European Film Star Postcards

Dark-haired and elegant German film actress Adelheid Seeck (1912-1973) appeared in 27 films between 1941 and 1972. Her West German films of the 1950s had class and were often selected for the Berlin International Film Festival.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3404/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra.

Posh and Restrained

Adelheid Seeck was born in Berlin in 1912 (although some sources say 1899 and other 1913).

She had ballet lessons from dancer and choreographer Max Terpis and from 1933, she performed as a dancer and at the Kabarett der Komiker. After private acting lessons, she made her stage debut in 1939 at the Schlesischen Landesbühne in Bunzlau (now Boleslawiec).

From 1940 on, she played at the Berliner Staatstheater under the direction of Gustaf Gründgens. This stopped when all the theatres had to close in the autumn of 1944.

In 1941 her film career started. She was the wife of Willy Fritsch in Leichte Muse/Light Muse (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1941).

In the following years, she played lead roles in Tierarzt Dr. Vlimmen/Veterinarian Dr. Vlimmen (Boleslaw Barlog, 1944) featuring Hans Söhnker, and the Ufa production Die Brüder Noltenius/The Noltenius Brothers (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1945) starring Willy Birgel.

German Wikipedia describes her as ‘posh’ and ‘restrained’ and her postcards of the war period indeed show an elegant lady.

After the end of the war, she returned to the theatre and appeared at the Theater der Stadt Heidelberg. From 1948 on, she performed at the Städtischen Bühnen Düsseldorf, again under Gustaf Gründgens. Later she worked as a free-lance actress.

She also appeared in films again, such as in Wohin die Züge fahren/Wherever the Trains Travel (Bosleslaw Barlog, 1949) with Heidemarie Hatheyer and Carl Raddatz, and Drei Mädchen spinnen/Three girls spin (Carl Froelich, 1950) as the wife of Albrecht Schoenhals.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. 3557/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra.

Princesses and Countesses

During the post-war years, Adelheid Seeck often played princesses and countesses in the West-German cinema.

She played Princess Irene of Prussia in Anastasia, die letzte Zarentochter/The Story of Anastasia (Falk Harnack, 1956), based on the true story of a woman in Berlin (Lilli Palmer) who was pulled from the Landwehr Canal in 1920 and who later claimed to be Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. The entire Romanov family was executed in the Russian Revolution, but this was not confirmed until their graves were discovered in 1991 and 2007.

For her performance as Sylvia Angermann in Teufel in Seide/Devil in Silk (Rolf Hansen, 1956), Seeck won the Filmband in Silber award for Best Female Supporting Player.

She then co-starred with O.E. Hasse and Ulla Jacobsson in the West German crime film Die Letzten werden die Ersten sein/The Last Ones Shall Be First (Rolf Hansen, 1957), which was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.

She had a supporting part in the drama Mädchen in Uniform/Girls in Uniform (Géza von Radványi, 1958). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “Christa Winsloe's novel Maedchen in Uniform was first filmed in Germany in 1933. The story, about a sensitive schoolgirl's lesbian attachment to her headmistress, was handled tastefully, albeit with remarkable frankness for its period. The 1958 remake is somewhat toned down and the material directed in a routine fashion, though technically the production has fewer frayed edges than the 1933 version. Romy Schneider stars in the old Hertha Thiele role as the student, while Lilli Palmer takes over from Dorothea Wieck as the older woman.”

German postcard by Ufa, no. FK 574. Photo: Günter Matern / Hansa-Film.

The Rest Is Silence

In 1959, Adelheid Seeck played in the crime film Der Rest ist Schweigen/The Rest Is Silence (Helmut Käutner, 1959), starring Hardy Krüger. It was an attempt to update William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Once again, this film was entered into the Berlin International Film Festival.

However, the crime film Der Letzte Zeuge/The Last Witness (Wolfgang Staudte, 1960), in which she co-starred with Martin Held and Ellen Schwiers, was entered into another festival, the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.

In 1964, she appeared in the Krimi Wartezimmer zum Jenseits/Waiting Room to the Beyond (1964) starring Hildegard Knef and directed by Alfred Vohrer. Although Vohrer was known for his Edgar Wallace thrillers, this film was based on a novel by James Headley Chase.

Later she appeared with Heinz Rühmann in the TV film Mein Freund Harvey/My Friend Harvey (Kurt Wilhelm, 1970) and with Peter Passetti in another TV film Ornifle oder Der erzürnte Himmel/Ornifle or The Draft (Helmut Käutner, 1972).

Adelheid Seeck died in 1973 in Stuttgart, West Germany. She was 60 and had been married to a journalist. Between 1941 and 1972, she had appeared in 27 films.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 3404/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-Line), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.

André Luguet (1892-1979) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in over 120 films between 1910 and 1970, both in France and Hollywood.

French postcard in the series Les Vedettes de Cinéma by Editions A.N., Paris, no. 100. Photo: Sartony.

French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge, no. 308 by Editions La Fayette, Paris. Photo: Comoedia.

The Dead Man Who Killed

André Maurice Jean Allioux-Luguet was born in Fontenay-sous-Bois, France in 1892. In 1910, he made his film debut for the Éclair studio in the silent short Le gamin de Paris (Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, 1910).

In the following years, he starred in dozens of these short films for the Gaumont studio. He appeared in such productions as Les béquilles/The Crutches (Léonce Perret, 1911) opposite Yvette Andréyor, On ne joue pas avec le Coeur/We do not playwith the heart (Léonce Perret, 1911) with Alice Tissot, and L'âme du violon/The Soul of the Violin (Léonce Perret, 1911) with Yvette Andréyor and Léonce Perret.

He also worked with Louis Feuillade on such films as La fille du margrave/The daughter ofMargrave (Louis Feuillade, Léonce Perret, 1912), Les cloches de Pâques/TheEaster Bunny (Louis Feuillade, 1912) and Le ménestrel de la reine Anne/The minstrelof Queen Anne (Louis Feuillade, 1913).

Luguet portrayed German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven in La gloire et la douleur de Ludwig van Beethoven/The Glory and the Pain of Ludwig van Beethoven (Georges-André Lacroix, 1912).

A highlight was the playful comedy Léonce à la campagne/Léonce in the countryside (Léonce Perret, 1913) with Perret and Suzanne Le Bret.

Another highlight was Le mort qui tue/The Dead Man Who Killed (Louis Feuillade, 1913), starring René Navarre as the criminal mastermind Fantomas.

George Elliott at IMDb: “Also known as The Dead Man Who Killed and The Murderous Corpse (the DVD title), this third entry in the five-part series runs the longest at 90-minutes and so far it's the best of the three. With Inspector Juve out of the way it's up to reporter Fandor (Georges Melchior) to try and locate Fantomas (René Navarre) and his crime ring. Jacques Dollon (Luguet) is behind bars where he's murdered only to have his body disappear shortly afterwards but the crime takes an additional twist when we get another murder victim who has a fingerprint from Dollon on her.”

French postcard by Cinémagazine-Édition, Paris, no. 420. Photo: Sartony.

French postcard by E.C., Paris. no. 71.

Eye-Popping Stage Numbers

André Luguet returned to Éclair for the drama Bagnes d'enfants/The House of Correction (Emile Chautard, 1914), but in the following years he worked for several studios.

Among these productions are France d'abord/Francefirst (Henri Pouctal, 1915) starring Pierre Fresnay, Les vieilles femmes de l'hospice/The old womenof the hospital (Jacques Feyder, 1917) and Les cinq gentlemen maudits/Five Doomed Gentlemen (Luitz-Morat, Pierre Régnier, 1920).

During the 1920s, Luguet continued to star in such silent films as Soirée mondaine/Social Event (Pierre Colombier, 1923) and La revue des revues/Parisian Pleasures (Joe Francis, 1927) starring Josephine Baker in eye-popping stage numbers.

Luguet directed himself in Pour régner/In Order to Rule (1926). He easily made the transition to sound in such films as La voix de sa maîtresse/The voiceof his mistress (Roger Goupillières, 1929) with Huguette Duflos.

In 1925 he started to work at the Comédie-Française where he was a Sociétaire till 1932.

Belgian postcard by F.I.A. belga phot, Bruxelles (Brussels). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

French postcard by Editions Chantal, Rueil, no. 587a. Photo: Sirius.

An All-Talking Pre-Code Horror Drama

Hollywood studios decided to make alternate language versions of their sound productions for the European market. So they flew in several French and German actors and directors, including André Luguet.

For MGM, he co-starred with Jetta Goudal in Le spectre vert/The Green Ghost (Jacques Feyder, 1930).

He played a count in the Warner Bros production The Mad Genius (Michael Curtiz, 1931), an all-talking pre-code horror drama starring John Barrymore as a crippled puppeteer who runs the life of a male ballet dancer (Donald Cook).

Luguet played another count in the comedy-mystery Jewel Robbery (William Dieterle, 1932), starring William Powell and Kay Francis.

He played opposite Buster Keaton in Buster se marie (Claude Autant-Lara, Edward Brophy, 1931), the French-language version of Keaton's comedy Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931).

He also appeared in the romantic drama The Man Who Played God (John G. Adolfi, 1932) starring George Arliss and Bette Davis.

French postcard by Éditions P.I., Paris, no. 78. Photo: Roger Carlet.

French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 80. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Funny and Touching

Paramount opened a studio in France, where Luguet co-starred with Meg Lemonnier in the sports comedy Une faible femme/A Weak Woman (Max de Vaucorbeil, 1933).

He reunited with Léonce Perret for the drama Il était une fois/Once Upon A Time (1933) with Gaby Morlay.

Other interesting films were Samson (Maurice Tourneur, 1936) starring Harry Baur, and the Alexander Pushkin adaptation La dame de pique/Queen of Spades (Fyodor Otsep, 1937) with Pierre Blanchard.

In 1939 he had the male lead in the French drama Jeunes filles en détresse/Girls in Distress (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1939) with Marcelle Chantal and Micheline Presle.

Funny and touching is Battement de coeur/Beating Heart (Henri Decoin, 1940) with Danielle Darrieux.

Another pleasant comedy was Claude Autant Lara’s film Le mariage de Chiffon/Chiffon’s Marriage (1942) with Odette Joyeux as Chiffon.

French postcard by Erres, no. 15. Photo: Pathé-Natan.

Belgian postcard by Photo Édition (P.E.), no. 191. Photo: Studio Cayet.

Brigitte Bardot’s Father

After the war, André Luguet starred in the romance Six heures à perdre/Six Hours to Lose (Alex Joffé, 1946) with Denise Grey and in one of his first roles, Louis de Funès, and in Au petit bonheur/Happy Go Lucky (Marcel L'Herbier, 1946) with Danielle Darrieux.

He worked again with L’Herbier at Le père de Mademoiselle/The father ofMademoiselle (Marcel L'Herbier, 1953) with Arletty.

He had a supporting part in the comedy Monte Carlo Baby (Jean Boyer, Lester Fuller, 1953), one of the first films with Audrey Hepburn, and appeared in Preston Sturges’ final comedy Les carnets du Major Thompson/The Diary of Major Thompson (1955), featuring Jack Buchanan.

He was Brigitte Bardot’s father in Une parisienne/La Parisienne (Michel Boisrond, 1957), and had supporting parts in John Huston’s adventure drama The Roots of Heaven (1958) and in Paris Blues (Martin Ritt, 1961) with Paul Newman.

In Un monsieur de compagnie/Male Companion (Philippe de Broca, 1964), he played the wealthy grandfather of the main character Antoine, played by Jean-Pierre Cassel. After the death of his grandfather the money has gone and Antoine is motivated to change his life and try to earn his own money.

Luguet played a colonel in the French comedy thriller Pleins feux sur Stanislas/Killer Spy (Jean-Charles Dudrumet, 1965), starring Jean Marais. The film was a sequel of L'honorable Stanislas, agent secret (Jean-Charles Dudrumet, 1963).

In later years, he mostly worked for French TV. André Luguet died in 1979 in Cannes, France. He was 87. His daughter was the actress Rosine Luguet (1921-1981).

French postcard by A. Noyer (A.N.), Paris, no. 160. Photo: Roger Carlet.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 78. Photo: Eclair Journal.

Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia and IMDb.

German actor Christian Doermer (1935) has appeared in 83 films and television shows since 1954. His breakthrough was as Horst Buchholz’ brother in the successful teen drama Die Halbstarken/Teenage Wolfpack (1956).

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 298. Photo: H.D. / Bavaria / Schorcht.

Germany's First Look On Juvenile Delinquency

Christian-Michael Doermer was born in Rostock, Germany in 1935. He was the son of Dr. Hartmut Doermer and the actress Ruth von Zerboni.

He studied sociology and economics in Frankfurt and Marburg. His mother led the acting school Zerboni in Munich and through her interference he made his acting debut in Geliebtes Fräulein Doktor/Beloved Miss Doctor (Hans H. König, 1954) with Edith Mill.

In 1956 he made his stage debut at the Deutschen Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. His first bigger film role was in the crime film Viele kamen vorbei/Many Passed By (Peter Pewas, 1956).

Then he had his breakthrough in the classic Die Halbstarken/Teenage Wolfpack (Georg Tressler, 1956) as the ambivalent younger brother of Horst Buchholz.

