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Malombra (1917)

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Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917) is one of the most important films of the first diva of the Italian silent cinema, Lyda Borelli. The film drama was adapted from the 1881 novel Malombra by Antonio Fogazzaro, and co-starred Amleto Novelli.

Lyda Borelli and Amleto Novelli in Malombra
Italian postcard, no. 2020. Lyda Borelli and Amleto Novelli in Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917).

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: Donna Marina (Lyda Borelli) arrived at the castle on a tempestuous night.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917), starring Lyda Borelli. Caption: Count Cesare d'Ormengo (Augusto Mastripietri) and his secretary Mr. Steinegge (Amedeo Ciaffi) let donna Marina visit the castle and its neighbourhoods.

Malombra (1917)
Franco-Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: Declaration [of love]. Left Edith Steinegge (Consuelo Spada) and right Corrado Silla (Amleto Novelli).

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: The first encounter of donna Marina di Malombra with Corrado Silla.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917), with in the front Lyda Borelli. Caption: How sweet was the night and how well little Saetta slipped on the clear water.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917), starring Lyda Borelli. Caption: ...Saetta seized [the oars] and left, moving towards some solitary shore.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: He hurried to grab his hat, have a grand farewell gesture to Silla and open the door all at once.

Gothic melodrama


Lyda Borelli (1887-1959) was already an acclaimed stage actress before she became the first diva of the Italian silent cinema. One of her most important films is Malombra (1917), a gothic melodrama, set at Lake Como at the castle Malombra.

The young, orphaned countess Marina di Malombra (Borelli) comes to live with her uncle, Count d'Ormengo (Augusto Mastripietri). She chooses as her apartment the one overseeing the lake, though considered 'doomed' by the staff.

While at the castle, she meets the German secretary Steinegge (Amedeo Ciaffi), and the young writer Corrado Silla (Amleto Novelli).  Silla is close with the count and Steinegge but he is also fond of the secretary's daughter, the bashful Edith (Consuelo Spada).

One night, during a Spring festival, Marina has drifted on the lake and is showered with flowers by the locals. When she comes back in her room, she finds by accident a secret drawer, discovering a glove, a lock of hair, a mirror an a diary. These objects belonged to her ancestor Cecilia, the first wife of her uncle's father.

Marina identifies herself with Cecilia, who died imprisoned after adultery. Marina thinks Cecilia has reincarnated in her, and she considers the count as the heir of his father's wrongdoings and therefore guilty. She startles the count with her accusations. Meanwhile Silla, author of the book A Dream, which Marina has been fascinated by, has written Marina letters addressed to 'Cecllia'.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: Remember the night of 10 January 1797 in Genoa... Remember the white rose at the Doria ball.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: Donna Marina took possession of the dwelling of the Ghosts.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: It looked as if Marina was the first wife his father, Countess Cecilia Varrega.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: The presence of count Cesare was the most terrible torture to her.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: Count Cesare d'Ormengo consulted the doctors on the strange and unexpected illness of donna Marina.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: He looked at Marina with his big myopic, bulging eyes.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: He held her with one arm by the waist, hoping...

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: At the last moment donna Marina had managed to postpone the marriage to the next day.

A hysterical fit


Her uncle tries to distract Marina by inviting friends and tries to match her with count Salvador (Francesco Cacace), a pale, cowardly aristocrat. Marina dislikes Salvador, which she repeatedly expresses during a dinner party and an excursion.

One night, while Marina's uncle has become mortally ill, Silla lands on the shore of the castle and is head over heels in love with Marina, who by now has lost her wits. He first plays along with her that she is Cecilia's reincarnation, just to make love to her.

When Marina discovers Silla only pretended she was Cecilia, she storms into the bedroom of the count, who is dying. In a hysterical fit, she shouts that she hates him. Silla carries her away. The count dies, too weak to have heard Marina's accusations.

The next day Marina calms down, so much that the doctors allow her a last caprice: a nightly dinner in the loggia of the castle, all adorned with flowers. A storm rises but the dinner proceeds. The doctors discover Marina hasn't recovered. Moreover, she kills Silla and flees with a boat on the stormy lake, towards a mortal vortex.

The Como Lake was also the site where the young Luchino Visconti passed his holidays. The 9-years-old Luchino had read the novel Malombra and had also seen the film version with Borelli. The romantic boy was fascinated by the story and by sunset, he always took his little boat to visit the shores of the lake.

The last scene of the novel is not visible in the surviving print of the film. In this silent version, the affair between Edith and Silla is not very prominent, in contrast to the book and the later 1941 sound version, directed by Mario Soldati and featuring Isa Miranda as Marina di Malombra.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: Nepo (Francesco Cacace) went to place himself next to Marina.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917), starring Lyda Borelli and Amleto Novelli(both left) and Augusto Mastripietri (in bed). Caption: One noticed Silla throwing himself on her, lifting her with his arms.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: She still had two or three convulsed sobs, without tears...

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: I don't know nothing, I remember nothing. I never lived, never apart from now. I knew only you would come, this moment. I have the frenzy to enjoy it.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: For a moment he laid his hands on her arm. She shivered: her shoulders and her breasts lifted themselves.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: ... she fell almost supine in an armchair.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: Here, she said, signing him to sit down on the ground next to her. All your memories...

Malombra (1917)
...at that moment she felt her waist held by the powerful hands of Silla, who lifted her back up the stairs.

Malombra (1917)
Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex. Photo: Film Cines. Publicity still for Malombra (Carmine Gallone, 1917). Caption: Then donna Marina herself slowly entered the loggia and started to give orders without moving a finger, pointing at the places and things by the turning of her body and her face.

Sources: Laurence Schifano (Visconti, une vie exposée - French), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Danielle Darrieux

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French actress and singer Danielle Darrieux (1917) is an enduringly beautiful, international leading lady whose eight-decade career is among the longest in film history. From her film debut in 1931 on she played in more than 110 films in which she progressed from playing pouty teens to worldy sophisticates. In the early 1950s she starred in three classic films by Max Ophüls, and she played the mother of Catherine Deneuve in five films!

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Edition Chantal, Rueil, no. 96. Photo: x.phot.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 4. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Happy birthday, Danielle Darrieux!
French postcard by SERP, Paris, no. 90. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Danielle Darrieux
Dutch postcard.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 10.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Viny, no. 70. Photo: Universal Film.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Viny, no. 70. Photo: Universal Film.

Romantic Lead


Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux was born in Bordeaux, France in 1917, but she was raised in Paris. She was the daughter of an army doctor who died when she was seven years old. Her brother is actor Olivier Darrieux.

Her family were keen music enthusiasts and Danielle studied the cello and piano at the Conservatoire de Musique (the Paris Conservatory). When she was only 14 she auditioned for a secondary role in the musical film Le Bal/The Ball (Wilhelm Thiele, 1931). Her beauty combined with her singing and dancing abilities got her the part.

Her performance as a headstrong teenager was impressive and the producer offered her a five-year contract. Her first romantic lead was in the backstage comedy La Crise est finie/The crisis is finished (Robert Siodmak, 1934) with Albert Préjean.

She scored an international hit with the historical love-drama Mayerling (Anatole Litvak, 1936) in which she played doomed Baroness Marie Vetsera opposite Charles Boyer as Archduke Rudolph of Austria.

In 1935, Darrieux married director/screenwriter Henri Decoin, and they made six films together in the following years like Abus de Confiance/Abused Confidence (Henri Decoin, 1938) with Charles Vanel. Decoin encouraged her to try Hollywood, and in 1938 she signed with studio executive Joe Pasternak from Universal Studios to appear in the comedy The Rage of Paris (Henry Koster, 1938) opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Both the film and Darrieux were well-received, but her stay in Hollywood proved short-lived. She quickly returned to Paris, where she continued to star in such major hits as Battement de coeur/Beating Heart (Henri Decoin, 1940) with Claude Dauphin.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Danielle Darrieux in The Rage of Paris (1938)
Dutch postcard by Sparo. Photo: Universal. Publicity still for The Rage of Paris (Henry Koster, 1938) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 959. Photo: Paramount.

Danielle Darrieux
Dutch postcard by J.S.A. (J. Sleding, Amsterdam), no. 640/516. Photo: Lumina Film.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard, no. 96. Photo: UFA.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Editions Chantal, no. 96. Photo: UFA.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Viny, no. 59. Photo: Films Osso.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 1. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

German Occupation


After the occupation of France, Danielle Darrieux found herself working under the scrutiny of the new Nazi regime. She became the leading light of Continental, a Franco-German film company which was closely scrutinised by the Nazis. She distinguished herself in films such as Premier Rendez-Vous/Her First Affair (Henri Decoin, 1941).

After a visit to Germany, where she entertained the German troops, Darrieux’s popularity in France immediately plummeted and her name was placed on a death-list of the French Resistance. Even when her death sentence was lifted after the war, it was several years before she had regained her former popularity.

After the war, she explained that Alfred Greven, the manager of Continental, had threatened to deport her brother Olivier to Germany. After her divorce from Henri Decoin in 1941, she had married Dominican Republic diplomat and international jet-setter Porfirio Rubirosa in 1942. His anti-Nazi opinions resulted in his forced residence in Germany. Darrieux had accepted the promotional trip to Berlin in exchange for Rubirosa's liberation. They lived in Switzerland until the end of the war, and divorced in 1947.

A year later she married script-writer George Mitsikides and lived with him until his death in 1991. Her grand return came in 1949 with Claude Autant-Lara’s period farce Occupe-toi d'Amélie/Keep an Eye on Amelia (Claude Autant-Lara, 1949).

After La Ronde/Roundabout (Max Ophüls, 1950), Danielle Darrieux returned to Hollywood to appear as a French chanteuse in the MGM musical Rich, Young and Pretty (Norman Taurog, 1951) with Jane Powell. Joseph L. Mankiewicz then lured her to play the duplicitous lady friend of James Mason in the thriller 5 Fingers (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1952).

Back home, she starred in Le Plaisir/Pleasure (Max Ophüls, 1952) with Madeleine Renaud, and opposite Charles Boyer and Vittorio de Sica in Madame de....../Diamond Earrings (Max Ophüls, 1953).

James Travers at Le Film Guideobserves: "The 1950's saw a marked change in Darrieux on-screen persona. She was no longer the care-free ingenue of her pre-war years. She had become a sophisticated and passionate society woman, often appearing cold and calculating, but sometimes showing a tender tragic vulnerability. The film which defined Danielle Darrieux in this period was Madame de… (1953), in which she gave probably her best screen performance. This was the third of three films she appeared in which were directed by her fond admirer Max Ophüls."

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 15. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 76. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 242. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Viny, no. 56. Photo: Universal Film.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Viny, no. 19.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Collection Chantal, Paris, no. 96 A. Photo: Discina, Paris.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 310. Photo: Teddy Piaz, Paris.

Lady Chatterley's Lover


During the 1950s, Danielle Darrieux also appeared in Le rouge et le noir/The Red and the Black (Claude Autant-Lara, 1954) opposite Gérard Philipe, and in L’amant de Lady Chatterley/Lady Chatterley's Lover (Marc Allégret, 1955) with Leo Genn. Due to its content, the latter film was banned by the Catholic censors in the United States.

She also played a supporting role in United Artists' epic Alexander the Great (Robert Rossen, 1957) starring Richard Burton. It was her last Hollywood production. Since then she has continued to work in the European cinema.

In England she starred opposite Kenneth More in The Greengage Summer (Lewis Gilbert, 1961), and in France she appeared as the mother of Catherine Deneuve in five films: L’Homme à femmes/Ladies Man (Jacques Gérard Cornu, 1960), the classic musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort/The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy, 1967), the drama Le Lieu du crime/Scene of the Crime (André Téchiné, 1986), the comedy-murder-mystery 8 femmes/8 Women (François Ozon, 2002), and most recently in Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi, 2007). This remarkable animated feature is based on a graphic novel of the same name about the impact of the Iranian Islamic revolution on a girl's life as she grows to adulthood.

The actress sang in concerts and cabarets in the 1960s, and in 1970 replaced Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway musical Coco. In the 1980s, Danielle Darrieux scored a significant success in a Paris staging of the film musical Gigi.

For her long service to the motion picture industry, she was given an Honorary César Award in 1985. Her most recent film is Pièce montée/The Wedding Cake (Denys Granier-Deferre, 2010) with Jérémie Renier. D.B. DuMonteil at IMDb: "Pièce Montée (tiered cake)is a funny comedy,with some nostalgia and an attack on the bourgeoisie Chabrol would not disown. Its depiction of a wedding in France is marvelously precise, with all these smug people, wearing their Sunday's best, and taking photographs of each other."

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 54. Photo: Studio Piaz.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Viny, no. 55. Photo: Regina.

Danielle Darrieux
French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris. Photo Sam Lévin.

Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux and Vittorio De Sica in Madame de... (1953)
Spanish promotion card by Cosmofilm. Photo: publicity still for Madame de... (Max Ophüls, 1953) with Charles Boyer and Vittorio De Sica.

Dany Carrel, Gérard Philipe and Danièle Darrieux in Pot-Bouille (1957)
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 1294, 1960. Photo: publicity still for Pot-Bouille/Lovers of Paris (Julien Duvivier, 1957) with Dany Carrel and Gérard Philipe.

Danielle Darrieux
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 2715, 1966.

Danielle Darrieux
Vintage collectors card.

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Scene from Madame De... (1953). Source: Classic Movies (YouTube).


Trailer of Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967). Source: British Film Institute (YouTube).


Trailer 8 femmes/8 Women (2002). Source: 2663KinkyCyborg (YouTube).

Sources: James Travers (Le Film Guide), Hal Erickson (All Movie), Thanassos Agathos (IMDb), D.B. DuMonteil (IMDb), John Charles (TCM),  AlloCiné (French), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

EFSP's Dazzling Dozen: Ceci n'est pas un pipe

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A smoking pipe is a device made to allow the user to inhale or taste smoke or vapor derived from the burning or vaporization of some substance. The most common form of these is the tobacco pipe, which is designed for use with tobacco, although the device itself may be used with other substances. Did you lately see a star smoke a pipe? Probably not. The postcards in today's post prove once again that times are changing...

Bruno Kastner
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 346/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass / RF.

German actor Bruno Kastner (1890-1932) was one of the most beloved stars of the 1910s and 1920s. His parts as the elegant and charming dandy made him a heart throb of the German silent cinema.

Mistinguett
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 175. Photo: P. Apers.

French actress and singer Mistinguett (1875-1956) captivated Paris with her risqué routines. She went on to become the most popular French entertainer of her time and the highest paid female entertainer in the world. She appeared more than 60 times in the cinema.

Harry Halm
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4443/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Ufa.

Charming actor Harry Halm (1901-1980) was a popular ladies’ man of the silent German cinema. Sound film and the rise of the Nazis broke his career.

Sepp Rist
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5680/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Aafa-Film. Publicity still for Stürme über dem Mont Blanc/Storm Over Mont Blanc (Arnold Fanck, 1930).

Sepp Rist (1900-1980) was a top skier, who was spotted for the Mountain films by Arnold Fanck. Later the Athletic German actor with the typical tanned and weathered face played, hunters, foresters and other rugged characters in several Heimat films.

Domenico Gambino (Saetta)
Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 71. Card perhaps for Caporal Saetta (Eugenio Perego, 1924).

Domenico Maria Gambino (1891-1968) was an Italian actor, director, scriptwriter and producer. He was well-known as the acrobatic comedian Saetta and often directed his own films.

C. Aubrey Smith
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 790A. Photo: Walter Wanger.

C. Aubrey Smith (1863–1948) was an English cricketer and actor, who started his film career in the British silent cinema. He went to Hollywood where he had a successful career as a character actor playing stereotypical Englishmen with the stiff upper lip and a stern determination. His bushy eyebrows, beady eyes, and handlebar moustache made him one of the most recognisable faces in Hollywood.

Hans Albers
Big card by Ross Verlag. Photo: Ufa / Hämmerer.

Jovial, pleasantly plump Hans Albers (1891–1960) was a superstar of the German cinema between 1930 and 1945. He was also one of the most popular German singers of the twentieth century. His song Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins (On the Reeperbahn at half past midnight) is the unofficial anthem of Hamburg’s neighborhood of St. Pauli, famous for its brothels, music and night clubs.

Heinrich George
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. 3647/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Lindner / Terra.

Huge, bear-like Heinrich George (1893–1946) was a famous German stage and film actor of the Weimar republic. He starred in such classics as Metropolis (1926) and Berlin Alexanderplatz (1931). Under the Nazi regime, the former Communist was initially not permitted to work but later appeared in notorious propaganda films as Jud Süss (1940). After the war he died of starvation in a Soviet concentration camp.

Michel Piccoli
French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 795. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

French actor Michel Piccoli (1925) has appeared in many different roles, from seducer to cop to gangster to Pope in more than 200 films and TV films. Among the directors he worked with are Jean Renoir, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Luis Buñuel, and Alfred Hitchcock.

