Yoka Berretty

September 24, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Malle gevallen (1934)

≪ Previous: Floris (1969)

$

0

0

Every year in early autumn, the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) takes place. For ten days, the city of Utrecht is the cinema capital of the Netherlands. From 23 September till 2 October, we join the fun with our own Netherlands Film Star Postcards Festival (NFSPF). Today, a post on singer and actress Yoka Berretty (1928), who started her career as a glamorous starlet in Italian films.


Postcard by Forronia.

Italian films

Yoka Berretty was born as Johanna Ernistina Petrusa Meijeringh in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in 1928.

After secondary school, she attended acting classes at the Actor's Studio in New York, at the Théatre de Poche with Marcel Marceau and Etienne Decroux in Paris, and in Rome.

Yoka started her career with bit and supporting parts in the Italian films Angela (Edoardo Anton, Dennis O’Keefe, 1955) featuring Mara Lane, the hit Pane, amore e.../Scandal in Sorrento (Dino Risi, 1955) starring Vittorio de Sicaand Sophia Loren, the hilarious farce La banda degli onesti/The Band of Honest Men (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956) starring the comedians Totò and Peppino De Filippo, and the drama Gli occhi senza luce/The Eyes Without Light (Flavio Calzavara, 1956) with Milly Vitale.

She returned to The Netherlands, where she worked on stage for theatre companies like Nederlandse Comedie, Ensemble, Centrum, Amsterdams Volkstoneel and Theaterunie. She also appeared
on radio and television.

Incidentally, Berretty played small roles in international film productions such as the war drama The Last Blitzkrieg (Arthur Dreifuss, 1959) starring Van Johnson and the Knut Hamsun adaptation Das Letzte Kapitel/The Last Chapter (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1961) with Hansjörg Felmy.


Vittorio de Sica and Sophia Loren dance the mambo in Pane, amore e.../Scandal in Sorrento (1955). Source: Vincent Kent (YouTube). Yoka Berretty plays Erica.


Yoka sings Een op de valreep (one for the road) in 1960. Recognize the picture? Source: Disco82 (YouTube).

TV Personality

Yoka Berretty became a well known TV personality in The Netherlands. In 1959, she was the organizer and co-presenter of the first TV benefit action show Redt een Kind/Save A Child for child refugees from Algeria. A national sensation was the satiric TV show Zo is het toevallig ook nog eens een keer (1963-1966), based on the BBC programme That Was the Week That Was.

She also played parts in the prestigious Dutch films Makkers staakt uw wild geraas/That Joyous Eve (Fons Rademakers, 1960) as the wife of Guus Oster, and opposite Rob de Vries in De Overval/The Silent Raid (Paul Rotha, 1962) about the Dutch resistance in the Second World War.

Her later films were VD (Wim Verstappen, 1972) with Kees Brusse, Rufus (Samuel Meyering, 1975) starring Rijk de Gooyer, the German-Dutch coproduction Charlotte (Frans Weisz, 1981) starring Birgit Doll and Derek Jacobi, the thriller De Prooi/The Prey (Vivian Pieters, 1985) and Advocaat van de Hanen/Punk Lawyer (Gerrit van Elst, 1996) with Pierre Bokma.

In the 1990s, Berretty played leading parts in three films by director and publicist Theo van Gogh, who was assasinated in 2004: Eva (1992), Au!/Ouch! (1997) and In het belang van de staat/In the Interests of the State (1997) starring Marlies Heuer.

The last times she appeared for the cameras was on television in the popular crime series Baantjer (2000), and in the short film Anderland (2003).

Yoka Berretty was married twice. Her first marriage was with Dominique Berretty, a famed Magnum-photographer whose surname she adopted. Later she was married to publisher Andreas Landshoff, the son of German film actress Ruth Hellberg. Yoka Berretty is the mother of Yolante Berretty, and of director Benjamin Landshoff, in whose TV series Erwassus/Once upon a time (1997), she appeared.


De Overval/The Silent Raid (Paul Rotha, 1962). Full movie, no subtitles. Source: kitekat112 (YouTube).


Yoka Berretty sings the title song of the satiric TV programme Zo is het toevallig ook nog eens een keer (1963-1966). Source: Toenwaskwaliteit nogheelgewoon (YouTube).

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at the blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her by clicking on the button below.


Source: Beeld en Geluid Wiki (Dutch), Wikipedia (Dutch), Trouw (Dutch) and IMDb.

---

Malle gevallen (1934)

September 25, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Marius Monkau

≪ Previous: Yoka Berretty

$

0

0

Every year in early autumn, the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) takes place. For ten days, the city of Utrecht is the cinema capital of the Netherlands. From 23 September till 2 October, we join the fun with our own Netherlands Film Star Postcards Festival (NFSPF). Today, in our weekly film special the romantic comedy Malle gevallen/Silly situations (Jaap Speyer, 1934), produced by the Dutch mogul Loet C. Barnstijn.


Dutch postcard, no. 1. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still for the Malle gevallen/Silly Situations (1934) with  Johan Kaart and Louis de Bree.


Dutch postcard, no. 2. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still for Malle Gevallen/Silly Situations (1934) with Roland Varno, Annie van Duyn, Johan Kaart, Enny Meunier, Louis Borel, and Jopie Koopman. Collection: Egbert Barten.


Dutch postcard, no. 3. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still of Annie van Duyn, Enny Meunier, Johan Kaart, and Roland Varno in Malle gevallen (1934).

Three students and three girls

Malle gevallen/Silly situations (1934) was one of the dozens of Dutch sound films, made after the success of the musical De Jantjes/The Tars (Jaap Speyer, 1933). The producer of De Jantjes, film distributor and former cinema operator Loet C. Barnstijn, engaged director Jaap Speyer, who had worked for years in the silent film industry in Berlin and who had directed De Jantjes.

In 1929, Barnstijn had Philips develop the ‘Loetafoon’, his own projection system for sound films. In the few years that followed, he imported sound-film cameras, and was the first person in the Netherlands to produce a short sound film.

Malle gevallen is a romantic comedy written by Hans Martin and Simon Koster based on Martin's 1913 novel. The plot is about three students (Roland Varno, Louis Borel and Johan Kaart Jr.) who are in love with three girls (Enny Meunier, Annie van Duyn and Jopie Koopman).

At the time, Roland Varno (1908-1996) was already known for his role as one of the gymnasiasts in Josef von Sternberg's Der blaue Engel/The Blue Angel (1930). He later worked in Hollywood as a character actor, mainly in B-pictures.

Louis Borel (1905-1973) appeared in films in the Netherlands, in Great Britain and in Hollywood. He also adapted, translated, directed and starred in many stage plays. At the end of his career he became a popular TV star.

Johan Kaart Jr. (1897-1976) starred in seven Dutch films between 1934 and 1937. After the war he played in several other Dutch films. He also worked often for radio and TV, but his main stage was the theatre.

Enny Meunier (1912-1996) was a celebrated stage actress, who also performed on radio and TV. During the 1930s she starred in a few Dutch films.

Stage actress Annie van Duyn (1915-?) played in six films of the 1930s and also in a film after the war. Later she moved to the USA.

Jopie Koopman (1910-1979) was a pretty cabaret artist, who sang and played in several revues and early sound films.


Dutch postcard, no. 4. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still of Roland Varno, Louis Borel, and Johan Kaart in Malle gevallen (1934).


Dutch postcard by M. B.& Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam), no. 5. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Louis Borel and Jopie Koopman in Malle gevallen (1934).


Dutch postcard, no. 6. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still for Malle Gevallen (1934) with Johan Kaart, Annie van Duyn,Roland Varno, Adriaan van Hees, Louis Borel, Enny Meunier and Jopie Koopman. Collection: Egbert Barten.


Dutch postcard, no. 7. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still of Johan Kaart Jr. in Malle gevallen (1934).


Dutch postcard, no. 8. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Roland Varno, Jopie Koopman and Annie van Duyn in Malle gevallen (1934).

Coarseness and bad taste

Malle gevallen/Silly situations (1934) was intended as a light romantic comedy, but it was made into a musical with songs by orchestra leader Max Tak. Although scriptwriters Martin and Koster wanted to make something sophisticated, the final result was a farce. The famous film critic L.J. Jordaan complained about the "coarseness and bad taste" in the film.

Nevertheless, the film was a commercial success. The film was regularly shown in the Dutch cinemas until it was banned in 1942 by the Nazis. Why the Nazis forbade the film is still unknown.

In 1935, Loet C. Barnstijn released De familie van mijn vrouw/The family of my wife (Jaap Speyer, 1935) with Sylvain Poons. That same year he bought the Oosterbeek Estate near Wassenaar and built two film studios. He called this Filmstad (Film City). It consisted of an office, a storage film, a recording studio and a technical workshop.

This studio produced the successful film Merijntje Gijzen's jeugd/Merijntje Gijzen's youth, based on the novels by A.M. de Jong. When World War II broke out, Barnstijn stayed in the United States because of his Jewish background. The film studios of Oosterbeek were confiscated by the German film company Ufa and were later destroyed during an air raid. Barnstijn died in the USA in 1953.

In 2007, the Dutch Filmmuseum presented a DVD of Malle gevallen.


Dutch postcard by M. B.& Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam), no. 9. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Roland Varno and Enny Meunier in Malle gevallen (1934).


Dutch postcard by M. B.& Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam), no. 10. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Roland Varno and Enny Meunier in Malle gevallen (1934).


Dutch postcard, no. 11. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still for Malle Gevallen (1934) with Roland Varno, Johan Kaart, Annie van Duyn, Louis Borel, Jopie Koopman and Enny Meunier. Collection: Egbert Barten.


Dutch postcard, no. 12. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still for Malle Gevallen (1934) with Louis de Bree.


Dutch postcard, no. 14. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn Film. Publicity still for Malle Gevallen (1934) with Roland Varno, Johan Kaart,Annie van Duyn, Enny Meunier and Adriaan van Hees. Collection: Egbert Barten.

Sources: Eye (Dutch), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Marius Monkau

September 26, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Thea Fleming

≪ Previous: Malle gevallen (1934)

$

0

0

Every year in early autumn, the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) takes place. For ten days, the city of Utrecht is the cinema capital of the Netherlands. From 23 September till 2 October, we join the fun with our own Netherlands Film Star Postcards Festival (NFSPF). Today, a post on Dutch singer and actor Marius Monkau (1937). He was well known during the 1960s and 1970s for his performances in stage musicals like Hair, in popular Dutch TV series and in the film Plantage Tamarinde (1964).


Dutch postcard. Photo: Basart Records.

Plantage Tamarinde

Marius Frederik Monau was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1937 from a Surinam father and a Scottish-Dutch mother. His father, Arthur Monkau, played in the Dutch film De Ballade van den Hoge hoed/The Ballad of the high hat (Max de Haas, 1936). Marius is the brother of actor Jack Monkau and photographer Arthur Monkau Jr.

After studying at the MULO, he worked for a while in the textile industry. When he was 17 years old, he came into contact with Tom Manders (famous in the Netherlands as the singing tramp Dorus). He worked in his cabaret Saint Germain des Prés in Amsterdam and later worked with him in German shows.

He toured South Africa with singer Zwarte Riek (Black Riek a.k.a. Rika Jansen). His breakthrough was in the Dutch stage version of the musical Irma la Douce (1962) starring Beppie Nooy (also the director), Johnny Kraaykamp and Donald Jones.

In 1963, Marius made his first appearances in Dutch TV shows performing his song Nita Juanita (My Juanita). Another hit song would be Two lovely blue eyes (1968).

A year later he made his film debut as a singer in Plantage Tamarinde (Michael Forlong, 1964), starring Albert van Dalsum and with his brother Jack in a supporting part. Between 1963 and 1966, he lived and worked mainly in Germany where he was a singer of negro spirituals.

He continued to appear as a singer in Dutch and Belgian TV shows, but also acted in such series as Tot de dood ons scheidt (1969) starring Hans Tiemeyer, the Dutch version of the classic British series Till Death Us Do Part (1965-1975) by Johnny Speight.


Dutch promotion card by RCA Victor, Amsterdam, to promote the single Two Lovely Blue Eyes/Private Guide (1968).

Affair Play

In 1969 Marius Monkau appeared in the successful cabaret revue Met Man en Muis/With Man and Mouse starring Conny Stuart and Elsje de Wijn and written by Annie M.G. Schmidt.

A year later, he could be seen in the Dutch version of the hippy musical Hair (1970), in which he sang I’m black/Ain’t got no and Dead End. In 1970, he also represented the Netherlands at the Knokke Song Contest.

The next years he performed in the TV cabaret show ‘t Oproer kraait/The riot crows by Jaap van der Merwe and Rob Tauber. In 1972 he had a minor hit with his song Leven Zonder Liefde Is Zonde Om Te Leven (A life without love is not worthy to be lived).

Monkau appeared in the TV film Wassen en föhnen/Wash and blow-dry (Rob van der Linden, 1975) with Piet Römer, and in the popular children series Pipo en de lachplaneet/Pipo and the Laugh Planet (Paul Cammermans, 1976), starring Cor Witschge as Pipo the Clown.

His most recent film appearance, according to IMDb, is in the romantic thriller Affair Play (Roeland Kerbosch, 1995), starring Derek de Lint and Lysette Anthony. He also worked as an acting teacher.

Nowadays, Marius Monkau lives in Germany. His son Michael Monkau is a reporter for the Dutch TV news show Hart van Nederland (Heart of the Netherlands).


Marius Monkau sings Two Lovely Blue Eyes. Source: SlampSoul (YouTube).


Report about the musical Hair in the Netherlands. Source: VandaagVoorheen (YouTube).

Source: TheaterEncyclopedie (Dutch), Michael Monkau (Dutch), Een leven lang theater (Dutch), Wikipedia (Dutch) and IMDb.

