European Film Star Postcards

Linda Moglia (1896-?) was an Italian actress of the silent screen, who peaked in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Her biggest role was that of Roxane in Cirano di Bergerac (Augusto Genina, 1923).

Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 558.

Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Torino, no. 80.

Mouthpiece of anti-labour sentiment

Linda Moglia was born in 1896 in Turin, Italy.

She probably made her film acting debut in Il doppio volto/The Two-Face (Giulio Antamoro, 1918). This Poli-Film production was by adapted from a rather unknown novel by Matilde Serao. It was a modest Neapolitan production with scarce success but it procured Moglia an entree to the Turin Ambrosio studios.

At Ambrosio, she appeared in Noblesse oblige (1919), based on a French ‘pochade’ by the duo Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber, and directed by the famous poster designer Marcello Dudovich. Ambrosio never mentioned his name at the time. Linda starred in the film with her sister Lucia, whose screen name was Lucy Di San Germano or Lucy Sangermano.

After this film, she was the female counterpart to the popular comedian Luciano Manara in the Ambrosio production Il processo Manara (Paolo Trinchera, 1919), which was well received, in contrast to the Gladiator Film production Centocelle (1919), in which Moglia had a supporting part opposite diva Helena Makowska. In particular the direction by Ugo de Simone was considered the culprit for the tedious and monotonous film.

She then appeared in Maciste innamorato/Maciste in Love (Luigi Romano Borgnetto 1919), one of the rare Maciste films in which Maciste has a love affair. Moglia plays Ada, the daughter of an industrialist, who is menaced by revolts and strikes at a time that, also outside of the cinema, Italian society was a place of turmoil. Strongman Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) helps to fight the strikers, in particular the few ‘rotten apples’ among them.

Jacqueline Reich writes in her book The Maciste Films of Italian Silent Cinema: “Yet, all is not rosy among the workers and the ruling class, as personified in the figure of Ada, who is the mouthpiece of anti-labour sentiment. It is she who voices the fear of the strike –“Lord, no, a strike” – and who calls the workers “scoundrels” as they begin to attack on her father, employing the same word in a generalized fashion that her father subsequently uses to characterize only a few nefarious individuals. […] Her antipathy and resistance to the working and service classes present her as an aloof reactionary.”

The journal Cine-fono commented that the film didn’t give Moglia the right place to show her talents as Maciste dominated everything. So yes, there was a lot to laugh, but how artistic was it? The Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin recently restored the film and despite its rather dubious political message, it is quite a well-made and enjoyable film.

Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Torino.

Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Italia.

Doppelganger

Linda Moglia returned to Naples to Poli-Film for Mala Pasqua/Bad Easter (1920). It was directed by actor and director Ignazio Lupi. It was based on Giovanni Grasso’s play Dodici anni dopo (Twelve Years After), a kind of sequel to the famous Cavalleria rusticana by Giovanni Verga, turned into an opera by Pietro Mascagni.

Here Santuzza (Moglia) goes berserk when her son, named Turiddu after his killed father, is lost. Alfio (Grasso), released from prison after having killed Turiddu, shows his best side, and helps finding the child. Even Alfio’s mother, who had gone mad after the killing, returns to reason. The press called this all too good to be true but lauded Grasso’s acting as Alfio plus the care for the setting with the traditional costumes.

Back at Ambrosio, Moglia played the lead in Uomini gialli/Yellow Men (Eugenio Testa, 1920), a ‘Giallo’ on an American girl who suddenly inherits a fortune from a relative who died in Japan. Two Asians try to get the money and force the heiress to marry one of them instead of her fiancee, the painter Borelli (Angelo Vianello). A mysterious man with a black hood (Thenno) helps and unmasks himself as the Japanese consul. Clearly, Ambrosio profited from the European tour of the Japanese Thenno and his troupe of jugglers, acrobats and magicians to enlist them for a film. There is a nitrate of the film at EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, which might have been preserved in the meantime.

In Cavacchioni paladino dei dollari (Umberto Paradisi, 1920), Cavacchioni (lit. Big Buttons, played by Ruggero Capodaglio), the famous fat detective in the Maciste films, lives a quite village life with his house keeper Clitemnestra (Léonie Laporte), when a rich American heiress (Moglia) upsets village life. When evildoers, pushed by the housekeeper, want to rob the girl, the detective sets things straight and peace returns in the village.

A totally different film was Il rivale/The Rival (Enrico Roma 1920), based on a script by Gaetano Campanile-Mancini. The film tells about the scoundrel Leonardo (Tullio Carminati), who betrayed his wife which caused a drama. Desperately, she killed herself. From then on, Leonardo is split in two, while his alter ego is always present and reminds him of his guilt. The story ends mysteriously: the real man flees but his alter ego remains to keep the memory of the dead woman alive, like a votive lamp.

The Italian press quite liked this supernatural story, as opposed to the run-of-the-mill dramas and crime films. The splitting of the personality reminds a bit of Der Student von Prag/The Student of Prague (Stellan Rye, Paul Wegener, 1913), but in general in the 1910s and early 1920s, the Doppelganger motif was dear to both mainstream and avant-garde filmmakers.

In Il rivale, Moglia played the man’s mistress, who is married, just like Leonardo. Perhaps motivated by the film, Carminati founded his own film company in Rome, Carminati film, for which Moglia and he were reunited in Follie/Madness (Enrico Roma, 1920). It is the story of a girl who goes to the city and is overwhelmed by its attractions but in the end returns to her lover in the village.

The press was not impressed about the story, but the critic of La Cine-Fono praised the performances by Carminati and Moglia. The truth in their expression and their precise understanding of the psychology of the characters had high artistic qualities and expressed scenes of great human depth, he wrote.

Linda Moglia and Pierre Magnier in Cirano di Bergerac (1923)

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 226. Photo: UCI. Publicity still for the Franco-Italian historical film Cirano di Bergerac (Augusto Genina, 1923).

Italian postcard for the Franco-Italian historical film Cirano di Bergerac/Cyrano de Bergerac (Augusto Genina, 1923), with Pierre Magnier as Cyrano de Bergerac, Linda Moglia as Roxane and Angelo Ferrari as Christian de Neuvillette.

Italian postcard for the Franco-Italian historical film Cirano di Bergerac/Cyrano de Bergerac (Augusto Genina, 1923). Caption: Christian joins the baluster, finally embracing Roxane. He bends towards her mouth to receive the kiss from her, who has bent because of the sweet words Cyrano lent him.

Roxanne

Early 1922, Linda Moglia was taken up by the prestigious historical production Cirano di Bergerac (Augusto Genina, 1923). Based on the famous play by Edmond Rostand and scripted by future director Mario Camerini, Genina led a Franco-Italian coproduction with costumes by Caramba and sets by the famous painter Camillo Innocenti. The production had an enormous length and was distributed in a fully stencil coloured version.

Star of the film was Pierre Magnier as Cyrano, the man with the giant nose while Moglia was his Roxane, his cousin he is deeply in love with, but cannot get because she loves Christian de Neuvillette (Angelo Ferrari). Cirano even helps Christian to write love letters and talk about love. It is only years after, after Christian has died and Cyrano is about to die, that Roxanne discovers the secret, but it's too late.

When presented at the National Film Contest in Turin in 1923, it immediately won the first prize. In 1923 it was first commercially released in Paris, at the Salle Marivaux, where it had an enormous success. Italian distributors, though, retaliated, as they thought the film was too difficult for the audience. Finally UCI released it in Turin at the end of 1925, and in Rome even early 1926. The Italian press blamed the distributors for the unnecessary long delay. It had been unnecessary, as people flocked to the cinemas in the first weeks. The critics praised the high artistic qualities of the film, first of all Magnier’s performance.

Strangely enough, Cirano did not result in a breakthrough for Linda Moglia. There followed no foreign offers from France nor elsewhere. Moglia made one last film with Genina as director and with theatre star Ruggero Ruggeri in the lead: the financial drama La moglie bella (Augusto Genina, 1925 in Italy, so even before Cirano ). The story dealt with a wildly speculating banker (Ruggeri), whose spoilt wife (Moglia) has an affair with another banker (Luigi Serventi), until the other financially ruins her husband. Then she realises her husband is the better man.

The press condemned Ruggeri’ acting as 'un-filmic' and Genina’s (art) direction as 'sloppy'. This happened at a time when the Italian film production was falling apart and most film people were leaving for Berlin or Paris, so Moglia may have considered it as a good moment to quit.

Supporting actress in La moglie bella was Carmen Boni, whose first film with director Augusto Genina this was. Boni would become Genina’s new muse and wife during the later 1920s. This might also have played a part in Linda Moglia's decision to retire.

After her retirement from the cinema, Linda Moglia disappeared and her date of death is unknown to us. If you have more info, please let us know.

Italian postcard for the Franco-Italian historical film Cirano di Bergerac/Cyrano de Bergerac (Augusto Genina, 1923), with Linda Moglia as Roxane and Angelo Ferrari as Christian de Neuvillette.

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano 1918-1924 - Italian), and IMDb. For the gorgeous colours of Cirano di Bergerac/Cyrano de Bergerac (Augusto Genina, 1923), see: Timeline of Historical Film Colors and I thank you.

We continue our irregular series of film specials. Today, we chose for a silent melodrama of one of the three great German divas of the silent cinema, Henny Porten. The sturdy and blond actress is the star of Die Sieger/The Victors (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918) produced by the Messter Film studio. Rotophot made a beautiful series of postcards with sepia photos for the film.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 552/1. Photo: Messter Film. Publicity still of Henny Porten and Rudolf Biebrach in Die Sieger (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 552/2. Photo: Messter Film. Publicity still of Henny Porten and Bruno Decarli in Die Sieger (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 552/3. Photo: Messter Film. Publicity still of Henny Porten and Arthur Bergen in Die Sieger (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 552/4. Photo: Messter Film. Publicity still of Henny Porten and Rudolf Biebrach, and in the background Paul Biensfeldt, Bruno Decarli and Arthur Bergen in Die Sieger (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

Opera Fraud

Die Sieger/The Victors (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918) was based on a novel by Felix Philippi, who also wrote the script. Cinematographer was Karl Freund and the set designer was Jack Winter.

Director Rudolf Biebrach himself played the part of musical professor Richard Assing, who has completed his masterpiece, the opera Die Sieger (The Victors). Sadly, before he can perform it, he has a heart attack.

On his deathbed he urges his favourite pupil Camille Düpaty (Arthur Bergen) to have the opera performed. Camille loves Assing's daughter Konstanze (Henny Porten), who has promised to marry him if he can compose a substantial work, equal to her father's work. Camille then plots to release Assing's opera under another title as his work.

The opera becomes a giant success. However, Sigmund Freystetter (Bruno Decarli), music critic and an old friend of Konstanze, discovers the fraud. Konstanze now knows who she really loves and leaves Camille for Sigmund.

Die Sieger/The Victors premiered at the Berlin Mozartsaal cinema on 27 September 1918. For the premiere, Giuseppe Becce had composed a musical score.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 552/5. Photo: Messter Film. Publicity still of Henny Porten, Arthur Bergen and in the background Bruno Decarli in Die Sieger (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 552/6. Photo: Messter Film. Publicity still of Henny Porten and Arthur Bergen in Die Sieger (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 552/7. Photo: Messter Film. Publicity still of Henny Porten and Paul Biensfeldt in Die Sieger (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 552/8. Photo: Messter Film. Publicity still of Henny Porten and Arthur Bergen in Die Sieger (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918).