Walter Müller
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 1001. Photo: Berolina / Constantin / Wesel. Publicity still for Hurra - ein Junge/Hooray - a boy! (Ernst Marischka, Georg Jacoby, 1953).

Austrian actor Walter Müller (1911-1969) was a popular star of the operettas on stage and in the cinema. In the 1940s he appeared as the Sonny Boy of many German films and in the early 1950s he often played the friend or competitor of the real hero.

Carl Möhner
German postcard by F.J. Rüdel, Hamburg-Bergedorf. Photo: Gloria.

Handsome Austrian film actor Carl Möhner (1921–2005) appeared in over 40 films between 1949 and 1976, including the French gangster classic Du rififi chez les hommes/Rififi (1955).

Adrian Hoven
German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 1888. Photo: Eva-Film / RKO-Film. Publicity still for Solange Du Lebst/As Long as You Live (Harald Reinl, 1955).

Austrian actor Adrian Hoven (1922-1981) was the athletic and dynamic Sonnyboy of the German cinema in the 1950s, who would become one of the stars of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's films in the 1970s. As a writer, producer and director he made horror and erotica with SM overtones.

Source: Wikipedia.

Diana Rigg

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English actress Diana Rigg (1938) is well known as Emma Peel in the classic TV series The Avengers (1965-1968), and now as Lady Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones (2013-). In between she had an extensive career in film and theatre. Between 1959 and 1964, she performed for the Royal Shakespeare Company and won several awards, including a Tony and an Emmy award. In the cinema, she made her mark as Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, the only Bond girl to ever get 007 to the altar, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

Diana Rigg
German postcard by Ludw. Povel & Co, Nordhorn.

The Avengers, Diana Rigg
French postcard by Universal Collections, 2002. Photo: Canal+ Image UK Ltd.

The Avengers, Diana Rigg
French postcard by Universal Collections, 2002. Photo: Canal+ Image UK Ltd.

Captivating little boys of all ages


Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg was born in Doncaster, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, now in South Yorkshire, in 1938. Her parents were railway engineer Louis Rigg and his wife Beryl Hilda Rigg née Helliwell. Between the ages of two months and eight years Rigg lived in Bikaner, India, where her father was employed as a railway executive.

She was then sent to a private boarding school, where she suffered through the discipline and rigours until one of her teachers introduced her to the world of the theatre. From 1955 till 1957, she trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where Glenda Jackson and Siân Phillips were among her classmates.

Rigg made her professional stage debut in the RADA production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the York Festival in 1957. In 1959, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and stayed there till 1964. Her deeply distinctive voice, auburn red hair, and towering height (5'8") assured her such dynamic roles as Viola in Twelfth Night and Cordelia in King Lear.

In 1965, actress Elizabeth Shepherd was dropped from a popular BBC TV series after filming two episodes. Rigg auditioned for the role on a whim, without ever having seen the programme. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “she was selected to replace Honor Blackman on the popular tongue-in-cheek TV-adventure series The Avengers and for the next two years captivated little boys of all ages with her energetic portrayal of coolheaded, leather-clad karate expert Mrs. Emma Peel.”

Fans were fond of the banter between Mrs. Peel and Patrick Macnee’s John Steed, delivered with champagne crispness. From 1965 till 1967, Rigg appeared in 51 episodes of the cult series. She became soured on the series when she discovered that she was earning less than some of the cameramen. After holding out for a pay raise, she returned for a second season, which would be her last.

Then film stardom followed. She became a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Peter R. Hunt, 1969), playing Countess Teresa di Vicenzo a.k.a. Tracy Bond, 007's only wife, opposite George Lazenby. Although its cinema release was not as lucrative as its predecessor You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was still one of the top performing films of the year.

Critical reviews upon release were mixed, but the film's reputation has improved over time. Donald Guarisco at AllMovie: “Diana Rigg also makes a vivid impression as Tracy, easily the toughest and most resourceful of all Bond heroines”. Rigg’s other films from this period include her film debut A Midsummer Night's Dream (Peter Hall, 1968), the black comedy The Assassination Bureau (Basil Dearden, 1969) with Oliver Reed, Julius Caesar (Stuart Burge, 1970) featuring John Gielgud, and the satire The Hospital (Arthur Hiller, 1971). All her films were well regarded but no box office hits.

Diana Rigg in The Avengers
French postcard by Universal Collections, 2004. Photo: Canal+ Image UK Ltd. Publicity still for the TV series The Avengers (1965-1968), which was called in France Chapeau melon & Bottes de cuir.

The Avengers, Diana Rigg, Patrick MacNee
French postcard by Universal Collections, 2002. Photo: Canal+ Image UK Ltd. Publicity still for the TV series The Avengers (1965-1968), which was called in France Chapeau melon & Bottes de cuir.

Diana Rigg in The Avengers
French postcard by Universal Collections, 2004. Photo: Canal+ Image UK Ltd. Publicity still for the TV series The Avengers (1965-1968), which was called in France Chapeau melon & Bottes de cuir.

Vincent Price’s loyal but homicidal daughter


In 1970, ‘ theatre animal’ Diana Rigg returned to the stage in the Ronald Millar play Abelard and Heloise in London. According to IMDb, she was the first major actor (along with co-star Keith Michell) to appear nude on stage in this production. She made her Broadway debut with the play in 1971, earning the first of three Tony Award nominations for Best Actress in a Play.

She received her second nomination in 1975, for The Misanthrope. A member of the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic from 1972 to 1975, Rigg took leading roles in premiere productions of two Tom Stoppard plays, Dorothy Moore in Jumpers (1972) and Ruth Carson in Night and Day (1978).

In the cinema she appeared in such films as the hilarious horror-comedy Theatre of Blood (Douglas Hickox, 1973) as Vincent Price’s loyal but homicidal daughter, and the disastrous musical A Little Night Music (Harold Prince, 1977), starring Elizabeth Taylor.

On television, she appeared as the title character in The Marquise (1980), a TV adaptation of play by Noël Coward. In 1981 she appeared on TV in the title role of Hedda Gabler, and in the cinema as Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper (Jim Henson, 1981). The following year she received acclaim for her performance as glamorous actress Arlena Stuart Marshall in the film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun (Guy Hamilton, 1982), with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot.

Craig Butler at AllMovie: “Diana Rigg and Maggie Smith in particular make scenery chewing seem the most natural way of acting in a movie. (Riggs' performance of You're the Top - constantly interrupted by Smith - is particularly memorable.)”

Also in 1982, Rigg published the hilarious book No Turn Unstoned, in which she gathered together the worst reviews ever received by the world's best actors. The book, which includes a review by New York Magazine’s John Simon with uncouth remarks about her nude scene in Abelard and Heloise, became a bestseller and cult favourite.

She appeared as Regan, the king's treacherous second daughter, in a TV production of King Lear (1983), featuring Laurence Olivier. She costarred with Denholm Elliot in a television version of Dickens'Bleak House (1985), and played the Evil Queen, Snow White's evil stepmother, in a film adaptation of Snow White (Michael Berz, 1987).

In 1987 she took a leading role in the West End production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Follies. Then Rigg played obsessive mother Helena Vesey, who was prepared to do anything, even murder, to keep control of her son in the TV Mini-series Mother Love (1989). For her role, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. In 1988, Rigg was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and in 1994, a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

Diana Rigg in The Avengers
German postcard. Photo: ZDF. Publicity still for the TV series The Avengers (1965-1968), which was called in Germany Mit Schirm, Charm und Melone.

Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg in The Avengers
German postcard. Photo: ZDF. Publicity still for the TV series The Avengers (1965-1968), which was called in Germany Mit Schirm, Charm und Melone. Patrick Macnee was John Steed and Diana Rigg was Emma Peel.

Diana Rigg
Danish postcard by Forlaget Holger Danske, no. 951.

The Queen of Thorns


In the 1990s, Diana Rigg had more triumphs on stage with her role as Medea at the Almeida Theatre in Islington in 1992. The production transferred in 1993 to the Wyndham's Theatre and in 1994 to Broadway. Rigg received the Tony Award for Best Actress for this performance. Other triumphs were her Mother Courage at the National Theatre in 1995 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Almeida Theatre in 1996.

She won an Emmy Award for her role as the sinister Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca (Jim O’Brien, 1997). She also appeared in The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (David Attwood, 1996), and as the eccentric old amateur detective Mrs. Bradley in The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (James Hawes, Martin Hutchings, 1998-2000).

On stage, Rigg appeared in 2004 as Violet Venable in Tennessee Williams' play Suddenly Last Summer, and in 2007 as Huma Rojo in All About My Mother, based on the film by Pedro Almodóvar. She played in 2008 in The Cherry Orchard, and in 2009 in Noël Coward's Hay Fever. In 2011 she played Mrs Higgins in Pygmalion, opposite Rupert Everett and Kara Tointon, having played Eliza Doolittle 37 years earlier at the Albery Theatre.

In the cinema she could be seen in as Grandmamma in the family film Heidi (Paul Marcus, 2005) and as a French Mother Superior who presides over a Chinese orphanage in The Painted Veil (John Curran, 2006) with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton.

In the 1960s, Rigg lived for eight years with actor/director Philip Saville. She was married to Menachem Gueffen, an Israeli painter, from 1973 until their divorce in 1976, and to Archibald Stirling, a theatrical producer and former officer in the Scots Guards, in 1982, until their divorce in 1990. With Stirling, Rigg has a daughter, actress Rachael Stirling (1977).

In 2013, she appeared with her daughter Rachel in the hit series Doctor Who in the episode The Crimson Horror (Saul Metzstein, 2013). The same year, Rigg secured a recurring role in the third season of the HBO series Game of Thrones (2013-present). She portrayed Lady Olenna Tyrell, a witty and sarcastic political mastermind popularly known as the Queen of Thorns, the grandmother of regular character Margaery Tyrell. Her performance was well received and earned her an Emmy nomination in 2013. She reprised her role in the seasons four, five and six, in an expanded role from the books.

In October 2015, to mark 50 years of Emma Peel, the BFI (British Film Institute) screened an episode of The Avengers followed by an onstage interview with Diana Rigg about her time on the cult 1960s TV show.


Official Trailer On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Source: Movieclips Trailer Vault (YouTube).


Trailer Theatre Of Blood (1973). Source: Ian Hendry (YouTube).


Trailer Evil Under the Sun (1982). Source: jirluin (YouTube).

Sources: Stuart Jeffries (The Guardian), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Donald Guarisco (AllMovie), Craig Butler (AllMovie), Pedro Borges (IMDb), TCM, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Donatien

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French actor, director and art director Donatien aka Emile-Bernard Donatien (1887-1955) was active in silent French cinema of the 1920s.

Donatien aka Emile-Bernard Donatien
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, Paris, no. 214.

Jack-of-all-Trades


Donatien was born Emile-Charles-Bernard Wessbecher in Paris but from Alsacian descent, in 1887. After his studies he focused on art decoration for the theatre and in 1918 he opened a shop and ateliers in Paris and Deauville.

He started in cinema in 1919 as production designer thanks to Marcel L'Herbier, who took him on for his film Rose-France (Marcel L'Herbier, 1919) with Jaque Catelain. L'Herbier helped him to establish a reputation in designing apartments and collecting Medieval and Chinese antiques.

Rose-France was followed by Li Hang le Cruel/Li Hang the Cruel (1920) by Edouard-Emile Violet with whom Donatien often would collaborate. He played in three more films by Violet: Les mains flétries/The Branded Hands (Edouard-Emile Violet, 1920), L'auberge/The inn (Donatien, Edouard-Emile Violet, 1922) based on a novel by Guy de Maupassant, and La ruse/The guile (Edouard-Emile Violet, 1924), and codirecting with him L'auberge and Les hommes nouveaux (Donatien, Edouard-Emile Violet, 1922).

In fact, in 1920 Donatien had not only expanded his activities with film directing and film acting, playing in and directing Une histoire de brigands (Donatien, 1920), but he really became the jack-of-all-trades, as art director, costume designer, actor, director, editor and producer.

From 1922 on, Donatien's career went into overdrive, directing one film after another, often with himself in the lead or in a supporting role, and with Lucienne Legrand in the female lead. Privately, she was his partner as well. The couple was much helped by French film mogul Louis Aubert, who enabled them to shoot in various countries and realize prestigious period pieces such as Florine, la fleur du Valois/Florine, the flower of Valois (Donatien, 1926) or the science fiction film Le chateau de la mort lente/The castle of the slow death (Donatien, 1925).

Donatien's overall presence was even sustained by showing him on the title role, inspecting his own celluloid. Of course set decoration was highly present in his films, accentuated by light effects.

Lucienne Legrand
Lucienne Legrand. French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 159. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.

Donatien
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 181. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères. Collection: Didier Hanson.


Arrested by the Gestapo


Donatien aborted a collaboration in Germany after he shot only one film, Miss Edith, duchesse (Donatien, 1929) starring Lucienne Legrand and Rolla Norman. He returned to France to direct his last silent film L'arpète (Donatien, 1929) with Lucienne Legrand.

In 1930 he made the film Pogrom, shot in Palestine, Tunisia, Greece and the Cote d'Azur. Tragically the negative burned down at the laboratory of Eclair in Epinay. Painstakingly Donatien made one sound film, a remake of Mon cure chez les riches/My cure to the rich (Donatien, 1932), and then quitted film altogether.

He left Paris and established himself in the Jura, where he directed some stage plays and focused on ceramics. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1940 and hardly escaped deportation.

Donatien was the uncle of actress Claude Romet, who is told to have helped Donatien in the 1950s when he focused on ceramics. He was also the cousin of general Marie-Pierre Koenig.

It seems that because of his reputation as an art decorator, Donatien never reached real fame as filmmaker. Emile-Bernard Donatien died in 1955 in Appoigny, France.

Rolla Norman
Rolla Norman. French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 140.

Sources: CinéRessources (French), 1895 (French), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Irma Gramatica

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Irma Gramatica (1867-1962) was an Italian stage and screen actress, known for her qualities but also for her temper. Gramatica appeared in ten films during her career.  She was the sister of actress Emma Gramatica.

Irma Gramatica
Italian postcard, no. 48. Photo: Sciutto, Genoa.

Enormous potential


Irma Gramatica was born as Maria Francesca Gramatica in 1867 in Fiume, Italy, now Rijeka, Croatia. She was the daughter of Domenico Gramatica and the Hungarian Cristina Bradil, respectively a prompter and a seamstress in the company of Luigi Monti.

She had two sisters, both actresses as well: Emma Gramatica and Anna Capodaglio. Though born Maria Francesca, she was called Irma from her childhood. In Carnia, Friuli, where she was raised, all Mariafrancesca’s were called Irma.

Already at the age of five years she debuted on stage in the drama Cause ed effetti by Paolo Ferrari and she immediately showed enormous potential. In her girlhood she starred alongside the great players of the time. She suported Cesare Rossi, Jacinta Pezzana, Flavio Andò and Eleonora Duse in the play Fedora by Victorien Sardou. She also joined them in a major tour through South America.

There the first symptoms of imbalance began to appear. Irma tried to commit suicide by eating exotic fruit contaminated by yellow fever. The reason is unknown but seems linked to difficulties related to a great inner pain, not to sentimental origins.

At seventeen she married the actor Arnaldo Cottin and they had a son the following year. With Cottin she returned to Argentina two years later. During the tour, their child, left back in Italy, died. The incident led to the separation of Gramatica and her husband.

While remaining in Argentina, Irma contracted meningitis from which she was saved, but anemic and weakened by an intense nervous breakdown she suffered a deep depression, beginning to perceive her existence as an unbearable burden.

Irma Gramatica
Italian postcard, no. 512. Photo: Sciutto, Genoa.

Outstanding temperament


After her return to Italy in 1892, Irma Gramatica became 'First Young Actress' in the company of Italia Vitaliani and Vittorio Salsilli in 1892. In 1895, she became 'primattrice' (First Actress), under the guidance of Napoleone Mozzidolfi and directed by Alessandro Marchetti. Under the guidance of V. Valli she perfected her outstanding temperament, suitable for a very wide repertoire.

Irma proved to be sensitive both to the new theatre as well as the romantic authors of the 19th century. After leaving Eleonora Duse’s company, Irma entered that of Ermete Zacconi, an actor about whom Irama said that he "had absolute influence on the conduct of my artistic faculties."

From here began her great successes that led to the birth of the famous stage company Talli-Gramatica-Calabresi. Irma was the first Nennele in Come le foglie by Giuseppe Giacosa, Lisa in Dal tuo al mio by Giovanni Verga, and Paolina in Sperduti nel buio by Roberto Bracco.

A highlight was her role as Mila di Codro in La figlia di Jorio. Gabriele D'Annunzio had written this play especially for Eleonora Duse but because of illness, Duse could not perform the part on stage.