Thea Fleming

September 27, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Corry Vonk

≪ Previous: Marius Monkau

$

0

0

At the Unofficial Netherlands Film Star Postcards Festival (NFSPF), we present today a post on blonde starlet Thea Fleming (1942). She started as the 'Dutch Brigitte Bardot' and spent much of her career in Rome. There she appeared in several Italian B-films under the stage name Isabella Biancini. During the 1960s and early 1970s, she also starred in and directed several fotoromanzi, the popular Italian photo novels.


Italian collectors card by La Rotografica Romana. Edito dalla Nat Nuova Alta Tensione.

A double for Anita Ekberg

Thea Fleming (also Flemming or Flammy) was born as Thea Catharina Wihelmina Gemma Pfennings in 1942 in Sittard in the south of the Netherlands. Her parents, Nou Pfennings and Mia Pfennings-Courage, were innkeepers. She has a brother, Jack.

In 1960 she was chosen as the Dutch BB (Brigitte Bardot). During a vacation with her mother in Italy, she reportedly was discovered by a film producer.

Her first film appearance was a bit part in the drama La giornata balorda/A Crazy Day (Mauro Bolognini, 1960) with Jean Sorel. The script about the lower class of Rome was written by Pier Paolo Pasolini based on a novel by Alberto Moravia.

She stayed in Rome and worked as a double for Anita Ekberg in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960), according to local Dutch news reports. Another uncredited part followed in the comedy Letto a tre piazza/A bed for three (Steno, 1961) starring Totò and Peppino De Filippo. She had also a small but credited role in the comedy Mariti a congress/Husbands in Congress (Luigi Filippo D'Amico, 1961) with Walter Chiari.

As Thea Flammy, she appeared in the musicarello Canzoni a tempo di twist/Songs with a twist beat (Stefano Canzio, 1962) with Little Tony. Her first bigger part was in the adventure film Taur, il re della forza bruta/Taur the Mighty (Antonio Leonviola, 1963), starring British wrestler Joe Robinson. Richard R. Chandeler at IMDb: “The story is about these bad people oppressing these innocent villagers and how Taur and his cowardly (but equally muscle-bound) companion go about liberating them. This movie is just horribly dull and mostly devoid of even unintentional humor.”

Credited as Isabella Biancini, she had a small part in the much better comedy Il successo/The Success (Mauro Morassi, Dino Risi (uncredited), 1963), starring Vittorio Gassman and Anouk Aimée. Excellent was also the comedy I mostri/15 from Rome (Dino Risi, 1963) with Vittorio Gassman and Ugo Tognazzi, but again her part was small.


Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4648.

Director of fotoromanzi

Although local Dutch newspaper reports of the 1960s always called Thea Fleming a ‘film diva’, her actual film career in Italy was rather modest. As a starlet, she played small roles in quality films and bigger parts in exploitation films and she posed for countless glamour photos.

Fleming played supporting parts in little known trash as the sexploitation film Salome '73 (Odoardo Fiory, 1965), the Eurospy film Asso di picche - Operazione controspionaggio/Operation Counterspy (Nick Nostro, 1965) and the comedy Mondo pazzo... gente matta!/Crazy world... crazy people! (Renato Polselli, 1966) starring Silvana Pampanini.

She had one of her biggest parts in the thriller Il nostro agente a Casablanca/The Killer Lacks a Name (Tulio Demicheli, 1966). Next she had a part in the crime comedy L'assalto al centro nucleare/The Million Dollar Countdown (Mario Caiano, 1967) starring Frank Wolff, and in the war film Uccidete Rommel/Kill Rommel! (Alfonso Brescia, 1969) with Anton Diffring.

Her last film at IMDb is the sex comedy Come fu che Masuccio Salernitano, fuggendo con le brache in mano, riuscì a conservarlo sano/How to cuckold jealous husbands (Silvio Amadio, 1972).

She had a second career in the popular fotoromanzi or fotonovelas of the 1960s and 1970s. She appeared in such Italian and Spanish photo novels as O anjo da moret/The Angel of Death (1970) and Killing 5 La grande fuga. She worked not only as an actress/model but also as a director under the name of Claudia Courage.

According to Dutch newspaper reports she was engaged in the mid-1960s to film actor Giancarlo Viola (Giancarlo del Duca), the son of an airplane engineer. In 1973, she married the British singer-songwriter Michael Shepstone, known for writing hits like Yellow Boomerang by Middle of the Road. In 1974 their daughter Jessica was born. After that Thea Shepstone-Fleming lived with her family in Bournemouth, Great Britain.


Trailer Canzoni a tempo di twist/Songs with a twist beat (1962). Source: giuser56 (YouTube).


Yellow Boomerang (1973) by Middle of the Road. Source: fritz5134 (YouTube).

Sources: Richard R. Chandeler (IMDb), Delpher (Dutch), Nationaal Archief (Dutch), Italian Cinema Database, Killingmania, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Corry Vonk

September 28, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Willem Nijholt

≪ Previous: Thea Fleming

$

0

0

At the Unofficial Netherlands Film Star Postcards Festival (NFSPF), today a post on a star of the Dutch cabaret and revue, Corry Vonk (1901-1988). In the 1930s, she also often appeared in some Dutch films.


Dutch postcard by M.B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam). Photo: Monopole Film/Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag. Publicity still for Bleeke Bet (1934).

Cabaret

Cornelia Diederika Vonk was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1901. Her father was the stage manager of Theater Carré, the most famous theatre in Amsterdam.

At 12, Corry (sometimes written as Corrie) made her stage debut with the theatre company of Nap de la Mar, the father of the legendary Dutch actress Fien de la Mar. Later she worked for the companies of cabaret star Louis Davids and actor/director Eduard Verkade.

In 1933 she married cabaret artist Wim Kan, who was almost ten years younger.

In the 1930s she played some supporting parts in Dutch films, like in Bleeke Bet/Bleak Beth (Alex Benno, Richard Oswald, 1934), De Suikerfreule/The Sugar Countess (Haro van Peski, 1935) with Johan Elsensohn,Kermisgasten/Show People (Jaap Speyer, 1936) with Johan Kaart, and Komedie om geld/The Trouble with Money (Max Ophüls, 1936).

She also co-wrote the scenario for the hit film Pygmalion (Ludwig Berger, 1937) based on the play by George Bernard Shaw. In 1936 Wim Kan started the ABC-cabaret, of which his wife was the big star. Kan wrote some texts for her which became classics of the Dutch cabaret, including the monologue Het konijn is dood (The bunny is dead).


Dutch Postcard by Monopole Film, Rotterdam. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag (The Hague). Publicity still for Bleeke Bet (1934).


Dutch Postcard by Monopole Film, Rotterdam. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag (The Hague). Publicity still for Bleeke Bet (1934).


Dutch Postcard by Monopole Film, Rotterdam. Photo: Dick van Maarseveen, Den Haag (The Hague). Publicity still for Bleeke Bet (1934).

Japanese Concentration Camp

In 1939 Corry Vonk, Wim Kan and the ABC-cabaret left for a tour through the Dutch East Indies. 2279 days later they could finally return. During the Japanese occupation Corry was imprisoned in the concentration camp Tjimahi.

Buttercup2009 commented on Flickrat the first postcard in this post: "The book, The Way of a Boy - a Memoir of Java by Ernest Hillen who was 7 years old at the time of the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, has some heart warming recollections of Corry Vonk - her selflessness (sharing her food and volunteering for a job no one else wanted - washing bandages at the hospital) and her courage as well as her wisdom. She organized a theatre group in the camp that lifted the spirits of both the participants and the audience. She showed by example how to keep one's goodness in the face of adversity".

After the war, the ABC-cabaret made a come back. Corry Vonk, who had become older, moved to the background. In the following decades Wim Kan became one of the three great stars of the Dutch post-war cabaret.

Corry had some major successes too, such as the 1966 song Met me vlaggetje, me hoedje en me toeter (With me flag, me hat and me horn). And she always appeared on stage at the end of her husband’s legendary one man shows at New Year’s Eve.

In 1982 Corry Vonk was stricken by a brain haemorrhage. One year later Wim Kan died. The last years of her life she passed in seclusion. In 1988 she died in Rheden, the Netherlands at the age of 86.


Trailer of Komedie om geld/The Trouble with Money (1936). Source: Flawless 1212 (YouTube).


Corry Vonk sings Met me vlaggetje, me hoedje en me toeter (With me flag, me hat and me horn). Source: Vanalleswat33 (YouTube).

Sources: Buttercup2009 (Flickr), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Willem Nijholt

September 29, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: John van Dreelen

≪ Previous: Corry Vonk

$

0

0

In the Unofficial Netherlands Film Star Postcards Festival (NFSPF), today a post on Dutch actor, and also dancer and singer, Willem Nijholt (1934). His versatility led him to work in musicals, TV shows, stage plays, cabaret and in several films. In recent years he has also become known as a TV juror and author.


Dutch autograph card.

Started With Nothing

Willem Adrianus Nijholt was born in Gombong, Kedoe, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1934. He was the son of Jan Nijholt, a KNIL instructor, and Willemina Sophia Maria Arntz.

At age eight he ended up in a Japanese POW camp, which left a deep scar for the rest of his life. At fourteen, he saw his father again, who was sent to work on the Burma Railway by the Japanese.

After World War II, the family left the Dutch East Indies and settled in Millingen, the birthplace of his mother. Nijholt attended temporarily HBS (Higher Civic School) in Nijmegen, was briefly in the Navy and went to study at the school for dramatic arts in Amsterdam at age 23. His ill mother died in 1959, before she could see him performing on stage.

Nijholt fell in love with the author Gerard Reve, who rejected him, but in 1962 he played a role in Reve’s play Commissaris Fennedy/Commissioner Fennedy and the two connected. His letters to Reve are published in the book Met Niets Begonnen (Started With Nothing).

He made his screen debut in the TV film De huzaren/The Hussars (Walter van der Kamp, 1960). In 1964 he performed the role of Hoofd Piet (Head Pete) once during the national arrival of Sinterklaas in Hoorn. In 1968 he appeared in the popular satirical TV Show Hadimassa. He became very popular among children with his part in the innovative TV show Oebele (Bram van Erkel, 1968-1972) with Wieteke van Dort. And he made his film debut in Daniel (Erik Terpstra, 1971) with Peter Schaapman.


Dutch card.

The Duch equivalent of the Academy Award

In the 1970s, Willem Nijholt had his definitive breakthrough. On stage, he worked with Wim Sonneveld in a successful cabaret show in 1971.

In 1974 he played Theo Oudijck in the popular TV series De stille kracht/The Silent Force (Walter van der Kamp, 1974), with Pleuni Touw. Their nude scene was a big sensation. He also played Ben van Rooyen in the youth series De Kris Pusaka/The Kris Pusaka (Bram van Erkel, 1977).

Nijholt starred in several stage musicals, including Wat een planeet (What a planet; 1973) and Foxtrot (1977), written by Annie MG Schmidt. In 1977 he was awarded the Johan Kaartprijs (Johan Kaart award).

In 1981 he played a voice teacher in the play Children of a Lesser God. He was asked to play this role in London too, but he did not accept the offer.

He played roles in Dutch films like the box office hit Ciske de Rat (Guido Pieters, 1984) with Danny de Munk and Willeke van Ammelrooy, and Havinck (Frans Weisz, 1987) in which he played the title character. Chip Douglas at IMDb: “Nijholt, at age 50, was ten years too old. But director Frans Weisz, who screen testing countless leading men opposite (debutant Anne Martien) Lousberg, still wanted Nijholt to read with her, because he had a feeling Willem could bring out the best in Anne Martien. The young actress obviously felt the same way, because she decided there and then that Nijholt was the one to play her father. He ended up winning the coveted 'Golden Calf' award (the Duch equivalent of the Academy Award) for his efforts.”

In 1989 he played the lead role in the short film Alaska, Mike van Diem’s graduation film at the Dutch Film and Television Academy. The film won a Golden Calf and a Student Academy Award. In 1989, Nijholt played the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret (1989). That year, actor Guido de Moor passed to him the prestigious Paul Steenbergen medal, which he passed in 2002 to actor Pierre Bokma.


Wim Sonneveld&Willem Nijholt in a registration of the Wim Sonneveld Show (1974). Sorry, no subtitles. Source: NostalgieTheater (YouTube).

The Last Call

Willem Nijholt played part in the acclaimed TV series Bij nader inzien/On closer inspection (Frans Weisz, 1991) and Op afbetaling/In part-payment (Frans Weisz, 1993) with Renée Soutendijk.

He also continued to appear regularly in Dutch films. He played Etienne in the Harry Mulisch adaptation Hoogste Tijd/The Last Call (Frans Weisz, 1995) starring Rijk de Gooijer. He appeared with Helmut Berger and Udo Kier in Unter den Palmen/Under the palms (Miriam Kruishoop, 1999) and reunited with Pleuni Touw in De vriendschap/The friendship (Nouchka van Brakel, 2001).

Nijholt appeared in several family films, including Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002), Pietje Bell 2: De Jacht op de Tsarenkroon/Peter Bell II: The Hunt for the Czar Crown (Maria Peters, 2003) and De Griezelbus/The Horror Bus (Pieter Kuijpers, 2005).

Willem Nijholt enjoyed a massive success when he played the controller in the Dutch edition of the stage musical Miss Saigon (1996). Another great musical role was Fagin in Oliver! (1999-2000).

In 2002 he retired from the musical and in 2004 he played his last stage role. In 1999 Willem Nijholt was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. In the television talent quest show Op zoek naar ... (2007-2011; Looking for Evita, Looking for Joseph, Looking for Mary Poppins and Looking for Zorro), Nijholt was the juror.

Since 2011 he is a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. His most recent screen role was in the TV crime series Penoza II (Diederik Van Rooijen, 2012-2013), starring Monic Hendrickx.


Willem Nijholt sings Koen de Postkoetsboef in the TV show Oebele (ca. 1972). Sorry, no subtitles. Source: Geluidsjager (YouTube).


Scene from Ciske de Rat (Guido Pieters, 1984). Sorry, no subtitles. Source: Nostalgische Tijden (YouTube).

