Around 1980, I went to Berlin with my three best friends. We were 20, New Wave fans and did a lot of unforgettable things. One was visiting Communist East-Berlin. We were controlled at Station Friedrichstrasse and my friend Peer and I were picked out of the line, probably because of our Punk-style outfits. We got the special control treatment and were photographed in front of coloured walls. In my pocket, the patrol found a cultural magazine from West-Berlin with on the front a picture of an Isabelle Adjani. This kind of 'porn' was not allowed to take into the GDR! I always wondered afterwards what filmgoers did see in the East-Berlin cinemas. Lately, I found this little pocket with small collectors cards published by Progress: 'Neu im Kino'(New in the cinema). The nine cards (one is lost) offer a glimpse into what was shown in an East-Berlin cinema in 1968.


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Photo: G.B. Poletto and Peter Basch. Senta Berger in the crime comedy Operazione San Gennaro/The Treasure of San Gennaro (Dino Risi, 1966). In this Italian-French-West-German co-production, an American gangster in Italy enlists a local gang to help him steal the treasure of Naples' patron saint


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Sabine Sinjen and Hans-Dieter Schwarze in the West-German drama Alle Jahre wieder/Next Year, Same Time (Ulrich Schamoni, 1967). The advertising editor Hannes Lücke spends the Christmas holiday every year with his family in Münster. He has his new girlfriend, Inge, in a hotel waiting.


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Pavlina Filipovská and Václav Neckár in the Czech musical comedy Ta nase písnicka ceská/Melodies from Old Prague (Zdenek Podskalský, 1967). In old Prague, agirl has to choose between three guys.


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Monika Gabriel in Wir lassen uns scheiden/We Are Getting Divorced (Ingrid Reschke, 1968). In Berlin, Monika and Johannes decide to separate and agree that both should have their 10-years-old son for four weeks each.


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Marie-José Natand Alexandru Herescu in the Romanian-French historical drama Dacii/The Dacians (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1966). The Dacian kingdom lies at the eastern border of the Roman Empire. Only the Danube separates the two mortal enemies. The Dacian king Decebalus knows that soon the vastly superior Roman legions will cross the river and attack Dacia.


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Manfred Krug in the East-German comedy Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968). This story of the miller Florian, who gave all his money to the war against Napoleon, is loosely based on a true story.


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Kai Fischer and Paul Klinger in the West-German thriller Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor/The Inn on Dartmoor (Rudolf Zehetgruber, 1964). A private detective tries to find out how and why some convicts have mysteriously disappeared from the prison of Dartmoor.


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Publicity still for the East-German crime drama Der Mord, der nie verjährt/The Murder That Was Never Recognized (Wolfgang Luderer, 1968). A historical court case in 1929 against the editor of the magazine Das Tage-Buch, who is accused of insult and slander. In an article in the magazine, Jörn's suitability for the office of the Reich Attorney was questioned, since in 1919, he favored  the murderers of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.


East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Carroll Baker, Dolores del Río and Ricardo Montalban in the American Western Cheyenne Autumn (John Ford, 1964).  he Cheyenne, tired of broken U.S. government promises, head for their ancestral lands but a sympathetic cavalry officer is tasked to bring them back to their reservation.


Pocket for East-German collectors cards in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68.

Sources: Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

American actor Wallace Beery (1885-1949) is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films in a 36-year career. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery, Sr. and uncle of actor Noah Beery, Jr.


British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. PC 71. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper in The Champ (King Vidor, 1931).


German postcard by Ross Verlag for Das Programm von Heute, Berlin. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Wallace Beery in Viva Villa! (Jack Conway, 1934).


British Real Photograph postcard. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 301.


French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma Series by A.N., Paris, no. 79. Photo: Universal Film. Beery's name is misspelled as Berry.

Sweedie, The Swedish Maid

Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was born in Clay County, US, in 1885. He was the youngest son of Noah Webster Beery and Frances Margaret Fitzgerald and he and his brothers William C. Beery and Noah Beery became Hollywood actors.

Wallace attended the Chase School in Kansas City and took piano lessons as well, but showed little love for academic matters. Beery ran away from home at age 16 and joined the Ringling Brothers Circus as an assistant elephant trainer. He left two years later, after being clawed by a leopard.

In 1904, Wallace joined his brother Noah in New York City, finding work in comic opera as a baritone and began to appear on Broadway as well as Summer stock theatre. His most notable early role came in 1907 when he starred in The Yankee Tourist to good reviews.

In 1913, he moved to Chicago to work for Essanay Studios, cast as Sweedie, The Swedish Maid, a masculine character in drag. Later, he worked for the Essanay Studios location in Niles, California. In 1915, Beery starred with Ben Turpin and his wife Gloria Swanson in Sweedie Goes to College (Richard Foster Baker, 1915). This marriage did not survive his drinking and abuse.

Beery began playing villains, and in 1917 portrayed Pancho Villa in Patria (Jacques Jaccard, Leopold Wharton, Theodore Wharton, 1917) at a time when Villa was still active in Mexico. Beery reprised the role seventeen years later in one of MGM's biggest hits.

Beery's notable silent films include The Last of the Mohicans (Maurice Tourneur, 1920), Robin Hood (Allan Dwan, 1922) with Douglas Fairbanks (Beery played King Richard the Lionheart in this film and a sequel the following year called Richard the Lion-Hearted), Arthur Conan Doyle's dinosaur epic The Lost World (Harry Hoyt, 1925), and Beggars of Life (William A. Wellman, 1928) with Louise Brooks.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Amatller, Series J, artist 13, no. 39. Photo: Wallace Beery in Bavu (Stuart Paton, 1923).


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci. Photo: Paramount. Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton in the American comedy We're in the Navy Now (Edward Sutherland, 1926).


Italian postcard by ZMC (Eliocromia Zacchelli e C., Milano), no. A. 62. Caricature: Nino ZA.


British postcard. Caption: Wallace Beery and his favourite plane.


Dutch postcard by Smeets & Schippers, Amsterdam. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


Belgian postcard by Kwatta. Bilingual text on the back, praising Kwatta chocolate.

The highest-paid actor in the world

Wallace Beery's powerful basso voice and gruff, deliberate drawl soon became assets when Irving Thalberg hired him under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a character actor during the dawn of the sound film era.

Beery played the savage convict 'Butch', a role originally intended for Lon Chaney, Sr., in the highly successful prison film The Big House (George W. Hill, 1930), for which he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor.

The same year, he made Min and Bill (George W. Hill, 1930) opposite Marie Dressler. This film vaulted him into the box office first rank.

He followed with The Champ (King Vidor, 1931), this time winning the Best Actor Oscar, and the role of Long John Silver in Treasure Island (Victor Fleming, 1934).

He received a gold medal from the Venice Film Festival for his performance as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (Jack Conway, 1934) with Fay Wray.

Other Beery films include Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding, 1932) with Joan Crawford, Tugboat Annie (Mervyn Leroy, 1933) with Marie Dressler, Dinner at Eight (George Cukor, 1933) opposite Jean Harlow, and China Seas (Tay Garnett, 1935) with Gable and Harlow.

During the 1930s Beery was one of Hollywood's Top 10 box office stars, and at one point his contract with MGM stipulated that he be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio, making him the highest-paid actor in the world.


British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. P 71. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper in The Champ (King Vidor, 1931).


British postcard in the Filmshots series by Film Weekly. Photo: M.G.M. Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, and Lionel Barrymore in Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding, 1932).


British postcard in the Filmshots series by Film Weekly. Photo: M.G.M. Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler in Tugboat Annie (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933).


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


Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z., no. 5737. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Wallace Beery in Viva Villa! (Jack Conway, 1934).


Italian postcard by Rizzoli, 1936. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Wallace Beery in Westpoint of the Air (Richard Rosson, 1935).

Popular in the South

Wallace Beery starred in several films with Marjorie Main, but his career began to decline in his last decade.

In 1943 his brother Noah Beery, Sr. appeared with him in the war-time propaganda film Salute to the Marines (S. Sylvan Simon, 1943).

He remained top-billed and none of Beery's films during the sound era lost money at the box office; his films were particularly popular in the Southern regions of the United States, especially small towns and cities.

Beery's first wife was actress Gloria Swanson; the two performed onscreen together. Although Beery had enjoyed popularity with his Sweedie shorts, his career had taken a dip, and during the marriage to Swanson, he relied on her as a breadwinner.

According to Swanson's autobiography, Beery raped her on their wedding night and later tricked her into swallowing an abortifacient when she was pregnant, which caused her to lose their child.

Beery's second wife was Rita Gilman. They adopted Carol Ann, daughter of Rita Beery's cousin. Both marriages ended in divorce.

In December 1939, the unmarried Beery adopted a seven-month-old infant girl Phyllis Ann. Phyllis appeared in MGM publicity photos when adopted, but was never mentioned again. Beery told the press he had taken the girl in from a single mother, recently divorced, but filed no official adoption papers. No further information on the child appears to exist, and she is not mentioned in Beery's obituary.

Wallace Beery died at his Beverly Hills, California home of a heart attack in 1949.


Italian postcard. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Wallace Beery in Messaggio Segreto, Italian release title for the American adventure spy film A Message to Garcia (George Marshall, 1936). The film was released at the Supercinema in Rome. The building of the former Supercinema still exists and is now the Teatro Nazionale.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 151. Photo: Roman Freulich.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 151b.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 151c.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 151d. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


British postcard by Picturegoer. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


British postcard by W & G, Ltd, no. S 9. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 297. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1946.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1963) was the most successful German film of the 1962/1963 season. Surprisingly, it even beat the first James Bond film, Dr. No (Terence Young, 1962), at the German box offices. Der Schatz im Silbersee starred Lex Barker, for the first time in the role of Old Shatterhand, and French actor Pierre Brice as his friend, the Apache-chief Winnetou. For many people born in the 1950s or 1960s, Winnetou became one of our favourite heroes.


Lex Barker and Pierre Brice. German postcard, no. E 51. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Winnetou and Old Shatterhand discover a crime. Brinkley, known as Cornel, and his gang of criminals attacked the stagecoach and murdered Erik Engel, who had a secret plan with him on his way to the legendary "Treasure in Silver Lake".


Götz George. German postcard, no. E 52. Photo: Constantin. Caption: When Angel's son Fred, who works on Butler's farm, learns of his father's murder, he immediately sets off to find the perpetrator.


Lex Barker. German postcard, no. E 53. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Fred meets Old Shatterhand, who promises to help him find the Cornel. Winnetou, however, wants to keep an eye on the gang of criminals.


Pierre Brice. German postcard, no. E 54. Photo: Constantin. Caption:
Winnetou discovers the bandits' hiding place, overhears their advice and learns that the sketch is incomplete. The other half of the plan is in the hands of Patterson, who is on Butler's farm with his daughter Ellen.


German postcard, no. E 55. Photo: Constantin. Caption: As soon as Old Shatterhand and Fred arrive at Butler's farm, the gang rushes to besiege the farm.

Old Shatterhand

Although it was a Western, Der Schatz im Silbersee was a truly European film, a co-production of Germany, Yugoslavia, and France. The film starred Hollywood star Lex Barker in the role of Old Shatterhand.

Barker was best known as a former Tarzan, who played the King of the Jungle in films like Tarzan's Magic Fountain (Lee Sholem, 1949) and Tarzan's Peril (Byron Haskin, 1951). He had also appeared in Westerns like the film adaptation of James Fennimore Cooper's The Deerslayer (Kurt Neumann, 1957), which had been very successful in Germany.

When his Hollywood career dried up, Lex Barker moved to Italy. There he appeared as a Hollywood movie star in La Dolce Vita/The Sweet Life (Federico Fellini, 1960) starring Marcello Mastroianni.

German producer Artur Brauner invited him to work in Germany, where he starred in such crime films as Das Stahlnetz des dr. Mabuse/The Return of Dr. Mabuse (Harald Reinl, 1961) opposite Gert Fröbe. Then the role of Old Shatterhand made him a cult star.

At his side, Pierre Brice played Apache-chief Winnetou. It made the till then unknown French actor an icon of the 1960s. The supporting cast was also an international mix. British Herbert Lom was cast as the bad Colonel Brinkley.

From Germany, there were the young lovers Karin Dor and Götz George. Grand Old lady Marianne Hoppe had her first international film role and for the laughs, Eddi Arent (Lord Castlepool) and Ralf Wolter (Trapper Sam Hawkins) can be seen.

There were also many Yugoslavian actors in the cast, including Mirko Boman (Gunstick Uncle), Sima Janicijevic a.k.a. Jan Sid (Patterson) and Jozo Kovacevic (Grosser Wolf).


Karin Dor and Jan Sid. German postcard, no. E 56. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Patterson and his daughter Ellen, who had ridden out, fall into the hands of the bandits. The Cornel demands the second half of the plan as a ransom.


Lex Barker. German postcard, no. E 57. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Old Shatterhand and Fred manage to free Patterson and his daughter Ellen and to get them to the farm through a secret passage.


Götz George. German postcard, no. E 58. Photo: Constantin. Caption: The Cornel now runs furiously against the walls of the farm with his gang, and there is a hot fight for life and death.


German postcard, no. E 59. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Winnetou arrives at the last minute. Together with the friend of the Osage tribe, he hurries to help the afflicted on Butler's farm.


Marianne Hoppe and Karin Dor. German postcard, no. E 60. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Mrs. Butler and Ellen watch the beaten criminal gang pulling away with joy and satisfaction.

Non-stop action

Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962) was the first film adaptation of a novel by Karl May set in the American West.

Karl May (1842-1912) was one of the best-read authors of Germany, and many kids played Cowboys and Indians, inspired by May's stories.

Earlier films after his exotic adventure novels were all set in the Near East. The first was Die Teufelsanbeter/The Devil Worshippers (Marie Luise Droop, 1920) starring 'the Indiana Jones of the 1910s and 1920s'Carl de Vogt and Béla Lugosi. A later example was Die Sklavenkarawane/The Slave Caravan (Georg Marischka, Ramón Torrado, 1958) with Viktor Staal as Kara Ben Nemsi.

However, the principal shooting took place in national park Paklenica karst river canyon, Yugoslavia (now Croatia). The result was surprising.

John Seal at IMDb: "Treasure of Silver Lake is one of the most entertaining films I've ever seen. Establishing the template for every euro-western that followed, it features non-stop action, beautiful scenery (unfortunately compromised by the pan and scan version recently aired on Encore Westerns), and an amusing and watchable cast. Like most euro-westerns, the film is more sympathetic to Native Americans than a typical Hollywood movie, but the Indians aren't really the focal point of the story".


Götz George. German postcard, no. E 61. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Fred pursues the Cornel and he manages to take the first half of the plan from him. However, the killer himself escapes.


German postcard, no. E 62. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Happy with the liberation, the residents of Butler's Farm say goodbye to their friends, the Osage. At the same time, the search for the "treasure in the silver lake" is decided.


German postcard, no. E 63. Photo: Constantin. Caption: The Cornel, however, wants to prevent the others from advancing. He sets fire to a village of the Utah Indians and, with this diabolical plan, makes the Utahs take revenge on all white people.


Karin Dor, Pierre Brice and Lex Barker. German postcard, no. E 64. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Winnetou, Old Shatterhand, and their friends are stunned in front of the burned village. Ellen, moving away from the group, is kidnapped by gang observers. Now the Cornel triumphs.


Götz George and Karin Dor. German postcard, no. E 65. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Hurrying to help Ellen, Fred volunteers to join the gang. He promises to lead the bandits to the silver lake in order to sell his and Ellen's freedom.

Successful track

The Old Shatterhand-Melodie, the title melody played on the harmonica by René Giessen and composed by Martin Böttcher was the most successful track in the German hit parade in the 1960s. It stayed there for several months and over 100,000 copies were sold.

At the time that was very unusual, especially for a soundtrack without any singers. The music was played by members of the symphony-orchestra of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk.

The theme was later also recorded as a vocal track by several singers, including a version by Pierre Brice.

Composer Böttcher wrote in 1955 the music for his first film, Der Hauptmann und sein Held/The Captain and His Hero (Max Nosseck, 1955).

Already his next film Die Halbstarken/Teenage Wolfpack (Georg Tressler, 1956) starring Horst Buchholz, was a great artistic success for himself. He became one of the busiest composers for Cinema and TV in Germany.


German postcard, no. E 66. Photo: Constantin. Caption: In the opinion that Old Shatterhand and his friends set fire to the village, the Utahs, led by their chief "Big Wolf", capture the small expedition.


German postcard, no. E 67. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Old Shatterhand and his friends arrive in the Utah village. Nobody knows yet what will happen to the whites.


Jan Sid and Lex Barker.German postcard, no. E 68. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Old Shatterhand and Patterson are worried about Ellen and Fred because they wanted to be in front of the gang at Silver Lake.


German postcard, no. E 69. Photo: Constantin. Caption: The Utah Council decides the judgment of God: Old Shatterhand is supposed to fight with the Utah chief.


German postcard, no. E 70. Photo: Constantin. Caption: The winner should live, the loser should die.

Bambi

German director Harald Reinl and producer Horst Wendlandt came up with a series of Eurowesterns which didn´t copy the American Western.

The American trade magazine Variety wrote in 1963 that 'See' was obviously better than the average Hollywood Western: "Although there are the inevitable fistfights and shoot-outs, the film does not copy the Hollywood format, but has a more philosophical (European!) Touch. The Western (filmed in Cinemascope) also benefits from the wonderful landscapes."

The European audiences loved it and Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake became a huge success. It was the very first German film to receive the Goldene Leinwand (Golden Screen) for having over 3 million visitors within 12 months.

The film also won the Bambi-award 1963 as best 'box-office-production' and also received a sum of 200,000 DM from the government in 1963 as a film-prize.

Der Schatz im Silbersee was sold to 60 countries - an incredible success for the European film industry.


German postcard, no. E 71. Photo: Constantin. Caption: The powerful chief is an equal opponent for Old Shatterhand.


German postcard, no. E 72. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Old Shatterhand falls. He defeats his opponent with his last strength but spares his life.


German postcard, no. E 73. Photo: Constantin. Caption: In the general turmoil, the whites manage to pull off unhindered. They have lost a lot of time and hurry to Silver Lake as quickly as possible.