Irma Gramatica
Italian postcard by TCR, no. 2. Photo: Varischi & Artico Co., Milano.

Irma Gramatica
Italian postcard by T.C.R., no. 1. Photo: Varischi & Artico Co., Milano.

A severe nature


Irma Gramatica had a grumpy and irritable character. She called it herself a 'severe nature'. Irma always tried to be approached as little as possible, and admitted that she detested interviews. She fely a real phobia for them and almost always rejected them.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s she was active as film actress at the new Cinecittà studios. Sometimes she paired with her sister Emma as in Sissignora/Yes, madam (Fernando Maria Poggioli, 1941), starring María Denis, and in the comedy Sorelle Materassi/The Materassi Sisters (Fernando Maria Poggioli, 1944).

Among her young co-stars in those years were Laura Adani, Clara Calamai, Maria Mercader and German actress Anneliese Uhlig.

Irma also played the widow Pescatore in the Italian version of Il fu Mattia Pascal/The Former Mattia Pascal (Pierre Chenal, 1937), starring Pierre Blanchar. The film is based on the 1904 novel The Late Mattia Pascal by Luigi Pirandello.

Immediately after the war she had an important part in the refugees film Lo sconosciuto di San Marino/Unknown Men of San Marino (Michał Waszyński, 1946), starring Anna Magnani, and for which Cesare Zavattini had written the script.

Her last part was in Incantesimo tragico/Tragic Spell (Mario Sequi 1951), a period drama about a cursed treasure, set in the Maremma region. Her co-stars were María FélixRossano Brazzi, Massimo Serato and Charles Vanel.

Irma Grammatica died in Villa Giuseppina at Tavarnuzze in 1962. She was 91.

Sissignora
Italian postcard. Photo: Irma and Emma GrammaticaMaría Denis and Leonardo Cortese in Sissignora/Yes, Madam (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1941).

Maria Denis in Sissignora
Italian postcard. Photo: Irma or Emma Grammatica and María Denis in Sissignora/Yes, Madam (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1941).

New Monday a post on Irma's sister Emma Gramatica.

Sources: Wikipedia (Italian and English) and IMDb.

Manfred Krug

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German actor Manfred Krug (1937) was often cast as a socialist hero in DEFA films of the former GDR. He also became known in East-Germany as a jazz singer. In 1977, he returned to West-Germany, where he became a popular TV star.

Manfred Krug
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 966, 1959. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: DEFA / Dassdorf. Publicity still for Reportage 57 (János Veiczi, 1959).

Manfred Krug
German promotion card by Intercord, Stuttgart, 1979.

Powerful body language and rebellious presence


Manfred Krug was born in 1937 in Duisburg, Germany. His parents were Rudolf and Alma Krug. In 1949, after the divorce of his parents, the 13-years-old Manfred moved with his father from Duisburg to the newly founded German Democratic Republic (GDR). The young Krug trained as a steel smelter in Brandenburg an der Havel. A splash of liquid steel caused a distinctive scar on his forehead.

Krug worked for four years in a steel plant and rolling mill. In the evenings he studied and decided to go to drama school. From 1955 to 1957 he was an apprentice at Bertolt Brecht's Berliner Ensemble. In 1957, Krug made his film debut as a guitarist in Die Schönste/The most beautiful (Ernesto Remani, Walter Beck, 1957).

Filmportal.de: “Because of his strong build, his powerful body language, and his rebellious presence, Krug mainly played roles of villains and young rowdies in the early years of his movie career.” He played a smuggler in the crime film Ware für Katalonien/Goods For Catalonia (Richard Groschopp, 1959), based on a true fraud: a criminal sold the entire stock of optical instruments produced by the Zeiss factory in Jena, East Germany, to the Spanish Army and to customers in Barcelona.

Krug also appeared in the successful war film Fünf Patronenhülsen/Five Cartridges (Frank Beyer, 1960) opposite Erwin Geschonneck and Armin Mueller-Stahl. During the Spanish Civil War, a battalion of the International Brigades is cut off without water or ammunition. Five Cartridges won director Frank Beyer great acclaim, and also for Krug many more film roles followed. He also achieved notability as a jazz singer.

He appeared in the drama Professor Mamlock (Konrad Wolf, 1961) about a Jewish surgeon (Wolfgang Heinz) in Germany of the early 1930s. It was based on the play Professor Mamlock, written by the director's father Friedrich Wolf during 1933, when he was in exile in France.

Krug was often cast as the tough guy with a heart of gold, such as in Auf der Sonnenseite/On the Sunny Side (Ralf Kirsten, 1962). In this musical comedy he starred as a steel smelter and an amateur actor and jazz singer, who is sent to a drama school by his factory's committee. The film's script was largely inspired by Krug's biography: he worked in a steel factory before turning to an acting career. His jazz band and his singing career were also a central theme in the plot.

DEFA historian Dagmar Schittly notes that Auf der Sonnenseite was the most popular East German film of the early 1960s, and Krug and the collective crew were awarded the Heinrich Greif Prize for their work. Krug managed to give the Communist system a human face and credibility. Krug and director Kirsten reunited for the historical adventure Mir nach, Canaillen!/Follow Me, Scoundrels (Ralf Kirsten, 1964).

Two years later Krug starred in Spur der Steine/Trace of Stones (Frank Beyer, 1966). After its release, the film was shown only for a few days, before being shelved due to conflicts with the Socialist Unity Party, the ruling communist party in the GDR. Krug’s portrayal of a rebellious and brash building site brigadier was deemed as too ‘anarchic’ by the censors.

Filmportal.de: “Indeed, the role of the aggressive, yet down-to-earth worker who defies authority and often kicks over the traces has always been one of Krug's main roles.” Only after 23 years was the film shown again, in 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell.

His other DEFA-films include Die Fahne von Kriwoj Rog/The Banner of Krivoi Rog (Kurt Maetzig, 1967) starring Erwin Geschonneck, and the contemporary Eastern road movie Weite Straßen – stille Liebe/ Wide streets, silent love (Herrmann Zschoche, 1969) with Jaecki Schwarz, which made Krug a favourite among East-German teenage filmgoers.

Manfred Krug
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 1.819, 1963. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Klaus Fischer. Publicity still for Revue um Mitternacht/Midnight Review (Gottfried Kolditz, 1962).

Manfred Krug in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle (1968)
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 88/69. Photo: DEFA / Wenzel. Publicity still for Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968).

Manfred Krug and Herwart Grosse in Die gestohlene Schlacht (1972)
East-German postcard by VEB Bild und Heimat Reichenbach i.V., no. AG 500/12/72. Photo: DEFA / Kroiss. Publicity still for Die gestohlene Schlacht/The stolen battle (Erwin Stranka, 1972) with Herwart Grosse.

Pushed off


In 1976 Manfred Krug participated in protests against the expulsion and stripping of GDR citizenship of singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann. Suddenly the popular Krug, who had won numerous awards in the years before (among them the National award and the Medal for Merit of the GDR), was subjected to sanctions and censorship. The situation escalated when Krug beat down a Stasi informer who had insulted and defamed him publicly.

After six months of partly unemployment, Krug requested to leave the GDR in 1977. As soon as he got the approval he left East-Germany and moved to Schöneberg in West Berlin. Twenty years later, he wrote about these events in his book Abgehauen (1997, Pushed off). This memoir became a bestseller and in was filmed by Frank Beyer in 1998.

After moving back to West Germany, Manfred Krug very soon got new roles. In 1978 he appeared as the adventurous truck driver Franz Meersdonk in the TV series Auf Achse/On the Axis. He continued to play in the series until 1995, one year before the show ended its long run. Krug's various television roles even included a two-year stint on the children's program Sesamstraße (1982-1984), the German version of the American children's program Sesame Street.

He was very popular as an attorney in the Berlin-based comedic attorney TV series Liebling Kreuzberg/Darling Kreuzberg (1986-1998). From 1984 till 2001, he also starred as Hamburg-based commissioner Paul Stoever in the Krimi series Tatort, which would eventually run for a total of 41 instalments.

His later feature films include the comedy Neuner (Werner Masten, 1990), and the political drama Der Blaue/The Blue One (Lienhard Wawrzyn, 1994), which was entered into the 44th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2005, his second memoir, Mein schönes Leben (2005, My beautiful life), became another bestseller.

Since 1963, Manfred Krug is married with Ottilie Krug. Together they have three children, including the singer Fanny Krug. In 2002 it was announced that Manfred Krug has also an illegitimate child. Krug lives in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

Manfred Krug
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 155/70, 1970. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Linke.

Manfred Krug
German promotion card by kv-events.de. Photo: Volker Hinz.


Trailer Spur der Steine/Trace of Stones (1966). Sorry, no subtitles. Source: DEFA-Stiftung (YouTube).


Trailer Feuer unter Deck/Fire below deck (1977). Sorry, no subtitles. Source: DEFA-Stiftung (YouTube).

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

Come le foglie (1917)

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Italian diva Maria Jacobini was the star of the silent comedy-drama Come le foglie/Like the Leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). The film was based on a stage play by Giuseppe Giacosa, which was performed for the first time at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan in 1900 by the company Tina Di Lorenzo. The cast of the film version also included Alberto Collo, Ignazio Luppi, Ida Carloni Talli, Diana d'Amore, Floriana and Guido Guiducci.

Come le foglie
Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film, Roma. Publicity still for Come le foglie/Like the Leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). Left Maria Jacobini. Translation caption : The portrait slipped from the package and fell to the ground.

Come le foglie (1917)
Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film, Roma. Alberto Collo as Tommy in Come le foglie/Like the Leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). Translation caption: In the house of Ms. Orlof.

Come le foglie (1917)
Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film, Roma. Guido Guiducci (Massimo), Maria Jacobini as Nennele and Alberto Collo as her brother Tommy in Come le foglie/Like the Leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). Translation caption: I won't allow you to speak about my brother in this way.

A life of spendthrifts


Maria Jacobini (1892-1944) could play it all: the island of serenity, the vivacious lady, the femme fatale, the comedienne, the hysterical victim, and the suffering mother or wife. In Come le foglie/Like the Leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917), she plays a daughter, Nennele Rosati.

After a life of spendthrifts, the Rosati family is ruined. Father Giovanni (Ignazio Lupi) accepts work from his cousin Massimo (Guido Guiducci).

Hitherto neglected as too serious and workaholic, Massimo becomes the head of the family and takes care of the son and daughter of Giovanni, Tommy (Alberto Collo) and Nennele (Jacobini), and their stepmother Giulia (Floriana).

Tommy and Giulia remain weak spirits, but after an attempted suicide, Nennele realizes Massimo's force and unites with him.

Little is known about Italian actor Guido Guiducci, who plays Massimo. Though he made a handful of films before, his career really set off after Come le foglie. Guiducci was often paired with female stars Ileana Leonidoff, Hesperia and Mary Bayma-Riva. Guiducci's last film was Occhi luccenti (1923), a film he directed himself as well.

Maria Jacobini and Alberto Collo in Come le foglie (1917)
Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film, Roma. Publicity still for Come le foglie/Like the Leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). Maria Jacobini (Nennele) and Alberto Collo (Tommy). Translation caption: Nennele: You don't know what you're saying! Farewell, Tommy, farewell, poor Tommy!

Come le foglie (1917)
Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film, Roma. Maria Jacobini (Nennele) and Ignazio Lupi (her father Giovanni) in Come le foglie/Like the Leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). Translation caption: Nennele: He is here! He has approached in the shadow of the hedge... to hear us.

Maria Jacobini and Ignazio Lupi in Come le foglie
Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film, Roma. Publicity still of Maria Jacobini and Ignazio Lupi in the Italian silent film Come le foglie/Like the leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). The caption translates: Giovanni: And tomorrow I would have been out in the world, shouting like a madman, searching for my little daugher.

Come le foglie
Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film. Publicity still for Come le foglie/Like the Leaves (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). Father Giovanni (Ignazio Lupi) unites his daughter Nennele (Maria Jacobini) with his cousin Massimo (Guido Guiducci). Translation caption: Nennele: Shall I call him? Massimo!

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Il Cinema Muto Italiano: 1917), Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb.

Carsta Löck

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German actress Carsta Löck (1902–1993) made over 100 films in Germany, Austria and Sweden, from 1933 to 1983. During the 1930s, she was usually cast in comedies and propaganda films as plain or naive provincial girls, as army brides, maids or jovial tomboys. After the war, Löck segued into character parts as wives, mothers and grandmothers. She is lovingly remembered as storyteller Krösa-Maja in the wonderful Astrid Lindgren film adaptation Emil i Lönneberga/Emil in Lonneberga (1971).

Carsta Löck
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3399/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Tobis / Binz.

The National Socialist Spirit


Carsta Betty Löck was born in 1902 in Deezbüll, Schleswig-Holstein in the German Empire. She was the daughter of a rich merchant and she grew up in Kiel. During her school time, she cherished the wish to become an actress and she took her first acting lessons. Her parents requested that she chose a middle-class job and for years she worked as a magazine illustrator. At the same time she attended drama training and when she was 28, she choose for the theatre and left her parents.

In Berlin, she made her stage debut as Rosi in Hermann Sudermann’s Die Schmetterlingsschlacht (The butterfly battle) in 1930. In the same year, she was engaged for the touring company of the Deutsche Volksbühne. She performed at various stages in Berlin, such as the Theater am Nollendorfplatz, the Lessing Theater, the Renaissance Theatre and the Schlossparktheater.

Director Carl Froelich spotted her for the cinema and the 31-years old actress made her film debut in Reifende Jugend/Ripening Youth (Carl Froelich, 1933). She then played a village maid in Wenn am Sonntagabend die Dorfmusik spielt/When the Village Band Plays on a Sunday Evening (Charles Klein, 1933), and had a small part in Flüchtlinge/Refugees (Gustav Ucicky, 1933), starring Hans Albers and Käthe von Nagy. Flüchtlinge was written by Gerhard Menzel and was based on his own novel depicting ethnic Germans, known as Volga Germans, persecuted by the Bolsheviks on the Sino-Russian border in the Soviet province of Manchuria in 1928. It was the first film to win the German state prize, and Joseph Goebbels praised it as among those films that, while they did not explicitly cite National Socialist principles, nevertheless embodied its spirit. The refugees are rescued by a heroic German leader much like the Führer; the symbolism is obviously intended to emulate Adolf Hitler.

In the following years, Löck played supporting parts in several comedies, such as Krach um Jolanthe/Trouble with Jolanthe (Carl Froelich, 1934), Onkel Bräsig/Uncle Bräsig (Erich Waschneck, 1936) starring Otto Wernicke, and Autobus S (Heinz Hille, 1937), starring Hermann Speelmans. She often got the part of the simple country girl and with her humour and timing she became a darling of many German film fans.

She then appeared with Ingrid Bergman and Sabine Peters in the drama Die vier Gesellen/The Four Companions (Carl Froelich, 1938). The film was intended as a star vehicle to launch Bergman's career in Germany. Löck played the female lead in the historical war film Kadetten/Cadets (Karl Ritter, 1939), starring Mathias Wieman. The film is set in 1760, against the backdrop of the Austro-Russian Raid on Berlin during the Seven Years' War. It depicts a group of Prussian cadets holding off superior Russian forces. Because of its anti-Russian theme the film was pulled from release in 1939 following the Nazi-Soviet Pact. It was put on general release in December 1941, once Germany and the Soviets were at war. The film is loosely connected to the Prussian film cycle of historical epics.

Carsta Löck
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3531/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Tobis / Star-Foto-Atelier.

Issues of Collective Guilt and Future Rebuilding


During the Second World War, Carsta Löck appeared in supporting parts in lightweight dramas like Mädchen im Vorzimmer/The Girl at the Reception (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1940), featuring Magda Schneider, and in propaganda films like Über alles in der Welt/Above All Else in the World (Karl Ritter, 1941), starring Paul Hartmann.

After the war, her career is unbroken and she played a supporting part in the Rubble film Zwischen gestern und morgen/Between Yesterday and Tomorrow (Harald Braun, 1947) starring Hildegard Knef, Winnie Markus and Sybille Schmitz. In Post-war Germany a group of former guests return to a luxurious Munich hotel where they are haunted by memories of their past interaction with Nelly Dreifuss, a Jewish woman who had died during the Nazi era. As with many other German Rubble films, it examines issues of collective guilt and future rebuilding.

She also appeared in the West-German comedy Film ohne Titel/Film Without a Title (Rudolf Jugert, 1948) with Hans Söhnker and Hildegard Knef. For the DEFA, she appeared in the drama Die Buntkarierten/Girls in Gingham (Kurt Maetzig, 1949) with Camilla Spira. Her resolute appearance in easily remembered support roles helped her to great popularity in the post-war film.