Sources: Chip Douglas (IMDb), Een leven lang theater (Dutch), Wikipedia (Dutch), and IMDb.

John van Dreelen

September 30, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Lily Bouwmeester

≪ Previous: Willem Nijholt

$

0

0

Today EFSP presents in our unofficial Netherlands Film Star Postcards Festival: John van Dreelen (1922-1992). This distinguished Dutch actor played German officers and other bad guys in many European and American films, but he is best remembered as an A-list guest star in dozens of American television shows from the early sixties to the mid-eighties. Van Dreelen also enjoyed an international stage career and starred as Captain von Trapp in the original American touring production of The Sound of Music. His smooth charisma and distinctive Dutch accent kept him in worldwide demand throughout a career that spanned more than 40 years.


German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto (Universum-Film A.G., Abt. Film-Foto), Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 435. Photo: Ewald / Ariston / Columbia.

Disguised as a German Officer

John van Dreelen was born as Jacques van Drielen Gimberg in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1922. He was the son of celebrated Dutch actor/director Louis Gimberg and the French baroness Josine Elise Labouchere. Despite his mother's desire that he joined her family's well-established porcelain business, young Jack Gimberg chose his father’s profession.

Only 19 years old, he made his stage debut at the Residentie Toneel in Den Haag (The Hague) in 1941. Two years later he was sent to the Emslandlager labour camp near Papenburg in Nazi-occupied Holland, where he was assigned to grueling street construction. In the camp he joined a performers' troupe, and during one performance, he managed to grab a German uniform from the audience cloak room. Fluent in Dutch, English, French, Italian ánd German, he escaped by disguising himself as one of the German officers which he would later so often play on both big and small screens.

After the war, he made his film debut in the Dutch war drama Niet tevergeefs/But Not in Vain (Edmond T. Greville, 1948) with Max Croiset and Jopie Koopman. In France, he played a bit part in the original film version of Colette’s Gigi (Jacqueline Audry, 1949) starring Danièle Delorme and Gaby Morlay.

He was invited by Laurence Olivier to co-star in his 1950 production of Daphne Laureola. He changed his stage name from Jack Gimberg to John Van Dreelen. Following a tour of England, the play landed briefly in New York. There Van Dreelen appeared in a few TV shows, but restrictive immigration laws made it impossible for him to stay in America.

Disappointed he returned to Europe. He played Audrey Hepburn's husband in both the English and French versions of the comedy Monte Carlo Baby/Nous irons à Monte Carlo (Jean Boyer, Lester Fuller, 1951). Next he appeared in the French crime film Brelan d'as/Full House (Henri Verneuil, 1952) based on stories by Peter Cheney and Georges Siménon.

The following years he mainly appeared in German films, including a leading role in the Heimatfilm Rote Rosen, rote Lippen, roter Wein/Tender and True (Paul Martin, 1953) opposite Gardy Granass, a small role in the war film Der letzte Akt/The Last Ten Days (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1955) about the last ten days of Adolph Hitler, and the crime film In Hamburg sind die Nächte lang/In Hamburg Nights Are Long (Max Michel, 1956) with Barbara Rütting.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 823. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Apollo Film / Deutsche London Film. Still for Rote Rosen, rote Lippen, roter Wein/Tender and True (1953).

The Man Who Shot Frank Sinatra

John van Dreelen made his U.S. film debut in A Time to Love and a Time to Die (Douglas Sirk, 1958), a grim movie about Germany in the last months of World War II. Director Douglas Sirk was instrumental in helping John and his wife Jane emigrate to America. Although he would never become a major player in the American cinema, he nonetheless scored a few choice roles in the following years.

He was one of the victims of Coleen Gray in the horror/SciFi film The Leech Woman (Edward Dein, 1960). In Von Ryan’s Express (Mark Robson, 1965) he played a German officer who shot Frank Sinatra. During the rest of his career he would play many more German officers and other bad guys.

Despite his close identification with despotic roles, he also easily breezed through light drama and comedy. For instance as a Danish concert pianist who rescues and woos Lana Turner during an extended sequence in Madame X (David Lowell Rich, 1966).

But he is best remembered for his guest starring roles in many legendary TV series. He cut a dashing and memorable villain in such sixties pop culture series as Gunsmoke (1961), Rawhide (1962), Twilight Zone (1964), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), Perry Mason (1964-1965), I Spy (1965), Mission: Impossible (1967), The Mod Squad (1968) and The Wild Wild West (1966-1969). Van Dreelen became the quintessential urbane sadist. His turns as unrepentant Nazis, aristocratic dictators, and cold-blooded Iron Curtain assassins are without peer.

Van Dreelen also enjoyed an international stage career and starred in 1962 as Captain Von Trapp in the first national tour of The Sound of Music opposite alternately Barbara Meister and Jeannie Carson. He was considered composer Richard Rodgers's first choice to play the film role that eventually went to Christopher Plummer. It was the most bitter disappointment of Van Dreelen’s career.


A Tribute to Madame X (1966). Source: Monique classique (YouTube).

Memorable TV Series

John van Dreelen continued to appear in both Hollywood movies and European films. Among his later films are the satire Die Ente klingelt um halb acht/The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven (Rolf Thiele, 1968) with Heinz Rühmann, the Cold War thriller Topaz (Alfred Hitchcock, 1969), the musical Lost Horizon (Charles Jarrott, 1973), the thriller The Formula (John G. Advilsen, 1980) with Marlon Brando, and the silly slapstick romance The Money Pit (Richard Benjamin, 1986) starring Tom Hanks.

Meanwhile he guest-starred in such memorable TV series as Get Smart (1970), McCloud (1970), Ironside (1967-1970), the German Krimi Tatort (1974), Police Story (1975), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-1976), Charlie’s Angels (1977), The Rockford Files (1978), The New Adventures of Wonder Woman (1978), Falcon Crest (1984), Knight Rider (1985), Dynasty (1985) and Airwolf (1985).

In the last phase of his career he returned to Europe, especially to Germany and the country where he was born, the Netherlands. Through the years he had appeared in Dutch productions such as the TV musical Vadertje Langbeen/Daddy Longlegs (Willy van Hemert, 1964) opposite Jenny Arean, the TV series De kleine Zielen/The Little Souls (Bob Löwenstein, 1969-1970) based on the novel by Louis Couperus, the action film Rufus (Samuel Meyering, 1975) opposite Rijk de Gooyer and Yoka Berretty, the thriller Mascara (1987, Patrick Conrad) starring Charlotte Rampling, Odyssée d'amour (1987, Pim de la Parra), the romantic thriller Zoeken naar Eileen/Looking for Eileen (Rudolf van den Berg, 1987) with Thom Hoffman, and the sweet TV comedy Beppie (Rob Herzet, 1989).

His final film was the German-English-French production Becoming Colette (Danny Huston, 1991) starring Mathilda May as the young writer Colette.

John van Dreelen died in 1992 in Cap d’Agde. The Dutch press acknowledged the passing of one of its most famous expatriates. Van Dreelen was married three times. His second and third wives were dancer Rosemarie Rand and Philippine Rosemarie Detayo.


Scenes from the Dutch TV series De kleine Zielen/The Little Souls (1969-1970). Source: John Knap (YouTube).

Sources: David Durrett (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Lily Bouwmeester

October 1, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Bartolomeo Pagano

≪ Previous: John van Dreelen

$

0

0

Dutch theatre and film actress Lily Bouwmeester (1901–1993) was a member of the famous Bouwmeester family, mostly consisting out of actors. In 1991, she was awarded with a Pre-Golden Calf for being ‘the best actress in Pre-War Dutch cinema’.


Dutch postcard by Colosseum Theater, Rotterdam. Photo: Neerlandia-Filmex. Publicity still for Morgen gaat het beter/Tomorrow It Will Be Better (Friedrich Zelnik, 1939).

Violinist, dancer or actress?

Lily Geertruida Maria Henriëtte Bouwmeester was born in Amsterdam in 1901. She was the daughter of violinist Ludovicus Adolphus Bouwmeester and pianist Julie Marie Arpeau.

As a child, Lily toured with her parents through Europe, while preparing to become a violinist as well. The touring proved to be too exhausting for Bouwmeester, so in 1913, she moved in with her aunt, the famous actress Theo Mann-Bouwmeester. She dreamed to become a dancer, but her aunt sent her to several theatre auditions. At the age of 14, she debuted in a theatre production of the stage company Tooneelvereeniging managed by author Herman Heijermans.

In 1916, Bouwmeester started acting in silent films as well. She debuted at the Hollandia studios in the silent drama Majoor Frans/Major Francis (Maurits Binger, 1916), which starred Dutch silent film diva Annie Bos. It was followed by by other Hollandia productions such as Het geheim van Delft/The secret of Delft (Maurits Binger, 1917) and Het goudvischje/The Little Gold Fish (Maurits Binger, 1919) with Lily as Annie Bos’s sister.

In 1917, she landed a contract with the prestigious Toneelvereeniging directed by the innovative actor-director Eduard Verkade and she performed at the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam. Verkade inspired her to make a real career out of her acting and she was praised by theatre critics.

In the meanwhile, she appeared in films like Pro Domo (Theo Frenkel, 1917) as the daughter of Louis Bouwmeester and Theo Mann Bouwmeester, De duivel in Amsterdam/The Devil in Amsterdam (Theo Frenkel, 1919) with Eduard Verkade as the devil, and Helleveeg/The Shrew (Theo Frenkel, 1920), featuring Mien Duymaer van Twist. Her last silent film was the British-Dutch silent drama Zaken zijn zaken/Sheer Bluff (Frank Richardson, 1921) with Henry Victor.


Dutch promotion card by Cinema Odeon, Den Haag. Photo: Neerlandia. Publicity still for Vadertje Langbeen/Daddy Longlegs (Friedrich Zelnik, 1938) with Lily Bouwmeester as Judy and Paul Storm as Vadertje Langbeen.

Eliza Doolittle

Lily Bouwmeester married actor-director Theo Frenkel Jr. in 1921. She left the Stadsschouwburg to produce her own plays with her husband. They moved to the Hague in 1923 and performed in Rotterdam, where she became more famous. Through the years, Bouwmeester developed in theatre and decided she was on her best at comedic roles. She and her husband divorced in 1933.

Two years later, she married stage manager Cor van der Lugt Melsert. He wanted her to become a housewife. Bouwmeester, needing a break from acting, did what she was asked to and left the theatre.

However, she didn't give up acting. In 1935, when the sound film had just been introduced in the Netherlands, she auditioned for the lead role in De Kribbebijter/The Cross-Patch (1935), but was refused on accounts of being 'too plain looking'. But she was noticed by director Ludwig Berger, who cast her as Eliza Doolittle in his Dutch adaptation of G.B. Shaw’s Pygmalion (1937). It would be her first film since 1921.

Pygmalion grew out the be the most successful Dutch Pre-War film. She became an instant star and even had to hire a secretary to handle her fan mail. She was offered a five-year contract with Paramount Pictures. She declined, however, because her husband was unwilling to travel to the United States with her. Instead, she remained acting in the biggest Dutch film productions of the 1930s.

Her following films all became box office hits, with only one exception. With her round face and her big expressive eyes the 37 years old Bouwmeester could easily play young girls in Vadertje Langbeen/Daddy Long Legs (1938) and Morgen gaat het beter/Tomorrow It Will Be Better (1939), both directed by German immigrant director Friedrich Zelnik.

She also convinced as the fragile coquettish wife opposite Jan de Hartog in Ergens in Nederland/Somewhere in the Netherlands (Ludwig Berger, 1940), about the mobilization on the brink of the Second World War. The film was just ready for release when the Netherlands were conquered by the Nazis, who forbade its exhibition. World War II forced the Dutch film industry to stop doing business and Lily Bouwmeester’s promising film career was abruptly and definitively finished.


Long fragments of the silent film Ulbo Garvema (Maurits Binger, 1917). Source: Eye (YouTube).

The Fourposter

During World War II, Lily Bouwmeester refused offers by the German studio Ufa and she secretly took in two Jewish boys in her home in The Hague.

After the liberation in 1945, she was offered film roles again, but declined all offers. She decided to return to the theatre instead and from September 1945 on, she worked for the Residentie Tooneel.

In 1948, she moved to the Rotterdams Toneel for five seasons. She returned in her success role of Eliza Doolittle and would play Pygmalion on stage for more than 800 times. She was also remembered for playing the lead role in the play Het Hemelbed (The Fourposter) in 1952. Author Jan de Hertog had written it especially for her. She would play it more than 500 times.

However, in 1955 she took a break from acting again to take some rest. In 1960 she returned to theatre, performing on stage in Arnhem. Meanwhile, she appeared on several television shows, including the TV film Een stukje van jezelf/A piece of yourself (1967).

In 1969, she resigned from acting completely. After the death of her husband in 1990, she moved to Sliedrecht, where she spent the rest of her life in seclusion. Although she was awarded with a Pre-Golden Calf - being named the ‘Best Actress of Pre-War Dutch Cinema’ - in 1991, she was lonely in her final years.

Lily Bouwmeester died in 1993 in a local hospital in Sliedrecht, at the age of 92. She was cremated in the Hague. She had no children.


First part of Vadertje Langbeen/Daddy Long Legs (1938). Source: Dutchclassics (YouTube).


Clip of Ergens in Nederland/Somewhere in the Netherlands (1940). Source: Eye (YouTube).

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at the blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her by clicking on the button below.


Sources: A.J.C.M. Gabriëls (Huygens ING – Dutch), Chip Douglas (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

---

Bartolomeo Pagano

October 2, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Luciano Albertini

≪ Previous: Lily Bouwmeester

$

0

0

Today starts the 34th edition of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone. We are in Italy to attend this wonderful festival of the silent film and will post about the stars of the highlights of the festival. Opening film is Maciste alpino/The Warrior (Giovanni Pastrone, 1916) in which Italian actor Bartolomeo Pagano (1878-1947) stars as Maciste. His name is forever attached to the character of the strong man, which he played in 25 films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 478/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Riess.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 478/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Riess.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 368. Bartolomeo Pagano aka Maciste in Maciste all'inferno/Maciste in Hell (Guido Brignone, 1926).

