Martine Carol

February 20, 2022, 10:00 pm

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One of the French cinema's most beautiful women was Martine Carol (1920-1967). During the early 1950s, the French sex symbol was a top box office draw as an elegant blonde seductress in many films and was often compared to Marilyn Monroe. Her private life was filled with turmoil including a suicide attempt, drug abuse, a kidnapping, and her mysterious death at only 46.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 132. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 162. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 222. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Edition du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 320. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Edition du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 321. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 357. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 432. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Anti-semitic propaganda

Martine Carol was born in 1920 as Marie Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer in Saint-Mandé, near Paris. 'Maryse' was the daughter of the freight forwarder Marcel Mourer and his wife (maiden name: Arley). She attended the Dominican School of Neuilly. Later Maryse studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and then earned a living as a model.

A chance meeting with comedian André Luguet steered her toward a career in the theatre. Carol joined the theatre company led by Gaston Baty, where she received acting lessons from Robert Manuel and later from René Clair and Jean Wall. She adopted the stage name Maryse Arley (after her mother's name) and made her 1940 stage debut with 'Phèdre' by Jean Racine. She appeared at the Théâtre de la Renaissance and Théâtre Montparnasse in Paris in plays such as 'La Route du tabac' (Tobacco Road) after Erskine Caldwell alongside Marcel Mouloudji, Alfred de Musset's 'Les Caprices de Marianne' and William Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew'. She also attended the acting classes of René Simon.

She made her first film appearances during the Occupation. She caught the eye of film director Henri-Georges Clouzot who hired her for his film Le Chat/The Cat, based on the novel by Colette, but the project was scrapped. In 1941, she appeared in a bit role alongside Pierre Fresnay and Jean Tissier in Le Dernier des six/The Last One of the Six (Georges Lacombe, 1941), which was based on a screenplay by Clouzot.

Like many French actors, she played in films financed by the German company Continental, directed by Alfred Greven. Carol appeared for Continental in Les Inconnus dans la maison/Strangers in the House (Henri Decoin, 1942), with Raimu, and in an openly anti-Semitic and anti-American propaganda film, the short Les Corrupteurs/The (Pierre Ramelot, 1942).

She first attracted attention in La ferme aux loups/Wolf Farm (Richard Pottier, 1943), which takes advantage of her photogenic beauty and ease in front of the camera despite a limited acting ability. Her co-actor François Périer invented her stage name Martine Carol as a tribute to Carole Lombard.

Carol was kidnapped by gangster Pierre Loutrel aka ‘Pierrot le Fou' (Crazy Pete), who tried to rape her in the Bois de Boulogne and afterwards sent her flowers and steaks (!) to apologise. After the liberation, she took a blonde haircut so that she looked even more like her idol Lana Turner. She was held captive, almost literally, by a new lover, John Ringling North of the Barnum Circus, but she escaped his golden cage.

In 1947 a torrid affair with handsome actor Georges Marchal, who was married to actress Dany Robin at the time, ended disastrously and she attempted suicide by taking an alcohol/drug overdose and throwing herself off a bridge into the Seine River. She was saved by a taxi driver who accompanied her there. Ironically, the unhappy details surrounding her suicide attempt renewed the fascination audiences had with Martine up until that time.

Throughout the 1940s, Martine Carol was a pin-up goddess and supporting actress in films like the comedy Voyage surprise/The Bride's Surprise (Pierre Prévert, 1947) and Les amants de Vérone/The Lovers of Verona (André Cayatte, 1949). She also appeared on the stage of the Theatre of the Renaissance. In 1949, she married Steve Crane, Lana Turner's former husband and nicknamed "Mister Gigolo". She was obsessed with her appearance: she even had a new nose fitted by the legendary Dr. Claoué ("Le nez Claoué, le nez chic de la vraie Parisienne") to better resemble Turner. She lost a child in a water-skiing accident when she wanted to see the wedding of Rita Hayworth and Aga Kahn"from afar", as she was not invited.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 364. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 456. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 561. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.


Dutch postcard by DRC, no. F192-657, posted in 1958.


Vintage card. Photo: still for Lucrèce Borgia/Lucretia Borgia (Christian-Jaque, 1953).


German postcard by Kunst und Bild. Berlin, no. A 1146. Photo: Allianz-Film. Publicity still for Madame du Barry/Madame Dubarry (Christian Jacque, 1954).


West-German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. V 357. Photo: Gamma / Union / Rotzinger. Martine Carol in Lola Montès/Lola Montez (Max Ophüls, 1955).

Taunting, Kittenish Sexuality

In 1950 Martine Carol scored her first huge film success with the historical epic Caroline Cherie/Dear Caroline (Richard Pottier, 1950) - no doubt prompted by her nude scene, six years before Brigitte Bardot. The film was adapted from the popular novels of Cécil Saint-Laurent. Carol played a young aristocrat during the French Revolution who loves one man, but who, to save her life, often has to sacrifice her virtue and lend her body, which, however, does not always displease her. Martine Carol was off and running at the box office.

Caroline Cherie/Dear Caroline was a great public success: attracting 3.6 million spectators, it ranked ninth at the French box office for the year 1951. France had a new sex symbol. Two years later, filmmaker Jean Devaivre made a sequel, Un caprice de Caroline Chérie/Caroline Cherie (1952), in which Carol again displayed her taunting, kittenish sexuality. The sequel was also a great success with 2.8 million viewers.

The next important step in Carol's career was her meeting in 1952 with the much older filmmaker Christian-Jaque, who called on her for Adorables créatures/Adorable Creatures (Christian-Jaque, 1952), a comedy in which Daniel Gélin recalls all his conquests. It was love at first sight between Christian-Jaque and Carol. And the film was well received.

The couple continued spectacularly with costumed teasers such as Lucrèce Borgia/Sins of the Borgias (1953), Madame du Barry (1954), and the Emile Zola adaptation Nana (1954), all directed by Christian-Jacque who became her second husband in 1954. These starring roles made her France's equivalent of Marilyn Monroe. Her film romps were also typically done tastefully with an erotic twinge of innocence and gentle sexuality plus an occasional bubble bath thrown in as male bait.

Martine later divorced the director due to professional conflicts and long separations. She also starred in Belles de Nuit/ Beauties of the Night (René Clair, 1952) opposite Gérard Philipe, and in the last comedy directed by Preston Sturges, Les Carnets du Major Thompson/The Diary of Major Thompson (1955), based on the best-seller by Pierre Daninos.

One of her last major roles was as the title character in Lola Montés/Lola Montez (Max Ophüls, 1955), the tragic and true story of the great adventurer, circus attraction, and lover of various important men. Finally, she was taken seriously by the film critics. The story of the end of life of the fallen and impoverished courtesan Lola Montès, however, did not appeal to the public. Later, the work nevertheless became a classic of French cinema.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 365. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 564. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 690. Photo: Sam Lévin.


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam (Dutch licency holder for Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof), no. 3611. Photo: Sam Lévin / Unifrance Film.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H. Minden/Westf., no. 1719. Photo: Gamma / Union / Vogelmann. Publicity still for Lola Montès (Max Ophüls, 1955) with Ivan Desny.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden-Westf., no. 1723. Photo: Gamma / Union / Vogelmann. Publicity still for Lola Montès (Max Ophüls, 1955).


West-German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 2160. Photo: Vogelmann / Gamma / Union. Martine Carol in Lola Montez (Max Ophüls, 1955).

Severe Decline

By the mid-1950s, Brigitte Bardot had replaced Martine Carol as the national Sex Siren, and the voluptuous blonde's career went into a severe decline. In the crime comedy Nathalie (Christian-Jaque, 1957), she played a coquettish, clever haute couture mannequin, a role that was made for her. This last film with Christian-Jaque still made the film box-office ring, although the film had to do with much less budget than usual. That limited budget was the direct consequence of Carol's decreased prestige due to the Lola Montès fiasco.

In 1960, she successfully played Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first wife, in the historical fresco Austerlitz/The Battle of Austerlitz (Abel Gance, 1960). In the next two years, she worked several more times with classically trained filmmakers such as Georges Lautner and Gilles Grangier. Grangier engaged her for his police comedy Le cave se rebiffe/The Counterfeiters (Gilles Grangier, 1961) at the intercession of Jean Gabin, who had fond memories of his collaboration with Carol in Miroir/Mirror (Raymond Lamy, 1947). Le cave se rebiffe was her last commercial success.

Her last significant role was as Contessa Vitelleschi who supports a young revolutionary on the run from government troops in Roberto Rossellini's historical drama Vanina Vanini/The Betrayer (1961) with Laurent Terzieff. This mature role did not revive the audience's interest. Depressed, she turned alarmingly reclusive while a third marriage to French doctor Andre Rouveix also soured by 1962. She sought refuge in alcohol and narcotics and followed impossible slimming regimes. For five years she stayed away from the big screen.

She returned in the little-seen Italian production Lasciapassare per l'inferno/Passport to hell (George Fuller, 1966) opposite Guy Madison and Klaus Kinski. Her last film was Hell Is Empty (John Ainsworth, Bernard Knowles, 1967). Production was briefly halted due to her illness. This is why the film had two directors. Although filmed in 1963 it was not released until 1967. By the time of the release of the film, two of the leading ladies, Patricia Viterbo and Martine, were already dead.

Martine Carol’s last marriage to fourth husband Mike Eland, an English businessman, had seemed hopeful. Eland was a friend of her first husband, Steve Crane, and had been in love with her for a long time. Eland tried to put her luxury life and career back on track but in 1967, he found her dead in the bathroom of her room in the Hotel de Paris in Monaco.

Martine Carol died of a heart attack. She was only 46. Newspapers hinted at a possible drug overdose but nothing was ever proven. She was initially buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery of Paris. But her grave was violated - some media reported that she had been interred with her jewels. Martine Carol was then buried in the Grand Jas Cemetery of Cannes.


German postcard by Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-2. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Gérard Décaux / Ufa.


West-German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3478. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Ufa.


Austrian postcard by Kellner Fotokarten, Wien, no. 1030. Photo: Titanus / Union. Martine Carol in Difendo il mio amore/Defend My Love (Giulio Macchi, 1957).


West-German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 4064. Retail price: 25 Pfg. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for The Stowaway (Ralph Habib, Lee Robinson, 1958).


Yugoslavian postcard by Studio Sombor, no. 314.


German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 5. Photo: Collignon. Publicity still for Lola Montès (Max Ophüls, 1955).


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


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 267. Photo: Cei Incom.


German postcard by ISV, no. D 9. Photo: Farabola.

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Ronny de Schepper (Writer's Blog - Dutch), Wikipedia (English, French, and Dutch), and IMDb.

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Frankie Avalon

February 21, 2022, 10:00 pm

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During the late 1950s, American singer and actor Frankie Avalon (1940) was a teen idol with big hits like 'Venus' (1958) and 'Why' (1959). Avalon had an authentic music background to go with the pretty boy looks. During the 1960s, he starred in five beach party movies and several other films. Avalon made a glorious come-back with Grease (1977).


Spanish postcard by Oscarcolor, no. 360. Frankie Avalon on the set of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Irwin Allen, 1961).


West-German postcard by ISV, no. H 77.


Big Dutch postcard, no. 618.

A piece of teen fluff

Frankie Avalon was born Francis Thomas Avallone in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1940. His parents were Nicholas and Mary Avallone. Inspired by his father's trumpet playing, he started to get involved with music at an early age. At the CR Club in Philadelphia, where parents were offered the opportunity to let their children perform, Frankie presented his musical skills for the first time with trumpet solos.

Performances in local talent shows followed and he won an amateur competition. The 12-years-old Frankie finally landed a spot on CBS's nationally syndicated 'The Jackie Gleason Show' in 1952. In 1954, he became a member of the dance band 'Rocco and the Saints', which participated in many local events and performed at youth clubs. One of the other members was drummer Robert Ridarelli, soon to call himself Bobby Rydell.

In 1957, the record company Chancellor Records was founded in Philadelphia. One of the owners, Bob Marcucci, knew Frankie Avalon and helped him get a recording contract with the new company. Avalon and the Saints did a cameo in the rock and roll film Jamboree! (Roy Lockwood, 1957)) where they played 'Teacher's Pet'. Frankie's first single only attracted attention in his hometown, but 'De De Dinah' of his third Chancellor single, released in December 1957, became Avalon's national breakthrough.

A piece of teen fluff, Avalon pinched his nose while singing the song to show how he felt about it. This nasal version was the one Chancellor released and Avalon performed the song on 'American Bandstand', a teen dance show hosted by Dick Clark. 'De De Dinah' soon sold a million copies. In the late 1950s, he became an idol for many teenage girls. In 1959, both his songs 'Venus' and Why reached the number 1 position in the Billboard Hot 100.

By 1962, almost all of his singles were on the charts. In total, he reached the Hot 100 of the US music magazine Billboard 25 times. He also made foreign charts with 'Venus' and 'Why'. As a result of the British Invasion, interest in the now 23-year-old, whose music was always targeted at the teenage audience, waned. In 1963, Frankie Avalon changed record companies and moved to United Artists Records, a subsidiary of the film studio United Artists.

However, he remained as unsuccessful as he did thereafter with a number of other companies. He only attracted attention on the record market again in 1976 with the disco version of 'Venus'. His last single, 'You're the Miracle' (1983), was released on the CBS Bobcat label. After that, he successfully toured America with his old colleagues Bobby Rydell and Fabian as 'The Golden Boys of Bandstand'. Their fifty-city tour was a huge success.


Dutch postcard. Sent by mail in 1963.


Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4177. Caption: Read 'Song Parade'.


Dutch postcard by Drukkerij-Uitgeverij Int. Filmpers, Amsterdam (I.F.P.), no. 3189. Photo: Warner Bros. Photo: Frankie Avalon and Carolyn Jones (and not Jennifer Jones) on the set of Guns of the Timberland (Robert D. Webb, 1960).


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 5691. Sent by mail in 1962. Frankie Avalon in The Alamo (John Wayne, 1960).

A nationwide surfing craze

Frankie Avalon turned increasingly to the cinema in the 1960s. In the late 1950s, teen idols were often given roles in films, supporting older male stars in order to attract a younger audience. Alan Ladd's daughter was a Frankie Avalon fan, who recommended that he co-star with her father in the Western Guns of the Timberland (Robert D. Webb, 1960). Avalon sang two songs, 'The Faithful Kind' and 'Gee Whiz Whillikins Golly Gee'; both were released as singles.

Frankie also had a supporting role in the John Wayne Western The Alamo (John Wayne, 1960), where he also sings 'Ballad of the Alamo'. He then appeared and sang the title song in the Sci-Fi adventure Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Irwin Allen, 1961). His first major film role was in an adventure film set in Africa, Drums of Africa (James B. Clark, 1963).

In the early sixties, there was a nationwide surfing craze and Avalon and Annette Funicello were the leading stars in the wildly successful Beach Party (William Asher, 1963). It was the first of the five official American-International 'Beach Party' surfer movies, directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff.

Soon followed Bikini Beach (William Asher, 1964), Muscle Beach (William Asher, 1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (William Asher, 1965), and How to stuff a wild bikini (William Asher, 1965). Frankie also starred in Skidoo (Otto Preminger, 1968) and The Million Eyes of Sumuru (Lindsay Shonteff, 1967).

Later he invested in the 1950s-themed stage musical 'Grease', which reportedly made him a millionaire. In the film version, Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978), starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, he took on a small role himself and performed the song 'Beauty School Dropout'.

In 1986, Avalon and Funicello made another film, Back to the Beach (Lyndall Hobbs, 1987), a parody of their earlier beach movies. Avalon appeared in nearly two dozen TV episodes, including The Bing Crosby Show, The Patty Duke Show, and Full House, appearing often as himself. In 1990 he made a cameo as himself in the film Casino (Martin Scorsese, 1995), starring Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone.

He made further cameo appearances in the film Chicks (James Melkonian, 1994) and in the TV series Sabrina the teenage witch (2001). In the meantime, as the owner of the health and beauty care line Frankie Avalon Products, he made a considerable fortune. His most recent film is Papa (Dan Israely, 2018). Frankie Avalon lives in Thousand Oaks with his wife Kathryn Utices Deibel. The couple has eight children.


Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. C-94, 1963. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Frankie Avalon on the set of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Irwin Allen, 1961).


Dutch postcard. Sent by mail in 1962.


Dutch postcard by Muziek Parade, Hilversum. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


Spanish postcard by Raker, no. 1014.

Sources: History of Rock, Biography.com, Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English), and IMDb.

Avatar (2009)

February 22, 2022, 10:00 pm

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Avatar (2009) is an American stereoscopic (3D) Science-Fiction film directed by James Cameron. The film grossed over US$2.7 billion, making it the most successful film ever made. The film also won three Oscars.


Chinese postcard by Oriental City Publishing Group Limited. Sam Worthington in Avatar (James Cameron, 2009).


Chinese postcard by Oriental City Publishing Group Limited. Image of Avatar (James Cameron, 2009).

A precious mineral called unobtanium

Avatar (2009) is situated in 2154 on the fictional moon Pandora of the planet Polyphemus orbiting the star Alpha Centauri A. An Earth mining company, led by Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi), has a branch on Pandora to mine a precious mineral, unobtanium. For the interstellar space journey to and from Earth, fast spaceships are used that cover the four light-years in six years.

Moreover, people are transported in a frozen state, so the journey seems to be very short. On Pandora, there is an indigenous population of humanoid beings, the Na'vi. They are intelligent like humans but technologically less advanced. They walk on two legs like humans, are 10 feet tall, slender, agile, with a tail and skin with a zebra pattern of light and dark blue.

People have developed a technique to create a being that is a genetic hybrid between a particular human and the Na'vi, its so-called avatar. The human being can be mentally wirelessly connected to his/her avatar through equipment so that he/she can control it, and can see and feel through the avatar while his/her own body sleeps. When the avatar is sleeping the connection can be broken so that the driver can eat and report.

Through the avatars people can more easily make contact with the Na'vi, moreover, the avatar does not have to wear an oxygen mask as people do on Pandora. Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, a paraplegic Marine who is dispatched to Pandora on a secret mission. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native Na'vi in order to mine for the precious unobtanium scattered throughout their rich woodland.

In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers knowledge, of the Indigenous Race and their Culture, for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an avatar identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics. Jake becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels now is his home.


Chinese postcard by Oriental City Publishing Group Limited. Image of Avatar (James Cameron, 2009).


Chinese postcard by Oriental City Publishing Group Limited. Image of Avatar (James Cameron, 2009).

A revolutionary motion-capture system

Avatar (2009) was the first major film production that James Cameron directed after his big success, Titanic (1997). Avatar is a large-scale, ambitious Science-Fiction film that uses many new techniques. The film consists partly of computer-generated objects, such as the Na'vi and avatars, for which motion capture was used.