During the 1950s, she continued to appear in supporting parts such as in the comedy Wochenend im Paradies/Weekend in Paradise (Kurt Hoffmann, 1952) starring Paul Dahlke, and the musical comedy Käpt'n Bay-Bay/Captain Bay-Bay (Helmut Käutner, 1953), featuring Hans Albers. Her roles in this period were maids, wives, mothers, housekeepers, secretaries and neighbours. The most notable film of this period was the two-part Thomas Mann adaptation Buddenbrooks (Alfred Weidenmann, 1959).

Her film career drew to a close in the 1960s. Löck returned to the cinema as Krösa-Maja in the Swedish family film Emil i Lönneberga/Emil in Lonneberga (Olle Hellbom, 1971), based on the books by Astrid Lindgren. As Krösa-Maja she told horror stories to the children with goose pimples guarantee. She also appeared in the two sequels, Nya hyss av Emil i Lönneberga/New Mischief by Emil (Olle Hellbom, 1972), and Emil och griseknoen/Emil and the Piglet (Olle Hellbom, 1973). The role made her very popular among children.

Her final film was the German comedy Der Schnüffler/Non Stop Trouble with Spies (Ottokar Rünze, 1983) with Dieter Hallervorden. After that she retired. In 1989 she received the Filmband im Gold, an award for many years of outstanding achievements in the German cinema. Carsta Löck died in Berlin in 1993. She was 90. Since 1963, she was a widow.

Carsta Löck
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3246/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Tobis / Binz.

Sources: Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-Line – German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), FilmZeit.de (German), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.

EFSP's Dazzling Dozen: Beauty Queens

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Beauty contests became popular in the 1880s, but were not regarded as respectable. The pageants came to be considered more respectable with the first modern Miss America contest held in 1921. Beauty contests lead to many film careers. Some careers were tragically short, others were enduringly successful. Today EFSP presents 12 postcards of dazzling European beauty queens who acted in films.

Margaret Leahy
British postcard by Rotary Photo, London, no. 5.76. 6. Caption: The Daily Sketch girl. Adopted by Miss Norma Talmadge.

Margaret Leahy (1902–1967) won a beauty contest of the British Daily Sketch. In 1922, a starring role in a major Hollywood film was offered by the newspaper in a grand and widely publicised film star competition. The competition was to find a British actress to play second lead in Norma Talmadge's forthcoming Hollywood production Within The Law. The contestants reputably numbered nearly 80,000 and the competition resulted in three girls thought suitable: Katherine Campbell, the French Agnès Souret and Leahy. Prior to depart to Hollywood, Leahy toured several major cities in Europe and was greeted with hundreds of cheering fans and photographers as the new film star that was about to be born.

In Hollywood, Margaret Leahy began working with director Frank Lloyd who was going to make her a 'star.' Although it was said by her publicity that the young beauty queen had acted in English and French films, this proved to be highly untrue. Lloyd had her dismissed from Within the Law (1923). He claimed that Leahy could do nothing that an actress was supposed to be able to do. Following this, producer Joseph Schenck believed it did not take much to be a comedian, and handed Margaret over to his brother-in-law Buster Keaton to appear in his next comedy, the silent feature Three Ages (Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton, 1923). Leahy's only film did absolutely nothing to improve her already crumbling film career. After the film finished shooting, there were no attempts to put her in any other films as she was labeled as being untalented and incapable of learning how to act. She went so far as to sue Joseph Schenck for $50,000 for breach of contract and injured feelings. Leahy chose to remain in California and get married, instead of returning to England.

Ita Rina
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3324/3, 1928-1929. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

Yugoslav film actress and beauty queen Ita Rina (1907-1979) was one of the major film stars in Germany and Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In October 1926, Slavic People magazine organised a beauty pageant for a Miss to represent Yugoslavia at the Miss Europe contest. The attractive nineteen-year-old Rina secretly entered the beauty contest, not telling anyone at home. She was crowned Miss Slovenia and should travel to the final event for Miss Yugoslavia in Zagreb. Then her mother forbade her go to Zagreb. However, she was noticed by Adolf Müller, the owner of Balkan Palace cinema in Zagreb. He sent her photographs to German film producer Peter Ostermayer, who invited her to come to Germany. As her mother did not want to let her go to Berlin, Rina ran away from home and arrived in Berlin in 1927. After her first audition, she had classes in acting, diction, dancing, driving and riding.

Ita Rina made her film debut in the leading role in Was die Kinder ihren Eltern verschweigen/What Do Children Hide from Their Parents (Franz Osten, 1927) with Mary Johnson. The critics noticed her in Das letzte Souper/The Last Supper (Mario Bonnard, 1928). Her big breakthrough came the following year in Erotikon/Seduction (1929), directed by Gustav Machatý. The film was a great success but also upset some moral and Christian organizations. In 1931, Ita Rina earned 15,000 marks per month and was an idol to teenagers as well as modern emancipated women. The same year, Rina was given an offer from Hollywood, but her husband forced her to choose between her career and their marriage; Rina chose to stay with him. Although she had announced her retirement from the cinema, she acted until the outbreak of the World War II.

Miss Europe 1929 candidates: Germaine Laborde
French postcard by A.N., Paris. Caption: France - Germaine Laborde

Germaine Laborde was Miss France 1928, after being elected Miss Gascogne in 1927. She joined the 1929 Miss Europe contest but didn't win; she became third after Hungary and Poland. On her return to France, Mlle. Laborde played with Mistinguett at the Casino de Paris in the revue, Paris-Miss. Laborde also acted in the film Chacun sa chance by René Pujol and Hanns Steinhoff, starring Renée Heribel and Jean Gabin. Her career didn't last very long and she became a nanny.

Miss Europe candidate 1930: Zofia Batycka
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 14. Caption: Miss Polonia.

Polish model and actress Zofia Batycka (1907-1989) studied at the Warsaw School of Economics. She supposedly had an affair with tenor Jan Kiepura in 1928 but they never married. As a student Zofia made her debut in the cinema. From 1929 on she played in Polish films, first in the silent Sfinks production Grzeszna milosc (Zbigniew Gniazdowski, Mieczyslaw Krawicz, 1929), partly filmed at the Tatra Mountains. It was followed by the silent films Szlakiem hanby/Export in Blond (Mieczyslaw Krawicz, Alfred Niemirski, 1929) and Dusze w niewoli/Souls in Bondage (Leon Trystan, 1930). Moralnosc pani Dulskiej (Boleslaw Newolin, 1930) was probably her first sound film. It was followed by the short sound film Kobieta, która sie smieje (Ryszard Ordynski, 1931) which was shot at the Paris Paramount sound studios, and the sound feature Dziesieciu z Pawiaka/10 Condemned (Ryszard Ordynski, 1931).

When Zofia Batycka won the title of Miss Polonia 1930, she became extremely popular. She joined the Miss Europe 1930 contest in Paris. Winner that year was Miss Greece Aliki Diplarakou. Batycka went on to win the title of Miss Paramount in 1931 and went to Hollywood in hope of a film career there. While away, Miss Poland 1931 couldn't go through as Batycka had forgotten to hand over the temporary crown. In 1932, Batycka signed with the American label International Artists. It proved to be completely unsuccessful - in fact she didn't do any movies in Hollywood. In 1934 she returned to Poland and for a time there she worked as a theatre actress. Soon she gave up acting and married. After the war she moved to the United States and settled in Los Angeles. After her husband's death and that of her mother, she maintained herself by teaching foreign languages (she mastered four languages​​), and then worked in a gallery. She died in obscurity in 1989.

Miss Europe 1931: Jeanne Juilla
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1c. Photo: St. Mano. Caption: Miss Europa - France.

Jeanne Juilla was elected Miss Garonne in 1930 and Miss France in 1931, so she joined the Miss Europe 1931 pageant ... and won. Juilla worked as fashion model, and was photographed by Dora Kalmus for L'Officiel de la Mode in 1933. She also played supporting acts in some films: Sa meilleure cliente (Pierre Colombier, 1932) starring Elvire Popesco, La prison de Sainte Clothaire (Pierre-Jean Ducis, 1933) in which Juilla played a bar owner, Une femme chipée (Pierre Colombier, 1934), and Samson (Maurice Tourneur, 1936) with Harry Baur.

Miss Austria 1931
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 2A. Photo: St. Mano. Caption: Miss Austria.

The Austrian representative at the Miss Europe 1931 pageant was Hertha van Haentjens. After the Parisian contest, Van Haentjens got the lead in an Austrian early sound film film, Wiener Zauberklänge/Viennese Magic Tunes (Robert Reich, 1931), opposite Wolf Albach-Retty.

Miss Denmark 1931: Inga Arvad
French postcard by A.N., Paris. Photo: St. Mano. Caption: Miss Denmark.

Danish representative for the Miss Europe 1931 pageant was Inga Arvad (1913-1973). Arvad was the 1931 beauty queen selected by the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende. After the pageant she appeared in two Danish films, the little known Storm Varsel and Flugten fra millionerne/Flight from the Millions (Pál Fejös, 1934). She started to work as a journalist and interviewed Adolf Hitler and was his companion at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

In 1939 Inga Arvad moved to the U.S. and had a romantic relationship with John F. Kennedy during 1941 and 1942. This led to suspicions that she was a Nazi spy, but investigations uncovered no such evidence. In the U.S., she worked as a motion picture writer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a Hollywood gossip columnist. Arvad's first husband was Kamal Abdel Nabi, whom she married in 1931, when she was 17. Her second husband was Hungarian film director Pál Fejös or Paul Fejos. From 1945 until her death she was the wife of wealthy cowboy actor and military officer Tim McCoy.

Miss Hungary 1931: Maria von Tasnady
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 11A. Photo: St. Mano. Caption: Miss Hongrie.

Hungary's representative at the Miss Europe 1931 pageant was Maria Tasnady-Fekete (1911-2001), who later became well known as singer, stage and film actress Maria von Tasnady. After the Miss Europe pageant, Maria moved to Weimar Germany, where she made her film debut in 1932 in Durchlaucht amusiert sich (Conrad Wiene, 1932) with Georg Alexander. She made several German films such as Douglas Sirk's Schlussakkord (1936) in which she had the lead. Later, she also worked in her native Hungary and in Italy where she appeared in the patriotic war film Bengasi (Augusto Genina, 1942) with Fosco Giachetti.

All in all, Maria von Tasnady appeared in 25 films during her career. Following the Second World War, she was employed by Radio Free Europe, and played in three more three films, e.g. as Caruso's mother in Enrico Caruso - Leggenda di una voce/The Young Caruso (Giacomo Gentilomo, 1951). She retired in the late 1950s. Maria von Tasnady was married to the film producer Bruno Duday.

Miss Belgium 1931: Netta Duchateau
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 3B. Photo: St. Mano. Caption: Miss Belgique.

Belgium's representative at the Miss Europe 1931 pageant was Annette 'Netta' Duchateau (1910-1994). She became Miss Namur and subsequently Miss Belgium in 1930, joined in the Miss Europe contest in Paris and became Miss Universe in Galveston in 1931 at the age of 20. She was the first Miss Belgium to obtain that title.

In 1932 Annette Duchateau started a modest career in cinema, playing a small part in her only film, Grains de beauté (Pierre Caron, 1932) with Roger Tréville. After that she became stage actress. During the war she played in Ces dames aux chapeaux verts in Paris. After that she acted in the Brussels theatres, e.g. as Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac. At the end of her career she emigrated to France, then Monaco, where she died at the age of 83. Supposedly she inspired Sterne Stevens for his design for Miss Belga cigarettes.

Nadja Tiller
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. FK 3814. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Ufa.

Austrian actress Nadja Tiller (1929) started out as a model. She won the Miss Austria contest twice, in 1949 and 1951, which turned out to be her ticket into filmmaking. In 1949, she acted opposite O.W. Fischer in Märchen vom Glück (Arthur de Glahs, 1949). Many roles as a vamp in German and Austrian films followed. In 1954 she worked with director Rolf Thiele in the successful Sie. Until 1970 they would make ten more movies together, including Die Barrings (1955), and Lulu (1962), with Mario Adorf.

Nadja Tiller’s international breakthrough role was that of the high class prostitute Rosemarie Nitribitt in Das Mädchen Rosemarie (Rolf Thiele, 1958). The film, based on a scandal, confirmed the assumption of post-war, American audiences that European actresses were somehow more sensuous and erotic than their Hollywood counterparts. With international productions like The Rough and the Smooth (Robert Siodmak, 1959), Du Rififi chez les femmes (Alex Joffé, 1959), and Anima nera (Roberto Rossellini, 1962), Tiller stayed a favourite of the art house public. She would act in more than 70 films.

Irène Tunc
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano (Milan), no. 1656. Photo: Cineriz.

Sexy French actress and model Irène Tunc (1935-1972) was chosen Miss Côte d'Azur 1953 in the beach town of Juan-les-Pins. At the time, she was already working as a mannequin, modeling for local papers and posing in beachwear for holiday postcards. The next year, she was crowned Miss France in 1954 at the age of 19. One of her first film roles was opposite Franco Fabrizi and Gabriele Ferzetti in the Italian comedy-drama Camilla (Luciano Emmer, 1954). In Italy, she also appeared with Alberto Sordi in Bravissimo (Luigi Filippo D'Amico, 1955). Back in France, she continued to model in Paris and studied acting at the school of Françoise Rosay. After a few small parts in French films, she returned to Italy for better roles. She played the lead role in the melodrama La sposa/The wife (Edmondo Lozzi, 1958), and a supporting part in the crime-comedy Noi siamo due evasi (Giorgio Simonelli, 1959).

Irène Tunc found more rewarding roles in the French cinema with the raise of the Nouvelle Vague. She had a big supporting part in the classic Léon Morin, prêtre/Léon Morin, Priest/The Sin (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. Also memorable is Vivre pour vivre/Live for Life (Claude Lelouch, 1967), starring Yves Montand. Irène Tunc died in a car crash in 1972 in Versailles She was only 36.

Margit Nünke
German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3615. Photo: Wesel / Berolina / Herzog Film. Publicity still for Das haut hin/The skin-out (Géza von Cziffra, 1957).

Gorgeous German actress Margit Nünke (1930) became Miss Germany in 1955 after previously being Miss North Rhine-Westphalia. The following year, 1956, she won the Miss Europe pageant in Stockholm before 12 other candidates and in front of 5,000 spectators. Finally, she reached the 4th place at the Miss Universe contest in Long Beach, USA, in 1958. From 1957 on she appeared in feature films and TV movies. In Italy, she acted opposite Rik Battaglia in I fidanzati della morte/The betrothed of death (Romolo Marcellini, 1957). In the German musical comedy Das haut hin/The skin-out (Géza von Cziffra, 1957) she appeared opposite the popular Peter Alexander. In the Austrian film Geliebte Bestie/Arena of Fear (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1959), she put her dancing skills to the test.

In the next decade, Margit Nünke continued to appear in German lighter-than-light entertainment films with such film partners as Walter Giller and Toni Sailer. Titles include the Conny Froboess comedy Meine Nichte tut das nicht/My Niece Doesn't Do That (Franz Josef Gottlieb, 1960), and Liebesgrüße aus Tirol/With Love from Tyrol (Franz Antel, 1964) with Peter Weck. As a singer, she recorded several singles, including the duet Jede Woche, die hat 7 Tage (Every week has 7 days) with her husband Peter Garden. Together, they performed in his TV-series Garden-Party (1969-1970).

Sources: Filmpolski.pl, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Imported from the USA: Marilyn Monroe

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This year Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) would have turned 90. Till 5 February 2017, De Nieuwe Kerk (The New Church) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, presents the exhibition 90 Years Ms Monroe about her life and legacy, including numerous personal items from her house at 5th Helena Drive in Brentwood, California. Film institute EYE will present six classic MM films from 22 December on. Today, Marilyn Monroe is also the first Hollywood star in a new series of 'Imported from the USA' posts at EFSP. So, what did she do in Europe? In Great Britain she was directed by Sir Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).

Marilyn Monroe
German postcard by ISV, Sort. VI/6.

Marilyn Monroe in Niagara (1953)
Italian postcard by Rotalcolor, Milano, no. 36. Photo: publicity still for Niagara (Henry Hathaway, 1953).

Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/13. Photo: publicity still for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).

Marilyn Monroe in River of No Return (1954)
Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. 7. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for River of No Return (Otto Preminger, 1954).

Marilyn Monroe
German postcard by ISV, Sort. VI/6.

Cheesecake queen turned box office smash


Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926 in Lemmon, South Dakota. She was the third child of Gladys Pearl Baker née Monroe, who suffered from mental illness and later worked as a film-cutter at RKO. Marilyn was abandoned by her mother and she spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage.

Just after her 16th birthday, she married 21-year-old aircraft plant worker James 'Jim' Dougherty. In 1943, Dougherty enlisted in the Merchant Marine. He was initially stationed on Catalina Island, where she lived with him until he was shipped out to the Pacific in April 1944; he would remain there for most of the next two years.