In blackface

Bartolomeo Pagano was born in the Sant’Ilario quarter of Genua in 1878. He was the son of Neapolitan father. As an adult he worked as a dock-hand in the port of Genua, in the nearby quarter of Nervi.

Different versions circulate about his discovery for the cinema. In 1913 film director and producer Giovanni Pastrone, manager of the Itala company of Turin, released a call for the interpreter of the character of the Nubic slave Maciste (a character created together with author Gabriele D’Annunzio) for Pastrone’s super-production Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone, 1914) starring diva Italia Almirante-Manzini. Out of 50 candidates from all over Italy, Pastrone selected Pagano.

According to another version, it was actor Domenico Gambino who noticed Pagano and signalled him to Pastrone, who, impressed by his muscular physique, hired him for his epic film. Overnight the film made Pagano an international success because of his muscles and his image as a courageous, humorous and no-nonsensical defender of the weak. In Cabiria he uses his power to rescue a Roman girl out of the hands of the Carthaginian priests who want to offer her to Moloch.

Pastrone immediately saw opportunities with his new star and launched a series of vehicles for his character, starting with a film simply called Maciste (Luigi Romano Borgnetto, Vincenzo Denizot, 1915). Deliberately, Maciste’s part in Cabiria, the splendour of the Itala studio, and Maciste’s work there, were shown to impress audiences and tie them to the previous box office hit. Of course the plot deals with a damsel in distress, whom Maciste saves with his muscles and his wit.

During the First World War, Pastrone used Maciste for war propaganda in Maciste alpino/The Warrior (Giovanni Pastrone, 1916), in which Maciste fiercely opposes the Austrian soldiers when he and his colleagues are captured during a film shoot on location. The success of the film made Pastrone exploit Maciste in all kinds of situations and genres, but mostly in the adventure and crime genre: Maciste medium (Vincenzo Denizot, 1918), Maciste atleta/Maciste Athlete (Vincenzo Denizot, Giovanni Pastrone, 1918), Maciste poliziotto (Roberto Roberti, 1918), Maciste innamorato/Maciste in Love (Luigi Romano Borgnetto, 1919), La trilogia di Maciste/The Maciste Trilogy (Carlo Campogalliani, 1920), Maciste salvato dalle acque/Maciste saved from the waters (Luigi Romano Borgnetto, 1921), and Maciste in vacanza/Maciste on holiday (Luigi Romano Borgnetto, 1921).

In all these films he performed Maciste in 'blackface', which he continued to do in all 25 films in which he played Maciste. By now Pastrone did not direct the films anymore but left this task to skilled directors like Luigi Romano Borgnetto. While not all of these were good productions, La Trilogia di Maciste (1920) by Carlo Campogalliani was one of the better Maciste films.


Publicity still of the Italian silent film classic Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone 1914), with Alex Bernard, Edoardo Davesnes, Italia Almirante-Manzini and Lydia Quaranta.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano. Photo: Dist. Società Anonima Stefano Pittaluga. Publicity still of Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste in Maciste all'inferno/Maciste in Hell (Guido Brignone, 1926).


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano. Photo: Pittaluga Films, Torino. Publicity still for the Italian silent film Maciste all'inferno (Guido Brignone, 1926), starring Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste and Pauline Polaire as Graziella.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano. Photo: Pittaluga Films, Torino. Publicity still for Maciste all'inferno/Maciste in Hell (Guido Brignone 1926). Caption: Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) called before king Pluto (Umberto Guarracino). On the right on the back Pluto's daughter Luciferina (Lucia Zanussi) is standing. The bold guy on the left must be Gerione (Mario Saio).

Strong Men of Forzuti

While Bartolomeo Pagano’s precursor Bruto Castellani, the strong man Ursus in Quo vadis (Enrico Guazzoni, 1913), had no followers, Pagano’s Maciste did.

In Italy a strong men or forzuti genre in film sprang up, creating space for characters such as Ausonia, Galaor, Ajax, and Sansone, and attracting competing strong men and physical culture champions such as Giovanni Raicevich.

But Pagano’s Maciste was also simply pirated abroad, such as by the French actor Michel Bonnet with his character Magiste, and there was another rip-off in Mexico.

French critic Louis Delluc called him the 'Guitry of biceps', while newcomers Ultus (Aurele Sydney) and Douglas Fairbanks were launched as the British and the American Maciste.

In the late 1910s and early 1920s Maciste’s popularity was the biggest in Austria and Germany, despite the preceding anti-Austrian Maciste alpino/The Warrior (1916). At home in Italy, Maciste’s image of superman coincided with the new fascist ideology. In the 1920s Pagano was one of the best paid actors of his times, sometimes gaining 600.000 lire a year.


Italian postcard. Photo: Pittaluga Films, Torino (Turin). Publicity still for the Italian silent film Maciste contro lo sceicco/Maciste Against the Sheik (Mario Camerini, 1926). Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) hoists the sails, while the evil captain (Alex Bernard) looks on.


Italian postcard. Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) in Maciste contro lo sceicco/Maciste against the Sheik (Mario Camerini, 1926), produced by Pittaluga Film, Turin.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 76. Photo: Pittaluga Films, Torino. Publicity still for Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni/Maciste in the Lion's cage (Guido Brignone, 1926), starring Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste.


Italian postcard. Photo: Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) in Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni/Maciste in the Lion's cage (Guido Brignone, 1926), produced by Pittaluga Film, Turin.

Inspiring Federico Fellini

Bartolomeo Pagano continued to star in the Maciste-films until the early-1920s, when, not so much because of the collapse of the Italian film production but rather because of a fabulous contract, Pagano went to Berlin, the mecca of the European film industry.

Here he stayed between 1921 and 1923, but according to the film press he wasn’t as successful there, playing in Maciste und die Japanerin/Maciste and the Japanese Woman (Uwe Jenss Kraft, 1921) with Carola Toelle, Maciste und die Tochter des Silberkönig/Maciste and the Daughter of the Silver King (Luigi Romano Borgnetto, 1921) opposite Helena Makowska, Maciste und der Sträfling Nr. 51/Maciste and the convict No. 51 (Luigi Romano Borgnetto, 1921), and Maciste und die Chinesische Truhe/Maciste and the Chinese chest (Carl Boese, 1923e).

Dissatisfied Pagano returned to Italy, where producer Stefano Pittaluga immediately put him on a transatlantic for the film Maciste e il nipote d’America/Maciste and the grandson of America (Eleuterio Rodolfi, 1924), which included scenes shot in New York. Among the less convincing titles is Maciste imperatore/Maciste Emperor (Guido Brignone, 1924).

The same year Brignone directed Pagano in Maciste all’Inferno/Maciste in Hell (1926), a witty and artful pastiche on Dante, Gustave Doré, Georges Méliès, Expressionism and medieval illustrations. It also contains ingenious special effects by ‘magician’ Segundo de Chomon. When entering Hades, Maciste is being seduced by Proserpina, played by Italian diva Elena Sagro, and he turns into a hairy devil himself. The film was dear to Federico Fellini, because of its weird, fairy-tale-like atmosphere; the film supposedly inspired him to become film director.

Bored with his Maciste films, Pagano asked and got different roles: Il vetturale del Moncenisio/The coachman of the Mont Cenis (Baldassarre Negroni, 1927) with Rina De Liguoro, Giuditta e Oloferne/Judith and Holofernes (Baldassarre Negroni, 1928) starring Jia Ruskaja, and his last part (a secondary one by now) in L’ultimo Zar/The last Tsar (Baldassarre Negroni, 1928).

The actor retired from films in 1926 to marry Camilla Balduzzi and he raised a family in his Villa Maciste in Sant’Ilario Ligure near Genua. Diabetes destroyed his forces, and typhoid reduced his weight in drastic ways, while arthritis even obliged him to spend his last years in a wheelchair. The outside world didn’t know.

Bartolomeo Pagano died of a heart attack in San Ilario Ligure in 1947. According to Italian film historian Vittorio Martinelli, Pagano never was a real actor, but rather the lively personification of a character from popular literature. His character’s name remains as synonym for power and courage. After Pagano's death, the character of Maciste was played by several other actors. In 1960-1965 Maciste was revived in the sword and sandal films with Mark Forrest, Gordon Scott, Ed Fury and other bodybuilders, while in the early 1970s cult director Jesus Franco made two low-budget Maciste-films for French producers.


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 368. Photo: Bartolomeo Pagano aka Maciste in Maciste all'inferno (Guido Brignone, 1926).


Trailer for Maciste all’Inferno/Maciste in Hell (1926). Source: Comfort Film (YouTube).


Monumento Quarto dei Mille (1915) by Eugenio Baroni. Near the site of this statue Giuseppe Garibaldi took off to liberate Sicily from the Bourbon regime in 1860, together with his Thousand volunteers. In 1915 the monument was inaugurated with a speech by Gabriele D'Annunzio. Apparently the former Genovese dock worker Bartolomeo Pagano, who had become a major film star as Maciste in Giovanni Pastrone's Cabiria (1914), had modelled for the statue of Garibaldi. So when the statue was revealed audiences whispered that Garibaldi looked a lot like Maciste, their local hero who had become an international star. Quarto or Quarto del mare used to be a separate community but later on became part of the city of Genoa.

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Maciste & Co. I giganti buoni del cinema italiano), Jim Beaver (IMDb), Wikipedia (Italian and English) and IMDb.

Luciano Albertini

October 3, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Twelve silent cowboys

≪ Previous: Bartolomeo Pagano

$

0

0

We are in Italy for Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, the festival of the silent film. One of the programmes of the festival is about the forzuti, the Italian strong men, and their work for the German silent cinema. The programme is selected by my partner, film historian Ivo Blom, who often contributes to this blog. Today, I've planned to see see Der Unüberwindliche/The Invincible (Max Obal, 1928), accompanied by the Zerochestra. Star of the film is Luciano Albertini (1882-1945), who was one of the most famous strongmen and daredevils of the silent cinema. The former circus artist first worked as an actor and producer for the Italian cinema and later moved to Berlin, where his Latin appeal made many admirers swoon. He also filmed for Universal in the USA.


American postcard by A.G.F. Photo: Photocine.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 524/4, 1919-1924. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 577/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Klaude, Berlin / Phoebus-Film. Publicity still for Der Sieg des Maharadscha/The victory of the Maharajah (Joseph Delmont, 1923).


Vintage collectors card from the German album Vom Werden Deutscher Filmkunst, I (Oskar Kalbus, 1935). Photo: Luciano Albertini in the German silent film Der Mann auf dem Kometen (Alfred Halm, 1925).
Der Mann auf dem Kometen is set in Berlin and this image combines two moments in the film. Towards the end of the film Luciano uses a ladder to save a baby put on an old factory chimney pipe which is about to be exploded. The background of this picture is used for another scene in the film. The church is a typical example of Wilhelminian architecture, the site may be somewhere in the old Stadmitte of Berlin where most Albertini films were shot when filmed in Berlin. The sign of Problem Moslem refers to a cigarette brand.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 798/3, 1925-1926. Photo: Phoebus Film, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1815/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin. On this postcard Albertini wears the attire for the film Rinaldo Rinaldini (Max Obal, 1927).

Flying Trapeze

Luciano Albertini was born as Francesco Vespignani in Lugo di Romagna, Italy, in 1882. In his youth, he already showed a passion for sports, joining the gymnastics club in Forlí and later in Bologna. After his studies he ended up in France, where he retook his lessons in physical exercise at the Ecole Péchin in Lyon.

He entered the Circus Busch and in 1905 he married circus artist Domenica Meirone in Marseille. He took the stage name of Luciano Albertini and created a number on the flying trapeze with 8 persons: Les Albertini. His speciality was a stunt, the ‘death spiral’.

When he returned to Italy, he started his film career in historical epics as Spartaco/Spartacus (Giovanni Enrico Vidali, 1913). At IMDb, Michael Elliott reviews: "The second adaptation of Raffaello Giovagnoli's novel comes at a time when Italy really started pumping out their epic films with the longer running times, expensive sets and lavish production values. This film really doesn't stray too far from the source as we have our hero Spartacus being sold as a slave only to rise up and battle the evil Crassus. These Italian movies are certainly a far cry from the American ones coming out at the same time and this one here has so much going for it that I'm sure even the most jaded silent-hater would have to respect what's on display here."

Albertini also appeared opposite film diva Francesca Bertina in Assunta Spina (Francesca Bertini, Gustavo Serena, 1915). The First World War broke out and Albertini joined the navy. He still kept one foot to the ground though, and he worked at the film company Società Anonima Ambrosio of Turin.

His breakthrough was the circus film La spirale della morte/The Death Spiral (Filippo Castamagna, Domenico Gambino, 1917). Afterwards he worked for the studios Pasquali and Latina Ars, both also in Turin. At Pasquali he started the successful Sansone (Samson) series, with Sansone contro i Filistei/Sansone Against the Philistines (Domenico Gaido, 1918).

Luciano Albertini's finest moment came when he founded his own company Albertini Film, that released its first films in 1919. Until 1921 Albertini Film produced three series: the Sansone films, the Lilliput series with the children Arnold (Patata) and Varada (they were not Albertini’s children although the promotion pretended so), and the Sansonette series with Linda Albertini, his so-called wife, but her true identity remains a mystery. Albertini also produced Il mostro di Frankenstein/The Monster of Frankenstein (Eugenio Testa, 1920), in which he himself personified Baron Frankenstein.

His best Italian film was not one of his Sansone films but the costume drama Il Ponte dei Sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido, 1921), a swashbuckler set in Venice. Albertini played Rolando Candiani, son of the Doge of Venice, who is falsely accused of murder by his enemies. One plots to become Doge himself, another wants to steal the beautiful Leonora, Rolando's fiancée, a third is a courtesan rejected by Rolando. On the day of his marriage Rolando is arrested, trialled and passes the Bridge of Sighs before entering lifetime imprisonment. His father is dethroned as Doge, blinded and reduced to a wandering beggar. But with the help of the courageous and good-hearted bandit Scalabrino (Garaveo Onorato), Rolando manages to escape and take revenge...