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

Cool and beautiful Margaret Lee (1943) posed as a glamorous starlet for many international magazines throughout the 1960s. Between 1962 and 1983 the British born actress co-starred in over 70 European films.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/361. Photo: Georg Michalke.

German postcard by Kruger, no. 902/356. Photo: Georg Michalke.

Blonde, Fluffy Look

Margaret (sometimes credited as Margareth) Lee was born Margaret Gwendolyn Box in Wolverhampton, England in 1943. Her mother, who lived in wartime London, was evacuated because of the bombing to a family in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, whom she had never met before.

After the bombing ended mother and daughter returned to London, and Margaret grew up there. She was educated at Roan Grammar School in Greenwich, and later studied for three years at the Italia Conti Theatre School in London.

Margaret Lee in an interview with the blog Du dumme Sau!: "I wanted to act in the Theatre (never thought of films) and was willing to take any path that might lead me there. I read in The Stage of auditions for showgirls at the famous Moulin Rouge in Paris. I was 17. I wanted to get away from home, and so I auditioned and was taken on.

Then almost a year later, a friend told me they were interviewing for small parts in Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor in Rome. I auditioned and was accepted. Within two weeks I was in Rome and going to Cinecitta Film Studios each day. In the end, however, many hours of the film were cut, including my appearances."

At the set of Cleopatra (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1963), she met Gino Malerba, who worked as an assistant to choreographer Hermes Pan. When the filming of Cleopatra ended he introduced her to an agent, Fillipo Fortini. They both hoped in this way Lee could get work as an actress in Rome and not have to return to London. It worked and Malerba and Lee would later marry.

She made her screen debut in Maciste contro i mostri/Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (Guido Malatesta, 1962) opposite bodybuilder Reg Lewis.

With a blonde, fluffy look modelled after Marilyn Monroe, Lee followed it up with a stream of low-budget Peplum spectacles, comedies and thrillers. Some of them are now considered cult films.

Highlights include Gli Imbroglioni/The Swindlers (Lucio Fulci, 1963) with Walter Chiari, the comedy In ginocchio da te/On My Knees For You (Ettore Maria Fizzarotti, 1964) starring singer Gianni Morandi, Questa volta parliamo di uomini/Let's Talk About Men (Lina Wertmüller, 1965) with Nino Manfredi, and Casanova '70 (Mario Monicelli, 1965) with Marcello Mastroianni.

She appeared in several comedies and parodies which starred the popular comedic duo Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia. Few of these films received much (if any) distribution in foreign territories, but they were highly successful in Italy and made Lee a well-known film actress there.

Israelian postcard by Éditions de Luxe, no. 123.

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

Sexy Femme Fatales

Around the mid 1960s, Margaret Lee started to appear in a long line of Eurospy films, where she was frequently cast as the sexy femme fatale. Her appearance also changed as she dropped the blonde look and became a brunette instead.

These Eurospy films include Le Tigre se parfume à la dynamite/An Orchid for the Tiger (Claude Chabrol, 1965), Agente 077 dall'oriente con furore/Agent 077 From the Orient with Fury (Sergio Grieco, 1965), Se tutte le donne del mondo/Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (Henry Levin, 1966) with American TV star Mike Connors, and the French James Bond variation Coplan sauve sa peau/Coplan Saves His Skin (Yves Boisset, 1968) opposite Claudio Brook and Jean Servais.

Lee was also popular on Italian television in the 1960s. She appeared as a showgirl alongside the famous singer Johnny Dorelli. Lee also starred with Dorelli in his film debut Arriva Dorellik/How to Kill 400 Duponts (Steno, 1967).

She was also seen in sexy parts opposite opposite Jean Gabin and Robert Stack in Le soleil des voyous/Action Man (Jean Delannoy, 1967), and with Gian Maria Volonté in Banditi a Milano/The Violent Four (Carlo Lizzani, 1968).

Lee speaks both English and Italian fluently, and from 1966 on she dubbed most of her own films.

German postcard by Kruger, no. 902/170.

Margaret Lee and Robert Stack in Le soleil des voyous (1967)

Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Publicity still for Le soleil des voyous/Action Man (Jean Delannoy, 1967) with Robert Stack.

Giallo

Margaret Lee caught the eye of international film producer Harry Alan Towers. He gave her wider international recognition by casting her in prominent roles in several of his all-star cast productions.

The first was the British Edgar Wallace mystery Circus of Fear (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1966) starring Christopher Lee.

Towers also cast her in the spy-comedy Our Man in Marrakesh (Don Sharp, 1966), the action film Five Golden Dragons (Jeremy Summers, 1967), the thrillers Paroxismus/Venus in Furs (1969) and Il trono di fuoco/The Bloody Judge (1970), both directed by Jesús Franco.

Finally, Lee also costarred in the Oscar Wilde adaptation Dorian Gray (Massimo Dallamano, 1970) starring Helmut Berger.

Lee's co-star in Circus of Fear, Five Golden Dragons and Venus in Furs was the renowned German actor Klaus Kinski, who was also a regular in Harry Alan Towers productions. The pairing of Lee and Kinski proved to be very popular among cinema-goers - especially in Italy - so they would appear in a total of 12 films together.

Other interesting films in which Margaret Lee appeared were I Bastardi/Sons of Satan (Duccio Tessari, 1969) - one of the last films of Rita Hayworth, and the Giallo (Italian thriller) Gli assassini sono nostri ospiti/The Killers Are Our Guests (Vincenzo Rigo, 1974) starring Anthony Steffen.

However, with the death of the Spy genre in the late 1960s, Margaret Lee was then often cast in popular Euro horror flicks. Wikipedia notes: "By the early 1970s, Lee's movie career had descended further and further into exploitation; culminating in Fernando Di Leo's extremely sleazy and violent thriller La bestia uccide a sangue freddo/Slaughter Hotel (1971)."

In 1974 she retired from the film industry and returned to England. In 1982 she came back for two more films, the comedies Sesso e volentieri/Sex As You Like It (Dino Risi, 1982), which reunited her with her old co-star Johnny Dorelli, and Stangata napoletana/Neapolitan Sting (Vittorio Caprioli, 1983) starring Treat Williams.

Margaret Lee married in 1963 choreographer/agent Gino Malerba. From this marriage which soon ended in a divorce, she had a son, producer/production manager Roberto Malerba of V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2006) and Speed Racer (Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, 2008).

After retiring in England she married again and had another son, production coordinator Damian Anderson of V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2006) and Ninja Asassin (James McTeigue, 2009).

In 1987, Margaret Lee moved to the Bay Area in California. In 1988 she studied the Stanislavsi 'Method' Acting techniques for a year with Jean Shelton in San Francisco. Later she worked as a stage actress in a small theatre.

Margaret Lee performs an Italo-pop lounge act in the Diabolik parody Arriva Dorellik (1967). Source: Modcinema (YouTube).

Margaret Lee sings the title song in Five Golden Dragons (1967). Source: Filmfan3 (YouTube).

Trailer La bestia Uccide a Sangue Freddo/Slaughter Hotel (1971). Source: Films&Clips (YouTube).

Sources: Du dumme Sau – a Kinski Blog, Brian J. Walker (Brian's Drive-in Theater), Sandra Brennan (Allmovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

We continue our series of posts on the collectors cards Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst which Ross Verlag produced for the 'Cigaretten-Bilderdienst', Altona-Bahrenfeld in 1935. The cards were included with cigarette packs. Last week the pictures showed the first stars of the early German silent cinema, like Asta Nielsen, Wanda Treumann and Viggo Larsen. After the First World War new faces joined them and also such directors as Ernst Lubitsch and Fritz Lang started their careers. So, meet today Mia May as the Mistress of the World, meet Lil Dagover, Werner Krauss, Harry Liedtke and meet the very young Hans Albers.

Paul Westermeier, Hanne Brinkmann and Hans Albers in Baroneßchen auf Strafurlaub (1917). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 38, group 43. Photo: publicity still for Baroneßchen auf Strafurlaub/Little Baroness on Punishment Holiday (Otto Rippert, 1917). Caption: Paul Westermeier'works out', Hans Albers - in a small secondary role - is allowed to pinch Hanne Brinkmann in the cheek.

Asta Nielsen, Bruno Kastnerand Max Landa in Engelein (1914). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 42, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Engelein/Little Angel (Urban Gad, 1914).

Bruno Kastner, Dorrit Weixlerand Frida Richard in Dorittchens Vergnügungsreise (1916). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 45, group 43. Photo: Tobias-Film. Publicity still for Dorittchens Vergnügungsreise/Little Dorrit's Pleasure Trip (Paul Heidemann, 1916).

Ossi Oswalda in Kakadu und Kiebitz (1920). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 46, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Kakadu und Kiebitz/Kakadu and Kiebitz (Erich Schönfelder, 1920).

Carl Auen in Der heulende Wolf (1919). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 50, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Der heulende Wolf/The Crying Wolf (Leo Lasko, 1919). Caption: "Carl Auen as detective in The Crying Wolf".

Erika Glässner. German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 52, group 43. Photo: Alex Binder. Caption: "Erika Glässner, the Backfisch (young flapper) from West Berlin in many Aufklärungsfilmen (educational films on social issues)."

Mia May in Veritas Vincit (1919). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 55, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Veritas Vincit (Joe May, 1919).

Emil Jannings and Pola Negri in Die Augen der Mumie Ma (1918). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 58, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Die Augen der Mumie Ma/The Eyes of the Mummy (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918).

Harry Liedtke and Pola Negri in Carmen (1918). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no, 59, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Carmen (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918).

Mia May in Herrin der Welt (1919-1920). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 62, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (Joe May and others, 1919).

Lil Dagover and Carl de Vogt in Die Spinnen (1919). German photocard for the album Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst. Teil I. Der stumme Film by Ross Verlag, picture no. 63. Photo: Decla-Film. Publicity still for Die Spinnen/The Spiders (Fritz Lang, 1919-1920).

Georg Alexander, Harry Liedtke and Hubert von Meyerinck in Der Mann ohne Namen (1921). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 64, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Der Mann ohne Nahmen/The Man Without a Name (Georg Jacoby, 1921).

Ellen Richter, Anton Pointner and Hans Brausewetter in Der flug um den Erdball (1925). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 66. Photo: Ellen-Richter-Film. Publicity still for Der flug um den Erdball/The flight around the globe (Willi Wolff, 1925).

Pola Negri in Madame Dubarry (1919). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 67, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Madame Dubarry (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919). Caption: Pola Negri as Madame Dubarry, execution on the market square in Paris.

Werner Krauss in Napoleon auf St. Helena (1929). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden Deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 69, group 39. Photo: D.L.S. Publicity still for Napoleon auf St. Helena/Napoleon at St. Helena (Lupu Pick, 1929).

To be continued next Saturday!

Rose Liechtenstein (1887-1955) was a German theatre and film actress of the silent film era. Later she became 'the Adele Sandrock of the Israeli'.

German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2351. Photo: Atelier Eberth, Berlin.

Fritz Lang

Rose Liechtenstein, also credited as Rosa Liechtenstein, Rose Lichtenstein and Rosa Lichtenstein, was born as Rosa Liechtenstein in 1887 in Landsberg, Germany or in Wronke, Russian Germany (now: Wronki in the Szamotuły County, western-central Poland). The sources differ about her birthtown.