German postcard, no. E 74. Photo: Constantin. Caption: There is a delay again. A Utah headman swears private vengeance and pursues the whites. Winnetou uses a trick.


German postcard, no. E 75. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Winnetou lures the Utahs into a canyon. The rushing chief "Big Wolf" can restore peace and joins Old Shatterhand and Winnetou.


Götz George and Karin Dor. German postcard, no. E 76. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Fred delay tactic fails. The gang reaches the silver lake in front of Old Shatterhand. Tied up, Fred and Ellen have to watch the gang build a raft to reach the cave with the treasure.


Herbert Lom. German postcard, no. E 77. Photo: Constantin. Caption: The Cornel and four of his cronies reach the cave and overwhelm the guardian of the treasure, an ancient blind Indian.

A popular sub-genre

Although Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake introduced Old-Shatterhand (Lex Barker) and Apache-chief Winnetou (Pierre Brice), Der Schatz im Silbersee is set in the time after the sequel Winnetou - 1. Teil/Apache Gold (Harald Reinl, 1963).

This would not be the only sequel. Between 1962 and 1968, 11 Eurowesterns were produced based on the novels by Karl May.

The early films preceded also another popular European film sub-genre, the Spaghetti Western.

And Eastern-Germany had its own Indian films, produced by the DEFA studio. Between 1966 and 1979 there were 12 East-German Westerns, often starring Serbian actor Gojko Mitic, who became an equally popular Icon in Eastern Europe as Pierre Brice was in West Europe.


Herbert Lom. German postcard, no. E 78. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Possessed by the gold rush, the criminals kill each other. The Cornel also has his deserved fate. The dying Indian triggers a mechanism and the bandit sinks with the treasure.


German postcard, no. E 79. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Since the Cornel has not returned, the gang wants to hang Fred. Old Shatterhand who hurried in time shoots the rope and thus saves Fred's life.


Karin Dor and Jan Sid. German postcard, no. E 80. Photo: Constantin. Caption: At the same time, Patterson and the "Big Wolf" can free Ellen, and the Utah Indians help destroy the rest of the gang.


German postcard, no. E 81. Photo: Constantin. Caption: Old Shatterhand and Winnetou enter the cave. They see that the treasure of Silver Lake has sunk forever.


German postcard, no. E 82. Photo: Constantin. Caption: After a friendly farewell to the Utahs and white friends, Winnetou and Old Shatterhand ride towards new adventures.

Sources: Bernd Desinger & Matthias Knop (Der Schatz im Silbersee), IMDb and Wikipedia (German).

The Eurowestern Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965) is one of the many film versions of the classic novel 'The Last of the Mohicans' by James Fenimore Cooper. It is a German-Italian-Spanish coproduction with stars like the Germans Joachim Fuchsberger and Karin Dor, Italian Anthony Steffen as Hawkeye and the Spanish actor Dan Martin as his friend Unkas, the last Mohican.


German postcard, no. 1 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin as Unkas and Anthony Steffen as Hawkeye in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Unkas, the son of the Mohican chief Chingachook, rides over the country in the company of his white friend Hawkeye - known as 'the forest runner'. They do not know that the Iroquois, led by Magua and with the help of a white gang, raided the village of the Mohicans and massacred women and children. Badly injured, Chief Chingachook was still able to get on his horse and escape.


German postcard, no. 2 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin as Unkas, Mike Brendel as Chingachgook and Anthony Steffen as Hawkeye in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: In the 'Garden of Stone Trees', Unkas and Hawkeye find Chingachook who was wounded to death. Dying, he tells his son Unkas about the fate of the Mohican tribe. At Chingachook's request, Hawkeye takes the chief's chain from him and puts on this Unkas, who thereby becomes the chief. Unkas - now the last Mohican - swears to his dying father that he will take revenge on Magua so that the souls of the murdered can enter the eternal hunting grounds. He also vows to take a woman home to revive the Mohicans.


German postcard, no. 3 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Anthony Steffen in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Magua, who has watched Chingachook's escape and does not want a witness for his bloody deed, chases two Iroquois after the wounded Chingachook. With a bold leap, the watchful Hawkeye succeeds in killing one of the pursuers. However, the second can flee at the last moment.


German postcard, no. 4 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Anthony Steffen and Dan Martin in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Hawkeye, the famous ranger, swears to his friend Unkas to help him find Magua. They want to atone for the act of blood. The escaped Iroquois will show them the way to Magua.


German postcard, no. 5 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Stelio Candelli as Roger and Ricardo Rodríguez as Magua in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Magua celebrates his victory over the Mohicans - very against the will of the leader of the Desperados, Roger. Magua and Roger are by no means friends. They have allied only because they need mutual support for their criminal plans. So Roger now insists on fulfilling Magua's promise to help the gang raid Fort Westerhill. Roger demands the gold and, with a cynical smile, assures Magua of the scalp.


German postcard, no. 6 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: When crossing a ford, the money transport is attacked by Roger's gang and the Iroquois . A short but tough struggle takes victims on both sides. While the ammunition wagon falls into the hands of the gang, the surviving soldiers can save the wagon with the money to the nearby Munroe farm.


German postcard, no. 8 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Roger's gang now turns to the farm. A hot fight begins. When Roger realises that the residents of the Farm are not giving up so quickly, he suggests to Munroe to do a barter: He demands the money and offers the captured ammunition wagon as a counter-solution.


German postcard, no. 9 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Carl Lange as Colonel Munroe in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Colonel Munroe, an old former officer, is outraged by this barter. Nevertheless, he is worried because his daughters Cora and Alice are on their way to the farm. It's a good thing they are under the protection of Captain Hayward, who is repairing a bridge with his troop!


German postcard, no. 10 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Joachim Fuchsberger in Der Letzte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: This is Captain Hayward, a newcomer to the west, but a brave soldier. It seems easier for him to tackle rough terrain than to guard two young women like Cora and Alice.


German postcard, no. 11 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Joachim Fuchsberger in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The bridge construction progressed under Hayward's command. They expect to be able to leave tomorrow. For this reason, Captain Hayward has already sent a mounted messenger to the farm to announce to Colonel Munroe that they will be arriving soon.


German postcard, no. 12 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still for Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: As soon as the riding messenger gets near the farm, he is already surrounded by the Iroquois and Rogers gang. Whichever direction he turns, there is no escape for him!


German postcard, no. 13 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Stelio Candelli as Roger and Ricardo Rodríguez as Magua in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The soldier sinks from his horse after being shot. Even torture does not make him speak. Then Roger discovers a note in the messenger bag.


German postcard, no. 14 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Stelio Candelli as Roger and Ricardo Rodríguez as Magua in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: When Roger reads the news about the sisters' coming arrival, a plan matures in him: Magua is said to be a false messenger from Colonel Munroe riding to the bridge and ambushing the trek. Above all, Roger warns Magua to take care of Cora and Alice to get them under his control. He's sure Colonel Munroe will trade the two girls for the gold!


German postcard, no. 17 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The Iroquois not only fire with burning arrows but also threaten Captain Hayward with a knife and tomahawk.


German postcard, no. 19 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Joachim Fuchsberger as Captain Hayward in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Captain Hayward realises too late that he has been trapped. As soon as they reach the boulder, they are attacked by a pack of Indians.


German postcard, no. 20 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Joachim Fuchsberger as Captain Hayward and Ricardo Rodriguez as Magua in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Die Irokesen schiessen nicht nur mit brennden Pfeilen, sondern bedrohen Captain Hayward auch mit Messer und Tomahawk.

A New European Film Genre 

Der Letze Mohikaner, aka El último Mohicano in Spain and La valle delle ombre rosse in Italy, was filmed in 1964 in Almería in Andalucía (Spain), in La Ciudad Encantada, Cuenca (Spain) and in the CCC-Atelier in Berlin-Spandau, Germany.

It was distributed by Constantin, the German company which had produced the Western Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962). This successful Karl May adaptation had lead to a new European film genre, the Eurowestern.

Harald Reinl had also directed the sequels Winnetou - 1. Teil/Apache Gold (1963) and Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (1964) starring Pierre Brice as Winnetou and Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand, and now he was back to helm Der Letzte Mohikaner (1965).

Co-producers of Der Letzte Mohikaner were International Germania Film in Bonn, Producciones Cinematograficas Balcázar in Barcelona, Procusa Films in Madrid, and Cineproduzioni Associate Srl in Rome, so it was a real trans-European production.

Der Letze Mohikaner was based on the historical novel 'The Last of the Mohicans' by James Fenimore Cooper Cooper, first published in 1826. It was one of the most popular English-language novels of its time and was the second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and the best known. The Pathfinder, published 14 years later in 1840, is its sequel.

Der Letze Mohikaner was the 13th film version of Fenimore Cooper's novel and there were still eight more film and TV versions to come. The 1920 version directed by Clarence Brown and Maurice Tourneur is well regarded, as is George Brackett Seitz's 1936 version starring Randolph Scott as Hawkeye.

The most recent version was also one of the best adaptations: The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992), starring Daniel Day Lewis as Hawkeye, Madeleine Stowe as Cora Munro, and Inuit actor Eric Schweig as Uncas. However many of the scenes from the 1992 film did not follow the book.


German postcard, no. 22 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: At the same time, more Iroquois rush in from the rocks and attack the remaining trek. Their arrows set the cars on fire. A hard fight man against man arises. It almost looks like this is the end of the command.


German postcard, no. 24 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Unkas emerged so suddenly and unexpectedly that Captain Hayward initially believes he is again facing an enemy. But Unkas' peaceful gesture convinces him that he has rushed in as a friend and helper. While Hawkeye is helping the soldiers, Unka supports Captain Hayward in the fight against the Iroquois.


German postcard, no. 25 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Karin Dor and Ricardo Rodriguez in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Now Magua intervenes. The moment has come for him to kidnap Cora. He ruthlessly drives her deeper into the mountains through rough terrain. But Unkas has observed the incident and is following his arch-enemy!


German postcard, no. 26 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Ricardo Rodriguez in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: When Magua realises that Unkas is chasing him, he brings Cora to safety behind a rock and shoots what the iron has to offer. He now hopes to get the last of the Mohicans out of the way.


German postcard, no. 27 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin as Unkas and Ricardo Rodríguez as Magua in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Unkas takes cover. Yes, he even manages to stalk so close to his enemy that he comes into a duel. Just to save Cora's life, he refrains from killing Magua.


German postcard, no. 28 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin as Unkas and Karin Dor as Cora Munroe in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Unkas frees Cora from her bonds. Both immediately gain great trust in one another. When asked about his family, Unkas tells of the sad end of his tribe.


German postcard, no. 29 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin and Karin Dor in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last of the Mohicans (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Unkas leads Cora onto a high plateau. This is the place where he wants to meet Falenauge. He knows that Hawkeye will safely guide the rest of the small group here.


German postcard, no. 30 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin as Unkas and Anthony Steffen as Hawkeye in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The survivors are already approaching, the wounded supported by the unsecured. The sisters cry for joy in their arms. But there is no rest because the pursuers are on the trail. It is decided to resort to a trick to take possession of the horses that have fallen into the hands of the Iroquois. Here Captain Hayward is said to play a major role. His brave struggle against the Indians earned him the honorary name 'Harder than Iron'.


German postcard, no. 31 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The fight for the Munroe Farm continues. Young Henry wanted to get help and broke out of the farm. Bullets hit him barely a few steps away. Mortally wounded, he can save himself in the farm. Now the besieged know that there is no escape.


German postcard, no. 32 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Joachim Fuchsberger in Der Letzte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: It is part of the List's plan that Captain Hayward draws the attention of the Iroquois. Hidden behind rocks, he shoots several rifles one after the other to fake a group of soldiers. In the meantime, the cook leads the small group to 'the garden of the stone trees' to bring the survivors to safety.


German postcard, no. 33 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still for Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The Iroquois storm the mountain: they are certain of their final victory, but once they reach the plateau, they become aware of the deception they have fallen victim to! Captain Hayward was able to save himself by jumping off the rock at the last minute.


German postcard, no. 34 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin as Unkas in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Meanwhile, Unkas and Hawkeye have come to the horses. They catch enough animals and scare the rest off with pistol shots. This gives them a head start on the Iroquois.


German postcard, no. 35 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Marie France, Karin Dor and Kurt Grosskurth in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last of the Mohicans (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The chef has led the small group to the 'Garden of Stone Trees'. What a joy when Captain Hayward emerges intact and soon after Uncas and Hawk-Eye with the horses. Now they can leave for Munroe's Farm!


German postcard, no. 36 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Karin Dor and Dan Martin in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last of the Mohicans (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Unkas knows every way in his country from numerous hunts. He leads the small group closer and closer to Munroe Farm on unknown paths.


German postcard, no. 38 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The fight for the farm continues. With horror, the besieged have to realise that the Iroquois army has now returned. Will they be able to withstand another rush? How long will the ammunition supply last?


German postcard, no. 39 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin, Anthony Steffen and Karin Dorin Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last of the Mohicans (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Kurz von der Munroe-Farm, im Schutze der Felsen, macht die kleine Gruppe halt. Sie überzeugt sich davon, dass die Farm von Rogers bande und den Irokesen umzingelt ist. Wie sollen sie nun hinein gelangen? Wiederum verfällt man auf eine Liste. Wie früher der Oberst, wenn er nach Hause zurück kehrte, mit einem Roten Tuch winkte, genauso soll sich Unkas der Farm nähern, damit man seine friedlichen Absichten erkennt. Cora bindet Unkas ihr rotes Halstuch um den Arm. (Near the Munroe farm, in the shelter of the rocks, the small group makes halt. They convinced themselves that the farm of Rogers bande and the Iroquois is surrounded. But how can they get inside? Again, one falls on a list. As before the colonel, when he returned home, Unkas will wave a red cloth when he goes nearer to the farm, so that you can see his peaceful intentions. Cora binds her red scarf around Unkas arm.)


German postcard, no. 40 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin as Unkas in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Unkas rides through the ranks of the Iroquois undetected. Then he gallops towards the Monroe Farmgate. Only now do the Indians recognise their enemy and pursue him.

Story of the Novel versus the story of the film

The story of the novel takes place in 1757 during the Seven Years' War (known in America as the French and Indian War), when France and the United Kingdom battled for control of the American and Canadian colonies. During this war, the French often allied themselves with Native American tribes in order to gain an advantage over the British, with unpredictable and often tragic results.

The story is set in the British province of New York and concerns a Huron massacre (with passive French acquiescence) of from 500 to 1,500 Anglo-American troops, who had honorably surrendered at Fort William Henry, plus some women and servants; the kidnapping of two sisters, daughters of the British commander; and their rescue by the last two Mohicans, and others.

In the film version Der Letze Mohikaner, Alice (Marie-France) and Cora Munro (Karin Dor) attempt to find their father (Carl Lange), a British officer in the French and Indian War. They are set upon by French soldiers and their cohorts, Huron tribesmen led by the evil Magua (Ricardo Rodriquez).

Fighting to rescue the women are chief Chingachgook and his son Unkas (Daniel Martín aka Dan Martin), the last of the Mohican tribe, and their white ally, the frontiersman Natty Bumppo, known as Falkenauge/Hawkeye (Anthony Steffen).

The other hero of the film is Captain Hayward, played by German actor Joachim Fuchsberger.

Ma Cortes at IMDb reviews the film: "This is an exciting film, plenty of action, thrills, fights, love and breathtaking outdoors from Almeria. Acceptable action sequences with rousing attacks and spectacularly realistic battles. Charismatic performance for all casting. The notorious Spaghetti actor, Anthony Steffen is good as Hawkeye and Karin Dor, director's wife is wonderful. Special mention to Daniel Martín as honorable Unkas and Ricardo Rodriguez as Magua as an appropriately villainous in a powerful performance. Look for secondary actors usual of Spaghetti Western as Frank Braña, Rafael Hernandez and Chris Huerta, among others. Colorful cinematography by Francisco Marin reflecting splendidly the sunny exteriors from the haunted city of Cuenca and Almeria wherein the '60s and '70s were shot hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns." (Why Steffen would be 'notorious' is not clear to me.)

The film was not a huge success though, but the novel stayed popular. The phrase 'the last of the Mohicans' has now been used often proverbially to refer to the sole survivor of a noble race or type. In 2011, The Last of the Mohicans was parodied as The Last of the Meheecans in the popular animated series South Park. In this episode, the character of Butters, who has become lost in the woods after playing Border Patrol with the other boys, finds himself to be the 'last of the Meheecans' (meaning Mexicans on his team).


German postcard, no. 41 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Anthony Steffen as Hawkeye in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: But Hawkeye already intervenes as agreed! He deliberately draws attention to distract the Iroquois and bandits from Unkas. The trick works. Initially unnoticed by the Iroquois, Hawkeye directs its pursuers in the opposite direction of the Munroe Farm. The way to the farm is clear.


German postcard, no. 42 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Colonel Munroe, recognising the red cloth, opens the gate. Unkas storms into the farm, closely followed by Cora, Alice, and the soldiers. Colonel Munroe happily embraces his daughters.


German postcard, no. 43 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Joachim Fuchsberger as Captain Hayward in Der Letzte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Captain Hayward gives the final cover to the riders. However, before he can get to safety, an arrow hits him; because the Iroquois watched the diversion. They let go of Hawkeye and turn furiously to the Munroe Farm. Captain Hayward reached the palisade wall at the last minute in the fire protection of the farm dwellers.


German postcard, no. 44 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Joachim Fuchsberger as Captain Hayward and Marie France as Alice in Der Letzte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Captain Hayward's iron nature quickly overcomes the serious injury. Alice is particularly happy about his rescue and early recovery.


German postcard, no. 45 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Ricardo Rodríguez as Magua and Stelio Candelli as Roger in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Roger is furious when he realises that he has been outwitted. He makes the bitterest reproaches against Magua for his failure. Since the residents of the farm do not give up, Roger makes a devilish plan: he wants to blow up the rock towering over the Munroe farm in order to destroy the farm and its inhabitants. Then finally the way to gold is clear!