Italian postcard by Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il Ponte dei Sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido, 1921), starring Luciano Albertini, and set in Venice. Caption: The young and very brave son of Doge Candiano, Rolando, is pushed into prison by halberds.


Italian postcard by Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Luciano Albertini as Rolando in the four part serial film Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido, 1921). On his right side Carolina White (Leonora) and Bonaventura Ibanez (her father Dandolo).


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 196. Photo: Luciano Albertini in Julot, der Apache/Julot, the Apache (Joseph Delmont, Hertha von Walther, 1921), released in France as Julot l'apache but also as Le roi de Paris.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 577/2. Photo L. Klaude, Berlin /Phoebus Film. From his arrival in 1921, until 1924, all of Albertini's films were distributed by Phoebus and produced by his own Albertini-Film. This is a card for Die Schlucht des Todes/The Ravine of Death (Luciano Albertini, Albert-Francis Bertoni, Max Obal, 1923).
In this film Albertini plays an Argentine farmer whose reckless deeds at the Devil's Canyon convinces an Italian circus director to engage him and his wife (Lya de Putti). The wife becomes enamoured with a womanizing count and elopes with him. Years after, Luciano has become a dockworker in Naples (as depicted on this card) and saves a child, unknowing it is the child of Lya's and the count. The count is fed up with Lya. She runs into Luciano and begs him to go back with her to Argentine. Back there he finds out she has a child and recognizes it as the girl he once saved. Galloping towards the Devil's Canyon, his horse is cleverer than he and holds back. Lya gallops behind him but she falls down a cliff, so Luciano rescues her and they reunite.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 578/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Leo Klaude, Berlin / Phoebus Film. Publicity still for Die Schlucht des Todes/The Ravine of Death (Luciano Albertini, Albert-Francis Bertoni, Max Obal, 1923) with Lya de Putti. The card depicts the final scene: Luciano has just saved Lya from falling down the Devil's Canyon and reconciles with her after his refusal to acknowledge her illegal child and his failed attempt to suicide.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 578/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Leo Klaude, Berlin / Phoebus Film. Publicity still for Die Schlucht des Todes/The Ravine of Death (Luciano Albertini, Albert-Francis Bertoni, Max Obal, 1923) with Lya de Putti.


German postcard. Photo: Luciano Albertini in Der Sieg des Maharadscha/The victory of the Maharajah (Joseph Delmont, 1923).

Berlin Entourage

The crisis in the Italian cinema forced Luciano Albertini and his Albertini Film to move to Germany in 1921. They were well received by producer Jacob Karol, who specialized in adventure and circus films. Their first film was Der König der Manege/The King of the Circus Ring (Joseph Delmont, 1921). He continued with a series of films directed by Delmont and produced by himself: Der eiserne Faust/The Iron Fist (1921), Julot der Apache/Julot the Apache (1921), Der Todesleiter/The Death Ladder (1921), and Der Man aus Stahl/The Steel Man (1922).

Albertini-Film became part of the new production and distribution company Phoebus-Film till 1924. Phoebus also owned two major cinemas in Berlin and specialized in hosting Italian directors and actors, such as Gennaro Righelli, Nunzio Malasomma and Carlo Aldini.

Linda Albertini returned to Italy after one year and four films, because Luciano had an affair with another woman. Within his Berlin entourage remained his regular cameraman Eduardo Lamberti and Angelo Rossi, who worked as his double but also as the double of such other Italian ‘giants’ working in Germany as Carlo Aldini and Domenico Gambino. Matias Bleckmann writes in his book on Harry Piel, that Piel's stuntman Hermann Stetza also worked for Albertini as a double.

Albertini starred in popular German films directed by Nunzio Malasomma – another Italian immigrant working in Berlin - and Max Obal. Albertini also directed and produced himself once in Die Schlucht des Todes/The Ravine of Death (Luciano Albertini, Albert-Francis Bertoni, Max Obal, 1923) opposite vamp Lya de Putti. With Nunzio Malasomma, Albertini did Mister Radio (1924), Der König und die kleine Mädchen/The King and the Little Girls (1925), and Eine Minute vor 12/One Minute to Twelve (1925).

Max Obal directed the most Albertini films: Die heimkehr des Odysseus/The Return of Odysseus (1922), Rinaldo Rinaldini (1927) starring opposite Hans Albers, Der grösste Gauner des Jahrhunderts/The Biggest Crook of the Century (1927), Der Unüberwindliche/The Invincible (1928) with Vivian Gibson, Tempo! Tempo! (1929) with Hilda Rosch, and Jagd nach der Million/The Hunt for a Million (1930) with Gretl Berndt. Most of Albertini's later films were distributed by Aafa-Film. According to some sources, Albertini also appeared in the Soviet classic Arsenal/January Uprising in Kiev (Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1928). But this is probably a fable.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin SW, no. 524/3.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 577/8. Photo Krause, Berlin / Phoebus Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 798/1, 1925-1926. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 798/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Phoebus Film, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1287/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balazs, Berlin / Albertini-Produktion GmbH.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1387/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balazs, Berlin / Albertini Produktion GmbH.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1387/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balazs, Berlin / Albertini Produktion GmbH.

Asylum

In Berlin, Luciano Albertini lived in grand style, visiting restaurants with his friends and crew. He lived in a villa in the outskirts, in the workman’s quarter Siemensstadt. Albertini had several affairs in Berlin, including one with actress Annie Gorilowa. At the Sportpalast, he and Marlene Dietrich were the big attractions.

His only setback had been his collaboration with Universal Studios to the American 15 part-serial The Iron Man (Jay Marchant, 1924), as he proved not to be the protagonist. Instead he had been forced to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge to a race boat, while he often had his stuntmen doing this.

In 1930, the tide changed for Albertini. The talkies, his age (he was 50 now), the saturation of the acrobatic genre contributed, but his alcoholism really finished him. Although Angelo Rossi, his double, and Lamberti, his ex-cameraman who had opened a restaurant in the Friedrichstrasse, helped him, Albertini went down all the way. He performed in one last film: Es geht um alle/It Involves Everything (Max Nosseck, 1932) with Ernö Verebes.

When he showed aggression against a doorman he was put in an asylum and was diagnosed with dementia. In the late 1930s he returned to Italy, living in Bologna where a Father Marella took care of him.

His disease lead him to Villa Flora in Bologna and finally to the mental asylum San Gaetano in Budrio near Bologna. Luciano Albertini died here, in 1945.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1816/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3032/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin. This picture was also used for the cover of the magazine Film-Woche, no. 17, 1929, to announce Albertini's film Tempo! Tempo! (Max Obal, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3032/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3594/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Aafa Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3621/1, 1928-1929.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4624/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Aafa-Film.

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli/Mario Quargnolo (Maciste & Co. I giganti buoni del muto italiano), Matias Bleckmann (Harry Piel. Ein Kino-Mythos und seine Zeit - German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Michael Elliott (IMDb), Guy Bellinger (IMDb), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Twelve silent cowboys

October 4, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Imported from the USA: Douglas Fairbanks

≪ Previous: Luciano Albertini

$

0

0

One of the programs of this year's Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone is 'Birth of the Western'. As a tribute to the heroes of the early Western, today at EFSP twelve postcards of legendary silent film cowboys.


British or American postcard in the Novelty Series, no. D6-6. Photo: Essanay Films.

The first star of the Western was American actor, writer, film director, and producer Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson (1880-1971). Anderson played three roles in the first Western, The Great Train Robbery (Edwin S. Porter, 1903). He directed and starred in almost 400 Broncho Billy films over a seven year period.


French postcard by Edition Paramount, Paris.

William Surrey Hart (1864–1946) was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He entered films in 1914 where, after playing supporting roles in two short films, he achieved stardom as the lead in The Bargain (Reginald Barker, 1914), his first Western. He became a foremost Western star of the silent era who played characters with honor and integrity. Hart was particularly interested in making realistic Westerns, and his films are noted for their authentic costumes and props. Hart also had an extraordinary acting ability, honed on Shakespearean theatre stages in the United States and England.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, in the series Les Vedettes de Cinéma, no. 77. Photo: Paramount Film.

Europe had its own Western heroes, like Charles de Rochefort (1887-1952),a star of the French silent cinema. He appeared in 34 films between 1911 and 1932, including Westerns like Roi de Camargue/King of Camargue (André Hugon, 1921). In 1923 he went to the US and made several films in Hollywood. After his return to France, he became a film director of sound films.


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 118.

Joë Hamman (1883-1974) was another French equivalent of the cowboy. Hamman played in many French Westerns, often filmed in the Camargue in the South of France. In 1907 Hamman started out as both actor and director of Le desperado, followed by performances in some 40 other short westerns until early 1914. These include Un drame mexicain (1909), Un drame au Far West (1909), the tree-part sequel Le vautour de la Sierra (Victorine-Hipolyte Jasset, 1909), Les aventures de Buffalo Bill (1911), and Le railway de la mort (Jean Durand, 1912). He had a long ranging career till 1967, and was also an affluent film director.


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

German actor and director Alwin Neuss (1879-1935) also starred in some European Westerns. He started his film career at the pioneering Nordisk studio in Denmark, and was also known for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of silent films during the 1910s.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3844/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Fox.

American film actor Tom Mix (1880–1940) was the star of many early Westerns between 1909 and 1935. Mix appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent movies. He was Hollywood's first Western megastar and helped to define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed. He developed a comical style, emphasizing fast action thrills to a greater extent than had been common in earlier Westerns, and he did his own stunts. In addition to Mix's riding and shooting skills, the films also showcased the talents of his amazing horse, Tony the Horse.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, in the series Les Vedettes de Cinema, no. 6. Photo: Universal Film / Roman Freulich, no. 203.

One of silent film's earliest superstars was American actor and cowboy Harry Carey (1878-1947). Carey's rugged frame and weather-beaten face were well suited to Westerns. One of his most popular roles was as the good-hearted outlaw Cheyenne Harry. Carey discovered director John Ford and starred in Ford's first feature film, Straight Shooting (John Ford, 1918). He was the father of Harry Carey Jr., who also became a prominent Western actor.


Danish postcard by J. Chr. Olsens Kunstforlag. Eneret, no. 432.

From 1914 to 1925, American actor William Farnum (1876-1953) was one of the biggest sensations in Hollywood, earning $10,000 a week. Farnum's silent pictures include the Westerns The Spoilers (1914) - which culminates in a spectacular saloon fistfight, Drag Harlan (1920) and the drama-adventure If I Were King (1921).


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

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


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4469/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Boston Film.

Eddie Polo (1875–1961) was an Austro-American actor of the silent era. He was born Edward W. Wyman or Weimer in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. With his brother Sam he was the trapeze act The Flying Cordovas. He was the first man to parachute off the Eiffel Tower. Beginning in 1913, he appeared in serials and films in the USA and as Cyclone Smith, he became a popular Western hero. During the late 1920s, he was an action star in the German silent cinema. After his acting career ended in the mid-1940s he worked as a makeup artist.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4561/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Defina / First National Pictures.

Ken Maynard (1895–1973) was one the superstars among the film cowboys. Reportedly, he began his career as a trick rider with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and later with Ringling Brothers (some sources deny this). From 1924 on, he worked in Hollywood and made some 20 silent westerns. He was famous for the stunts he could enact with his horse Tarzan. Maynard was the first singing cowboy in the movies.


British postcard by Rotogravure. Photo: Columbia Pictures.

Light-haired and blue-eyed American actor Tim McCoy (1891–1978) was one of the great stars of the early Western. He was also a decorated military officer and expert on American Indian life and customs. As a cowboy star, he was so popular with kids that he appeared on the cover of Wheaties cereal boxes.

That's all, folks! Happy trails!

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Imported from the USA: Douglas Fairbanks

October 5, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Gabriel Gabrio

≪ Previous: Twelve silent cowboys

$

0

0

On today's programme of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone is this afternoon The Mark of Zero (1920), with elegant, dashing, and athletic American actor Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) in one of his best swashbuckling roles. With his marriage to Mary Pickford in 1920, the couple became Hollywood royalty and Fairbanks was referred to as ‘The King of Hollywood'. His career rapidly declined with the advent of the 'talkies’. He finished his film career in Europe, with the British production The Private Life of Don Juan (1934).


French postcard by Cinémagazine edition, no. 168. Sent by mail in Belgium in 1925. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924).


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 171. Photo: United Artists / Regal Film. Publicity still for Don Q Son of Zorro (Donald Crisp, 1925).


Swedish postcard by Stenders Kunstforlag, no. 37.

Free-wheeling farces

Douglas Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman in 1883 in Denver, Colorado, the son of H. Charles Ullman, a prominent New York attorney, and ‘Southern belle’ Ella Adelaide Marsh. Ullman abandoned the family when Douglas was five years old and he and his older brother Robert were brought up by their mother, who gave them the family name Fairbanks, after her first husband.

Douglas Fairbanks began acting at an early age, in amateur theatre on the Denver stage, performing in summer stock, and becoming a sensation in the local theatre community. Fairbanks moved to New York to pursue an acting career. He joined the acting troupe of British actor Frederick Warde who had seen Fairbanks performing in Denver. In 1902, he made his Broadway debut as Florio in the Frederick Warde Company's production of The Duke's Jester.

In 1907, Fairbanks married Anna Beth Sully, the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. They had one son, Douglas Elton Fairbanks (1909), who later became known as actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In 1915, the family moved to Los Angeles. The then 31-years old Fairbanks signed a contract with Triangle Pictures and began working under the supervision of D.W. Griffith.

His first film was titled The Lamb (W. Christy Cabanne, 1915), in which he debuted the athletic abilities that would gain him wide attention among theatre audiences. His athleticism was not appreciated by Griffith, however, and he was brought to the attention of Anita Loos and John Emerson, who wrote and directed many of his next films.

