Moliere, performed at the Comédie Française in August 1908.

Jules-Louis-Auguste Leitner (1862-1940) was a French stage actor of the Comédie Française. Leitner acted in a few films of the company Film d'Art, including Jésus de Nazareth (André Calmettes, Henri Desfontaines, 1911).

French postcard by FA, no. 208. Photo: A. Bert. Caption: Georges Berr as 'Le bon roi Dagobert' at the Comédie Française.

Georges Berr (1867-1942) in Paris, was a French actor and dramatist, a member and Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française from 1886 to 1923. Under the pseudonyms Colias and Henry Bott he wrote several plays, particularly in collaboration with Louis Verneuil. He was Jean-Pierre Aumont's uncle. While he only acted in one film, Les précieuses ridicules (1910), directed by himself, and only directed one other film, L'enfant prodigue (1909), both for Pathé Frères, Berr was a most active playwright whose plays were often adapted for the cinema, such as Le Million, filmed by René Clair, and scripted by Clair and Berr himself. Berr worked on three other film scenarios, while he was the dialogue writer for four more films, including La porteuse de pain (René Sti, 1934).

French postcard by FA, no. 219. Photo: A. Bert. Caption: Jacques Fenoux, Comédie Française.

Jacques Fenoux (1870-1930) entered the Comédie-Française in 1895, became a Sociétaire in 1906, retired in 1924, and became a Sociétaire Honoraire in 1925. As the site of the Comédie states: "Fenoux was the type of a conscientious member, able to move effortlessly from one job to another, from small to large parts. He was appointed honorary member in 1925 but continued to play until his last days. He barely disappeared two weeks after having last interpreted Bazile, from The Barber of Seville." As far is known, his only performance was in Jacques de Féraudy's film Molière, sa vie, son oeuvre (1922), in which actors of the Comédie Française can be seen rehearsing plays by Molière.

French postcard by FA, no. 223. Photo: A. Bert. Caption: Mme. Silvain, Comédie Française.

Louise Silvain (1874-1930) entered the Comédie Française in 1901, became sociétaire in 1910 and sociétaire honoraire in 1925. She was married to Eugène Silvain, aka Sylvain. She acted in the films Une scène d'Andromaque à la Comédie Française (dir. unknown, 1909) and Molière, sa vie, son oeuvre (Jacques de Féraudy, 1922).

French postcard by FA, no. 262. Photo: H. Manuel. Caption: Piérat, Comédie Française.

French postcard by FA, no. 275. Photo: Félix. Caption: Colonna Romano, Comédie Française.

French stage actress (Gabrielle) Colonna-Romano (1883-1981) was a pupil of Sarah Bernhardt and a famous tragedienne of the Comédie-Française from 1913 till 1936. She also appeared in Film d'Art shorts and other early silent films. Her love life was tempestuous and legendary.

French postcard by FA, no. 312. Photo: Henri Manuel. Jean Worms, Comédie Française. Worms dressed up in Napoleonic costume

Jean Worms (1884–1943) was a French stage and screen actor, who from 1910 acted in French silent film and peaked there in the late 1910s, while all through the 1930s he was a prolific and well-known actor in French sound film.

French postcard by FA, no. 317. Photo: Félix. Caption: Roger Galliard (sic), Comédie Française. Roger Gaillard's second name is misspelled on this card.

Roger Gaillard (1893-1970) was a French stage and screen actor. He was a respected actor at the Comédie-Française between 1916 and 1924 but mainly acted in cinema a decade after, in the 1930s French sound cinema. He was Pensionnaire at the Comédie-Française between 1916 and 1924, where he played in their classic repertory of Racine, Corneille, Shakespeare, and Victor Hugo, but also modern plays by e.g. Henri Bataille and Jean Serment.

French postcard by FA, no. 320. Photo: Reutlinger. Caption: Provost, Comédie Française.

Jeanne Provost (1897-1980) was a member of the Comédie-Française only between 1907 and 1912. She would act in some 25 silent and sound films.

French postcard by FA, no. 321. Photo: Reutlinger. Caption: Cécile Sorel, Comédie Française.