German postcard, no. 47 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Karin Dor and Dan Martin in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last of the Mohicans (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The silence around Munroe Farm worries Unkas. But his natural instinct helps him recognise the plan. Cora, clarified by Unkas about the trickery of Roger's gang, watches the hustle and bustle.


German postcard, no. 50 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The Iroquois and Roger's gang are already storming the farm. A bitter struggle ensues. It looks like this is the end of the farm dwellers.


German postcard, no. 52 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Ricardo Rodriquez in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Despite the tough fight, Magua was on the post. Taking advantage of the effects, he kidnaps Cora a second time.


German postcard, no. 53 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Trotz des Kampfgetümmels ist Unkas das Vorgehen seines Feindes Magua nicht entgangen. Er kämpft sich frei und nimmt Maguas Spur auf. (Despite the battle tumult, Unkas did not fail to notice the actions of his enemy Magua. He fights his way free and takes Maguas track.)


German postcard, no. 54 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin as Unkas and Anthony Steffen as Hawkeye in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Hawkeye followed his friend Unkas. Both know that they are now facing a difficult path and will make an important decision.


German postcard, no. 56 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Unkas asks the old and wise Chief for advice: he does not want hatred, because he believes that white and red can live side by side undisturbed in the same country.


German postcard, no. 57 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Ricardo Rodríquez as Magua in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Magua also expressed his point of view. He hates the white people who have taken the country from him and his brothers. In every Indian who fraternises with the whites, he sees a traitor. That is why Unkas is an enemy for him.


German postcard, no. 58 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1964). Caption: The wise chief has heard both. He asked it the great Manitou. The judgment of the God is: a duel will decide about life and death.


German postcard, no. 60 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin and Ricardo Rodríguez in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: The two arch-enemies face each other in a ritual duel. The guns hit the shields hard. Who will be the winner?


German postcard, no. 63 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin and Ricardo Rodríquez in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Both, already wounded, continue to fight fiercely. Unkas succeeds in forcing Magua onto her back. He could kill him with a spear but his hatred has evaporated. Leaving the vanquished on the ground, he turns to the young man. Magua cannot overcome his defeat. He kills Unkas from behind by throwing a javelin. The last Mohawk collapses dead.


German postcard, no. 63 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Ricardo Rodríguez in Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: Magua knows that his end is here. The old chief speaks to him from the tribal honor and grants him three drum roll lead to flee. But Magua does not move. After the third drum roll, the arrows of the archers knit him down. Besides Uncas he finds death.


German postcard, no. 64 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Dan Martin in Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965). Caption: That was Unkas, the last Mohican. He won and still lost his life. The death of his brothers is avenged: the way to the Eternal Hunting Grounds is free for the Mohicans!

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

Singer ánd actor Jean-Claude Pascal (1927-1992) was one of the romantic lovers of the French cinema in the 1950s. In 1961 he won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing 'Nous Les Amoureux'. In 1981 he was less successful with the song 'C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique'.


German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 824. Photo: Lucienne Chevert, Paris.


German postcard by Ufa, Berlin/Tempelhof, no. FK 1384. Photo: Sam Lévin / Union Film.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 331. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 529. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.


French autograph card. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Passion for Acting

Jean-Claude Pascal was born as Jean-Claude Henri Roger Villeminot in Paris in 1927, into a family of textile manufacturers.

In 1944, when he was 17, he voluntarily joined the 2e Division blindée (2nd Armored Division) with which he entered the still occupied Strasbourg. Pascal received the Croix de Guerre and later he became a Commandeur des Arts et Lettres and Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor).

After the Second World War, he studied at the Sorbonne university, but he started his career as a fashion designer for Hermès.

Later the handsome Pascal met Christian Dior and became his stylist and also his model. He designed the costumes for the stage production 'Don Juan' by Molière, directed by Louis Jouvet.

He then discovered his passion for acting. After attending the drama course of Arthur Ford, he made his stage debut in 1949, alongside Pierre Renoir and Edwige Feuillère in 'La Dame aux Camélias' (Camille). He took the stage name Jean-Claude Pascal.


French postcard, no. 10.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 648. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 255. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 399. Photo: Teddy Piaz, Paris.


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V, Rotterdam, no. 4109. Photo: Lucienne Chevert / Unifrance Film / Ufa.

Romantic Lover

Tall, slender, dark-eyed Jean-Claude Pascal became one of the romantic lovers of the French cinema in the 1950s. His first film as a jeune premier was in the Italian film Quattro rose rosse/Four Red Roses (Nunzio Malasomma, 1949) opposite Olga Villi and Fosco Giachetti.

In France, he appeared with Pierre Fresnay in Un grand patron/Perfectionist (Yves Ciampi, 1951). For this role, his hair was coloured blond.

The following years, he was often seen in costume opposite beautiful women in such films as Le rideau cramoisi/The Crimson Curtain (Alexandre Astruc, 1953) and Les Mauvaises rencontres/Bad Liaisons (Alexandre Astruc, 1955) both with Anouk Aimée, Le Chevalier de la nuit/Knight of the Night (Robert Darène, 1953) with Renée Saint-Cyr, Le Grand Jeu/Flesh and the Woman (Robert Siodmak, 1954) with Gina Lollobrigida, Le Salaire du péché/The Wages of Sin (Denys de La Patellière, 1956) opposite Danielle Darrieux, and Die schöne Lügnerin/The Beautiful Lier (Axel Von Ambesser, 1959) with Romy Schneider.

Although he often played a romantic womaniser on screen, there was no woman in his private life, except for his beloved mother. The French site Hexagon Gay writes that Pascal was gay and liked men: "Only the artistic and gay at the time were aware because it is totally excluded to reveal such an orientation in a society where homophobia is still the rule. (...) The longest relationship he maintained, was with the actor Jean Chevrier, who died in 1975."


Spanish postcard by Toro de Bronze, no. 183, 1964. Photo: Sam Lévin.


Spanish postcard by Postalcolor, Hospitalet (Barcelona), no. 89, 1964. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 203. Photo: Studio Pietri.


French collectors card by Publistar.


Big East-German card by VEB Lied der Zeit Musikverlag, Berlin, no. 419-440/A 508/69, 1969. Photo: H.J. Hoffmann.

Eurovision

The filmmakers of the Nouvelle Vague were not interested in Jean-Claude Pascal. His film work diminished in the 1960s and he switched to singing chansons such as 'Lily Marlene' in both German and French.

His sultry, deep voice served sensitive interpretations of songs of such (then) young writers as Guy Béart, Serge Gainsbourg and Jean Ferrat. In 1962, he was awarded the Prix de l' Académie Charles-Cros for it.

In 1961 he won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing 'Nous Les Amoureux' (We the Lovers) with music composed by Jacques Datin and lyrics by Maurice Vidalin.

Twenty years later he represented Luxembourg again at the Eurovision Song contest 1981 with 'C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique' (It may not be America) but finished 11th of 20. He composed the words and music of this song himself along with Sophie Makhno and Jean-Claude Petit.

In the meantime he incidentally played in such light entertainment films as Le Rendez-vous/Rendezvous (Jean Delannoy, 1961) with Annie Girardot, the Spanish comedy Las 4 bodas de Marisol/The Four Marriages of Marisol (Luis Lucia, 1967) opposite the young Spanish idol Marisol, and Angélique et le Sultan/Angelique and the Sultan (Bernard Borderie, 1968) with Michèle Mercier.

His last film was the German Krimi Unter den Dächern von St. Pauli/Under the Roofs of St. Pauli (Alfred Weidenmann, 1970). In the 1970s he worked for television and the stage and in the 1980s he wrote detective novels and historical portraits, like 'L'Amant du roi' (The King's Lover) and 'Marie Stuart' (Mary Stuart). In 1986 he published his autobiography 'Le Beau Masque' (The Beautiful Mask).

In 1992 Jean-Claude Pascal died of lung cancer in Clichy-la-Garenne, near Paris. He was 64. There was not much media attention for the passing of this quite forgotten star, who had been so popular during the 1950s and 1960s.


Dutch or Flemish postcard. Editor unknown.


With Marisol. Spanish postcard by Postal Oscar Color, S.A., Hospitalet (Barcelona), no. 702. Publicity card for Las 4 bodas de Marisol/The Four Marriages of Marisol (Luis Lucia, 1967).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Michèle Mercier and Jean-Claude Pascal in Angelique et le sultan/Angelique and the sultan (Bernard Borderie, 1966).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 331. Photo: Michèle Mercier and Jean-Claude Pascal in Angelique et le sultan/Angelique and the sultan (Bernard Borderie, 1966).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3238, 1968. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Steffen.


Jean-Claude Pascal sings 'Nous les amoureux' at the Eurovision Song contest 1961. Source: eurovisionfrancetube (YouTube). On 18March 1961, Jean-Claude represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 in Cannes, France, and he won! With 31 points, he was ahead of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, and Denmark.


Jean-Claude Pascal sings 'C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique' at the Eurovision Song contest 1981. Source: Niindelos Taivos (YouTube).

Sources: Dave Thompson (AllMusic), Hexagone Gay (French), Wikipedia and IMDb.

G.B. Poletto (1915-1988) was one of the most prolific set photographers that worked in the Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. In 1950, Titanus, one of the major studios, offered him an exclusive contract, which committed him to be the still photographer for all the films produced by the studio. Poletto worked with such famous directors as Roberto Rossellini, Federico Fellini, and Luchino Visconti, but he also photographed many genre films, including the classic romantic comedies Pane, amore e fantasia/Bread, Love and Dreams (1953) with Gina Lollobrigida, and Poveri ma belli/Poor But Beautiful (Dino Risi, 1957), starring Marisa Allasio. His photos were used for countless European film star postcards.


German postcard by Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft (UFA), Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-174. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: G.B. Poletto / UFA.

Italian actress Marisa Allasio (1936) was a glamorous starlet who appeared in nearly twenty pictures in the 1950s. She was nicknamed ‘The Italian Jayne Mansfield’. In 1958 her career stopped abruptly when she married and became a countess.


Yugoslavian postcard by NPO, no. G5. Photo: G.B. Poletto. Gina Lollobrigida and donkey in Pane, amore e fantasia /Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953).


Italian postcard in the I Carabinieri nel Cinema series. Photo: Titanus. Photo: G.B. Poletto. Roberto Risso, Gina Lollobrigida and Vittorio De Sica in Pane, amore e gelosia/Bread, Love and Jealousy (Luigi Comencini, 1954).


Italian postcard by Casa Editr. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze (B.F.F. Edit.), no. 3197. Photo: G.B. Poletto. Titanus. Antonio Cifarielloin Pane, amore e...../Scandal in Sorrento (Dino Risi, 1955).


German postcard by UFA, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. 58. Retail price: 50 Pfg. Photo: G.B. Poletto / UFA.

Sex symbol Martine Carol (1920-1967) was one of the most beautiful women of the French cinema. During the early 1950s, she was a top box office draw as an elegant blonde seductress. Her private life was filled with turmoil including a suicide attempt, drug abuse, a kidnapping, and her mysterious death.

Poor But Beautiful

Giovanni Battista Poletto was born in Rome in 1915. His parents were Vittorio Poletto, originally from Rovigo, and Assunta Battistini, from Cesena. He attended elementary school in the Pinciano district, where he was born, and once he obtained a middle school license, he decided not to continue his studies.

In the 1930s he enrolled in a course for aviation photographers organised by the Air Force Ministry. Shortly thereafter, he began his career as a professional photographer at Ala Littoria, taking aerial photographs. During the war, he served in the aeronautics as a laboratory photographer. Transferred to Volta Mantovana, in 1943, he met the eighteen-year-old Paola Panizza, whom he married in 1946. Four children were born from the wedding: Donatella (1947), Carlo (1949), Laura (1953) and Alessandra (1958).

Once back in Rome with his wife, Poletto abandoned aerial photography in favour of reportage photography. He began to collaborate with such magazines as L’Europeo and Oggi and started his first contact with the world of cinema. In 1949 he met Roberto Rossellini, who wanted him as a set photographer of Stromboli, terra di Dio/Stromboli (Roberto Rossellini, 1950), starring Ingrid Bergman.

In 1950, the producer Goffredo Lombardo, head of one of the major studios, Titanus, offered him an exclusive contract, which committed him to be the still photographer for all the films produced by the studio. To cope with the growing amount of work, Poletto was forced to significantly expand the number of employees of his Agenzia Poletto - opened just before in the centre of Rome, in Via della Mercede 16 - which came to count 19 employees including photographers and printers.

For 'G.B. Poletto' - as he used to sign his photos - the first half of the 1950s was very intense on a professional level, with an average coverage of eleven sets per year. In 1951, he worked twice with the director and writer Mario Soldati, for the comedy O.K. Nerone/O.K. Nero (1951) starring Walter Chiari and Silvana Pampanini, and for È l'amor che mi rovina/It is love that ruins me (1951), with Chiari and Lucia Bosé.

In 1952, he photographed two episodes of Les sept péchés capitaux/The Seven Deadly Sins: L'Envie/Envy by Roberto Rossellini, and L'Avarice et la colère/Avarice and Anger by Eduardo De Filippo. With De Filippo, he also worked in the same year in the comedies Marito e moglie/Husband and wife (1952) and Ragazze da marito/Married Girls (1952).

The following year, he witnessed the directorial debut of Antonio Pietrangeli with Il sole negli occhi/The sun in his eyes (1953), for which the director earned a Silver Ribbon. He also made the still photos of Un marito per Anna Zaccheo/A husband for Anna Zaccheo (1954) by Giuseppe De Santis with whom he also collaborated for Uomini e lupi/Men and Wolves (Giuseppe De Santis, 1957) and Roberto Rossellini's Viaggio in Italia/Journey to Italy (1954), with whom he had built up mutual esteem and friendship in the meantime.

He resumed the sets of Pane, amore e fantasia/Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953) with Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida, and Poveri ma belli/Poor But Beautiful (Dino Risi, 1957), starring Marisa Allasio, Maurizio Arena, and Renato Salvatori. Of these popular 'sagas', he photographed all the sequels too.

Poletto also collaborated with Michelangelo Antonioni for La Signora senza Camelie/The Lady Without Camelias (1953), of which the photos depicting the young protagonist, Lucia Bosé, hover in memory.

In the same year, he worked on the set of Quand tu liras cette lettre/When You Read This Letter (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1953) with Juliette Gréco, and of the anthology film Siamo donne (Gianni Franciolini, Alfredo Guarini, Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Luigi Zampa, 1953), starring Alida Valli, Ingrid Bergman, Isa Miranda, and Anna Magnani, of which he did all five episodes.

At the same time, he was on the sets of important authors of genre films: Raffaello Matarazzo, a prolific director of such melodramas as Chi è senza peccato..../Who is without sin ... (1952) and Torna!/Tears of Love (1954), and comedy directors like Camillo Mastrocinque for Attanasio, cavallo vanesio/Athanasius, the vain horse(1953) and Steno for Mio figlio Nerone/My son Nero (1956).


Italian postcard by Casa Editr. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 3407. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Paramount / Titanus. Marisa Allasio in Poveri ma belli/Poor but beautiful (Dino Risi, 1957).


Italian postcard by Casa Edit. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze (B.F.F.), no. 3579. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus

Alessandra Panaro (1939-2019) was an Italian film actress of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is best known for Luchino Visconti's crime drama Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and His Brothers (1960).


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit. (Casa Editr. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze), no. 3580. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus.

After her 'discovery' at the age of 14, Italian actress Lorella De Luca (1940-2014) played naïve young girls in several dramas and comedies. These made her one of the best-known ingénues of the Italian cinema of the late 1950s. De Luca was married to film director Duccio Tessari.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit. (Casa Editr. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze), no. 3712. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus. Renato Salvatori in Poveri Millionari/Poor Millionaires (Dino Risi, 1959).

Renato Salvatori (1933-1988) was a popular, good-looking Italian actor of the 1950s and 1960s. His apex was his role as Simone in Visconti’s Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and His Brothers (1960).


Italian postcard by Casa Editr. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 3713. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus. Maurizio Arena in Poveri milionari/Poor Millionaires (Dino Risi, 1958).

Italian film actor Maurizio Arena (1933-1979) appeared in 78 films between 1952 and 1978. In the late 1950s, he became popular as the poor but handsome Roman working-class boy in a comedy trilogy by Dino Risi.

Federico Fellini

G.B. Poletto was among the photographers who contributed to launching Sophia Loren as one of the main divas of Italian cinema: the set photos of Il segno di Venere/The Sign of Venus (Dino Risi, 1955) and the promotional photos of Peccato che sia una canaglia/Too Bad She's Bad (Alessandro Blasetti, 1955), are still today among the most recognisable shots of the actress.

Titanus was always careful to diversify its offer, producing films by Rossellini, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, high budget films in French and American co-productions, but also Italian comedies, melodramas, adventure films, Peplums. This mixture of author films and more widely consumed films reverberated on Poletto's work and represented a constant in his work, especially in the second part of his career.

From the mid-sixties, he often photographed the 'Musicarelli', hugely popular musical comedies starring the most famous pop singers of the time. Among these are Non son degno di te/I am not worthy of you (Ettore Maria Fizzarotti, 1965) with Gianni Morandi, and Non stuzzicate la zanzara/Don't whet the mosquito (Lina Wertmüller, 1967), starring Rita Pavone.

In his professional career, he also met Alberto Lattuada, with whom he collaborated for La spiaggia/Riviera (Alberto Lattuada, 1954) with Martine Carol, and Scuola elementare/Elementary school (Alberto Lattuada, 1955). The relationship with the Milanese director continued in 1960 with Lettere di una novizia/Letters by a Novice (Alberto Lattuada, 1960) and I Dolci decanni/Sweet Deceptions (Alberto Lattuada, 1960). The protagonist of this last film was Catherine Spaak, in the role of a teenager in love with a man much older than her. The film caused a sensation and was subjected to a very long censorship odyssey until 1964 when Lattuada and the producer Lombardo were acquitted of the accusation of obscenity.

In one of his few interviews, Poletto underlined how in Italy, unlike what happened in American cinema, the photographer was called to simultaneously cover multiple roles: to produce the promotional material of the film (envelopes for the press, posters) he had to faithfully resume what had been shot by the camera, preserving its angle of observation, and at the same time had to "document the birth of the film by shooting the director, the actors, the technicians at work or in moments of pause".