While working in a factory as part of the war effort in 1944, Marilyn met photographer David Conover and began a successful modeling career. She began to occasionally use the name Jean Norman when working, and had her curly brunette hair straightened and dyed blond to make her more employable. As her figure was deemed more suitable for pin-up than fashion modeling, she was employed mostly for advertisements and men's magazines. By early 1946, she had appeared on 33 magazine covers for publications such as Pageant, U.S. Camera, Laff, and Peek. She divorced Dougherty in 1946.

The work led to a screentest by 20th Century Fox executive and former film star Ben Lyon. Head executive Darryl F. Zanuck was unenthusiastic about it, but he was persuaded to give her a standard six-month contract to avoid her being signed by rival studio RKO Pictures. Monroe began her contract in August 1946, and together with Lyon selected the screen name of Marilyn Monroe. Among her first film parts were nine lines of dialogue as a waitress in the drama Dangerous Years (Arthur Pierson, 1947) and a one-line appearance in the comedy Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (F. Hugh Herbert, 1948). After a series of other minor film roles, she moved to Columbia.

While at Fox her roles had been that of a 'girl next door', at Columbia she was modeled after Rita Hayworth. Monroe's hairline was raised by electrolysis and her hair was bleached even lighter, to platinum blond. She also began working with the studio's head drama coach, Natasha Lytess, who would remain her mentor until 1955. Her only film at the studio was the low-budget musical Ladies of the Chorus (Phil Karlson, 1948), in which she had her first starring role as a chorus girl who is courted by a wealthy man.

After leaving Columbia in September 1948, Monroe became a protégée of Johnny Hyde, vice president of the William Morris Agency. Hyde began representing her and their relationship soon became sexual, although she refused his proposals of marriage. To advance Monroe's career, he paid for a silicone prosthesis to be implanted in her jaw, and arranged a bit part in the Marx Brothers film Love Happy (David Miller, 1949). That year, she also made minor appearances in two critically acclaimed films: John Huston's crime film The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and Joseph Mankiewicz's drama All About Eve (1950). Following Monroe's success in these roles, Hyde negotiated a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox in December 1950.

Over the next two years, she became a popular actress with roles in several comedies, including As Young as You Feel (Harmon Jones, 1951) and Monkey Business (Howard Hawks, 1952) with Cary Grant, and in the dramas Clash by Night (Fritz Lang, 1952) and Don't Bother to Knock (Roy Ward Baker, 1952) with Richard Widmark. Her popularity with audiences was growing: she received several thousand letters of fan mail a week.

The second year of the Fox contract saw Monroe become a top-billed actress, with gossip columnist Florabel Muir naming her the year's 'it girl' and Hedda Hopper describing her as the 'cheesecake queen' turned 'box office smash'. She began a highly publicized romance with retired New York Yankee baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, one of the most famous sports personalities of the era. A month later, Monroe faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photos before becoming a star, but rather than damaging her career, the story increased interest in her films.

Marilyn Monroe in The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 1708. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston, 1950).

Marilyn Monroe in River of No Return  (1954)
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. FK 3969. Photo: Camera Press / Ufa. Publicity still for River of No Return (Otto Preminger, 1954).

Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum in River of No Return  (1954)
Vintage postcard. Photo: publicity still for River of No Return (Otto Preminger, 1954), with Robert Mitchum.

Marilyn Monroe
French postcard by Editions P.I., offered by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, mo. 882. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Marilyn Monroe
Dutch postcard by Int. Filmpers (IFP), Amsterdam, no. 1154.

More control and a larger salary


By 1953, Marilyn Monroe was one of the most marketable Hollywood stars with leading roles in three hits: the Film Noir Niagara, and the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire. In Niagara (Henry Hathaway, 1953), she played a femme fatale scheming to murder her husband, played by Joseph Cotten.

While Niagara made Monroe a sex symbol, the satirical musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953), established her screen persona as a 'dumb blonde'. Based on Anita Loos' bestselling novel and its Broadway version, the film focuses on two 'gold-digging' showgirls, Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw, played by Monroe and Jane Russell. It became one of the biggest box office successes of the year by grossing $5.3 million, more than double its production costs.

Her next film, How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953), co-starred Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall. It featured Monroe in the role of a naïve model who teams up with her friends to find rich husbands, repeating the successful formula of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Despite mixed reviews, the film was Monroe's biggest box office success so far, earning $8 million in world rentals.

Although she played a significant role in the creation and management of her public image throughout her career, she was disappointed at being typecast and underpaid by the studio. She was suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project. The suspension was front page news and Monroe immediately began a publicity campaign to counter any negative press and to strengthen her position in the conflict. On 14 January, she and Joe DiMaggio were married at the San Francisco City Hall. They then traveled to Japan, combining a honeymoon with his business trip. From there, she traveled alone to Korea, where she performed songs from her films as part of a USO show for over 60,000 U.S. Marines over a four-day period.

She settled with Fox and returned to star in one of the biggest box office successes of her career, The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder, 1955). Then followed the release of Otto Preminger's Western River of No Return (1955), in which Monroe appeared opposite Robert Mitchum. When the studio was still reluctant to change her contract, Monroe and photographer Milton Greene founded a film production company in late 1954, Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP). She dedicated 1955 to building her company and began studying method acting at the Actors Studio. She grew close to the studio's director, Lee Strasberg and to his wife Paula, receiving private lessons at their home due to her shyness, and she soon became like a family member.

In late 1955, Fox awarded her a new contract, which gave her more control and a larger salary. Monroe did a critically acclaimed performance in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956). She played Chérie, a saloon singer whose dreams of stardom are complicated by a naïve cowboy who falls in love with her. She received a Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination for her performance. Then she acted opposite Laurence Olivier in the first independent production of MMP, The Prince and the Showgirl (Laurence Olivier, 1957), made in Great Britain. It was released in June 1957 to mixed reviews, and proved unpopular with American audiences. The film was better received in Europe where it won Crystal Star awards, and was nominated for a BAFTA.

Then she acted opposite Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in the classic comedy Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959). The film was an absolute smash hit, with Curtis and Lemmon pretending to be females in an all-girl band, so they can get work. This was to be Marilyn's only film for the year. She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for role.

Monroe took a hiatus until late 1959, when she returned to Hollywood to star in the musical comedy Let's Make Love (George Cukor, 1960), about an actress and a millionaire (Yves Montand) who fall in love when performing in a satirical play. Her affair with Montand was widely reported by the press and used in the film's publicity campaign. Her last completed film was the drama The Misfits (John Huston, 1961), which Arthur Miller had written to provide her with a dramatic role. She played a recently divorced woman who becomes friends with three aging cowboys, played by Clark Gable, Eli Wallach and Montgomery Clift.

Monroe returned to the public eye in spring 1962: she received a 'World Film Favorite' Golden Globe award and began to shoot a new film for 20th Century-Fox, Something's Got to Give, a re-make of My Favorite Wife (Garson Kanin, 1940). Days before filming began, Monroe caught sinusitis; despite medical advice to postpone the production, Fox began it as planned in late April. Monroe was too ill to work for the majority of the next six weeks, but despite confirmations by multiple doctors, the studio tried to put pressure on her by alleging publicly that she was faking it.

On 19 May 1962, she took a break to sing Happy Birthday on stage at President John F. Kennedy's birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York. She drew attention with her costume: a beige, skintight dress covered in rhinestones, which made her appear nude. Monroe next filmed a scene for Something's Got to Give in which she swam naked in a swimming pool. To generate advance publicity, the press were invited to take photographs of the scene, which were later published in Life. It was the first time that a major star had posed nude while at the height of their career. When she was again on sick leave for several days, Fox decided that it could not afford to have another film running behind schedule when it was already struggling to cover the rising costs of Cleopatra (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1963). The studio blamed Monroe for the film's demise and began spreading negative publicity about her, even alleging that she was mentally disturbed.

Fox soon regretted its decision, and re-opened negotiations with Monroe later in June; a settlement about a new contract, including re-commencing Something's Got to Give and a starring role in the black comedy What a Way to Go! (J. Lee Thompson, 1964), was reached later that summer. To repair her public image, Monroe engaged in several publicity ventures, including interviews for Life and Cosmopolitan and her first photo shoot for Vogue. For Vogue, she and photographer Bert Stern collaborated for two series of photographs, one a standard fashion editorial and another of her posing nude, which were both later published posthumously with the title The Last Sitting. In the last weeks of her life, she was also planning on starring in a biopic of Jean Harlow.

Only 36, Marilyn Monroe died on 5 August 1962 from an overdose of barbiturates. She was discovered dead at her home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood. She had a phone in one of her hands, her body was completely nude and face down, on her bed. During her life and also after her death, her troubled private life received much attention. She struggled with addiction, depression, and anxiety. She had two highly publicized marriages, to baseball player Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, which both ended in divorce. Although the death was ruled a probable suicide, several conspiracy theories have been proposed in the decades following her death. There are over 600 books written about her.

Marilyn Monroe
German postcard by Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft (Ufa), Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-73. Photo: Gene Korman / 20th Century Fox, 1953.

Marilyn Monroe
British postcard by Santoro Graphics, London, no. C213. Photo: publicity still for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).

Marilyn Monroe
West-German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-10. Photo: Baron Studios, London. Sterling Henry Nahum, known professionally as Baron, was a society and court photographer in the United Kingdom. However, one notable sitter was Marilyn Monroe, whom in 1954 he went to California to photograph in an outdoor shoot in Palm Springs.

Marilyn Monroe
French postcard by Edition P.I., Paris, no. 1044.

Marilyn Monroe
American postcard by The American Postcard Company, no. 282, 1981. Photo: Bruno Bernard (Bernard of Hollywood).

The Nude Calendar


Before posing for her famous calendar shots taken by photographer Tom Kelley, Marilyn had turned down many offers to pose nude. It seems she accepted only when her need was dire and immediate. Early 1949, her contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia had not been renewed, she was out of work, and had a certain level of lifestyle to maintain. The $50 she was paid was exactly what she needed to get back her car which had been impounded.

The photographs that became the infamous 'Golden Dreams' calendar were taken on 27 May 1949. Kelley's wife Natalie helped to prepare the red velvet backdrop and the cameras. The shoot lasted two hours while Kelley shot a sequence of photographs from a ten-foot ladder. Only two of the twenty-four shots Kelley took actually made it to print. 'A New Wrinkle' (pictured here) graced one Braugarth Company calendar, but the picture that captured a nation's imagination was 'Golden Dreams'.

The story that Hollywood's hottest new property Marilyn Monroe was in fact the girl in the nude calendar was broken by wire journalist Aline Mosby in March 1952. The studio's initial reaction was to deny everything. No Hollywood star had ever been proven to have done such a thing; the early fifties was a time of strait-laced public morals. Biographers agree that Marilyn was instrumental in persuading the studio that their natural inclination to deny the whole thing was the wrong way to handle it. An exclusive interview was arranged and the following confession ran in US newspapers on 13 March 1952.

MARILYN MONROE ADMITS SHE'S NUDE BLONDE OF CALENDAR

A photograph of a beautiful nude blonde on a 1952 calendar is hanging in garages and barbershops all over the nation today. Marilyn Monroe admitted today that the beauty is she. She posed, stretched out on rumpled red velvet for the artistic photo 3 years ago because "I was broke and needed the money".

"Oh, the calendar's hanging in garages all over town," said Marilyn. "Why deny it? You can get one any place. Besides, I'm not ashamed of it. I've done nothing wrong."

The beautiful blonde now gets a fat pay check every week from an excited Twentieth Century-Fox studio. She's rated the most sensational sweater girl since Lana Turner....she lives in an expensive hotel room...She dines at Romanoff's. But in 1949 she was just another scared young blonde, struggling to find fame in the magic city, and all alone. As a child she lived in a Hollywood orphanage. She was pushed around among twelve sets of foster parents before she turned an insecure sixteen.

"I was a week behind on my rent," she explained. "I had to have the money. A photographer, Tom Kelley, had asked me before to pose but I'd never do it. This time I called him and said I would. Tom didn't think anyone would recognize me. My hair was long then. But when the picture came out, everybody knew me. I'd never have done it if I'd known things would happen in Hollywood so fast for me."


In the aftermath of the calendar confession, Marilyn was harangued by journalists. In typical fashion, when asked if it was true she had nothing on when she posed, she replied "Oh no, I had the radio on."

In December 1953 a man named Hugh Hefner bought the rights to reproduce the 'Golden Dreams' photograph as the first centrefold in the first ever issue of Playboy magazine.

Marilyn Monroe, 1949
Modern postcard. Photo: Tom Kelley.

Marilyn Monroe
French postcard by JG, Paris, no. 603/5. Photo: Andre de Dienes, 1949.

Marilyn Monroe
British postcard by Camden Graphics, nr. PC 443. Photo: Frank Powolny, 1951.

Marilyn Monroe
Vintage postcard, no. PU 13. Photo: publicity still for The River of No Return (Otto Preminger, 1953). Collection: Meiter.

Sources: De Nieuwe Kerk, Marilyn Geek, IMDb and Wikipedia.

Pietje Bell (2002)

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Every autumn, the Cinekid Film, Television and New Media Festival offers films, workshops and masterclasses for Dutch children during the school holidays. This year, the international festival celebrates its 30th anniversary, and yesterday started the ten days’ event in Amsterdam and 30 other cities in the Netherlands EFSP salutes this wonderful festival with a post on the Dutch family film Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002). Based on the popular Pietje Bell books of Chris van Abkoude, the film tells the tales of a young rascal with a heart of gold, who always gets into trouble. Pietje was played by the director’s son, the then 10-years old Quinten Schram, and the film became a box-office hit in the Netherlands.

I.M. Hans Pos (1958–2014) - Pietje Bell
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram. Caption: Pietje Bell.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram. Caption: Pietje Bell.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram as Pietje, Jordy Mul as Ebgeltje and Sjoerd Metz as Peentje. Caption: the gang set off.

I.M. Hans Pos (1958–2014) - Pietje Bell
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram. Caption: Pietje Bell.

I.M. Hans Pos (1958–2014) - Pietje Bell
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram. Caption: Pietje Bell.

A scamp with a heart of gold


The Pietje Bell children's books were written by the Dutch writer Chris van Abkoude. He wrote the first book of the series in 1914.

Pietje Bell is situated in the city of Rotterdam during the early 20th Century. Pietje (Little Peter) is the son of cheerful shoemaker Bell (Felix Strategier) and is a scamp with a heart of gold.

The boy and his 'Robin Hood'-type gang of the Black Hand repeatedly end up in trouble. Pietje does not want to be naughty but tries to make people laugh. This always goes wrong.

Piet's sister Martha (Katja Herbers) is engaged and later married to Paul Velinga (Rick Engelkes), son of a distinguished family. He's about the only one who understands the boy.

Pietje’s big enemies are the chemist Geelman (Arjan Ederveen) and his son Joseph (Stijn Westenend). When the chemist complains to father Bell about Pietje’s brutality (he has called Geelman ‘bald head’, for example), Pietje’s father can only laugh about it.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Felix Strategier as Vader Bell. Caption: Father Bell.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) with Katja Herbers as Martha Bell. Caprion: Martha Bell.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram as Pietje Bell, Rick Engelkes as Paul Velinga, and Herman Vinck as the editor. Caption: Pietje Bell visiting the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (The Latest News).

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram as Pietje Bell and Stijn Westenend as Jozef Geelhoed. Caption: Jozef Geelhoed.

I.M. Hans Pos (1958–2014) - Pietje Bell
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Stijn Westenend and Arjan Ederveen as son and father Geelhoed.

Box Office Hit


Chris van Abkoude’s stories about Pietje have been adapted to film twice. The first adaptation was De Avonturen van Pietje Bell/The Aventures of Pietje Bell, directed by Henk van der Linden in 1964.

This second adaptation is made by Maria Peters, who is responsible for both the script and the direction. She was previously responsible for the filming of Kruimeltje/Little Crumb (1998), another classic children’s book by Chris van Abkoude. Both films were produced by Hans Pos and Dave Schram, Maria’s husband. The lead role of Pietje was played by their son Quinten Schram (1992).

Branko Collin at IMDb: “nice images, good adventure, so-so acting of the leads and sometimes irksome dialogue. The Rotterdam of the 1920s was convincingly portrayed. There was a cartoonesque feel to the decor, which made it easier to focus on the story.”

The film was a box office hit. Pietje Bell received a Golden Film (75,000 visitors) as well as a Platinum Film (200,000 visitors) in 2002.

The next year, a sequel followed, made by the same team: Pietje Bell II: De jacht op de tsarenkroon/Peter Bell II: The Hunt for the Czar Crown (Maria Peters, 2003). That same year, composer Ruud Bos adapted the novel into a musical called Pietje Bell - De Musical.