Legendary actress Cécile Sorel (1873-1966) was the ‘queen of the French stage’ during the Belle Epoque, the period between the Paris Exposition of 1900 and the First World War. Her public appearances, often in extravagant costumes, created a sensation. During her long life, she played in five films. In 1901, she started to perform at the Comédie-Française, where she specialised in playing ‘grandes coquettes’. Her style was very recognisable, with her declamatory tone and articulated diction. It was also the style of Sarah Bernhardt. Like the latter, she is particularly associated with the role of the courtesan Célimène in 'Le Misanthrope' by Molière. Other success roles were 'La Dame aux camellias' and 'Marion Delorme' by Victor Hugo. In 1904, she was elected 339th Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française, and Sorel would remain there until 1933.

Sources: Comédie-Française (French), and Wikipedia.

We found this interesting lot with vintage Spanish cards with pictures of film silent film stars - in purple, pink, blue, brown, and green. Not exactly a common style, now nor then. And all the pictures are oval-formed, to top it off. These postcards were published by the Spanish magazine 'La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica' in the first half of the 1920s. Interestingly, Italian stars must have been still popular at that time in Spain. And there are also many cards of forgotten stars whose postcards are now hard to find. Ivo and I selected 50 postcards which we will publish in two posts. The second will follow tomorrow.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, Número especial (special number).

Majestic diva of the Italian silent cinema Francesca Bertini (1892-1985) was one of the first European film stars. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, she often played the 'femme fatale', with men devouring eyes, glamorous attire, clenched fists, and in opulent settings.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 3. Photo: United Artists (but the film was produced by First national). Charles Chaplin in A Dog's Life (Charles Chaplin, 1918). Charlot was the Spanish nickname for Chaplin.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 13.

Marie Prevost (1898-1937) was a Canadian-born, American silent screen actress. She was excellent in such comedies as Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle (1924). The end of her life was filled with tragedies.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 14. Photo: United Artists.

Cross-eyed silent comedian Ben Turpin (1869-1940) was not born that way. Supposedly his right eye slipped out of alignment while playing the role of the similarly afflicted Happy Hooligan in vaudeville and it never adjusted. Ironically, it was this disability that would enhance his comic value and make him a top name in the silent film era. Turpin's true forte was impersonating the most dashingly romantic and sophisticated stars of the day and turning them into clumsy oafs. He also invented a Hollywood tradition by being the first actor to receive a pie in his face.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 15.

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

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 16. Photo Pinto, Rome.

Livio Pavanelli (1881-1958) was an Italian actor of the Italian and in particular German silent cinema. He also worked in Italian sound cinema as an actor and as a production manager. He directed four Italian films, both in the silent and the sound era.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 19.

Gladys Walton (1903-1993) was an American actress, who peaked in the American silent film of the 1920s. She was a flapper in such films such as The Girl Who Ran Wild (1922), and The Wise Kid (1922).

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 20.

Aimé Simon-Girard (1889-1950) was a French film actor and operetta singer. He mostly played in French costume films of the 1920s and 1930s.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 25.

Hesperia (1885-1959), was one of the Italian divas of the silent screen. She often worked with director Baldassarre Negroni, who later became her husband.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 34.

George Walsh (1889-1981) was an American film actor, who despite a successful career in silent cinema is best remembered for the part that was taken off from him: the title role in Ben-Hur (1925).

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinemátografica, no. 52.

Alberto Capozzi (1886-1945) was an Italian film and stage actor who had an enormous career in Italian cinema in the 1910s and early 1920s. Afterward, he pursued a career abroad in Austria and as a sound dubber in France. He returned to film acting in Italian cinema in the early 1940s.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematografica, no. 72.

Thomas Meighan (1879-1936) was an American stage and screen actor. He starred in seven silent films by William C. de Mille and five others by his brother, Cecil B. DeMille.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 73.

Mary Philbin (1902-1993) was an American film actress of the silent film era, who is best known for playing the roles of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925) opposite Lon Chaney, and as Dea in The Man Who Laughs (Paul Leni, 1928), opposite Conrad Veidt.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematografica, no. 75.