The 'still photography', as it was commonly understood, therefore constituted only a part of the photographer's overall work, not including the less quoted 'set photography' which left him more expressive freedom and which dissociated himself from the idea of cinema as a machine producing illusions "revealing 'the artifice'". Initially, the set, as the main place of the cinematographic creation, was not crossed by the photographer's eye. Later, Poletto began to show the space in which the film was physically made to further increase its charm and the power of seduction.

His colour images of Giulietta degli spiriti/Juliet of the Spirits (Federico Fellini, 1965) are famous. Poletto, widening the frame, shows the 'trick' hidden by the camera: the crane that supports the swing on which Sandra Milo swirls. He made photos of various kinds of sets, but it is clear that his gaze was mainly - and not only for evident advertising purposes - to the actors, the directors, and the relationship that was born between them during filming.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 3166. Photo: G.B. Poletto /Titanus. Richard Basehart in Il bidone/The Swindlers (Federico Fellini, 1955).


German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 2141. Photo: G. B. Poletto / J. Arthur Rank Film. Jean Marais in Le notti bianche/ White Nights (Luchino Visconti, 1957).


German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3486. Photo: G.B. Poletto. Marcello Mastroianniand Maria Schell in Le notti bianche/ White Nights (Luchino Visconti, 1957).


German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3515. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Ufa.


German postcard by Ufa/Filmfoto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3476. Photo: G.B. Poletto.

The Leopard

Giovanni Battista Poletto himself told how the two masters Luchino Visconti and Federico Fellini related with him on the set in a totally different way: how much the one was inclined to give him all the space and time necessary to take the photos, so much the other was also annoyed by the only 'click' of the machine (despite the invention of the 'blimp' had significantly attenuated the click noise).

He worked with the Rimini director in Il bidone (Federico Fellini, 1955), with Richard Basehart and Broderick Crawford, and in Roma/Rome (Federico Fellini, 1972), an autobiographical tale in which Gore Vidal and Anna Magnani appear, in her latest film appearance. It is no coincidence that her images were selected for an exhibition dedicated to the actress in the Palazzo Valentini, Rome in 2008.

The relationship with Luchino Visconti was also intense: from Siamo donne to the masterpiece Il gattopardo/The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963), the sum of his professional career. Precisely on this particularly long and demanding set, he chose to bring the family with him, although he usually kept work separate from his private world. In 2013, the photos of the making of the film were exhibited on the occasion of an important exhibition organised to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the film in Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo.

1963 was a year of transition: the Titanus, due to the enormous production costs of Sodoma and Gomorrah (Robert Aldrich, 1962) and Il Gattopardo, went bankrupt as a production company continuing to deal only with the distribution.

The most important phase of Poletto's career therefore ended, coinciding with the heyday of Italian cinema, during which he was able to photograph works by authors such as Francesco Maselli (Gli sbandati/Abandoned, 1955), Mario Monicelli (Un eroe dei nostri tempi/A Hero of Our Times, 1955; Risate di gioia/The Passionate Thief, 1960), Vittorio De Sica (Il tetto/The Roof, 1956), Valerio Zurlini (Estate violenta/Violent Summer, 1959; La ragazza con la valigia/Girl with a Suitcase, 1961; Cronaca familiare/Family Diary, 1962), Nanni Loy (Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti/Fiasco in Milan, 1959; Le quattro giornate di Napoli/The Four Days of Naples, 1962), Francesco Rosi (I magliari/The Swindlers, 1959), Elio Petri (L'assassino/The Assassin, 1961; I giorni contati/His Days Are Numbered, 1962), Ermanno Olmi (Il posto/The Job, 1961), and Dino Risi (Operazione San Gennaro/The Treasure of San Gennaro, 1966).

His professional career seemed in some ways to follow the fate of still photography: it experienced its peak period in the 1950s and early 1960s and its progressive decline between the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the growing popularity of the television and the consequent decrease in budgets for cinema. On the contrary, the activity of his printing laboratory continued to be intense, often allowing him to indulge his natural inventiveness: in 1968 he was asked for a poster to advertise C'era una volta il West/Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968) and, for realising it, after a meticulous preparation as it was in his style, he created a special enlarger. He had repeatedly expressed his displeasure at not having followed in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather, an inventor of machinery.

In the second phase of his career, he still filmed genre films (Musicarelli in the first place), but he also documented the sets of some significant works such as Io la conoscevo bene/I knew her well (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1965) with Stefania Sandrelli, the Spaghetti Western I lunghi giorni della vendetta (Faccia d'angelo)/Days of Vengeance (Florestano Vancini, 1967) starring Giuliano Gemma, Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968), and La prima notte di quiete/Indian Summer (Valerio Zurlini, 1972), starring Alain Delon.

The last film he worked for was the acclaimed comedy-drama Pane e cioccolata/Bread and Chocolate (Franco Brusati, 1973), starring Nino Manfredi, his close friend. Until the end, he continued to devote himself full time to his photographic laboratory, where his daughter Donatella had started working since 1966. Giovanni Battista Poletto died in Rome in 1988. He was 72.


Small Czech collectors card by Pressfoto, Praha (Prague), 1965, no. S 101/6. Photo: G.B. Poletto. Claudia Cardinale, Paolo Stoppa and Alain Delon in Il gattopardo/The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963).


Czech postcard by Pressfoto, Praha (Prague). Photo: G.B. Poletto. Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale and Burt Lancaster in Il Gattopardo/The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963). Collection: Carla Bosch.


Czech postcard by Pressfoto, Praha (Prague). Photo: G.B. Poletto. Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale in Il Gattopardo/The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963). Collection: Carla Bosch.


Vintage card. Photo: G.B. Poletto. Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale in Il Gattopardo/The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1021, 1959. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: G.B. Poletto, Rome.

Italian actress Sylva Koscina (1933-1994) may be best-remembered as Iole, the bride of Steve Reeves in the original version of Hercules (1958). She also starred in several Italian and Hollywood comedies of the 1950s and 1960s.


German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 224. Retail price: 10 Pfg. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Ufa.

Athletic Italian actor Raf Vallone (1916-2002) was an internationally acclaimed film star, known for his rugged good looks.


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1643. Photo G.B. Poletto / Titanus. Nino Manfredi in Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti/Fiasco in Milan (Nanni Loy, 1960).

Italian actor Nino Manfredi (1921-2004) was one of the most prominent stars in the Commedia all'italiana genre. He was equally adept at drama and comedy, and also had success as a film director and screenwriter.


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano (Milan), no. 1807. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus. Mario Girotti (Terence Hill) in Lazzarella (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1957).

Sources: Giulia Della Torre, Riccardo Della Torre (Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – Italian), and IMDb.

On 26 May 2020, the German actress and assistant director Irm Hermann passed away in Berlin after a short illness. She was the muse and a close friend of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and played roles in 24 of his films including Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972). Overall, she appeared in over 160 film and television productions until 2018. Irm Hermann was 77.


German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg. Photo: Margarete Redl-von Peinen.

24 films with Fassbinder

Irmgard Hermann was born in 1942 in Munich, in Nazi Germany.

In 1966, she worked as a secretary at the ADAC, Germany's biggest automobile club, when she was got to know Rainer Werner Fassbinder. They became close friends. He convinced her to quit her job to work with him although she lacked formal training as an actress.

In the same year, Hermann starred in her debut role in Fassbinder's short film Der Stadtstreicher/The City Tramp (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1966).

She and Fassbinder made 24 films and TV series together: Der Stadtstreicher (1966), Der Bräutigam, die Komödiantin und der Zuhälter (Jean-Marie Straub, 1968), Katzelmacher (1969), Liebe ist kälter als der Tod (1969), Götter der Pest (1970), Der amerikanische Soldat (1970), Effi Briest (1970), Warum läuft Herr R. Amok (1970), Pioniere in Ingolstadt (1971), Mathias Kneissl (Reinhard Hauff, 1971), the TV series Acht Stunden sind kein Tag (1972), Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant/The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Händler der vier Jahreszeiten/The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972), Wildwechsel (1973; on which she was also the assistant director), Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe (Ulli Lommel, 1973), Angst essen Seele auf/Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Nora Helmer (1974), Angst vor der Angst (1975), Faustrecht der Freiheit (1975; on which she was also the assistant director), Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel (1975), Schatten der Engel (Daniel Schmid, 1976), Frauen in New York (1977), the TV series Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980), and Lili Marleen (1981).


German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg. Photo: Peter Paul Hammerschmidt, Berlin.


German postcard by Verlag Hias Schaschko, München (Munich), no. 209. Photo: Rainer Werner Fassbinder during the shooting of Händler der vier Jahreszeiten/The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971), then still called Der Obsthändler/The Grocer.

Independence in Berlin

In 1975, Irm Hermann left Munich and Fassbinder and moved to Berlin to be more independent. In 1976, she married children's book writer  Dietmar Roberg. They had two children, son Franz Tizian Roberg (1977), and son Fridolin Roberg (1981).

In the cinema, she worked more often for other directors. She worked with Werner Herzog in his film Woyzeck (1979) starring Klaus Kinski, with Hans Geissendorfer in his Thomas Mann adaptation Der Zauberberg/The Magic Mountain (1982), with Rod Steiger, with Percy Adlon in Fünf letzte Tage/The Five Last Days (1982), and with Ulrike Ottinger in Dorian Gray im Spiegel der Boulevardpresse/Dorian Gray in the Mirror of the Yellow Press (1984).


From 1987, she was an ensemble member of the Freie Volksbühne Berlin. She continued to make films, including Johanna D'Arc of Mongolia (Elrike Ottinger, 1989), Tigerstreifenbaby wartet auf Tarzan/Tigerstripe Baby Is Waiting for Tarzan (Rudolf Thome, 1998), the family film Mein Bruder ist ein Hund/My Brother Is a Dog (Peter Timm, 2004), the farce Reine Geschmacksache/Fashion victims (Ingo Rasper, 2007), and Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin/A Woman in Berlin (Max Färberböck, 2008) starring Nina Hoss.

Her later films included Fack ju Göhte 3/Suck Me Shakespeer 3 (Bora Dagtekin, 2017) with Elyas M'Barek and Katja Riemann, and Zwei Herren im Anzug/Two Men in Suits (Josef Bierbichler, 2018). Her last screen role was in the TV series Labaule & Erben (2019), the story of the publishing family Labaule in Germany.

Irm Hermann died in 2020 in Berlin, Germany.


German autograph card. Photo: Claudius Pflug.


Scene from Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972) also with Margit Carstensen. Source: Emanuele Tealdi (YouTube).

Sources: Hans Beerenkamp (Het Schimmenrijk - Dutch)  Wikipedia and IMDb.

In February, EFSP paid attention to the French editor Croissant and its beautiful series of coloured postcards for early films Pathé Frères and Gaumont. Croissant published more interesting postcards with a link to the early cinema. My partner in crime, Ivo Blom collected this series of hand-coloured portrait postcards of French actors, who often appeared both in the theatre and in the cinema. The photographers were Henri Manuel and later Paul Boyer.

Constant Coquelin

French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3509. Photo: Henri Manuel, Paris. Constant Coquelin in the play 'Cyrano de Bergerac' (1897).


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3509. Photo: Henri Manuel, Paris. Constant Coquelin in the play 'Cyrano de Bergerac' (1897).


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3509. Photo: Henri Manuel, Paris. Constant Coquelin in the play 'Cyrano de Bergerac' (1897).


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3509. Photo: Henri Manuel, Paris. Constant Coquelin in the play 'Cyrano de Bergerac' (1897).


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3509. Photo: Henri Manuel, Paris. Constant Coquelin in the play 'Cyrano de Bergerac' (1897)

Benoît-Constant Coquelin (1841-1909), known as Coquelin aîné (Coquelin the Elder), was a French actor, who was known as one of the greatest theatrical figures of the age. He entered the Comédie-Française in 1860, became sociétaire there in 1864, left in 1887 to go on European and American tours, and returned as a Pensionnaire between 1890 and 1892. Despite the strict rules of the Comédie not play afterwards on other stages, Coquelin had a triumph in 1897 with Edmond Rostand's 'Cyrano de Bergerac' and would play it many times. In 1900, when he was almost sixty, Coquelin toured in America with Sarah Bernhardt and appeared on Broadway's Garden Theatre in a production of 'Cyrano de Bergerac' (Bernhardt played Roxane). On their return to France, he continued with his old colleague to appear in 'L'Aiglon', at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt. For his booming voice and his lyrical and fiery temperament, Rostand wrote 'Chantecler', but the actor died in 1909 before it could be performed by him. The only film of Coquelin senior was an early sound film shot by the Lumiere brothers operator Felix Mesguich in 1900, though some sources state Clement Maurice as the responsible one. It was a scene from Edmond Rostand's duel scene from 'Cyrano de Bergerac', a role Coquelin sr. had created in 1897. The film was shown at the Phono-Cinema-Theatre in Paris during the famous 1900 Exposition. After the exposition closed, Mesguich took the films on a three-month tour all over Europe. In 1930, the film was found back, together with early sound films. In 1952 it was inserted in the film Cinema parlant 1900.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3523. Photo: Henri Manuel. Caption: Silvain de la Comédie Française.

Eugène Sylvain or Eugène Silvain (1851-1930), also known as Sylvain and Silvain, was a prominent French stage actor, though he is best remembered as the evil bishop Cauchon in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent film La passion de Jeanne d’Arc (1928). He entered the Comédie Française in 1878, became a Sociétaire in 1883, a Doyen between 1916 and 1928, and he left the company in 1928.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3523. Photo: Henri Manuel. Caption: Leloir de la Comédie Française.

Louis Leloir a.k.a. Leloir (1860-1909), originally Louis Pierre Sallot, was a French actor, and a Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française between 1889 and 1909. Parallel to his stage career, he was appointed teacher at the Conservatoire de musique et déclamation in 1894, and vice-president of the Société des artistes dramatiques in 1897. Because of his courageous behaviour during the 1900 fire at the Comédie-Française, he was awarded the Légion d'Honneur the same year. When he died in 1909, he was a board member of the Comédie Française and one of its regular stage directors. Little is known about Leloir's involvement in the cinema. He may have written the script for the Film d'Art production Louis XI (André Calmettes, 1910), starring Emile Dehelly, while he may have made the poster for the Film d'Art production Un Duel sous Richelieu (André Calmettes, 1908), starring Henry Krauss.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3523. Photo: Henri Manuel, Paris. Caption: Jacques Fenoux de la Comédie Française.

Jacques Fenoux 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 film performance was in Jacques de Féraudy's Molière, sa vie, son oeuvre (1922), in which actors of the Comédie-Française can be seen rehearsing plays by Molière.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3523. Photo: Henri Manuel, Paris. Caption: Truffier de la Comédie Française.

Jules Truffier (1856-1943) was a respected actor of the Comédie-Française. As far as known, he didn't act in a film, but as a teacher at the Conservatoire (from 1906 onward) he trained future screen actors. Jules Truffier's father, who had acted before starting in commerce, and was befriended with the actors Got and Delaunay, let his son study at the Parisian Conservatoire from 1873. Truffier jr. entered the Comédie-Française in 1875, became a Sociétaire there in 1888, retired in 1913, and in 1922 became a Sociétaire Honoraire. All in all, he played some 150 parts in an almost 40 years time span. In 1914, he quit acting in 'Maître Favilla', an adaptation by himself of a piece by George Sand, and in the same year he became manager of the Études classiques de la Comédie-Française, so the staging of the classic repertory by the Comédie. This he did until 1918/1919. Among his pupils at the Conservatoire, where he taught between 1906 and 1929, were Berthe Bovy, Pierre Dux, and Pierre Blanchar.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3523. Photo: H. Manuel. Albert Lambert as Orestes.

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


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3524. Photo Henri Manuel, Paris. Caption: Mme. Kolb de la Comédie Française.

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


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3609. Photo: Henri Manuel. Caption: M. Constant Coquelin.

Sarah Bernhardt

French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3690. Photo: Paul Boyer. Sarah Bernhardt in the play 'L'Aiglon' (1900) by Edmond Rostand.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3690. Photo: Paul Boyer. Sarah Bernhardt in the play 'L'Aiglon' (1900) by Edmond Rostand.


French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3690. Photo: Paul Boyer. Sarah Bernhardt in the play 'L'Aiglon' (1900) by Edmond Rostand.

French vedette Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) has been referred to as 'the most famous actress in the history of the world'. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning her the nickname 'The Divine Sarah'. Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s and was soon high in demand in both Americas too. And she was one of the first film stars. What a woman!

Sources: Comédie-Française (French), Filmographie Le Film d'Art by Eric Le Roy (French), Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.

And please, check out our earlier post on Croissant.

American silent film actress Anita Stewart (1895-1961) was one of the earliest actresses who achieved success and public recognition in the cinema. From 1911 on, she worked with director Ralph Ince for Vitagraph and was often paired in romantic roles with real-life husband, actor Rudolph Cameron. Later she had her own film company. The advent of the sound film ended her successful career.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 703/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Transocean Film-Co, Berlin.


American postcard by M.B.S.C.Co. (Max B. Sheffer Card Ci., Chicago), 1922. Photo: First National. Anita Stewart in Rose o' the Sea (Fred Niblo, 1922).


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

An actress in the foreground

Anita Stewart was born Anna Marie Stewart in Brooklyn in 1895. Her two siblings, actor/director George Stewart and actress Lucille Lee Stewart, would also act in films.

In 1911, when she was still attending Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, 16-year-old Anita started her career playing extra and bit parts in films for the Vitagraph Studios at their New York City location.

She had her breakthrough with the box office hit A Tale of Two Cities (William J. Humphrey, 1911), adapted from Charles Dickens, and with an all-star cast including Maurice Costello, Florence Turner, Norma Talmadge, and John Bunny.

Over the next years, she quickly grew into an actress in the foreground. She appeared in a string of short comedies and dramas including The Forgotten Latchkey (Ralph Ince, 1913) with Harry Morey, and The White Feather (William J. Bauman, 1913).