Volker Scheunert at IMDb: “There was hardly a realistic view of (West-)German society during the years of the ‘Economic Miracle’. Young author Will Tremper did not like that sentimental stuff. Obviously influenced by Hollywood teen dramas he and director Georg Tressler in 1956 realized Germany's first look on juvenile delinquency, a film that is now regarded a classic of German post-war cinema. This one is hard, raw and realistic, omitting any false sentimentality or romanticism.”

In 1957, Doermer appeared in the German war film Der Stern von Afrika/The Star of Africa (Alfred Weidenmann, 1957) portraying the combat career of Luftwaffe World War II fighter pilot Hans-Joachim Marseille (Joachim Hansen). Marseille was killed in a plane crash after over 150 kills in North Africa. The film was very successful at the German box office, although the critics predominantly gave it a fair rating.

He appeared in another teen drama Die Frühreifen/The precocious (Josef von Báky, 1957) with Heidi Brühl and Christian Wolff, but mostly played supporting parts in such comedies as Ohne Mutter geht es nicht/Without Mother It Does Not Work (Erik Ode, 1958) with Ewald Balser and Adelheid Seeck.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden-Westf., no. 140.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden-Westf., no. 388. Photo: A. Grimm / CCC / Bavaria. Publicity still for Ohne Mutter geht es nicht/Without Mother It Does Not Work (Erik Ode, 1958).

A Declaration By 26 Young German Filmmakers

Christian Doermer reunited with Will Tremper for the thriller Flucht nach Berlin/Escape to Berlin (Will Tremper, 1961). He played a disappointed young SED official who settles in West Berlin with his girlfriend (Susanne Korda). For this role he won a Filmband im Gold award as Best Young Actor.

On TV he could be seen in the very popular crime series Das Halstuch/The scarf (Hans Quest, 1962) based on a Francis Durbridge novel and starring Heinz Drache.

Doermer then played the lead role in Das Brot der frühen Jahre/The Bread of Those Early Years (Herbert Vesely, 1962), based on the novel by Heinrich Böll. It was entered into the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.

That year, he also appeared in L'amour à vingt ans/Love at Twenty (1962) a French-produced omnibus project of Pierre Roustang, consisting of five segments directed by five directors from five different countries. He appeared in the charming, but somewhat sentimental German episode directed by Marcel Ophüls about an unwed mother (Barbara Frey) who contrives to trap the father of her baby.

As the only actor, he signed the Oberhausen Manifesto, a declaration by a group of 26 young German filmmakers at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in 1962. The manifesto was a call to arms to establish a ‘new German feature film’ and among the signatories were the directors Alexander Kluge and Edgar Reitz.

The signatories to the manifesto became known as the Oberhausen Group and are seen as important forerunners of the New German Cinema that began later in the decade. The Oberhausen Group were awarded the Deutscher Filmpreis in 1982.

In 1963 Doermer founded his own film company Cine Dokument Film. In the following decades, he realized several films for which he was the writer, producer, director and actor.

German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 2178. Photo: Bavaria / Vogelmann.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 349. Photo: A. Grimm / CCC / Bavaria / Filmpress. Publicity still for Ohne Mutter geht es nicht/Without Mother It Does Not Work (Erik Ode, 1958).

G-man Jerry Cotton

Christian Doermer starred in the drama Schonzeit für Füchse/No Shooting Time for Foxes (Peter Schamoni, 1966), which won the Special Jury Prize at the 16th Berlin International Film Festival.

That year, he could also be seen in a supporting part in the thriller Die Rechnung – eiskalt serviert/Tip Not Included (Helmut Ashley, 1966). It was the third film in the Jerry Cotton series with George Nader as the G-man.

Doermer also made some films in Great Britain. In the action-thriller The Syndicate (1968), he is among a group of prospectors who plan to mine a Kenyan savannah for its rich, and as yet untapped uranium. The group slowly deteriorates under threat of double cross and jealousy.

He had a big part in the drama Joanna (Michael Sarne, 1968). He played an aspiring painter/art teacher, who has a fling with the title figure, Joanna (Geneviève Waïte), a provincial girl studying art in London. The film was listed to compete in Cannes, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968.

Doermer also appeared as a German soldier in Sir Richard Attenborough’s film musical Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), telling the story of WWI through its popular songs.

In the early 1970s, Doermer stopped with acting and focused himself on his production company. As a writer, producer and director, he made several TV documentaries about India, Africa and Asia.

After his complex feature film about General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, Lettow-Vorbeck: Der deutsch-ostafrikanische Imperativ/Lettow-Vorbeck: The German-East Africa Imperative (Christian Doermer, 1984) became a flop, Doermer turned to acting again.

He mostly worked for television, such as in Väter und Söhne - Eine deutsche Tragödie/Fathers and Sons (Bernhard Sinkel, 1986) with Julie Christie.

In 1989 he founded with Hans Clarin, Günther Maria Halmer, and the actresses Mona Freiberg and Cornelia Froboess, the production company Ensemble am Chiemsee that works primarily for private television and local media.

Later acting work included parts in the TV films Wambo (Jo Baier, 2000), about the murder of Bavarian actor Walter Sedlmayer, and Stauffenberg (Jo Baier, 2004) about the unsuccessful Valkyrie Operation against Adolf Hitler in 1944 by General Stauffenberg (Sebastian Koch).

Most recently, he was seen in Gierig/Greedy (Ralf Huettner, 2011), an episode of the TV series Kommissarin Lucas.

Since 1961, Christian Doermer is married to Lore Schmidt-Polex and they have three children.

American trailer for Die Halbstarken/Teenage Wolfpack (Georg Tressler, 1956). Source: Sleaze-O-Rama (YouTube).

Trailer for Schonzeit für Füchse/No Shooting Time for Foxes (Peter Schamoni, 1966). Source: alleskino (YouTube).

Sources: Volker Scheunert (IMDb), Stephanie d’Heil (Steffi-Line.de), Cinedokumentfilm.de (German), Filmportal.de (German), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.

Spanish pop singer Massiel (1947) won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song La, la, la, beating Cliff Richard's Congratulations. She also appeared in a dozen of films and TV-series.

Spanish postcard by Postal Oscar Color S.A., Barcelona, no. 781. Photo: H. Segui.

Bribing Judges

Massiel was born as María de los Ángeles Felisa Santamaría Espinosa in Madrid, Spain in 1947. Her father, Emilio Santamaria, was an artists manager.

At a young age she decided to become a singer, actress and a songwriter. Her first recordings were released in 1966: Di que no (Say it is not) and Rufo el pescador (Rufus the Fisherman).

That year, she acted in the musical film Vestida de novia/Wedding Dress (Ana Mariscal, 1966).

The song Rosas en el mar (Roses in the sea), written by her friend Luis Eduardo Aute in 1967, established her as a singer in Spain and Latin America.

In 1968, Massiel was asked to replace singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat as Spain's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. Her song, entitled La, la, la, was written by Ramón Arcusa and Manuel de la Calva.

Serrat, the original representative, had refused to perform unless he could sing in Catalan instead of Spanish. Nine days before the contest Massiel was on tour in Mexico. She returned to Spain, learned the song and recorded it in five languages.

On 6 April 1968 in the Royal Albert Hallin London she surprisingly beat the favourite, Cliff Richardwith Congratulations, by a point and won the contest.

Montse Fernandez Vila, the director of a documentary called 1968: I lived the Spanish May, has accused Spain's television company TVE of bribing judges on the orders of General Franco, who was determined to claim Eurovision glory for his own country.

According to Vila, Franco sent corrupt TV executives across Europe to buy goodwill in the run-up to the contest. Vila, told the Spanish media news website vertele.com. "It's in the public domain that Televisión Española executives travelled around Europe buying series that would never be broadcast and signing concert contracts with odd, unknown groups and singers. These contracts were translated into votes."

Spanish postcard by Postal Oscar Color S.A., Barcelona, no. 782. Photo: H. Segui.

Major Comeback

Massiel regularly appeared in such light entertainment films as Días de viejo color/Days of Old Colours (Pedro Olea, 1968) and Cantando a la Vida/Singingfor Life (Angelino Fons, 1969). The latter profiled a winner of a European Song festival who suddenly disappeared. Massiel sang the entire soundtrack to the film, which raked an impressive 9,020,397 pesetas at the box office.

Some years later Massiel performed dramatic roles in theatrical productions like A los hombres futuros, yo Bertolt Brecht (1972), Corridos de la revolución: Mexico 1910 (1976) and Antonio & Cleopatra in the early 1980s.

Her later films include Viva/muera Don Juan Tenorio (Tomas Aznar, 1977) with Angela Molina, and La vida alegre/The gay Life (Fernando Colomo, 1987), starring Verónica Forqué.

Massiel married her long-time boyfriend Vinny Cremonty, an Italian film actor. They lived in Italy for four years before moving to Spain.

After retiring to raise her first son, Aitor Carlos Sayas, Massiel returned in 1981 with a brand new sound and a new record label, Hispavox. Her label début, Tiempos Dificiles (Tough Times), was a major comeback in Spain where songs like El Amor (Love) and Hello America were very popular.

Massiel would finish her pop comeback in 1983 with her career-defining record, Corazon De Hierro (IronHeart). Not only was this album successful in her native country, but it was also her reconciliation with Latin America.

The song Brindaremos Por El (We will provideforthe) was a massive hit worldwide and topped the charts in many countries. In many ways, Massiel came back to the continent that loved her so throughout the 1960s.

Spanish postcard by Postal Oscar Color S.A., Barcelona, no. 783. Photo: H. Segui.

Hip-Hop Beat

From 1966 to 1998, Massiel recorded songs of different genres for five record companies: Zafiro, Polygram, Hispavox, Bat Discos and Emasstor. Her discography includes around 50 records released as EP's, singles, LP's, CD's and compilations.

In 1997 she released an album covering the music of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, in Spanish, called Baladas Y Canciones De Bertolt Brecht.

Massiel re-recorded her Eurovision winner La, la, la in 1997, with a 'hip-hop' beat, background singers, whistling and Spanish percussion.

In 2001 Massiel fell out of the window of her second-floor flat while "trying to close the shutters" (although many speculate she fell while drunk) and was hospitalized for a short period afterwards.

In 2005 she appeared on the 50th Anniversary special of the Eurovision Song Contest and sang the song that made her internationally famous.

In 2007 she became a member of the Mission Eurovision jury, a show to select the Spanish song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. She made a short comeback to music on this show, singing Busco un hombre (I am looking fora man), a song competing to be Spain's entry but to be sung by another singer. It had been 11 years since Massiel had been on stage.

In 2012, Massiel starred in the Spanish production of Follies by Stephen Sondheim, under the direction of Mario Gas. She played Carlotta Campion, the yesteryear film star who sings the iconic tune I'm still here.

Massiel has been married three times. Her husbands were Luis Recatero (1969-1970), Carlos Zayas (1974-1981) and Pablo Lizcano (1985-1988).

Massiel sings Rosas en el mar in the film Codo con codo/Side by Side (Victor Aus, 1967). Source: ayoeurofan (YouTube).

Massiel sings La, la, la at the Eurovision Song Contest 1968. Source: ayoeurofan (YouTube).

Sources: Sam Jones and Paul Lewis (The Guardian), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Austrian film and stage actor and director Hermann Thimig (1890-1982) made 99 films during six decades. He was often cast as a reserved character. He was either shy, loveable or dreamy - like a child who looks with big eyes at the world around him.

German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm, no. 9544. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 6414. Photo: Kiba Verleih / Felton-Film.

Shy, Loveable or Dreamy

Hermann Friedrich August Thimig (sometimes written as Thiemig) was born in a dynasty of famous actors in Wien (Vienna), Austria-Hungary (now Austria), in 1890.

His father was the actor and director Hugo Thimig, who later became the manager of the Burgtheater in Vienna. His mother Fanny Thimig as well as both his sister Helen Thimig and his brother Hans Thimig were also actors. They often worked together on stage and in films.

Hermann started his professional career in 1910 at the Hoftheater (Court Theater) in Meiningen till the First World War interfered. In 1915 he could leave the army for medical reasons and went to Berlin to play at the Schauspielhaus and the Volksbühne (People's Stage).

A change in the Max Reinhardt Ensemble at the Deutschen Theater in 1916 gave Thimig his breakthrough.

In the same year he also made his film debut in the drama Die Gräfin Heyers/Countess Heyers (William Wauer, 1916). Then he was the partner of Ossi Oswaldain the comedy Ossis Tagebuch/Ossi's Diary (Ernst Lubitsch, 1917), and of Henny Portenin Auf Probe gestellt/Being Tested (Rudolf Briebach, 1918).

He was often cast as reserved characters. He was either shy, loveable or dreamy - like a child who looks with big eyes at the world around him.

Hermann Thimig & Felix Bressart in Die Privatsekretärin (1931)

Dutch postcard by Remaco-Film, no. 229. Hermann Thimig and Felix Bressart in Die Privatsekretärin/The Private Secretary (Wilhelm Thiele, 1931).

Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 336. Photo: City Film. Publicity still from Die Privatsekretärin/The Private Secretary (Wilhelm Thiele, 1931) with Renate Müller.

Dutch postcard, no. 335. Photo: City Film.

Ernst Lubitsch

In the following years Hermann Thimig acted successfully in films as Moral und Sinnlichkeit/Morals and Sensuality (Georg Jacoby, 1919) with Erika Glässner, Die Brüder Karamasoff/The Brothers Karamasov (Carl Froelich, 1920) starring Fritz Kortnerand Emil Jannings, and the comedy Kleider machen Leute/Fine Feathers Make Fine Birds (Hans Steinhoff, 1921) opposite his brother Hans Thimig.

Hermann appeared in three more comedies by Ernst Lubitsch: the comic fantasy Die Puppe/The Doll (1919) starring Ossi Oswalda, Die Bergkatze/The Mountain Cat (1921) with Pola Negri and Thimig as a timid bandit, and Die Flamme/The Flame (1923) with Negri and Alfred Abel.

Lubitsch knew how to integrate Thimig's original talent for the comic lover persona into his own satiric comedy style.

Thimig was also performing in the theatre. In 1924 he returned to Vienna to perform till 1932 at the Theater in der Josefstadt under the direction of Max Reinhardt. His greatest stage success was his role in 1924 as Truffaldino in Carlo Goldoni’s play Der Diener zweier Herren/The Servant of Two Gentlemen, directed by Max Reinhardt.

In 1918 he had his first engagement as a director at the Theater des Westens.

Successful silent films in which Thimig performed were Das Mädel mit der Maske/The Girl With the Mask (Victor Janson, 1922) again opposite Oswalda, the Cinderella variation Der verlorene Schuh/The Lost Shoe (Ludwig Berger, 1923) with Helga Thomas, and the Kammerspiel film Napoleon auf St. Helena/Napoleon at St. Helena (Lupu Pick, 1923) starring Werner Krauss.

Dutch postcard. Photo: City Film. Publicity still with Hermann Thimig and Anny Ondra in Kiki (Carl Lamac, 1932).

Dutch postcard by distributor City-Film. Photo: Hermann Thimig and Magda Schneider in Glück über Nacht/Happiness Over Night (Max Neufeld, 1932). Mark the modern furniture and set design.

Renate Müller and Hermann Thimig in Viktor und Viktoria

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 195/1. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Viktor und Viktoria/Viktor and Viktoria (Reinhold Schünzel, 1933) with Hermann Thimig and Renate Müller.

Operettas and Comedies

When the sound film was introduced Hermann Thimig decided to focus on film operettas and comedies.

To his well-known films of the this period belong Die Drei-Groschen-Oper/The 3 Penny Opera (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1931) based on the text by Bertholt Brecht, and Mein Leopold/My Leopold ( Hans Steinhoff, 1931) starring Harald Paulsen.

He appeared again opposite Anny Ondra in the comedies Eine Nacht im Paradies/A Night in Paradise (Carl Lamac, 1932) and Kiki (Carl Lamac, 1932).

Other popular films were Kleiner Mann - was nun?/Little Man What Now (Fritz Wendhausen, 1933) with Hertha Thiele, Der Himmel auf Erden/Heaven on Earth (E. W. Emo, 1935) with Ilona Massey and Heinz Rühmann, and Der geheimnisvolle Mr. X/The Mysterious Mister X (J.A. Hübler-Kahla, 1936) with Ralph Arthur Roberts.

Critic H.T.S. wrote in 1936 in The New York Times about his the Viennese comedy Die Fahrt in die Jugend/The Trip to Youth (Carl Boese, 1935): "Hermann Thimig is excellent, as always, in the double rôle of an old Baron who goes to Vienna to be made young enough to win the hand of Cilly, star of a dancing troupe, and of his nephew, who joins the party at the estate just in time to keep them all guessing for a while. The charming Liane Haid, despite her long stage and screen experience, looks youthful enough to justify her refusal to be an 'old man's darling' and to warrant Leopold's enthusiasm for his uncle's choice."

Thimig often played with the in 1937 deceased actress Renate Müller, like in Der kleine Seitensprung/The Little Infidelity (Reinhold Schünzel, 1931), Mädchen zum Heiraten/Girls To Marry (Wilhelm Thiele, 1932) and the hugely successful Viktor und Viktoria/Victor and Victoria (Reinhold Schünzel, 1933).

Hal Erickson writes on AllMovie about the latter: "The most popular of Reinhold Schünzel's German directorial efforts, Viktor und Viktoria is a spoof of such music-hall 'male impersonators' as Vesta Tilley. Unable to get a show-business job, would-be singer Renate Müller is urged by her somewhat epicene friend Hermann Thimig to adopt a brand-new stage persona. Our heroine re-invents herself as a cross-dressing entertainer, posing as a man (Viktor) who poses as a woman (Viktoria)! The fun begins when Muller falls in love with Adolf Wohlbrück, who can't quite understand why he's so attractive to the aggressively male Viktoria. Viktor und Viktoria was remade in England by Jessie Matthews as First a Girl (1936), then of course by Blake Edwards as the 1981 Julie Andrewsvehicle Victor/Victoria.'"

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6508/1, 1931-1932.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8741/1, 1933-1934. Photo: NDLS. Publicity still for Karneval und Liebe/Carnival of Love (Carl Lamac, 1934).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7383/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Aafa Film.

Older Gentleman

From 1934 on Hermann Thimig was working for the equally famous Burgtheater in Vienna, where he mainly appeared in roles as an older, distinguished gentleman or a quirky count. He played these characters also in films until the end of the war. Among those films were Johann (Robert A. Stemmle, 1943) starring Theo Lingen, and Die kluge Marianne/Smart Marianne (Hans Thimig, 1943) with Paula Wessely.

After Austria's Anschluss to Nazi-Germany, he was chosen to be a Staatsschauspieler (actor of the state) in 1938. In the final phase of World War II Adolf Hitler placed him on the Gottbegnadeten list of the most important artists, in August 1944. For this reason he didn't have to join the army and fight at the front.

After the war he continued his film career in such films as Der Prozess/The Proces (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1948) a drama about anti-Semitism with Ewald Balser, Geheimnisvolle Tiefe/Mysterious Shadows (G.W. Pabst, 1949) staring Paul Hubschmid, and the musical comedy Abenteuer im Schloss/Adventures in the Castle (Rudolf Steinboeck, 1952).

His final appearance for the cameras was in the TV comedy Der Arzt wider Willen/Doctor Against His Will (Hans Hollmann, 1967) with Paul Dahlke. In 1965 Thimig became a honorary member of the Burgtheater and in 1969 he was awarded with the Filmband in Goldfor long and outstanding achievements in the German cinema.

Hermann Thimig died in 1982 in Vienna.

He was married twice. First with actress Hanna Wisser and in second marriage with actress Vilma Degischer. He had three daughters: from his first marriage Christine (1923), and from his second marriage Hedwig (1939) and Johanna (1943), who also became actors.

Scene from Viktor und Viktoria/Victor and Victoria (1933). Source: atqui (YouTube).

Hermann Thimig and Lizzi Holzschuh sing So verliebt (So much in love) in Der Himmel auf Erden/Heaven on Earth (1935). Source: BD 130 (YouTube).

Sources: Stephanie D'Heil (Steffi-line) (German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), H.T.S. (New York Times), Filmportal.de, IMDb and Wikipedia.

Blonde and beautiful Irish actress Peggy Cummins (1925) is unforgettable as the trigger-happy femme fatale who robs banks with her lover in the film noir classic Gun Crazy (1949).

British Collector's Card.

Good Reviews

Peggy Cummins was born Augusta Margaret Diane Fuller in Prestatyn, Wales in 1925. Her Irish parents happened to be in Wales at the time of her birth and a storm kept them from returning to their home in Dublin.

Peggy lived most of her early life in Dublin where she was educated and later in London. Her mother was the actress Margaret Cummins who played the small but effective role of Anna the maid in Smart Woman (1948) and played Emily in the Margaret Ferguson film The Sign of the Ram.

In 1938 actor Peter Brock noticed Peggy Cummins at a Dublin tram stop and introduced her to Dublin's Gate Theatre Company.

She then appeared on the London stage in the title role of Alice in Wonderland and in the title role of Junior Miss at age 12 at the Saville Theatre.

Cummins made her film debut at 13 in the British drama Dr. O'Dowd (Herbert Mason, 1940). The film was received positively by critics, and especially Peggy got good reviews.

Her first major film was English Without Tears/Her Man Gilbey (Harold French, 1944) with Michael Wilding and Lilli Palmer. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “a gentle satire of the temporary relaxation of class barriers in wartime England.’

According to Erickson, playing a precocious teenager, Peggy ‘stole’ Welcome, Mr. Washington (Leslie Hiscott, 1944), a sometimes amusing, sometimes poignant dramatization of what happened when American troops ‘invaded’ England during WW II.

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 563. Photo: publicity still for <i>Gun Crazy</i> (1949).

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 673. Photo: Rank Film.

A Psychopathic Bonnie Parker-Type

Amidst a shower of publicity, Peggy Cummins was brought to Hollywood in 1945. Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century-Fox, wanted her to play Amber in Kathleen Winsor's Forever Amber (Otto Preminger, 1947).

However, she was soon replaced by Linda Darnell because she was "too young." As a compensation she went on to make six films in Hollywood.

In Hollywood, Cummins had several suitors. She briefly dated both Howard Hughes, and the future American president John F. Kennedy.

Meanwhile, she starred with Victor Mature in the Film Noir Moss Rose (Gregory Ratoff, 1947), and with Rex Harrisonin the thriller Escape (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1948).

The highlight was her part as a psychopathic Bonnie Parker-type criminal in Gun Crazy/Deadly Is the Female (1949) directed by B-movie specialist Joseph H. Lewis. The script about a couple of star-crossed lovers (Cummins and John Dall) shooting their way across the modern west was co-written by MacKinlay Kantor and the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, who was ‘fronted’ by his friend Millard Kaufman. The stylish and gritty Gun Crazy was made for a measly $400,000 in 30 days.

Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “The definitive Joseph H. Lewis-directed melodrama, Gun Crazy is the "Bonnie and Clyde" story retooled for the disillusioned post-war generation. John Dall plays a timorous, emotionally disturbed World War II veteran who has had a lifelong fixation with guns. He meets a kindred spirit in carnival sharpshooter Peggy Cummins, who is equally disturbed - but a lot smarter, and hence a lot more dangerous.

Beyond their physical attraction to one another, both Dall and Cummins are obsessed with firearms. They embark on a crime spree, with Cummins as the brains and Dall as the trigger man. As sociopathic a duo as are likely to be found in a 1940s film, Dall and Cummins are also perversely fascinating. As they dance their last dance before dying in a hail of police bullets, the audience is half hoping that somehow they'll escape the Inevitable.”

Dutch postcard. Photo: London Films. Publicity still for That Dangerous Age (Gregory Ratoff, 1949) with Richard Greene.

German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Charlottenburg, no. V 167. Photo: Rank Film. Publicity still for Hell Drivers (Cy Endfield, 1957).

A Frightening, Fast-paced, And Unrelenting Chiller

During a brief stay in Italy in 1948, Peggy Cummins filmed That Dangerous Age/If This Be Sin (Gregory Ratoff, 1949) with Myrna Loy and Roger Livesey.

She returned to London in 1950 to marry and work in British films. In 1952 she starred in the comedy Who Goes There! (Anthony Kimmins, 1952) with Nigel Patrick, and a year later she appeared in the Ealing comedy Meet Mr. Lucifer (Anthony Pelissier, 1953) with Stanley Holloway.

She later starred in the horror film Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) with Dana Andrews as an American psychologist investigating a satanic cult.

Patrick Legare at AllMovie: “a frightening, fast-paced, and unrelenting chiller that only gets better with passing years and repeated viewings. Directed by Jacques Tourneur from the M.R. James story Casting the Runes, Curse stars Dana Andrews as a psychologist out to disprove the black magic of co-star Niall MacGinnis. Peggy Cummings also stars as the daughter of a scientist killed by the title creature during the shocking opening. Tourneur was a master at scaring an audience by the power of suggestion, and Curse accomplished this with one exception: the director didn't care for the studio's decision to show the demon in the beginning.”

In the thriller Hell Drivers (Cy Endfield, 1957), her co-stars were Stanley Baker, Patrick McGoohan and Herbert Lom.

Cummins's last film was In the Doghouse (Darcy Conyers, 1961) alongside Leslie Phillips. After her film career had ended, she lived in retirement in Hampshire, England.

During the 1970s Cummins was very active in a national charity, Stars Organisation for Spastics, raising money and chairing the management committee of a holiday centre for children with disabilities in Sussex.

Peggy Cummins was married to London businessman Derek Dunnett from 1950 until his death in 2000. She now lives in London.

Scene from Gun Crazy/Deadly Is the Female (1949). Source: GnGInfiniteVideoList (YouTube).