Fairbanks became the top moneymaker for Triangle, starring in an average of 10 pictures a year for a weekly salary of $2000. He specialized in comedies-not the slapstick variety, but free-wheeling farces in which he usually played a wealthy young man thirsting for adventure. In 1916, Fairbanks established his own company, the Douglas Fairbanks Film Corporation, and would soon get a job at Paramount. His films ranged from romances to wacky, madcap comedies; from social satires to westerns.

At a party in 1916, Fairbanks met actress Mary Pickford, and the couple began an affair. In 1917, they joined Fairbanks's friend Charlie Chaplin selling war bonds by train across the U.S. Pickford and Chaplin were then the two highest paid film stars in Hollywood. To curtail these stars' astronomical salaries, the large studios attempted to monopolize distributors and exhibitors. By 1918, Fairbanks was Hollywood's most popular actor, and within three years of his arrival Fairbanks's popularity and business acumen raised him to the third-highest paid.

In late 1918, Sully was granted a divorce from Fairbanks, the judgment being finalized in early 1919. To avoid being controlled by the studios and to protect their independence, Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith formed United Artists in 1919, which created their own distributorships and gave them complete artistic control over their films and the profits generated. The company was kept solvent in the years immediately after its formation largely by the success of Fairbanks's films.


Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. This postcard was probably issued for their European honeymoon tour in 1921. They look quite happy here, but in London, Pickford was dragged from her car and trampled by fanatics fans who wanted to touch her hair & clothes.


Charlie Chaplin, Ernst Lubitsch, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 581/5, 1919-1924. Photo: B.B.B. Collection: Didier Hanson.


Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford in Berlin. Vintage postcard, no. 960/2. Probably a vintage reprint of a Ross Verlag postcard. In 1926, Pickford and Fairbanks visited Berlin and stayed at the Hotel Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate, which is in the background of this picture.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 40/4. Photo: IFA / United Artists. Publicity still for The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Julanne Johnston played the Princess.

‘Everybody's Hero’ and ‘America's Sweetheart

Douglas Fairbanks was determined to have Mary Pickford become his wife, but she was still married to actor Owen Moore. He finally gave her an ultimatum. She then obtained a fast divorce in the small Nevada town of Minden and the couple married in 1920. The public went wild over the idea of ‘Everybody's Hero’ marrying ‘America's Sweetheart.’ They were greeted by large crowds in London, Amsterdam and Paris during their European honeymoon, becoming Hollywood's first celebrity couple. Fairbanks and Pickford were regarded as ‘Hollywood Royalty,’ famous for entertaining at their 42-room mansion in Beverly Hills, Pickfair.

By 1920, Fairbanks had completed twenty-nine films (twenty-eight features and one two-reel short), which showcased his ebullient screen persona and athletic ability. By 1920, he had the inspiration of staging a new type of adventure-costume picture, a genre that was then out of favor with the public; Fairbanks had been a comic in his previous films.

In The Mark of Zorro (Fred Niblo, 1920), Fairbanks combined his appealing screen persona with the new adventurous costume element. This genre-defining swashbuckler adventure was the first film version of The Mark of Zorro. It was a smash success and parlayed the actor into the rank of superstar.

For the remainder of his career in silent films he continued to produce and star in ever more elaborate, impressive costume films, such as The Three Musketeers (Fred Niblo, 1921), Robin Hood (Allan Dwan, 1922), The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924), The Black Pirate (Albert Parker, 1926, the first full-length Technicolor film), and The Gaucho (F. Richard Jones, 1927) with Lupe Velez.

Fairbanks spared no expense and effort in these films, which established the standard for all future swashbuckling films. In 1921, he, Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, and others, helped to organize the Motion Picture Fund to assist those in the industry who could not work, or were unable to meet their bills. During the first ceremony of its type, in 1927, Fairbanks and Pickford placed their hand and foot prints in wet cement at the newly opened Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Fairbanks was elected first President of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences that same year, and he presented the first Academy Awards at the Roosevelt Hotel. Today, Fairbanks also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Boulevard.


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 1686/3, 1927-1928. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for The Black Pirate (Albert Parker, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5052/1, 1930-1931. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for the silent adventure film The Black Pirate (Albert Parker, 1926).


French postcard by Europe, no. 453. Photo: United Artists / Regal Film. Publicity still for The Iron Mask (Allan Dwan, 1929).


French postcard by Europe, no. 452. Photo: United Artists / Regal Film. Publicity still for The Iron Mask (Allan Dwan, 1929).

Colossal Disaster

While Douglas Fairbanks had flourished in the silent genre, the restrictions of early sound films dulled his enthusiasm for film-making. He was 44 years old, and could no longer look the part of the youthful swashbuckler or romantic lead, nor could he safely perform the dangerous stunts his audiences expected of him.

In 1929, at Pickford's bungalow, United Artists brought together Pickford, Fairbanks, Charles Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, Gloria Swanson, John Barrymore, D.W. Griffith and Dolores del Rio to speak on the radio show The Dodge Brothers Hour to prove Fairbanks could meet the challenge of talking movies.

Fairbanks's last silent film was the lavish The Iron Mask (Allan Dwan, 1929), a sequel to The Three Musketeers (Fred Niblo, 1921). The Iron Mask included an introductory prologue spoken by Fairbanks. He and Pickford chose to make their first talkie as a joint venture, playing Petruchio and Kate in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew (Sam Taylor, 1929). The film was a colossal disaster, and the pair fought constantly during it's making. When it flopped at the box office, Doug and Mary blamed each other.

Doug’s subsequent sound films, were also poorly received by Depression-era audiences. The last film in which he acted was the British production The Private Life of Don Juan (Alexander Korda, 1934), with Merle Oberon. The film is a revealing look at the life of the aging Don Juan, whose reputation has outrun him. The film, based on the 1920 play L'homme à la Rose by Henry Bataille, was made by Korda's London Film Productions at Elstree Studios and distributed by United Artists under an agreement Korda had recently signed with them.

Fairbanks and Pickford separated in 1933, after he began an affair with Sylvia, Lady Ashley. They divorced in 1936, with Pickford keeping the Pickfair estate. Within months Fairbanks and Ashley were married in Paris. He continued to be marginally involved in the film industry and was disturbed by the new direction of his own company, United Artists, now under the iron fist of Samuel Goldwyn. His health continued to decline, and in his final years he lived in Santa Monica, California, although much of his time was spent traveling abroad with Sylvia. At the end of 1939, Fairbanks had a mild heart attack. He died later that day at his home in Santa Monica. He was 56. Fairbanks's famous last words were, "I've never felt better."


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 5212/1, 1930-1931. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for The Taming of the Shrew (Sam Taylor, 1930).


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 5267/1, 1930-1931. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for The Taming of the Shrew (Sam Taylor, 1930).


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 5215/4 1930-1931. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for The Taming of the Shrew (Sam Taylor, 1930) with Mary Pickford.


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 6515/2, 1931-1932. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for Mr. Robinson Crusoe (Edward Sutherland, 1932).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Ed Stephan (IMDb), The Douglas Fairbanks Museum, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Gabriel Gabrio

October 6, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Bébé a.k.a. René Dary

≪ Previous: Imported from the USA: Douglas Fairbanks

$

0

0

A highlight of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone is today's screening of the four-part serial Les Misérables (1925). Jean Valjean is played by Gabriel Gabrio (1887-1946), a tall, burly actor with a boxer's face. He began his cinema career in the silent film era of the 1920s, and is possibly best recalled for his roles as Cesare Borgia in Abel Gance’s Lucrèce Borgia (1935) and as Carlos in the gangster film Pépé le Moko (1937), opposite Jean Gabin.


French postcard by Cinemagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 397.

Catapulted to Stardom

Dark-haired, blue-eyed Gabriel Gabrio was born Édouard Gabriel Lelièvre in Reims, France, in 1887. He was the youngest of sixteen children. Gabrio's father worked for the Pommeray Champagne cellars.

At the age of seven he developed a keen interest in puppet theatre. As a teen, Gabrio grew to an impressive height of 1 m 83 and after a stint as an apprentice glass window painter, set his sights on a career as a stage actor. He made his first appearance at the Casino of his home town. He also played for five years at the Kursaal.

At the outbreak of World War I, Gabrio enlisted in the French Army and served four years during the hostilities. After being demobilized, Gabrio relocated to Paris where he performed in such theatres as the Gaîté Rochechouart, the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, the Comédie Montaigne and the Odéon in roles by George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare, among others.

Gabrio made his film debut in La fête espagnole/Spanish Fiesta (Germaine Dulac, 1920). In 1924 he was cast by film director Henri Fescourt to appear as Jean Valjean, the literary protagonist in the film adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel Les Misérables whose twenty-year-long struggle with the law for stealing bread during a time of economic and social depression is chronicled.

Gabrio's appearance in the film catapulted him to stardom. In 1927, Gabrio began appearing in international films, such as the German film Der Faschingskönig/Thre King of Carnival (Georg Jacoby, 1927), and in his first and only English language talkie The Inseparables (Adelqui Migliar, John Stafford, 1929) with Elissa Landi. Gabrio attempted to launch a Hollywood career in 1929. Sound, however, made that proposition untenable and he returned to France.


French postcard by Crépa, Editeur, Paris. Photo: Pierre Méré. Publicity still for Regain/Harvest (Marcel Pagnol, 1937) with Gabriel Gabrio as Panturle.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 612. Photo: Braunberger - Richebé.

Unjustly forgotten

Gabriel Gabrio's career flourished in France into the 1930s. Memorable are the tough characters he embodied as the grumpy soldier Sulphart in Raymond Bernard's war drama Les Croix de Bois/The wooden crosses (1932). Gabrio then appeared opposite Edwige Feuillère in the historical biopic Lucrèce Borgia/Lucrezia Borgia (Abel Gance, 1935), a box-office hit.

He played Panturle in the drama Regain/Harvest (Marcel Pagnol, 1937) about a farming village where only three inhabitants remain. They are told that if only one of them, Panturle, manages to find a wife, the village will be able to prosper again.

Gabrio is possibly best recalled for his role as Carlos, the gangster cohort of Jean Gabin's character Pépé le Moko in the 1937 film directed by Julien Duvivier. The film would become an international success and was remade in Hollywood as Algiers (1938), starring Charles Boyer, and as a musical, Casbah (1948), starring Tony Martin.

As the 1940s began and Europe was thrust into the World War II, Gabriel Gabrio's film career remained intact in war-torn France. In 1942 he appeared as the executioner, opposite Arletty and Marie Déa in Les Visiteurs du Soir/The Devil's Envoys (Marcel Carné, 1942), penned by Jacques Prévert and Pierre Laroche. The film premiered at Paris’s Madeleine Cinema on 4 December 1942 and was one of the biggest film events during the war. Les Visiteurs du Soir is an allegory of the eternal struggle between good and evil as fourteenth-century lovers defy the Devil. Many people saw the character of the Devil as representing Hitler and the continued beating hearts of the lovers as representing France living under German rule, but not giving up hope. Director Marcel Carné maintained until his death that the film was not an intentional allegory for the war and that any relationship was purely unconscious.

In 1943 Gabriel Gabrio's health declined and he retired into the village of Berchères-sur-Vesgre in the West of France. He died there in 1946 at age 59. The village has since named a street after him in his honour. Guy Bellinger at IMDb: “Gabriel Gabrio is unjustly forgotten and his 'hefty' contribution to the French cinema should be re-appraised.” Maybe the reappraisal start tonight in Pordenone.


Affiche for Les Misérables (1924). Source: Philippe Freyhof@Flickr.

Sources: Guy Bellinger (IMDb), Hans J. Wollstein (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Bébé a.k.a. René Dary

October 7, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Grit Haid

≪ Previous: Gabriel Gabrio

$

0

0

We're having a wonderful time, here in Italy at Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone. One of the youngest stars whose work is shown here was Clément Mary (1905-1974). As Bébé, he was the best known child actor of the early 1910s. He would later act in French sound films as René Dary.


French postcard. Photo: Eclectic Films.


French postcard. Photo Eclectic Films.


French postcard by Edit. Chantal, Rueil, no. 81. Photo: Sirius.

A spoiled brat with impossible tantrums

A few years before Bout-de-Zan (René Poyen), on whom we previously published on this site, Gaumont already had a very popular child actor, called Bébé. The actor behind the character had quite a story. Maxime Braquet wrote about it on the French site La ville des gens, but we also used other sources for this bio.

Anatole Clément Mary, as was Bébé's original name, was born in 1905 in Paris. He got his chance in the Spring of 1910 when he was only five. His father Abélard Mary had put in his head to go and promote himself and his two young kids as extras at the Gaumont studio.

Mary, who had been an actor, had become a rundown clown in bars because of his gambling and kept things going with some furniture trade. He had set his hopes for his kids, and gambled well this time, as they were all hired for a peplum, Les Derniers Jours de Babylone/The Last Days of Babylon.

Maxime Braquet: “Young Clément’s native playfulness, his histrionic acting making him older than he was, his borrowed street talk, and his ease on the set to charm everyone, from actors to technicians, soon began to attract the attention of producer-director Louis Feuillade.”

Feuillade tested him and designed a whole series around him, the Bébé series. All in all Clément Mary would play in 74 Bébé comedies between 1910 and 1912, according to Braquet (76 between December 1910 and February 1913, according to Francis Lacassin in Pour une contre-histoire du cinema, while IMDb lists 73 titles), such as Bébé apache (Louis Feuillade, 1910), Napoléon, Bébé et les cosaques (Louis Feuillade, 1912), Bébé en Maroc (Louis Feuillade, 1912), etc.

Lacassin writes that Feuillade permitted little Mary to do anything forbidden at home. Often his character would be a spoiled brat, have impossible tantrums and pester all adults around him, but he could also help children and old people in distress, showing his good heart after all. Often his mother would be played by Renée Carl, a leading Gaumont actress in her own. And often the child was placed in adult situations, as millionaire, marriage candidate or underworld ‘apache’. For over two years Bébé was the best known child actor worldwide.