Director Ralph Ince gave Stewart leading roles in his films A Million Bid (1914), her first real feature-length film, and The Sins of the Mothers (1914) with Julia Swayne Gordon.

She also starred with Earle Williams in a series of films: the trainwreck drama The Juggernaut (Ralph Ince, 1915), The Goddess (Ralph Ince, 1915), and the romantic drama My Lady's Slipper (Ralph Ince, 1916).

In 1917 Stewart married Rudolph Cameron, the brother of Ralph Ince. Stewart grew into a popular actress and was cast with big names such as Mae Busch and Barbara La Marr.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, no. S.75-5. Photo: Moody, N.Y.


British postcard in the Novelty Series, no. D6-12. Photo: Vitagraph Films.


British postcard in the Pictures Portrait Gallery by Pictures Ltd., London, no. 111.

Her own production company

Anita Stewart left Vitagraph in 1918 for a contract with Louis B. Mayer and received a substantial salary increase. Stewart was promised her own production company at the Mayer studios in Los Angeles.

Between 1918 and 1919 Stewart produced seven moderately successful vehicles, starring in all of them. Her best-known film is Virtuous Wives (George Loane Tucker, 1918) with Conway Tearle and Hedda Hopper. Other titles include the Lois Weber film A Midnight Romance (1919) with Jack Holt, Marshall Neilan's Her Kingdom of Dreams (1919), and In Old Kentucky (Marshall Neilan, 1919).

Her films were enormously successful during the early 1920s, such as Sowing the Wind (John Stahl, 1921), The Woman He Married (Fred Niblo, 1922), etc.

From the mid-1920s, Stewart acted at various production companies, including Tiffany, Cosmopolitan, Fox, and even her old company Vitagraph. She mostly got first billing until 1928.

Her last silent film was Romance of a Rogue (King Baggot, 1928), starring H.B. Warner, and Stewart co-starring. After the emergence of the sound film in 1928, however, it went badly with Stewart's career.

Following Stewart's divorce from Cameron in 1928, Stewart married George Peabody Converse the following year. They divorced in 1946.

After making just one musical short, The Hollywood Handicap (Charles Lamont, 1932) with Bert Wheeler and the young John Wayne, Stewart retired from the screen. She was one of the wealthiest women in Hollywood.

Stewart wrote the murder mystery novel 'The Devil's Toy', published in New York in 1935 by E.P. Dutton. Though the book's dust jacket traded on the author's Hollywood connection, the plot concerned the killing of a stage actor and was set in San Francisco.

Anita Stewart died of a heart attack in 1961 in Beverly Hills, California. She was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, in the Sanctuary of Liberty. Anita Stewart has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 585/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Transocean Film-Co, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 585/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Puffer, N.Y. / Transocean Film-Co, Berlin. Mistake! Actually, this is not Anita Stewart but Norma Talmadge. See our Flickr site


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 727/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Transocean Film-Co, Berlin.

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

André Deed (1879-1940) was one of the most popular comedians in French and Italian silent cinema. He was one of the first of the named actors in the cinema, and his film series based around Boireau and Cretinetti aka Foolshead were a global success. He also worked as a film director and scriptwriter.


French postcard by Edition Pathé Frères. Photo: X.


French postcard by Théâtre Pathé Grolée, Lyon. Photo: Pathé Frères. André Deed in Le fils du diable/The Devil's Son (Charles Lucien Lépine, 1906), with cinematography by Segundo De Chomon.

Foolshead

André Deed was born Henri André Augustin Chapais in Le Havre, France in 1879. He was the son of a customs official. The family moved to Nice when Henri André was young.

He attended lycée in Nice while acting with a small theatre company. Around 1900, he started his career as a circus acrobat and then became a singer in vaudeville theatre and cabaret, including at the Folies Bergères.

In 1901 he did his first steps in the film world for film pioneer Georges Méliès. He played a Pierrot in the short comic fantasy Dislocation mystérieus/An Extraordinary Dislocation (Georges Méliès, 1901). Several body parts of a dancing clown float away from his body and come back again.

In 1906 Deed started at Pathé Frères his own series of short comedies around Boireau, a comic character designed by himself. Among them are comedies like La course à la perruque/The Wig Chase (Georges Hatot, André Heuzé, 1906) with Léon Mathot, Boireau déménage/Foolshead Moved (Georges Hatot, 1906), and Les débuts d'un chauffeur/The Inexperienced Chauffeur (Georges Hatot, 1906).

Between 1906 and 1908, Deed made some 27 films for Pathé, directed by pioneer filmmakers like Georges Hatot and Georges Monca, though of several films the director is not known.

Because of the huge popularity of the Boireau comedies, the Torinese company Itala Film lured Deed to Italy in 1908. There Deed started the series of Cretinetti (which can be translated as ‘little stupid’). He not only acted but also directed his own films now. Just like in the French films, Deed behaved in a quite anarchic way, creating destruction and pursuits all over.

Between 1909 and 1911 and between 1915 and 1920, Deed interpreted Cretinetti in some 90 shorts. A highlight is the absurdist Cretinetti e le donne/Cretinetti and the Women (André Deed, 1910), in which fanatic women tear the man to pieces. In the end, all his loose limbs gather again.

At the time, Deed was after Max Linder the most popular film comedian of the European cinema. His Boireau and Cretinetti characters were even famous all over the world world, although under different names. He was known as Foolshead in English, Müller in German, Toribio in Spanish, Turíbio in Portuguese, Lehmann in Hungary, Glupyuskin in Russia, and so on.

The silent film stars Emilio Ghione and Alberto Collo started their careers in Deed’s films at Itala. He also met his future wife Valentina Frascaroli there. She would perform in many of his films.


French postcard, no. 3. Cliché X.


French postcard by Sadag de France, Imp., Paris, no. 40. Photo: Pathé Frères. André Deed in Boireau à l'école/Boireau at school (André Deed, 1912).

Nightwatch in the Pathé Studios

In 1912 André Deed went back to Pathé to perform as Boireau again. Cretinetti was named Gribouille in France, and so his first film for Pathé was entitled Comment Gribouille redevient Boireau/How Gribouille became Boireau again (André Deed, 1912). Valentina Frascaroli collaborated under the character name of Gribouillette.

From 1912 on Deed would make some 70 new shorts as Boireau. In 1913 Deed and Frascaroli did a big European and Latin American theatrical tour. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Deed was drafted first, but in 1915 Itala producer Giovanni Pastrone called him back to Italy. There he directed and played in the war propaganda film La paura degli aereomobili nemici/The fear for Zeppelins (André Deed, 1915) with Domenico Gambino, and Cretinetti e gli stivali del brasilero/Cretinetti and the Brazilian's boots (André Deed, 1916), which had Bartolomeo Pagano alias Maciste in a supporting part as a police officer, plus special effects by Segundo De Chomon.

Afterward, Deed returned to France where he served in various sections of the army, though it is unknown whether he fought in the trenches. In 1918 he married Frascaroli and in 1919 he was demobilised.

In 1920-1921 Deed started a trilogy of Italian fantasy-adventure-films: Il documento umano/The human document (André Deed, 1920), L’uomo meccanico/The Mechanical Man (André Deed, 1921) and Lo strano amore di Mado/The Strange Love of Mado.

L’uomo meccanico was regarded as lost, but some reels of the Portuguese release version were discovered in Brazil. The discovered film amounted to 740 meters which is believed to be approximately 40% of the complete film. This was restored by the Cineteca Comunale di Bologna. L’uomo meccanico/The Mechanical Man is about an indestructible robot which in the end only creates havoc. At the end of the film, there is a spectacular scene with a battle of the two robots in the Opera House.

The latter film of the trilogy, Lo strano amore di Mado/The Strange Love of Mado, was never realised. The popularity of Deed had diminished and new comedians like Charlie Chaplin had taken his place. Deed returned to France, where he still acted in films. In the early sound era, he only could find minor parts.

By the late 1930s, Deed was forgotten by the industry that he helped to launch. He worked as a nightwatch at the Pathé studios, located in the Parisian suburb of Joinville-le-Pont.

Broke and forgotten, André Deed died in 1940 in Paris. He was 61. His wife Valentina Frascaroli passed away in 1955.


André Deed as Cretinetti in Le delizie della caccia/The Delights of Hunting (André Deed, 1910). Source: YasHY2804 (YouTube).


Scene from L’uomo meccanico/The Mechanical Man (André Deed, 1921). Source: JH Banner (YouTube).

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

Gräfin Donelli/Countess Donelli (1924) was a typical Henny Porten film of the 1920s, a rather conventional melodrama. Porten's handsome co-star was the little-known Eberhard Leithoff. Remarkable is the director. Gräfin Donelli is the second film of Georg Wilhelm Pabst, one of the most influential German-language filmmakers during the Weimar Republic.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/1. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Friedrich Kayssler in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/2. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Eberhard Leithoff in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).

An act of desperation

In Gräfin Donelli (1924), Henny Porten stars as Countess Mathilde Donelli who has become a widow early on, as her unfaithful husband killed himself.

Now she is in material need. Her uncle, the much older Count Bergheim (Friedrich Kayssler), shows interest in Mathilde, but she is much more interested in Bergheim's handsome secretary Hellwig (Eberhard Leithoff).

To help Mathilde, Hellwig sends Countess Donelli a larger sum of money. Thereupon the countess's uncle accuses his secretary of the theft because he wants to crush the young happiness.

Graf Bergheim is prepared to waive a criminal complaint should Hellwig stay away from Mathilde from now on. Countess Donelli then lets herself be carried out to an act of desperation and shoots him down. The doctors can save the wounded man.

Countess Donelli marries her great love after his recovery. Years later, Count Bergheim realises that he would never have a chance with Mathilde and admits that he staged the embezzlement. Now Hellwig is finally rehabilitated.

Gräfin Donelli (1924) was a production by Maxim Film and Ebner & Co. The script was written by Hans Kyser. The cinematographer was Guido Seeber, and the sets were designed by art director Herman Warm. The co-director and editor was Mark Sorkin. G. W. Pabst would later often work again with them in his films.

Pabst's best-known silent films concern the plight of women, including Die freudlose Gasse/The Joyless Street (1925) with Greta Garbo and Asta Nielsen, Geheimnisse einer Seele/Secrets of a Soul (1926) with Lily Damita, Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney/The Loves of Jeanne Ney (1927) with Brigitte Helm, Die Büchse der Pandora/Pandora's Box (1929), and Tagebuch einer Verlorenen/Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) with American actress Louise Brooks. He also co-directed with Arnold Fanck the Bergfilm (mountain film) Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü/The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) starring Leni Riefenstahl.

Gräfin Donelli passed censorship on 28 August 1924 and premiered on 7 November 1924 at the Primus-Palast in Berlin. The film is now believed to be lost.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/3. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Eberhard Leithoff in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/4. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten, Ferdinand von Alten, and Friedrich Kayssler in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924). Von Alten played Baron von Trachwitz.

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

Austrian actress Marte Harell (1907-1996) played strong women who determined the events, in several Viennese comedies and operettas of the 1940s and 1950s.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2858/2, 1939-1940. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2859/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3354/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien Film / Terra.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3765/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien Film.

Wiener Mädel

Marte Harell was born as Martha Schömig in Wien (Vienna), Austria-Hungary, now Austria in 1907. She was the daughter of architect Rudolf Schömig and his wife Emilie Mathilde Passetzky.

Marte visited a secondary school for girls in Vienna. Her acting career started when she married director Karl Hartl in 1930. She followed acting classes from Margit von Tolnai and attended the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar.

At 30, she made her debut at the Kammerspielen des Theaters in der Josefstadt. She worked for theatres in Munich and Berlin, where she was spotted by director Géza von Bolváry at the Deutsches Theater. He asked her for the leading lady tole in his film Opernball/Opera Ball (Géza von Bolváry, 1939) opposite Paul Hörbiger.

Her film debut at 32 as the typical 'Wiener mädel' (Viennese girl) became an unexpected success. More leading roles followed in Wiener G'schichten/Vienna Tales (Géza von Bolváry, 1940) again opposite Paul Hörbiger, and an adaption of the Carl Zeller operetta 'Der Vogelhändler', Rosen in Tirol/The Bird Seller (Géza von Bolváry, 1940) with Johannes Heesters.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3109/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3109/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3206/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien Film / Terra.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3765/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3934/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film.

Not a Hollywood-style Glamourpuss

Marte Harell became very busy as an actress for the new founded Wien-Film, when her husband, Karl Hartl, became the production manager of this company.

She convinced critics and audiences with her performances in Brüderlein fein/Dear Brother (Hans Thimig, 1941), the comedy Die heimliche Gräfin/The Secret Countess (Géza von Bolváry, 1942) with Wolf Albach-Retty, Frauen sind keine Engel/Women Are No Angels (Willi Forst, 1943) with a young Curd Jürgens, and Tolle Nacht/Great Night (Theo Lingen, 1943).

She always played the strong woman who determined the events and was not able to hide her typical Viennese accent. The part of Fiakermilli (Cabby Milli) in the beautiful tragi-comedy-musical Schrammeln (Géza von Bolváry, 1944) was her most popular role.

For the adaptation of Johann Strauss' comic opera Die Fledermaus/The Bat (1945), she worked again with director Géza von Bolváry, with whom she would make a total of ten films.

Harell continued her film career immediately after the Second World War with Glaube an mich/Believe in Me (Géza von Cziffra, 1946), but the film was torn to pieces by the critics. Two years later she returned in the romance Nach dem Sturm/After the Storm (Gustav Ucicky, 1948), based on a story by Carl Zuckmeyer.

Wien Tanzt/Vienna Waltzes (Emil E. Reinert, 1951) was an old-fashioned musical extravaganza in the tradition of the pre-war Austrian films. The story centers upon Waltz King Johann Strauss (Adolf Wohlbrück) and his ‘progressive’ composer son Richard, and their terrific music.

About the female lead, Hal Erickson writes at AllMovie: “The feminine interest in Wien Tanzt is provided by Marte Harell, who refreshingly is not a Hollywood-style glamourpuss.”


Austrian postcard by Eberle Verlag, Wien, no. 21. Photo: I.S.B. Films.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 141, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 220, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film.


German postcard by Ross. Photo: Terra / Baumann.

Most Popular Actress

In 1951, the Austrian public chose Marte Harell as the most popular actress, but her film roles became rarer during the 1950s. In between, she had a successful stage comeback and dedicated herself again to the theatre.

She appeared in one film a year, among others the comedy Liebeskrieg nach Noten/Love War for Music (Karl Hartl, 1953) with Johannes Heesters, the historical thriller Spionage/Espionage (Franz Antel, 1955) based on the tragic life story of the homosexual ‘Oberst’ Alfred Redl, and the operetta Im Prater blühn wieder die Bäume/Trees Are Blooming in Vienna (Hans Wolff, 1958).

Her last films were the spy yarn Assignment K (Val Guest, 1968) starring Stephen Boyd, Abenteuer eines Sommers/Summer Adventure (Helmut Pfandler, 1974) starring Matthias Habich, the sex comedy Das Love-Hotel in Tirol/Love Hotel in Tyrol (Franz Antel, 1978), and the historical drama Der Bockerer (Franz Antel, 1980), about the naïve Viennese butcher Karl Bockerer who refuses to get assimilated by the Nazi system and with his aggressive but charming behaviour, and a whole lot of luck, survives the war.

During the 1970s, Marte Harell also worked regularly for television and made guest appearances in series like Hallo – Hotel Sacher… Portier!/Hello – Hotel Sacher… Doorman! (1973), Van der Valk und die Reichen/Van der Valk and the Rich (1975), and the popular Krimi Tatort (1974).

In 1985, she was awarded the Filmband in Gold for her longtime and important attributions to the German cinema, and that same year she retired.

In 1996, Marte Harell died in Vienna. Her husband, Karl Hartl, had passed away in 1978. In 1951 the couple was divorced, but eight years later they remarried. In 2000 a street was named after her, the Marte-Harell-Gasse in Wien-Liesing.


Scene with Heli Finkenzeller,Theo Lingen and Marte Harell from Opernball/Opera Ball (1939). Source: BD130 (YouTube).


Clips with Marte Harell, Willy Fritsch and Johannes Heesters from Die Fledermaus/The Bat (1944). Source: Fritz 5108 (YouTube).


Another, long scene from Die Fledermaus/The Bat (1944-1945, but released in 1946), with Dorit Kreysler, Hans Brausewetter, Johannes Heesters, Marte Harell, Siegfried Breuer, Will Dohm, and Willy Fritsch. Source: Atqui (YouTube).


The final scene from Rosen in Tirol/The Bird Seller (1940) with Marte Harell, Johannes Heesters and Hans Moser. Source: Ein Lied Geht um die Welt (YouTube).

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-Line - German), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Atelier d’Ora was one of the most important Austrian photo salons of the first decades of the 20th century. The studio was founded in 1907 by Dora Kallmus with the support of Arthur Benda, who was the technical director. Kallmus, who took the pseudonym Madame d’Ora in 1907, quickly became with her studio one of the most sought-after of Vienna's society photographers. She also portrayed many European film stars in her Vienna salon and from 1925 on also in her second studio in Paris.


Small French card by Columbia. Photo: d'Ora.

Josephine Baker (1906-1975) was well-known as a singer and dancer. In 1925 she became an instant success in Paris, because of her erotic dance. She also performed in a handful of silent and early sound films, La Sirene des Tropiques (1927), Zouzou (1934), and La princesse TamTam (1935).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 994. Photo: d'Ora.

Eric Barclay (1894-1938) was a Swedish film actor. Barclay became a prominent actor in French silent films of the early 1920s, often working with director Jacques de Baroncelli. He also appeared in German and British films and those of his native Sweden.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3264/1, 1928-1929. Photo: d'Ora / Arthur Benda.

Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) is regarded as the first German actress to become successful in Hollywood. Throughout her long career, she constantly re-invented herself, starting as a cabaret singer, chorus girl and film actress in 1920s Berlin, she became a Hollywood movie star in the 1930s, a World War II frontline entertainer, and finally an international stage show performer from the 1950s to the 1970s, eventually becoming one of the entertainment icons of the 20th century.