Trailer Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur, 1957). Source: captainbijou.com (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Patrick Legare (AllMovie), Michael Adams (Movieline), Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Last thursday, 9 January 2014, Italian actress Lorella De Luca (1940-2014) passed away. After her 'discovery' at the age of 14, she became the Sandra Dee of the Italian cinema of the 1950s. Her fresh and graceful appearance in hit comedies like Poveri ma belli/Poor But Beautiful (1956) endeared her to the public. De Luca was the widow of film director Duccio Tessari, in whose films she often starred. She was 73.

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

Poor But Beautiful

Lorella De Luca was born in Florence, Italy in 1940. At the age of fourteen, she was discovered by a director who followed De Luca home, and convinced her father that she should be in films.

Lorella made her acting debut in Fellini’s Il bidone/The Swindlers (Federico Fellini, 1955) as Patrizia, the young daughter of middle-aged con man Augusto (Broderick Crawford). She subsequently attended the prestigious film school Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome.

The following year, De Luca's had her breakout role in Dino Risi's comedy Poveri ma belli/Poor But Beautiful (1956) alongside the other young actors Marisa Allasio, Renato Salvatori and Maurizio Arena. The success of the film made De Luca one of the most popular ingénues of Italian cinema; her freshness and grace endeared her to the public.

She continued playing naïve young girls in hit comedies like Padri e figli/A Tailor's Maid (Mario Monicelli, 1957) as Vittorio De Sica’s daughter, Il medico e lo stregone/Doctor and the Healer (Mario Monicelli, 1957) starring De Sica and Marcello Mastroianni, Domenica è sempre domenica/Sunday Is Always Sunday (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1958), Primo Amore/First Love (Mario Camerini,1958) and Racconti d'estate/Love on the Riviera (Gianni Franciolini, 1958) with Alberto Sordi.

In 1958, De Luca joined Alessandra Panaro and Mario Riva as a show girl in the popular TV quiz show Il Musichiere (The Musician).

She also acted in Belle ma povere/Pretty But Poor (Dino Risi, 1957), the sequel of Poveri ma belli, again starring Maurizio Arena and Renato Salvatori , which was again followed by Poveri milionari/Poor Millionaires (Dino Risi, 1958).

De Luca was one of the several women who were romantically involved with Maurizio Arena. She co-starred with him in Il principe fusto (Maurizio Arena, 1960), a film which he co-wrote, produced and directed. Their relationship created a minor scandal when it was revealed by the Italian media that Arena, after publicly announcing his intention to wed Anna Maria Pierangeli, was also engaged to De Luca.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1375, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DMN.

Marisa Allasio, Maurizio Arena and Renato Salvatori. East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1356, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Progress. Publicity still for Poveri ma belli/Poor But Beautiful (Dino Risi, 1957).

Peplums and Spaghetti Westerns

During the 1960s, Lorella De Luca played princesses or slave girls in Peplums, the Italian ‘sword-and-sandal’ or ‘muscleman’ films, such as Nel Segno di Roma/Sheba and the Gladiator (Guido Brignone, 1959) starring Anita Ekberg.

De Luca also appeared under the pseudonym Hally Hammond in the Spaghetti Westerns Una Pistola per Ringo/A Pistol for Ringo (Ducio Tessari, 1965), and its sequel Il ritorno di Ringo/The Return of Ringo (Ducio Tessari, 1965), both featuring Giuliano Gemma billed as Montgomery Wood.

Earlier, director Tessari had helped write Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars, and encouraged by its success he had decided to produce his own Spaghetti Western. A Pistol for Ringo was a huge success in Italy and Spain, and also did well in the United States.

Between 1965 and 1978, De Luca starred in a total of nine films directed by Ducio Tessari, including the drama Una voglia da morire/ A desire to die (Ducio Tessari, 1965) with Raf Vallone, and the spy film Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang (Ducio Tessari, 1966).

In 1972, Tessari and De Luca married. She also worked behind the scenes as an assistant director. After 1967, with the birth of their two daughters Federica and Fiorenza Tessari, she accepted only occasional parts during the next decade.

Her last acting roles were in The Fifth Commandment (1978) and the television miniseries Nata d'amore/Born of love (Duccio Tessari, 1984).

She was actively involved in her husband's later career and was first assistant director in his final film, the comedy C'era un castello con 40 cani/There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs (Ducio Tessari, 1990) starring Peter Ustinov. De Luca made one last appearance in Bonus malus (Vito Zagarrio, 1993) and retired from the film industry after Tessari's death the following year.

Their two daughters, Federica and Fiorenza Tessari, both are actresses.

Scene from Poveri milionari/Poor Millionaires (1958). Source: EmeliusBisestile (TouTube). No subtitles.

Trailer Una Pistola per Ringo/A Pistol for Ringo (1965). Source: The Spaghetti Western Darabase (YouTube).

Trailer Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang (1966). Source: The Night of the Trailers (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

The Reutlinger Studio in Paris was opened in Paris in 1850 and took photos of the rich and famous until 1937. Reutlinger was known for their unusual Art Nouveau styles of postcard designs, especially for portraits of actresses. This is the first post in a new series on star photographers.

Sarah Bernhardt. British postcard by Rotary Photo Co., London, no. 228A. Sent by mail in 1905. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard by A.N., Paris, in the series Les Vedettes du Cinéma, no. 13. Photo: Reutlinger

Huguette Duflos. French postcard by A.N., Paris, in the series Les Vedettes du Cinéma, no. 16. Photo: Reutlinger.

A Successful Postcard Business

The Reutlinger studio was founded by Charles Reutlinger, of German descent. The studio passed on to Charles’ brother Emile in 1880, who ran the studio until 1890.

In 1883, Emile’s son Léopold Reutlinger (1863) came to Paris from Callao, Peru, where he grew up. Léopold took over in 1890, and he developed a very successful postcard business. He photographed the stars of the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergère.

Hebecame oneof the most requestedportraitphotographersoftheBelle Epoqueand he photographedamong othersMata Hari, Cleode Merode, GeraldineFarrar,Polar, Colette, Sarah BernhardtLeonieYahne, LianethePougy, AnnaHeld,LaBelleOteroandLina Cavalieri. Many of hispicturesweresold toleadingnewspapers and magazines.

Léopold continued to run the studio until he lost an eye in an accident with a champagne cork in 1930. He died in 1937 at the age of 74.

Lina Cavalieri. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 180/1. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Lina Cavalieri. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 188/9. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Germaine Gallois.French postcard by Olympia / S.I.P., no. 194/18. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard, no. 181/10. Sent by mail in 1903. Photo: Reutlinger.

Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 865/17. Sent by mail in 1904. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Art Nouveau Fantasy Overlays

The earliest Reutlinger postcards in our collection date roughly from 1900-1902. They feature images of identified famous actresses, singers, and dancers from the day, surrounded by highly stylized Art Nouveau frames. Often, the same frames were used with different actress images in the centre.

In the several years that followed, the Reutlinger studio began to experiment with colour tinting, different stylization, and more outlandish or novel photomontage techniques.

P.K. Hobbs at Everything Vintage: "Léopold introduced a very distinctive style of merging photographic images with art nouveau fantasy overlays. He added to that process exceptionally well-done hand tinting.

The Reutlinger Studio became known for their unusual art nouveau styles of postcard designs, especially for portraits of actresses. These postcards were not cheaply produced, nor were they cheaply sold. This part of his business was very successful and sought-after, as thousands of his art nouveau postcards were produced."

In 1904, divided backs were permitted in France. Till then the back was reserved for the recipient’s address and all messages had to appear on the front. It explains the handwriting on the front of some cards in this post.

Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 1342. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Sylvie. French postcard by S.I.P. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Lina Cavalieri. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 1188. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Lina Cavalieri. French postcard, no. 1188. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard. Photo Reutlinger, Paris. 04-69.

Sources: P.K. Hobbs (Everything Vintage), Victor (Wonderings), and Wikipedia.

Austrian born comic actor Vic Oliver (1898-1964) was a popular radio comedian, music hall favourite and film star in Great Britain before and during the war. He was an accomplished violinist and used this musical talent in his comedy act.

British postcard in the Picturegoer series, London, no. 1397. Photo: British Lion.

Married in a Blaze of Newspaper Publicity

Vic Oliver was born Victor Oliver Von Samek in Vienna, Austria, in 1898. He was the son of Baron Victor von Samek but he relinquished his father's title in 1922.

Oliver studied classical violin before deciding upon a career in show business. Being a Jew, Vic fled to England via America to escape persecution at the hands of the Nazis. His mother and sister were murdered in Bergen-Belsen extermination camp.

Vic was a skilled musician and played the violin (badly in his comedy shows). His distinctive trick was to play the violin while telling jokes. He had aspirations as a conductor and founded the Vic Oliver Concert Orchestra which gave light classical concerts along the South coast. His theme tune was Prelude to the Stars.

In 1935 he was the star of the revue Follow the Sun, where he met Sarah Churchill, daughter of soon-to-be prime minister Winston Churchill. Although he was 18 years her elder and had already been married twice, they fell in love.

Winston Churchill warned his daughter that if Vic was not a US citizen “she married to the enemy” and would lose her British passport. Sarah traveled by sea to the USA, where they married in a blaze of newspaper publicity.

In addition to appearing on stage, Vic soon appeared in film musicals like Rhythm in the Air (Arthur B. Woods, 1936) and Who's Your Lady Friend? (Carol Reed, 1937). The latter was based upon the hit German musical Der Herr Ohne Wohnung (The Gentleman Without a Home), that had already been filmed in 1934. Vic Oliver played a famous Viennese 'beauty specialist' (plastic surgeon) in the farce, and Sarah Churchill played the maid of the house.

Dutch postcard by HEMO. Photo Eagle Lion.

Vintage photo.

Hi Gang!

Vic Oliver was one of the first musical comedians, and was a regular on such Radio programs as Henry Hall's Guest Night and Workers Playtime. His style was later taken up by the likes of Victor Borge.

Female impersonation was a valuable part of his repertoire. In the comedy Room for Two (Maurice Elvey, 1940), based on a stage farce by Gilbert Wakefield, Oliver plays a womanizing Englishman in Venice, who takes a fancy to married tourist Frances Day. In a plot device right out of Charley's Aunt, Oliver disguises himself in drag and hires on as Day' maid. When Day's philandering hubby Basil Radford comes home, the laughs start rolling in.

In the early 1940s Vic Oliver teamed up with Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon on their immensely popular wartime BBC radio series, Hi Gang! In 1941 there was also a film version, Hi, Gang! (Marcel Varnel, 1941). In this musical, the on-air rivalry between a married pair of American radio stars, each hosting a different show heats to boiling when they each have British evacuees on their shows.

Another music comedy, He Found a Star (John Paddy Carstairs, 1941) was based on Monica Ewer's novel Ring O'Roses. Vic is cast as Lucky Lyndon, a seedy but enthusiastic talent agent specializing in small-time variety acts. Lyndon spends the entire picture searching for the next 'big star', never realizing that his secretary Ruth Cavour (Sarah Churchill) is madly in love with him.

In the mid-1940s he was in some Gainsborough films, Give Us The Moon (1944) and I'll Be Your Sweetheart (1945), both with Margaret Lockwood and Peter Graves. In Give Us the Moon (Val Guest, 1944) Oliver delivers a broad performance as a dour suicide-prone chap who belongs to an 'I won't work' club.

Oliver was usually at his best on-screen when teamed with an unusually talented leading lady. Oliver's vis-à-vis in I'll be Your Sweetheart (Val Guest, 1945) was again film favourite Margaret Lockwood. Set in the early 1900's, the film concerns the trials and tribulations of musical-hall diva Edie Story (Lockwood), whose happy-go-lucky partner is one Sam Kahn (Oliver).

Sarah Churchill. Dutch postcard. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Margaret Lockwood. Dutch postcard, no. AX 171. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Org.

Mr. Showbusiness

In 1945 Vic Oliver and Sarah Churchill divorced, which drew again the attention of the press. In his autobiography Mr. Showbusiness, published in 1954, he told many stories about his former father-in-law, Sir Winston Churchill, with whom he was not on good terms.

In the post-war years Oliver continued his variety act and starred in revues like Starlight Roof (1947), which introduced Julie Andrews to London audiences.

He didn’t appear in more films, except for the short film For Old Time’s Sake (Paul Barralet, 1948).

In the 1950s and early 1960s he worked for Television. He was a regular on the TV series Hotel Imperial (1958) as the leader of the orchestra at a posh London hotel. The show proved to be popular, with Oliver clearly revelling in a starring role, and a further 12 episodes were screened in January-March 1960.

Oliver continued performing in England and overseas during the early 1960s.

In 1964, Vic Oliver died in Johannesburg, South Africa. His fourth wife was Natalie Conder. They had one child.

Vic Oliver was one of the artists who performed at the Theatrical Garden Party. It was transmitted on BBC Television on 6th June 1939.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Chris Wrigley (Winston Churchill - A Biographical Companion), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Italian silent film actress Thea (1898-?) looks so innocent on this postcard, but in her film Il Giogo (1919), she is Zoe, a double natured woman. Zoe's foster father, dr. Caselli, has raised this daughter of an assassin together with his own daughter Rita, trying to confirm his theories that a character's individual is based on the expression of its surroundings. Zoe first seems a perfectly educated girl, but then she shows her true nature. She steals Rita's fiancé Riccardo, but also has an affair with an adventurer, with whom she secretly visits orgiastic parties. Riccardo discovers Zoe's true nature, tells Rita and her father, and the poor doctor has to admit his theories are worthless. Zoe ends as a dancer in an ill-reputed tavern.