She received her training at the Marie-Seebach-Schule before she went to Meiningen in 1909. There followed engagements in Düsseldorf, Mannheim, Berlin and New York. She worked with such famous directors as Erwin Piscator and Max Reinhardt. In 1915 she played at front theatres in the German-occupied areas of Belgium and France.

From 1916 she was also active in the film business. She starred in such silent melodramas as Arme Eva Maria/Poor Eva Maria (Joe May, 1916) at the side of Mia May, Der eiserne Wille/The Iron Will (Adolf Gärtner, 1917) starring Albert Bassermann, and the silent Detective film Der Würger der Welt/The creeper of the world(E. A. Dupont, 1919) with Max Landa.

Rose Liechtenstein appeared for Fritz Lang in small parts in Die Nibelungen, 2.Teil: Kriemhild's Revenge/Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (1924), Metropolis (1926) and in his first sound film M - Eine Stadt sucht eine Mörder/M - A city looks for a murderer (1931). It was her last film before her emigration.

In addition to her stage work, Liechtenstein was also cast as a spokesman for radio play productions at the Berliner Funk-Stunde in 1929. The rise of the National Socialists caused the artist of Jewish origin to flee to Palestine in 1936.

In 1944, she was one of the founders of the famous Theatron Kameri in Tel Aviv, where she played more than 25 roles. She became' the Adele Sandrock of the Israeli', according to author Rudolf Frank.

In 1955, Rose Liechtenstein died 68 years old in Tel Aviv.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 677/2. Photo: Decla-Ufa-Film. Kriemhild (Margarete Schön) at the spring where Siegfried died in Die Nibelungen, 2.Teil: Kriemhild's Revenge/Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (Fritz Lang, 1924).

Sources: Stephanie d'Heil (Steffi-line - German), Wikipedia and IMDb.

For the new issue of the international magazine The Italianist, film historian Ivo Blom wrote an article on the production of the film Tosca (1941), a curious and intriguing case in film history. It was originally begun by French director Jean Renoir, but finished by his German screenwriter-turned-director Carl Koch. Koch’s wife Lotte Reiniger and the young Luchino Visconti contributed to the film, while its producer was the grand old man of Italian silent film, Arturo Ambrosio. But the leading role of Tosca was played by only one person, the enigmatic Imperio Argentina (1906-2003). Although the famous actress and singer was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was successful all over South America and worked in Spain, France, Italy and Germany, she was a Spanish citizen.

Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini Firenze Editori, no. 4248. Photo: Scalera Film. Publicity still of Imperio Argentina in Tosca (Carl Koch, 1941).

Dutch postcard by M. B. & Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam), no. 199. Photo: Cifesa (Cifesa was a big Spanish film distribution company between the mid-1930s and the early 1960s.)

Petite Imperio

Imperio Argentina was born Magdalena Nile del Río in 1906 in San Telmo, the tango district of Buenos Aires. Her Spanish parents, guitar player Antonio Nile and actress Rosario del Río, were on tour in Argentine.

Until the age of 12 she lived in Malaga, where she studied dance. Thanks to Pastora Imperio, she debuted at the age of 12 at the comedy theatre of Buenos Aires. Imperio called her 'Petite Imperio', her artistic name in those years, when she was successful all over South America.

When she came back to Spain in 1926, she adopted the artistic name of Imperio Argentina, singing in the main theatres of the country. Film director Florián Rey discovered her at the Romea theatre in Madrid and enabled her to play in the silent film La Hermana San Sulpicio/Sister San Sulpicio (Florián Rey, 1927).

Eventually she also married Rey, who was the first of her three husbands. In Spain and Germany, Argentina performed in the late silent Corazones sin rumbo/Herzen ohne Ziel/Hearts Without Soul (Benito Perojo, Gustav Ucicky, 1928), which costarred Betty Bird and Livio Pavanelli.

After signing a contract with Paramount Pictures, she worked in Paris with the best directors and actors of the moment. Her films included Su noche de bodas/Her Wedding Night (Louis Mercanton, Floriàn Rey, 1931) and Lo mejor es reir/Laughter (E.W. Emo, Floriàn Rey, 1931) with Tony D'Algy.

At Paramount she worked with Carlos Gardel in the short La casa es seria/Love Me Tonight (Lucien Jacquelux, 1931), which is considered as lost, and Melodía de Arrabal/Suburban Melody (Louis Gasnier, 1932), singing rare duets with him.

In 1934 Argentina returned to Spain, where, thanks to her cooperation with Rey, she became a star and obtained her greatest successes in folklorist films as the sound version of Hermana de San Sulpicio/Sister San Sulpicio (Floriàn Rey, 1934), Nobleza Baturra/Aragonese Virtue (Floriàn Rey, 1935), and Morena Clara/Dark and Bright (Floriàn Rey, 1936).

Adolf Hitler asked her to play in a film about Lola Montes, which she declined but instead she played in both the Spanish and the German version of Carmen, la de Triana/Andalusische Nächte (Florian Rey, Herbert Maisch, 1938), shot around Malaga. In the German version Friedrich Benfer (a.k.a. Enrico Benfer) costarred as Don José, while in the Spanish version Rafael Rivelles played this part.

Imperio Argentina is said to have had an affair with Rafael Rivelles before she had divorced her second husband Ramón Baillío. Her divorce caused a scanald, as she was married for the Catholic church.

Imperio Argentina, Manuel Russell and Pepe Romeu in Su noche de bodas (1931)

Spanish postcard by Dümmatzen, no. 111. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still of Imperio Argentina, Manuel Russell and Pepe Romeu in Su noche de bodas/Her Wedding Night (Louis Mercanton, Florián Rey, 1931).

Imperio Argentina in La canción de Aixa (1939).

German postcard by Ross Verlag. Photo: Knevels-Film. Imperio Argentina, wearing the attire of La canción de Aixa/Song of Aixa (Florián Rey, 1939).

German postcard. Photo: Ufa / Hämmerer.

Paseo de la Fama

In 1940 Imperio Argentina travelled to Rome to star opposite Rossano Brazziin Tosca/The Story of Tosca (Carlo a.k.a. Carl Koch, 1941), an adaptation of the story by Victorien Sardou. The film was originally directed by Jean Renoir, but when war between France and Italy was at hand and Renoir was knocked down by fascists one day, he fled to France and his assistant Carl Koch took over directing.

In his memoirs, Michel Simon, who played her antagonist Scarpia in the film, recalls how he rehearsed the rape scene of Tosca too vividly, unveiling one of her breasts. Fascinated, he tried the same the next day, but Imperio had taken measures, firmly tying up her robe.

The film was partly shot on location, at the Castel Sant’Angelo, the Palatine Hill and in front of the Palazzo Farnese (the French embassy). A young Luchino Visconti collaborated as a first assistant and learned the tricks of the trade here.

In the 1940s, Imperio also worked with director Benito Perojo at the films Goyescas (1942), Bambú/Bamboo (1945), La maja de los cantares/The Songstress (1946) and La copla de la Dolores/Song of Dolores (1951) with Lola Beltrán.

In the 1950s she focused on big musical shows while in the 1960s she did Ama Rosa (León Klimovsky, 1960) and Con el viento Solano/With the East Wind (Mario Camus, 1966) as the mother of Antonio Gades. After years of little activity she was rediscovered at Festival Internacional de Cine in San Sebastián. From then on a new golden age started, full of honors.

Argentina became a citizen of Spain in 1999. In the following decades, she appeared in Tata Mía/Dear Nanny (José Luis Borau, 1986) opposite Carmen Maura and in El polizón de Ulises/The stowaway of the Ulises (Javier Aguirre, 1987), her last film. She also performed in the stage play of the Expo 92, Azabache.

In 1996 she was elected 'pregonera' at the Festa del Pilar at Saragozza, to celebrate the centenary of the cinema. In 2001 she published her memoirs, Malena Clara, written by Pedro Villora.

At the age of 92, Imperio Argentina died of natural causes in 2003 in her house in Torremolinos in Andalucia. She lies buried nearby at Benalmádena near Málaga. In 2011 she was honoured with a star in the Spanish Walk of Fame, the Paseo de la Fama in Madrid. In 1994 she already was honoured as 'Ciudadano Ilustre de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires' (Illustrious Citizen of the City of Buenos Aires).

Scene with Imperio Argentina in Carmen la de Triana (Florían Rey, 1938) singing Los piconeros. Source: Canta Roable (YouTube).

Long scene from Tosca/The Story of Tosca (Carl Koch, 1941). Source: Otello Bailor (YouTube).

Sources: Miguel A. Andrade (IMDb), Wikipedia (English, German, Italian and Spanish), and IMDb.

Blonde, green-eyed bombshell Christine Norden (1924-1988) was Britain’s first post-war screen sex goddess. The ex-dancer, actress and singer won in the late 1940s and early 1950s two prestigious film awards, but she was best known for her 39 inch breasts and her racy image.

British postcard, no. 262.

Seven-year Contract

Christine Norden was born Mary Lydia Thornton in Sunderland, Great Britain on Christmas day in 1924. She was the daughter of Charles Hunter; a bus driver, and Catherine (McAloon) Thornton.

Christine performed as a dancer and a singer since her teens. She made her London stage debut as Molly Thornton in Tell the World in 1942. She became the first entertainer to land on Normandy beaches in 1944 to perform for Allied troops after D-Day.

The story goes that she was ‘discovered’ in 1947 by agents of the distinguished film mogul Sir Alexander Korda while waiting outside a theatre ticket line. Korda promptly signed her to a seven-year contract, and Christine also became his mistress.

She made her film debut in the melodrama Night Beat (Harold Huth, 1947) as an alluring temptress. She was known for her 39 inch breasts which made her a prime pin-up attraction.

Korda placed her in stark, dark-edged films as fetching, sometimes singing femmes, appearing in a surprising number of quality films including Mine Own Executioner (Anthony Kimmins, 1947) opposite Burgess Meredith and An Ideal Husband (Alexander Korda, 1948) starring Paulette Goddard.

She won a Venice Festival award for most promising actress in 1947, and the British National Film Award in 1949 for her performance in Saints and Sinners (Leslie Arliss, 1949).

Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano (Milan), no. 2. Photo: London Films. Publicity still for Saints and Sinners (1949).

Topless on Broadway

By the early 1950s the film career of Christine Norden was over. Her last British film was the thriller The Black Widow (Vernon Sewell, 1951), and the following year she went to New York.

Her Broadway debut was in the musical Tenderloin in 1960 and later she appeared in such productions as Marat/Sade. She was the first actress to appear topless on Broadway in Scuba Duba (1967).

Although she became an American citizen, she returned to London in 1979 and acted in plays, films and television shows during the 1980s, including the musical Little Shop of Horrors (Frank Oz, 1988) and in an episode of the popular TV series Inspector Morse (1987).

Christine Norden admitted to many affairs (both men and women) over the years, and she is reported to have had affairs with Richard Burton and Ava Gardner, along with Prince Philip.

She was married five times (including with director Jack Clayton). One of the craters of the planet Venus has been named after her as a tribute to her being a ‘forerunner of the modern sex symbol.’ Her last husband, George Heselden, a retired mathematician, developed and named a mathematical formula in her honour.

After a bypass surgery, she died of pneumonia in 1988, in Isleworth, England. She was 63, and had one child, Michael Glenn, from her first marriage. Her memoirs were discovered after she died, but were considered too racy to be published at the time. Her friend, and royal biographer, Michael Thornton, to whom they were left, has now made parts of the story public.