This revolutionary motion-capture system allows the facial expressions of actors to be captured as a virtual camera system enables them to see what their computer-generated counterparts will be seeing in the film. The New Zealand company Weta Digital, known for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, produced extensive computer animation and effects. Cameron was given a budget of US$195 million by 20th Century Fox for the project, but this amount has been further increased.

The film was shot in 3D using two high-definition cameras in one housing, creating depth. Circularly polarised glasses are used in the screening, but the film has also been released in 2D. Just as for Titanic, Cameron selected young, relatively unknown but, according to him, talented actors, such as Sam Worthington. The music for the film was composed by James Horner, just as for Cameron's earlier films Aliens (1986) and Titanic (1997).

Cameron had wanted to make the film earlier. As early as 1995, he wrote an 80-page script for Avatar. In August 1996, Cameron announced that he would start working on Avatar immediately after Titanic. The plans were already at an advanced stage; six actors would play the leading roles, the budget would be 100 million dollars and Digital Domain would produce the special effects. This original plan did not go ahead, because it appeared that the technology was not yet so advanced.

The premiere date of Avatar was postponed again and again in 2006, originally it was 2007, later 2008, and finally 2009. Avatar (2009) became a massive hit worldwide and received three Oscars, for Best Cinematography - Mauro Fiore, for Best Art Direction - Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair, and for Best Visual Effects - Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andy Jones.

Jeremy Wheeler at AllMovie: "Sometimes a film comes along that pushes the boundaries of what moviemaking can yield - the kind of movie that reaches beyond the limits of the medium and blazes a new trail, subsequently allowing others with abundant resources to follow in its path. Despite any nitpicky flaws one might - or might not - find within the picture, James Cameron's Avatar is absolutely this kind of touchstone."

Roger Ebert: "At 163 minutes, the film doesn't feel too long. It contains so much. The human stories. The Na'vi stories, for the Na'vi are also developed as individuals. The complexity of the planet, which harbors a global secret. The ultimate warfare, with Jake joining the resistance against his former comrades. Small graceful details like a floating creature that looks like a cross between a blowing dandelion seed and a drifting jellyfish, and embodies goodness. Or astonishing floating cloud-islands."

James Cameron is working on several sequels to Avatar. The first sequel, Avatar 2, has already been postponed many times, but according to IMDb, it will be released in cinemas on 16 December 2022. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) lives with his newfound family formed on the planet of Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their planet. The cast will include Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, and Sigourney Weaver.


Chinese postcard by Oriental City Publishing Group Limited. Image of Avatar (James Cameron, 2009).


Chinese postcard by Oriental City Publishing Group Limited. Image of Avatar (James Cameron, 2009).


Chinese postcard by Oriental City Publishing Group Limited. Image of Avatar (James Cameron, 2009).

Sources: Jeremy Wheeler (AllMovie), Roger Ebert (RogerEbert.com), Wikipedia (Dutch), and IMDb.

Grace Cunard

February 23, 2022, 10:00 pm

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American actress Grace Cunard (1893–1967) was one of Universal's most popular serial queens in the 1910s. She was known to her fans as a daring jewel thief, an athletic reporter with a nose for news, and a circus tamer of rather ferocious cats. Typical for the pioneer years, Cunard also wrote some 100 film scripts, directed 11 films, and produced two others. In addition, she edited many of her films, including some of the shorts, serials, and features she developed in collaboration with actor and director Francis Ford. By 1916 they were ranked among the most popular stars in Hollywood.


British postcard by Trans-Atlantic Film Co. LTD. Transatlantic-Film Co., Ltd., was the British distributor for Europe for Universal's films in the 1910s.


Spanish postcard. Photo: Universal. Francis Ford, Grace Cunard, and Eddie Polo in the serial The Broken Coin (Francis Ford, 1915), co-scripted by Cunard. The serial is presumably lost.

Acting and writing talents, as well as her unerring taste for the popular

Grace Cunard was born Harriet Mildred Jeffries in 1893 in Columbus, Ohio. Harriet was the elder of two daughters of Ohio natives Washington and Lola (née Longshore) Jeffries. Her younger sister, Armina, would also become a film actress, Mina Cunard. Harriet completed her formal education in Columbus, leaving school after the eighth grade, presumably to devote full time to an acting career.

By 1906, at the age of 13, the future film star was already acting in local stage productions such as 'Dora Thorne', 'East Lynne', and then in New York in 'Princess of Patches'. As Grace Cunard, she started acting in films in 1908 for the Biograph Company on East 14th Street in Manhattan. She enjoyed the experience, so she pursued more film roles, which at first consisted of small uncredited parts.

Over the next three years, she was cast in better roles at Biograph and at other studios located in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, including Kalem Studios, Edison, the American subsidiary of Pathé, Republic, and Lubin. In 1912, Grace Cunard moved to California to work in the rapidly expanding film industry there. She was initially hired by "fledgling producer"Thomas H. Ince at Bison Studio.

At Bison, director and actor Francis Ford cast her as the wife of General George Armstrong Custer in the two-reel military drama Custer's Last Fight (Francis Ford, 1912). After her high-profile role in that release, Ince fired her when she refused to leave Ford's company to work elsewhere at Bison. Ford, infuriated by her treatment, left Bison with his crew and players, including Cunard, to work for Universal Pictures.

Jennifer M. Bean at Women Film Pioneers Project: "Cunard’s potent celebrity status in the 1910s cannot be considered outside of her partnership with Francis Ford (born Francis Feeney, the elder brother of Western director John Ford), whom she met in 1912. Cunard’s acting and writing talents, as well as her unerring taste for the popular, merged well with Ford’s directorial experience".


American arcade card. Photo: Evans, Los Angeles.


British postcard by The Trans-Atlantic Film Co. (British subsidiary of Universal in Europe). Francis Ford as the male lead in the Universal serial The Broken Coin (Francis Ford, 1915), co-scripted by Grace Cunard, female lead of the serial.

The Master Pen

At Universal Grace Cunard continued throughout 1913 to co-star and collaborate with Francis Ford in other two-reel shorts like The Black Masks, From Dawn Till Dark, The White Vaquero, The Belle of Yorktown, From Rail Splitter to President, and others. Their close professional relationship, which had quickly evolved into a personal one as well, led many movie fans to assume the couple was married. The two were increasingly being referred to in trade publications and newspapers as the production team of "Ford-Cunard", with Francis being credited consistently for directing and both of them being praised as "unusually promising screen artists".

By 1914, Grace was being recognised too in the press for her writing. Jennifer M. Bean: "She was also known as 'The Master Pen', a thinly veiled pseudonym that graced announcements and title cards for her first serial story and star vehicle, Lucille Love, The Girl of Mystery (Francis Ford, 1914). Although the exact number of screenplays, stories, and scenarios for which she received credit is unknown, the publicity surrounding her seven-year career at Universal stressed her capacity to 'write everything' in which she appeared."

The She Wolf (Francis Ford, 1913) which was released by Bison Pictures, was one in a series of films in that period that focused attention on Cunard's writing. Promoted as a 'photoplay' about an evil woman, a "wrecker of men's hearts and reputations", She Wolf circulated throughout the country and by May 1914 finally reached Phoenix, Arizona. The Arizona Republican announced, "One of the most interesting and thrilling moving pictures ever shown at the Regale theater, is that scheduled for today. Francis Ford has dramatized Grace Cunard's famous novel, 'She Wolf', and with Miss Cunard appears in the moving picture version of the story."

Cunard and Ford continued their collaboration throughout 1914, releasing an array of two-reel historical dramas, Westerns, comedies, and mysteries, such as The Mad Hermit, The Fall of '64, Won in the First, The Mysterious Leopard Lady, and Washington at Valley Forge. Jennifer M. Bean: "Lauded as making the most “popular” of films, Cunard’s stories tend toward the fantastic, and her female characters tend toward the fantastically unconventional. In 1914 Cunard created 'My Lady Raffles', a jewel thief with a delightfully reckless charm who first appeared in short films like The Mysterious Leopard Lady (1914) and The Mystery of the White Car (1914)."

Turning to a more ambitious project, Cunard and Ford developed for Universal in 1914 and also co-starred in the 15-episode serial Lucille Love, Girl of Mystery. That production's enormous success is reflected in the box-office receipts it generated. Costing only $30,000 or $2,000 per episode to make, the Lucille Love series eventually grossed what was then a staggering return in ticket sales: $1,500,000 ($38,760,000 today). The financial success of Lucille Love inspired the Ford-Cunard partnership to release between their ongoing shorts three more serials for Universal over the next two years: the 22-episode The Broken Coin (Francis Ford, 1915), the 15-episode The Adventures of Peg o' the Ring (Francis Ford, Jacques Jaccard, 1916), and the 16-episode The Purple Mask (Grace Cunard, Francis Ford, 1916-1917).


American postcard by Kline Poster Co., Inc., Philadelphia. Picture: Universal. The picture is clearly inspired by the photo portrait on the cards above and below.

 

American postcard by Kline Poster Co. Inc., Phila. Image: Universal. Francis Ford.

Hugely popular in Australia, Czechoslovakia, Mexico, India, and Japan

The intrepid behaviour of Grace Cunard’s zany female characters made her a favourite among audiences at the time, whose numbers reportedly stretched across Australia, Czechoslovakia, Mexico, and Japan. Moving Picture Weekly reported in 1916 that the Ford-Cunard team in The Broken Coin was enjoying huge popularity in India.

Cunard's collaboration with Francis Ford continued into 1917, the same year she married for the second time, not to Ford but to the Irish-born actor Joe Moore. Although the media had referred to her as "Miss" since she began working with Ford in 1912, Cunard had married earlier that same year in New York before moving to California.

Wikipedia: "That first marriage appears to have been short-lived and ended, if not legally, for all practical purposes by the time she arrived on the West Coast. Nevertheless, Cunard's collaboration with Ford finally ended after June 1917 with the release of In Treason's Grasp, a five-reeler he directed for Renowned Pictures and in which she co-starred with him."

At the time Cunard started working in films, it was not uncommon for members on set and in post-production to assume a variety of additional duties beyond their primary assignments. Cunard was no exception. While it is now well documented that a significant number of the 'pioneers' in early American filmmaking were women, it was still not common by the 1910s for a young actress with an eighth-grade education to write, perform in, direct, and edit films to the extent Cunard did, often doing all those duties on a single project.

Totals vary in film references regarding the number of silent productions in which she worked. Wikipedia: "Her entry in the 2005 edition of The Encyclopedia of Early Cinema credits her with starring in over 100 silent films, writing screenplays or treatments for 44 of those releases, and directing at least eight of them on her own and more in concert with Ford. Some period newspapers and trade publications credit her with writing between 150 and 200 'photoplays', while one newspaper in 1915 reported that she had authored 400 scenarios, a highly implausible figure given the amount of time Cunard had worked in motion pictures by then. Whatever the true totals, news items and reviews of her completed films testify that her output was prodigious, especially between 1913 and 1918."


Spanish postcard. Photo: Universal. Grace Cunard in The Broken Coin (Francis Ford, 1915). The man may be Doc Crane, who plays a pawnbroker.


Spanish cromo (collectors card) by Amatller Marca Luna, Series 1a, no. 31. Photo: Universal. Francis Ford as Count Hugo in the serial The Broken Coin (Ford 1915), released in Spain as 'La Moneda Rota'.

Cast in fewer and fewer primary roles

Grace Cunard's work as an actor, writer, and director did not cease after her collaboration with Ford ended. She starred in Hell's Crater (W. B. Pearson, 1918), an elaborate five-reel Western, filmed on location in Death Valley National Park. Released by Universal, Hell's Crater was heavily promoted in trade publications. The next year she returned to acting in a serial format, 'supporting'Elmo Lincoln in 18 episodes of Elmo the Mighty (Henry MacRae, J.P. McGowan, 1919).

During 1920 and 1921, she had opportunities working with Marion H. Kohn Productions of San Francisco to once again use the full range of her talents in a series of two-reel Westerns. She wrote, directed, and starred in The Man Hater (1920); directed and starred in Gasoline Buckaroo (1920) and A Daughter of The Law (1921); wrote and starred in The Gun Runners (Louis King, 1921); and co-wrote, directed, and co-starred with Cole Hebert in Her Western Adventure (1921).

After she co-starred in The Last Man on Earth (John G. Blystone, 1924) with Earle Foxe and The Elk's Tooth (Clarence Bricker, 1924) with Lillian Hall, she was cast in fewer and fewer primary roles and was relegated to playing secondary characters for the remainder of the decade. Throughout the 1930s, Cunard continued to act but the complexity of her roles steadily declined until she performed predominantly in minor or uncredited bit parts.

In the 1940s she still secured work at RKO, Republic, and in a few productions at her old 'home studio', Universal. One of her more visible roles among her final appearances in that period is in the serial Gang Busters (Noel M. Smith, Ray Taylor, 1942). She only appears as a landlady in one of its 13 episodes, but her presence in that production was deemed important enough by Universal to include her name in a third-tier bold credit on the serial's theater posters.

Her last screen appearance, one uncredited, is in the role of a woman with a baby in the drama Magnificent Doll (Frank Borzage, 1946) starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven. Shortly after the release of that film, Universal underwent a change in leadership and administrative restructuring, which resulted in the studio discontinuing its program of serials and low-budget features.

Grace Cunard was 53 years old by that time, so after working nearly four decades in motion pictures, she decided to retire permanently from the industry. Cunard was married three times. In 1912 in New York, at the age of 19, she married actor Harry Harvey, who was 20 years her senior. That marriage ended before 1917, although the reasons for its ending are not clearly documented. Her next marriage was to Irish-born actor Joe Moore. They wed at Seal Beach, California, in 1917 but divorced eight years later. Then, in 1925, Cunard married Frederick Lorenzo Tyler, a film stuntman who professionally used the name, Jack Tyler Shannon. They remained married for over 40 years, until her death from cancer in 1967.

At the time of her death, she was residing at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, a neighbourhood of Los Angeles. Her gravesite is also in Los Angeles, at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in the neighborhood of Chatsworth. The Ford-Cunard 1917 short Unmasked was selected in 2014 by the United States Film Preservation Board for inclusion in the National Film Registry. In 2018, in recognition of the many contributions made by women to the development of the motion-picture industry in the silent era, film library, and distributor Kino Lorber, Inc., in cooperation with the Library of Congress, released a special six-disc box set titled 'Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers'. Included in that set are copies of three episodes from Cunard's serial The Purple Mask (1916-1917 ) as well as a copy of her short The Daughter of 'The Law' (Grace Cunard, 1921).


Spanish postcard. David Niven and Ginger Rogers in Magnificent Doll (Frank Borzage, 1946).


British postcard. Photo: Transatlantic-Film Co., Ltd.

Sources: Jennifer M. Bean (Women Film Pioneers Project - temporarily defunct), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Marie Prevost

February 24, 2022, 10:00 pm

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Beautiful Marie Prevost (1898-1937) was a Canadian-born, American silent screen actress. She started at Mack Sennett as one of his bathing beauties, but soon Irving Thalberg invited her to move to Universal but she had her breakthrough at Warner in such sophisticated films as The Beautiful and the Damned (1922) and Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle (1924). After Howard Hughes's film The Racket (1928), her career and life quickly deteriorated. During her 20-year career, she made 121 silent and sound films.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 100.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 100a.


Swedish postcard by Eneret B.C. & A.H., no. 505.


Belgian postcard by P.I.A. Belga phot, Bruxelles, no. 37. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

A French bathing beauty born in Canada

Marie Prevost was born in 1896 in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, as Mary Bickford Dunn, the daughter of Hughina Marion née Bickford (or McDonald the sources are not sure) and Arthur 'Teddy' Dunn, a railroad conductor. In 1897, when she was an infant, Teddy Dunn was killed when gas seeped into the St. Clair Tunnel. Hughina later married Frank Prevost and the family moved to the U.S. First, the Dunn family settled in Denver, Colorado, then in Los Angeles.

While living in Los Angeles, Prevost attended Manual Arts High School. By 1915, Prevost landed a job as a secretary at a law firm that represented the Keystone Film Company. While running an office errand at the Keystone Studios, Prevost was asked to appear in a bit part for the film His Father's Footsteps. Mack Sennett, Keystone's owner and also of Canadian origin, was impressed and entrusted her with the role of an exotic 'French girl'. He inserted her into his Bathing Beauties, with the stage name of Marie Prevost.

In 1918, Marie was secretly married to Henry Charles 'Sonny' Gerke, a young man from high society, but the marriage failed after only six months because Gerke did not have the courage to tell his mother that he had married an actress. Fearful of the bad publicity resulting from a divorce, Marie remained married until 1923, always keeping everyone unaware of her marriage.

Prevost's first lead role was in Yankee Doodle in Berlin (1919). The film was a hit and helped to solidify Prevost's career. Another success was Love, Honor, and Behave (F. Richard Jones, Erle Kenton, 1920), alongside another Sennett protégé, George O'Hara. A series of small roles followed in which she played the part of the young, innocent sexy girl.

In 1921, Marie signed a contract with Universal after getting the attention of Irving Thalberg. Thalberg decided to make her a star and organised a great advertising hype for her. He announced that Marie would star in two films, The Moonlight Follies (King Baggot, 1921) and Kissed (King Baggot, 1922), and sent her to Coney Island. There the actress publicly burned her bathing suit, signifying the end of her "bathing" days.


Spanish collectors card by Biblioteca Films, no. 68.


Spanish postcard by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 13.


Spanish collectors card in the Artistas eminentes cinematograficos by Chocolates Jaime Boix, Barcelona, series VIII, no. 14 of 20.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate E. Juncosa, Barcelona, series 1, no. 1.

Underplaying comedy to achieve the maximum effect

At Universal, Marie Prevost only got light comedy roles. When the contract expired, Jack Warner signed her for Warner Bros, recognizing $ 1,500 a week.

Alongside actor Kenneth Harlan as Tony, Marie played Gloria in The Beautiful and the Damned (Sidney Franklin, 1922), based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's bestseller on two idle spendthrifts who do not know how to cope with money running out.

To publicise the film, the production company announced that the actors would get married during filming on the set. The advertising launch worked and the studios were flooded with letters and gifts for the spouses. But when in the Los Angeles Mirror the story of Prevost's earlier secret marriage appeared: "Marie Prevost will become bigamist if she marries Harlan", Warner immediately took charge of the annulment of that marriage, so Harlan and Marie could marry.

Despite the bad publicity, The Beautiful and Damned was successful. By consequence, Ernst Lubitsch wanted Marie as the beautiful seductress in The Marriage Circle (1924), with Adolphe Menjou, Florence Vidor, and Monte Blue. Lubitsch said that Prevost was one of the few actresses in Hollywood who knew how to underplay comedy to achieve the maximum effect. She was a favourite of Lubitsch who cast her in three of his comedy films: The Marriage Circle (1924), Three Women (1924) and Kiss Me Again (1925).

At Warner's in the mid-1920s, Prevost would star in comedies and dramas with Harrison Ford (the silent actor), Monte Blue, Matt Moore, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Kenneth Harlan.