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 5070/1, 1930-1931. Photo: d'Ora, Paris.

Beautiful and seductive French actress Lily Damita (1902-1994) appeared in 33 French, Austrian, and Hollywood films between 1922 and 1937. Her marriage with Errol Flynn was rather tempestuous and led to her nickname 'Dynamita'.

Indecent jokes

Dora Philippine Kallmus was born in 1881 in Vienna, Austria. She came from a wealthy Jewish family. Her father Dr. Philipp Kallmus was a respected law attorney. Her mother died early and so she and her sister Anna were brought up by her grandmother and a governess.

Dora's first career aspiration was to become an actress. Because this job was not very well regarded in her family, she decided to become a milliner or tailor. On a trip to France, she discovered photography and decided to become a photographer.

Her family tolerated this plan more than her previous career plans, but there was another obstacle. As a woman, she was not allowed to attend a photography training. At that time women were denied a photography apprenticeship, but Dora Kallmus was allowed to work in the summer studio of the society photographer Hans Makart.

By an exemption, she could also attend the theoretical lectures of the at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt (Graphic Training Institute). However, she was not authorised to visit the practical seminars. Dora Kallmus: “It was found sufficient that I was the first woman to be allowed access to the lectures, but the chemical reagents were kept away from me as if they were indecent jokes.”

In 1905, she became a member of the Association of Austrian photographers. It was through the mediation of her uncle and financial support from her father that she was able to train for a few months in 1907 with the famous photographer Nicola Perscheid in Berlin. Perscheid described her as his "best student so far".

After her internship was over, Perscheid offered to keep her as an employee in his studio, but Dora Kallmus wanted to become self-employed. From then on, Kallmus worked under the pseudonym 'Madame d'Ora'.

She returned to Vienna and founded her own studio, Atelier d'Ora. During her training in Berlin, she had met Arthur Benda, Perscheid's first assistant, and brought him with her to Vienna.

Arthur Benda was born in Berlin in 1885. He worked as an assistant for Nicola Perscheid from 1906 to 1907. Benda became the technical manager of Atelier d'Ora and from 1922 on, they ran the studio together.


German postcard by NPG (Neue Photographische Geselschaft), no. 1116. Photo: d'Ora, Wien.

Actress Magda Sonja (1895-1974) was one of the divas of the Austrian silent cinema. She often starred in the films of her famous husband, actor and director Friedrich Feher.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 4357. Photo: Atelier d'Ora, Wien.

Austrian film star Lilly Flohr (1893-1978) was a busy actress, soubrette, cabaret artist, and chanson singer on stage. From 1918 on she starred in 25 silent films.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 804. Photo: d'Ora.

Hungarian Maria Corda (1898-1975) was an immensely popular star of the silent cinema of Austria and Germany. The pretty, blonde actress was a queen of the popular epic spectacles of the 1920s, which were often directed by her husband, Alexander Korda.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5624. Photo: d'Ora / Arthur Benda. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Ukrainian actress Vera Voronina (1905-?) had a short but shining career in the late silent era, in Berlin as well as in Hollywood.

No frozen portrait poses

Atelier d’Ora soon gained a foothold in Viennese society. This success was probably partly due to the social ties that Dora Kallmus cultivated. Among the customers were the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy, rich industrialists, and politicians, but also such artists, actors, and writers as Gustav Klimt, Arthur Schnitzler, Marlene Dietrich, Oskar Kokoschka, Anna Sacher, Franz Werfel, and Richard Strauss.

D’Ora quickly was much in demand, especially for its society portraits, fashion photographs, and actor shots. It became chic to be portrayed by d’Ora. With her photographs, Madame d'Ora distinguished herself from the usually frozen portrait poses and looked for new, individual image solutions that matched the portrayed persons.

In addition to being a portrait studio for Viennese society, the Atelier d’Ora was also in high demand for its fashion shots. Designs of the Wiener Werkstätte were also photographed here. Many of the portraits and fashion photographs have been published in newspapers and magazines.

Atelier d’Ora was a commercial photo studio, but Madame d’Ora paid great importance to the artistic demands of her photographs and her studio. She strove for the recognition of her studio as an artistic photo studio. So she tried that to implement principles of pictorial photography and to create images as independent works of art could be viewed.

After the First World War, however, Vienna was no longer the centre of a world power, but only the capital of a small impoverished country. In the summer of 1921, d'Ora and Benda relocated their studio to the fashionable health resort Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary). There, they worked during the summer months at the Olympic Palace Hotel. From 1921 to 1926 they were very successful there.

Possibly inspired by the French clientele that d’Ora found in Karlovy Vary, she decided to set up a second studio in Paris. In 1925, together with Benda, she opened the Parisian studio in rue Flachard in the 17th arrondissement. But Benda was not able to settle in Paris, their collaboration failed and Benda returned to Vienna.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 640-1. Photo: d'Ora.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 640-2. Photo d'Ora.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 994/3, 1925-1926. Photo: d'Ora, Vienna.

In spite of her French name, Lucy Doraine (1898-1989) was a major Hungarian actress in the Austrian and German cinema in the 1920s. When she moved to Hollywood, the revolution of the sound film finished her career.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4077/1, 1929-1930. Photo: d'Ora, Wien / Arthur Benda.

German singer/actress Charlotte Ander (1902-1969) was a star in the silent era before making the transition to sound. The Nazis broke her successful career because she was not of 'pure blood'.

A long, violent legal dispute

In 1927, Madame d’Ora remained in Paris to continue her studio there. Arthur Benda took over the studio in Vienna, replaced d’Ora's share and it came to a long, violent legal dispute over the name of the Vienna studio.

After a long time, it was agreed that Benda had to add his name in Vienna. The studio would now bear the name 'd’Ora-Benda-Vienna' and the Paris studio operated under the name 'd’Ora-Paris'. From the Second World War on, Benda ran the Vienna studio only under his name.

Arthur Benda stayed in Vienna for the rest of his life and became one of the most respected studio photographers and colour technology pioneers. He retired in 1965, and four years later he died of a stroke.

In Paris, Dora Kallmus managed to establish herself a second time and again attracted celebrities for her studio. Among d’Ora's Parisian clientele were again famous dancers, actors, painters, writers, and upper-class ladies. d'Ora portrayed such celebrities as Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Anna Pawlowa, Tamara de Lempicka, Alban Berg, Colette, and Maurice Chevalier.

Her photographs changed in terms of the contemporary taste of art and fashion. They became softer and more fluid in the transitions. Carefully elaborated light and glitter effects gave her pictures a glamour effect that was characteristic of this period.

During the Second World War, Dora Kallmus fled to the south of France. After the war, her photographs, her working methods, and their topics changed. In 1945, she travelled to Austria and took photos in a refugee camp where she documented the grief and displacement of the refugees. She reopened her studio in Paris and again made photographs of artists, and did numerous fashion shoots.

Her last significant work is a series of animal carcasses in Paris slaughterhouses from 1956. Kallmus made countless photos of killed, cut, and skinned animal carcasses and documented the consequences of mass slaughter.

After a serious traffic accident in Paris in 1959, Dora Kallmus was no longer able to work. In 1961 she returned to Austria in need of care. At her request, she spent her last years in Frohnleiten in Styria in her family's house. Madame d’Ora died there in 1963.

In the last decade, Madame d'Ora has been rediscovered. Her work was shown in three major exhibitions in Austria: 'Vienna's Shooting Girls – Jüdische Fotografinnen aus Wien' (2012-2013) in the Jewish Museum Vienna, 'Madame d’Ora. Machen Sie mich schön!' (2018) in the Leopold Museum, Vienna, and 'Der große Bruch: d'Oras Spätwerk' (2019-2020) in the GrazMuseum in Graz, Austria.


Vintage postcard. Photo: d'Ora, 1923. Collection: Didier Hanson. Photo for 'Dances of Vice, Horror, & Ecstasy' written and danced by Anita Berber and Sebastian Droste.

Expressionistic dancer and film actress Anita Berber (1899–1928) challenged many taboos during the Weimar period. With her drug and booze addiction and her bisexual affairs, she epitomised the decadence of 1920s Berlin. Her charcoaled eyes, her black lipstick, and bright red, bobbed hair were featured on a famous portrait of her by Otto Dix and in silent films by Richard Oswald and Fritz Lang.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3111/1, 1928-1929. Photo: d'Ora.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5493/1, 1930-1931. photo: Atelier d'Ora Benda, Wien.

Fast-talking German actor Harald Paulsen (1895-1954) appeared in 125 films between 1920 and 1954, including Robert Wiene's Genuine (1920) and Alraune (1930) with Brigitte Helm. He was on stage from 1913 and an ensemble member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsche Theater in the 1920s. Paulsen also played Mack the Knife in the original cast of 'Die Dreigroschenoper' (The Threepenny Opera) written by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. The show's opening number, 'Mack the Knife', became the most popular song of its time.


German postcard by Ross Verlag / Das Programm von Heute für Film und Theater. Photo: d'Ora. Paris.

Madeleine Renaud (1900-1994) was an acclaimed French stage actress, who also had a career in film. One of her best-known films was La Maternelle (1933).

Sources: Sophie Dorothée Vitovec (Anita Berber im fotografischen Blick von Madame d’Ora - German), Wikipedia and Luminous Lint.

Austrian opera singer Richard Tauber (1891-1948) was one of the world's finest Mozartian tenors of the 20th century. With his monocle and high hat, he became the 'epitome of Viennese charm' with such popular musical films as Das Land des Lächelns/The Land of Smiles (1930) and Melodie der Liebe/Right to Happiness (1932).


German postcard in the Ross Luxusklasse series by Ross Verlag, no. 548, 1919-1924. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4877/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Ernst Schneider, Berlin / Tauber Tonfilm G.m.b.H.


Dutch postcard. Photo: Filma Film. Publicity still for Ich glaub nie mehr an eine Frau/Never Trust a Woman (Max Reichmann, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7564/1, 1932-1933. Photo: H. Jeidels, Berlin. Richard Tauber as Ito in tha stage operetta 'Frühlingsstürme' (1933, Spring Storms). Jaromir Weinberger’s operetta 'Frühlingsstürme' was "the last Weimar Republic operetta”. It was written for Richard Tauber and premiered at the end of January 1933. After only 20 performances – disturbed by rioting Nazi troups – the show was gone, and forgotten, except for a few obligatory Tauber recordings and this postcard. In 2019, 'Frühlingsstürme' was finally restaged at the Komische Oper in Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7048/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin. Richard Tauber as composer Franz Schubert in Blossom Time (Paul Stein, 1934), in Germany known as 'Das Driemäderlhaus' (House of the Three Girls). Tauber played Schubert in several productions and tours of 'Das Dreimäderlhaus' in Europe, first at Plauen, Germany, on 24 January 1920, and then in five performances of the original version at the Theatre an der Wien in October 1921. He presented a new version of it in German in 1933 at the Aldwych Theatre under the title 'Lilac Time', adapted by himself and Sylvio Mossée. Tauber then made the 1934 film version.

Illegitimate Son

Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria in 1891. He was the illegitimate son of soubrette Elisabeth Seiffert and actor and theatre director Richard Anton Tauber. He was given the name Richard Denemy (Denemy being his mother's maiden name).

The boy was raised by his mother until he was seven and later by his father, who officially gave Richard his name. At the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, he studied piano, composition and conducting, subjects which stood Tauber in good stead in later years. He was heard singing by the well-known voice teacher Professor Carl Beines, who encouraged him to sing more quietly and to interprete the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

In 1913 he made his stage debut as Tamino in Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' (The Magic Flute) with the help of his father, who had become the Intendant of both the Stadt-Theater in Chemnitz. He was quickly engaged for major roles at the Dresden Opera, where he stayed until 1926. Then he joined the Vienna Staatsoper.

In these years, he worked up a rich repertoire of roles in such operas as 'Don Giovanni', 'Tosca', and 'Carmen'. Franz Lehár composed several operettas specifically designed for Tauber's voice, including 'Der Zarewitsch' (1926), 'Friederike' (1928), and 'Das Land des Lächelns/The Land of Smiles' (1929). Tauber made over seven hundred gramophone records, mainly for the Odeon Records label. His recordings include opera, operetta, art song, popular tunes and novelties.

He also tested the then new talking pictures in such popular musical films as Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame/I Kiss Your Hand Madame (Robert Land, 1929) with Marlene Dietrich, Das Land des Lächelns/The Land of Smiles (Max Reichmann, 1930), and Melodie der Liebe/Right to Happiness (Georg Jacoby, 1932).

Richard Tauber was elegant in appearance. He had a slight squint in his right eye and disguised it by wearing a monocle which, when accompanied by a top hat, added to the elegant effect. For many people he became the epitome of Viennese charm.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 124/1. Photo: Emelka / Tauber. Richard Tauber in Das Land des Lächelns/Land of Smiles (Max Reichmann, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 124/2. Photo: Emelka / Tauber. Richard Tauber and Hella Kürty in Das Land des Lächelns/Land of Smiles (Max Reichmann, 1930).


German postcard by Odeon. Photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Odeon. Photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin. Caption: Richard Tauber as Zarewitsch (Tsarevich) only on Odeon.


German postcard by Odeon-Electric. Photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin. Richard Tauber as Goethe in the operetta Friederike in 1928.

Land Without Music

In 1933, Richard Tauber was assaulted by a group of Nazi Brownshirts because he was part Jewish on his father's side. Despite his fame and popularity, he decided to leave Hitler's Germany for his native Austria.

He often worked in London where he appeared in some musical films. He earned fine notices for his portrayal of composer Franz Schubert in Blossom Time (Paul L. Stein, 1934), as well as for his work in Heart's Desire (Paul L. Stein, 1935), and Land Without Music (Walter Forde, 1936).

He married his British co-star Diana Napier. They appeared together again in the Leoncavallo tragedy Pagliacci (Karl Grune, 1936). In 1938, he made his London operatic debut in Die Zauberflöte under Sir Thomas Beecham.

Earlier that year, Nazi Germany annexed Austria and Tauber left Austria for good. Despite receiving lucrative offers from the USA, he remained in the UK for the entire war.

In 1947, Tauber sought help for an aggravated cough which was subsequently diagnosed as lung cancer. The Vienna State Opera was in London for a short season at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden and they invited Tauber to sing one performance with his old company. He gave a bravura performance as Don Ottavio in 'Don Giovanni' and fulfilled this engagement the following day at the Camden Theatre, having begun and ended his formidable career performing Mozart.

Three days later, he entered a London hospital to have his left lung removed, but it was too late. Richard Tauber died of complications in January 1948. He was 56. In the musical bio Du bist die Welt für mich/You Are the World for Me (Ernst Marischka, 1953) Rudolf Schock acted and sang the role of Tauber.


Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 468. With Marta Eggerth.


German collectors card in the series 'Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Tonfilm', album no. 11, picture no. 25. Photo: Bayerische Filmges. / Ross Verlag. Richard Tauber in Das Land des Lächelns/The Land of Smiles (Max Reichmann, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5880/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Walther Jaeger, Berlin.


German postcard. Richard Tauber and Petra Unkel in Melodie der Liebe (Georg Jacoby, 1932). Caption: We will soon bring the artistic film event of 1932. Chamber singer Richard Tauber with his daughter in the film "Melody of Love". Don't miss out on this real film wonder.


French postcard in the Europe series, no. 997, ca. 1932. Photo: Emelka Konzern.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5251/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Ernst Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6307/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8540/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Dietrich, Wien.


Dutch postcard by Smeets & Schippers, Amsterdam. Photo: City-Film.


Dutch postcard by J.S.A., no. 168. Photo: Verleih Deutscher Ton-Filme / Leopold Barth & Co.

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Trevor Peak (Find A Grave), Wikipedia and IMDb.

A small part of our European film star postcard collection is formed by vintage cigarette cards. We simply can't resist these small, colourful treasures from the past. During the 1930s, Ross-Verlag in Berlin produced several series for German cigarette manufacturers. The cards were included in the cigarette packets and could be glued in special albums. For Zigarettenfabrik Monopol in Dresden, Ross made in the mid-1930s the series 'Künstler im Film' (Artists in Film) with 200 cards of 5,5 cm by 6,5 cm. In this post, EFSP reproduces 28 of the cards with international stars. The backsides contain info about when the star was born, how you could contact him or her (mostly through the studio) and the title(s) of his or her latest film(s).


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 1. Photo: Ufa.

Beautiful Lída Baarová (1914-2000) was a glamorous Czech film star who worked in Prague, Berlin, and Rome. A dangerous affair with Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of the Third Reich, first enhanced and later seriously damaged her career.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 8. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Conchita Montenegro (1911-2007) was a Spanish model, dancer, and stage and screen actress. She starred in several Spanish productions, but also in French, German and American films.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 13 (of 200). Photo: Ufa.

German actress Carola Höhn (1910-2005) had a 60 years lasting film career. She began as the elegant star of many Ufa productions and later became the acclaimed Grande Dame of the German post-war cinema.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 18. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Greta Garbo in The Painted Veil (Richard Boleslawski, 1934).

Swedish Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was one of the greatest and most glamorous film stars ever produced by the Hollywood studio system. She was part of the Golden Age of the silent cinema of the 1920s and was one of the few actors who made a glorious transition to the talkies. She started her career in the European cinema and would always stay more popular in Europe than in the USA.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 30 (of 200). Photo: Itala-Film.

Hungarian actress Käthe von Nagy (1904-1973) started as the ‘Backfish’ of German films of the late 1920s. In the early 1930s, she became a fashionable and charming star of the German and French cinema.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 39 (of 200). Photo: Ufa.

Egyptian-born singer, dancer, and actress of Hungarian descent Marika Rökk (1913-2004) was the last film diva of the Ufa. She was an immensely talented musical performer who could tap with the rhythm and vitality of her Hollywood counterpart Eleanor Powell, and switch to balletic movements with the conviction of Cyd Charisse. Her trademark was her Hungarian accent.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 41 (of 200). Photo: Gloria-Syndikat.