Spanish postcard in the Series Principales Artistas Cinematograficos, Serie 1a, no. 29, by Chocolate Amattler Marca Luna.


French postcard for the Bébé-Cinéma, at Paris, 4,bis, rue Henri Chevreau, in the quarter of Ménilmontant. The cinema already existed as Etoile Cinéma from 1909. On 17 January 1913 the cinema was inaugurated. When he wasn't shooting little Bébé and his sister Fonfon would come on stage, to the joy of the locals. His father tried to buy all the films of his son. It was no success. In July 1913 the cinema was resold a few times, and continued a modest life as Modern Ciné and Trianon until 1933.

The downfall of Bébé

The extremely good box office of his son's films made papa Mary wealthy too, but his money hunger would cause the downfall of his son.

Abélard bought a small cinema in Ménilmontant and called it Bébé-Cinéma, counting on a franchise by Gaumont to show his son’s films. This was the limit for Feuillade, who was already fed up with the pretense of the father’s self-promotion as his son’s manager and his continuous demands for raises for his son.

Besides, Clément was reaching an age where his cuteness as child actor was passing. Already mid-1912 another young kid, René Poyen, had been picked up in Belleville, near the studios, and had started as supporting actor to Clément in the film Bébé adopte un petit frère/Bébé adopts a lttle brother (Louis Feuillade, 1912). Bout-de-Zan replaced Bébé completely in March 1913 (February 1913, according to Francis Lacassin.

Abélard went to court against Gaumont. The court ruled that the breach of contract was just, but also that Mary was allowed to continue acting as Bébé at Pathé’s subsidiary Eclectic Films, and he did so until 1916.

Yet, it was no competition for Gaumont’s Bout-de-Zan. As David Robinson mentions in The Encyclopedia of Early Cinema, Bout-de-Zan was more plebeian while Bébé was ‘au fond’ bourgeois as type. Still, in the end René Poyen did some 50 films for Gaumont, less than Mary.


French postcard by Editions E.C., Paris, no. 38. Photo: Gray Films.


French postcard, no. 700. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 184. Photo: Carlet.

Back in the spotlight

As a young man, Clément Mary tried professional boxing but acting stuck in his blood, so he took acting lessons with Lucien Guitry and joined stage tours under the name of René Duclos. Harry Baur advised him to focus on Paris, where he acted in the operetta Pour ton Bonheur, and in Les trois valses with Pierre Fresnay and Yvonne Printemps.

In 1934 he debuted in French sound cinema with bit parts, e.g. in Le Train de 8:47/The train of 8:47 (Henry Wulschleger, 1934), starring Fernandel. Director Jean-Benoit Lévy convinced him to change his name again, now to René Dary.

His role of the anarchist sailor in Le Révolte/The Rebel (1938) by Léon Mathot finally put him back in the spotlight. Dary then specialized in tough, taciturn sailors who under outside brawling hid true generosity, in films like Nord-Atlantique/North Atlantic (Maurice Cloche, 1939), Le Café du port/The harbour café (Jean Choux, 1940), Forte Tête (Léon Mathot, 1942), and À la belle frégate/At the beautiful frigate (Albert Valentin, 1943) with Michèle Alfa.

During the war, René Dary peaked as the bad boy repented in Le carrefour des enfants perdus/Crossroads of the Lost Children (Léo Joannon, 1944). Dary was also the first to embody for the cinema the character of Nestor Burma, the famous shock detective imagined by novelist Léo Malet. He portrayed Burma in the film 120, Quai de la Gare (Jacques Daniel-Norman, 1943) with Sophie Desmarets and Jean Parédès.

After that his popularity as film actor declined, apart from his part of Riton, the friend of Max (Jean Gabin), in Touchez pas au grisbi!/Hands Off the Loot (Jacques Becker, 1954). Dary continued to act on stage and was quite successful there in the 1960s. He also acted in television dramas, and wrote a novel, Express 407.

Clément Mary a.k.a. Bébé a.k.a. René Dary died in 1974 in Plan-de-Cuques (Bouche-du-Rhône), France.


French postcard by Editions E.C., no. 81. Photo: Carlet.


French postcard by Editions et Publications Cinematographiques (EPC), no. 149. Photo: Studio Iris.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 86. Photo: Studio Piaz.

Sources: David Robinson (The Encyclopedia of Early Cinema), Francis Lacassin (Pour une contre-histoire du cinema - French), Jean-Jacques Meusy (Paris-Palaces ou le temps des cinémas - 1894-1918 - French), Maxime Braquet (Les aventures de Bébé et Bout-de-Zan - La ville des gens - French), and IMDb.

Grit Haid

October 8, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Lon Chaney

≪ Previous: Bébé a.k.a. René Dary

$

0

0

Today at Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, I am gonna see another film starring forzuto Luciano Albertini, the German adventure film Rinaldo Rinaldini (1927). Leading lady is Austrian film actress Grit Haid (1900-1938), who was active in the Austrian and German cinema from the mid-1910s to the 1930s.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3090/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Kiesel, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4655/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Badekow, Berlin.

Wiener Mädel

Grit Haid was born as Margarete Haid in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) in 1900. She was the sister of film star Liane Haid. Grit did ballet classes and became solo dancer at the Viennese Volksoper.

Already at a young age she started her film career. Her first film was Fürst Seppl/Prince Seppl (Carl Froelich, 1915). Soon she was typecasted as the typical merry Wiener Mädel. After the First World War she worked a.o. for the Viennese Filmag.

Grit Haid mainly played in comedies, sometimes also in dramas, and from 1926 on she also appeared in German films.

It was then that her career really set off, with such films as Der Soldat der Marie/Marie's Soldier (Erich Schönfelder, 1926) starring Xenia Desni, Menschen untereinander/People Among Another (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1926) starring Alfred Abel, and Der Mann ohne Kopf/The Man Without A Head (Nunzio Malasomma, 1927) starring Carlo Aldini.

One of her most enjoyable film was the romantic adventure film Rinaldo Rinaldini (Max Obal, Rudolf Dworsky, 1927), featuring Italian strong man Luciano Albertini.

She also appeared in Der alte Fritz/The Old Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1927) starring Otto Gebühr, Saxophon-Susi (Carl Lamac, 1928) starring Anny Ondra, Sein bester Freund/His Best Friend (Harry Piel, 1929) and Andreas Hofer (Hans Prechtl, 1929), starring Fritz Greiner.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1497/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1497/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.

Plane Crash

Grit Haid also played in two of the adventure films that serial film hero Eddy Polo made in Germany in the late 1920s: Der gefesselte Polo/The Chained Polo (Léo Lasko, 1928) and Eddy Polo im Wespennest/Eddy Polo in the wasps' nest (Léo Lasko, 1930).

In the meantime Haid had also remained engaged at Berlin and Viennese theaters and during the 1926-1927 season she performed under Max Reinhardt’s direction as Fräulein Roboz in Ferenc Molnár’s one act play Das Veilchen (The violet), as well as Nannie in W. Somerset Maugham’s Viktoria.

In the 1930s Grit Haid mostly became small parts, but she had a leading part in the sound remake of her first film Fürst Seppl/Prince Seppl (Franz Osten, 1932). During her career, Haid played in some 50 films.

Gritt Haid died tragically during a plane crash in the Schwarzwald in 1938. She was married to scriptwriter Jozef (later: Joseph) Than, who had written Fürst Seppl/Prince Seppl.


Dutch postcard by City Film, no. 273.


German collectors card. Collection: Gerd Scheller@Flickr.


This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at the blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her by clicking on the button below.



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

---

Lon Chaney

October 9, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Leny Escudéro (1932-2015)

≪ Previous: Grit Haid

$

0

0

Closing film of this year's Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone is The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925), starring Lon Chaney (1883-1930), one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema. Between 1912 and 1930 he played more the 150 widely diverse roles. He is renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and He Who Gets Slapped (1924).


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 52. Photo: Universal Film. Collection: Didier Hanson.


British postcard, no. 142.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 43.

Communicating through pantomime, sign language and facial expression

Leonidas Frank ‘Lon’ Chaney was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1883. He was the son of deaf mute parents, Frank and Emma Chaney, and he learned from childhood to communicate through pantomime, sign language and facial expression. The stagestruck Chaney worked in a variety of backstage positions at the opera house in his hometown of Colorado Springs. Only 17, he was eventually allowed to appear on stage.

In 1901, he went on the road as an actor in a play that he co-wrote with his brother, The Little Tycoon. After limited success, the company was sold. He began traveling with popular Vaudeville and theatre acts. On tour in Oklahoma City, he met Francis Cleveland ‘Cleva’ Creighton, (Cleva) who was auditioning for a part in the show as a singer.

In 1905, Chaney, then 22, married 16-year-old Cleva and in 1906, their only child, a son, Creighton Tull Chaney (later known as film actor Lon Chaney, Jr.) was born. The Chaneys continued touring, settling in California in 1910. Their marriage became strained due to working conditions, money and jealousy. In 1913, Cleva went to the Majestic Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where Lon was managing the Kolb and Dill show, and attempted suicide by swallowing mercuric chloride. The suicide attempt failed but it ruined her voice.

The ensuing scandal and divorce forced Chaney out of the theatre and into the booming industry of silent films. Between 1912 and 1917, Chaney worked under contract for Universal Studios doing 100 bit or character parts. His skill with makeup gained him many parts in the highly competitive casting atmosphere. During this time, Chaney befriended the husband-wife director team of Joe De Grasse and Ida May Park, who gave him substantial roles in their pictures, and further encouraged him to play macabre characters.

Chaney married one of his former colleagues in the Kolb and Dill company tour, chorus girl Hazel Hastings. Little is known of Hazel, except that her marriage to Chaney was solid. The couple gained custody of Chaney's 10-year-old son Creighton, who had resided in various homes and boarding schools since Chaney's divorce from Cleva.

In 1917 Universal presented Chaney, Dorothy Phillips, and William Stowell as a team in the drama The Piper's Price (Joe De Grasse, 1917). In succeeding films, the men alternated playing lover, villain, or other man to the beautiful Phillips. They would occasionally be joined by Claire Du Brey nearly making the trio a quartet of recurring actors from film to film. So successful were the films starring this group that Universal produced fourteen films from 1917 to 1919 with Chaney, Stowell, and Phillips.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4349/2, 1929-1930. Image: MGM. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1526/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Fanumet. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1894/1, 1927-1928. Photo: MGM / FaNuMet. Collection: Didier Hanson.

A con man who pretends to be cripple and is miraculously healed

By 1917 Lon Chaney was a prominent actor of the Universal studio, but his salary did not reflect this status. When Chaney asked for a raise, studio executive William Sistrom replied, "You'll never be worth more than one hundred dollars a week." After leaving the studio, Chaney struggled for the first year as a free-lance character actor.

He got his first big break when playing a substantial role in William S. Hart's Western, Riddle Gawne (William S. Hart, Lambert Hillyer, 1918). He received high praise for his performance in the role. In 1919, Chaney had another breakthrough performance in The Miracle Man (George Loane Tucker, 1919), as The Frog, a con man who pretends to be cripple and is miraculously healed. The film displayed not only Chaney's acting ability, but also his talent as a master of makeup. Critical praise and a gross of over $2 million put Chaney on the map as America's foremost character actor.

He exhibited great adaptability with makeup in more conventional crime and adventure films, such as The Penalty (Wallace Worsley, 1920), in which he played an amputee gangster. As Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Wallace Worsley, 1923) and Erik, the tortured opera ghost in The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925), Chaney created two of the most grotesquely deformed characters in film history.

William K. Everson in American Silent Film: "Only 'The Phantom of the Opera,' with its classic unmasking scene, a masterpiece of manipulative editing, really succeeded (and still does!) in actually scaring the audience - and that because the revelation had to be a purely visual one. Moreover, Lon Chaney's make-up was so grotesque as to equal, if not surpass, anything that the audience might have anticipated or imagined."

Chaney also appeared in ten films directed by Tod Browning, often portraying disguised and/or mutilated characters. His portrayals sought to elicit a degree of sympathy and pathos among viewers not overwhelmingly terrified or repulsed by the monstrous disfigurements of these victims of fate.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3790/1, 1928-1929. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for Mr. Wu (1927). Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3052/1, 1928-1929. Photo: MGM / Fanumet. Publicity still for Mr. Wu (1927). Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4349/1, 1929-1930. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for The Unholy Three (Jack Conway, 1930). Collection: Didier Hanson.

One of the most legendary and sought after lost films

In 1924, Lon Chaney starred in Metro-Goldwyn’s He Who Gets Slapped, a circus melodrama voted one of the best films of the year. The success of this film led to a series of contracts with MGM Studios for the next five years. In these final five years of his film career, Chaney gave some of his most memorable performances.

His portrayal of a tough-as-nails marine drill instructor opposite William Haines in Tell It to the Marines (George W. Hill, 1926), one of his favorite films, earned him the affection of the Marine Corps, who made him their first honorary member from the motion picture industry. Memorable is also his carnival knife-thrower Alonzo the Armless in The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927) opposite Joan Crawford.

In 1927, Chaney also co-starred with Conrad Nagel and Marceline Day in the horror film London After Midnight (Tod Browning, 1927), considered as one of the most legendary and sought after lost films. His final film role was a sound remake of his silent classic The Unholy Three (Jack Conway, 1930). He played Echo, a crook ventriloquist and used five different voices (the ventriloquist, the old woman, a parrot, the dummy and the girl) in the film, thus proving he could make the transition from silent films to the talkies. Chaney signed a sworn statement declaring that the five voices in the film were his own.

During the filming of Thunder in the winter of 1929, Chaney developed pneumonia. In late 1929 the heavy smoker was diagnosed with bronchial lung cancer. This was exacerbated when artificial snow, made out of cornflakes, lodged in his throat during filming and quickly created a serious infection. Despite aggressive treatment, his condition gradually worsened, and seven weeks after the release of the remake of The Unholy Three (1930), he died of a throat hemorrhage in Los Angeles, California.