Italian postcard in the '100 Artisti del Cinema' series by Edizione ELAH 'La Casa delle caramelle', no. 99. Photo: Warner Bros.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 242.


Romanian postcard. Photo: Cawa-Film / Christie Film. Harrison Ford and Marie Prevost in the comedy Up in Mabel's Room (E. Mason Hopper, 1926). The Romanian title 'Buduarul doamnei' translates as 'A Lady's Boudoir'. Plot: Mabel (Prevost) catches her husband (Ford) buying lingerie, and he won't explain who it's for. She divorces him but later learns he was buying her an anniversary gift. She becomes determined to win him back.


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5618. Photo: PMC / Verleih Mondial.

A brief but fatal relationship with Howard Hughes

In 1926, Warner decided not to prolong the contracts of Harlan and Marie Prevost. The Canadian actress also lost her mother, who, in a car with actress Vera Steadman and producer Al Christie, was killed in an accident in Florida. Hughina was crushed by the vehicle and died at the scene. Steadman and Christie sustained serious injuries but survived.

Devastated by her mother's death and losing her work, Marie's marriage deteriorated. She began to drink and soon slipped into alcoholism. In 1927, she separated from her second husband, and despite a reconciliation in between, she divorced him altogether in 1929.

To overcome the crisis, Prevost threw herself completely at work. After seeing her in The Beautiful and Damned, in 1928 Howard Hughes wanted her to star in The Racket (Lewis Milestone, 1928) with Thomas Meighan. The two had a brief relationship but Hughes soon left her and Marie fell into a deepening depression. The Racket was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (then called Outstanding Picture) in the 1929 Academy Awards.

The Racket would be her last feature film. Marie began to gain weight and could no longer control either food or alcohol. In 1934 her financial situation became dramatic. To find work again, she faced drastic diets that further weakened her. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Talking pictures forced Prevost to alter her image; her nasal, high-pitched voice was more suited to wisecracking chorus girls or gum-chewing receptionists than pampered society wives. Prevost was cast in a few good supporting parts throughout the '30s, notably as Carole Lombard's manicurist chum in Hands Across the Table (Mitchell Leisen, 1936). " She made her last onscreen appearance in 1936.

In 1937, Marie Prevost died of a heart attack due to malnutrition and acute alcoholism. She was 40. Her body was found only two days later, due to the continuous and insistent barking of her pet dachshund Maxie. A bellhop came into the house and found her lying face down on the bed, legs marked by the teeth of her dog, which had tried to wake her by biting her. Prevost's death was featured in the book 'Hollywood Babylon' by Kenneth Anger. Anger falsely claims Prevost's dog made "mincemeat out of his mistress", but while Maxie did bite her legs in an effort to wake her, the dog did not attempt to eat her body.

Prevost's estate was valued at $300 since she had squandered most of her earnings. The funeral at the Memorial Cemetery in Hollywood was paid for by Joan Crawford: in addition to Crawford, Clark Gable, Wallace Beery and Barbara Stanwyck participated. Her poor case prompted the Hollywood community to create in the early 1940s the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital to provide medical care for employees of the television and motion picture industry.


French postcard by A.N., Paris in the Les vedettes de cinéma, series, no. 1. Photo: Universal Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4467/1, 1929-1930. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Polish postcard by Polonia, Krakow, no. 455.


British Real Photograph postcard, no. 84. Sent by mail in 1929.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Stacia Kissick Jones (She blogged by night), Wikipedia (Italian and English), and IMDb.

Actors from the Baltic States

February 25, 2022, 10:00 pm

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At EFSP, we like to discover unknown territories of European cinema. For today's post, Ivo Blom made a selection of vintage postcards of film actors from the Baltic States, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

Latvia

Latvian postcard by J.A.Kukurs, Riga, no. 96792. Photo: publicity still for Es karā aiziedams/As I Go Off to War (Vilis Segliņš, 1920).

Es karā aiziedams/As I Go Off to War (Vilis Segliņš, 1920) was the first national drama film of the cinema of Latvia. It premiered on 9 November 1920, which was the reason for Latvia to celebrate its first 100 years of national cinema in 2020. The film is a family drama set against the backdrop of the First World War and Latvia's freedom struggle. Director Vilis Segliņš was also the scriptwriter. The actors were Alfrēds Amtmanis-Briedītis, Ludmila Špīlberga, M. Komisārs, Aleksis Mierlauks, Berta Rūmniece, Jānis Ģērmanis, Paula Baltābola, Teodors Valdšmits, and Lilija Ērika. NB IMDb doesn't know the film, which is now considered lost.


Latvian postcard. Lilija Štengele and Karlis Pabriks in the stage play 'Mana māsa un es' (My Sister and I). D.T. probably stands for the Dailes Theatre of Riga, the main repertory theatre of Latvia.

Kārlis Pabriks (1898-1977) was a Latvian actor and director who worked for many years at the Dailes Theatre. As far as known he acted in only one film, Dzimtene sauc (Aleksandrs Rusteiķis, 1935), a film IMDb does not mention. The film, based on a script by V. Lāčs and the first Latvian sound film, depicts, with a certain patriotic tone, a traditional-style wedding party of Dravnieku Velta (Milda Zīlava) and Varkaļu Jānis (Pabriks). The film doesn't have a lot of plot and the lighting was poor, but it has interesting documentation of local rites on courting and wedding.


Latvian postcard. Peteris Lucis and Nina Melbarde in Zvejnieka dels/The Fisherman's Son (Villis Lapenieks, 1940).

Vilis Lapenieks’ film Zvejnieka dels/The Fisherman's Son was a national blockbuster and created such excitement that at its premiere on 2 January 1940, the public at the Splendid Palace broke down the theatre’s doors. Deemed a “relic of bourgeois Latvia”, it was hidden during the Soviet years. When independence was regained, the film was once again up on the screen and became a symbol of the youth of free Latvia.


Latvian postcard by IRA, Riga, no. 306. Milda Zilava in Zvejnieka dels/ The Fisherman's Son (Villis Lapenieks, 1940).

In Zvejnieka dels/The Fisherman's Son (1940), Oskars (Peteris Lucis) lives in a typical seaside village, but wants to break free of his father’s rule and the old ways – he dreams of new, large nets, an ice-cellar, and the fishermen’s independence from the fish wholesaler. At first, no one wants to believe in Oskars’ plans, except for happy-go-lucky Fredis. With the help of Fredis, Oskars builds a new fish trap, gaining admiration from even the old fishermen. Love and deceit also play into the story, as do colorful village characters and folksy songs, which have since been absorbed into national folklore. Milda Zīlava played Zenta.


Russian postcard by Izdanie Bjuro Propagandy Sovetskogo Kinoiskusstva, Moscow, no. A14212, 1967. Photo: G. Ter-Obanecova. Dzidra Ritenberga.

Latvian actress and director Dzidra Ritenberga (1928-2003) made her film debut as an actress in 1956. She became known to an international audience a year later for the title role in Vladimir Braun's Latvian-language feature film Malva (1957) in which she appeared alongside Anatoly Ignatiev and Pavel Ussovnichenko. She played the attractive and restless wife of a provincial fisherman who turns the heads of all the men in the village and embarks on a love triangle. At the 1957 Venice Film Festival, Ritenberga was awarded the Coppa Volpi for Best Actress of the Film Festival for her role. Ritenberga became a regular film actress in Soviet cinema, in both Latvian and Russian-language productions. However, she was unable to repeat her early international success. In 1973, Ritenberga trained as a director at the Latvian Conservatory in Riga. From the mid-1970s, she directed several feature films. Her last work was Valsis mūža garumā/Waltzing Through Live (1991), which was shown at the 1991 Soviet Women and Cinema film festival in Moscow.


Latvian (former Soviet Union) postcard, Riga, 1982. Photo: Lenfilm. Vija Artmane and Evgeniy Matveev in Rodnaya krov/Blood Ties (Mikhail Yershov, 1964).

Alida 'Vija' Artmane (1929-2008) was a popular Latvian stage and screen actress, who had her film breakthrough with Rodnaya krov/Blood Ties (1964) and was henceforth called "Mother Latvia". Rodnaya krov/Blood Ties deals with a soldier on leave (Matveev) who stops to help a woman (Artmane) run a ferry and bring up her three children while her husband is away at war.


Russian postcard by Bjuro Propagandy Sovetskogo Kinoiskusstva, Moscow, no. A-319, 1979. Photo: I. Gievasheva. Gunārs Cilinskis

Latvian actor Gunārs Cilinskis (1931-1992) had a rich career in mainly Russian and Latvian cinema, both as actor and director. His film debut took place in 1958, at Riga Film Studio, where he starred opposite Vija Artmane in Chuzhaya v posyolke/Stranger in the Village (Ada Neretniece, 1959). Memorable are also Mērnieku laiki/The Times of the Surveyors (Voldemārs Pūce, 1968), Nāves ēnā (Rūdolfs Blaumanis, 1971), the Russian-Hungarian Derzhis za oblaka/Hold on to the Cloud (Péter Szász, Boris Grigoriev, 1971), Ceplis (Rolands Kalniņš, 1972), and Teātris (Jānis Streičs, 1978) starring Vija Artmane. In all of these films, Cilinskis had the male lead or was the male antagonist. From 1976 he also was a film director at the Riga Film Studio, debuting with Ezera Sonate/Lake Sonata (1977) with Vari Brasla.

Lithuania

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3440/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin. Elisabeth Pinajeff.

Elisabeth Pinajeff (1900-1995) was a Russian-Lithuanian actress who starred in German and French cinema in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1950s she was also involved in the notorious scandal of the Ballets roses. She supposedly played in two silent Russian films, but it is unknown which films. At age 19, she married an engineer. When her husband got a job in Germany, she moved there with him.


Spanish postcard by Marte. Sent by mail in 1957. Photo: Jacques Sernas in Helen of Troy (Robert Wise, 1956).

Lithuanian-born French actor Jacques (sometimes: Jack) Sernas (1925-2015) had an international film career of more than sixty years. Sernas was the son of the Baltic minister of justice, Jokūbas Šernas, a signatory of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in 1918. He died six years later when Jacques was a year old. His Russian mother took him to Paris where he received his formal education. The handsome blonde appeared as the hero of Peplum spectacles and adventure films and later, he worked as a character actor. Sernas is perhaps best-known as Paris in the Hollywood epic Helen of Troy (Robert Wise, 1956).


Soviet postcard by Izdanie Bjuro Propagandy Sovetskogo Kinoiskusstva, no. 3, 107/72, 1972. Photo: Arkadi Zager. Donatas Banionis at right as Don Francisco de Goya y Lucientes and Mikhail Kozakov as Ambassador in Goya – oder der arge Weg der Erkenntnis/Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment (Konrad Wolf, 1971). The postcard was issued in 150,000 copies. Retail price: 8 Kop.

Lithuanian and Soviet actor Donatas Banionis (1924-2014) is best known in the West for his performance in the lead role of Andrei Tarkovsky's classic Science Fiction film Solaris (1972) as Kris Kelvin. In 1959, Banionis started to act in films. He made his film debut in the Lithuanian film Adomas nori buti zmogumi/Adam Wants To Be A Human (Vytautas Zalakevicius, 1959). His performance of the farmer Vaitkus in Niekas nenorėjo mirti/Nobody Wanted to Die (Vytautas Žalakevičius, 1965) won him the award for best actor at the Karlovy Vary film festival. Soon he was a highly requested actor, with many parts in prestigious national and international productions.


Soviet collectors card. Photo: Regimantas Adomaitis in Korol Lir/King Lear (Grigori Kozintsev, Iosif Shapiro, 1971).

Lithuanian film and stage actor Regimantas Adomaitis (1937) made his film debut in Vienos dienos kronika/The Chronicle of one Day (Vytautas Zalakevicius, 1963) with Donatas Banionis. In 1966 he had his breakthrough with Niekas nenorėjo mirti/Nobody Wanted to Die (Vytautas Žalakevičius,1966). This action drama is set in a small Lithuanian farming community after the Second World War. The village is divided as the communists battle those in favor of national independence. When the leader of the community is killed, the man's four sons, including Adomaitis, set out to avenge his death. Adomaitis, director Žalakevičius, and cinematographer Jonas Gricius were awarded the USSR State Prize for the film in 1967. That year, he also acted in the a-typical Soviet war film Vostochny koridor/Eastern Corridor (Valentin Vinogradov, 1966). He appeared as Edmund in the Shakespeare adaptation Korol Lir/King Lear (Grigori Kozintsev, Iosif Shapiro, 1971), for which Dmitri Shostakovich composed the score. Years later, he co-starred with Donatas Banionis in the Soviet Lithuanian-language war film Gruppa krovi nol/Faktas/Facts (Almantas Grikevicius, 1981). In 1988 he with other 34 prominent people created Sąjūdis Reform Movement, which eventually led to the declaration of independence of Lithuania on 11 March 1990. His most recent film is the Norwegian drama Iskyss/The Ice Kiss (Knut Erik Jensen, 2008).


Russian postcard by Bjuro Propagandy Sovetskogo Kinoiskusstva, Moscow, no. A319, 1980. Photo: G. Ter-Ovanekova. Algimantas Masiulis.

Lithuanian film and theatre actor Algimantas Masiulis (1931-2008) made his film debut in 1957 in the episodic role of an officer in the film Ignotas grįžo namo (Aleksandr Razoumny, 1957). In 1966, Masiulis became a real celebrity after the release of the film Niekas nenorėjo mirti/Nobody Wanted to Die) (Vytautas Žalakevičius, 1966). He also acted as Squire Relawney opposite Boris Andreyev as Long John Silver in Ostrov sokrovishch/Treasure Island (Yevgeni Fridman, 1972), and as Prince John in Ballada o doblestnom rytsare Ayvengo/Ivanhoe (Sergey Tarasov, 1983). Masiulis' career included about 160 stage roles and about 100 screen parts.


Russian postcard by Bjuro Propagandy Sovetskogo Kinoiskusstva, Riga, 1977. Juozas Budraitis and Aleksandr Kalyagin in Podranki/Wounded Game (Nikolai Gubenko, 1977).

Soviet and Lithuanian theatre and film actor Juozas Budraitis (1940) became a People's Artist of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1982. His film career began in 1961 when he played in an episode of the film Kai susilieja upes/When the Rivers Merge (Balys Bratkauskas, Boris Schreiber, 1961). As a third-year student at the university, the director Vitautas Prano Jalakiavitchous invited him to play the role of Jonas in the famous Lithuanian film Niekas nenorėjo mirti/Nobody Wanted to Die (Vytautas Žalakevičius, 1965), which Donatas Banionis starred in. This film marked the beginning of Juozas' fame, and he acted in many international films, including Sluzhili dva tovarishcha/Two Comrades Were Serving (Yevgeni Karelov, 1968), Korol Lir/King Lear (Grigoriy Kozintsev, Iosif Shapiro, 1970), Blokada: Luzhskiy rubezh, Pulkovskiy meredian/Blockade (Mikhail Yershov, 1974), and Podranki/Wounded Game (Nikolai Gubenko, 1977), which was entered into the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.

Estonia

German postcard. Photo: Juhan Nõmmik and Elly Põder-Roht in Noored kotkad/The Young Eagles (Theodor Luts, 1927), released in Germany as Drei junge Adler (Three Young Eagles). Juhan Nõmmik as the blacksmith Laansoo, defending his sister Hilja (Elly Põder-Roht).

Noored kotkad/The Young Eagles is situated shortly after the end of World War I: the young republic Estonia has proclaimed its independence from Soviet Russia. Now it is put to the test and must assert its independence militarily in the Estonian War of Independence (1918-1920) against the old rulers. This rare Estonian silent war film was shot for the production company Siirius Film in the summer of 1927 in Tartu. The film was directed by Theodor Luts, one of the most renowned Estonian directors of the interwar period. He had himself fought in the Estonian War of Independence, including the battles of Paju and Cēsis. The film studio stood in the courtyard of Luts' house at Aia tänav 19, while location shooting was done in Tartumaa, near Mustvee, in Värska, and in Petserimaa. The original length of the film was about one hundred minutes. Noored kotkad was Luts' first feature film - and after the tragicomedy Kevade unelm by Voldemar Päts, the first real feature film from Estonia ever. Noored kotkad was very positively received among the Estonian population. The film was also exported abroad and was shown in Paris as Les Aiglons, in Warsaw, and probably in Berlin as Drei junge Adler, in 1928. In 2008, Noored kotkad was restored and digitised with a total length of 87 minutes.


Russian postcard. Photo: Mosfilm. Lembit Ulfsak in Legenda o Tile/The Legend of Till Ullenspiegel (Aleksandr Alov, Vladimir Naumov, 1977), an adaptation of the classic Belgian novel by Charles de Coster.

Estonian actor Lembit Ulfsak (1947-2017) had a rich career in Soviet and Russian cinema and TV. From 1969 he acted in film while from 1985 to 1994 he was an actor in Tallinnfilm Studios. In 1976, Lembit Ulfsak had a major breakthrough as the mischievous Till Ulenspiegel in the film Legenda o Tile/The Legend of Till Ullenspiegel (1977). He was also known for the Estonian films Keskea rõõmud/The joys of Keskea (Lembit Ulfsak, 1987), Doktor Stockmann/An Enemy of the People (Mikk Mikiver, 1989), and Mandariinid/Tangerines (Zaza Urushadze, 2013), which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Cinema Splendid Palace and Film Museum of Riga

Splendid Palace, Elizabetes iela 61, Riga, LV-1050, Latvia.

With its neo-baroque facade and neo-Rococo style interior, Cinema Splendid Palace in Riga is a national architectural monument. Splendid Palace is a place where you can see Latvian film premieres, national and international film festivals, performances, concerts, and enjoy opera and ballet live transmissions from the world-famous opera houses and festivals. Splendid Palace has two screening halls with 749 seats altogether. The founders of Splendid Palace were Vasilijs Jemeljanovs and Leonids Falsteins. It was the first free-standing building in Riga intended exclusively for film screening with a hall for 824 viewers. The building was designed by architect Fridrihs Karlis Skujins (1880–1957). The grand opening of the cinema took place on 30 December 1923 with the American film Under Two Flags (Tod Browning, 1922). Since the 1930s Splendid Palace has been the main venue of Latvian film premieres.


Kino Muzejs, Peitavas iela 10, Rīga LV 1050, Latvia.

We were charmed by this little film museum when we visited Riga in 2019. A hidden gem.


Soviet postcard by Izdatelʹstvo 'Planeta' Fabrika Fotopečati, Moscow, no. 32, 1978. This postcard was printed in an edition of 25.000 cards. The price was 8 kop. Captions: S. M. Eisenstein in Riga, 1910. Drawing of a queue, 1916.