Italian postcard, no. 489. Photo: still from Il Giogo (1919).

A Monkey Called Jack

Thea was born as Teresa Termini in Rome, Italy in 1898. Sometimes she was called Thea Zerni and her name is also written as Théa.

She debuted in the Italian silent cinema with the film I Martiri di Belfiore/The Martyrsof Belfiore (Alberto Carlo Lolli, 1915), a patriotic and anti-Austrian period piece, set in Mantova 1851. The leads were played by Enna Saredo and Achille Vitti, Teresa had only a minor part.

In 1916 Teresa had only one role, in L'albergo nero/The Black Inn (Gustavo Serena, released in 1920). So after I Martiri di Belfiore, it took two years before she could be seen on the screen again, in the Cines production Il segreto di Jack/Jack's Secret (Enrique Santos, 1917). Here, Termini used her nom de plume Thea for the first time and she had her first lead, opposite a monkey called Jack.

The reviewer of La Cine-fono demanded Thea to stop 'borelleggiare', to act like Lyda Borelli, and to be more natural, precise and characteristic. This critique of being a Borelli epigone remained in subsequent films. Il segreto di Jack though, proved to be such a successful film, that Thea's career really took off.

Next followed two films with French star Aurele Sydney: Una stranaavventura/A strangeadventure (Aurele Sydney, 1918) and L'Incubo/The nightmare (Amleto Palermi, 1918) with Bruto Castellani, and in between La reginetta Isotta/QueenIsolde (1918), based on a story by Honoré de Balzac.

Italian postcard by Fotocelere.

Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 524.

Huge Crowds

In 1919 Thea performed in six different films. Primerose/Primrose (Mario Caserini, 1919) was inspired by Lyda Borelli's debut Ma l'amor mio non muore/Love Everlasting, which had also been directed by Caserini.

The other films were La notte del 24 aprile/The Night of 24 April (1919), Incantesimo/Spell (Ugo Gracci, 1919), Il giogo/The Yoke (Gaston Ravel, 1919), L'agguato della morte/The ambushof death (Amleto Palermi, 1919), and Capitan Fracassa/Captain Fracasse (Mario Caserini, 1919).

Except for Incantesimo, Thea had the female lead in all the other films. If the reviewers didn't like her very much, she did attract huge crowds, in particular as the real Lyda Borelli had retired from acting in the previous year 1918, because of her marriage to count Vittorio Cini.

Thea's last film was L'Albergo nero/The black Inn (Gustavo Serena, 1920), produced already in 1916 but only released in 1920. Director Gustavo Serena also played the male lead. Critics complained about the incomprehensibility of the film, which might have had to do with cuts by the censor.

In 1920 Thea married and withdrew from the screen, just like her big example Borelli had done. Today almost all films of Thea are lost. In 1991, a fragment of La notte del 24 aprile was found at the Netherlands Filmmuseum (now EYE Film Institute Netherlands) and presented at the Cinema Ritrovato film festival in Bologna.

Lyda Borelli. Italian postcard. Photo: Emilio Sommariva, Milano, no. 504. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Gustavo Serena. Italian postcard by Vettori, Bologna, no. 451bis.

Sources: IMDb.

Israeli-born singer and actress Carmela Corren (1938) represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 with her song Vielleicht Geschieht Ein Wunder. In the early 1960s she starred in several Schlager- and Heimatfilms in Austria end Germany.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/184. Photo: A. Grimm / Ariola.

A Desert Rose

Carmela Corren was born Carmela Bizman in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1938. She dreamed of being a dancer but switched to singing in the wake of an injury.

The American television producer Ed Sullivan discovered her in 1956 during a work venture in Jerusalem. Carmela, just out of military service in the Israeli army, was persuaded to come to New York to appear on his show. Carmela toured South Africa with Cliff Richard and sang in English clubs.

In the early 1960s, she became well known in Germany, as well as Switzerland and in Austria with her song Sei nicht traurig, geliebte Mama (You're Not Losing A Daughter, Mama). In 1961, this song stayed for 12 weeks in the German charts. First she had signed to theAriolalabel, in 1966 she moved to Vogue and in 1968 she changed again to Decca.

In 1962 she became 8th at the Deutsche Schlagerfestspiele(German Schlager festival) with the song Eine Rose aus Santa Monica (A Rose from Santa Monica). Although the jury gave it only one point, the public loved her song. It climbed several European charts and stayed there for many weeks.

The festival was won by Conny Froboesswith Zwei Kleiner Italiener (Two Little Italians), who represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest that year. In 1963 Carmela represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest in London with her song Vielleicht Geschieht Ein Wunder (Maybe A Miracle Will Happen) and finished seventh. The song was composed by Erwin Halletz and Peter Wahle.

In 1965 she tried again to join the Eurovision Song Contest, now for Switzerland. She lost the national finals though, and that year Switzerland was represented by Yovanna.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 1792. Photo: Ariola / Haenchen.

Schlager Films and Heimat Comedies

In Germany and Austria, Carmela Corren starred in several films and television productions. Her film debut was in the Schlagerfilm Tanze mit mir in den Morgen/Dance with Me Into the Morning (Peter Dörre, 1962) with singers Rex Gildoand Evi Kent.

Carmella then appeared in the Heimat comedy Drei Liebesbriefe aus Tirol/Three Love Letters from Tyrol (Werner Jacobs, 1962) starring Danish actress Ann Smyrner, and she appeared as a singer in a bar in the crime film Zwischen Schanghai und St. Pauli/Between Shanghai and St. Pauli (Roberto Bianchi Montero, Wolfgang Schleif, 1962) starring Karin Baaland Joachim Hansen.

She played supporting parts in the mountain drama Sein bester Freund/His best Friend (Luis Trenker, 1962) starring former ski champion Toni Sailer, and in Sing, aber spiel nicht mit mir/Sing But Don’t Play With Me (Kurt Nachmann, 1963) starring Hannelore Auer.

Her last film appearance was in the romantic comedy Hochzeit am Neusiedler See/Wedding at Lake Neusiedler (Rolf Olsen, 1963) with Udo Jürgens.

From 1966 to 1970 Carmela was married to the music producer Horst Geiger, with whom she had a daughter and a son.

She kept singing in TV shows but she also worked as an actress. She was seen in the TV musical Das Leben ist die größte Schau/Life is the Biggest Show (Hans Eberhard, 1964) and in the TV series Das Kriminalmuseum/The Crime Museum (1967).

In 1972 she recorded an LP with folk songs, Folklore Festival, but it was not a success. She went to America to start a new career, but failed. She retired after a come-back attempt with the LP Hava Naghila (1978).

Carmela Corren remarried and lives now with her husband in Florida. In rare cases, she sings at Jewish festivals.

Dutch card by Heinz Franssen, Simpelveld.

Clip of Carmela Corren singing Vielleicht Geschieht Ein Wunder at the European Song Contest 1963. Source: Joao Velada (YouTube).

Sources: René Kern (Carmela Corren Website) (German), De Duitse Schlager in Nederland en België (Dutch), Wikipedia and IMDb.

British actress Shirley Anne Field (1938) has performed on stage, film and television since 1955. The former Miss London has survived and becomes more interesting with the years.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1623, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Progress.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin.

Masterpiece

Shirley Anne Field was born Shirley Broomfield in Bolton, Great Britain, in 1938. She and her brother were brought up in the Edgworth Children's Home and Orphanage because their mother was unable to care for them. Many years later, her brother, publisher Guy Broomfield, would become a murder victim in the United States.

Field started as a Beauty Queen and was chosen Miss London. She modelled in glamour photographs for magazines, including Reveille and Titbits.

Her first appearance in a film was as an extra in the soap opera satire Simon and Laura (Muriel Box, 1955). According to Brian McFarlane of the Encyclopedia of British Film she appeared “without making much impression beyond that of exceptionally pretty ingénue.”

In the following years followed bigger parts in The Flesh Is Weak (Don Chaffey, 1957) starring John Derek, and the comedy Upstairs and Downstairs (Ralph Thomas, 1959).

She appeared as a murder victim in the violent Horrors of the Black Museum (1959, Arthur Crabtree) with Michael Gough, and she played a temperamental film star in the equally violent Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960) with Karlheinz Böhm (as Carl Boehm).

The British critics hated the film at the time, but Peeping Tom is now seen as a classic. The Sunday Times'Dilys Powell, who in 1960 thought it "essentially vicious", admitted in 1994: "Today, I find I am convinced it is a masterpiece".

Then Field was chosen by Laurence Olivier to play the prime female role in The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960), which really made her name.

Next she appeared as Albert Finney’s pregnant girl friend in another British New Wave entry, Saturday Night - Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960). Phil Wickham at BFI Screenonline comments: “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) is the 'new wave' film which has most preserved its reputation with modern critics. Added to critical support at the time and its massive - and unexpected - box office success, it has some claim to be the most significant of the films of this period.”

1960 must have been a top year for Field. She also appeared in the films Man in the Moon (1960), Beat Girl (Edmond T. Gréville, 1960) and Once More, with Feeling! (Stanley Donen, 1960) starring Yul Brynner.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1615, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Progress. Publicity still from Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960).

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1614, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Progress. Publicity still from Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960).

Surprise Box-office Hit

Shirley Anne Field kept busy filming in the first half of the sixties. She played in The War Lover (Philip Leacock, 1962) starring Steve McQueen, and she was the sister of Oliver Reed in the SciFi film The Damned (Joseph Losey, 1963).

A trip to Hollywood for Kings of the Sun (J. Lee Thompson, 1963) with Yul Brynner, proved disappointing. In Italy, she appeared opposite Vittorio Gasmann in Marcia nuziale/Wedding March (Marco Ferreri, 1965).

She continued appearing in British films including the Doctor comedy Doctor in Clover (Ralph Thomas, 1966) and the hit Alfie (Lewis Gilbert, 1966) as one of the girlfriends of Michael Caine.

In 1967 she married former racing-driver and executive jet pilot Charlie Crichton-Stuart. From then on, she would appear incidentally in films such as the South-African production House of the Living Dead/Curse of the Dead (Ray Austin, 1970) with Mark Burns.

During the 1970s she spent some time on the stage, including an acclaimed performance in the South African production of Wait Until Dark. She was out of films for a decade.

In 1985 she returned to the cinema in the surprise box-office hit My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears, 1985) about a gay Pakistani/National Front romance. She played Rachel, Saeed Jaffrey's warm-hearted mistress.

She then also appeared in such films as the Hollywood production Shag (Zelda Barron, 1989), the British comedy Getting It Right (Randal Kleiser, 1989) and the romantic comedy Hear My Song (Peter Chelsom, 1991) starring Adrian Dunbar.

On television she was featured in Ken Russell’s Lady Chatterley (1993). Among her many TV appearances are also parts in such American and British series as Shoestring (1979), Santa Barbara (1987), Murder She Wrote (1992), Dalziel and Pascoe (1999), The Bill (2000), Waking the Dead (2003), Monarch of the Glen (2005), and Last of the Summer Wine (2008).

She continued to perform on stage, such as shady lady Lottie Grady in When We Are Married (1996).

Recently she appear in such films as the drama The Kid (Nick Moran, 2010) and the comedy The Power of Three (Yvonne Deutschman, 2011) with Toyah Wilcox.

Shirley Anne Field wrote an autobiography A Time for Love (1991). She has one daughter: Nicola Jane Crichton-Stuart (1967).

Trailer of Horrors Of The Black Museum (1959). Source: OurManinHavanna (YouTube).

Trailer of My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). Source: ryy79 (YouTube).

Sources: Brian McFarlane (Encyclopedia of British Film), Phil Wickham (BFI Screenonline), Jim Simpson (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Lotte Neumann (1896-1977) was one of the most successful actresses in the early days of the German silent cinema. She also worked as a screenwriter and a producer.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-sterne series, no. 94/2. Photo: NBFMB / Karl Schenker.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 340/5, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass / Maxim Film.

German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 5694. Photo: Atelier Eberth, Berlin.

German postcard by Photorot, Berlin, in the Film-sterne Series, no. 150/1, 1925-1935. Photo: Becker & Maass.

Sherlock Holmes

Lotte Neumann was born as Charlotte Pötler in Berlin, Germany, in 1896.

She attended the Königliche Luisenschule (Royal Louise School) in Berlin, after which the Wagnersche-Klinkhardsche Höhere Mädchenschule(Wagnerian-Klinkhardsche Higher School for Girls).

She began her theatrical career as a 13-year-old choir singer at the Komische Oper (Comic Opera) and at the Komödienhaus (Comedy House) in Berlin.

In 1912, director Max Mack gave her her first film role in Die Launen des Schicksals/Whims of Fate (Max Mack, 1912) with Hanni Weisse.