British postcard, no. F.S. 55.

British autograph card.

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Sandra Brennan (AllMovie), The New York Times, Film Reference, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Big, burly Scottish-born character actor Ernest Torrence (1878-1933) appeared in many Hollywood films form 1916 on. A towering figure, he frequently played cold-eyed and imposing heavies, but played most of his bad guys with tongue firmly in cheek. Torrence’s films include including Tol'able David (1921) opposite Richard Barthelmess, Mantrap (1926) with Clara Bow, and Sherlock Holmes (1932) in one of his last roles as Holmes’s nemesis Professor Moriarty.

British postcard in the Picturegoer series, London, no. 167.

Moronic, twitch-eyed thief

Ernest Thayson Torrance-Thompson was born in 1978 to Colonel Henry Torrence Thayson and Jessie (née Bryce) in Edinburgh, Scotland. His younger brother would be the actor David Torrence.

As a child, Ernest was an exceptional pianist and operatic baritone and he graduated from the Stuttgart Conservatory and Edinburgh Academy before earning a scholarship at London's Royal Academy of Music.

He toured with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in such productions as The Emerald Isle (1901) and The Talk of the Town (1905) before disarming vocal problems set in and he was forced to abandon this career path.

Sometime prior to 1900, he changed the spelling of Torrance to Torrence and dropped the name Thomson. Both Ernest and his brother David Torrence went to America, in March 1911, directly from Scotland prior to the First World War.

Focusing instead on a purely acting career, Ernest and his brother developed into experienced players on the Broadway New York stage. Ernest received significant acclaim with Modest Suzanne in 1912, and a prominent role in The Night Boat in 1920 brought him to the attention of the early Hollywood filmmakers.

Torrence played the moronic, twitch-eyed thief Luke Hatburn in Tol'able David (Henry King, 1921) opposite Richard Barthelmess and made his mark as a cinema villain. He settled into films for the rest of his career and life.

He played Colleen Moore’s abusive husband in Broken Chains (Alan Holubar, 1922). Torrence gave a sympathetic portrayal of a grizzled old codger in the acclaimed classic Western The Covered Wagon (James Cruze, 1923) and gained attention from his role as Clopin, king of the beggars opposite Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Wallace Worsley, 1923).

British postcard in the Picturegoer series, London, no. 167a. Photo: Paramount.

British autograph card.

One of the silent screen's finest arch villains

Ernest Torrence played an outrageous Captain Hook in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924) opposite Betty Bronson as Peter Pan. Bob Eddwards at Find A Grave: “Walt Disney used Torrence as the model for Hook in his own 1953 animated version of Peter Pan.”

He played an Army General who escapes into the circus world and becomes a clown in The Side Show of Life (Herbert Brenon, 1924). In an offbeat bit of casting he paired up with Clara Bow in Mantrap (Victor Fleming, 1926), unusually as a gentle, bear-like backwoodsman in search of a wife.

He appeared in other silent film classics such as the epic The King of Kings (Cecil B. DeMille 1927) as Peter, and Steamboat Bill Jr. (Charles Reisner, 1928) as Buster Keaton's steamboat captain father.

During the course of his twelve-year film career, Ernest Torrence made 49 films, both silent and sound films. Torrence made the transition into sound films very well, starring in the Western Fighting Caravans (Otto Brower, David Burton, 1931) with Gary Cooper and Lily Damita.

He was able to play a notable nemesis, Dr. Moriarty, to Clive Brook's Sherlock in Sherlock Holmes (William K. Howard, 1932) in one of his last roles. Filming for I Cover the Waterfront (James Cruze, 1933), in which he starred as a New York smuggler opposite Ben Lyon and Claudette Colbert, had just been completed when he died suddenly on 15 May 1933.

He was only 54. While en route to Europe by ship, Torrence suffered an acute attack of gall stones and was rushed back to a New York hospital. He died of complications following surgery. Ernest Torrence was married to Elsie Reamer Bedbrook and he had one child, Ian Torrence.

Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: “He was the man you loved to hiss. This towering (6' 4"), highly imposing character star with cold, hollow, beady eyes and a huge, protruding snout would go on to become one of the silent screen's finest arch villains.”

Scene with Torrence and Clara Bow in Mantrap (Victor Fleming, 1926). Source: Jeff Alanson (YouTube).

Scene from Steamboat Bill Jr. (Charles Reisner, 1928). Source: Movies and Videos (YouTube).

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Bobb Edwards (Find A Grave), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Silent Hollywood.com,Wikipedia and IMDb.

Italian child star Ermanno Roveri (1903-1968) played the lead in the silent melodrama Naufragio (Umberto Paradisi, 1916). Naufragio was part of a series of films based on the stories in Cuore (1886) by Edmondo De Amicis.

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Gloria, Torino (Turin), no. 3404. Printed by Uff. Rev. St. Terni, 16-5-17. Caption: He had the look of a boy who just came out of a big family misfortune.

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Floria, Torino (Turin), no. 3404. Printed by Uff. Rev. St. Terni, 16-5-17. Caption: Be cheerful, the Italian sailor cried to them, now a ballet starts!

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Floria, Torino (Turin), no. 3404. Printed by Uff. Rev. St. Terni, 16-5-17. Caption: Curled up against the vessel's mast, Mario and Giulietta stared at the sea with fixed eyes, as if senseless.

An Orphan on a Sinking Ship

Ermanno Roveriplayed the Sicilian orphan Mario, who is repatriated from Liverpool to Sicily. On the boat he meets Giulietta (played by Ermanno’s sister, Lavinia Roveri), who has to return to her parents in Naples.

During a tempest the boat sinks and Mario offers his seat in the lifeboat to Giulietta. Mario drowns on the sinking ship.

Naufragio was a production of Gloria, the film company in Turin that also produced the first films of diva Lyda Borelli. Gloria produced a series of films based on the stories in Cuore (1886) by Edmondo De Amicis.

Roveri acted in many of these films, including Dagli Appennini alle Ande, Naufragio, Il piccolo patriota padovano and Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino.

Ermanno Roveri thus was one of the stars of Gloria. In 1913-1914 he had become famous as Frugolino, one of the comic child actors of the Cines company in Rome.

In the 1930s and 1940s Ermanno played in a dozen Italian films. He would continue to work in the theatre and incidentally in cinema or on television till his death in 1968.

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Floria, Torino (Turin), no. 3404. Printed by Uff. Rev. St. Terni, 16-5-17. Caption: In the interior of the vessel a confusion started as well as fright, and an uproar of weeping and prayers.

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Floria, Torino (Turin), no. 3404. Printed by Uff. Rev. St. Terni, 16-5-17. Caption: They saw all around them persons frozen like statues, with eyes wide open and with blank stares, with the faces of corpses and madmen.

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Floria, Torino (Turin), no. 3404. Printed by Uff. Rev. St. Terni, 16-5-17. Caption: Goodbye, Mario!, she cried among her sobs with her arms extended towards him.

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Il Cinema Italiano 1916) and IMDb.

Beautiful, British Miriam 'Mimi' Jordan (1904-1987) enjoyed a brief career in Hollywood as a leading lady during the early 1930s. Her best known films are Sherlock Holmes (1932) and I Loved You Wednesday (1933), but most of her work was confined to the stage.

Big German card by Ross Verlag. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Sherlock Holmes

Miriam Jordan, also known as Mimi Jordan, was born in 1904, in London, England, UK. She won a beauty contest while working as a typist in London and this facilitated her introduction to the stage.

Seeking fame and fortune in America, she was 'decoratively cast' in the musical comedy Three Cheers (1928) with Will Rogers at the Globe Theatre at Broadway. Her one scene consisted of walking down stairs, while modelling a fabulous gown.

In 1931, she made her real Broadway debut in the drama Cynara, written by H.M. Harwood and R.F. Gore-Brown.

Between 1932 and 1934, she appeared in a handful of Hollywood films for 20th Century Fox. She co-starred with fading star Warner Baxter in her film debut, the Science Fiction drama 6 Hours to Live (William Dieterle, 1932) and again in Dangerously Yours (Frank Tuttle, 1933).

In the enjoyable detective film Sherlock Holmes (William K. Howard, 1932), Miriam and co-star Clive Brook were effectively upstaged by character actor Ernest Torrence in the part of Holmes's arch-rival, Professor Moriarty.

Miriam's best moment was to be the romance I Loved You Wednesday (Henry King, William Cameron Menzies, 1933) in which she was billed fourth (after Warner Baxter again, Elissa Landi and Victor Jory) in the part of Cynthia Williams. Mordaunt Hall in The New York Times called the film "an unusually handsome and interesting picture" and Miriam "charming"and her performance "splendid".

However, after the romantic comedy Two Heads on a Pillow (William Nigh, 1934) opposite Neil Hamilton, her days as a leading lady were over. Jordan later only returned in a bit part in My Own True Love (Compton Bennett, 1948). On Broadway, she appeared in 1938 in a short-lived run of Michael Drops In.

Miriam Jordan passed away in 1987, in Great Worley, England, UK.

Scene with Miriam Jordan, Clive Brook, Howard Leeds and Reginald Owen in Sherlock Holmes (1932). Source: (YouTube).

Sources: Mordaunt Hall (The New York Times), I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

In the early 1920s, the Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation and political extremism. But the German film industry thrived and seemed to produce an endless stream of silent masterpieces. In the third post on our (incomplete) series of collectors cards of Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst pictures of such classics as Der Golem (1920) with Paul Wegener, Faust (1926) with Emil Jannings and Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (1922) with Rudolf Klein-Rogge. Ross Verlag published the collectors card series in 1935 for the 'Cigaretten-Bilderdienst', Altona-Bahrenfeld.

Liane Haid and Albert Bassermann in Lucrezia Borgia (1922). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 71, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still with Liane Haid as Lucretia Borgia and Albert Bassermann as pope Alexander VI Rodrigo Borgia in Lucrezia Borgia/Lucretia Borgia (Richard Oswald, 1922).

Otto Gebühr in Fridericus Rex (1922). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 73, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Fridericus Rex (Arzén von Cserépy, 1922).

Adolf Klein in Bismarck, 1. Teil (1925). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 77, group 43. Photo: Bismarck-Film. Publicity still for Bismarck, 1. Teil/Bismarck, Part 1 (Ernst Wendt, 1925) with Adolf Klein as Kaiser Wilhelm I.

Rudolf Klein-Roggeand Károly Huszár in Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (1922). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 80, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still with Károly Huszár (left) and Rudolf Klein-Rogge (second from left) in Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler/Dr. Mabuse, King of Crime (Fritz Lang, 1922). Caption: Dr. Mabuse, who prints false money, lets the false notes sort by blind people who can not betray him.

Henny Porten and Paul Hartmann in Monika Vogelsang (1920). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture, picture no, 81, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Monika Vogelsang (Rudolf Biebrach, 1920).

Pola Negriand Alfred Abel in Die Flamme (1923). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 83, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Die Flamme/The Flame (Ernst Lubitsch, 1923).

Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück and Ernst Deutsch in Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (1920). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 87, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam/The Golem: How He Came Into the World (Carl Boese, Paul Wegener, 1920). Caption: Paul Wegener as Golem, Albert Steinrück as Rabbi Loew, Ernst Deutsch as Famulus.

Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Lucie Mannheim in Der steinerne Reiter (1923). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture, picture no. 90, group 43. Photo: Decla-Film. Publicity still for Der steinerne Reiter/The Stone Rider (Fritz Wendhausen, 1923).

Lil Dagover and Paul Hartmann in Zur Chronik von Grieshuus (1925). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 91, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Zur Chronik von Grieshuus/The Chronicles of the Gray House ( Arthur von Gerlach, 1925).

Yvette Guilbert and Emil Jannings in Faust (1926). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 94, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still with Emil Jannings as Mephisto and Yvette Guilbert as Marthe in Faust (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1926).

Paul Hartmann and Lil Dagover in Luise Millerin (1922). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 96, group 43. Photo: Decla-Film. Publicity still for Luise Millerin (1922).

Asta Nielsen and Conrad Veidt in Der Reigen - Ein Werdegang (1920). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 98. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Der Reigen - Ein Werdegang/The Merry-Go-Round (Richard Oswald, 1920).

Fritz Kortner and Olga Tschechowa in Nora (1923). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 99, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Nora (Berthold Viertel, 1923).

Werner Krauss in Scherben (1921). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 101. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still with Werner Krauss in the classic German Kammerspiel film Scherben/Shattered (Lupu Pick, 1921). The woman is Edith Posca, who plays the daughter.

Henny Porten,Wilhelm Dieterle and Fritz Kortner in Hintertreppe (1921). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 102. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Hintertreppe/Backstairs (Leopold Jessner, Paul Leni, 1921).

To be continued next Saturday!

Austrian actor Harry Hardt (1899-1980) had a long career both in films and on television. He was a popular and extremely busy character player, who was generally cast as authority figures: police inspectors, officers and aristocrats.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1355/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Karl Schenker.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8406/1, 1933-1934. Atelier Badekow, Bertlin.

Officer and a Gentleman

Harry Hardt was born Hermann Karl Viktor Klimbacher Edler von Reichswahr in Pola, Küstenland, Austria-Hungary (now Pula, Istria, Croatia) in 1899. Hardt came from an aristocratic family with a strong military tradition. His father was an officer.

Deferring to his father's wishes, Harry dropped out of art history studies to undergo officer training at a military academy. During the First World War, he concluded that a military career was useless and he chose for acting.

After drama lessons in Graz and Berlin, he made his stage debut in 1919 at the Theater in Olmütz (now Czech Republic). From 1920 he played at the Trianon-Theater in Berlin. In the same year, the handsome actor made his first film appearance in the silent production Die Frauen vom Gnadenstein/The Women of Gnadenstein (Robert Dinesen, Joe May, 1920), for which Thea von Harbau had written the script.

Soon he became a frequently used character actor in such melodramas as Die Opiumhölle/The opium hell (Siegfried Dessauer, 1921), Paganini (Heinz Goldberg, 1923) with Conrad Veidt, and Der Klabautermann (Paul Merzbach, 1924) with Evi Eva. At first Hardt played gallant young lovers, and later he turned to distinguished gentlemen with his Adolphe Menjou-like moustache.

His standard repertoire included noblemen like the Count in the romance Zopf und Schwert - Eine tolle Prinzessin/Braid and Sword - A great princess (Victor Janson, Rudolf Dworsky, 1926) starring Mady Christians, or the Prince in the drama Hochverrat/Treason (Johannes Meyer, 1929), smart lieutenants like the ones in Das edle Blut/The noble blood (Carl Boese, 1927), Ungarische Rhapsodie/Hungarian Rhapsody (Hanns Schwarz, 1928) with Willy Fritsch, and Es flüstert die Nacht/It whispers the night (Victor Janson, 1929), starring Lil Dagover.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1554/1, 1927-1928.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3235/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Hanni Schwarz, Berlin.

Hitchcock

Harry Hardt was much in demand by directors and producers, but nevertheless he never became a big star. In the early sound years, he acted in Der Greifer/The Copper (Richard Eichberg, 1930) at Hans Albers' side, and in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Mary/Murder (1931).

Both films were shot concurrently in German- and English-language versions. After the introduction of sound film this was a fairly common practice both in Hollywood and in the European cinema when it was not yet common practice to overdub dialogues.

In the following years Hardt played a hotel director in Zigeunerblut/Gypsy Blood (Charles Klein, 1934) starring Adele Sandrock, a captain in both Abenteuer eines jungen Herrn in Polen/Love and Alarm (Gustav Fröhlich, 1934) and Schwarzer Jäger Johanna/Black Fighter Johanna (Johannes Meyer, 1934) featuring Marianne Hoppe, and a hotel porter in Barcarole (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1935).

In the mystery comedy Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war/The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (Karl Hartl, 1937), he played a gambler, who is impressed by a detective (Hans Albers) who masquerades as Sherlock Holmes. During the war years he played small roles in Austrian and German films, including the colour spectacle Münchhausen (Josef von Báky, 1943), again starring Hans Albers.

After the war he kept appearing in supporting parts as aristocrats or professors in historical films like Kaiserwalzer/The Emperor Waltz (Franz Antel, 1953) with Maria Holst as Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich, Ewiger Walzer/The Eternal Waltz (Paul Verhoeven, 1954), with Bernhard Wicki as composer Johann Strauss II, and Um Thron und Liebe/Sarajevo (Fritz Kortner, 1955), which portrays the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914.

During the 1960s and 1970s he often appeared on television in such series as the Krimi Derrick (1978). Incidentally he appeared in films, e.g. in the sex comedy Komm nach Wien, ich zeig dir was!/Come to Vienna, I'll show you something! (Rolf Thiele, 1970), and the ethereal, three-hour biopic Karl May (Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, 1974), with Helmut Käutner as the author of Winnetou. His final film was Egon Schiele - Exzesse (Herbert Vesely, 1981) with Mathieu Carrière as the cursed painter Egon Schiele.

In total Harry Hardt appeared in 180 feature films, and also in numerous television productions. In the series Königlich Bayerisches Amtsgericht he appeared several times as Count von Haunsperg. At the end of his career, he again intensified his theatrical work. In 1980, Harry Hardt died in Vienna, Austria. He was 81.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3323/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Low & Co., Berlin.

German postcard. Ross Verlag, no. 4035/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Ufa. It could be a still for the film Ungarische Rhapsodie (Hanns Schwarz, 1928).

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

Attractive Ruth Niehaus (1925–1994) was a German stage and film actress, who often played the femme fatale or 'the other woman’. She was dubbed the ‘Rita Hayworth of the German film of the 1950s’ and was regarded as a ‘Fräuleinwunder’.

Ruth Niehaus in Studentin Helen Willfüer (1956)

West-German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. I 452. Photo: CCC-Film / Constantin-Film / Grimm. Publicity still for Studentin Helen Willfüer/Helene Willfüer (Rudolf Jugert, 1956).

West-German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 4113. Photo: Lilo.

Young, attractive, modern, self-confident and desirable

Ruth Hildegard Rosemarie Niehaus was born in 1925 in Krefeld, Germany. Her parents were Elisabeth Niehaus, born Nettesheim, and the engineer Fritz Niehaus. Her brother was the Munich surgeon Helmut Niehaus.

After completing her high school diploma in Dusseldorf, she attended the drama school there under Peter Esser. Her stage career began at the Stadttheater Krefeld in 1947-1948, followed by engagements at the Deutsche Schauspielhaus in Hamburg (1948-1949), at the Oldenburgische Staatstheater (1949-1950) and in Düsseldorf under the direction of Gustav Gründgens (1952-1954). She played both in classical and modern theatre.

The press called Niehaus a ‘Fräuleinwunder’ a term for young, attractive, modern, self-confident and desirable women of post-war Germany. In 1950 Ruth Niehaus reputedly spurned a marriage proposal from Orson Welles, and with it the chance to work in Hollywood. She did marry Ivar Lissner, a Jewish German journalist and best-selling author, who had been a spy with the German Abwehr during World War II.

Niehaus made her film debut in the West-German comedy Das Haus in Montevideo/The House in Montevideo (1951). It was directed by Curt Goetz and Valérie von Martens who also played the leads, while Niehaus played their daughter. The film is an adaptation of Goetz's 1945 comic play of the same name and Goetz and von Martens had already frequently played their parts on stage.

Niehaus next played a supporting part in Heidelberger Romanze/A Heidelberg Romance (Paul Verhoeven, 1951) starring Liselotte Pulver, O.W. Fischer and Gardy Granass.

She then had the lead in the Heimatfilm Rosen blühen auf dem Heidegrab/Roses Bloom on the Moorland (Hans H. König, 1952). Wikipedia: “This unusually gloomy Heimatfilm, which clearly stood out from the ‘Kinokonfektion’ of the era, is one of the high points in Niehaus's film career.”

She then co-starred with Ivan Desny and René Deltgen in the drama Weg ohne Umkehr/No Way Back (Victor Vicas, 1953). It was made at the height of the Cold War. In 1945 following the Battle of Berlin, a Red Army officer (Desny) is able to protect a young German woman (Niehaus) he finds living in a cellar. Several years later he returns to the city as a civilian, finds her again and makes plans to flee from East to West Germany under the noses of the KGB. For this role she won in 1954 the Bundesfilmpreis (German Film Award).

Other films followed, such as Rosenmontag/Love's Carnival (Willy Birgel, 1955) with Dietmar Schönherr, and Auferstehung/Resurrection (Rolf Hansen, 1958) starring Horst Buchholz.

Ruth Niehaus and Armin Dahlen in Rosen blühen auf dem Heidegrab (1952)

West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 693. Photo: Panorama-Film / Königfilm / Hochreiter. Publicity still for Rosen blühen auf dem Heidegrab/Roses Bloom on the Moorland (Hans H. König, 1952) with Armin Dahlen.

Horst Buchholz, Myriam Bru, Ruth Niehaus and Günther Lüders in Auferstehung (1958)

German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. M 2482. Photo: Ringpress / Vogelmann / Bavaria. Publicity stills for Auferstehung/Resurrection (Rolf Hansen, 1958) with Horst Buchholz, Myriam Bru, Ruth Niehaus and Günther Lüders.

Das deutsche Gretchen 1959

In 1959, Ruth Niehaus co-starred with Helmuth Schneider in the Argentine film Cavalcade (Albert Arliss, Richard von Schenk, 1960). At the beginning of the 1960s Niehaus largely withdrew from the film business and only sporadically took on roles in film and television productions.

In 1980, she played a supporting part in the West German drama Fabian (Wolf Gremm, 1980), based on the novel by Erich Kästner. On television she played guest roles in Krimi series like Der Alte/The Old Fox (1978) and Tatort (1983).

Her main focus was on the theatre. At the Festival in Bad Hersfeld, she was celebrated as ‘Das deutsche Gretchen 1959’ in Goethe's Faust under the direction of William Dieterle. In 1961 and 1962, she also played Titania in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Dieterle.

From 1964 to 1968 she worked under the direction of Oscar Fritz Schuh at the Deutsche Schauspielhaus Hamburg. In Hamburg, she brought the present author Jean Cocteau to tears with her depiction of Eurydice in his play Orpheus. These years at the Deutsche Schauspielhaus in Hamburg were her most successful stage period.

In 1968, she left the house together with Oscar Fritz Schuh and performed further roles in his productions. Until his death in 1984, Schuh was one of her closest friends.