Famous Soviet film director and film theorist Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (1898-1948) was born in Riga, Latvia (then part of the Russian Empire in the Governorate of Livonia). He was the son of the famous architect Mikhail Osipovich Eisenstein. Sergei became a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is noted in particular for his silent films Stachka/Strike (1925), Bronenosets Potyomkin/Battleship Potemkin (1925), and Oktyabr': Desyat' dney kotorye potryasli mir/October: Ten Days That Shook the World (1928), as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan Grozniy/Ivan the Terrible (1944, 1958).

Sources: Inga Perkone (100 years of Latvian cinema), Michael Kaminsky (IMDb), Time Note (Latvian), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

26 colour cards by Acin

February 26, 2022, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Georges Marchal

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In 2014 we did a post on the wonderful world of Casa Filmului Acin (Film House Acin) from communist Romania. In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, Casa Filmului Acin published hundreds of postcards of international pop artists, TV heroes, and film stars. At first most of these cards were in black and white, but from the 1970s all cards were in colour, sometimes a bit odd colours. We are Acin fans, like several other people at Flickr where there is a special group dedicated to Casa Filmului Acin. Since 2014, we have acquired many new Acin cards. So in the coming weeks, EFSP presents three posts about Acin: one features Italian actresses in the 1970s, one on the black and white Acin cards, and today, we start with 26 colour cards.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 633. Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in Barefoot in the Park (Gene Saks, 1967).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 151. Photo: Jane Fonda in Barbarella (Roger Vadim, 1968).

American actress Jane Fonda (1937) is a two-time Academy Award winner for the crime thriller Klute (1971) and the Vietnam drama Coming Home (1978). Roger Vadim's psychedelic Science Fiction spoof Barbarella (1968) made her one of the icons of the European cinema of the 1960s. In 2014, she received the American Film Institute AFI Life Achievement Award.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Patty Duke, Sharon Tate, and Barbara Parkins in Valley of the Dolls (Mark Robson, 1967).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

One month before her eighteenth birthday,  American actress Jean Seberg (1938-1979) landed the title role in Otto Preminger's Saint Joan (1957) after a much-publicised contest involving some 18,000 hopefuls. A few years later, she became an icon of the Nouvelle Vague with her role in Jean Luc Godard’s A Bout de Souffle/Breathless (1960). She appeared in over 30 films in Hollywood and Europe.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no 289. Photo: Lee Marvin in Monte Walsh (William A. Fraker, 1970).

American film and television actor Lee Marvin (1924-1987) began as a supporting player of a generally vicious demeanor, then metamorphosed into a star playing tough, hard-bitten anti-heroes. Known for his gravelly smoke-burnished voice and premature white hair, Marvin initially played villains, soldiers, and other hardboiled characters. He became a major star with Cat Ballou (1965), a comedy Western in which he played dual roles. Marvin is also remembered for his 'tough guy' characters in The Killers (1964), The Professionals (1966), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Point Blank (1967), and The Big Red One (1980).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

American film actor and director Clint Eastwood (1930) rose to fame as the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's classic Spaghetti Westerns Per un pugno di dollari/A Fistful of Dollars (1964), Per qualche dollaro in più/For a Few Dollars More (1965), and Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo/The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Later in the US, he played hard edge police inspector Harry Callahan in the five Dirty Harry films, which elevated him to superstar status, and he directed and produced such award-winning masterpieces as Unforgiven (1992), Mystic River (2003), and Million Dollar Baby (2004).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Stella Stevens in How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (Fielder Cook, 1968).

American comedienne Stella Stevens (1936) starred as a voluptuous platinum blonde with a deep sultry voice in many Hollywood films of the 1960s. During the decade she was one of the most photographed women in the world.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

Elisabeth Wiener (1946) is a French actress, singer, songwriter, and performer, who appeared in several French and Italian films of the 1960s and 1970s.

Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 569.

Jean Rochefort (1930-2017) was a French actor, with a career spanning over five decades. He is best remembered for the comedy smashes Le Grand Blond avec Une Chasseure Noire/The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972), Un éléphant ça trompe énormément/An Elephant Can Be Extremely Deceptive (1976), and Le Mari de la coiffeuse/The Hairdresser's Husband (1990). 


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

Handsome Spanish singer and actor Miguel Bosé (1956) was a major teen idol in Southern Europe between 1977 and 1982. Later he became popular in Latin America. As an actor he worked with interesting directors like Dario Argento,  Pedro Almodóvar and Patrice Chereau.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

English actress Jacqueline Bisset (1944) has been an international film star since the late 1960s. She received her first roles mainly because of her stunning beauty, but over time she has become a fine actress respected by fans and critics alike. Bisset has worked with directors John Huston, François Truffaut, George Cukor and Roman Polanski. She received France’s Légion d'honneur in 2010.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, C.P.C.S. Cda 43078.

Isabella Rossellini (1952) is an Italian actress, filmmaker, and model. She was born cinema royalty as the daughter of Swedish-born, three-time Oscar-winning actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini. She is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet (1986) and Death Becomes Her (1992).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

French actress and writer Macha Méril (1940) was one of the actresses of the Nouvelle Vague in the early 1960s. She appeared in 125 films by such famous directors as Jean-Luc Godard, Luis Bunuel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Dario Argento.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Marie-France Pisier as Charlotte Bronte, Isabelle Huppert as Anne Bronte, and Isabelle Adjani as Emily Brontë in Les soeurs Brontë/The Bronte Sisters (André Téchniné, 1979).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

Handsome German actor Mathieu Carrière (1950) had his breakthrough at 16 in Volker Schlöndorf’s Der junge Törless/Young Törless (1966). In the 1970s and 1980s,  he appeared in many French arthouse films by directors like André Delvaux and Marguerite Duras. Carrière was very convincing in challenging roles in several literary film adaptations and he also incidentally worked as a director and a writer.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 559.

French actress Anny Duperey (1947) is known for her stage, film, and television roles, but she is also a best-selling author. Anny Duperey is best-known for her performance in the hilarious comedy Un éléphant ça trompe énormément/Pardon Mon Affaire (1976). Duperey is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 33102.

In the Swinging Sixties, shy, awkward-looking British actress Jane Birkin (1946) made a huge international splash as one of the nude models in Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966). In France, she became the muse of singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, who wrote several of her albums, plus their explicitly erotic duet Je t'aime... moi non plus. Later she worked with such respected film directors as Jacques Rivette, Agnès Varda, and Jacques Doillon, and won several acting awards.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

Sophia Loren (1934) rose to fame in post-war Italy as a voluptuous sex goddess. Soon after she became one of the most successful stars of the 20th Century, who won an Oscar for her mother role in La Ciociara (1960).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Jean Gabin in Le jardinier d'Argenteuil/The Gardener of Argenteuil (Jean-Paul Le Chanois, 1966).

French actor and war hero Jean Gabin (1904-1976) was one of the great stars of European cinema. In the 1930s he became the personification of the tragic romantic hero of the poetic realist film. Whether he played a legionnaire in Gueule d'amour/Madeleine (1937), a deserter in Le Quai des brumes/Port of Shadows (1938) or the head gangster in Pépé le Moko (1937), Gabin was impeccable, bringing tragic humanity to each of his appearances which the public adored. After the war, Gabin was reborn as a tough anti-hero, set in his beliefs, feared and respected by all, the Godfather of French cinema.

Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 91.

Blonde French actress and singer Catherine Spaak (1945) worked in France, Spain, Germany, and Hollywood, but she spent most of her career in Italy. There she started as a Lolita-like vamp in films of the early 1960s, made records, and became a teenage star. She played in several classic Italian comedies and was a popular TV host. Spaak is still active on TV, writes books, and has now appeared in some 100 films.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 491. Photo: Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in The Way We Were (Sydney Pollack, 1973).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 623.

Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel (1952-2012) will always be remembered as Emmanuelle, thanks to the massive soft-porn hit of the 1970s. Emmanuelle’s sexual adventures attracted 500 million people to the cinema.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Al Pacino in Scarecrow (Jerry Schatzberg, 1973).

During the 1970s, American actor Al Pacino (1940) established himself with such films as The Godfather (1972), Serpico (1973), The Godfather: Part II (1974), and Dog Day Afternoon (1975). In the following decades, he became an enduring icon of American cinema. He won the Triple Crown of Acting: an Oscar for Best Actor for Scent of a Woman (1992); a Tony for Best Supporting Actor in the play 'Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?' (1969) and for Best Actor in the play 'The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel' (1977); and an Emmy for Best Actor in the Miniseries Angels in America (2003).


Romanian postcard by Acin in the Colectia Cinefilului.

American actress Meryl Streep (1949) is one of the best actresses of her generation, known for her versatility and accents. She has been nominated for the Oscar an astonishing 21 times and has won it three times. Among her other accolades, she has received 32 Golden Globe nominations, more than any other person, and won eight.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. C.P.V.S. c-sa 53066.

American film actor Paul Newman (1925-2008) was a matinee idol with the most famous blue eyes of Hollywood, who often played detached yet charismatic anti-heroes and rebels. He was nominated for nine acting Academy Awards in five different decades and won the Oscar for The Color of Money (1986). He was also a prominent social activist, a major proponent of actors' creative rights, and a noted philanthropist.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. C.P.C.S. 33 150. John Travolta in Staying Alive (Sylvester Stallone, 1983).

John Travolta (1954) is an American actor and singer, who rose to fame during the 1970s, when he appeared on the television sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-1979), and starred in the box office successes Carrie (1976), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978) and Urban Cowboy (1980). His acting career declined throughout the 1980s, but in 1994, Travolta made one of the most stunning comebacks in entertainment history by starring in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). Since then he starred in such films as Get Shorty (1995), Face/Off (1997), Primary Colors (1998), and Hairspray (2007).

And check out our earlier post on Acin or visit Flickr where you can see more Acin postcards our Acin album or in the Casa Filmului Acin group.

Georges Marchal

February 27, 2022, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Helen Shapiro

≪ Previous: 26 colour cards by Acin

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Handsome and athletic Georges Marchal (1920-1997) was one of the most popular romantic heroes of the French cinema of the 1950s. Like Jean Marais, he starred in many Swashbucklers and other costume dramas in France and Italy. Later he acted in several films by his close friend Luis Buñuel.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1256. Photo: Raymond Voinquel.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 112. Photo: Roger Carlet.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 1263. Photo: Roger Carlet.


French postcard, no. 9. Photo: Gaumont.


French postcard by Editions et Publications Cinématographiques (EPC), no. 300. Photo: Discina.


French postcard by Yvon for Marie France. Photo: Majestic Films / Sirius. Georges Marchal and Dany Robin in Le plus joli péché du monde/The Prettiest Sin in the World (Gilles Grangier, 1951). Caption: Georges Marchal and Dany Robin, the youngest "ideal couple" in French cinema, are more seductive than ever in the new film"Le plus joli péché du monde, The Prettiest Sin in the World. At the backside: Designate the best-suited couple in French cinema.

The Typical Jeune Premier

Georges Marchal was born as Georges Louis Lucot in Nancy, France, in 1920. His family moved to Paris, where he attended secondary school. As an adolescent, he dreamed of becoming a dancer and took classes in ballet and acrobatics. After a chance meeting with Maurice Escande, he changed his mind and aspired to become an actor.

First came many odd jobs, like courier, docker at the Les Halles market, and assistant at the Medrano circus. Then he enrolled in an acting course and was hired at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal for the play 'Permission de détente'(Permission to Relax) by Yves Mirande. At 20, he joined the Comédie-Française to play in the classic dramas 'Iphigénie' (Iphigenia) by Jean Racine and 'Psyché' (Psyche) by Molière. He soon also played in boulevard comedies.

His film career started with the comedy Fausse alerte/The French Way (Jacques de Baroncelli, Bernard Dalban, 1940) starring Josephine Baker, which was only released in 1945. During the Occupation days, he was noted in Lumière d'été/Summer Light (Jean Grémillon, 1943) opposite Madeleine Renaud, and Vautrin/Vautrin The Thief (Pierre Billon, 1943) with Michel Simon.

After the war, he co-starred in Au grand balcon/The Grand Terrace (Henri Decoin, 1949) with Pierre Fresnay, about the heroic pilots who struggled, suffered, and often died to carry the mail. He became the typical Jeune Premier of the French post-war cinema and posed as a rival of Jean Marais although he didn’t reach the same level.

In 1951, he assumed the title role in Il naufrago del Pacifico/Robinson Crusoe (Jeff Musso, 1951), and for Sacha Guitry, he played the young Louis XIV in the star-studded Si Versailles m'était conté/Affairs of Versailles (Sacha Guitry, 1953).

In 1951, he married actress Dany Robin. Both were young, beautiful, and adored. They preserved their privacy in their house in Montfort l'Amaury. Together they made six films, including La voyageuse inattendue/The Unexpected Voyager (Jean Stelli, 1950), based on an old script by Billy Wilder, and the comedy Jupiter (Gilles Grangier, 1952).

Georges’ talent as a stuntman did wonders for his parts in such costume films and Swashbucklers as Messalina/The Affairs of Messalina (Carmine Gallone, 1952) with Maria Félix, Teodora, imperatrice di Bisanzio/Theodora, Slave Empress (Riccardo Freda, 1954) with Gianna Maria Canale, and Les trois mousquetaires/The Three Musketeers (André Hunebelle, 1953) in which he featured as D'Artagnan.


French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 44. Photo: Studio Harcourt, Paris.


French postcard by Agfa. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


Vintage photo by Harcourt, Paris. French staging of the play 'Iphigénie en Tauride', based on Goethe, directed by Jean Yonnel and performed by the actors of the Comédie française in 1942. Georges Marchal as Pylades and unknown actress.


Vintage photo by Harcourt, Paris. French staging of the stage play Iphigénie en Tauride, based on Goethe, directed by Jean Yonnel and performed by the actors of the Comédie française in 1942. Here, Georges Marchal as Pylades and possibly Maurice Donneaud as Orestes.


French photo. Photo: Studio Harcourt, Paris.


French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 219. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 175. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 185. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Death Knell

The arrival of the Nouvelle Vague (the New Wave of young French directors in the late 1950s) with their animosity against the Cinéma de Papa (the popular French cinema of the 1940s and 1950s) seemed a death knell for Georges Marchal. He moved to Italy where he continued his career.

With his muscular body, he was an ideal hero for the Peplum. He appeared in a dozen of these Italian Sword and Sandal epics, including Nel Segno Di Roma/Sheba and the Gladiator (Guido Brignone - and uncredited Riccardo Freda and Michelangelo Antonioni, 1958) with Anita Ekberg, Le legioni di Cleopatra/Legions of the Nile (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1959) with Linda Cristal, and Sergio Leone's first solo directorial effort, Il colosso di Rodi/The Colossus of Rhodes (Sergio Leone, 1961) with Rory Calhoun.

Marchal was a close friend of director Luis Buñuel and also one of his preferred actors. Marchal starred in four of his films: Cela s'appelle l'aurore/That is the Dawn (1955) with Lucia Bosé, La mort en ce jardin/Death in the Garden (1956) with Simone Signoret, Belle de jour/Beauty of the Day (1967) with Catherine Deneuve, and La voie lactee/The Milky Way (1969) with Laurent Terzieff.

Other interesting films in which he appeared were the anthology film Guerre secrète/The Dirty Game (Terence Young, Christian Jaque, Carlo Lizzani, Werner Klinger, 1965) with Robert Ryan, the Romanian historical epic Dacii/The Dacians (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1967) with Pierre Brice, Faustine et le bel été/Faustine and the Beautiful Summer (Nina Companeez, 1972) and Les enfants du placard/The Closet Children (Benoît Jacquot, 1977) with Lou Castel.

During the 1970s, he focussed on television and appeared in Quentin Durward (Gilles Grangier, 1971), as Philip IV the Fair in Les rois maudits/The Accursed Kings (Claude Barma, 1972), Gaston Phébus (Bernard Borderie, 1977), and Les grandes familles/The Great Families (Edouard Molinaro, 1988) with Michel Piccoli.

He played a seductive older man in three TV-films based on the legendary Claudine novels by Colette, Claudine à Paris/Claudine in Paris (1978), Claudine en ménage/Pauline Engaged (1978) and Claudine s'en va/Claudine Goes (1978), all starring Marie-Hélène Breillat and directed by Edouard Molinaro. He also played Claude Jade's father in the fine mini-series L'Île aux trente cercueils/The Island of Thirty Coffins (Marcel Cravenne, 1979).

He retired in 1989. His last film appearance had been as General Keller in L'Honneur d'un capitaine/A Captain’s Honour (Pierre Schoendoerffer, 1982) about the French army's behaviour in Algeria. Georges Marchal died in 1997 in Maurens, France, following a long illness. He was married to Dany Robin from 1951 till their much-publicised divorce in 1969. He remarried in 1983 to Michele Heyberger.


French postcard, no. 27. Photo: Industrie Photographique.


French postcard.


French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 59. Photo: Carlet Ainé.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 172. Photo: Studio Carlet Ainé.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 375. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by P.I., Paris, no. S-1653. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 172. Photo: Charles Vandamme, Les Mirages.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 523 presented by Les Carbones Korès. Photo: Ch. Vandamme.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 297. Photo: Charles VanDamme, Paris.


Yugoslavian postcard by Sedma Sila. Photo: Morava Film, Beograd (Belgrade).


Swashbuckling in Les trois mousquetaires/The Three Musketeers (1953). Source: Henk de Vos (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Pablo Montoya (IMDb), Ciné-Ressources (French), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

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Helen Shapiro

February 28, 2022, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)

≪ Previous: Georges Marchal

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From 1961 until 1963, Helen Shapiro (1946) was England's teenage pop music queen. At one point she sold 40,000 copies daily of her biggest single, 'Walkin' Back to Happiness', during a 19-week chart run. The singer and actress with her deep timbre and beehive hairstyle was only 14 when she was discovered, but she matured into a seasoned professional very quickly. She also appeared in a few teen musicals in the early 1960s.


West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/175. Photo: Hansi Hoffmann.


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam.


Belgian postcard by S. Best (SB), Antwerpen.

Foghorn

Helen Kate Shapiro was born in Bethnal Green in the East End of London in 1946. She is the granddaughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, and her parents, who were piece-workers in the garment industry, attended Lea Bridge Road Synagogue. They were too poor to own a record player but encouraged music in their home.

At age 9, Helen performed with a banjo in the school group Susie & the Hula Hoops, whose members included also her cousin, 1960s singer Susan Singer and a young Mark Feld aka Marc Bolan, later of glam-rock band T-Rex. Reportedly, they performed their own versions of Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly songs. She subsequently sang with her brother Ron Shapiro's trad jazz turned skiffle outfit at local clubs before enrolling in classes at Maurice Burman's Academy in London.

Shapiro had a deep timbre to her voice, unusual in a girl not yet in her teens. School friends gave her the nickname ‘Foghorn’. Maurice Burman was so enamoured of Helen’s talent that he waived the fees to keep her as a student. He wrote to several record labels to promote interest in his students. John Schroeder, a young songwriter and A&R man at EMI's Columbia Records, heard her at one of the classes. He was impressed enough to record a demo of Shapiro singing 'Birth of the Blues'  and play it back for top EMI producer Norrie Paramor, who had signed Cliff Richard& the Shadows.