In the following years she acted in productions of the German Mutoscope and Biograph GmbH like Ketten der Vergangenheit/Chains of the Past (1914), the Sherlock Holmes-film Ein seltsamer Fall/An Unusual Case (Max Mack, 1914), Der eiserne Ring/The Iron Ring (Paul von Woringen, 1915) and In letzter Sekunde/In the Last Second (Walter Schmidthässler, 1916).

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2091. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Still of Lotte Neumann in Der Mut zum Glück/The Courage to Happiness (Paul von Woringen, 1917). This was the first film Neumann produced herself with her company Lotte Neumann-Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 320/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Rembrandt / Maxim Film. Caption: "Lotte Neumann in ihrer garderobe" (Lotte Neumann in her wardrobe).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 320/6, 1919-1924. Photo: Rembrandt / Maxim Film. Caption: 'Lotte Neumann in ihrer garderobe" (Lotte Neumann in her wardrobe).

Lotte Neumann in Hinter verschlossenen Türen

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, K. 2096. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Still of Lotte Neumann and Ernst Rückert in Hinter verschlossenen Türen/Behind Closed Doors (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Lotte Neumann in Die Ehe der Charlotte von Brakel (1918)

German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 2168. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Publicity still for Die Ehe der Charlotte von Brakel/The Marriage of Charlotte von Brakel (Paul von Woringen, 1918).

Shadows of the Past

Lotte Neumann also appeared as a singer and actress on Berlin stages. Soon she was so well-known that the studio shot a whole series of Lotte Neumann-films.

In 1916 she founded the Lotte Neumann Film GmbH, which existed until 1919.

To these productions belong Hinter verschlossenen Türen/Behind Closed Doors (Paul von Woringen, 1917), Die Richterin/The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917), Das Schweigen im Walde/The Silence in the Forest (Paul von Woringen, 1918), Das Spiel mit dem Feuer/The Play With Fire (Paul von Woringen, 1918) and Schatten der Vergangenheit/Shadows of the Past (Paul von Woringen, 1919) - for which she was also the producer.

In 1918 she wrote her first screenplay, for Die Töchter des Herrn Dornberg/The daughters of Mr. Dornberg (Paul of Woringen, 1918).

From 1919 on she was committed to the Ufa.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1812.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 339/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass / Maxim Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 339/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass / Maxim Film.

Protracted Divorce Case

During the 1920s, Lotte Neumann remained a popular film actress who embodied aristocratic young women.

In 1920 she acted under the direction of Ernst Lubitschin the comedy Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920), set in a 19th century Alpine village.

Her biggest successes include the film operetta Die brigantin von New York/The Brigantine, New York (Hans Werckmeister, 1924), Die frau für 24 stunden/The Woman for 24 hours (Reinhold Schünzel, 1925) with Harry Liedtke, and Der gute Ruf/The Good Reputation (Pierre Marodon, 1926).

She had film contracts in Austria, Italy and the Balkan States, for example, with Gaumont-Aubert in Paris and with Maldaria in Prague.

Because of her protracted divorce case, which ran from 1929 to 1932, she had to end her career as an actress. Her last film was Die Liebesfiliale (Carl Heinz Wolff, 1931) before she retired from the screen.

German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1789. Photo: Berliner Illustrierte Ges. [Gesellschaft], Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 276/6, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder.

Screenplays

From 1933, Lotte Neumann worked as a film writer under the pseudonym C.H. Diller. Diller was the maiden name of her mother.

In 1935 she married screenwriter Walter Wassermann and also started a professional partnership with him, which lasted until 1944.

She wrote a total of 25 screenplays including Kora Terry (Georg Jacobi, 1940) for Ufa; Friedrich Schiller (Herbert Maisch, 1939) for Tobis; together with Walter WassermannDie nacht in Venedig/The Night in Venice (Paul Verhoeven, 1941), and Altes herz wird wieder jung/Old Heart Young Again (Erich Engel, 1942), both for Tobis.

After the war, she continued her work with two more screenplays for small productions until 1958.

She went to live at the residence of her mother in Gmund am Tegernsee, and later lived in Gaißach.

Lotte Neumann died in 1977 in Gaißach, Germany.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-sterne series, no. 194/1. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-sterne series, no. 150/2. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin.

Sources: Gabriele Hansch/Gerlinde Waz (Filmpionierinnen in Deutschland), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Philippe Pelletier (Cineartistes.com) (French), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Italian star photographer Attilio Badodi (1880-1967) had a well known studio, where he photographed all the people from the Milanese beau monde plus the famous actors and actresses of the 1910s and 1920s.

Lyda Borelli. Italian postcard, no. 418. Photo Badodi.

Vera Vergani. Italian postcard. Sent by mail in 1927. Photo: Badodi, Milano.

Alda Borelli. Italian postcard, no. 303. Photo A. Badodi, Milano.

Beau Monde

Attilio Badodi was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy in 1880. He learned the techniques and tricks of the photographic trade from an uncle who was photographer.

In 1902, Badodi moved to Milan where, quite soon, he became a well-known studio photographer.

All the famous actors and actresses and the Milanese beau monde - aristocracy, artists, musicians, politicians - had themselves photographed in his studio in Via Brera 5.

Many of his actors' portraits circulated as postcards as well. In 1922 he participated in the Prima Esposizione Internazionale di Fotografia in Turin.

Badodi was also reporter for Illustrazione italiana, but he is best remembered for his studio portraits.

Attilio Badodi died in 1967.

Lyda Borelli. Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Torino, no. 207. Photo: Badodi, Milano.

Alda Borelli. Italian postcard, no. 304. Photo A. Badodi, Milano.

Armando Falconi. Italian postcard, no. 288. Photo: Badodi.

Lyda Borelli. Italian postcard, no. 256. Photo: Badodi.

Ermete Zacconi. Italian postcard, no. 57. Photo: Badodi, Milano.

Armando Falconi. Italian postcard, no. 289. Photo: Badodi.

Lyda Borelli. Italian postcard, no. 477. Photo: Badodi.

This is the second post in a new series on star photographers. The first post was on the Reutlinger Studio in Paris.

Source: internet.culturale.it (Italian).

Gaby Morlay (1893-1964) was a French actress with a long standing career, who played in over 100 films. She compensated her small size (1.53 m.) with passion and enthusiasm.

French postcard by Editions Chantal (EC), no. 45. Photo: Pathé Natan.

French postcard by Editions Chantal (EC), no. 45. Photo: X.

The Liberated Woman

Gaby Morlay was born Blanche Pauline Fumoleau in Angers, France, in 1893. By chance, she was enrolled in playing on stage.

In 1913 she started her cinema career in comic shorts with Max Linder like La vacance de Max/Max's Vacation (Max Linder, 1913).

Later she had her own comedy shorts with her character Gaby, including Gaby en auto/Gaby in a Car (Charles Burguet, 1917).

In the Roaring Twenties, she became the symbol of the liberated woman, being the first woman to obtain a licence for flying a Zeppelin.

Among Gaby Morlay's features were L'Agonie des aigles/The Death Agony of the Eagles (Dominique Bernard-Deschamps, Julien Duvivier, 1922) opposite Séverin-Mars, Jim la houlette, roi des voleurs/Jim the Cracksman, the King of Thieves (Pierre Colombier, Roger Lion, Nicolas Rimsky, 1926), and Les nouveaux messieurs/The New Gentlemen (Jacques Feyder, 1929) with Albert Préjean.

French postcard by Campari. Photo G.L. Manuel Frères. Caption: "L'esprit léger, le coeur content, Campari donne du montant."

French postcard by CE, no. 969. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.

Peaking In The Sound Era

While Gaby Morlay already had an active film career in the 1920s, she really peaked in the sound era. If she was not involved in big productions she did five films a year in the 1930s.

Her first sound film was Accusée, levez-vous/Accused, Stand Up (Maurice Tourneur, 1930).

Among her best known films were Après l'amour/When Love Is Over (Léonce Perret, 1931), Nous ne sommes plus des enfants/We Are Not Children (Augusto Genina, 1934), Jeanne (Georges Marret, 1934) - Morlay was coproducer for the latter two - La peur/The Fear (Viktor Tourjansky, 1936) with Charles Vanel, and the romantic comedy Quadrille (Sacha Guitry, 1938).

She was often paired with Victor Francen and played historical figures like Queen Victoria in Entente Cordiale (Marcel L'Herbier, 1939), Giuseppina Strepponi in Giuseppe Verdi (Carmine Gallone, 1939), and Napoleon's Désirée in Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary (Sacha Guitry, 1941).

Having often played on stage in Henry Bernstein's plays, Morlay appeared also in several film adaptations of his plays: Mélo/The Dreamy Mouth (Paul Czinner, 1932), Le bonheur/Happiness (Marcel L'Herbier, 1935), Samson (Maurice Tourneur, 1936), and Le messager/The Messenger (Raymond Rouleau, 1937) with Jean Gabin.

French postcard by PC, no. 153. Photo: Pathé-Natan.

French postcard by PC, no. 69. Photo: Pathé-Natan.

Mother Superior

During the German Occupation of France, Gaby Morlay was the mistress of Max Bonnafous, Minister of Agriculture in the Marshall Pétain government.

Because of her long association with Bonnafous, she had to appear several times in front of the 'purge committees' once France was liberated. Morlay finally could marry Bonnafous in 1961, after his wife, who refused to divorce him, had died.

During the war, Morlay excelled in the popular tearjerker Le Voile bleu/The Blue Veil (Jean Stelli, 1942).

In the postwar era, Louis Jouvet treated her cruelly in Un revenant/A Lover's Return (Christian-Jacque, 1946).

Her favourite film was Les amants du pont Saint-Jean/The Lovers of the St. Jean Bridge (Henri Decoin, 1947), in which she played Michel Simon's clochard friend.

German postcard by Das Programm von Heute für Film und Theater G.m.b.H., Frankfurt a.M. Photo: Hammer-Tonfilm.

French postcard. Offered by Kwatta chocolate. N Els, Bromurite.

The Wife Of The Masked Man

In the 1950s Gaby Morlay played in some Italian films: she was Aldo Fabrizi's wife in the comedy Prima Communione/Father's Dilemma (Alessandro Blasetti, 1950) and in the melodrama Anna (1951, Alberto Lattuada) she was the Mother Superior opposite Silvana Mangano in the title role.

In 1951 Morlay was also part of the Cannes Jury.

In Le Plaisir/Pleasure (Max Ophüls, 1951), she was the wife of the masked man in the first episode of the film, and in Sacha Guitry's Si Versailles m'était conté/Affairs in Versailles (1954) she was the Countess de la Motte.

She was elected president of theSyndicat national des acteurs (French Screen Actor's Guild) in 1956.
Until her death in 1964, Gaby Morlay continued to play in films.

She also had an active stage career from the 1910s to the 1960s, in plays by Sacha Guitry, Marcel Achard, André Brulé and others. Just as in the cinema, she continued to play on stage until her death; for instance, in 1959-1960 she played for two years in Eugene O'Neill's Long Voyage to the End of the Night.

In 1964 Gaby Morlay died of cancer in Nice, at the age of 71.

French postcard by Editions P.I. Paris, no. 88. Photo: U.F.P.C.

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 859. Photo: Production Pathé.

Vintage postcard by A Stefsky. Photo: Erpé.

French postcard by Editions Chantal, Rueil, no. 45. Photo: C.C.F.C.

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

Stocky, balding Bernard Blier (1916-1989) was one of France's most versatile and sought-after character actors. His complete filmography includes 138 titles, both comedies and dramas, in France and in Italy.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, presented by Les carbones Korès 'Carboplane', no. 189. Photo: Carlet.

French collectors card, no. A 56.

Cuckolded Husbands

Bernard Blier (1916-1989) was born in 1916 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, Jules Blier, a biologist at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time. Blier hated school and began taking drama lessons when he was 15.

On the fourth attempt, he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire, a leading drama school, in 1937. That year, he also made one of his first film appearances as a ‘young man on a tandem’ in the comedy Gribouille/Heart of Paris (Marc Allégret, 1937), based on a story by Marcel Achard. The film stars Raimu and Michèle Morgan in her first major film role.

Bigger roles followed in the classics Hôtel du Nord (Marcel Carné, 1938) starring Annabella, and Le Jour se lève/Daybreak (Marcel Carné, 1939) with Jean Gabin, which is considered one of the principal examples of the French poetic realism. His rotund features and premature baldness allowed him to often play cuckolded husbands in his early career.

At the start of the Second World War, Blier enlisted in the French infantry but was captured and interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Austria, where he lost 27 pounds in weight.

During the war years, his films included the comedy drama Le Pavillon brûle/The Pavilion burns (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1941), starring Pierre Renoir and Jean Marais, and the fantasy film La Nuit fantastique/The Fantastic Night (Marcel L'Herbier, 1942), which was one of the most successful films made in France during the German occupation. It starred Micheline Presle and Fernand Gravey.

After the war he returned to the screen in French classics like the drama Dédée d'Anvers (Yves Allégret, 1948), featuring Simone Signoret, and the police procedural drama Quai des Orfèvres/Quay of the Goldsmiths (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1947) with Suzy Delair, Louis Jouvet and Simone Renant.

The films were popular with both audiences and critics. James Travers at French Film Guide about Dédée d’Anvers: “Blier, as ever, makes the most of what he is given and works particularly well alongside Signoret - so well in fact that he would star opposite her in Allégret's next film but one, Manèges (1950)."