I.M. Hans Pos (1958–2014) - Pietje Bell
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram. Caption: The Black Hand Gang.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) with Serge Price as Kees. Caption: Kees.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram as Pietje Bell, Frensch de Groot as Sproet, Sjoerd Metz as Peentje, and Jordy Mul as Engeltje. Caption: The Black Hand gang goes fishing.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram and Frensch de Groot. Caption: Pietje and Sproet.

Pietje Bell (2002)
Big Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002). Caption: The secret clubhouse of the Black Hand gang.

I.M. Hans Pos (1958–2014) - Pietje Bell
Dutch postcard by Rubinstein. Photo: publicity still for Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002) featuring Quinten Schram. Caption: the President of the Black Hand Gang - Pietje Bell.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.

Emma Gramatica

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Emma Gramatica (1874-1965) was a ‘monstre sacré’ of the Italian stage, but she also played many old ladies in Italian films of the 1930s to the 1950s. She was the sister of the equally famous Irma Gramatica.

Emma Gramatica
Italian postcard, no. 664. Photo: Sciutto, Genoa.

Emma Gramatica
Italian postcard by Leonar, no. 2131. August 1922.

Emma Gramatica
Italian postcard by Ed. Stab. Capecchi, Livorno, no. 118. Photo: Capecchi, Livorno.

An elegantly incisive interpretive charge


Emma Gramatica was born Aida Laura Argia Gramatica in Borgo San Donnino, Italy,  in 1874. She was the sister of Irma Gramatica; and of the lesser known Anna Adele Alberta Gramatica. Anna was married to Ruggero Capodaglio and sister-in-law of the famous actress Wanda Capodaglio.

She was still a teenager when she made her stage debut next to Eleonora Duse in La Gioconda by Gabriele D'Annunzio. Emma was equipped with a physical appearance that was far from flashy, but with an elegantly incisive interpretive charge, she made her debut in the theatre.

Emma became the 'primattrice' (first actress) at the stage companies of some of the most prestigious names in the Italian theatre of the late 19th and the early 20th century, such as Ermete Zacconi, Flavio Andò, Enrico Reinach and Ermete Novelli.

In the 1910s she formed the famous company Gramatica-Carini-Piperno, in which many great actors had their formation such as Renzo Ricci and Lola Braccini.

In 1916 Emma debuted on the silver screen as a marriage wrecker in Quando il canto si spegne/When the hand goes out (Emilio Graziani-Walter, 1916), opposite Luigi Serventi. The film was produced by the Milanese company General Film. Although they praised her stage qualities, the press condemned her for her looks and theatricality, and didn’t accept her as the mistress for which a man breaks up his marriage. Gramatica understood the message and would stay away from the screen until the arrival of sound cinema in Italy.

Emma Gramatica
German postcard by NPG (Neue Photographische Gesellschaft), no. 6. Card dated 11 September 1903. Back is Italian: ASC Diffida.

Emma Gramatica
Italian/German postcard by NPG, no. 7. Back: ASC Diffida.

Acute and pathetic tones


From the early 1930s, Emma Gramatica did prose on radio, first with EIAR and later also with RAI. Gramatica was an actress of the old naturalist school, of acute and pathetic tones.

At a high age she started a successful film and television career, staring with La vecchia signora/The Old Lady (Amleto Palermi, 1931) as an impoverished lady who sells chestnuts on the streets to support her niece.

Gramatica was memorable in Napoli d’altri tempi/Naples of Former Days (Amleto Palermi, 1938) starring Vittorio De Sica, in Mamma (Guido Brignone, 1941) as the mother of Beniamino Gigli, in the melodrama Sissignora/Yes, Madam (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1941) and in the comedy Sorelle Materassi/The Materassi Sisters (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1944), in which she and her sister Irma played two old spinsters.

In her most famous film, Miracolo in Milano/Miracle in Milan (Vittorio De Sica, 1951), she played old Lolotta who finds young Totò (Francesco Golisano) among the cauliflowers in her garden and raises him with an optimist and kind outlook.

She also appeared in Don Camillo Monsignore ... ma non troppo/Don Camillo: Monsignor (Carmine Gallone, 1961) starring Fernandel and Gino Cervi.

Emma Gramatica received awards and honors in Italy and also the Legion of Honor in France. She died in 1965 in Ostia, near Rome, and rests in the family tomb in the cemetery of Signa, with her sister Irma and their parents.

Emma Gramatica
Italian postcard by Ed. A. Vettori, Bologna. Photo: Badodi, Milano. Prob. 1920s.

Emma Gramatica
Italian postcard, no. 655. Photo: Sciutto, Genoa.

Sissignora
Italian postcard for Sissignora/Yes Madam (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1941), with Maria Denis, Irma and Emma Grammatica and Leonardo Cortese.

Sources: Wikipedia (Italian and English) and IMDb.

Pierre Etaix (1928-2016)

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French clown, actor and filmmaker Pierre Etaix has died aged 87. Etaix, who, was directly inspired by Max Linder and Buster Keaton, kept the tradition of slapstick alive. In the 1960s he made a series of acclaimed short- and feature-length films, many of them co-written by Jean-Claude Carrière. He won an Academy Award for his short film Heureux Anniversaire/Happy Anniversary (1962). Due to a legal dispute with a distribution company, these films were unavailable for three decades. As an actor, assistant director and gag writer, Étaix worked with Jacques Tati, Robert Bresson, Nagisa Oshima, Otar Iosseliani and Jerry Lewis.

Pierre Etaix (1928-2016)
Romanian collectors card. Photo: publicity still for Yoyo/Yo Yo (Pierre Etaix, 1965).


Clucking to a woman who is de-feathering a chicken


Pierre Etaix was born in 1928 in Roanne on the river Loire in central France. He decided very young to become a clown. Knowing how many skills were needed to fulfill his ambition, he studied the violin and piano, dancing and gymnastics, while teaching himself to play the xylophone, accordion, saxophone, mandolin, trumpet and concertina, as well as learning to become a magician.

He was also trained as a designer, and was introduced to the art of stained glass by Theodore Gerard Hanssen. After joining an amateur theatre group in Roanne, Etaix moved to Paris in 1953, working as an illustrator, cartoonist and cabaret performer.

In 1954, he met Jacques Tati and managed to get taken on by his hero’s company, Spectra Films, which had started the lengthy preproduction of Mon Oncle/My Uncle (Jacques Tati, 1958). During the almost four years it took to make the film, Etaix acted as gag writer, assistant director, storyboardist, gofer and uncredited player. He is seen briefly wheeling a bicycle and, with an imitation of clucking, startling a woman who is de-feathering a chicken. He also created the wonderful poster for the film.

Later, Etaix performed comedy routines at the Parisian music hall Bobino, and at the cabaret Les Trois Baudets in Pigalle. He also appeared in Robert Bresson’s classic Pickpocket (1959), as one of the accomplices of the title character, and in the army comedy Tire-au-flanc/The Army Game (Claude de Givray, François Truffaut, 1961).


Excerpt from Tant Qu’on a la Santé/As Long As You’re Healthy (1966). Source: Janusfilms (YouTube).

A Love for the comedy kings of Hollywood in the 1920s


In 1960, Pierre Etaix met the then-unknown writer Jean-Claude Carrière, and they became friends. They shared a love for the comedy kings of Hollywood in the 1920s. They first collaborated on ‘novelisations’ of Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot and Mon Oncle, written by Carrière and illustrated by Etaix.

Then they co-scripted and co-directed two shorts: Insomnie/Rupture (Pierre Etaix, 1961) and Heureux Anniversaire/Happy Anniversary (Pierre Etaix, 1962). The latter, which won the Oscar for best short film, had Etaix as a happily married man meeting a series of obstacles – mainly to do with traffic - as he desperately tries to get home in time for a celebratory dinner with his wife. Etaix, while paying homage to silent film comedy, paradoxically used sound effects as an important element in his work.

His first feature, Le Soupirant/The Suitor (Pierre Etaix, 1963), was a huge success at home and abroad, and established Etaix as ‘the French Buster Keaton’. Some of the plot – a shy and studious young man has to get married in a hurry – echoes that of Seven Chances (Buster Keaton, 1925), and a scene where Etaix attempts to carry a drunk young woman up to her apartment is almost a carbon copy of a similar one in Keaton’s Spite Marriage (Edward Sedgwick, 1929).

His next film, Yoyo/Yo Yo (Pierre Etaix, 1965), was his masterpiece. He plays a spoilt millionaire who loses everything in the Wall Street crash, then finds his former sweetheart, a circus horse rider, and their son Yoyo, a budding clown. Ronald Bergan in his excellent obituary of Etaix in The Guardian: “This enchanting nostalgic comedy romance, paying tribute to the tone and technique of silent cinema, has no dialogue for the first 30 minutes except for creative sound effects such as the creaking of the vast chateau doors. As both the adult Yoyo and the millionaire, Etaix brought the same control and sense of style to his performance as to his direction.”

He then directed two feature films Tant Qu’on a la Santé/As Long As You’re Healthy (Pierre Etaix, 1966) and Le Grand Amour/The Great Love (Pierre Etaix, 1969), which he co-authored with Jean-Claude Carrière. Tant Qu’on a la Santé looked at the absurdity of modern life. In a series of comic set pieces, Etaix played a serious-minded young man harassed wherever he goes – in the city crowds and traffic, at the doctor’s surgery, on a camping site and even on a desert island. Le Grand Amour was Etaix’s first film in colour, about a middle-aged married man who falls for a much younger woman. The wife was played by Annie Fratellini, one of the few female circus clowns in France, whom Etaix married in 1969.


Dream scene from Le Grand Amour/The Great Love (1969). Source: JLoveBirch (YouTube).

Federico Fellini


Both Pierre Etaix and Annie Fratellini were featured in Federico Fellini’s semi-documentary I clowns/The Clowns (1970) about the human fascination with clowns and circuses. In 1974, Fratellini and her husband founded France's first circus school.

Etaix’s last feature was the documentary Pays de Cocagne/Land of Milk and Honey (Pierre Etaix, 1971). Ronald Bergan: “a penetrating, rather cruel and satirical look at the French on holiday and their reactions to topical questions put to them by a hidden inquisitor (Etaix). The film, which was edited down from six hours of material to 80 minutes, was both a commercial and a critical failure, and Etaix was seldom seen on the big or small screen thereafter. In fact, he ‘vanished’ for some years when he and Fratellini joined the touring Pinder Circus as clowns.”

In 1972, Jerry Lewis cast the comedian in his unreleased film drama The Day the Clown Cried. Later, Etaix wrote a play, L’Age de Monsieur est Avancé (The Gentleman is Getting On), which was successfully staged in the autumn of 1985 at the Comédie des Champs-Elysées theatre in Paris. Etaix filmed it for television two years later in which he played the lead role opposite Nicole Calfan and Jean Carmet.

Among his later film appearances were roles as a detective in Nagisa Oshima’s Max Mon Amour (1986) and as a friend of Henry Miller (Fred Ward) in Henry and June (Philip Kaufman, 1990). He also appeared in Jardins en Automne/Gardens in Autumn (2006), Chantrapas (2010) and Winter Song (2015), all directed by the Tati and Etaix admirer Otar Iosseliani, the exiled Georgian in Paris. Etaix also played a role in Aki Kaurismäki’s Le Havre (2011).

Because of complex contractual problems, his old films could not been shown for three decades – either in cinemas, on television or on DVD. At last, in 2010, after more than 50,000 people – including Woody Allen, David Lynch, Charlotte Rampling and Jean-Luc Godard– had signed a petition, the films could be restored and rereleased. They were a revelation to a younger generation. In the same year, he toured France with a show inspired by music hall, Miousik Papillon.

In January 2013, the French government promoted Etaix to the rank of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. In June 2013 he received the Grand Prize of the SACD (Society of Authors and Composers of Dramatic) for his entire career. Annie Fratellini has died of cancer in 1997. Pierre Etaix is survived by their son, Marc, and by his second wife, Odile (nee Crépin), a former jazz singer. Le Monde reports that the cause of his death was an intestinal infection.

James Travers at Films de France: “The precise, gentle comedy of Pierre Etaix invites not just admiration, but also genuine affection. Sweet but never mawkish, acerbic but never cruel, his films are packed with as much humanity as humour, and will move you as much as they will make you laugh.”


American trailer for the 2012-2013 retrospective of the films of Pierre Étaix. Source: Janusfilms (YouTube).

Sources: Ronald Bergan (The Guardian), James Travers (Films de France), Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (A.V. Club), Le Monde (French), Wikipedia (French and English), and IMDb.

La Wally (1932)

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Italian stage and screen actress Germana Paolieri featured as Wally (German Paolieri), the most beautiful girl in the town of Sölden in Tyrol, in La Wally (1932). This early Italian sound film, based on the opera by Alfredo Catalani, offered lots of singing and heavy acting, snowstorms, fathomless depths, dark woods on the slopes, waterfalls, and capricious skies over Southern Tyrol.

Germana Paolieri in La Wally (1932)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 60. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Publicity still for La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932), starring Germana Paolieri as Wally.

Carlo Ninchi and Isa Pola in La Wally (1932)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 3. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Publicity still for La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932), co-starring Carlo Ninchi and Isa Pola.

A love obstructed


Wally (Germana Paolieri) loves bear hunter Hagenbach (Carlo Ninchi), but their love is obstructed by all close to them.

A rival lover, Vincenzo Gellner (Renzo Ricci) plots to set up Wally’s father Stromminger (Achille Majeroni) against Hagenbach, and an old feud between the old man and the young one restarts. In the village inn the two get into a fight, after which Wally’s is chased from her house and flees into the mountains.

A year passes, Stromminger dies and Wally inherits his fortune, while Hagenbach engages to Afra (Isa Pola). At the next Spring party in Sölden, both Hagenbach and Wally attend. Hagenbach’s friends bet he cannot kiss his former girlfriend but Hagenbach wins.

Yet, when Wally finds out she has been the object of a bet, she hates Hagenbach. She even pushes rival Gellner to kill Hagenbach, but she repents and saves him, lifting him unconscious from a ravine.

Wally hides in a cabin where her lover Hagenbach comes to ask for forgiveness. She also confesses and the two reunite. The film ends tragically though. Hagenbach dies because of an avalanche and out of despair Wally throws herself into the ravine.

Carlo Ninchi in La Wally (1932)
Italian postcard with French text by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 47. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Publicity still for La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932), co-starring Carlo Ninchi.

La Wally (1932)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 52. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Publicity still for La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932), starring Germana Paolieri as Wally.

La Wally (1932)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 64. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Publicity still for La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932).

A Story from the Tyrolean Alps


La Wally (1932) was directed by Guido Brignone and was based on the opera by composer Alfredo Catalani, to a libretto by Luigi Illica, first performed at La Scala, Milan in 1892. The libretto is based on a hugely successful Heimatroman by Wilhelmine von Hillern, Die Geier-Wally, Eine Geschichte aus den Tyroler Alpen (The Vulture Wally: A Story from the Tyrolean Alps).

While the Italian film version was in production in 1931, the press boosted that it would be released in six different versions: Italian, Spanish, English, German, French and ‘international’ (unspecified).

An orchestra of 150 musicians would accompany the visuals and a ballet of over 200 would do dance scenes, while location shooting was done in the village of Solden, involving 150 workers, 50 set designers and 25 painters.

The painter Gastone Medin provided an 80 m high and 25 m large background scenery. Authentic folklorist costumes from local museums in Bolzano, Merano and elsewhere were used.

The opera La Wally is now best known for its aria Ebben? Ne andrò lontana (Well, then? I'll go far away), sung when Wally decides to leave her home forever). American soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez sang this aria in Jean-Jacques Beineix's thriller Diva (1981).

La Wally (1932)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 65. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Publicity still for La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932).

Germana Paolieri and Renzo Ricci in La Wally (1932)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 70. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Publicity still for La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932), starring Germana Paolieri as Wally and Renzo Ricci as her jealous lover.

La Wally (1932)
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 98. Photo: Cines-Pittaluga. Publicity still for La Wally (Guido Brignone, 1932), starring Germana Paolieri as Wally.


Trailer Diva (1981). Source: Umbrella Entertainment (YouTube).

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

Pierce Brosnan

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Irish film and television actor and film producer Pierce Brosnan (1953) is best known for his recurring role as British spy 007 in the popular James Bond film series. He first won over television audiences in the detective series Remington Steele (1982-1987). Outside of Bond, Brosnan is known for big-screen performances in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) and Laws of Attraction (2004).

Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye (1995)
American postcard by Classico, San Francisco, no. 105-454. Photo: Danjaq / United Artists Corporation / Eon Productions / Mac B. Photo: publicity still for Goldeneye (Martin Campbell, 1995).

Famke Jansen, Pierce Brosnan and Isabella Scoruppo in Goldeneye (1995)
French postcard by Sonis, no. C. 609. Photo: Danjaq and United Artists Corporation. Photo: publicity still for Goldeneye (Martin Campbell, 1995) with Famke Jansen and Isabella Scoruppo.