Alla Nazimova (1879–1945) was a grand, highly flamboyant star of the American silent cinema. The Russian-born film and theatre actress, screenwriter, and film producer was widely known as just Nazimova. On Broadway, she was noted for her work in the classic plays of Ibsen, Chekhov, and Turgenev. Her efforts at silent film production were less successful, but a few sound-film performances survive as a record of her art.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 76.

Tullio Carminati (1895-1971) was an Italian stage and film actor with a longstanding career from the 1910s to the 1960s. He played in Italian, German, American, British, and French films and on Italian, American, and British stages.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 77.

Virginia Valli (1895–1968) was an American stage and film actress whose motion picture career started in the silent film era and lasted until the beginning of the sound film era of the 1930s.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 78.

Was Austrian-born Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957) a Hollywood movie star or a European film star? (Who cares!) As the sadistic, monocled Prussian officer in both American and French films, he became ‘The Man You Love to Hate’. But maybe he is best known as one of the greatest and influential directors of the silent era, known for his extravaganza and the uncompromising accuracy of detail in his monumental films.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 81.

Jacqueline Logan (1901-1983) was an American actress of the silent screen. Her most famous part is that of Mary Magdalene in the biblical epic The King of Kings (1927) by Cecil B. DeMille.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinemátografica, no. 82.

Tom Moore (1883-1955) was an Irish-American actor and director. From 1908 to 1954, he appeared in at least 186 films. Frequently cast as the romantic lead, he starred in silent films as well as in some of the first sound films.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematografica, no. 83.

American actress Bessie Love (1898-1986) was introduced to the cinema by D.W. Griffith. He also gave the actress her screen name. She played innocent young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent films and early talkies. Her acting career spanned eight decades, and her role in The Broadway Melody (1929) earned her a nomination for the Oscar for Best Actress.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 84.

Wesley Barry (1907-1994) was an adorable child actor in silent films who was known for his face full of freckles. He later became a producer and director of both film and television. As a director, he was sometimes billed as Wesley E. Barry.

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematografica, no. 86.

American stage and film actor, director, and screenwriter Lon Chaney (1883-1930) is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema. Between 1912 and 1930 he played more the 150 widely diverse roles. He is renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. ‘The Man of a Thousand Faces’ starred in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).

Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematografica, no. 87.

Corinne Griffith (1894–1979) was an American film actress, producer, and author. Dubbed The Orchid Lady of the Screen, she was one of the most popular film actresses of the 1920s and widely considered the most beautiful actress of the silent screen. While she started out at Vitagraph in 1916, she became a very popular actress at First National Pictures. Griffith was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Frank Lloyd's The Divine Lady, a 1929 American Vitaphone sound film with a synchronised musical score, sound effects, and some synchronised singing, but no spoken dialogue. Griffith played the female lead of Lady Hamilton, opposite Victor Varconi as Horatio Nelson. When sound film set in, Griffith stopped acting and became a successful writer and businesswoman.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 88.

Handsome and distinguished, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1909-2000) was much more than the son of his superstar father. He was a bright, multi-talent, who excelled in sports and sculpting, was involved in the business, and was knighted for his war efforts as a lieutenant. And he acted in approximately 100 films or TV shows.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 89.

Anita Stewart (1895-1961) was an American actress who achieved success during the silent period. From 1911 on, she worked with director Ralph Ince for Vitagraph, later she had her own film company at Metro. The advent of the sound film ended her career.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 90.

Jack Pickford (1896-1933) was a Canadian-born American actor, film director, and producer. He was the younger brother of Mary Pickford. While Jack also appeared in numerous films as the 'All American boy next door' and was a fairly popular performer, he was overshadowed by his sister's success. Also, by the late 1920s, his career had begun to decline due to alcohol, drugs, scandals, and chronic depression.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 93.