French postcard by Editions Chantal, Rueil, no. 9. Photo R. Richebé.

French postcard, no. 57. Photo: Pathé.

Versatile And Sought-after

During the 1950s and 1960s, Bernard Blier proved to be one of France's most versatile and sought-after character actors, performing interchangeably in comedies and dramas. His films included Avant le déluge/Before the Deluge (André Cayatte, 1954), the comedy-thriller L'Homme à l'imperméable/The Man in the Raincoat (Julien Duvivier, 1957) starring Fernandel, and he played Javert in Les Misérables (Jean-Paul Le Chanois, 1958) with Jean Gabin as Jean Valjean.

He often appeared in Italian films too. An example is La grande guerra/The Great War (Mario Monicelli, 1959) about an odd couple of army buddies (Alberto Sordi and Vittorio Gassman) in World War I, who experience the horrors and grimness of trench warfare. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and was an Academy Award nominee as Best Foreign Film.

Also interesting was the Italian drama Il gobbo/The Hunchback of Rome (Carlo Lizzani, 1960), loosely based on the real life events of Giuseppe Albano (played by Gérard Blain), one of the protagonists of the Roman Resistance against German occupation.

Blier also appeared with Lino Ventura in the crime comedy Les tontons flingueurs/Monsieur Gangster (Georges Lautner, 1963) and opposite Jean-Paul Belmondo in the French-Italian adventure film Cent mille dollars au soleil/Greed in the Sun (Henri Verneuil, 1964), which was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival.

A huge popular success was the French comedy thriller The Big Restaurant/Le Grand Restaurant (Jacques Besnard, 1966), starring Louis de Funès and Blier.

More prestigious was Lo straniero/The Stranger (Luchino Visconti, 1967), based on Albert Camus' novel L'Étranger. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “The Stranger is a literal (but still very cinematic) adaptation of the novel by Albert Camus. Marcello Mastroianni stars as Meursault, a man who feels utterly isolated from everyone and everything around him. This alienation results in sudden, inexplicable bursts of violence, culminating in murder. The subsequent trial of Meursault manages to convey the oppressive heat of its Algerian setting with director Luchino Visconti's usual veneer of elegant decadence.”

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 3247, 1968. Retail price: 0,20 M. Photo: Unifrance.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 369. Offered by Les Carbones Korès. Photo Lucienne Chevert.

Box-office Hits And Major Directors

Bernard Blier also played in the popular comedy Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire/The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (Yves Robert, 1972), co-starring with Pierre Richard and Jean Rochefort. The film lead to both a sequel, Le Retour du Grand Blond (Yves Robert, 1974) and the Hollywood remake The Man with One Red Shoe (Stan Dragoti, 1985) starring Tom Hanks.

Another box office hit was the Italian comedy-drama Amici miei/My Friends (Mario Monicelli, 1975). It tells the story of four middle-aged friends (including Ugo Tognazzi and Philippe Noiret) in Florence who organize together idle pranks (called zingarate, gypsy shenanigans) in a continuous attempt to prolong childhood during their adult life. The film made it to number one at the Italian box-office and was followed by two sequels, Amici miei Atto II (Mario Monicelli, 1982), and Amici miei Atto III (Nanni Loy, 1985).

Blier is the father of French screenwriter and film director Bertrand Blier (born 1939). Father and son worked together for the first time on Calmos (Bertrand Blier, 1976). Two men (Jean-Pierre Marielle and Jean Rochefort), worn out by their wives, abandon everything to go and live in the back of beyond. There they meet a truculent priest, a boozer, Émile (Bernard Blier) who recalls them to life's simple pleasures.

Their next cooperation, the black comedy Buffet froid (Bertrand Blier, 1979), starring Gérard Depardieu, was not a success at the box office, but later gained a cult status.

During the final years of his life, Blier seemed only to work with major directors. With Luigi Comencini, he worked on the Italian comedy drama Voltati Eugenio/Eugenio (1980), which entered the 37th Venice International Film Festival. With Ettore Scola, he made Passione d'amore/Passion of Love (1981) which was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

For Mario Monicelli, he appeared in three films: Le due vite di Mattia Pascal/The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal (1985), Speriamo che sia femmina/Let's Hope It's a Girl (1986) and I picari/The Rogues (1987).

With Andrzej Wajda he made his final film, the French drama Les Possédés/The Possessed (1988), starring Isabelle Huppert. In 1989, a month before he died, he was awarded an Honorary César (the French Oscar).

Bernard Blier died of cancer in 1989 in Saint-Cloud, France. He was married twice. From 1937 till 1965, he was married to Gisèle Brunet, the mother of his son Bertrand. His second wife was Annette Martin, with whom he was married since 1965.

East-German postcard by VEB-Progress Filmverleih, Berlin, no. 605. Photo: Gerhard Puhlmann.

East German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 428, 1957. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Gerhard Puhlmann.

Sources: James Travers (French Film Guide), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Hansjörg Felmy (1931-2007) was a German film and stage actor. The ‘charming cad’ played in some classics of the German cinema of the 1950s, and later became well known for his role on TV as Kommissar Heinz Haferkamp in the Krimi series Tatort.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden-Westf., no. 110. Photo: Real Film / Gabriele. Publicity still for Herz ohne Gnade/Heart without pity (Viktor Tourjansky, 1958).

German postcard by Kolobri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden-Westf., no. 2798. Photo: Zeyn Film / Deutsche Film Hansa / Lilo. Publicity still for Haie und kleine Fische/Sharks and Little Fish (Frank Wisbar, 1957).

German postcard by Kolobri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden-Westf., no. 2684. Photo: Zeyn Film / Deutsche Film Hansa / Lilo. Publicity still for Haie und kleine Fische/Sharks and Little Fish (Frank Wisbar, 1957).

Flegel mit Charme

Hansjörg Felmy was born as Hans-Jörg Hellmuth Felmy in Berlin in 1931. His parents were air force general Hellmuth Felmy and his wife Helene Felmy-Boettcher.

Hansjörg grew up in Braunschweig. He studied at the local Gymnasium, but had to leave the school prematurely after a quarrel with a teacher. After working as a locksmith and a typographer, Felmy followed acting classes from 1947 to 1949 at Hella Kaiser's.

In 1949 he had his first engagement at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. He made his stage debut in Carl Zuckmayers Des Teufels General (The Devil's General). In 1953 he moved on to the Stadttheater Aachen, and later to the Ensemble der Bühnen der Stadt Köln.

His first film appearance was as fighter pilot Robert Franke in Der Stern von Afrika/The Star from Africa (Alfred Weidenmann, 1956) starring Joachim Hansen. This is a biographic film of a once famous German Lufwaffe flyer, who was killed in a plane crash after over 150 kills in North Africa during WWII.

Next Felmy played in some of the classics of the German cinema: the anti-war film Haie und kleine Fische/Sharks and Little Fish (Frank Wisbar, 1957) with Horst Frank, the comedy Der Maulkorb/The Muzzle (Wolfgang Staudte, 1958) with O. E. Hasse, the satire Wir Wunderkinder/Aren't We Wonderful? (Kurt Hoffmann, 1958) with Johanna von Koczian, Der Greifer/The Copper (Eugen York, 1958) with Hans Albers, the two-part Thomas Mann adaptation Buddenbrooks (Alfred Weidenmann, 1959) with Liselotte Pulver, and the rural drama Und ewig singen die Wälder/Beyond Sing the Woods (Paul May, 1959) with Gert Frobe.

The Germans called him lovingly a 'Flegel mit Charme' (a charming cad). In the early 1960s he appeared in films like Die Botschafterin/The Ambassadress (Harald Braun, 1960) with Nadja Tiller, in the Friedrich Dürrenmatt adaptation Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi/The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (Kurt Hoffmann, 1961), and he starred in the Wilhelminian family chronicles Die glücklichen Jahre der Thorwalds/The Happy Years of the Thorwalds (John Olden, Wolfgang Staudte, 1962).

He also appeared in international productions like Alfred Hitchcock’s spy thriller Torn Curtain (1966) with Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.

German postcard by Kolobri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden-Westf., no. 2869. Photo: Real Film / Haenchen. Publicity still for Das Herz von St. Pauli/The Heart of St. Pauli (Eugen York, 1957).

German postcard by Kolobri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden-Westf., no. 138. Photo: Real Film / Haenchen. Publicity still for Herz ohne Gnade/Heart without pity (Viktor Tourjansky, 1958).

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden-Westf., no. 1322. Photo: Cine Custodia / Gloria / Czerwonski. Publicity still for An heiligen Wassern/Sacred Waters (Alfred Weidenmann, 1960).

Krimi

When the German cinema declined in the 1960s Hansjörg Felmy first kept busy in the popular Edgar Wallace series, in such mystery films as Der Henker von London/The Mad Executioners (Edwin Zbonek, 1963).

Later he changed his focus to stage and television. TV would make him again a popular star, especially with his role as the commissioner from the city of Essen, Heinz Haferkamp, in the Krimi (crime series) Tatort. Between 1974 and 1980 he played this role 20 times in feature length TV films.

He would play more leads in other TV series, including In Unternehmen Köpenick/Köpenick Adventure (1985), Die Wilsheimer (1987) and Hagedorns Tochter/The Daughters of Hagendorn (1994).

He was also the German dubbing voice of Jack Nicholson (in Chinatown, Terms of Endearment, and Heartburn), Steve McQueen (in The Getaway) and Roy Scheider (in Jaws).

His last films were the Edgar Wallace thriller Die Tote aus der Themse/Angels of Terror (Harald Philipp, 1971) and Fluchtversuch/Attempted Flight (Vojtech Jasny, 1976).

Hansjörg Felmy was married to actress Elfriede Rückert, and after their divorce he married longtime girlfriend and colleague Claudia Wedekind in 1986.

From the mid 1990s on he suffered from osteoporosis, and had to retire.

During his career he was twice awarded the Bambi award (1959, 1977) and also twice the Goldene Kamera (1961, 1980), the award from media magazine Hörzu.

Hansjörg Felmy died in 2007 in his house in Eching near Landshut.

German postcard by ISV, no. M 17. Photo: Real / Europa-Film / Teampress / Weisse.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 275. Photo: Real / NF / Gabriele.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 445. Photo: Bavaria.

Johanna von Koczian, Hansjörg Felmy, Wera Frydtberg

Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 5338. Sent by mail in the Netherlands in 1960. Photo: HAFBO-film. Publicity still for Wir Wunderkinder/Aren't We Wonderful? (1958) with Johanna von Koczian and Wera Frydtberg.

Scene from Wir Wunderkinder/Aren't We Wonderful? (1958). Source: Liebhaberalterfilme (YouTube).

British trailer of Die Tote aus der Themse/Angels of Terror (1971). Source: Modcinema (YouTube).

Sources: Stephanie D'Heil (Steffi-line) (German), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.

German actress Evi Eva (1899-1985) was a popular star of the silent cinema. Later, the once-famous actress lived in very poor conditions.

Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 938. Photo: Lux Film Verleih. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Successful New Generation of Actresses

Evi Eva was born Elly Giese in Berlin, Germany, in 1899.

She worked in the cigarette industry when the 19-year-old was discovered for the film. Her first film was Mulle, der Frechdachs (William Wauer, 1919).

Evi belonged to the successful new generation of actresses who conquered the film business, and she was immediately given leading roles such as in the six part series Nirvana (Fritz Bernhardt. 1920).

To her well-known silent films belong Der Eid des Stephan Huller/The Oath of Stephan Huller (Reinhard Bruck, 1921) with Hanni Weisse, Am Rande der Grossstadt/On the Outskirts of the Big City (Hanns Kobe, 1922), Der Mönch von Santarem/The Monk from Santarem (Lothar Mendes, 1924) with Vivian Gibson, Mister Radio (Nunzio Malasomma, 1924) with Luciano Albertini, Athleten/Athletes (Friedrich Zelnik, 1925) with Hans Albers, Der Veilchenfresser/The Violet Eater (Friedrich Zelnik, 1926) starring Lil Dagover, and Venus im Frack/Venus in Tails (Robert Land, 1927) staring Carmen Boni.

In 1922, she had married Paul Oppen

and they had a child, but they divorced in 1930.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 939. Photo: Lux Film Verleih.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5125. Photo: Ernst Sandau, Berlin.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 938. Photo: Lux Film Verleih.

Berlin Brats

Evi Eva often embodied Berliner Gören (Berlin brats) in film comedies, she rarely appeared in films with a dramatic content.

In addition to her film work, she also appeared on the Berlin stage.

Already in the late 1920s, Evi Eva had to be content with less important film roles. She played small supporting parts in films like Morgenröte/Dawn (Wolfgang Neff, Burton George, 1929) with Paul Henckels.

When the sound era began, she hardly received any offers. She played roles in Die lustigen Weiber von Wien/The Merry Wives of Vienna (Géza von Bolváry, 1931) with Willi Forst, and the Marika Rökkmusical Und du mein Schatz fährst mit/And You My Dear Comes Along (Georg Jacoby, 1937).