Helen Shapiro's voice on the rape was so mature that Paramor refused to believe that it belonged to a 14-year-old girl. So, Helen came to his office in her school uniform and sang 'St. Louis Blues'. Only a few weeks later, she cut her first single, 'Please Don't Treat Me Like a Child', composed by John Schroeder and Mike Hawker. It made number three in the UK charts in May 1961, and the record company’s publicity department made a great play on the novelty value of her age.

Shapiro’s second release, the ballad 'You don’t know', was issued three months later. In August 1961, it made 14-year-old Helen the youngest female artist to reach number one. The song stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks and eventually sold over a million copies. In September that year, she turned 15 and left school to pursue her career in earnest. Live appearances showcased Helen’s assuredness as a performer. She even headlined at the legendary London Palladium, virtually unheard of for such a young, inexperienced entertainer.


Dutch postcard by De Gruyter, no. 8.


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/176. Photo: EMI, London.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Corvisart, Epinal, no. 1080. Photo: Ektochrome Anders.

A Little Dynamo

Helen Shapiro had her second number one hit in the UK with 'Walkin' Back to Happiness'. It is now her signature song. Her mature voice made her an overnight sensation. The song also became a hit in the rest of Europe and inspired an attempt to crack the American market. However, despite an appearance on the legendary Ed Sullivan Show, the record only reached # 100 in the US charts.

In 1962 she made her debut feature film, It's Trad, Dad!/Ring-A-Ding Rhythm (Richard Lester, 1962). This musical comedy was one of the first films put out by predominantly horror company Amicus Productions, and director Richard Lester's feature debut. Shapiro and singer Craig Douglas play two teenagers who, along with their friends enjoy the latest trend of traditional jazz. However, the mayor as well as a group of adults dislike the trend and move to have a coffee shop jukebox taken away. Helen and Craig decide to organize a music festival in their small town, and the film comprises musical numbers by Chubby Checker, Del Shannon, and Gene Vincent.

Jeff Stafford at TCM: "Any Richard Lester fan can look at It's Trad, Dad and see the fresh and distinctive techniques that would fully emerge in Lester's A Hard Day's Night. For one thing, Lester's playful editing style keeps the viewer constantly engaged while also paying tribute to the musicians on display. (...) Douglas is a pleasant but unremarkable light pop vocalist but Shapiro is a little dynamo with a powerful voice comparable to Brenda Lee."

Shapiro then starred in another teenage musical, Play It Cool (Michael Winner, 1962) featuring Billy Fury and the Satellites and Bobby Vee. Shapiro's next single release, 'Tell Me What He Said', peaked at no. 2, achieving her first four single releases in the top three of the UK Singles Chart. Her final UK Top Ten hit single was with the ballad 'Little Miss Lonely', which peaked at no. 8 for two weeks in 1962.

Before she was sixteen years old, Shapiro had been voted Britain's 'Top Female Singer', and when The Beatles had their first national tour (The Helen Shapiro Tour) in 1963, it was as her supporting act. During the tour, The Beatles hit big and replaced Helen as top of the bill.

Helen later found out that it was around this time that Lennon and McCartney penned 'Misery' for her, but her producer Norrie Paramor declined the offer without informing her. He preferred to release 'Queen for tonight', a firm fan favourite and a much-requested song, but slightly out of step with current trends. It reached a disappointing 33 in the UK charts. In early 1964, her cover of 'Fever' proved her last top 40 hit.


Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. 4906. Photo: Columbia.


Helen Shapiro and Rudi Carrell. Dutch postcard by Sparo (Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam). Sent by mail in the Netherlands in 1966. Photo: Columbia.


Helen Shapiro and Peter Kraus. Dutch postcard, no. 6357. Sent by mail in the Netherlands in 1965.

Musicals, Jazz, Gospel

By the time Helen Shapiro was in her late teens, her career as a pop singer was on the wane. Undaunted, she branched out as a performer in stage musicals, a jazz singer (jazz being her first love musically), and more recently a gospel singer. She also began to concentrate more on stage work.

In the early 1980s, she played the role of Nancy in Lionel Bart's musical, 'Oliver!' in London's West End. Various other musicals, pantomimes, and revival concerts followed. She also continued to tour, especially in mainland Europe and the Far East, where she remained in demand.

Throughout the 1980s she made guest appearances on many TV variety shows, either singing her old songs or promoting the odd new release. Shapiro also appeared in British television soap operas; in particular, Albion Market (1985) where she played one of the main characters up to the time it was taken off-air in August 1986.

In 1987 Shapiro became a committed Christian (Messianic believer). She has issued four Messianic albums since then, and appeared in a number of special Gospel Outreach evenings, singing and telling of how she found Jesus (Yeshua) as her Messiah. Shapiro retired from showbusiness at the end of 2002 to concentrate on her Gospel Outreach evenings.

In 1993, she published her autobiography, 'Walking Back to Happiness'. Since 2015, she has played in a trio called Hebron with Chrissy Rodgers and Simon Elman. They are promoted via Shapiro's ministry umbrella, Manna Music. She was married three times: Duncan C. Weldon (1967-1971), Morris Gundlash (1972-1977), and John Judd (1988-), an actor with numerous roles in British television and cinema. The couple lives in Kent.

Bruce Eder at AllMusic: "Listening to Shapiro's records nearly 40 years later, it's amazing to think that her hit-making career lasted only two years. She was equally at home belting out "The Birth of the Blues," imparting a surprisingly blues-influenced feeling to 'A Teenager in Love', or oozing pre-feminist defiance in 'Walking Back to Happiness', and by rights should have been able to find a niche on the charts well into the middle and late '60s. The incongruity of a 15-year-old who might usually be spending her time in high school doing a song like 'Walking Back to Happiness' was lost in the more innocent era in which she worked."


Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4930.


Dutch postcard, no. 262.


Vintage card.


Helen Shapiro sings 'Walking Back To Happiness' in a Dutch TV show of Rudi Carrell. Part of a short documentary by Top 2000 a gogo from 2003. Source: Dutch Public Television (YouTube).

Sources: Jeff Stafford (TCM - now defunct), Graham Welch (Ready Steady Girls), Bruce Eder (AllMusic), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)

March 1, 2022, 10:00 pm

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Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) is a French romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Audrey Tautou. The film, written by Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant, is a romanticised portrayal of life in Montmartre, Paris. The film became an international box-office hit and was awarded four Césars internationally (including for best film and best director) and received five Academy Award nominations. The music was composed by Yann Tiersen.


British postcard by Odeon. Photo: Momentum Pictures. Audrey Tautou in Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001).


Australian postcard by AvantCard, no. 6147, Postcard 1 in a series of 6. Photo: Dendy. Flora Guiet in Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain/Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Caption: Amelie lives in Paris and in a world of her own. When she is six, she retreats into her imagination. In this world, LP records are made like pancakes.

The fairy-tale-like and romantic story of a young woman

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain/Amelie (2001) describes the fairy-tale-like and romantic story of the young woman Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) who decides one day that she can make other people happy with little things. Amélie grows up isolated from other children because she is thought to suffer from a heart condition. Her father, a doctor, never touches her, so her heartbeat rises with enthusiasm when he does during the examination.

Amélie's mother, who is very neurotic, dies when Amélie is still a child because a Canadian woman who jumps off Notre Dame falls on top of her. Amélie's father shuts himself off even more from the world and starts building a mausoleum for his dead wife. Because she is always on her own, Amélie develops a very rich imagination.

When Amélie is older, she becomes a waitress in the Café des 2 Moulins, a small café in the Montmartre district of Paris. The owner is Suzanne, a former circus performer, and the guests are colourful. Amélie, who is 23 at the time, leads a simple life. She takes pleasure in simple things like breaking the sugar coating on crème brûlée, throwing pebbles on the Canal Saint-Martin and fantasising about how many couples in Paris are having an orgasm at that moment.

Her life changes on the day of Princess Diana's death. Through a series of events that follow her shock at the news, she discovers a small metal box behind a skirting board in her bathroom. Inside this box are memories of a boy who lived in the flat decades before Amélie. Fascinated by this, she goes in search of this now grown-up person to give him back the box.

Amélie makes an agreement with herself that if she succeeds and the person is happy, she will dedicate her life to the good things in life and helping others.


Australian postcard by AvantCard, no. 6148, Postcard 2 in a series of 6. Photo: Dendy. Audrey Tatou in Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain/Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Caption: Amelie lives in Paris and in a world of her own. She cultivates a taste for small pleasures. Like skimming stones on St. Martin's Canal. And cracking crème brulée with a teaspoon.


Australian postcard by AvantCard, no. 6149, Postcard 3 in a series of 6. Photo: Dendy. Audrey Tatou in Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain/Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Caption: Amelie lives in Paris and in a world of her own. Some Fridays, Amelie goes to the movies. She likes looking back at people's faces in the dark. Amelie notices the shy people always laugh the loudest.

Making a film without making commercial concessions

Jean-Pierre Jeunet began jotting down ideas and memories in 1974, which form the basis of Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001). The profits from Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997) enabled him to make a film without making commercial concessions.

In Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001), Jeunet reintroduces elements from the short film Foutaises (1990), especially the "il aime/il n'aime pas" (he likes/he doesn't like) fragments in the presentation of the characters. The almost constant presence of the colour combination of strong red and strong green that could already be seen in La cité des enfants perdus/The City of the Lost Children (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro, 1995) returns in this film.

Jeunet says in the DVD's commentary track that the idea of the album of discarded pictures came from the French writer Michel Folco, who owns such an album. Because of intellectual property rights, Jeunet could not use this album, so he had to work with extras. The film uses computer graphics and digital post-production (digital intermediate).

Jeunet had actually written the role of Amélie for Emily Watson. In the original script, Amélie's father was an Englishman living in London. However, Emily Watson's French was not good enough and there was a time conflict due to the filming of Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001). Jeunet, therefore, rewrote the script for French actress Audrey Tautou.

Filming took place at the Café des 2 Moulins in Paris, at the Gare du Nord station, outside at the Gare de l'Est and at the Sacré-Cœur church. Since the film was financially supported by the Filmstiftung NRW, the interior shots of the film were shot at the MMC Studio Coloneum in Cologne. The German painter Michael Sowa contributed some bizarre interior details. He created the pig lamp as well as some of the paintings in Amélie's room, which can be seen in the background.

For the TV sequence that suddenly refers to Amélie's life in the subtitles ("Raymond Dufayel's attempt to interfere is unacceptable. If Amélie prefers to live in her dream world and remain an introverted young woman, that is her right. Because the right to a failed life is inviolable!"), a sequence from the second part of the four-part Soviet film epic Blockade (1974) about the siege of Leningrad in the Second World War was used. A recurring theme of Georges Delerue's film music for François Truffaut's film Jules et Jim/Jules and Jim (1962) is varied several times by Yann Tiersen in his soundtrack for Amelie as the main theme.


Australian postcard by AvantCard, no. 6150, Postcard 4 in a series of 6. Photo: Dendy. Audrey Tatou in Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain/Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Caption: Amelie lives in Paris and in a world of her own. She tries hard to fix other people's messy lives. But what about her own life? Who'll fix that?


Australian postcard by AvantCard, no. 6151, Postcard 5 in a series of 6. Photo: Dendy. Mathieu Kassovitz as Nino in Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain/Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Caption: Amelie lives in Paris and in a world of her own. Then she meets Nino. Nino collects cement footprints. Whenever he hears a funny laugh, he tapes it.

A decision against the audience

At the 2002 Césars, Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) won Best Film, Best Director, Best Score and Best Production Design. It was also nominated in nine other categories, including Best Original Screenplay and Audrey Tautou for Best Actress in a Leading Role. At the 2001 European Film Awards, the film won in four categories: Best European Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and the Jameson Audience Award for Best Director. Audrey Tautou was also nominated for Best Actress.

The film was nominated for an Oscar in 2002 in the five categories Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Sound, but did not prevail in any of the categories. The film received good reviews both in France and internationally.

The film did not enter the official competition at the 2001 Cannes International Film Festival, as Gilles Jacob, who was responsible for the film selection, said he found it "uninteresting". This caused a major public debate, as the rejection was interpreted in many places as a contradiction to the great media interest in the film and as a decision "against the audience".

Jean-Pierre Jeunet reacted to the rejection by bringing forward the film's theatrical release. Amélie now ran parallel to the ongoing festival. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) grossed 140 million US dollars worldwide, 33 million of which in the USA.


Australian postcard by AvantCard, no. 6152, Postcard 6 in a series of 6. Photo: Dendy. Audrey Tatou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Jamel Debbouze, and Urbain Cancelier in Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain/Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Caption: Amelie lives in Paris and in a world of her own. But maybe her thoughts are with someone else. Someone she's known since always. Could Amelie be falling in love?

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

Gastone Monaldi

March 2, 2022, 10:00 pm

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Italian actor and playwright Gastone Monaldi (1882-1932) is considered one of the greatest names in early 20th-century Romanesque theatre. He also acted in various Italian silent films of the 1910s.


Italian postcard, no. 927. Photo: Vettori, Bologna.


Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film. Gastone Monaldi as Cicueracchio and Alberto Collo as his son Luigi, just before they are executed by the Austrian army in Ciceruacchio (Emilio Ghione, 1915). Caption: And Ciceruacchio said: Luigi, my son! Let your courage at this moment be the same as when I separated you from your mother. Like never before, the ardent faith of the fatherland will bring you happily to your death.


Italian postcard. Caricature by Sandro Properzi, edited by the journal Le Maschere. Sandro Properzi was not only a prolific Italian caricaturist and designer of postcards, sheet music, and posters (e.g. for Poltrona Frau), he was also the art director of the films L'Inferno (1911) - faithfully recreating the settings from Gustave Doré's art, La Sacra Bibbia (1920) and I quattro moschettieri (1936). Properzi was also an artist who exhibited his paintings and watercolors at the yearly exhibition of the Permanente in Milano in 1915, 1923, and 1925.

Able to bring to the stage the most violent passions of the Roman people

Gastone Monaldi was born in Passignano sul Trasimeno, in 1882. Descended from a noble Perugian family, Gastone was the son of Marquis Gino Monaldi, an opera impresario and commentator on Verdi's operas, and the ballerina Cesira Presiotti. Gastone enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine and was about to graduate. But, ppassionate about theatre since childhood, he felt the desire to abandon everything and he devoted himself to the stage.

A pupil of Ferruccio Garavaglia, he was in Giacinta Pezzana's company at the time when they were trying to revive Roman dialectical theatre in 1908. An impetuous and passionate character, Gastone was able to bring to the stage the most violent passions of the Roman people and embody their deepest feelings: honour, love, jealousy, and revenge. He was able to immerse himself perfectly in the difficult social reality of early twentieth-century Rome, with its slums and underworld. He made the figure of the 'bullo' (bully) his own (a bully that was not a caricature, but one of those that populated the crime columns of the newspapers of the time), which he brought into the limelight with great effectiveness, earning considerable popular success.

Some of his most important titles are: 'Giggi er bullo' (satirised by the well-known Petrolini comedy), 'I vaschi della buiosa', 'Nino er boja!', 'Er più de Trestevere' (which retraced the life of Tinèa, a well-known Roman bully), 'L'Ombra paurosa', 'A lo sbarajo' in collaboration with Nino Ilari, and also 'Cielo senza stelle', and 'La festa del bacio', written in collaboration with Ciprelli, Giustiniani, Ojetti and Smith.

In 1908 he took part in the first performance of D'Annunzio's 'La nave' (The Ship) and in 1909 he set up his own company, known as the 'Teatro del Popolo' (Theatre of the People), which was soon highly regarded by the critics of the time'. From 1912, the company included Fernanda Battiferri, who was to become his wife in April 1918.

The company performed all over Italy and even in America, during a tour that was enormously successful, thanks also to the numerous Italian colonies and to the fascination that, in the age of gangsters, the Roman bullies (who made it a point of honour not to use the 'cacafòco', the gun, but always the knife) and the stories of the Italian underworld could exercise in the New World. In the meantime, Gastone had begun his collaboration in the world of silent films, which would lead him, within ten years, to take part in around thirty films, some of which he directed himself.


Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film. Gastone Monaldi as Cicueracchio in Ciceruacchio (Emilio Ghione, 1915). Caption: People of Rome! Do you want to bend to slavery by the stranger? No! Do you want to swear with me to die for freedom? Yes! Yes!


Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film. Gastone Monaldi as Ciceruacchio in the Italian WWI historical propaganda film Ciceruacchio (Emilio Ghione, 1915). Caption: The opulent Papal Court. Ciceruacchio with Pius IX. It is not known who played the pope. Ciceruacchio/Martire del piombo austriaco (Martyr of Austrian bullets) was an Italian historical film, dealing with victims of the Austrian occupation of Italy, and intended to raise anti-Austrians sentiment during the First World War (when the Northwest part of Italy - the present province of Friuli - was still under Austrian occupation).


Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film. Gastone Monaldi in Ciceruacchio (Emilio Ghione, 1915). Caption: A sweet dream that became an even sweeter reality. Center, Gastone Monaldi as the title character. The woman left of him maybe Fernanda Battiferri.


Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film. Gastone Monaldi as Cicueracchio and Alberto Collo as his son Luigi in Ciceruacchio (Emilio Ghione, 1915). Caption: The arrest of Angelo Brunetti named Ciceruacchio and his son.

Historical films for Cines and Film d'arte italiana

In 1910 Gastone Monaldi started his film career at Film d'arte italiana, the Roman succursale of Pathé Frères. Here, Monaldi was directed by Ugo Falena in e.g. Il ratto delle Sabine/The Rape of the Sabines (1910) and Salomè (1910) with Vittoria Lepanto. He acted in films with Francesca Bertiniin the female lead such as Folchetto di Narbona/Folchetto of Narbonne (Ugo Falena, 1910) and Pia de'Tolomei/Pia dei Tolomei (Gerolamo Lo Savio, 1910). Parallel, Monaldi started in 1910 also a film career at the Cines company, in e.g. Amore e liberta/For Love and Country (Mario Caserini, 1910), La sposa del Nilo/The Bride of the Nile (Enrico Guazzoni, 1911) with Bruto Castellani, Antigone (Mario Caserini, 1911), and several films for which the director is unknown such as La bella Galleana/Beautiful Galliana (1911), and Più che la morte/Stronger than Death (1912).

He often played in the historical genre, for which both companies were well-known. Mostly, he acted as an antagonist to the female or male leading actor. In the two-reeler railroad drama I due macchinisti/Two Engine Drivers (Enrique Santos, 1912), Monaldi played the bad guy opposite Amleto Novelli as the male lead. Novelli by that time had become Cines' leading male actor and would become the lead of Guazzoni's mega-epic Quo vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, 1913), while Monaldi instead would have a break.