In 1987, Ruth Niehaus was able to celebrate her 40th stage jubilee. That year she also directed Rebecca at the Münchner Kammerspielen. She remained on stage until 1992.

She incidentally played in films, such as in Hard Days, Hard Nights (Horst Königstein, 1989) with Al Corley. Her last film role was in Wir können auch anders/We can also differently (Detlev Buck, 1992).

In 1994 she and Christa Auch-Schwelk were honoured for their documentary Jeffrey – Zwischen Leben und Tod/Jeffrey – Between Life and Death with the media award of the AIDS-Stiftung (German AIDS Foundation).

Ruth Niehaus died in 1994 in Hamburg. She was 69. She and her husband Ivar Lissner, who passed away in 1965, had a daughter Imogen (now Imogen Jochem).

West-German postcard by Ufa, no. FK 2177. Photo: Joe Niczky / Ufa.

West-German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 1297. Photo: Lilo.

Sources: Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.

German singer, dancer and actress Evelyn Künneke (1921-2001) was the last survivor of the Lili Marleen generation. Although the Nazis did not like it, she brought tap dance and swing to Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Thirty years later she made a come-back in the films of Rosa von Praunheim and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

German postcard by Odeon.

German postcard. Photo: Peter J. Fellinge.

German postcard by Foto-Rauch, Bad Schwalbach.

German postcard, no. 172. Photo: Real Film / Lilo.

German postcard by Netter's Star Verlag, Berlin, no. A 470. Photo: Gaza Studio, Berlin.

Knock-kneed, Short-sighted, Far Too Tall

Eva-Susanne Künneke was born in Berlin in 1921. She was the daughter of famous operetta composer Eduard Künneke and his wife, the opera singer Katarina Garden (born as Katarina Krapotkin), and she spent her youth very much in the shadow of her father's fame.

Despite the fact that he thought little of his daughter’s artistic talents and despite her being, in her own opinion, "knock-kneed, short-sighted, far too tall, and unable to escape my father's shadow", her ambitions proved irrepressible. She was a swimming champion at 14. She had ballet classes from the Russian choreograph Victor Gsovsky, acting classes from Ilka Grüning, Lucie Höflich and Leslie Howard, and singing lessons from Maria Ivogün. Meanwhile she worked as a photo model.

In Stepstudio Edmont Leslie, she learned to tap dance. In 1935 she acquired the O-level at the Fleckschen private school in Berlin. After completing her education, she became second solo dancer of the Berlin Staatsoper (State Opera), but she made a splash as the tap dancer Evelyn King in Berlin cabarets and variety shows. Only seventeen year old, she toured through Europe as the star of the Scala revue Etwas verrückt (Something Crazy), and that same year she founded together with Horst Matthiesen her own dance studio in Berlin.

A year later, her performances were forbidden by the Nazi regime. After this Berufsverbot she began a career as a singer under the name of Evelyn Künneke. She worked with renowned composers such as Peter Igelhoff and Michael Jary. She also became a starlet at the film studios of the Ufa, where she had her breakthrough in Auf Wiedersehn, Franziska/Goodbye, Franziska (Helmut Käutner, 1941) featuring Marianne Hoppe. In this film she sang Sing, nachtigall, sing (Sing, nightingale, sing), the second most popular hit of wartime Germany after Lale Andersen's Lili Marleen.

Two years later followed an appearance in the film musical Karneval der Liebe/Carnival of Love (Paul Martin, 1943) starring Johannes Heesters. She made frequent tours during the war to support the troops. From 1942 to 1944, she appeared on the eastern front, and in early 1944 also at the western front.

Evelyn Künneke’s hits such as Haben Sie schon mal im Dunkeln geküßt? (Have you ever kissed in the dark?) were unmistakably influenced by the Swing. The American swing music was politically frowned upon in Nazi-Germany and at the time, no other German singer dared to sing Künneke’s kind of songs.

In 1944 she was arrested and accused of defeatism because of her unfavourable observations of the progress of the war and in January 1945 she was put in jail in the Berlin-Tegel prison. It was only the reported intercession of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl - a personal friend of Adolf Hitler and perhaps the most influential artistic figure in his circle of acquaintances - that prevented worse from happening to her and her family.

Shortly before the end of the war, she was released to sing anti-American Swing songs together with the secret propaganda band Charlie and His Orchestra. The end of the war was the reason she did not have to do this.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag. Photo: Gundlach / Union Film.

German postcard.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel.

German postcard. Photo: Union Film.

Evelyn Künneke in Tanzende Sterne (1952)

German postcard by Schumann-Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Lilo. Text and music Mäcki-Boogie: Bruno Balz and Michael Jary. From the film Tanzende Sterne/Dancing Stars (Géza von Cziffra, 1952).

Callas of the Subculture

After the war Evelyn Künneke had a few more successful years as a pop singer, first in 1945 with the Show-Orchestra Walter Jenson in Hamburg. Among her hits were Winke-winke (Bye-bye), Allerdings – sprach die Sphinx (However – said the Sphinx) and Egon.

As a singer she appeared in such films as Heimliches Rendezvous/Secret rendezvous (Kurt Hoffmann, 1949) with Hertha Feiler, Die Dritte von rechts/Third from the Right (Géza von Cziffra, 1950) and Die verschleierte Maja/The Veiled Lady (Géza von Cziffra, 1951) with Maria Litto. She played her biggest role till then in Verlorene Melodie/Vanished Melody (Eduard von Borsody, 1952) as an American jazz singer.

She appeared with real swing music in jazz clubs all over Europe. In 1953 she did a tour through the US. Three years later, she celebrated her only hit in the German hit parade, which was only just introduced in 1955: her German-language version of Hernando's Hideaway which reached the 8th place. In 1958 she appeared in the German preliminaries of the Eurovision Song Contest.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, her star faded, and several attempts to establish herself again, failed. In the mid-1970s, Künneke celebrated her big comeback as an actress in the films by the new wave of German directors.

She first appeared with Rainer Werner Fassbinder in 1 Berlin-Harlem (Lothar Lambert, Wolfram Zobus, 1974). For Rosa von Praunheim she appeared in the TV film Axel von Auersperg (Rosa von Praunheim, 1974) and Monolog eines Stars/Monologue of a Star (Rosa von Praunheim, 1975). Fassbinder then directed her in Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox and his Friends (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1975) with Peter Chatel and Karlheinz Böhm.

Künneke could also be seen with David Bowie in Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo/Just a Gigolo (David Hemmings, 1978). In total the ‘Callas of the subculture’ would appear in 45 films. Among her later films are the Thomas Mann adaptation Der Zauberberg/The Magic Mountain (Hans W. Geissendörfer, 1982) with Rod Steiger, Neurosia - 50 Jahre pervers/Neurosia (Rosa von Praunheim, 1995) - the autobiography of the director, and the horror comedy Kondom des Grauens/Killer Condom (Martin Walz, 1996), based on the comic book by Ralph König.

She also recorded the albums Sensationell (1975, Sensational), Evelyn II (1976) and Sing, Evelyn, sing! – Das Beste von Evelyn Künneke (1978, Sing, Evelyn, sing! - The Best of Evelyn Künneke).

Till at a very old age, she popped us as a chanteuse in the Berlin scene, often together with Brigitte Mira and Helen Vitaas Drei Alte Schachteln (Three old hags). In their popular revue ‘the three last survivors of the Lili Marleen generation’ promoted themselves saying: “Was wollt ihr mit drei knödelnden Tenören, hier habt ihr drei echte Berliner Gören” (What do you need three dumpling tenors for, here you have three real Berlin gals). The three singers had a combined age of just about 240 years, they gleefully informed the public at their sell-out performances.

In 2001, Evelyn Künneke died of lung cancer in her hometown Berlin. She was 79. Künneke had first been married to an Englishman, the father of her daughter. Her second husband was the business school graduate Reinhard Thomanek from 1963 to 1972. Her third marriage was in 1979 with her manager Dieter Hatje. In 2000 she was honoured with the Goldenen Kamera for her long career.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 70/469, 1957. Photo: DEFA. Publicity still for Meine Frau macht musik/My Wife Wants to Sing (Hans Heinrich, 1958).

Evelyn Künneke in Meine Frau macht Musik (1958)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 71/400. Photo: DEFA / Neufeld. Publicity still for Meine Frau macht Musik/My Wife Wants to Sing (Hans Heinrich, 1958).

German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg. Photo: Claus Zeunert.

Evelyn Künneke step-dances in Karneval der Liebe/Carnival of Love (1943). Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels declared that this dance sequence was 'Ungerman and not good for moral'. So the scene was cut from the film and and a new sequence with Johannes Heesters and Dorit Kreysler singing Junger Mann was filmed. In the past both film versions were broadcasted on German TV. The last 10 years only the version with Evelyn's dance has been shown. Source: Alparfan (YouTube).

Recording of Sing Nachtigall Sing. Source: MrDeanMartin (YouTube).

Recording of Allerdings, sprach die Sphinx (1949). Source: Annanthrax (YouTube).

Recording of Meine Stadt (1987). Source: Annanthrax (YouTube).

Sources: Bruce Eder (All Music), Philipp Blom (The Independent), Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-line - German), Laut.de (German), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

German actor Klaus-Peter Thiele (1940-2011) was well-known for his film debut in the DEFA production Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt/The Adventures of Werner Holt (1965).

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2399. Photo: Klaus D. Schwarz.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin. no. 2261, 1965. Photo: Klaus D. Schwarz.

The DEFA studio in Babelsberg

Klaus-Peter Thiele was born in 1940 in Meiningen, Germany and grew up there. He was the son of actor, director, and artistic director Heino Thiele, who had acted in the German silent cinema. His mother was Elisabeth Seiberlich.

He graduated from drama school in Berlin-Schöneweide and became a cast member of Landestheater Parchim (1960) and the Hansototheater in Potsdam (1964).

Shortly after, director Joachim Kunert, who had met Thiele in drama school, brought him to the DEFA studio in Babelsberg and put him in the title role of his anti-war film Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt/The Adventures of Werner Holt (1965). The film premiered in 1965 in the GDR and 1966 in the Federal Republic with great success.

Another success was the Eastern Weiße Wölfe/White Wolves (Konrad Petzold, Boško Bošković, 1968) about the last Indian war in the USA after 1879. Historical is the outbreak by the Cheyennes from their reserve. The film is a sequel to Spur des Falken/Trail of the Hawk (Gottfried Kolditz, 1966), both starring Gojko Mitic and Barbara Brylska.

During the following years, Thiele participated in numerous film and TV productions, but he never committed to one single genre. Among his films are the children’s film Susanne und der Zauberring/Susanne and the Magic Ring (Erwin Stranka, 1973), the thriller Die Kolonie/The Colony (Horst E. Brandt, 1981), and the fairy tale film Der Bärenhäuter/The Bear (Walter Beck, 1985).

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2118. Photo: Klaus Fischer.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2943. Photo: Klaus Fischer.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 46/71, 1971. Photo: Linke.

Archives of Death

Unfortunately, Klaus-Peter Thiele was not able to repeat the success of his debut film although he remained an ensemble member of the DEFA and appeared in more than 80 film and television productions. Thus, he frequently had to settle for minor roles.

He often was cast for roles of Nazi characters, for instance in two TV series, directed by Rudi Kurz, Archiv des Todes/Archives of Death (1980) and Front ohne Gnade/Front without Mercy (1984). Both deal with the topic of the fight against fascism during the Nazi regime and both blend contemporary history with a fictional plot.