Marguerite 'Marg' Madys (1899–1986) was a French actress, born Alice Marguerite Blandin. She had a rich career in 1920s French silent cinema, acting in e.g. the serial L'Enfant-Roi (Jean Kemm, 1923), based on a fictive story to save the French dauphin from the guillotine.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 98.

Willam Russell (1884-1929) was an American popular actor of the silent screen. He became a star in Western comedies. Russell died already at age 44 in 1929.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 99.

Patsy Ruth Miller (1904-1995) was an American film actress who played Esmeralda in the silent version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) opposite Lon Chaney. After a few early talkies, she retired in 1931. She later became known as a prize-winning writer.

Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 100.

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

French stage actress (Gabrielle) Colonna Romano (1883-1981) was a pupil of Sarah Bernhardt and a famous tragedienne of the Comédie-Française from 1913 till 1936. She also appeared in Film d'Art shorts and other early silent films. Her love life was tempestuous and legendary.

French postcard by KF Editeurs d'art Paris, series 2039. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

French postcard. Colonna Romano in the play 'Electre' (Electra) by Euripides.

French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 237. Photo: Comoedia.

A favourite model of Renoir

Gabrielle Colonna-Romano aka Colonna or Colonna Romano was born Gabrielle Dreyfuss in Paris in 1883. Wikipedia writes that she used Colonna Romano as a film actress, but on most of the cards in this post (including the one above for a stage role and others from the period before her film career), she was called 'Colonna Romano'.

She was a pupil and devotee of Sarah Bernhardt. In 1913, Colonna Romano became a member of the Comédie-Française and was a sociétaire between 1926 and 1936, when she left the Comédie-Française.

Colonna Romano was famous for her roles as tragediénne, such as in the Euripides play 'Electre' (Electra), and she also gave numerous poetry readings, notably by the Symbolist poet Saint-Pol-Roux.

She was also a favourite model of the Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir and posed for such paintings as 'Jeune femme à la rose' (1913). She had an affair with his son Pierre Renoir until he left her for the actress Vera Sergine.

Colonna-Romano also acted in silent films. Between 1908 and 1913 she appeared in Film d'Art shorts such as Hamlet (Henri Desfontaines, 1908), in which she played Queen Gertrude.

She also acted in modern drama and action films, like Hop-Frog (Henri Desfontaines, 1910), L'Honneur/Legion of Honor (Albert Capellani, 1910) with her then-husband George Grand, Le Scarabée d'or/The Gold-Bug (Henri Desfontaines, 1910), and Antar (N.N., 1912).

IMDb and Wikipedia state that her film L'Honneur dates from 1913 and was made by Henri Pouctal. The mostly more reliable Seydoux-Pathé site gives another name and date, which we use above.

French postcard by. S.I.P., no. 97/20.

French postcard by S.I.P., no. 908/6. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Caption: Mardi (Tuesday).

French postcard by FA, no. 275. Photo: Félix. Caption: Colonna Romano, Comédie Française.

Nurse in WWI and resistance fighter in WWII

During the First World War, Colonna Romano was a nurse, according to IMDb.

In England, she met and became friends with Marie Bell who, on her advice, decided to go to the Conservatory.

Romano was married to actor Georges Grand, who died in 1921 of a heart attack at the age of 56. In 1916, while married, she had a relationship with the very young, future filmmaker René Clair, but his best friend Jacques Rigaut was jealous and Romano very free in her relationships... The deluded Clair left for the Red-Cross in 1917.

She was the sixth and final wife of the millionaire press-magnate Alfred Edwards, and after his death, she married in 1939 the actor Pierre Alcover, like her first husband a colleague from the Comédie-Française. IMDb writes that Colonna Romano was a resistance fighter in WWII.

In 1981, Gabrielle Colonna Romano died in Paris at the age of 93. She and Alcover rest in the old cemetery of Rueil-Malmaison. Their granddaughter Cathérine is an actress too. Colonna Romano gave her name to the Colonna-Romano Prize for Classical Tragedy at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris.

Colonna Romano can be seen acting in the documentary Un soir à la Comédie-Française/An Evening at the Comédie-Française (Léonce Perret, 1935).