Remington Steele


Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland in 1953. He was the only child of Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter, and May Brosnan née Smith. Brosnan's father abandoned the family when Pierce was an infant. When he was four years old, his mother moved to London to work as a nurse. From that point on, he was largely brought up by his grandparents. After their deaths, he lived with an aunt and then an uncle, but was subsequently sent to live in a boarding house.

Brosnan left Ireland in 1964 and was reunited with his mother and her new husband, William Carmichael. Carmichael took the 11-years-old Pierce to see a James Bond film for the first time, Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton, 1964). At the age of 16, Brosnan left comprehensive school and began a training in commercial illustration at at Saint Martin's School of Art. He joined an experimental theater group (some sources say a circus) and studied at the Drama Centre London.

He made his acting debut in the play Wait Until Dark. Within six months, he was selected by playwright Tennessee Williams to play the role of McCabe in the British première of The Red Devil Battery Sign. In 1977 he was picked by Franco Zeffirelli to appear in the play Filumena by Eduardo De Filippo opposite Joan Plowright.

He also played small roles in films like The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, 1980) with Bob Hoskins, and the Agatha Christie mystery The Mirror Crack'd (Guy Hamilton, 1980), starring Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple. After more stage roles in London, he moved to Los Angeles, where he made his American debut in the TV Mini-series The Manions of America (Joseph Sargent, 1981), about Irish immigrants to the United States during the Great Famine of the mid-19th century. He followed this with the Mini-series Nancy Astor (1982), which chronicled the life of Lady Nancy Astor, the first woman to sit in British Parliament. His portrayal of Robert Gould Shaw II garnered him a 1985 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Then he was offered the lead in the detective series Remington Steele (1982-1987). The series blended the genres of romantic comedy, drama, and detective procedural, and Brosnan won over the American public with his good looks and charm. Biography.com: “Viewers tuned in to catch the show's latest mystery and watch the sparks fly between the two lead characters, played by Brosnan and his co-star, Stephanie Zimbalist.”

In 1986, he received an offer to play British spy James Bond in the footsteps of Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Roger Moore. Brosnan tried to get out of his contract for Remington Steele, but to no avail. The TV series ended the following year. In the late 1980s, Brosnan acted in several television and film projects, including the Cold War spy film The Fourth Protocol (John Mackenzie, 1987) with Michael Caine, the TV miniseries Around the World in 80 Days (Buzz Kulik, 1989) with Brosnan as Phileas Fogg and Eric Idle as Passepartout, the horror film The Lawnmower Man (Brett Leonard, 1992), and the comedy smash Mrs. Doubtfire (Chris Columbus, 1993) featuring Robin Williams.

Pierce Brosnan
Dutch postcard by MutiChoice Kaleidoscope. Photo: Isopress / Outline (Sanchez).

Pierce Brosnan
British postcard by Heroes, London, no. 1SPC 2801.

James Bond


In 1995, Pierce Brosnan finally secured a role as the legendary James Bond in Goldeneye (Martin Campbell, 1995), replacing Timothy Dalton. In the film, Bond fights to prevent an ex-MI6 agent (Sean Bean), gone rogue, from using a satellite against London to cause global financial meltdown. The film accumulated a worldwide gross of US$ 350.7 million, considerably better than Dalton's films.

Brosnan played Bond three more times, in Tomorrow Never Dies (Roger Spottiswoode, 1997) with Jonathan Pryce, The World is Not Enough (Michael Apted, 1999) with Sophie Marceau, and Die Another Day (Lee Tamahori, 2002) with Halle Berry. Die Another Day was the highest-grossing James Bond film up to that time. After starring in these four James Bond films, Brosnan decided it was time to pass the baton. Actor Daniel Craig took over the part in Casino Royale (2006).

In 1996, Brosnan formed a film production company entitled Irish DreamTime along with producing partner and longtime friend Beau St. Clair. Their first production was The Nephew (Eugene Brady, 1998), followed by the critical and box office success The Thomas Crown Affair (John McTiernan, 1999).

While playing 007, Brosnan also starred in the hilarious spoof Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton, 1996), the disaster thriller Dante's Peak (Roger Donaldson, 1997), and starred in the John le Carré adaptation The Tailor of Panama (John Boorman, 2001), with Jamie Lee Curtis and Geoffrey Rush. In 2001, Brosnan became an Ambassador for UNICEF Ireland. He also raises money for charitable causes through sales of his paintings, and is active as an environmentalist.

Since leaving the Bond franchise, he starred in both dramas and comedies, such as Laws of Attraction (Peter Howitt, 2004) alongside Julianne Moore, the film adaption of the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! (Phyllida Lloyd, 2008) with Meryl Streep, Roman Polanski’s political thriller The Ghost Writer (2010), playing a disgraced British Prime Minister, and the action spy thriller The November Man (Roger Donaldson, 2014). For his part in the dark comedy The Matador (Richard Shepard, 2005), he won a Golden Globe nomination.

Pierce Brosnan has been married twice. His first marriage to actress Cassandra Harris lasted from 1980 until her death in 1991. He adopted her two children, Charlotte and Christopher, and the couple had a son together, Sean. In 2001, Brosnan married Keely Shaye. They have two children together, Paris and Dylan.

In 2016 Pierce Brosnan filmed The Foreigner in London, co-starring with Jackie Chan. He plays a former IRA man turned government official Liam Hennessy. The film is directed by Martin Campbell, the director of Brosnan’s Bond debut, GoldenEye (1995). After that, he filmed in Versailles the American adventure The King's Daughter (Sean McNamara, 2016), with Brosnan as King Louis XIV. Soon in a theatre near you.

Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye (1995)
American postcard by Classico, San Francisco, no. 105-454. Photo: Danjaq / United Artists Corporation / Eon Productions / Mac B. Photo: publicity still for Goldeneye (Martin Campbell, 1995). (The edges for this postcard were cut off.)

Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
American postcard by Classico, San Francisco, no. 110-108. Photo: Danjaq / LLC / United Artists Corporation / Eon. Publicity still for Tomorrow Never Dies (Roger Spottiswoode, 1997). (The edges of this postcard were cut off).

Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
British postcard by London Postcard Company. Photo: Danjaq / LLC / United Artists Corporation / Eon. Publicity still for Tomorrow Never Dies (Roger Spottiswoode, 1997). (The edges of this postcard were cut off).

Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
British postcard by Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. Photo: publicity still for Tomorrow Never Dies (Roger Spottiswoode, 1997) with Michelle Yeoh.

Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.

EFSP's Dazzling Dozen: Cheers!

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Alcohol and film go hand in hand. The magic elixir can be a gateway towards self-destruction and tragedy, such as in the Pre-Code drama Anna Christie (1930) in which Greta Garbo's famous first line is: "Gimme a whisky, ginger ale on the side, and don't be stingy, baby!" Alcohol can also be the stimulus for rowdiness and crazy comedy. Many star postcards were used to promote alcohol, like the French Vin Désiles series for which even La Divine Sarah posed. But most of the stars on today's dazzling postcards just invite you to have a good time. Cheers!

Sarah Bernhardt for Vin Désiles
Sarah Bernhardt. French promotion card by S.I.P. for Vin Désiles.

Gunnar Tolnaes
Gunnar Tolnaes. German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K 1668. Photo: Nordisk.

Elga Brink
Elga Brink. Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5201.

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

Anny Ondra in Sündig und süss (1929)
Anny Ondra in Sündig und süss (1929). German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4774/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Hom Film. Publicity still for Sündig und süss/Sinful and Sweet (Carl Lamac, 1929).

Greta Garbo in Anna Christie (1930)
Greta Garbo in Anna Christie (1930). French postcard by Europe, no. 938. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for Anna Christie (Clarence Brown, 1930).

Willy Fritsch
Willy Fritsch. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8473/3, 1933-1934. Photo: Ufa / Frhr. von Gudenberg.

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Notorious (1946)
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Notorious (1946). German collectors card. Photo: RKO Radio Film. Publicity still for Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946). Bergman as Alicia, a woman with a past of promiscuousness and alcohol.

Lily Fayol
Lily Fayol. French postcard by Studio Star, Paris. In the 1940s, Fayol had one her biggest successes with the song (Qui c'est qui fait glou-glou, c'est) La bouteille ((Who is making that gurgling sound, it is) The Bottle).

Giulietta Masina
Giulietta Masina. Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 907.

Maria Schell
Maria Schell. German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 68. Photo: Joe Niczky.

The Beatles
The Beatles. Italian postcard by Silvercart, Milano, no. 514/3. Photo: Nems Enterpriser London Ltd.

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

Imported from the USA: Broderick Crawford

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The series Imported from the USA is back! Hard-living and hard-drinking American actor Broderick Crawford (1911–1986) was often cast in tough-guy roles. He is best known for his portrayal of politician Willie Stark in All the King's Men (1949) and for his starring role as Chief Dan Matthews in the television series Highway Patrol (1955-1959). In Europe he appeared in some Peplums but also in Federico Fellini’s Il Bidone (1955).

Broderick Crawford
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1399. Photo: Sam Goldwyn.

Stereotyped as a fast-talking tough guy


William Broderick Crawford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1911. His parents were Lester Crawford and Helen Broderick, who were both vaudeville performers, as his grandparents had been. Lester Crawford appeared in films in the 1920s and 1930s, and his mother had a minor career in Hollywood comedies, including a memorable appearance as Madge in the classic musical Top Hat.

Young William joined his parents on stage, working for producer Max Gordon. After graduating from high school, Crawford was accepted by Harvard College where he enrolled. However, after only three weeks at Harvard he dropped out to work as a dockworker on the New York docks.

Crawford returned to vaudeville and radio, which included a period with the Marx Brothers on the radio comedy show Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel (1932-1933). He played his first serious character as a footballer in She Loves Me Not at the Adelphi Theatre, London in 1932.

Early in his career, Crawford was stereotyped as a fast-talking tough guy and often played villainous parts. He realized he did not fit the role of a handsome leading man, once describing himself as looking like a 'retired pugilist'. In 1937, he gained fame as Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men on Broadway.

Crawford moved to Hollywood, and made his film debut in the comedy Eva en Co (John G. Blystone, 1937), in a supporting role to stars Joel McCrea and Miriam Hopkins. Crawford did not play Lennie in the film version of Of Mice and Men (Lewis Milestone, 1939). Lon Chaney Jr. starred in the film version as Lenny.

However, Crawford was selected for a supporting role in the successful action/adventure film Beau Geste (William A. Wellman, 1939). He followed this up with another important supporting role as a big but kind-hearted lug in the gangster spoof Larceny, Inc. (Lloyd Bacon, 1942) with Edward G. Robinson.

Broderick Crawford
Dutch postcard by Takken / 'T Sticht, Utrecht, no. 3327. Photo: Europa-Columbia.

The pinnacle of his acting career


During World War II, Broderick Crawford enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps. Assigned to the Armed Forces Network, he was sent to Britain in 1944 as a sergeant, he served as an announcer for the Glenn Miller American Band.

After the war, his career was first largely limited to B films in supporting or character roles. Nevertheless, he excelled in roles playing villains. In 1949, he reached the pinnacle of his acting career when he was cast in the Film Noir All the King's Men (Robert Rossen, 1949), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren.

He played the ambitious and sometimes ruthless politician Willie Stark, a character inspired by Louisiana politician Huey Long. The film was a huge hit, and Crawford's performance as the bullying, blustering, yet insecure Governor Stark won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

The following year, the actor would star in another hit 'A'-list production, the comedy-drama Born Yesterday (George Cukor, 1950) with William Holden. He was memorable as Judy Holliday's boisterous boyfriend.

His Academy Award and larger-than-life persona won him more diverse roles, and he appeared in such varied films as Scandal Sheet (Phil Karlson, 1952), Fritz Lang's Human Desire (1954) and Between Heaven and Hell (Richard Fleischer, 1956).

In 1955, Crawford assumed the starring role as Rollo Lamar, the most violent of convicts in Big House, U.S.A. (Howard W. Koch, 1955). In the film, Crawford's character is a hardened convict so violent he commands the obedience of even the most violent and psychotic prisoners in the prison yard, including those portrayed by such famous tough-guy actors as Charles Bronson, Ralph Meeker, and Lon Chaney, Jr.

Broderick Crawford
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 8.

A hard-as-nails police official


Broderick Crawford also worked in Europe. He starred opposite Richard Basehart and Giulietta Masina in Federico Fellini's comedy Il bidone/The Swindle (1955). The film follows the exploits of a group of swindlers, focusing on their aging leader Augusto (Crawford), as they go about their ‘business,’ reaping both rewards and consequences.

He appeared also in Stanley Kramer's melodrama Not as a Stranger (1955) with Olivia de Havilland, Robert Mitchum and Frank Sinatra. He was rather improbable as a fast-draw outlaw opposite Glenn Ford in the Western The Fastest Gun Alive (Russerll Rouse, 1956).

In 1955, television producer Frederick Ziv of ZIV Television Productions offered Crawford the lead role as Dan Mathews in the police drama Highway Patrol (1955–1959), which dramatized law enforcement activities of the California Highway Patrol. ZIV operated on an extremely low budget of $25,000 per episode but Crawford would receive ten percent of the gross receipts per his contract.

While the show's scripts were largely fictional, the use of realistic dialogue and Crawford's convincing portrayal of a hard-as-nails police official helped make the show an instant success. Highway Patrol helped revive Crawford's career and cement his 'tough guy' persona, which he used successfully in numerous film and TV roles for the rest of his life.

Fed up with the show's hectic shooting schedule, Crawford quit Highway Patrol at the end of 1959 in order to make a film in Europe, and try to get his drinking under control. He appeared as the villain in the Italian-French Peplum (Sword and sandal film) La vendetta di Ercole/Goliath and the Dragon (Vitoria Cottafavi, 1960) with bodybuilder Mark Forest as Hercules/Goliath. Later Crawford also appeared in the Spanish Peplum El Valle de las espadas/The Castilian (Javier Setó, 1963) with Frankie Avalon.

Vespa: Broderick Crawford and Giulietta Masina
Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera for Piaggio in the series Kit Postcards Vespa. Giuliette Masina and Crawford played together in Il bidone (Federico Fellini, 1955).

Bouts of heavy alcohol consumption and large meals


Broderick Crawford's successful run as Dan Mathews in Highway Patrol (1955–1959) earned him some two million dollars under his contract with ZIV. Back from Europe, and having temporarily stopped drinking, Crawford signed to star in King of Diamonds (1961-1962) as diamond industry security chief John King.

In 1962, after the end of the series, Crawford returned to acting in European-made films. Between 1962–1970, Crawford appeared in no less than seventeen additional films, though many of them failed to generate much box office success.

After 1970, Crawford again returned to television. He played the role of Dr. Peter Goldstone in The Interns (Marvin J. Chomsky a.o., 1970-1971). In 1977, he starred as FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in the TV movie The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (Larry Cohen, 1977). He would eventually make a series of guest appearances in several made-for-TV movies.

Crawford worked in 140 motion pictures and television series during his career and remained an especially durable presence in television. One of his last roles was as a film producer who is murdered in a 1982 episode of the TV detective series Simon & Simon (Burt Kennedy a.o., 1981-1989). The actor who played the part of the suspected murderer was Stuart Whitman, who had played the recurring part of Sergeant Walters on Highway Patrol.

His final feature film was the Austrian-American production Den Tüchtigen gehört die Welt/The Uppercrust (Peter Patzak, 1982). Throughout his adult life, Crawford was prone to bouts of heavy alcohol consumption, and was known for eating large meals. These habits contributed to a serious weight gain for Crawford during the 1950s. During the filming of Highway Patrol, Crawford's heavy drinking increased. It resulted in several arrests and stops for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), which eventually gained him a suspended driving license.

Broderick Crawford died following a series of strokes in 1986 at the age of 74 in Rancho Mirage, California. He had been married three times, to actress Kay Griffith (1940–1958; divorced); to Joan Tabor (1962–1967; divorced) and to Mary Alice Moore (1973–1986; his death). He had two sons, Christopher Broderick Crawford (1947-2002) and Kelly Griffith Crawford (1951–2012) from his marriage to Kay Griffith.


Trailer All the King's Men (1949). Source: eddies Movies77 (YouTube).


Italian trailer for Il bidone/The Swindle (1955). Source: chatnel numéro 5 (YouTube).


Trailer for La vendetta di Ercole/Goliath and the Dragon (1960). Source: BestDomainVidz (YouTube).

Sources: Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Else Frölich

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In the 1910s, Else Frölich (1880-1960) or Else Frølich was one of the leading actresses of the Danish Nordisk Company. In many Nordisk films she was paired with the male star of those years, Valdemar Psilander, as in the beautifully restored Evangelimandens liv/The candle and the moth (Holger-Madsen, 1915). She also often played in vehicles which were designed specially for her.