He also appeared in several Polish films including Pobeda (Evgeniy Matveev, 1985) and Romans z intruzem (Waldemar Podgórski, 1985).

After the Wende (the German reunification) in 1989, Thiele mainly worked at theatres, at first in Hamburg and Munich, later as cast member of the Störtebeker festival in Ralswiek. Volker Wachter at the site Filmstadt Quedlinburg praises the warm and deep voice of the talented actor.

Thiele often appeared on television and was on camera for several TV movies and series, including the popular Krimi series as Polizeiruf 110 (1990, 1997) and Tatort (2002) and the Italian TV film Detective Extralarge: Operazione Condor/Extralarge: Condor Mission (Alessandro Capone, 1993) with Bud Spencer.

In 2011, Klaus-Peter Thiele passed in Berlin away at the age of 70. Thiele lived together with his long-time partner, the painter Rosemarie Rautenberg. Their daughter Valeska Rautenberg, born 1979, also works as an actress and singer.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2755, 1967. Photo: Klaus D. Schwarz.

Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 48/70. Photo: Klaus Fischer.

East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 142/71. Photo: Günter Linke.

Sources: Volker Wachter (Filmstadt Quedlinburg - German), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Last week we did a post on the Italian silent film Naufragio/Shipwreck (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Like Naufragio, Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino/The little scribe from Florence (Leopoldo Carlucci, 1915) is based on one of the stories from Edmondo De Amicis' book Cuore (Heart, 1886). Child actor Ermanno Roveri is also the star of this film and again the film was produced by Film Artistica Gloria.

Ermanno Roveri in Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Gloria, Torino, no. 3386. Photo: publicity still for Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino (Leopoldo Carlucci, 1915). Caption: One night, for the first time in his life, he fell asleep over his notebook. Wake up! Wake up! his father shouted to him, Get to work!

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Gloria, Torino, no. 3386. Photo: publicity still for Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino (Leopoldo Carlucci, 1915). Caption: 'Giulio is ill. Look how pale he is.' His father said: 'It is his bad conscience which gives him bad health.'

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Gloria, Torino, no. 3386. Photo: publicity still for Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino (Leopoldo Carlucci, 1915). Caption: He didn't love him anymore, there was no doubt now, he was dead in the heart of his father...

The secret of a son

Italian actor Ermanno Roveri started his career as child star, a.o. in the adaptations of the stories from Edmondo De Amicis' novel Cuore, including Il piccolo patriota padovano/The little patriot from Padua (1915), Dagli Appennini alle Ande/From the Apennines to the Andes (Umberto Paradisi, 1916), and Naufragio/Shipwreck (Umberto Paradisi, 1916).

In Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino, Ermanno Roveri plays Giulio, a 12-year old boy from Florence. The boy lacks sleep as he secretly helps his father (Antonio Monti) copying volumes at night.

His parents reproach him, as Giulio loses weight and lacks attention in school. One night, however, the father discovers the secret of his son...

All the Cuore-adaptations were filmed in 1915-1916 for the company Gloria Film in Turin. The stories were set during the Italian unification, and include several patriotic themes.

In the films, the heroes were young Italians who sacrificed themselves for their country and fought against the enemies at all time, even in distant wars. Gloria understood how to support through cinema the war effort during World War I.

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Gloria, Torino, no. 3386. Photo: publicity still of Ermanno Roveri and Antonio Monti in Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino (Leopoldo Carlucci, 1915). Caption: 'Oh, Daddy! Daddy, forgive me, forgive me!', he cried, recognising his father.

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Gloria, Torino, no. 3386. Photo: publicity still for Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino (Leopoldo Carlucci, 1915). Caption: 'Kiss this dear angel of a son of mine, who for three months hasn't slept and has worked in my place.'

Italian postcard by Film Artistica Gloria, Torino, no. 3386. Photo: publicity still for Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino (Leopoldo Carlucci, 1915). Caption: 'Now go straight to bed, my child, go to sleep and rest.'

Source: Europeana, Wikipedia (Italian and English) and IMDb.

Legendary American comedian, actor and director Jerry Lewis, who died this week at 91, scored in just about every branch of show business: nightclubs, radio, television, concerts, films and records. Lewis rose to fame in a comedy duo with Dean Martin, and his slapstick humour carried him through decades of film, television, stage and radio shows. Jerry was most popular in Europe, especially in France.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, no. 2 12 G. Photo: Paramount Pictures, 1958.

One of the greatest partnerships in the history of American show business

Jerry Lewis was born Joseph Levitch in 1926, in Newark, New Jersey. He grew up performing in a vaudeville family. His father, Daniel Levitch, who went by the stage name Danny Lewis, was a master of ceremonies and vaudeville entertainer. His mother, Rae Lewis, played piano for the New York City radio station WOR and was her husband's musical director.

Lewis began following in his parents' footsteps, making his debut at the age of 5, singing Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? at 'Borscht Belt' nightclubs in the Catskill Mountains in New York. At the age of 15, Jerry Lewis dropped out of school to pursue a full-time career as a performer. He devised a comedy routine known as the Record Act in which he mimed and mouthed the lyrics to operatic and popular songs while a phonograph played the songs offstage.

Lewis worked as a theatre usher and soda jerk to make ends meet. He grew depressed and was on the verge of giving up on his show-business dreams when a friend of his father's, the comedian Max Coleman, convinced him to give comedy another shot. Lewis soon caught the attention of another comedian, Irving Kaye, who became the young comic's manager and helped his career along through more Borscht Belt appearances.

In 1946, singer Dean Martin joined Lewis as a performer at the 500 Club, and one of the greatest partnerships in the history of American show business was born. Their zany act began with Martin singing a song only to be interrupted by Lewis, with the routine soon devolving into a hilarious improvised sequence that included ad-libbed insults, food fights and frequent banter with the audience.

Billed as Martin and Lewis, the duo became such an instantaneous success that in a matter of months they went from earning $250 a week to a whopping $5,000. They made a successful transition to the big screen with My Friend Irma (George Marshall, 1949), based on the popular radio series of the same name. This was followed by the sequel My Friend Irma Goes West (Hal Walker, 1950).

Italian postcard by Bromophoto, Milano, no. 1501. Photo: Paramount Films.

Italian postcard by Casa Editr. Balerini & Fratini, Firenze (Florence), no. 3119. Photo: Paramount Films.

Egotism and insensitivity

Over the next decade, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made 16 films together, including The Stooge (Norman Taurog, 1952), The Caddy (Norman Taurog, 1952), Artists and Models (Frank Tashlin, 1955), co-starring Shirley MacLaine and Dorothy Malone, and finally Hollywood or Bust (Frank Tashlin, 1956) with Anita Ekberg.

The pair also made frequent television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Colgate Comedy Hour. However, by the mid-1950s their partnership and friendship began to fray as Lewis received greater national attention and, as he admitted later, drove Martin away with his egotism and insensitivity. The two split ways, both professionally and personally, in 1956.

Teaming with director Frank Tashlin, whose background as a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, he starred in five more films, The Sad Sack (George Marshall, 1957), Rock-A-Bye Baby (Frank Tashlin, 1958), The Geisha Boy (Frank Tashlin, 1958), Don't Give Up The Ship (Norman Taurog, 1959) and even appeared uncredited as Itchy McRabbitt in Li'l Abner (Melvin Frank, 1959).

Lewis also enjoyed solo success with films like The Delicate Delinquent (Don McGuire, 1957) with Martha Hyer, The Ladies Man (Jerry Lewis, 1961) and The Nutty Professor (Jerry Lewis, 1963) with Stella Stevens. He made his directorial debut with the comedy The Bellboy (Jerry Lewis, 1960). The film marked the pioneering use of a video assist system, providing Lewis a way to see the action even though he was in the scene.

Later Lewis films were Who's Minding the Store? (Frank Tashlin, 1963), The Patsy (Jerry Lewis, 1964) and The Disorderly Orderly (Frank Tashlin, 1964). Lewis directed and co-wrote The Family Jewels (1965) about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. Lewis played all six uncles and the bodyguard.

Lewis would also appear opposite Tony Curtis and Dany Saval in Boeing Boeing (John Rich, 1965).

Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. C. 238, 1964. Photo; Paramount Films. Publicity still for Who's Minding the Store? (Frank Tashlin, 1963).

Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

The King of Comedy

In 1967 Jerry Lewis began teaching graduate film courses at the University of Southern California. His lectures were collected into a book, The Total Film-Maker (1971), which is considered a seminal text in the industry. In England he made Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (Jerry Paris, 1968) with Terry-Thomas.

His career hit a rough patch in the 1970s, though he remained highly popular in Europe, especially in France. in Sweden he filmed the drama The Day the Clown Cried (Jerry Lewis, 1972), about a German clown who was arrested by the Gestapo, interred in a concentration camp, and used to march Jewish children into the ovens. Reportedly, the film has been tied up in litigation and was never finished. Rough footage exists but a completed version never materialised.

After an absence of a decade, Jerry Lewis returned to the cinema in Hardly Working (Jerry Lewis, 1981), a film which he both directed and starred in. He played an unemployed circus clown who can't seem to hold down a job. The film opens with a brief montage of clips from past Lewis films. Despite being panned by critics, Hardly Working eventually earned $50 million.

Lewis followed this with an acclaimed performance in The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1982). He portrayed a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy but is plagued by two obsessive fans, played by Robert De Niro and Sandra Bernhard. Anthony Piggott at IMDb: "Jerry Lewis is perfect as the disgruntled TV host. A man who lives a double-life of hilarious TV personality, with a bitter persona off-screen. You can certainly relate to this man's motivations, his love for his work, but his resistance to allow it run his personal life."

In 1995, Jerry Lewis fulfilled his lifelong dream of acting on Broadway, as the devil in a revival of Damn Yankees. He got good reviews. Lewis was also active in the fight against muscular dystrophy, hosting the annual telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association from 1966 to 2010. For his efforts, Lewis was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.

Lewis married Patti Palmer in 1944, and they had six sons together before she filed for divorce in 1980. In 1983, Lewis married SanDee Pitnick, and they adopted a daughter together. Gary Lewis, Jerry Lewis's oldest son, also pursued a show business career as the frontman for the band Gary Lewis and the Playboys. The band had a string of Top 10 hits in the mid-1960s. In 2009, tragedy struck when Joseph Lewis, the youngest of the six children from his first marriage who struggled with drug addiction, committed suicide at age 45.

During his career, he won several awards for lifetime achievements from The American Comedy Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and Venice Film Festival. In 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Jerry Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas on 20 August 2017, at the age of 91. His final film role was as the father of Nicolas Cage in the thriller The Trust (Alex Brewer, Benjamin Brewer, 2016).

Trailer Hollywood or Bust (1956). Source: soapbxprod (YouTube).

Trailer The Nutty Professor (1963). Source: dcaligari (YouTube).

Trailer The King Of Comedy (1983). Source: ryy79 (YouTube).

Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Women are central in the fourth post on our (incomplete) series of collectors cards of Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst. Ross Verlag published this collectors card series in 1935 for the 'Cigaretten-Bilderdienst', Altona-Bahrenfeld. Ten years earlier women like Henny Porten, Mady Christians and Lil Dagover seemed to rule the German cinema, and a new face arrived, the exquisite Lilian Harvey. In 1935, she would be the Queen of the German cinema.