Her final film was Urlaub auf Ehrenwort/Furlough on Word of Honour (Karl Ritter, 1937).

Later, the once-famous actress lived in very poor conditions. In 1962 she moved to Munich, but later she returned to Berlin.

Evi Eva died in 1985 in her hometown Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1790/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3317/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Suse Byk, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3518/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

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

María Mercader (1918-2011) was a Spanish actress who acted in Spanish and Italian films, largely between 1939 and 1952. She was the second wife of Vittorio De Sica and mother of Christian and Manuel De Sica.

Spanish Collectors Card by Cifesa / I.G. Viladot Sil, Barcelona.

Italian Films

María Mercader Forcada was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1918. Her brother or her cousin (sources conflict) was Ramón Mercader, the murderer of Leon Trotsky in 1940, in Mexico.

As a young girl Mercader already had a minor part in the Spanish silent film La bruja/The witch (Maximilano Thous, 1923), but her film career really set off in 1939 when she acted in the Spanish musical Molinos de viento/Windmills (Rosario Pi, 1939).

This was followed by her acting in the French crime film L’étrange nuit de Noël/The strange Christmas night (Yvan Noë, 1939), starring Pierre Alcover and Sylvia Bataille.

In the same year she started to act in Italian films, probably first in Il segreto inviolabile/The unbreakable secret (1939), shot at the Titanus studios in Rome but directed by her Spanish compatriot Julio (de) Fleischner, and with another compatriot, José Nieto, as the male star of the film. It was the alternate-language version of the Spanish film Su mayor aventura/Hisgreatest adventure (Julio de Fleischner, 1940)

This set off a huge string of Italian films during the war years, directed by ‘routiniers’ such as Mario Bonnard (La gerla di papa Martin/Disillusion, 1941; Il re si diverte/The King's Jester, 1941) and Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (La forza bruta/Brute Force, 1941; Il prigioniero di Santa Cruz/The prisoner of Santa Cruz, 1941; Una famiglia impossibile/An impossible family, 1941; Due cuori di sequestro/Two heartsunder seizure, 1941; Se io fossi onesto/IfI were really honest, 1942), but also films directed by Giacomo Gentilomo (Brivido/Thrill, 1941) and Luigi Zampa (L’attore scomparso/The Actor Died, 1941).

In Il prigioniero di Santa Cruz, Mercader played opposite her compatriot Juan De Landa, who later played Bragana in Luchino Visconti’s Ossessione (1943). With Michel Simon and Rossano Brazzi, the stars of Tosca (Jean Renoir, Carl Koch, 1941), she acted in the Rigoletto adaptation Il re si diverte/The King's Jester (Mario Bonnard).

Her co-actors in those years were generally established actors such as Ruggero Ruggeri and Armando Falconi, but also such young, upcoming stars as Massimo Serato, Roberto Villa and Leonardo Cortese, and female stars such as Vivi Gioi and Doris Duranti.

María Mercader occasionally acted in Spanish films as well.

Italian postcard by A. Scarmiglia Edizioni, Roma (ASER), no. 105. Photo: Bragaglia, Atlas Film.

Madly In Love

In 1942, on the set of the comedy Un garibaldino al convent/A Garibaldian in the Convent, María Mercader met the director of the film, Vittorio De Sica. He fell madly in love with her, though De Sica was married to actress Giuditta Rissone.

Mercader and De Sica immediately after this production acted together in the comedy Se io fossi onesto/IfI were really honest (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1942).

They were paired again in Non sono superstizioso...ma!/I'm not superstitious... but! (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1943) and I nostri sogni/Our dreams (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1943).

Nevertheless, in those war years Mercader acted in much more films without than with De Sica. These included Finalmente soli!/Finally alone (Giacomo Gentilomo, 1942) with Enrico Viarisio, Musica proibita/Forbidden Music (Carlo Campogalliani, 1942) with singer Tito Gobbi, Il treno crociato/The Red Cross Train (Carlo Campogalliani, 1943) with Rossano Brazzi, La vita è bella/Life is beautiful (Carlo Campogalliani, 1943) with singer Alberto Rabagliati and rising star Anna Magnani, and La primadonna (Ivo Perilli, 1943) with Anneliese Uhlig.

She also was one of the female all-star cast of Nessuno torna indietro/Responsibility Comes Back (Alessandro Blasetti, 1943), co-starring Elisa Cegani, Valentina Cortese, María Denis, Doris Duranti and Mariella Lotti.

During the German occupation of Rome and the Repubblica sociale di Salò, Mercader didn’t join the fascist industry in Venice, so her film acting stopped.

Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini Editori, Firenze, no. 4351. Photo: Pesce / ENIC.

Leading Pair

After the Liberation of Rome, María Mercader renewed her film acting career, and became a leading pair again with Vittorio De Sica in L’ippocampo/The hippocampus (Gian Paolo Rosmino, 1945).

She also had a supporting part in De Sica’s own film La porta del cielo/The Gate of Heaven (Vittorio De Sica, 1945) starring Marina Berti and Massimo Girotti.

After Il canto della vita/The song of life (Carmine Gallone, 1945), starring Alida Valli, she played a minor part in Natale in campo 119/Christmas at Camp 119 (Pietro Francisci, 1947).

Mercader played Clotilda Serra opposite De Sica and the upcoming actor Giorgio De Lullo in the Edmondo De Amicis adaptation Cuore/Heart and Soul (1948), which De Sica co-directed with Duilio Coletti.

After a lead in the period piece Il cavaliere misterioso/The Mysterious Cavalier (Riccardo Freda, 1948), with Vittorio Gassman as Casanova, Mercader stayed away from the screen until 1952, when she was paired with De Sica again in Buongiorno elefante!/Hello Elephant (Gianni Franciolini, 1952), scripted by Suso Cecchi D’Amico and Cesare Zavattini.

After that, only incidental performances followed, such as Christian De Sica’s mother in Giovannino (Paolo Nuzzi, 1976).

In 1988 she acted in La casa del sorriso/The House of Smiles by Marco Ferreri, which won the Golden Bear in Berlin in 1991 (the last Italian film to win in Berlin before Cesare deve morire/Caesar Must Die by the Taviani brothers).

Other cameo appearances Mercader had in Claretta (1984) by Pasquale Squitieri, Il conte Max/Count Max (1991) by Christian De Sica - a remake of his father’s comedy Il signor Max/Mister Max (Mario Camerini, 1937), and Al lupo, al lupo/Wolf! Wolf! (1992) by Carlo Verdone.

All in all she acted in some 40 films between 1923 and 1992. In 1959 Mercader and De Sica married in Mexico, after his divorce of Rissone, but Italian law did not recognize the divorce nor the marriage, so once obtained French citizenship in 1968, Mercader married De Sica again in Paris.

She became the mother of composer Manuel De Sica (1949) and actor and director Christian De Sica (1951).

While De Sica died in Neuily near Paris in 1974, Maria Mercader died in Rome in 2011, at the age of almost 93 years.

In 1978 her autobiography La mia vita con Vittorio De Sica (My Life with Vittorio De Sica) appeared, which was also distributed in Spanish (1980) and French (1981).

Italian or Romanian postcard. Maria Mercader and Michel Simon in Il re si diverte (Mario Bonnard, 1941).

Romanian postcard. Foto: Criterion Romanesc. Maria Mercader and Leonardo Cortese in probably Un garibaldino al convento (Vittorio De Sica, 1942).

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

German actor and singer Hans Stüwe (1901-1976) was also a renown opera director and music historian. With his striking, ascetic looks, he became a big star of the German cinema of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Four times he was the film partner of Ufa diva Zarah Leander.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5082. Photo: PDC Verleih Mondial A.G.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5781. Photo: AAFA / Lux Film Verleih.

French postcard by Cinemagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 604.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 645, 1919-1924. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.

Striking Ascetic Looks

Hans Stüwe was born in Halle an der Saale, Germany, in 1901. His father was a landowner.

Hans studied art history and music in Halle and Leipzig, and in 1923 he made his debut as a baritone at the Stadttheater in Königsberg. He would engage in directing operas and through the years he presented many forgotten operas and published also books on music theory.

He moved to Berlin and started to work as a stage actor too. His role in the play Des Königs befehl (The King's Order) in 1926 made him a big star. From then on he also started to work as a film actor.

With his striking, ascetic looks he soon became a well-known face. In Prinz Louis Ferdinand/Prince Louis Ferdinand (Hans Behrendt, 1927) he already played the title role. This silent historical film, based on the life of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1772–1806), was part of the series of Prussian films made during the Weimar period.

In the crime film Feme/Assassination (Richard Oswald, 1927) he was an assassin, in Schinderhannes/The Prince of Rogues (Kurt/Curtis Bernhardt, 1928) he embodied the18th century outlaw Schinderhannes, in the French-German horror film Cagliostro (Richard Oswald, 1929) he was the eighteenth century Italian occultist Alessandro Cagliostro, and in Die Jugendgeliebte/Goethe's Young Love (Hans Tintner, 1930) he played the famous poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3267/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier König-Rohde, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4006/1, 1929-1930.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4237/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Dührkoop, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4285/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Sandau, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4953/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Yva, Berlin.

Patriotic Films

In the first German feature full sound film Dich hab ich geliebt/Because I Loved You (Rudolph Walther-Fein, 1929), Hans Stüwe had the leading role opposite Mady Christians. It followed part-sound films which had been released earlier in the year.

Next he appeared in the Swiss-German war film Tannenberg (Heinz Paul, 1932), based around the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg during the First World War, a notable German victory. The film focuses on a German landowner Captain von Arndt and his family. The production cost over half a million Reichsmarks to make and employed 8,000 people.

Tannenberg was in sharp contrast to recent anti-war films such as Westfront 1918 (G.W. Pabst, 1930), and served as a national symbol in Germany. It was due to be released on 26 August 1932, the eighteenth anniversary of the battle, but was delayed by the censors acting on a request from the German President Paul von Hindenburg who was unhappy with his portrayal in the film and the première was pushed back until certain scenes had been cut.The film was re-issued in 1936 during the Nazi era.

In another patriotic film, Trenck - Der Roman einer großen Liebe/Trenck (Ernst Neubach, Heinz Paul, 1932), Stüwe played the Eighteenth century adventurer Friedrich von der Trenck.

In Die Tänzerin von Sanssouci/The Dancer of Sanssouci (Friedrich/Frederic Zelnik, 1932), he played Baron von Cocceji , who was the rival of Prussian ruler Friedrich dem Großen (Frederick the Great) (Otto Gebühr) in courting the Italian dance girl Barberina (Lil Dagover).

In another costume drama, Liselotte von der Pfalz/Private Life of Louis XIV (Carl Froelich, 1935) he appeared as Liselotte's (Renate Müller) husband, Philipp von Orleans.

In Richard Eichberg's big adventure epic Der Tiger von Eschnapur/The Tiger of Eschnapur and the sequel Das indische Grabmal/The Indian/The Indian Tomb (Richard Eichberg, 1938), he excelled as the German architect Peter Fürbringeras, who travels to India to build a tomb for the Rajah (Frits van Dongen).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5168/2, 1930-1931. Photo: Elli Cahn, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5518, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Elli Cahn, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5537/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Harlip, Berlin.

French postcard in the Europe series, nr. 602. Sent by mail in 1933.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6853/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Lydor, Berlin / Aafa Film.

Zarah Leander

Hans Stüwe embodied the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht/It Was a Gay Ball night (Carl Froelich, 1939), co-starring with Zarah Leanderand Marika Rökk.

He was again the film partner of Zarah Leander in Der Weg ins Freie/The Way to Freedom (Rolf Hansen, 1941), Damals/At That Time (Rolf Hansen, 1943) and Ave Maria (Alfred Braun, 1953).

After the Second World War, Stüwe engaged himself with directing operas. He suffered from depressions and in the summer of 1950 he did several suicide attempts.

Recovered in 1951, he decided to start acting again. He played a central role in the classic Heimatfilm Grün ist die Heide/The Heath Is Green (Hans Deppe, 1951).

He also had good parts in other Heimatfilms such as Am Brunnen vor dem Tore/At the fountain in front of the gates (Hans Wolff, 1952) opposite Sonja Ziemann, and Komm zurück.../Come Back... (Alfred Braun, 1953).

In 1957 he had his final film role in Blaue Jungs/Seamen (Wolfgang Schleif, 1957) with Karlheinz Böhm, made on location in Hawaii and Tahiti.

From then on he focussed completely on his work as an opera and stage director, and he also worked for radio and TV.

In 1976, Hans Stüwe died of cancer in Berlin, at the age of 75. He was married to Dolbrina Kalschewa. Reportedly the actor had been so shy and reserved that Kalschewa had to ask him to marry her. The pair had a son.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3145/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Lindner / Ufa. Publicity still for Der Weg ins Freie/The Way to Freedom (Rolf Hansen, 1941) with Zarah Leander.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 2527/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3127/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3314/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Foto Binz, Berlin.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3745/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.

Zarah Leander sings Nur nicht aus liebe weinen (Just don't cry for love) in Es war eine Rauschende Ballnacht/It Was a Gay Ballnight (1939).

Sources: Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-line) (German), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Rudi Polt (IMDb), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.