Glamorous, mysterious diva Zarah Leander (1907-1981) was a Swedish actress and singer, who is now best remembered for her German songs and films from the late 1930s and early 1940s. With her fascinating and deep voice, she sang melancholic and a bit frivolous songs that were specifically composed for her. Zarah was for a time the best-paid film star of the Third Reich. In her Ufa vehicles, she always played the role of a cool femme fatale, independently minded, beautiful, passionate, self-confident and a bit sad. It gave her the nickname 'the Nazi Garbo', but a recent book claims that she was, in fact, a Soviet spy.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 88 (from 200). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Greta Garbo in Camille (George Cukor, 1936).

Swedish Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was one of the greatest and most glamorous film stars ever produced by the Hollywood studio system. She was part of the Golden Age of the silent cinema of the 1920s and was one of the few actors who made a glorious transition to the talkies. She started her career in the European cinema and would always stay more popular in Europe than in the USA.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 104 (of 200). Photo: 20th Century Fox.

American actress Sally Eilers (1908-1978) was a popular Hollywood star in the early-1930s. She was tagged 'the most beautiful girl in movies'.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 110 (of 200). Photo: Manassé-Ricoll. Hans Moser in Der Dienstmann (Adolf Rosen, 1932).

Austrian actor Hans Moser (1880-1964) appeared in over 150 films. During his long career, from the 1920s up to his death, he became very popular as the mumbling factotum in comedy films. Moser was particularly associated with the genre of the Wiener Film.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 115 (of 200). Photo: Dührkoop.

Sexy German dancer and film actress La Jana (1905-1940) was the most popular showgirl of Berlin in the 1930s. She appeared in 25 European films, often dancing in exotic costumes. In 1940, she suddenly died of pneumonia and pleurisy.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 116 (of 200). Photo: Fox-Film.

American actress Sally Eilers (1908-1978) was a popular Hollywood star in the early-1930s. She was tagged 'the most beautiful girl in movies'.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 121. Photo: Ariel / Tobis / Rota.

Russian-born ballet dancer and actress Genia Nikolaieva (1904-2001) worked in the German cinema during the 1930s. In 1938 she emigrated to the United States, where she became ‘one of the most beautiful studio secretaries for Warner Bros'.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 125 (of 200). Photo: Trenker / Tobis / Rota.

Luis Trenker (1892-1990) was an Austrian-Italian ski champion, mountain climber, architect, film director, and actor. He portrayed rugged, daring outdoorsmen in the Mountain Film, the genre which seemed to be created especially for him. His films glorified epic struggles such as colonization and wars for freedom and were set against spectacular, usually-mountainous landscapes.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 130. Photo: Ufa

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


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 133 (of 200). Photo: Binder, Berlin.

Viktor de Kowa (1904-1973) was a German actor, singer, director and comedy writer. In the 1930s he became one of the most prominent and beloved comedy actors of the German cinema.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 134 (of 200). Photo: Paramount.

Ketti Gallian (1912-1972) was a blonde French actress, who starred in films by Paramount and Fox during the 1930s. Her Hollywood career was not a success and she returned to France, where she acted in films till 1956.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 141 (of 200). Photo: Paramount.

Grace Bradley (1913-2010) was a petite, seductive and sassy American actress who played 'good-time' girls in many second feature thrillers and musicals of the 1930s and 1940s. She was the fifth and last wife of William 'Hoppalong Cassidy' Boyd.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 143 (of 200). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

American film actress Jean Harlow (1911–1937) was one of the sex symbols of the 1930s.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 146 (of 200). Photo: Paramount.

Brunette leading lady Olympe Bradna (1920-2012) was a French dancer and actress, who danced in Paris, Stockholm, New York City, and other world capitals. In Hollywood, she appeared in more than a dozen films and starred opposite Ronald Reagan, George Raft and Gary Cooper. In the majority of her films, she played the ornamental love interest to sporting champs or war heroes and had little else to do.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 148 (of 200). Photo: Paramount.

Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972) was a French actor, singer, and entertainer with a very successful Hollywood career. His trademark was a casual straw hat, which he always wore on stage with a cane and a tuxedo.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 152 (of 200). Photo: Paramount. Lupe Velez in The Broken Wing (Lloyd Corrigan, 1932).

Lupe Velez (1908-1944), was one of the first Mexican actresses to succeed in Hollywood. Her nicknames were 'The Mexican Spitfire' and 'Hot Pepper'. She was the leading lady in such silent films as The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929). During the 1930s, her well-known explosive screen persona was exploited in a series of successful films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934), and Hollywood Party (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked after appearing in the Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalise on Vélez's well-documented fiery personality. She had several highly publicised romances and a stormy marriage. In 1944, Vélez died of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of speculation and controversy.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 162 (of 200). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

American screen legend Gary Cooper (1901-1961) is well remembered for his stoic, understated acting style in more than one hundred Westerns, comedies and dramas. He received five Oscar nominations and won twice for his roles as Alvin York in Sergeant York (1941) and as Will Kane in High Noon (1952).


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 164 (of 200). Photo: 20th Century Fox.

American actress Claire Trevor (1910-2000) appeared in 68 feature films from 1933 to 1982. She often played the hard-boiled blonde or another type of shady lady. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Key Largo (1948) and received nominations for her roles in Dead End (1937) and The High and the Mighty (1954). But she is now best known for John Ford's classic Western Stagecoach (1939) with John Wayne.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 172 (of 200). Photo: Mondial-Film.

Austrian child actress Traudl Stark (1930) was the Shirley Temple of the German cinema. Between 1935 and 1940 she made a dozen popular films in Austria.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 189 (of 200). Photo: Syndikat-Film.

Austrian actor Hans Moser (1880-1964) appeared in over 150 films. During his long career, from the 1920s up to his death, he became very popular as the mumbling factotum in comedy films. Moser was particularly associated with the genre of the Wiener Film.


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 192 (of 200). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The Dodge Sisters in The March of Time (Charles Reisner, 1931)

The Dodge Sisters were two American showgirls, who were known in the USA and Europe during the Jazz Age as ‘the two birds of Paradise’. The Dodge Twins sang, danced and dressed as birds and whistled. They seemingly emerged out of nowhere in the mid-1920s with a singing and dancing act that took Europe by storm. Beth and Betty Dodge were known for such films as Die schönsten Beine von Berlin/The most beautiful legs of Berlin (1927), Unter Ausschluß der Öffentlichkeit/Closed to the public (1927), and Wir schalten um auf Hollywood/We switch to Hollywood (1931).


German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 199 (of 200). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Betty Furness (1916-1994) was an American actress, a consumer advocate, and a current affairs commentator.

Gia Scala (1934-1972) was a beautiful, sensitive English born Italian-American actress and model. Despite roles in such classics as The Guns of Navarone (1961), she never reached her full potential in Hollywood. Later, she also worked in Italy. The circumstances of Scala's death at 36 by an overdose, have been questioned.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 3390. Photo: Universal International.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 690. Photo: Universal.

Cha Cha for Gia

Gia Scala was born Josephine Grace Johanna Scoglio in 1934, in Liverpool, England, to aristocratic Sicilian father Pietro Scoglio, and Irish mother Eileen O'Sullivan. She had one sister, Tina Scala, also an actress.

Scala was brought up in Messina and Mili San Marco in Sicily, the latter on the estate of her grandfather, Natale Scoglio, who was one of the largest citrus growers in Sicily. When Scala was 16, she moved to the United States to live with her aunt Agata in Whitestone, Queens, New York City.

In 1952, after graduating from Bayside High School, she moved to Manhattan to pursue acting. Scala supported herself by working at a travel agency. During this time, Scala studied acting with Stella Adler and the Actors Studio, where she met Steve McQueen. The two dated from 1952 to 1954.

Scala began to appear on game shows, including Stop the Music, where she later became host Bert Parks' assistant. There she was spotted by Maurice Bergman, an executive of Universal International located in New York City. In 1954, accompanied by her mother, Scala flew to Los Angeles to screen test for the role of Mary Magdalene in The Gallileans but the film ended up being scrapped.

Although she did not get the part, Peter Johnson at Universal was impressed with Scala's screen test. Scala had her first official job in Hollywood when she was given a non-speaking, uncredited part in All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955), starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. Despite her minor role in the film, Universal signed her to a contract, dyed her hair dark brown, had her four front teeth capped, and gave her the stage name Gia Scala.

Songwriter Henry Mancini met Scala on the set of Four Girls in Town (Jack Sher, 1957), with George Nader and Marianne Koch. Inspired by her beauty, he wrote 'Cha Cha for Gia', which appeared uncredited in the film. She also played in Tip on a Dead Jockey (Richard Thorpe, 1957) starring Robert Taylor, and the Film Noir The Garment Jungle (Vincent Sherman, Robert Aldrich, 1957), with Lee J. Cobb.

Scala became emotionally distraught following the death of her mother in 1957, and she began to drink heavily as compensation which led to a few arrests.

In 1958, she became a naturalised American citizen. Scala soon after landed roles in such films as the romantic comedy The Tunnel of Love (Gene Kelly, 1958) with Doris Day, the Western Ride a Crooked Trail (Jesse Hibbs, 1958), with former World War II hero Audie Murphy and Walter Matthau, the war thriller The Two-Headed Spy (André De Toth, 1958) featuring Jack Hawkins, and The Angry Hills (Robert Aldrich, 1959) with Robert Mitchum.


Italian postcard, no. 526.

A Greek resistance fighter, tortured by the Nazis

In 1959, Gia Scala married Don Burnett, an actor who later turned investment banker. During the 1960s, Scala made frequent appearances on American television in such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960), The Rogues (1964-1965), Convoy (1965), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1965), Twelve O'Clock High (1965), and Tarzan (1967).

Gia's best known film role came as Anna, a Greek resistance fighter who presumably had been so horribly tortured by the Nazis that she became mute, in the epic The Guns of Navarone (J. Lee Thompson, 1961), starring Gregory Peck and David Niven. She eventually lost her contract at Universal due to her unreliability, which forced her to seek work overseas.

She co-starred with her handsome husband in the Italian adventure film Il trionfo di Robin Hood/The Triumph of Robin Hood (Umberto Lenzi, 1962). Scala kept having difficulties with alcohol and her career began to wane. Her last feature film was the Spanish-American comedy Operación Dalila/Operation Delilah (Luis de los Arcos, 1967) with Rory Calhoun.

Her marriage burnt itself out, and, at one point, she threw herself off London's Waterloo Bridge in desperation. She would have drowned in the Thames River had a passing cab driver not plucked her out of the water in time. Her final acting role was in the episode The Artist Is for Framing of the series It Takes a Thief (1969) starring Robert Wagner.

After 10 years of marriage, Burnett left her and moved in with Rock Hudson. Gia and Don divorced in 1970. Her sportscar turned over on a winding canyon road in July 1971 and she lost part of her index finger. Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: "Gia's bouts with depression grew so severe that she was forced to undergo frequent psychiatric observations. In the midst of things, she tried to pick herself up emotionally by studying painting and staying close to her younger sister, actress Tina Scala. It was too late."

In 1972, 38-year-old Scala was found dead in her Hollywood Hills home. Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi reported her cause of death was from an "acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication" (an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills) and was later ruled accidental. The circumstances of the still beautiful Scala's death have been questioned, with some believing it was a result of either murder or suicide rather than accidental. She had first attempted suicide in 1958, after the death of her mother. She later tried again, after her ex-husband, Don Burnett, married Ironside star Barbara Anderson, a year after their divorce.

Her sister believed that she did not intend to take her life nor that her death was accidental. Scala had a prescription for valium and three tablets were missing from the bottle, but valium is a benzodiazepine, not a barbiturate. Also, Scala was discovered nude sprawled across her bed and bruises were found on her body and blood was on her pillow. Scala is interred next to her mother, Eileen O'Sullivan-Scoglio, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In 2014, the author/researcher Sterling Saint James wrote a book about Gia Scala's life titled 'Gia Scala: The First Gia'. Tina Scala provided intimate details about her sister's life.


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 682.


Original Trailer The Guns of Navarone (1961). Source: IFILMuser (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Ferdinand von Alten (1885-1933), born Baron von Lamezan auf Altenhofen, was a German stage and screen actor. He had a prolific career in the Weimar cinema and worked with both Ernst Lubitsch and Alfred Hitchcock. Ferdinand von Alten acted in a little over 100 films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 659/4. Photo: Rembrandt / Peter Paul Felner-Film Co. Ferdinand von Alten as the Prince of Aragon in Der Kaufmann von Venedig/The Merchant of Venice (Peter Paul Felner, 1923).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 700/8. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Kampf um die Scholle/Struggle for the Soil (Erich Waschneck, 1925) with Ferdinand von Alten and Margarete Schön.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1063/7, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Perscheid, Berlin.

Elegant lovers, officers, and superiors

Ferdinand von Alten was born Theo von Alten, Baron von Lamezan auf Altenhofen in 1885 in St. Petersburg, then Russian Empire.

He began a military career like his ancestors had done, and became an officer. Yet, then he took acting lessons from reputed stage actor Albert Steinrück and decided to become an actor.

In 1911 he made his debut at the Hoftheater in Munich, where he worked until the end of the First World War. From 1918 he performed on the Berlin stages, particularly at the Deutsches Theater, where he was part of the ensemble during the 1920s.

He soon debuted in silent film and had his earliest known film part in the Henny Porten vehicle Die blaue Laterne (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

In the following years, he was often cast in medium and small roles, embodying elegant lovers, officers, and superiors.


German postcard. Editor unknown. Ferdinand von Alten, Hof-Schauspieler. This card dates from before 1919 when Von Alten worked as a stage actor at the Munich Hof-Theater (1911-1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 567/2. Photo: Messter-Film, Berlin. Henny Porten and Ferdinand von Alten in Die blaue Laterne (Rudolf Biebrach, Messter 1918), based on the novel by Paul Lindau.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 695/4. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten, Ferdinand von Alten, and Friedrich Kayssler in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924). Von Alten played Baron von Trachwitz.

Lubitsch

From the late 1910s, Ferdinand von Alten alternated film companies. He acted at Berliner-Filmmanufaktur in films with Mady Christians, which were directed by Fred Sauer. Then followed Bayerische Film-Gesellschaft, Amboss-Film Dworsky, Cserépy-Film etc.

In 1920, Von Alten was Mark Smeaton in Ernst Lubitsch's period piece Anna Boleyn (1920), starring Henny Porten and Emil Jannings.

In the same year, he also played Napoleon Bonaparte opposite Fern Andra in Madame Récamier (1920).

He also starred as detective Joe Deebs in Gentlemen-Gauner (Willy Zeyn, 1920). Von Alten would also star in subsequent Joe Deebs films, such as Das Geheimnis der Mumie (1921), Ein Erpressertrick (1921), and Das Handicap der Liebe (1921).

Other remarkable parts he played in the early 1920s were in Danton (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1921) starring Emil Jannings, Othello (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1922) again starring Emil Jannings, Der Kaufmann von Venedig (1923) with Henny Porten, and Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924) again with Porten.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 29/3. Photo: HPF (Henny Porten-Froelich-Produktion). Henny Porten, Ferdinand von Alten and Livio Pavanelli in Kammermusik/My Bachelor Husbands (Carl Froelich, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 700/5, 1925-1926. Photo: Kulturabteilung der UFA. Publicity still for Kampf um die Scholle/Struggle for the Soil (Erich Waschneck, 1925). In the middle, Ferdinand von Alten as Axel von Wulffshagen, at the races, squandering his father's money.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 59/1. Photo: Henny Porten Film. Henny Porten and Ferdinand von Alten in Die Flammen lügen (Carl Froehlich, 1926).

Hitchcock

From the mid-1920s, Ferdinand von Alten had remarkable parts in Kampf um die Scholle (Erich Waschneck, 1925) with Oscar Marion, Der Student von Prag (Henrik Galeen, 1926) with Conrad Veidt, and Der Mann ohne Kopf (Nunzio Malasomma, 1927) with Carlo Aldini.

He co-starred again with Henny Porten in two more films, Kammermusik (Carl Froelich, 1925) and Die Flammen lügen (Carl Froehlich, 1926).

He also worked with Alfred Hitchcock in Champagne (Alfred Hitchcock, 1928) with Betty Balfour.

Other interesting films were Weib in Flammen (Max Reichmann, 1928) with Olga Tschechova, the early sound film Im Kampf mit der Unterwelt (Carlo Aldini, 1930) with Carlo Aldini, Gräfin Mariza (Richard Oswald, 1932) with Dorothea Wieck, and Die - oder keine (Carl Froehlich, 1932) starring Gitta Alpar and Max Hansen.

In addition, he acted in many minor parts in films. Von Alten's last part was a minor one in Das Meer ruft (Hans Hinrich, 1933), a fishermen's drama with Heinrich George, based on 'Terje Vigen' by Henrik Ibsen. Ferdinand von Alten had acted in a little over 100 films.

In 1933, Ferdinand von Alten died at the age of 47 from pleurisy and pneumonia, which he contracted during a theatre tour, and was buried at the St. Matthias Friedhof in Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 762/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 762/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3308/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Ufa.


French postcard by Europe, no. 2915. Photo: Roto Film. Ferdinand von Alten in Gräfin Mariza/Countess Mariza (Richard Oswald, 1932).

Sources: Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

The German silent film drama Kammermusik/My Bachelor Husbands (1925) was a typical Henny Porten vehicle of the 1920s, directed by Carl Froelich and produced by their own company HPF (Henny Porten-Froelich-Produktion). The film was scripted by Robert Liebmann and Walter Supper, based on a play by Heinrich Ilgenstein. Franz Schroedter designed the sets, and the cinematography was by Axel Graatkjaer. Porten's husband, Wilhelm von Kaufmann, was the production manager.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 29/1. Photo: HPF (Henny Porten-Froelich-Produktion). Henny Porten in Kammermusik/My Bachelor Husbands (Carl Froelich, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 29/2. Photo: HPF (Henny Porten-Froelich-Produktion). Henny Porten in Kammermusik/My Bachelor Husbands (Carl Froelich, 1925).

Married to a talented but very difficult artist

In Kammermusik/My Bachelor Husbands or Chamber Music (Carl Froelich, 1925), Cesare von Niemeyer (Livio Pavanelli) is a talented but very difficult artist who doubts that he will ever experience his breakthrough as a musician.