In 1915, after Italy had joined the Allies in the First World war, Monaldi returned to the sets in a series of war propaganda films by Emilio Ghione, made for Tiber Film: Tresa, Cicueraccchio, Spine e lagrime/Thorns and tears, and Il naufragatore/The castaway, with Monaldi's wife Fernanda Battiferri co-acting. After some incidental films in 1916-1917, Monaldi had another break, after which he returned with his own company Monaldi Film, for which he directed his last seven films in 1919-1920, again with Battiferri in the female lead and Monaldi himself as the male star.

In 1918 Monaldi directed on the stage Augusto Jandolo's 'Meo Patacca'. On 15 December 1923, at the Teatro Morgana in Rome. Monaldi's company also gave the first performance in Italian of Luigi Pirandello's 'Il Berretto a sonagli' (The Rattlesnake Cap). His popularity was such that on 22 July 1927 Mussolini sent him a letter admonishing him to use in the right way the great communicative and propaganda tool he identified in the theatre.

Gastone Monaldi passed away in Sarteano in the Italian region Tuscany in 1932. He was the father of the actress Gisella Monaldi. Many of his plays are kept in the Burcardo Library and Theatre Museum. A street in Rome near EUR is named after Monaldi.


Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Torino, no. 115.


Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film. Gastone Monaldi as Cicueracchio in Ciceruacchio (Emilio Ghione, 1915). Caption: Drinking the wine of the Castelli [romani], I greet you all, beautiful people of Trastevere!


Italian postcard. Photo: Tiber Film. Gastone Monaldi as Ciceruacchio and Alberto Collo as his son Luigi are shot by an Austrian squadron in Ciceruacchio (Emilio Ghione, 1915). Caption: The most coward spirit of the Austrians, our eternal enemies, like always and still does confirm its cowardice.

Sources: Aldo Bernardini (Cinema Muto Italiano Protagonisti - Italian), Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb.

Winona Ryder

March 3, 2022, 10:00 pm

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Delicate American actress Winona Ryder (1971) is known for her dark hair, brown eyes and pale skin. She starred in films such as Beetlejuice (1988), Heathers (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), and the television series Stranger Things. In 1994, she won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in the film The Age of Innocence (1993), and Ryder was nominated twice for an Oscar.


Vintage postcard.


British postcard by TV Hits. Photo: Firooz Zahedi / Onyx.


Belgian postcard by MultiChoice Kaleidoscope. Photo: Isopress / Outline (Low).

Killing popular schoolgirls

Winona Ryder was born Winona Laura Horowitz in Winona (Olmsted County), Minnesota, in 1971. Yes, her name is very much the same as her birthplace. Her parents, Cindy Horowitz (Istas), an author and video producer, and Michael Horowitz, a publisher and bookseller, were part of the hippie movement. She has a brother named Uri Horowitz (1976), who got his first name after Yuri Gagarin, a half-sister named Sunyata Palmer (1968), and a half-brother named Jubal Palmer (1970) from her mother Cindy's first marriage.

From 1978, Winona grew up in a commune near Mendocino in California, which had no electricity. When Winona was seven, her mother began to manage an old cinema in a nearby barn and would screen films all day. She allowed Winona to miss school to watch movies with her. In 1981, the family moved to Petaluma, California. Since Winona was considered an outsider in public school, she was sent to a public school and later to the American Conservatory Theater acting school.

She was discovered at the age of thirteen by a talent scout at a theatre performance at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. In 1985, she applied for a role in the film Desert Bloom (David Seltzer, 1986) with a video in which she performed a monologue from the book 'Franny and Zooey' by J. D. Salinger. Although the casting choice was fellow actress Annabeth Gish, director and writer David Seltzer recognised her talent and cast her as Rina in his film Lucas (David Seltzer, 1986) about a teenager (Corey Haim) and his life in high school.

When telephoned to ask what name she wanted to be called in the credits, she chose Ryder as her stage name because her father's Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels album was playing in the background. Her real hair colour is blonde but when she made Lucas (1986), her hair color was dyed black. She was told to keep it that colour and with the exception of Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990), it has stayed that colour since.

Her next film was Square Dance (Daniel Petrie, 1987), in which the protagonist she portrays lives a life between two worlds: on a traditional farm and in a big city. Ryder's performance received good reviews, although neither film was a commercial success. Her acting in Lucas led director Tim Burton to cast her in his film Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 1988). In this comedy, she played Lydia Deetz, who moves with her family into a house inhabited by ghosts (played by Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, and Michael Keaton). Ryder, as well as the film, received positive reviews, and Beetlejuice was also successful at the box office.

In 1989, she starred as Veronica Sawyer in the independent film Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1989) about a couple (Ryder and Christian Slater) who kill popular schoolgirls. Ryder's agent had previously advised her against the role. The film was a financial failure, but Ryder received positive reviews. The Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire! (Jim McBride, 1989) was also a flop. That same year, Ryder appeared in Mojo Nixon's music video 'Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child'. At the premiere of Great Balls of Fire (1989), Ryder met fellow actor and later film partner Johnny Depp. The couple became engaged a few months later, but their relationship ended in 1993. He had a tattoo of her name and after they broke up, he had this reduced to "Wino forever".


Canadian postcard by Canadian Postcard, no. A 272. Photo: Winona Ryder in Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1989).


Canadian postcard by Canadian Postcard, no. A 298.


British postcard by Film Review, set L, card 3. Photo: Entertainment Film Distributors. Winona Ryder in The House of the Spirits (Bille August, 1993), adapted from the novel by Isabel Allende.

A voicemail of Martin Scorsese

In 1990, Winona Ryder had her breakthrough performance alongside her boyfriend Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990). The fantasy film was an international box-office success. Ryder was selected for the role of Mary Corleone in The Godfather: Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990) but had to drop out of the role after catching the flu from the strain of doing the films Welcome Home Roxy (Jim Abrahams, 1990) and Mermaids (Richard Benjamin, 1990) back-to-back.

Ryder's performance alongside Cher and Christina Ricci in the family comedy Mermaids (1990) was praised by critics and she was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Supporting Actress category. Ryder also appeared with Cher and Ricci in the music video for 'The Shoop Shoop Song', the film's theme song. Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch wrote a role specifically for her in Night on Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1991), as a tattooed, chain-smoking cabdriver who dreams of becoming a mechanic.

Ryder was cast in a dual role as Mina Murray and Elisabeta in Bram Stoker's Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola, 1992). In 1993, she starred as Blanca in the drama The House of the Spirits (Bille August, 1993) alongsideAntonio Banderas, Meryl Streep, and Glenn Close. It is the film adaptation of Isabel Allende's bestseller of the same name.

Together with Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis, she starred in Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese, 1993), the film adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel. She was Martin Scorsese's first and only choice for the role of May Welland. For years, she kept the message he left on her voicemail, informing her she got the role. Her part earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Oscar nomination.

She also earned positive reviews for her role in the comedy Reality Bites (Ben Stiller, 1994). She received critical acclaim and another Oscar nomination the same year as Jo in the drama Little Women (Gillian Armstrong, 1994). In 1996, she starred alongside Daniel Day-Lewis and Joan Allen in The Crucible (Nicholas Hytner, 1996), an adaptation of Arthur Miller's stage play about the Puritan witch hunt in Salem. The film was not a success; however, Ryder's performance was favourably reviewed.

A year later she portrayed an android in the successful horror film Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997) alongside Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. In 1998 she starred in Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998) after Drew Barrymore turned down the role. In 1999 she starred as a psychiatric patient with the borderline syndrome in the drama Girl, Interrupted (James Mangold, 1999), based on Susanna Kaysen's autobiographical novel. Girl, Interrupted, the first film on which she served as executive producer, was supposed to be Ryder's comeback in Hollywood after the flops of the past years. However, the film became the breakthrough for her colleague Angelina Jolie, who won an Oscar for her role. In this decade, she was involved with Dave Pirner, the lead singer of the group Soul Asylum, from 1993 to 1996 and with Matt Damon from December 1997 to April 2000.


Vintage postcard, no. 1030.


Vintage postcard by iauioasinu, no. 0042.


British postcard by Heroes Publishing LTD, London, no SPC 2856.


British postcard by Pyramid, Leicester, no. PC 8209. Photo: Joyce Silverstein. Caption: Winona Ryder - Cream Dress.

A career setback and a comeback

Winona Ryder appeared alongside Richard Gere in Autumn in New York (Joan Chen, 2000), a romance about an older man's love for a younger woman. She also made a cameo appearance in the comedy Zoolander (Ben Stiller, 2000). The comedy Mr. Deeds (Steven Brill, 2002) with Adam Sandler became her biggest financial success to date. The film failed with critics and Ryder was nominated for the Golden Raspberry award.

Also in 2002, she was sentenced to three years probation and 480 hours of work for repeatedly shoplifting $5,000 worth of clothes. The incident caused a career setback. She withdrew from the public eye in the following years and did not appear in front of the camera again until 2006. In that year, she appeared in the novel adaptation A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006) alongside Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Harrelson.

In 2009, she made an appearance in Star Trek: The Future Begins (J. J. Abrams, 2009) as Spock (Zachary Quinto)'s mother Amanda Grayson. The prequel became a huge success at the box office and Ryder earned a Scream Award for Best Guest Appearance. She also appeared alongside Robin Wright and Julianne Moore in Rebecca Miller's Pippa Lee (2009), and alongside Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan (2010).

Ryder starred in the television film When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story (John Kent Harrison, 2010), for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She starred in the comedy The Dilemma (Ron Howard, 2011), and the thrillers The Iceman (Ariel Vromen, 2012) and The Letter (Jay Anania, 2012) opposite James Franco. In Tim Burton's Frankenweenie (2012) she lent her voice to the character Elsa Van Helsing.

Since 2016, Winona Ryder has embodied the main character, Joyce Byers, in the Netflix series Stranger Things (2016-2022), for which she received positive responses. Her role in the series has been described by many as a comeback. Since 2011 Winona Ryder is in a relationship with Scott MacKinlay Hahn.


Vintage postcard in the Movie's Images series, no. 52. Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon, Sigourney Weaver, and Winona Ryder in Alien - Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997).


Vintage postcard in the Movie's Images series, no. 53. Winona Ryder in Alien - Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997).


Vintage postcard in the Movie's Images series, no. 59. Winona Ryder and Sigourney Weaver in Alien - Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997).


British freecard by Boomerang. Winona Ryder in Girl, Interrupted (James Mangold, 1999). Captions: The crazy thing is, you're not crazy. Girl, Interrupted. Based on a true story. Opens March 24 at Cinemas across the country.

Sources: Pedro Borges (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

Mirror, mirror, Part 1

March 4, 2022, 10:00 pm

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The use of mirrors has become established in films. It developed as a device in the European silent cinema in the 1910s to distinguish the new medium from theatre and to connect film more with painting. When mirrors are used for visual dialogues between off-screen and on-screen characters and for creating excitement and voyeurism in silent films, the off-screen other often enters the frame, although the central character does not. It then developed both in the regular and in the avant-garde cinema in the 1920s and early 1930s, particularly in Germany in the films by F.W. Murnau, G.W. Pabst, and Fritz Lang, but also in the French avant-garde films, especially in the films by Jean Cocteau. For this post, Ivo Blom selected postcards in which the mirror is an important and intriguing device in the picture. Next week, Marlen Pilaete presents her selection.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2835. Photo: Union. Pola Negri in Die Augen der Mumie Ma/The Eyes of the Mummy (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918). Collection: Didier Hanson.

Polish film actress Pola Negri (1894-1987) achieved notoriety as a femme fatale in silent films between 1910s and 1930s.


German postcard in the Film-Sterne sewries by Rotophot, no. 537/3. Photo: Amboss-Film, Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi and Ria Jende in Der Ring der drei Wünsche (Arthur Wellin, 1918).

Albanian-Austrian Alexander Moissi (1879-1935) was one of the great European stage actors of the early-20th century. The attractive and charismatic women's idol also appeared in several silent and early sound films. German-Belgian actress Ria Jende (1898-?) was a star and producer of the silent German cinema. She appeared in 40 films before she married and retired.


Italian postcard by Vettori, Bologna, no. 1057. Photo: Zambini, Parma.

Alda Borelli (1879-1964) was an Italian stage and screen actress, who peaked on stage in the 1920s, and also acted in a handful of silent films in the 1910s. She was the sister of Italian film diva Lyda Borelli.


German postcard by Verlag Ross, no. 289/1. Photo: Fern Andra Atelier.


German postcard by Verlag Ross, no. 289/2. Photo: Fern Andra Atelier.


German postcard by Verlag Ross, no. 289/3. Photo: Fern Andra Atelier.

'Modern' American actress Fern Andra (1893-1974) became one of the most popular film stars of the German cinema in the 1910s and early 1920s. In her films she mastered tight roping, riding a horse without a saddle, driving cars and motorcycles, bobsleighing, and even boxing.


French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Ausonia (Mario Guaita) in the French silent film La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).

Athletic muscleman Mario Guaita aka Ausonia (1881-1956) was an Italian actor, director, producer and scriptwriter in the silent era. He had his international breakthrough with Spartaco (Enrico Vidali 1913) and became a major actor in the Italian Forzuto genre. In the early 1920s he moved to Marseille, made a few films there and ran a cinema.

The woman and her reflection

Of course, mirrors are often typical elements of film sets. People dress in front of mirrors, check their faces and clothes, comb their hair, shave, and apply or remove makeup.

But mirrors can also be used in narrative and metaphorical ways, such as emphasising a character’s introspection, showing his or her guilt or desire, providing passages to other worlds, and calling ghosts from the past or intimations of the future.

Mirrors embody a filmmaker’s preference for a more synthetic approach with deep staging and lengthy shots instead of analytical editing that fragments scenes and actors into several shots.

They also suggest that the film space does not stop at the frame’s borders, through incorporating off-screen space and off-screen characters. They add a dimension to the filmic space, showing parts that otherwise would remain hidden; they break the stage’s traditional fourth wall.

The woman and her reflection was a favourite motif in many films. These images were disseminated through postcards and illustrations in trade papers and fan magazines. They conveyed a positive, even seductive, image of a self-possessed woman who looks in the mirror or at the viewer, with the mirror often doubling or tripling the view by revealing her face, figure or legs.

Mirrors also emphasized the opulence of the setting as an asset; large mirrors were associated with luxurious decors. Theatrical promotions that placed actors in front of mirrors were also a popular motif.

Thus, in the twenties, the French magazine Comoedia issued a large series of postcards with stage actors photographed in their locker rooms entitled, ‘Nos artistes dans leur loge’. Invariably, the dressing room mirror was used to double the image - but also the status - of the actor or actress.

Luchino Visconti uses mirrors not only to show people confronting their inner selves but also other people. Someone stands onscreen, the other off-screen but appears onscreen through his or her reflection, talking to the on-screen character. Since characters talk to each other without the classical device of analytical editing (in which the camera alternates between characters and shows them in separate, closer shots), this alternative can be considered as a kind of interior editing: the unity of time, place, and action is maintained. We have a synthetic, rather than analytical, structure reminiscent of the theatre.


French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 98. Photo: Comoedia.

Camille Bos (born 1899) was a French ballet dancer. At the age of 10 (other sources say: 8), she entered the ballet school of the Paris Opera. In 1920 she was named 'première danseuse', and in 1925 she was promoted to 'danseuse étoile / star dancer'. Bos participated in numerous performances e.g. 'Siang-Sin' (1927), 'L'écran des jeunes filles' (1929), 'La Grisi' (choreography by Albert d'Aveline, 1935), etc. Her partners were among the famous ones of those decades such as Serge Peretti and Serge Lifar with whom she danced in 'Le Spectre de la Rose' (1931) by Michel Fokine. At the age of 36 she stopped dancing to dedicate herself to teaching. For 12 years she taught at the Opéra de Paris. Her only known film performance was as a dancer in the Zola adaptation Nantas (Donatien, 1925) starring Donatien, Lucienne Legrand, and Maxime Desjardins. In 1935 she was recorded for an early television experiment.


French postcard in the Series Nos artistes dans leur loge, no. 104. Photo: Comoedia.

Mary-Hett (?-?) was a French actress and operetta singer. Already around 1900, Mary Hett aka Mary-Hett was a popular Parisian café-concert singer and would remain so for decades.


French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series by Editions La Fayette, Paris, no. 140. Photo: Comoedia.

Max Dearly (1874-1943) was a French actor, famous for his parts in 1930s French sound film but also for his previous career in Parisian vaudeville.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1361/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.

Elegant German actress Claire Rommer(1904-1996) appeared in about 50 German film productions during the 1920s and the early 1930s. Her successful career suddenly ended with the seizure of power by the Nazis.


Latvian postcard by IRA, Riga, no. 2354. Rolf Wanka is misspelled as 'Ralf Wanka'. The lady in the reflection seems Martha Eggerth, so this could be for the film Die ganze Welt dreht sich um Liebe (Viktor Tourjansky, 1935), in which both starred.

Austrian actor Rolf Wanka (1901-1982) was a handsome, suave star of the European cinema of the 1930s and the 1950s. He often played supporting parts as well-dressed, dignified gentlemen, and appeared in more than 100 films and television shows between 1931 and 1976.


Publicity still used in Germany, distributed by Rank, mark of the German censor FSK. Thomas Milian& Romy Schneider in Luchino Visconti's episode Il Lavoro in the episode film Boccaccio 70 (1962).

Milian plays a bored aristocrat, caught in a scandal with callgirls. Schneider plays his rich and equally bored Austrian wife, who tries to seduce her husband and make him pay for love just like he did with his callgirls. It works but leaves the woman with bitterness. The set of the film was terribly costly because of all the authentic, valuable objects present.


Via Saraceno, Ferrare, Italy. Photo: Paul van Yperen.

In this street, scenes of Luchino Visconti's film debut Ossessione (1942) were filmed.


German postcard by Salz und Silber Verlag. Photo: Simon Annand. Caption: Orlando Bloom, Duke of York's Theatre, Celebration, 2007.

English actor Orlando Bloom (1977) made his breakthrough as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings film series and rose to fame as Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. He established himself as a leading man in Hollywood with roles such as Paris in Troy (2004) and Balian de Ibelin in Kingdom of Heaven (2005). He later reprised his role as Legolas in The Hobbit film series and starred in the series Carnival Row (2019).

Source: Ivo Blom, Reframing Luchino Visconti: Film and Art (Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2018).