Else Frølich
Danish postcard. Photo: Nordisk.

Else Fröhlich
German postcard, no. 7482. Photo: Nordisk.

The Queen of the Season


Else Frölich was born as Eli Marie Thaulow in Paris in 1880. She was the daughter of the Norwegian painter Fritz Thaulow and a Danish mother, Ingeborg Gad, a cousin of the film director Urban Gad. Fritz Thaulow lived in Paris as an international celebrity, and Ingeborg's sister Mette was married to the French painter Paul Gauguin. At the age of 3 years Eli came to Denmark, when her mother married a second time with Edvard Brandes, whom Eli considered her father.

In 1903 Eli married the Danish singer Louis Frölich, whom she divorced in later years (unknown when), but whose name she kept. As 17-year-old she studied singing in Paris and performed with her husband both in Paris and in the Scandinavian countries. She got her first big success with Bear Bjørnsson at the National Theatre in Oslo, where she played the title role in Den glade Enke (The Merry Widow) in 1907. At the Ny Teater (New Theatre) in Copenhagen, she had a huge success with the Dollarprinsessen (Dollar Princess) in 1909.

In 1911 she started to perform in short silent films at the Nordisk film studio and throughout her film career she was exclusively employed there. One of her first appearances was in En lektion/A Lesson (August Blom, 1911) opposite Valdemar Psilander.

In 1912 followed 9 more films. First she played in Guvernorens datter/The Governor's daughter (August Blom, 1912) with Robert Dinesen, and En staerkere magt/A Powerful Force (Hjalmar Davidsen, Eduard Schnedler-Sorensen, 1912).

Then followed five films with Valdemar Psilander and Fröhlich in the leads: Tropisk kaerlighed/Tropical Love (August Blom, 1912), Livets baal/Life's Bonfire (Eduard Schnedler-Sorensen, 1912), Jerbanens dotter/Rail Daughter (August Blom, 1912), Den staerkeste/Vanquished (Eduard Schnedler-Sorensen, Bernhard Holz, 1912), and For Abent Taeppe/Desdemona (August Blom, 1912) in which Psilander and Fröhlich are a couple playing Othello and Desdemona and recognizing their own situation. Next came - still in 1912, Hjaerternes kamp/A High Stake (August Blom, 1912) with Dinesen, and Badets dronning/The Queen of the Season (Eduard Schnedler-Sorensen, 1912).

In 1913 Else played in the comedies Skandalen paa Sorupgaard/The Scandal of Sorupgaard (Hjalmar Davidsen, 1913) with Psilander, Kaerlighed og penge/Outwitted (Leo Tscherning, 1913), and in Djaevelens datter/Devil's daughter (Robert Dinesen, 1913). Director Dinesen also co-starred in this film. The following year she starred a.o. in Detektivens barnepige/Detective Nurse (Hjalmar Davidsen, 1914) and Det gamle fyrtaarn/The Old Lighthouse (A.W. Sandberg, 1914).

Else Frölich and Ingolf Schanche in The Merry Widow
Danish postcard by Ensberelinget M & Co, no. 20, 1907. Photo: Nilse. Publicity still for the Franz Lehar operetta Den Glade Enke/The Merry Widow. The Merry Widow had its premiere in 1905, and the operetta came to Denmark in 1906, where it also was a great success. A year later it was presented in Norway at the Nationalteatret. Else Frölich made her stage début in the title role. Ingolf Schanche played Count Danilo. On the postcard he says: "Thinking I'm all grown father".

Else Frölich & Ingolf Schanche in Den Glade Enke, Valsen_Ensberettiget; 29. Photo Carl Andersen
Danish postcard by Valsen_Ensberettiget, no. 29. Photo: Carl Andersen. Collection: Manuel Palomino Arjona (Flickr). Else Frölich & Ingolf Schanche in Den Glade Enke (The Merry Widow).

The Candle and the Moth


Else Fröhlich was the leading female star of Nordisk along with Clara Wieth and Ebba Thomsen, and she continued to play leading roles in numerous films. In 1915 she starred in Evangeliemandens liv/The Candle and the Moth (Holger-Madsen, 1915), a star vehicle for Valdemar Psilander as the spoiled brat who redeems himself in prison, finds faith and becomes a clergyman.

With her a bit chubby but towering beauty she was perfect for the major (erotic) love dramas, where she often played opposite Psilander or Anton de Verdier. She appeared in En opstandelse/A Resurrection (Holger-Madsen, 1915) with Psilander, Millionaeren i roverhaender/Millionaire in Robber's Hands (A.W. Sandberg, 1915), Kampen om barnet/Battle for the Children (Hjalmar Davidsen, 1915), and Cowboymillionaeren/Cowboy Millionaire (Lau Lauritzen Sr., 1915), with Olaf Fönss.

Else Frölich appeared again with Valdemar Psilander in I livets braending/Crossroads of life (Holger-Madsen, 1916) but it was probably their last film together before he died. On 6 March 1917 Psilander committed suicide. It meant the end of the many films of Frölich with the Danish star.

In 1916 Frölich also appeared in Hendes fortid/Her Past (A.W. Sandberg, 1916), Katastrofen i Kattegat/The Disaster in the Kattengat (A.W. Sandberg, 1916), Gentlemansekretaeren/Gentleman Secretary (1916) with Olaf Fönss, and For syn faders skyld/For His Father's Sake (Holger-Madsen, 1916). In 1916 Else Frölich married film director A.W. Sandberg. They stayed together until his death in 1938.

In 1917-1918, Fröhlich only made a handful of films. She appeared in Den raetferdiges hustru/The Righteous Wife (A.W. Sandberg, 1917) with Gunnar Tolnaes, Et bjarneherte/A Child's Heart (Hjalmar Davidsen, 1917). Finally she played in De mystiske fodspor/The mysterious footprints (A.W. Sandberg, 1918) with Carl Brisson, and Solen der draebte/The Sun that Killed (Hjalmar Davidsen, 1918). Her co-star in the latter was the upcoming new film star Nils Asther, who later would pursue a career in Hollywood.

Else Fröhlich retired from the film set in 1918, after a short but intense career. She participated in the preparation of manuscripts, including Klovnen/Clown (based on an idea by Carl Alstrup) and some Charles Dickens adaptations of her husband. Till 1934, she managed the cinema Merry-Biografen together with her son, Henrik Sandberg. Henrik later became a prolific and successful film producer.

Else Frölich died in 1960. The Danish Film Institute has released a DVD with films with Psilander and Frölich such as Evangeliemandens liv/The Candle and the Moth (Holger-Madsen, 1915), while Eye Institute (the former Nederlands Filmmuseum) owns copies of films like Guvernorens datter/The Governor's daughter (August Blom, 1912).

Valdemar Psilander and Else Fröhlich in Rytterstatuen (1919)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K.1943. Photo: Nordisk Films. Frölich and Valdemar Psilander in Rytterstatuen (A.W. Sandberg 1919). Its German release title was Um das Bild des Königs (For the king's statue).

Else Frølich/Frölich
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 9521.

Else Fröhlich and Waldemar Psylander
Austrian postcard by Edition Projectograph A.G., no. B.K.W.I. Kino 25. Photo: publicity still for Gæstespillet/Guest Game (Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen, 1913) with Valdemar Psilander.

Sources: Det Danske Filminstitut (Danish), Wikipedia (Danish) and IMDb.

Jacques Brel

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Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel (1929-1978) was one of the most important and influential representatives of the French chanson. At the height of his success, in 1966, he chose to stop singing to devote himself to theatre and cinema. Brel has sold over 25 million records worldwide. There have been at least 400 recorded versions of his song Ne me quitte pas/If You Go Away, in over 15 different languages by performers like Marlene Dietrich, Rod McKuen, Nana Mouskouri, Nina Simone and Sting. Seasons in the Sun, Terry Jacks' version of Le Moribond , became a global pop hit in 1974. Brel’s boundless enthusiasm towards life, his inexhaustible energy and his respect for ordinary people remain unforgettable.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 262. Photo: Herman Léonard.

Jacques Brel
Belgian collectors card by Merbotex, Brussels for Cine Memlinc. Photo: Studio Vauclair.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 36.

Jacques Brel
Dutch postcard by Uitgeverij Syba, Enkhuizen. Promotional postcard for Philips records. Sent by mail in 1963.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by PSG, no. 263. Offered by Corvisart, Epinal. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by E.D.U.G., Paris, no. 179. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Catholic-humanist Troubadour


Jacques Romain Georges Brel was born in 1929 in Schaarbeek, a district of Brussels, Belgium. Brel was the son of Romain Brel, who worked in an import-export firm, but later became co-director of a company that manufactured cardboard cartons, and Elisabeth (Lambertine) Brel. Although the Brel family spoke French, they were of Flemish descent, with some of the family originating from Zandvoorde, near Ieper (Ypres).

After quitting school, Jacques started his working life at his father's cardboard factory, apparently destined to follow his father's footsteps. However, he showed an interest in culture, and began playing the guitar at the age of 15. He joined the Catholic-humanist youth organisation Franche Cordée, which organised concerts and shows and Brel began to sing in public, accompanying himself on the guitar. Here he met Thérèse Michielsen ('Miche') who was to become his wife in 1950. A year later, their first daughter, Chantal, was born. Two years later, daughter France was born.

In the early 1950s, Brel achieved minor success in Belgium singing his own songs. In 1953, Jacques Canetti, a talent scout and artistic director with Philips, invited him to come to Paris. A 78 record, La foire/Il y a, was released, which sold 200 copies. Brel carried on writing music and singing in cabarets and music-halls, where he delivered his songs with great energy. He also went on stage at the famous Olympia theatre, as a supporting act.

Juliette Gréco made a recording of his song Ca va, le Diable. Brel did his first French tour, and at the end of 1954 Philips released his debut album, Jacques Brel et Ses Chansons. By 1956 he was touring Europe and he recorded the song Quand on n'a que l'amour (later adapted into English as If We Only Have Love) that brought him his first major recognition and reached number three in the French charts.

He made his film début in the title role of the short La Grande Peur de Monsieur Clément/The Big Fear of Mr. Clément (Paul Diebens, 1956), which he also co-wrote. With his career taking off, his wife and daughters joined him in Paris in February 1958. In August, his third daughter, Isabelle, was born, but by the end of the 1950s Miche and Brel's three daughters had returned to Brussels, while Jacques was always on tour.

From then on he and his family led separate lives. Under the influence of his friend Georges Pasquier ('Jojo') and pianists Gérard Jouannest and Francois Rauber, Brel's style changed. He was no longer a Catholic-humanist troubadour, but sang grimmer songs about love, death, and the struggle that is life. The music became more complex and his themes more diverse, exploring love, society, and spiritual concerns.

Jacques Brel
French postcard in the series Portraits de Stars - Chanteurs Français by L'Aventure Carto, no. 2. Photo: Marcel Thomas Collection Gérard Gagnepain. This postcard was printed in an edition of 120 cards.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by Edition du Globe, Paris, no. 782. Photo: Studio Vauclair.

Jacques Brel
Dutch postcard by Hercules, Haarlem, no. 862.

Jacques Brel and Heidi Brühl
Dutch postcard by NS, no. 12. With Heidi Brühl.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4421.

Jacques Brel
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg (SPARO), Rotterdam, no. 892.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by Humour à la Carte, Paris, no. 3393. Photo: J.L. Rancurel.

Darkness and Bitter Irony


Jacques Brel was in 1961 contracted by Bruno Coquatrix, director of l'Olympia. Marlène Dietrichhad pulled out from a series of shows at the very last moment. Coquatrix wanted Brel to replace her. October 12 to 29, Jacques Brel had star billing at the Olympia for the first time. In 1962 Brel signed with a new record company, the recently formed Barclay Records. Together with his wife, he also founded a publishing company, Editions Musicales Pouchenel.

During the 1960s, Brel was almost constantly on tour. He performed on all the famous stages in the world, including Estrade Theatre in Moscow and Carnegie Hall in New York, where he made his U.S. performing début in 1963. American poet and singer Rod McKuen began writing English lyrics to Brel's songs, and the Kingston Trio recorded Seasons in the Sun, McKuen's version of a song Brel had titled Le Moribond, on their Time to Think LP in 1964.

Brel's romantic lyricism now sometimes revealed darkness and bitter irony. At moments his tender love songs might show flashes of barely suppressed frustration and resentment. His insightful and compassionate portraits of the so-called dregs of society: the alcoholics, drifters, drug addicts, and prostitutes described in L’Ivrogne, Jef, La chanson de Jacky and Amsterdam evaded easy sentimentality, and he was not shy about portraying the unsavoury side of this lifestyle.

On stage, Brel gave additional dimensions to many of his songs, thanks to a strong theatrical sense and an apparently boundless energy. Brel’s appearance at Carnegie Hall in 1965 inspired a musical revue created by composer Mort Schuman and poet Eric Blau. Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris featured 25 songs by Brel translated into English. The piece ran for five years in New York and played in a number of countries including Great Britain, Canada, South Africa and Sweden.

Brel occasionally included parts in Dutch in his songs as in Marieke, and also recorded Dutch versions of a few songs such as Le Plat Pays (Mijn vlakke land) and Ne me quitte pas (Laat Me Niet Alleen. Brel's attitude towards the Flemish was marked by a love of Flanders and the Flemish countryside, but a marked dislike of the Flemish nationalists ('les Flamingants').

Jacques Brel
French postcard by Edition P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès 'Carboplane', no. 1147A. Photo: Hermann Léonard.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by Sofraneme, Levallois Perret, no. R 43.

Jacques Brel
French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, Star 134. Photo: Air France / Distribution VU. Caption: Jacques Brel, 20 Novembre 1964.

Jacques Brel
Dutch promotion card by N.V. Dureco, Amsterdam. Photo: Barclay.

Jacques Brel
French promotional card by Barclay, no. 248. Photo: Herman Léonard.

Jacques Brel
French promotion card by Barclay. Photo: Hermann Léonard.

Jacques Brel
French postcard, no. 214.

Cinema & Theatre


In 1964 Jacques Brel began to consider retiring from music. He was searching out new forms with which to express himself. He got tired of the exstensive touring and he announced in 1966 that he would no longer go on concert tours. He appeared in the film Les risques du metier/Risky Business (André Cayatte, 1967) opposite Emmanuelle Riva.

In 1968 he starred on stage at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and the Champs-Elysées Theatre in Paris in the musical L'Homme de la Mancha/Man of La Mancha which he had also translated into French and directed. Then he took the lead role opposite Claude Jadein the film Mon oncle Benjamin/My Uncle Benjamin (Edouard Molinaro, 1969).

Other films in which he appeared were La Bande à Bonnot/Bonnot's Gang (Philippe Fourastié, 1969) with Annie Girardot, Les Assassins de l'Ordre/Law Breakers (Marcel Carné, 1971), L'Aventure, c'est l'Aventure/Money Money Money (Claude Lelouch, 1972) opposite Lino Ventura and Johnny Hallyday, and Le Bar de la Fourche/The Bar at the Crossing (Alain Levent, 1972) with Isabelle Huppert.

His most successful role was again opposite a stone-faced Lino Venturain the classic black comedy L'Emmerdeur/A Pain in the A... (Edouard Molinaro, 1973). The film was remade with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as Buddy Buddy (Billy Wilder, 1981). Brel also directed, co-wrote and appeared in two films: Franz (Jacques Brel, 1971) with singer Barbara, and the comedy Le Far-West/Far West (Jacques Brel, 1973), which competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 1973, Terry Jacks released a revival of Seasons in the Sun that hit number one in both the U.S. and the U.K., followed by a chart entry with his version of If You Go Away. That year Brel had embarked in a yacht, planning to sail around the world. When he reached the Canary Islands, Brel, a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer. He returned to Paris for treatment and later continued his ocean voyage.

In 1975 he reached the Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia), and decided to stay, remaining there until 1977 when he returned to Paris and recorded his well-received final album. Jacques Brel died of lung cancer in 1978 in Bobigny in the suburbs of Paris, at age 49. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Atuona at the Hiva Oa island in French Polynesia, just a few metres from the painter Paul Gauguin. Quotation: "...in a man's life, there are two important dates: his birth and his death. Everything we do in between is not very important."


Jacques Brel sings Le Moribond. Source: Pa Patrice (YouTube).


Jacques Brel sings Ne Me Quitte Pas. Source: Agora Vox France (YouTube).


Jacques Brel sings Marieke. Source: alenaapril (YouTube).


Jacques Brel sings Dans le Port d Amsterdam. Source: Lukáš Slunečko (YouTube).


French trailer for L'emmerdeur (1973). Source: TV5 Monde (YouTube).


Trailer Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1974). Source: Kino International / Kino Classics (YouTube).

Sources: William Ruhlmann (AllMovie), Louis Girard and Hiram Lee (WSWS), Wikipedia, Éditions Jacques Brel, Europopmusic, and IMDb.
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