Eugen Klöpfer and Aud Egede Nissen in Die Strasse (1923). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 103, group 43. Photo: Stern-Film. Publicity still for Die Strasse/The Street (Karl Grune, 1923).

Lien Deyers and Wilhelm Dieterle in Die Heilige und ihr Narr (1928). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 106, Group 40. Photo: Defina. Publicity still with 'Golden' Lien Deyers and Wilhelm Dieterle in Die Heilige und ihr Narr/The Saint and Her Fool (Wilhelm Dieterle, 1928).

Dita Parlo and Lars Hanson in Heimkehr (1928). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 107, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Heimkehr/Homecoming (Joe May, 1928).

Lil Dagover and Willy Fritsch in Ungarische Rhapsodie (1928). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 111, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Ungarische Rhapsodie/Hungarian Rhapsody (Hanns Schwarz, 1928).

Paul Hartmann in Der Evangelimann (1924). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 113, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Der Evangelimann/The evangelist (Holger-Madsen, 1924). Caption: Paul Hartmann in the filmed Opera 'The Evangelist' by Wilhelm Kienzl.

Maria Solveg in Der Meister von Nürnberg (1927). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 114, group 39. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Der Meister von Nürnberg/The Master of Nuremberg (Ludwig Berger, 1927).

Mady Christians and Willy Fritsch in Ein Walzertraum (1925). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 115, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Ein Walzertraum/A Waltz-Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925).

Ossi Oswalda and Hermann Thimig in Die Puppe (1919). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 117, group 39. Photo: Union. Publicity still for Die Puppe/The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919). Caption: With Die Puppe/The Doll, Lubitsch created a completely new type of comedy for the screen.

Henny Porten and Ralph Arthur Roberts in Meine Tante, deine Tante (1927). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 118, group 39. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Meine Tante - Deine Tante/My Aunt, Your Aunt (Carl Froelich, 1927).

Henny Porten and Emil Jannings in Kohlhiesels Töchter (1920). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 119, group 43. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Kohlhiesels Töchter/Kohlhiesel's Daughters (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920).

Pola Negri in Die Bergkatze (1921). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 122, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Die Bergkatze/The Wildcat (Ernst Lubitsch, 1921).

Lilian Harvey and Hans Junkermann in Die tolle Lola (1927). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 123, group 43. Photo: Eichberg-Film. Publicity still for Die tolle Lola/Fabulous Lola (Richard Eichberg, 1927).

Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Gerda Maurus in Spione (1928). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 124. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Spione/Spies (Fritz Lang, 1928).

Harry Piel in Rivalen (1923). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 126, group 43. Photo: Harry Piel-Film. Publicity still for Rivalen/Rivals (Harry Piel, 1923).

Harry Piel in Panik (1928). German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 128. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still with Harry Piel fighting the lions in Panik/Panic (Harry Piel, 1928).

To be continued next Saturday.

Last Monday, 20 August, German singer, film actress and costume designer Margot Hielscher (1919-2017) passed away. She appeared in 60 films and 200 TV productions. Hielscher also represented Germany twice at the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1957 and 1958.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 230. 1941-1944. Photo: Hammerer / Wien-Film.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. 3854/1. 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Terra.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3410/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Terra.

Women are No Angels

Margot Hielscher was born in Berlin in 1919. Her father owned a travel agency.

From 1935 till 1939, she trained as a costume and fashion designer. Thus she met in Berlin the contemporary stars of the cinema and the music world. This stimulated her to study singing and acting, and she took classes with Albert Florath and Mary Koppenhöfer.

In 1939, she started to work as a costume designer for the Ufa. One of the first films on which she worked was the comedy Hurrah, Ich bin Papa!/Hurrah! I'm a Papa (Kurt Hoffmann, 1939) starring Heinz Rühmann. Reportedly, Rühmann later asked her to marry him, which she refused.

Soon she also was discovered as an actress. In 1940 she made her first film appearance in Das Herz der Königin/The Heart of the Queen (Carl Froelich, 1940) alongside the famous Zarah Leander. For the Terra studio she appeared in the romance Auf Wiedersehn, Franziska!/Goodbye, Franziska! (Helmut Käutner, 1941) starring Marianne Hoppe.

From 1942 on she worked for the Bavaria Studio in Munich. She played roles in several romantic comedies in which she also performed as a singer and she soon became one of the most popular actresses of the German cinema during the Second World War.

In 1943 she sang the song Frauen sind keine Engel (Women are No Angels) in the film with the same title by Willi Forst. It would become her best known song. During the war, Hielscher undertook several tours for the troops as a singer with the Big Band of Gene Hammers.

According to IMDb, Josef Goebbels thought her singing was too ‘American’. He insisted that she shouldn't play opposite Ferdinand Marian in the film Dreimal Komödie/3 x Comedy (Victor Tourjansky, 1944-1949) because she wasn't ‘German’ enough. At that time, all the film castings had to be agreed on by Goebbels. However, after another screen-test with some more ‘German’ make-up, Goebbels finally agreed on her casting.

German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. 3656/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien Film.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 1024.

Margot Hielscher in Salto Mortale (1953)

East-German postcard by VEB Volkskunstverlag Reichenbach, no. G 710. Photo: Komet-Film. Publicity still for Salto Mortale (Viktor Tourjansky, 1953).

Margot´s Revue

After the war, Margot Hielscher had her career high, when she appeared in front of enthusiastic GI’s with her show Margot´s Revue.

She contributed as a co-screenwriter to the film Hallo Fräulein/Hello Fraulein (Rudolf Jugert, 1949), which was partially based on her experiences of the immediate post-war period. While shooting this film, she also met her future husband, film composer Friedrich Meyer. 10 years later followed their wedding.

IMDb states that she decided to obtain a pilot's licence in Switzerland in 1952 because her friend Herbert von Karajan cynically told her that it was a good thing that there still were certain things that were only for men. Hielscher proved him wrong and passed her test.

In the 1950s, she focused on her singing career and many of her film appearances were only vocal numbers, such as in the Film Noir Nachts auf den Straßen/Detour (1952) starring Hans Albersand Hildegard Kneff.

She incidentally appeared in international films such as The Devil Makes Three (Andrew Marton, 1952) starring Gene Kelly, and Nel gorgo del peccato (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1954) with Franco Fabrizi.

Her voice was a mix of jazz vocals and operetta soprano. In 1957, Hielscher was chosen to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Telefon, Telefon (Telephone, Telephone). The song finished 4th out of 10 songs, and gained a total of 8 points.

Hielscher was chosen again to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1958 with the song Für Zwei Groschen Musik (Music For Two Pennies). The song finished 7th out of 10 songs, and gained a total of 5 points.

German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3663. Photo: Wesel / Berolina / Gloria. Publicity still for Hoch droben auf dem Berg (Géza von Bolváry, 1957).

East-German postcard by Progress, 1955. Photo: Progress.

German postcard. Photo: Sessner, Dachau.

Period Sex Comedy

Margot Hielscher went on to appear in countless TV shows and series till the late 1980s. Among her series were Salto mortale (1969) with Gustav Knuth, and the comedy series Suchen Sie Dr. Suk!/Are you looking for Dr. Suck! (1972) with Ferdy Maine.

For the Bayerischen Fernsehen (Bavaria TV), she was the host of the 1960s TV show Zu Gast bei Margot Hielscher (Hosted by Margot Hielscher), in which she received some 700 guests including Maurice Chevalierand Romy Schneider.

She incidentally played in films, including the period sex comedy Frau Wirtins tolle Töchterlein/The Countess Died of Laughter (Franz Antel, 1973) and the Thomas Mann adaptation Der Zauberberg/The Magic Mountain (Hans W. Geissendörfer, 1982) with Rod Steiger.

In 1991 and 1992 she performed in the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies alongside Eartha Kitt in the Theater des Westens (Theater of the West) in Berlin.

After roles in the TV series Rivalen der Rennbahn/Rivals at the Race Track (1989) and Der Nelkenkönig/The Carnation King (Franz Josef Gottlieb, 1994) she finally pulled back from the film business, but kept appearing regularly in the theatre.

Thus she performed in the Philharmonie München (Munich Philharmonic) in 2006, in the Philharmonie Berlin (Berlin Philharmonic) in 2007 and in the Komödie im Bayerischen Hof München (Comedy in the Bavarian Court Munich) in 2008, with Christian Ude.

In 1978 she received the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Germany’s Order of Merit) and in 1985 she was awarded with the Filmband in Gold for long and outstanding achievements in German film.

On 20 August 2017, Margot Hielscher passed a way in her hometown Münich in Varia in Germany. She was 97. Hielscher was married with the film composer Friedrich Meyer.

Scene from Hallo Fräulein/Hello Fraulein (Rudolf Jugert, 1949). Source: Alparfan (YouTube).

Margot Hielscher sang for Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1958, held in Hilversum, The Netherlands. Her song was Für Zwei Groschen Musik. Source: huelezelf (YouTube).

Sources: Alexander Darda (Margot-Hielscher.de), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-Line - German), Wikipedia and IMDb.

French actress Nicole Besnard died on 20 August 2017. She appeared in several French films of the 1950s, including the classic La Beauté du diable (1950) by René Clair.

German postcard. Photo: Prisma. Publicity still for La Beauté du diable/Beauty and the Devil (René Clair, 1950).

Beauty and the Devil

Nicole Suzanne Fernande Besnard was born in 1928 in Grenoble, France. After spending part of her childhood in Grenoble, her family moved to Paris during the war.

She became a student of Beatrix Dussane at the Conservatory of dramatic art of Paris. Besnard also entered at the Cours Simon.

She made her film debut in the girls reformatory drama Au royaume des cieux/The Sinners (Julien Duvivier, 1949) with Serge Reggiani.

Then followed the Faust adaptation La Beauté du diable/Beauty and the Devil (René Clair, 1950), with Gérard Philipe and Michel Simon alternating as Faust and Mephistoles. Besnard played the adorable gypsy girl Marguerite, who finally redeems Faust.

Her other films include Ils étaient cinq/They Were Five (Jacques Pinoteau, 1951) with Jean Carmet, Leguignon guérisseur/Leguinon, Healer (Maurice Labro, 1954) and the German musical An der schönen blauen Donau/At The Beautiful Blue Danube (Hans Schweikart, 1955) with Hardy Krüger.

Gérard Philipe and Nicole Besnard in La Beauté du diable (1950)

French postcard by Editions P.I. / Editions du Musée Grévin., Paris, no. 4. Publicity still for La Beauté du diable/Beauty and the Devil (René Clair, 1950) with Gérard Philipe. Captions: Voyage de noces a Venise (Honeymoon in Venice).

Passion for antique furniture

In 1958, Nicole Besnard abandoned the cinema and the theatre to devote herself to her passion for antique furniture.

Her final film was the filmed operetta L'Auberge en folie/The inn gone mad (Pierre Chevalier, 1957) with Basque singer Rudi Hirigoyen and Geneviève Kervine. Besnard only had a small supporting part in it.

Besnard went to work for an antique dealer in Paris. She had a daughter, Brigitte, with Ole Fredrik Christian Bornemann, a lawyer, journalist and author of detective novels.

Nicole Besnard died of lung problems in Porspoder in Britany, where she had lived the past 15 years, to be close to her daughter. She was 89.

German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 1309. Photo: Unionfilm / Vogelmann. Publicity still for An der schönen blauen Donau/At The Beautiful Blue Danube (Hans Schweikart, 1955).

Sources: Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.