26 black and white cards by Acin

March 5, 2022, 10:00 pm

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Last week, EFSP presented a selection of colour postcards by Casa Filmului Acin from Romania, one of the best-known film postcard publishers from Communist Eastern Europe. Acin also produced countless black and white cards with scenes from European films of the late-1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. It's great that some of the classics of Ingmar Bergman, Luis Buñuel and Michelangelo Antonioni were included but also Spaghetti Westerns with Franco Nero and Bud Spencer & Terence Hill, Eurospy films, the Angélique adventures, and the Louis de Funès comedies.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 53. Photo: Bibi Andersson in Smultronstället/Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Monica Vittiand Alain Delon in L'eclisse/The Eclypse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Alain Delon in L'eclisse/The Eclypse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 470. Photo: Elsa Martinelli and Anthony Perkins in Le procès/The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962). Sent by mail in 1972.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 471. Photo: Jeanne Moreau and Anthony Perkins in Le procès/The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 261. Wilfrid Hyde-White and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 313. Photo: Alain Delon and Shirley MacLaine in The Yellow Rolls-Royce (Anthony Asquith, 1964).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 322. Photo: Monica Vitti and Richard Harris in Il deserto rosso/Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 445. Photo: Daniel Ivernel and Jeanne Moreau in Le journal d'une femme de chambre/The Diary of a Chambermaid (Luis Buñuel, 1964).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 502. Elke Sommer.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 209. Anna Karina.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 265. Photo: Anna Karina in La Religieuse/The Nun (Jacques Rivette, 1966).


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


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Daniela Bianchi and Jacques Bergerac in Missione speciale Lady Chaplin/Operation Lady Chaplin (Alberto De Martino, Sergio Grieco, 1966).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Stefania Sandrelli.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Mireille Darc.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 350. Raquel Welch at the set of Bedazzled (Stanley Donen, 1967).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Tina Aumont and Franco Nero in L'uomo, l'orgoglio, la vendetta/Man, Pride & Vengeance (Luigi Bazzoni, 1967).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Richard Johnson and Suzanna LeighDeadlier than the male (Ralph Thomas, 1967).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Robert Hossein and Michèle Mercier in Indomptable Angelique/Untamable Angélique (Bernard Borderie, 1967).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 427. Photo: Franco Nero and Claudia Cardinale in Il giorno della civetta/The Day of the Owl (Damiano Damiani, 1968).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 541. Retail price: 1,50 Lei. Photo: Louis de Funès and Geneviève Grad in Le gendarme se marie/The Gendarme Gets Married (Jean Girault, 1968).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 429. Dominique Sanda in Une femme douce/A Gentle Creature (Robert Bresson, 1969).


Romanian postcard by Cas Filmului Acin, no. 436. Photo: Lino Ventura, Jean Gabin and Alain Delon in Le clan des Siciliens/The Sicilian Clan (Henri Verneuil, 1969).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 448. Photo: Jane Birkin in Slogan (Pierre Grimblat, 1969).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Bud Spencer and Terence Hill in Continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità/Trinity is still my name (Enzo Barboni a.k.a. E.B. Clucher, 1971).

And check out our earlier post on Acin or visit Flickr where you can see more Acin postcards our Acin album or in the Casa Filmului Acin group.

Ricky Nelson

March 6, 2022, 10:00 pm

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American singer Ricky Nelson (1940-1985) was one of the first teenage stars in America. He started his career in his parents' television series The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. In the late 1950s, he had such hits as 'Hello Mary Lou' and he starred in the Western Rio Bravo (1959) with John Wayne.


Dutch postcard, no. 961. Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959).


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 5229.


Dutch postcard by N.V. v. h. Weenenk & Snel, Baarn. Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959).

One of the first teenage stars in America

Eric Hilliard 'Ricky' Nelson was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, in 1940. His father, Ozzie Nelson, was a bandleader, and his mother, Harriet Hilliard, was a singer in his father's band.

As a child, Ricky and his older brother David performed in their parents' radio show (1940-1952), in the film Here Come the Nelsons (Frederick De Cordova, 1959), and in the television series 'The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet' (1952-1966). All episodes of the series were written by Ozzie Nelson, who also directed and often incorporated Ricky's actual songs into the shows.

Ricky became one of the first teenage stars in America when his rock and roll career took off in 1957. His first single, which he wanted to impress his girlfriend with, was released in April 1957 by the Verve record company and had 'I'm Walkin' (originally by Fats Domino) as its B-side.

Nelson's cover version rose to #4 on the best-selling charts and reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The A-side, featuring the song 'Teenager's Romance', was even more successful and rose to #2 on the best-selling charts and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. His appearance with the songs on his parents' television show played no small part in the rapid success of his first record.

In the following years, he became extremely popular with well-known hits like 'Hello Mary Lou', 'Travelin' Man' and 'Poor Little Fool'. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had 29 Top 40 hits, and only Elvis Presley and Pat Boone sold more records in the United States. Compared to his success in the US, his international success remained rather modest. His most successful song in Europe was 'Hello Mary Lou'(1961).

Ricky Nelson also worked as an actor. In 1959, he starred in the film Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959) with John Wayne and Dean Martin, and he performed the songs 'My Rifle, My Pony and Me' and 'Cindy, Cindy'. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Newcomer for his performance in the film. Alongside Jack Lemmon, Nelson starred in the comedy The Wackiest Ship In The Army (Richard Murphy, 1960).


Vintage postcard. Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959).


West-German postcard by ISV, no. H 44. Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959).


Vintage postcard. Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959).

The first video clip ever made

With the release of the LP 'Rick is 21', Nelson dropped the "y" from his name and released under the name 'Rick Nelson' from September 1961. He made a promo clip for the hit 'Travelin' Man' (1961), which is considered the first video clip ever made. The promo clip consists of images of places that are sung about in the song.

In 1963 he signed a 20-year contract with Decca Records, but after 'For You' (1964) he had no more major hits. The 'British Invasion' of the English beat groups also meant a career break for him, as for many other teenage idols. In 1966, the last episode of the TV series 'The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet' ran, leaving him without an important mainstay of his success.

Nelson changed his musical style and went from Rock and Roll more into country music. His fans did not appreciate this very much. He took on two more roles in TV Westerns also starring his wife Kristin Harmon, The Over-The-Hill-Gang (Richard Murphy, 1969) starring Walter Brennan, and The Resurrection of Bronco Billy (James R. Rokos, 1970) starring Johnny Crawford.

Nelson wrote the song 'Garden Party' (1972), in response to the unwillingness of the public to grant him a new repertoire. The song promptly became a hit, Two years later, another modest success followed with 'Windfall'. In the 1970s and 1980s, he fell into oblivion, until 1985, when he successfully participated in a series of golden oldie concerts in England. This led to a similar tour in the southern United States.

During this tour, on New Year's Eve 1985, he died in a plane crash in Texas. His girlfriend Helen Blair and all the members of the Stone Canyon Band died with him. He was 45 years old. From 1963 to 1981, Nelson was married to Kristin Harmon, the older sister of actor Mark Harmon. Their twin sons, Gunnar and Matthew, later formed the pop group Nelson, which had a number one hit in America in 1990 with '(Can't live without your) love and affection'. Their daughter, Tracy Nelson, starred in the series Father Dowling Mysteries. Ricky Nelson was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood.


French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 42.


Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. C 15, 1961.


West-German postcard by ISV, no. H 65.


Dutch postcard, no. 504.


French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 175.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

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Erna Morena

March 7, 2022, 10:00 pm

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It's International Women’s Day! EFSP celebrates one of the most unusual stars of silent German cinema. Erna Morena (1885-1962) had a star appeal as later Greta Garbo had. Although her name is now largely forgotten, Morena appeared in about 120 films during five decades. She had an enormous career in the German silent cinema of the 1910s and 1920s as both an actress, producer, and screenwriter, and until the mid-1930s she was regularly performing in German sound films.


German postcard by Messter Film GmbH. Photo: Schenker, 1914.


German postcard by NPG, no. 280. Photo: A. (Alex) Binder, Berlin.


German postcard in the Moderne Künstler series by MMB, no. 463. Photo: F.J. Wesselsky.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1740. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1060/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

Bewildered by her subtle performance

Erna Morena was born Ernestine Maria Fuchs in a bourgeois family in Wörth am Main, Germany, in 1885. At the age of 17, she went to München (Munich) to attend the Kunstgewerbeschule (art school). Later, she spent six months in Paris, until finally at the end of the first decade she moved to Berlin and worked there as a nurse.

In 1910, Morena started her acting career at the Schauspielschule des Deutschen Theaters (the acting school of the German Theatre) and swiftly got an engagement at the Ensemble Max Reinhardt.

She made her film debut in 1913. Her first film was Sphynx/The Sphinx (Eugen Illés, 1913), and she went on to play in several more dramas by Eugen Illés for the Duskes company.

In 1914, she moved to the Messter Film company, where she appeared with Emil Jannings and Theodoor Loos in Arme Eva/Poor Eva (Robert Wiene, 1914) and with Hella Moja in Die weiße Rose/The White Rose (Franz Hofer, 1915).

From 1915 to 1921 she was married to editor and stage author Wilhelm Herzog, who had also invented her stage name, Erna Morena. All her Messter-films were distributed under the trademark of 'Erna Morena Film Serie', rivalling the series ofAsta Nielsenand Henny Porten.

Around 1917 she moved to PAGU, where she starred in an adaptation of Franz Wedekind's play 'Lulu' (Alexander Antalffy, 1917) opposite Harry Liedtke and Emil Jannings, and in Paul Leni's Prima Vera (Paul Leni, 1917), based on Alexandre Dumas, fils''La Dame aux camélias' (Camille). Critics were bewildered by her subtle performance.

Morena also dabbled as a producer: in 1918 she founded Erna Morena Film GmbH in Berlin, supported by some friends as partners. She produced films like Colomba (Arzén von Cserépy, 1918) with Werner Krauss, and Die 999. Nacht/The 999th Night (Fred Sauer, 1920) with Hans Albers. Because of the economic crisis after the German November Revolution of 1918-1919, she had to stop producing after two years.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 150. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1982. Photo: Union Film. Erna Morena in Prima Vera (Paul Leni, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1986. Photo: Union-Film. Erna Morena in Rafaela/Wer weiss? (Arsen von Cserépy, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1990. Photo: Union Film. Erna Morena, Emil Jannings and Harry Liedtke in Der Ring der Giuditta Foscari (Alfred Halm, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 2923. Photo: Erna Morena-Film. Erna Morena in Die 999. Nacht/The 999th night (Fred Sauer, 1920).


German postcard by NPG, no. 257. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

Her long neck and dark looks

Erna Morena was one of the most unusual stars of silent German cinema. Dark-haired, tall, and with distinctive facial features, she had a star appeal as later Greta Garbo had.

Morena was most successful with her films by director Richard Oswald in the late 1910s and early 1920s, such as Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen/Diary of a Lost Woman (Richard Oswald, 1918) a forerunner of the version by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, and the horror film Nachtgestalten/Figures of the Night (1920) starring Paul Wegener.

She also starred in some classic Expressionist films including Nerven/Nerves (Robert Reinert, 1919), Von morgens bis Mitternacht/From Morn to Midnight (Karl Heinz Martin, 1920) with Ernst Deutsch, and Der Gang in die Nacht/The Dark Road (F.W. Murnau, 1921) with Olaf Fönss and Conrad Veidt.

With her long neck and dark looks she often played exotic beauties, as in Die Lieblingsfrau des Maharadscha, 3./The Favourite Wife of the Maharajah (Max Mack, 1921), and Das Indische Grabmal, 1. and 2./The Indian Tomb (Joe May, 1921), but also regal beauties in historical dramas as Fridericus Rex 1., 2., 3. and 4. (Arzén von Cserépy, 1922-1923) with Otto Gebühr, Wallenstein 1. and 2. (Rolf Randolf, 1925), Bismarck 1. and 2. (Ernst Wendt, 1925), and Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg/The destiny of the Habsburgs (Rolf Raffé, 1928) in which she played Empress Elisabeth - Sissi.

Of course there were also contemporary set stories like Der Berg des Schicksals/The Mountain of Destiny (Arnold Fanck, 1924) with Luis Trenker, the film that inspired Leni Riefenstahl to pursue a career in film; Mutter und Kind/Mother and Child (Carl Froehlich, 1924); Man spielt nicht mit Liebe/One Does Not Play with Love (G.W. Pabst, 1926) starring Werner Krauss and Lili Damita; Grand Hotel (Johannes Guter, 1927) with a script by Bela Balazs, and Somnambul/The Somnambulist (Adolf Trotz, 1929) with Fritz Kortner.

She also played in one Dutch film, De bruut/The brute (1922) directed by Theo Frenkel, who had an active career in Germany in the 1920s, and in the French film Le fauteuil 47/ Chair no. 47 (Gaston Ravel, 1926) with Dolly Davis.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 529/2. Photo: Richard Oswald-Film. Erna Morena in Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen/The Diary of a Lost Woman (Richard Oswald, 1918), based on the homonymous novel (1905) by Margarete Böhme. In 1929, G.W. Pabst would film another adaptation, starring Louise Brooks, while already in 1912 an earlier adaptation by Fritz Bernhardt had taken place.


German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 1738. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 1739. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 1741. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 34/1. Photo: Ass-Film, Berlin. Erna Morena and Maria Forescu in the German silent film Götz von Berlichingen zubenannt mit der eisernen Hand (Hubert Moest, 1925), an adaptation of Goethe's historical play set in medieval times. Morena played the countess Ravenstein and Forescu a farmer's wife.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 42/3. Photo: Karl Schenker / Bismarck-Film. Erna Morena as Johanna von Bismarck, née Puttkamer in the German biopic Bismarck, Teil. 1 (Ernst Wendt, 1925). Signed by Erna Morena.

Her heydays were over

Erna Morena seems to have made the passage to sound cinema quite smoothly as there was no big arrest in her number of film roles.

Still, from the young star and protagonist of the films of the late-1910s and early 1920s she had to be satisfied now with playing mothers, secondary roles. Her heydays were over.

Among her more interesting films of this period are Das Lied der Nationen/The Song of the Nations (Rudolf Meinert, 1931) with Camilla Horn, Eine Nacht im Paradies/A Night in Paradise (Carl Lamac, 1932) starringAnny Ondra, Drei Kaiserjäger/Three Imperial Light Infantrymen (Franz Hofer, Robert Land, 1933), and the operetta Abschiedswalzer/Farewell Waltz (Géza von Bolváry, 1934).

In the mid-1930s, she opened a pension for artists in München (Munich), and only returned to the film set for small parts in a handful of films, including the notorious Jud Süss (Veit Harlan, 1940).

After the war, she appeared in only one film, Veit Harlan's Unsterbliche Geliebte/Eternal Beloved (1951), an emblematic title as the film meant Morena's goodbye.

One decade later, Erna Morena died in München, in 1962. Between 1913 and 1951 she had appeared in about 120 films. She had a daughter, Eva-Maria Herzog.

In 2006 filmmakers Bettina Neuhaus and Natasja Giebels made a poetic film portrait about the life story and personality of Erna Morena, Schwarzer Schwan/Black Swan.


German postcard in the Film Sterne Series by Rotophot, no. 79/2. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin / P.A.G. Union.


German postcard in the Film Sterne Series by Rotophot, no. 79/5. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin / P.A.G. Union. Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard in the Film Sterne Series by Rotophot, no. 79/6. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin / P.A.G. Union.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 311/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Wasow, München (Munich). Erna Morena and her daughter.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3002/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3423/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4019/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Balazs, Berlin.

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

Unter Geiern (1964)

March 8, 2022, 10:00 pm

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The Euro-Western Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) is based on one of the Winnetou novels by Karl May. It starred Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, Elke Sommer, Götz George and Pierre Brice as Winnetou. Unter Geiern, released in the US as Frontier Hellcat, was a co-production between West Germany, France, Italy, and Yugoslavia, and was shot in Germany and Yugoslavia.


German postcard, no. 1 (of 64). Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: After a warm farewell of his wife and daughter, farmer Baumann (Walter Barnes), called 'the bear hunter', rides with his son Martin (Götz George) to the bear hunt.


German postcard, no. 2. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Traces of torn lambs lead Baumann and his friend Winnetou, who has joined the hunt, directly to the cave of the bear. In a bold fight, the monster is killed.


German postcard, no. 3. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Shots rip the silence of the valley. Five white riders are pursued by Indians. One of them falls off his horse, but Winnetou does not know the dead.


German postcard, no. 4. Photo: Constantin. Götz George and Walter BarnesUnter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Clouds of smoke in the direction of the Baumann Ranch herald disaster. From a horrible foreboding seized, the three hunters ride at a furious gallop back to the farm.


German postcard, no. 6. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Milan Srdoc (a.k.a. Paddy Fox) as Old Wabble in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the same time, Annie, the daughter of a wealthy diamond merchant, is on the way to Arizona with a money-load. She is accompanied through the by the Vultures dominated ravine by the droll Old Wabble.


German postcard, no. 10. Photo: Constantin. Gojko Mitic, Stewart Granger and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Winnetou has watched the raid from a hill. Everyone agrees that it can only be the infamous Vultures gang. Wokadeh should also be eliminated because he knew too much of the bandit raid on Baumann's Ranch.


German postcard, no. 11. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When she arrives at Baumann's farm, Annie, who can ride and shoot like a sheriff, becomes a young girl again. In her room, she hides the money she carried on her body during the journey under the mattress.


German postcard, no. 13. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The watchful Annie secretly observes the vulture Weller, who has crept as a Mormon preacher on Baumann's farm. Allegedly, he is supposed to look after the diamond trek to Arizona. By a flippant remark from Old Wabble, he learns of Annie's treasure.


German postcard, no. 14. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When an officer soon appears and reports that the governor has decided to escort the settlers' trek through the vulture territory with a squadron, Old Surehand also becomes alert.


German postcard, no. 15. Photo: Constantin. Götz George (left) and Miha Baloh (right) in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: It does not escape Annie's eyes, that the officer hands a note to the 'preacher'. Old Surehand recognizes a Vulture member in him. In the resulting fight, the fake soldier is killed, but the preacher can escape unnoticed.

Old Surehand

Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) was the fourth in the series of 1960s European Westerns based on Karl May's Winnetou character.

For the first time, Stewart Granger stars as Old Surehand, although in Karl May's novel Old Shatterhand occurs as the main character. As 'Surehand', his hand is so sure that he can split an arrow aimed at him with a bullet in mid-air! Even Robin Hood would have been flabbergasted.

So Granger took over from Lex Barker as Winnetou's white 'blood brother', although his age and stature did not resemble those of Karl May's character. In the books, Surehand is a man with a troubled past, a tormented soul seeking redemption. But the Old Surehand played by Granger is, on the contrary, quite a jolly good fellow, who’s wearing Sunday trousers under buckskin.

The female lead role was played by Elke Sommer, and co-producer Artur Brauner asked Pierre Brice to return as Apache Chief Winnetou.

The young Mario Girotti, now better known as Terence Hill, played a supporting part as Baker Jr and the Romanian Gojko Mitic played the Indian Wokadeh. In the following years, Mitic became one of the most beloved film stars of Eastern Europe as an Indian rebel in several Defa Westerns.

In Unter Geiern/Among Vultures, the experienced trapper Old Surehand and Winnetou investigate the murders of a frontier mother and daughter in Llano Estacado, a border area to New Mexico and Texas. The surviving husband, farmer Baumann, believes that his wife and daughter were murdered by Indians of the Shoshone tribe, but Old Surehand suspects that it is the work of a gang of bandits known as 'The Vultures' (in German Die Geier), who disguise themselves as Indians while committing their crimes.