In his last days, his illness had rendered him unable to speak, forcing him to rely on the pantomimic gestures of his youth in order to communicate with his friends and loved ones. Chaney and his second wife Hazel had led a discreet private life distant from the Hollywood social scene. Chaney did minimal promotional work for his films and for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, purposefully fostering a mysterious image, and he reportedly intentionally avoided the social scene in Hollywood.

At the end of the 1950s Lon Chaney was rediscovered. He was portrayed by James Cagney in the biopic Man of a Thousand Faces (Joseph Pevney, 1957). In 1958, Chaney fan Forrest J. Ackerman started and edited the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, which published many photographs and articles about Chaney. Ackerman is also present in Kevin Brownlow’s documentary Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000).


The famous unmasking scene in The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925). Source: Adlerangriffe (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Lon Chaney.com, Silents are Golden, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Leny Escudéro (1932-2015)

October 10, 2015, 4:30 pm

≫ Next: Lotte Neumann

≪ Previous: Lon Chaney

$

0

0

On 9 October 2015, French singer and actor Leny Escudéro has died. The popular Escudéro did not want to be a star, but performed his songs to help others. He also appeared in committed roles in films and on TV.


French postcard by Publistar. Photo: Henri Rzepski.


French postcard by Editions L'age des Idoles / Publistar, Marseille, no. 936. Photo: Henri Rzepski.


French postcard by Editions Publistar, Marseille, no. 813. Photo: Henri Rzepski.

Success, Celebrity and Fortune

Leny Escudéro was born as Joaquim Leni Escudero in 1932 in Espinal, Spain. His parents were Spanish republicans, who left their country that was destroyed by the civil war of 1939. They went to live in Paris, where they met hard times.

After some odd jobs Leny started his singing career in 1957. In 1962 he made his first record, Pour une amourette, which brought immediate success, celebrity and fortune. He detested stardom and left for a long world tour to South America, the Middle East, the United States, Russia and Africa.

Escudéro was a singer/songwriter with a very characteristic voice, which is captivating, emotional and very sincere. Between 1970 and 1990 he sang about actual, socially important subjects. His themes are the Spanish war, dictatorships, and how maltreated many people on our planet are.

His album Escudero 71 received the Grand prix of the Académie Charles Cros. Among his most beautiful and poetic chansons is Ballade à Sylvie, and he was also well known as singer of Lily Marlene.


French postcard by Editions Publistar, Marseille, no. 769. Photo: Henri Rzepski.


French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 294. Photo: Herman Leonard.


French postcard by Publistar, Marseille, no. 1251. Photo: Laguens / Polydor.


French promotion card by Polydor.


Belgian postcard by S. Best, Anvers (Antwerp), no. 25. Gift card for Victoria chocolates.


French postcard by E.D.U.G., Marseille, no. 295. Photo: Herman Leonard / BelAir.

Gypsy

Since the 1970s Leny Escudéro was also active as an actor. In 1973 he appeared in the TV film Babeau (Philipe Bordier, 1973), for which he also composed the score.

Later followed films like the political thriller La femme flic/The Woman Cop (Yves Boisset, 1980) starring Miou-Miou, Rouget le braconnier (Gilles Cousin, 1989), Le dénommé/No Time for Justice (Jean-Claude Dague, 1990), and a few TV series.

In these films Leny Escudéro often played an immigrant or a gypsy. His father was actually a gypsy. In 2015, he published his autobiography, Ma vie n'a pas commencé.

He was married to Celeste Bettencourt Escudero. They had three children, Christine, Stéfany and Julian. The latter accompanied his father on the guitar during his concerts and wrote the music for several of his songs. Two of his eight grandchildren later also accompanied him on the guitar.

Leny Escudéro died on 9 October 2015 at his home in Giverny, near Vernon in France, as a result of acute lung failure.


Live performance of Pour une amourette. Source: Ina Chansons (YouTube).


Live performance of Si tu es reine. Source: Ina Chansons (YouTube).


Leny Escudéro performing at the Olympia in 2007, accompanied by his grandchildren. Source: ClarisseCaterino (YouTube).

Sources: Leny Escudero-Le Site Officiel (French), Marc Dzalba-Lyndis (Leny Escudero, chanteur de la liberté - French), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Lotte Neumann

October 10, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Jacques Sernas

≪ Previous: Leny Escudéro (1932-2015)

$

0

0

Yesterday, it was the final day of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone. Today, we're back home in Amsterdam, but EFSP has still one more silent star for you, Lotte Neumann (1896-1977). In Pordenone we saw her in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920). Neumann was one of the most successful actresses in the early days of the German silent cinema, and she also worked as a screenwriter and a producer.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 636/1. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for the Ernst Lubitsch comedy Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920). The man on the left dressed as an antique hero could be Julius Falkenstein as Paris. The others are from left to right Jakob Tiedtke (Herr Capulethofer), Marga Köhler (his wife), Lotte Neumann (Julia) and Gustav von Wangenheim (Romeo Montekugerl).


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 Rotophot, 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 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).


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).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern/The fate of Carola von Geldern (Carl Froelich, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 620/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919).

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.


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).

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 Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 338/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Maxim Film / Becker & Maass.


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.

Jacques Sernas

October 11, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Dolly Bouwmeester

≪ Previous: Lotte Neumann

$

0

0

Lithuanian-born French actor Jacques (sometimes: Jack) Sernas (1925) had an international film career of more than sixty years. First the handsome blonde appeared as the hero of Peplum spectacles and adventure films and later he worked as a character actor. Sernas is perhaps best-known as Paris in the Hollywood epic Helen of Troy (1956).


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. T 650. Photo: Warner Bros. Publicity still for Helen of Troy (Robert Wise, 1956).


German postcard by Kolibi-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 1906. Photo: Warner Bros. Publicity still for Helen of Troy (Robert Wise, 1956).


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 694. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, presented by Les Carbones Korès 'Carboplane', no. 804. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Buchenwald

Jacques Sernas was born as Jurgis Šernas in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1925. Sernas was the son of the Baltic minister of justice, Jokūbas Šernas, a signatory of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in 1918. He died six years later when Jacques was a year old. His Russian mother took him to Paris where he received his formal education.

Still at school, he joined the French Resistance and was captured. For more than a year he was interned at concentration camp Buchenwald, where he had to do hard labour. After the war Sernas started a medicine study, but broke this off rapidly. To be able to keep his mother and himself financially above the water, he did all kind of odd jobs such as night watchman, waiter in the Café de la Paix, and skiing instructor in Chamonix. He also tried briefly as a journalist - he was a correspondent for the journal Combat at the Nuremberg processes – but he also gave up this career.

In 1947 he appeared for the first times before the camera in the Italian film drama Gioventù perduta/Lost Youth (Pietro Germi, 1947) with Carla del Poggio and Massimo Girotti and in the French Film Noir Miroir/Mirror (Raymond Lavy, 1947) with Jean Gabin and Martine Carol. Thus started a career lasting more than 60 years.

Sernas was noted for 'his eye-catching good looks' (according to Gary Brumburgh at IMDb), and soon appeared in many jeune premier roles. Sernas cut a fine figure in European spectacles as Il falco rosso/The Red Falcon (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1949), Il mulino del Po/The Mill on the Po (Alberto Lattuada, 1949) with Carla del Poggio, Il lupo della Sila/Lure of the Sila (Duilio Coletti, 1949) with Silvana Mangano, Barbe-Bleue/Bluebeard (Christian Jacque, 1951) with Cécile Aubry, and Camicie rosse/Anita Garibaldi (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1952) starring Anna Magnani.

He hit major international attention after being cast as Paris, opposite sex sirens Rosanna Podestà and Brigitte Bardot in the historical epic Helen of Troy (Robert Wise, 1956). Hollywood took brief notice but nothing much came of it. In his few American films and TV series he appeared under the name Jack Sernas.


Italian postcard by Ed. Garami, no. 103. Photo: Italfoto / Lux Film. Publicity still for Il mulino del Po/The Mill on the Po (Alberto Lattuada, 1949).


Dutch postcard, no. 109. Photo: Warner Bros.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 179. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


Italian postcard by S.A. Poligrafica Sammarinese, no. 004u.


French collector's card, offered by Royal Chewing-Gum. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Fading Matinee Idol

After two years in Hollywood, Jacques Sernas returned to Europe and settled in Rome. Since then he was mainly seen in Italian productions. He was relegated for the most part to supporting characters, but he made one lasting impression as a fading matinee idol in Fellini's masterpiece La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).

Other interesting films were Un amore a Roma/Love in Rome (Dino Risi, 1960), and the war satire Il giorno più corto/The Shortest Day (Sergio Corbucci, 1963). Sernas appeared in international productions as 55 Days at Peking (Nicholas Ray, 1963) with Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner.

In 1966 he wrote his so far single screenplay, Zarabanda Bing Bing/Balearic Caper (José María Forqué, 1966) a satire on the James Bond films, in which Sernas also played the leading part. Later films included the shocking Curzio Malaparte adaptation La Pelle/The Skin (Liliana Cavani, 1981) starring Marcello Mastroianni, and L'africana/The African Woman (Margaretha von Trotta, 1990) with Stefania Sandrelli.

About the private life of Jacques Sernas is little known. In June, 1955 he married the Romanian journalist Maria Stella Signorini. The following year he became father of a daughter. Unknown is if he was married more times, or if he had more children.

His most recent appearances have been as a Cardinal in a TV film biopic Papa Giovanni - Ioannes XXIII/ Pope John XXIII (Giorgio Capitani, 2002) with Edward Asner, and in the TV mini-series Papa Luciani: Il sorriso di Dio/Pope Luciani: God's smile (Giorgio Capitani, 2006) with Franco Interlenghi.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2777. Photo: Cines.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 3292. Photo: Warner Bros.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, presented by Les Carbones Korès 'Carboplane', no. 914. Photo: Studio Bernard & Vauclair.


Trailer for Helen of Troy (1956). Source: 50sMovieBlitzz (YouTube).


Trailer for La Dolce Vita (1960). Source: Pulp59 (YouTube).

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Dolly Bouwmeester

October 12, 2015, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Bufera (1926)

≪ Previous: Jacques Sernas

$

0

0

Sweet Dutch stage actress Dolly Bouwmeester (1913-1986) was born in a famous theatre dynasty and she was the younger sister of Dutch film diva Lily Bouwmeester. Although Dolly made films in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Great-Britain, her film career would never take off.


Dutch Postcard, no. 71, 1931. Photo: Paramount.

Early Dutch Sound Films

Dolly Bouwmeester was born in 1913 in The Hague, Netherlands. She was the daughter of violinist Louis Adolf Bouwmeester and the Belgian pianist Julie Arpeau dit Du Rosay. She was the younger sister of Dutch film diva Lily Bouwmeester and twin sister of dancer and mime artist Louis 'Loutje' Bouwmeester.

As a young girl, she started her career as a stage actress in 1927. She debuted at the age of fourteen at the Hofstad Theatre in Rotterdam in the comedy Het premielot (The premium lottery ticket), in which she played a boy. In the following years she worked with Cor Ruys for the Dutch East Indies Theatre, where she mainly acted in comedies. Then she worked for the theatre company of Cor van der Lugt Melsert.

She starred in three early Dutch sound films. First, she was engaged for the Dutch experimental sound film Finale/Final (Gerard Rutten, 1931) in which Adolphe Engers starred as a demonic mortician. The film was never finished because of financial problems and now only some footage remains.

That same year, Dolly went to the Paramount studios in France for another experimental sound film, De sensatie der toekomst/The Sensation of the Future (Victor Buchowetzki, Jack Salvatori, 1931). She continued her stage career in September 1931 with the theatre company of Louis Davids and played with him and Corry Vonk in the play In 't witte paard (The White Horse Inn).

Four years later, Bouwmeester travelled to Berlin to play the title role in the film Fientje Peters - poste restante (Victor Janson, 1935) with Herman Tholen and Louis Borel. It was the alternate-language version of the German film Hilde Petersen postlagernd/Hilde Petersen: General Delivery (Victor Janson, 1936).

None of her films were successful. In 1935 she married with Brit John Jackson and emigrated to London. There she acted in one more film The Jack of Diamonds (Vernon Sewell, 1949) with Nigel Patrick, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The low-budget thriller was made by Vernon Sewell's own production company.

After the death of her husband Dolly Bouwmeester returned to the Netherlands. She died in 1986 in Leiden, The Netherlands, at the age of 73.


Lien Deyers,Roland Varno& Dolly Bouwmeester. Dutch Postcard, no. 512. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for De sensatie der toekomst (1931).

The Sensation of the Future

The postcards above were both produced for the Science Fiction detective film De sensatie der toekomst/The Sensation of the Future (also known as Televisie/Television) about the new phenomenon television - the 'sensation of the future'.

At the time of her film debut, Dolly was only only 18 years old. Her co-stars were the young Dutch actors Lien Deyers and Roland Varno, who both already had acted in German films.

De sensatie der toekomst was a Dutch version of the American-French production Magie Moderne (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1931), filmed in Les Studios Paramount in Joinville-le-pont, a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. On the same set versions for Italy, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Sweden were made with different actors.

The television scenes, including fragments with Bedouins and Rif Kabyles in Morocco, and Clara Bow romping on a New York beach, were for all alternative language versions the same.

Although Paramount finished De sensatie der toekomst/The Sensation of the Future in February 1931, the studio did not release the film in the Dutch cinemas until Octobre. The reviews were lukewarm.

The first Dutch sound feature was soon forgotten and nowadays it is assumed to be lost.


Small German collectors card. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for De sensatie der toekomst/Television (1931).

Sources: Simon Koster (De Bouwmeesters - Dutch), Gerard Rutten (Mijn papieren camera - Dutch), Eric Winter (Weekblad Cinema en Theater @ Virtual History - Dutch), Filmtotaal. (Dutch), Wikipedia (Dutch) and IMDb.