Cesare continually accuses his wife, Hilde von Niemeyer (Henny Porten) of being to blame and more than hindering his career with his alleged detention in her bourgeois world. At some point, it is enough for his wife and she finally releases her husband.

Cesare returns to the world of opera and, thanks to his generous patron, Herzogin von Siebenstein (Ida Wüst), he celebrates a great success. It doesn't take long before the powerful aristocrat falls in love with the artist.

Frau von Niemeyer, however, has followed her husband and has caught the attention of the young crown prince Bernhard (Harry Halm), a nephew of Herzogin von Siebenstein. Cesare soon disapproves of this, and he realises that the comfort of his wife's home is not as narrow-minded and petty-bourgeois as he previously thought. Cesare and Hilde return home as a couple.

Kammermusik/My Bachelor Husbands (Carl Froelich, 1925) was created in the winter of 1924/1925, passed film censorship on 14 March 1925 and premiered on 19 March 1925 as part of a press screening in the Berlin Primus Palast cinema. The public premiere was on 24 March 1925. Supporting actors in Kammermusik were Ferdinand von Alten (Hofintendant), Jacob Tiedtke (Hilde's father), and Helmut Henkel (Hilde's son).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 29/3. Photo: HPF (Henny Porten-Froelich-Produktion). Henny Porten, Ferdinand von Alten and Livio Pavanelli in Kammermusik/My Bachelor Husbands (Carl Froelich, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 29/4. Photo: HPF (Henny Porten-Froelich-Produktion). Henny Porten in Kammermusik/My Bachelor Husbands (Carl Froelich, 1925).

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

Enrico Glori (1901-1966) was a talented and experienced character actor in over 126 French and Italian films between 1934 and 1963. The Italian specialised in sadistic, treacherous and violent roles.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. (Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze) Editori, no. 2188. Photo: Bragaglia.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3174/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Binz / Difu.

Perfidious, cruel and devious men

Enrico Glori was born as Enrico Musy in Naples in 1901, into a rich and wealthy Neapolitan family of remote French origins.

He graduated in law, and at the age of thirty, he moved to France where for a period he worked as a journalist. He also took an interest in theater. In Paris, he inaugurated and directed the Teatro degli Italiani for three years and during this activity, he came into contact with Pierre Chenal and Sacha Guitry who convinced him to try the experience of cinema.

Enrico Glori made his debut as a film actor in La Rue sans nom/Street Without a Name (Pierre Chenal, 1934), starring Constant Rémy and Gabriel Gabrio. In France, Glori also played several character roles on stage.

In 1937, he returned to Italy, when Chenal convinced him to accept a role in the film version of Il fu Mattia Pascal/He Was Mattia Pascal (Pierre Chenal, 1937) with Pierre Blanchar and Isa Miranda.

Following this interpretation, between the late 1930s and early 1940s, Glori was constantly assigned roles of perfidious, cruel and devious men, thanks also to his physical adherence to these characters. Together with Osvaldo Valenti, he became the villain par excellence of the Italian cinema of the time.

Glori never obtained leading parts, except for the brilliant title character of Il barone di Corbò/Baron Corbo (Gennaro Righelli, 1939), based on the eponymous play by Luigi Antonelli.


Italian postcard by S.A. Grafitalia, Milano (Milan), no. 5. Photo: Film Lux. Enrico Glori as Don Rodrigo (far right at the table) in I promessi Sposi/The Spirit and the Flesh (Mario Camerini, 1941).


Italian postcard by S.A. Grafitalia, Milano (Milan), no. 6. Photo: Film Lux. Publicity still for I Promessi Sposi/The Spirit and the Flesh (Mario Camerini, 1941). Don Rodrigo (Enrico Glori) chases Padre Cristoforo (Luis Hurtado) from his house. He refuses to allow Renzo and Lucia to marry because he wants Lucia for himself.


Italian postcard by S.A. Grafitalia, Milano (Milan), no. 10. Photo: Film Lux. Enrico Glori as Don Rodrigo in I Promessi Sposi/The Spirit and the Flesh (Mario Camerini, 1941).

Fellini wanted him for the umpteenth villain role

Among Enrico Glori's most notable interpretations of this period are the smuggler of Sotto la croce del sud/Under the Southern Cross (Guido Brignone, 1938) who pays for his faults by dying atrociously in the quicksands, the criminal head of staff Bertini at the department store in Grandi magazzini/Department Store (Mario Camerini, 1939), and the cowardly murderer Lorenzo Loredano in Il fornaretto di Venezia/The bakery boy of Venice (Duilio Coletti, 1939)

He is best remembered as the cruel and lustful Don Rodrigo in the 1941 film version of I promessi/The Spirit and the Flesh (Mario Camerini, 1941), adapted from the classic novel 'I promessi sposi' (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni.

The repetitiveness of these roles, however, led Glori, after the war, to alternate acting in films with theatrical activity. In 1949 he starred with Lamberto Picasso and Camillo Pilotto in 'Corruzione al palazzo di giustizia' (Corruption at the courthouse), a drama written by Ugo Betti and directed by Orazio Spadaro. Also in the same year, on the occasion of performances of D'Annunzio's plays, he appeared in Pescara in 'La figlia di Iorio' (Iorio's Daughter), with Camillo Pilotto and Elena Zareschi.

In 1957 he became part of the Torrieri-Pisu stage company. In the same period, Glori worked in several films directed among others by Raffaello Matarazzo, Vittorio De Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni, Alberto Lattuada, Eduardo De Filippo, and Mauro Bolognini.

Federico Fellini wanted him for the umpteenth role of 'villain' in the orgy scene of La dolce vita (1960). He also appeared in many mythological Peplum films, always in antagonistic, minor roles.

Glori also acted on television in several screenplays, but always limited himself to secondary roles, under directors such as Sandro Bolchi, Daniele D'Anza, Edmo Fenoglio, Mario Lanfranchi, Mario Landi, and Anton Giulio Majano.

In 1966, due to health problems, Glori stopped all activities. Shortly after retiring from the scene, he died in Rome on 22 April 1966. Enrico Glori was married to the actress Gianna Pacetti with whom he had a son, Gianni Musy, who would become an actor and voice actor. His granddaughters are the actresses Mascia Musy and Maria Stella Musy.


Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Edizioni, Roma), no. 253. Photo: Bragaglia / Atlas Tirrenia.


Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Edizioni Roma), no. 257. Photo: De Antonis.

Sources: Wikipedia (Italian and English), and IMDb. Click here for Glori in Grandi Magazzini, and here for the quicksand scene in Sotto la croce del sud.

Atelier Jacobi was a Berlin film studio, which made numerous film star photos for Ross Verlag postcards. The Jacobi family had the most famous portrait-photography business in Germany, with studios in Thorn, Poznan, and Berlin. The main photographer of the studio during the late 1920s and early 1930s was Lotte Jacobi (1896–1990) who was the fourth generation of the photographer family Jacobi. She captured the heady spirit of the Weimar Republic, particularly the intellectual and artistic elite who lived in Berlin or passed through it, before Lotte fled the Nazis in 1935.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3277/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

The tiny, dainty blonde Cilly Feindt (1909-1999) was a German star of the circus ring. In her heyday, she was regarded as one of the finest Haute Ecole horse riders of her time.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3385/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

German actor Hans Adalbert Schlettow (1887-1945) appeared between 1917 and 1945 in about 150 German films. He played sinister characters in some masterpieces of the German silent cinema, but in real life, Schlettow proved to be a sinister character as well.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3467/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Grete Mosheim (1905-1986) was a German film, theatre and television actress of Hungarian Jewish ancestry. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, she was a star in German cinema.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3751/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Austrian actor Fred Louis Lerch (1902-1985) was a handsome star of the Weimar cinema. In the 1950s, he would work again for German films as a production manager.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4054/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

German actress Hilda Rosch only appeared in eight films between 1928 and 1931.

A family of photographers

Lotte Jacobi came from a German Jewish family of photographers. Her great-grandfather Samuel Jacobi had reportedly been an apprentice to Louis Daguerre, the photographic pioneer who invented the Daguerreotype process. Samuel, who had been a glazier, founded a photographic studio in the 1840s.

Lotte and her less-known sister Ruth Jacobi (1899-1995) were the daughters of Samuel's grandson Sigismund Jacobi and his wife Mia Jacobi née Lublinski.

From 1920, Ruth Jacobi learned her craft in the photography school of the Lette-Verein photographic school for women in Berlin, then worked for five years in her family's new photo studio at Joachimstaler Strasse 5, later Kurfürstendamm, in Berlin.

Ruth moved to New York in 1928, joining her husband, Hans Richter, whom she had married two years earlier. There she lived and photographed the Jews in the Lower East Side. Returning to Europe in the early 1930s, she divorced Richter in 1933 and then married the Hungarian physician Maurus Roth in Budapest.

The Jacobi-Roth couple emigrated to the USA in 1935. There they lived in Queens. Ruth and her sister Lotte opened a photo studio in New York. During Ruth Jacobi's lifetime, there were no exhibitions of her pictures; however, some have been published.

The dust jacket of Michael Gold’s best-selling novel 'Jews Without Money' (1930) showed one of her pictures. Between 1937 and 1939 she was able to publish several pictures in Popular Photography. Some of her portraits of Albert Einstein were used in a biography of the scientist in 1939 and 'U.S. Camera 1940', an illustrated book on the centenary of photography also featured a photograph by Ruth Jacobi-Roth.

Ruth abandoned the craft of photography for which her sister, Lotte Jacobi, became famous, and spent decades living quietly as a doctor’s wife in Astoria, Queens. Ruth died in 1995 and had no children. Her photos and negatives lay in storage with a relative in Mission Viejo, Calif.

In 2004, archivist Aubrey Pomerance learned of the trove of photographs by the lesser-known Ms. Jacobi. Pomerance was the chief archivist at the Jewish Museum Berlin. Pomerance arranged for the Jewish Museum Berlin to acquire much of the collection - some 800 prints and 3,000 negatives - in 2005. And after years of research and preparation, he mounted an exhibition of around 70 images, 'Ruth Jacobi: Photographs', in 2009 in Berlin.

Sewell Chan in The New York Times in 2009: "I was struck by Ruth Jacobi’s images on a recent vacation in Berlin during a visit to the museum, which was designed by Daniel Libeskind and opened in September 2001 (two days before the 9/11 attacks). The works evoked other famous images of early 20th-century life on the Lower East Side — like those made by Helen Levitt and Rebecca Lepkoff— but with a different sensibility and mood."


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4384/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Forgotten diva Maly Delschaft (1898-1995) began her career in the theatre and then became a star in the German silent cinema. During the Nazi era, she appeared mainly in supporting roles. After the Second World War, she worked in East Germany for the state-controlled DEFA studio.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4484/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

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.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4772/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Dignified German-Russian actress Olga Tschechova (1897-1980) was one of the most popular stars of the silent film era. She remained a mysterious person throughout her life and was reportedly a Russian agent in Nazi Germany.


German postcard. Ross Verlag, no. 4879/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

German actress Toni van Eyck (1910-1988) became a star playing a rape victim in the Aufklärungsfilm Gefahren der Liebe/Hazards of Love (1931). Despite this film's success, she stayed primarily a stage actress.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5463/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Austrian actress Gerda Maurus (1903-1968) was a star of the silent screen. With her protruded cheekbones and her forceful look, she bewitched many men, including her director Fritz Lang and Nazi Minister Josef Goebbels.

My style is the style of the people I photograph

Johanna Alexandra Jacobi was born in 1895 in Thorn, West Prussia (now Torun, Poland). She was the eldest of three children. The name "Lotte" was a nickname given to her by her father. She began her photographic career at 14, documenting the world around her with a homemade pinhole camera.

In 1916 she married Fritz Honig, and a year later she gave birth to a son, John Frank. The marriage did not last, and in 1924 they divorced. In 1925, she joined her parents and her sister, Ruth, in Berlin, where the family had moved in 1921.

From 1925 till 1927, she attended the Bavarian State Academy of Photography and studied art history at the University of Munich. Lotte was in her early thirties when she finished her studies. Jacobi entered the family photography business in 1927. Following an apprenticeship with her father, she became the director of Atelier Jacobi. During this same period, she began her professional career as a photographer, represented by Agentur Schostal (Schostal Photo Agency) and she also produced four films, the most important being Portrait of the Artist, a study of Josef Scharl.

She was equipped for the job not only by talent but by temperament. An emancipated woman with a leftist political slant, she had an inquiring approach and a knack for bringing subjects to her lens. Her subjects were the arts, theatre, film, and dance. Her aim was to capture each sitter's individuality. "In making portraits, I refuse to photograph myself," she said. "My style is the style of the people I photograph."

One of her famous subjects was Peter Lorre. She was allowed only one image, and it turned out to be a classic, with Lorre shot as close up as possible. She captured his villainous look but softened the angle by shooting from above.

Her interest in modern dance led her to take photos of dancers in action, aided by her own quickness and new camera technology. Her now-classic photographs of  Lotte Lenya holding a cigarette, Emil Jannings casually peeling an apple, and the dancer Claire Bauroff captured the essence of Berlin theatre life.

In 1932 her leftist sympathies led her to do a series of Ernst Thalmann, the Communist candidate that year against Hitler. From October 1932 to January 1933, she made a long trip to the Soviet Union which resulted in rare and interesting shots of street scenes in Moscow and the republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

She returned to Berlin in February 1933, one month after Hitler came to power. The Nazis questioned her about her trip, her political sympathies, and her Jewish background. After her father's death, Jacobi took on ownership of the Atelier Jacobi with a non-Jewish business partner, Alexander Bender, hoping to avoid Aryanisation. However, Bender did not meet the race law requirements and the studio is threatened with expulsion from the Reichspressekammer. In September 1935, she finally left Germany together with her son.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6008/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Prima ballerina, dancer, singer and actress Liane Haid (1895-2000) was the first film star of Austria. She was the epitome of the Süßes Wiener Mädel (Sweet Viennese Girl) and from the mid-1910s on she made close to a hundred films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6307/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Austrian opera singer Richard Tauber (1891-1948) was one of the world's finest Mozartian tenors of the 20th century. Some critics commented that "his heart felt every word he sang". He also tested the then-new talking pictures in such popular musical films as Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame (1929) with Marlene Dietrich, Das Land des Lächelns (1930) and Melodie der Liebe (1932).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6308/2, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

German actress Marianne Winkelstern (1910-1966) became well known as a ballerina in Germany and England. In Germany, she appeared in some silent films and early sound films.


German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 7410/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Margaret 'Grete' Mosheim (1905-1986) was a German film, theatre and television actress of Hungarian Jewish ancestry. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, she was a star of the Weimar cinema.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7438/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

German actress Karin Hardt (1910-1992) made her cinema debut as a pure and disarmingly natural backfisch, looking for happiness. Her impressive career with many film, theatre, and television appearances lasted for six decades.

A dreamy Einstein, in a rumpled leather jacket, hair askew

Lotte Jacobi arrived in September 1935 in New York City. With her sister Ruth Jacobi Roth, she opened a studio in Manhattan, but Lotte struggled to find work. An important American contact was Albert Einstein, whom she and her family had photographed in Germany.

He agreed to work with her when, in 1938, Life magazine commissioned a photo essay on the scientist. She made several informal photographs at Einstein's home in Princeton, N.J., in conversations with his students, but Life felt they were too casual and decided not to publish them.

However, in 1942, the magazine U.S. Camera, at the instigation of Edward Steichen, published a photo of a dreamy Einstein, in a rumpled leather jacket, hair askew, that became one of the most famous images of him.

In the 1940s Jacobi explored the technique of photogenics, expressive abstract images made by drawing with a flashlight on photographic paper. The process had been extensively explored in the early 20th century by Man Ray and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

In 1940, in New York, she married her second husband (she and her first husband had divorced), Erich Reiss, a German avant-garde publisher and writer, who was rescued from a Nazi death camp. He died in 1951.

In 1955, Jacobi left New York with her son and daughter-in-law and moved to Deering, New Hampshire, a move that changed her life. There she opened a new studio and served as a mentor to younger artists for 30 years. She continued her interest in the forms of nature, taking pictures of snow, water, and other phenomena in the countryside.

She remained active as a portrait photographer, developing a new set of subjects and friends, including the poets Robert Frost and May Sarton, the ecological activists Helen and Scott Nearing, and a fellow photographer, Paul Caponigro. Among her other notable portraits – all in black and white – were those of the dramatist Kurt Weill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marc Chagall, and the musician Pablo Casals.

Lotte Jacobi passed away in 1990 at the age of 93. She bequeathed a collection of 47,000 negatives to the University of New Hampshire. Her earlier work was lost to the Nazis, but this post offers a glimpse of the film star portraits she took in Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7643/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.

Austrian film and theatre actor Oskar Homolka (1898-1978) had a stocky appearance, bushy eyebrows and a rather Slavic-sounding name, which led many to believe he was Eastern European or Russian. His expressive face predestined him to play character roles as a scoundrel, pimp or communist spy.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7644/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Jacobi.

The Dutch-German actress Ery Bos (1910-2005) had a short but productive film career in the early German sound film. In only three years, from 1932 to 1934 she took part in a dozen films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8113/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin / Ufa.

Popular actress Renate Müller (1906-1937) was the toast of late 1920s Berlin. She had a comet-like career in the early German sound cinema, that was abruptly ended by her mysterious early death.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9205/2, 1935-1936. Photo: Bender & Jacobi, Berlin. These portraits of Adolf Wohlbrück were taken when Lotte Jacobi and her non-Jewish business partner Alexander Bender had taken over Atelier Jacobi.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9205/3, 1935-1936. Photo: Bender & Jacobi, Berlin.

Dark and handsome Adolf Wohlbrück (1896-1967) was a distinguished Austrian actor who starred in early German sound films as Walzerkrieg (1933) and Viktor und Viktoria (1933). After the rise of Hitler, he settled in Great Britain where he appeared as Anton Walbrook in such film classics as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and The Red Shoes (1948). He also played the ringmaster in La Ronde (1950).

Sources: Sewell Chan (The New York Times), Lynne Warren (Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography), Jewish Virtual Library, Wikipedia and Peoplepill.com (German).