When attractive Annie (Elke Sommer), who was to deliver precious diamonds to Baumann, is kidnapped by the Vultures, Winnetou, Old Surehand and their friend Old Wabble pursue the gang. Meanwhile, the young Martin Baumann (Götz George) tries to free Annie.


German postcard, no. 16. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman, Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr., Milan Srdoc as Old Wabble, Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, and Walter Barnes as Martin Bauman Sr. in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: On the note that the 'preacher' has forgotten in a hurry, is written that the Vultures are planning another robbery. Baumann, shaken out of his grief by these incidents, sets off with Old Surerhand, Old Wabble, and his servants to warn the trek.


German postcard, no. 17. Photo: Constantin. Dunja Rajter as Betsy and Sieghardt Rupp as Preston (second from right) in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In an abandoned gold-mining town lies the headquarters of the Vulture gang. Their boss is called Preston. The individual gang members have just received their orders on how to sneak into the trek in order to lure it into an ambush.


German postcard, no. 18. Photo: Constantin. Renato Baldini in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Judge Leader and his companions fall for the hypocritical suggestion of some gang members to confide in their leadership. This is how Leader gets into the vultures' quarters.


German postcard, no. 20. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The adventurous Annie would have liked to be there. While Martin is at work, two vultures are chasing in a wild gallop. Annie still does not know what will be imminent in the next few minutes.


German postcard, no. 23. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Bravely, Annie defends herself against the bandits who surround her on all sides. She is locked up in a room on the first floor. In vain she tries to explain to the vultures that she does not carry the money at all.


German postcard, no. 24. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In the meantime, Martin has also reached the vulture's quarters. To gain their trust, he pretends to be a horse thief. Unfortunately, this ruse fails and he is overpowered by the vultures.


German postcard, no. 26. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the last moment Winnetou, who has observed the incident, intervenes. His shot into a powder box causes a violent explosion, which creates the intended chaos among the vultures.


German postcard, no. 27. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Martin and Annie can escape. Winnetou advises Martin to seek his father and warn him against the Shoshone, as Wokadeh has sworn revenge.


German postcard, no. 28. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand and his companion are followed on the way to trek by Shoshone. With his famous 'safe hands' Old Surehand makes an Indian incapacitating. But Baumann is kidnapped and taken to the camp of Shoshone.


German postcard, no. 29. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand does everything in his power to free Baumann from his dangerous situation. To his delight, he also discovers his friend Winnetou in the camp of the Shoshone, who has tried in vain to dissuade Wakadeh from his act of revenge.


German postcard, no. 30. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand, who has communicated with Winnetou by sign, waits for midnight under the shelter of the rock. Then Wokadeh takes over the wake in the tent - that is the moment when Old Surehand must act.


German postcard, no. 31. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Gojko Mitic as Wokadeh in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The bound Baumann sits opposite the dead chief as Wokadeh takes over the guard. Old Surehand silently approaches the tent, overpowers the sentry, binds Wokadeh, and kidnaps him.


German postcard, no. 32. Photo: Constantin. Walter Barnes as Baumann in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In panic, Baumann tugs at his shackles. When he recognises Old Surehand, he gains new hope.


German postcard, no. 34. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Unlucky Old Wabble, believing Old Surehand to be in danger, sneaks into the Indian camp with two servants and is overpowered.


German postcard, no. 37. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger. Caption: Only Old Surehand's arms are free for his rifle that he can use to ward off the arrows, but may not use for shooting. With cunning and great skill, Old Surehand defends his skin. None of the arrows hits.


German postcard, no. 38. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Gojko Mitic in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: God's judgement has spoken: Old Surehand is free and hurries to the trek.


German postcard, no. 39. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: To shorten the way to the trek, the vultures ride through the 'Valley of Death', where the chiefs of the Shoshone are laid out. They destroy everything in their path.

German postcard, no. 40. Photo: Constantin. Gojko Mitic and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Wokadeh and his warriors, the chief at Winnetou's side, ride into the 'valley of death' to bury Oitka-Peteh. The valley is a place of Desolation. Wokadeh now recognizes the true bandits, he lets Baumann free and promises Winnetou to help in the hunt for the Vultures.


German postcard, no. 41. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: From a hill, Annie and Martin watch the settlers' camp. They do not know yet that several members of the vulture gang have crept unnoticed in the trek.


German postcard, no. 42. Photo: Constantin. Renato Baldini, Götz George, and Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When Martin wants to warn the trek about the vultures, the fake priest also shows up and accuses Martin of stealing horses. Judge Leader pronounces sentence on Martin.


German postcard, no. 43 (of 64). Photo: Constantin / Rialto. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: All too glad, the vultures are ready to hang Martin.


German postcard, no. 44. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer and Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the last moment Annie intervenes. In front of everyone, she reports that the "preacher" is really the vulture Weller and a murderer. Her firm and determined manner makes even Judge Leader doubt Martin's guilt.


German postcard, no. 45. Photo: Rialto. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures(Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Some settlers, who have also become suspicious, hold Weller in check. They decide to keep an eye on both Martin and the Vulture.


German postcard, no. 46. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr., Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, and Mario Girotti in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand reaches the trek in time to warn them of the ambush by the band of vultures. The trek elder agrees to overpower the vulture members who have smuggled themselves into the trek.


German postcard, no. 48. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. and Stewart Granger as Old Surehand in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At this moment Old Surehand grabs hold: with cunning and hard fists the three vultures are overpowered. They are tied up and taken along in the wagon train.


German postcard, no. 49. Photo: Constantin. Götz George, Walter Barnes, Renato Baldini and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Father Baumann has also joined the trek in the meantime. Together with Old Surehand, he is finally able to convince Judge Leader that Martin is innocent. A ruse is used to postpone the vulture attack until the next day when Winnetou comes to the rescue with the Shosones.


German postcard, no. 50. Photo: Constantin. Mila Baloh and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand forces Weller to tell the gang that, due to military reinforcements, the vultures are not to attack the trek at night but only at dawn.


German postcard, no. 52. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At dawn, the vultures attack with torches and in great numbers. Although the trek was well prepared, there are many dead and wounded. Soon the settlers run out of ammunition. The situation becomes threatening.


German postcard, no. 53. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The trek can hardly defend itself against the attacks of the vultures. But at the last minute, Winnetou rushes to the rescue with the Shoshones. The leader of the vultures and some bandits are put to flight.


German postcard, no. 54. Photo: Constantin. Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The false preacher Weller also flees in the general turmoil of battle and is able to save himself in the nearby mountains with the remaining vultures.


German postcard, no. 56. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In a hard fight man against man, Martin is finally overpowered by the vultures and used as a hostage by them.


German postcard, no. 57. Photo: Constantin. At right, Sieghardt Rupp as Preston in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Preston, the boss of the Vultures, calls Old Surehand to come alone in Felsental (Rocky Valley) to rescue Martin.


German postcard, no. 60. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou and Miha Baloh as Weller in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Weller cannot escape his fate either. He is recognised as a long-sought thief and murderer. When the jewellery of the murdered Mrs. Baumann is found in his possession, Father Baumann is shocked to realise that Winnetou was right.


German postcard, no. 61. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The battle, which has claimed many victims on the side of the settlers and traders, is over. Old Surehand says goodbye to his friend Winnetou, who has helped him more than once.


German postcard, no. 62 (of 64). Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand keeps the promise he made to Judge Leader, who was mortally wounded in the fight: He will bring the trek safely through the rocky mountains to Arizona.

Breathtaking cinematography

The first Karl May Western, Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962) had been the most successful German film of the 1962/1963 season.

Director Harald Reinl and producer Horst Wendlandt then created a series of Euro-Westerns, all based on the novels by Karl May. Their next film, Winnetou - 1. Teil/Apache Gold (Harald Reinl, 1963) was in fact a prequel to Der Schatz im Silbersee which introduced Apache chief Winnetou and told how he met Old Shatterhand.

The script of Unter Geiern combines elements from two different Karl May novels, but Old Surehand appears in neither of them. The reason for this is quite prosaic: originally Lex Barker, who had played Old Shatterhand in the first two films, would appear once again as Old Shatterhand alongside Pierre Brice, in a film called Winnetou und der Bärenjäger/Winnetou and the Bear Hunter, but Wendlandt thought Stewart Granger was a big catch and asked his screenwriters to rework the entire script and write Granger/Old Surehand into it.

Most critics decided that Unter Geiern could not hold a candle to the earlier Karl May films. The chemistry between Pierre Brice and Stewart Granger did not quite match that of Brice and Lex Barker.

At IMDb, reviewer Henri Sauvage, writes: "cinematography is occasionally breathtaking. (If possible, you should try to catch this in letterbox format, just for the gorgeous scenery.) The action sequences come off fairly well, too, and the bad guys are appropriately villainous."

Scherpschutter in his review at the Spaghetti Western Database: "Loyal fans of the series often call this one of the better entries. I can only partially agree. The film was aimed at a slightly more mature audience than the previous movies. The slaughter of the Baumann family (although not shown) is quite shocking, and the shootout near the end between the Vultures and the settlers is remarkably violent. But the bulk of the movie is the usual heroic Karl May stuff, with Old Surehand put to a survival test by the Shoshones, and Winnetou leading the Indian braves in true cavalry style to the aid of the settlers when all seems lost. And then there’s Stewart Granger… Reportedly Granger was paid $ 75.000 for the part, which makes him the best-paid actor of the series, and he virtually directed his own scenes. He had completely different ideas about the movie than most other people on the set, and his approach led to a rather incongruous movie, with a dramatic storyline of a young man, Martin Baumann, seeking the murderers of his family members, and a lot of funny and would-be funny scenes – featuring Surehand - thrown in."

Unter Geiern was a success in the German cinemas and was awarded the Goldene Leinwand (Golden Screen) for more than 3 million visitors in a year. The Karl May series was to be continued...


German postcard by ISV, no. C 3. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 4. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 5. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Gojko Mitic, Stewart Granger, and Pierre Brice.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 8. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Elke Sommer and Stewart Granger.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 9. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Pierre Brice, Götz George and Walter Barnes in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

German postcard by ISV, no. C 11. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger and Götz George.

German postcard by ISV, no. C 13. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Elke Sommer and Götz George.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 16. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Götz George.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 20. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Götz George.


German postcard. Photo: Elke Sommer, Götz George and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).


German collectors card. Photo: Constantin / Rialto. Götz George in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

Sources: Scherpschutter (Spaghettiwestern.net), Spaghettiwestern.net, Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.

Maurice Costello

March 9, 2022, 10:00 pm

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Maurice Costello (1877-1950) was a prominent American vaudeville actor of the late 1890s and early 1900s. Later, he became a famous matinee idol and director at The Vitagraph Co. of America.


French postcard, probably issued by Vitagraph's subsidiary in Paris, no. 3. Photo: Vitagraph.


British Postcard by Cinema Chat. Photo: Stacy.

The father of screen acting

Maurice George Costello was born in 1877 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants Ellen (née Fitzgerald) and Thomas Costello. His father Thomas died while repairing a blast furnace at Andrew Carnegie's Union Iron Mill when Maurice was just five months old. He had a strongly Irish upbringing, living with his mother, her Irish brother, and many Irish immigrant boarders.

After various jobs as messenger, office boy, and the like, Costello made his stage debut in local Pittsburgh vaudeville in 1894 singing Irish songs like 'Here Lies the Mick That Threw the Brick (He'll Never Throw Another).' Finding some success in the theatre, he toured on stage in 'Scotland Yard', 'The Kentucky Feud', and 'The Cowboy and the Lady'. While appearing in the latter play he married Mae Altshuk in 1902. It would prove to be a stormy union.

Though some sources claim he started at Edison in 1905, most sources agree that Costello made his film debut in 1908 at the company Vitagraph. At first, he specialised in Shakespearean roles, and in his first year he starred in adaptations of Richard III (J. Stuart Blackton, William V. Ranous, 1908), Antony and Cleopatra (J. Stuart Blackton, Charles Kent, 1908), Julius Caesar (J. Stuart Blackton, William V. Ranous, 1908), The Merchant of Venice (J. Stuart Blackton, 1908), King Lear (J. Stuart Blackton, William V. Ranous, 1909), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Charles Kent, J. Stuart Blackton, 1909).

He then broadened his range to take in contemporary melodrama and sophisticated comedy. Nicknamed "Dimples" by his colleagues, Costello was adored by early filmgoers. Quickly he became one of its leading men players, opposite actresses such as first Florence Turner, and later on Clara Kimball Young, Norma Talmadge, and Lilian Walker. Among his male co-actors were William V. Ranous, Leo Delaney, Charles Eldridge, Tom Powers, and Van Dyke Brooke. He won the cinema's first-ever popularity poll, conducted by Motion Picture Story magazine in 1912, with more than 400,000 votes cast in his favour, but the results are rather suspect, however, since the magazine was owned by Vitagraph.

Costello was notorious for his refusal to help build sets, insisting that he was "hired as an actor and nothing else", despite the common practice of the time. However, Costello proved to be a popular player and he was among the first actors to receive on-screen credit beginning in 1911. From this and his role as the creator of the first known school of screen acting, Costello is sometimes credited as "the father of screen acting".

In 1909, Costello discovered Moe Howard of the Three Stooges, who, as a teenager, ran errands and got lunches for the actors at the Vitagraph Studios at no charge. This impressed Costello who brought him in and introduced him to other leading actors of the day. Moe then gained small parts in many of the Vitagraph movies, under the name Harry Howard, ;but most of these were destroyed by a fire that swept the studios in 1910.

On the Desmet Playlist of the Dutch EYE Filmmuseum, you can find several of Costello's shorts for Vitagraph, such as Lulu's Doctor (1912) also with little Dolores Costello, The Picture Idol (1912), It All Came Out in the Wash (1912), When Persistency and Obstinacy Meet (1912), A Vitagraph Romance (1912), Mrs. 'Enry 'Awkins (1912), The Days of Terror (1912), Aunty's Romance (1912), The Meeting of the Ways (1912), also with Dolores and Helene Costello, The Lonely Princess (1913) shot in Venice, Italy, and Delayed Proposals (1913). Some are in tinted versions.

With Mae Costello (née Altschuk),he had two daughters, Dolores(born in 1905), and Helene (born in 1903) would, as children, act in his films. On 23 November 1913, Costello was arrested for beating his wife. Costello admitted that he had beaten his wife while intoxicated. Mae Costello requested that the charges be dropped to disorderly conduct, and Costello was given six months probation by Magistrate Geisner of the Coney Island Police Court. Costello's domestic troubles wreaked havoc with his public approval.


British postcard in the Novelty Series, no. D6-9. Photo: Vitagraph Films.


British postcard, editor unknown. Caption: Maurice Costello, of the Vitagraph Players.

Playing second fiddle and finally bit parts

With Robert Gaillard, Maurice Costello co-directed many films at Vitagraph, as of 1910, both shorts and features. Among some of his best-known pictures are Les Miserables (3 parts, 1909), A Tale of Two Cities (William Humphrey, 1911), For Love and Glory (Van Dyke Brooke, 1911), The Golden Pathway (1913), and Iron and Steel (Maurice Costello, Robert Gaillard, 1914).

The Man Who Couldn't Beat God (Maurice Costello, Robert Gaillard, 1915) was Costello's last film direction. He suffered a nervous breakdown and was absent from the screen for a year. When he returned, he seemed suddenly aged. He starred in the Erbograph-Consolidated serial The Crimson Stain Mystery (1916), but the bad publicity had already done its damage. Costello and his wife reconciled for a time. After another absence between 1916 and 1919, Costello returned to the screen and to Vitagraph, but now only as an actor, opposite actresses such as Corinne Griffith.

His last film for Vitagraph was probably The Tower of Jewels (Tom Terriss, 1920). In the 1920s Costello worked for various small production companies but also several times for Paramount, often playing second fiddle to the male and female star, e.g. as Armand's father in Fred Niblo's Camille (1926), starring Norma Talmadge and Gilbert Roland. He continued to act in the silent film until 1928.

In 1925 he attempted a comeback in vaudeville with a dramatic sketch called 'The Battle'. The act opened in Staten Island, but it stirred little interest. In 1928 he tried another dramatic sketch, 'The Pay Off'. This opened in Tacoma, Washington, and again did nothing to revive his career.

In 1927, he and Mae divorced. He was strongly opposed to the marriage of daughter Dolores Costello to John Barrymore. Maurice knew of Barrymore's history of womanising and heavy drinking and was strongly put off by the fact that Barrymore was closer in age to him than his daughter, and he frequently begged his daughter not to go through with it, saying that it would not last. She went against his wishes and married Barrymore anyway.

Like a lot of other silent screen stars, Costello had found the transition to 'talkies' extremely difficult, and his leading man status was over when sound set in. Between 1928 and 1934 Maurice Costello was away from the film sets. Apart from incidental bit parts in the mid-1930s, he did a whole range of uncredited parts in American films since then. Costello suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 1932 while eating in a Beverly Hills drug store, but the stroke was minor and he recovered fully. He came out of retirement to take a small role in Hollywood Boulevard (Robert Florey, 1936) and also did some radio work.

By the late 1930s, his career had declined to the point where he was reduced to taking unbilled work as a background extra for a day or two at a few dollars a day. By 1939 he was so broke that he had to sue his daughters for financial support. In 1939, he married thirty-year-old Ruth Reeves, an operator at the Central Casting Agency. Robert S. Birchard at Hollywood Heritage: "In 1941 the second Mrs. Costello sought a Tijuana divorce claiming that Costello was "unreasonably and insanely jealous" and that he threatened her with a .22 rifle."

From 1946 to the end of his life Maurice Costello lived in retirement as a resident of the Motion Picture Country House in Los Angeles. In 1950 Costello died at the age of 73 there, due to a heart problem. His descendants include two daughters, actresses Dolores Costelloand Helene Costello, a grandson, actor John Drew Barrymore, and a great-granddaughter, film actress Drew Barrymore.

Spanish postcard by PH.


American postcard by Kraus Mfg. Co., New York. Photo: Vitagraph.


American postcard by Kraus Mfg. Co., New York. Photo: Vitagraph Players.


American postcard by Vitagraph Co., no. 39. The name written on the card is not Costello's original name.

Sources: Robert S. Birchard (Hollywood Heritage - WaybackMachine), Bobb Edwards (Find A Grave), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Dale Evans

March 10, 2022, 10:00 pm

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American actress, singer, and songwriter Dale Evans (1912-2001) was nicknamed 'the Queen of the West'. She was the third wife of Roy Rogers. Alongside her husband, she appeared in numerous musical Westerns of the 1940s and in The Roy Rogers Show (1951-1957) on TV.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L., Merksem (Antwerp). Photo: Republic Pictures.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 596. Photo: British Lion Republic. Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger.

A productive career as a jazz, swing, and big band singer

Dale Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith in 1912 in Uvalde, Texas, to Bettie Sue Wood and T. Hillman Smith. She had a tumultuous early life. She spent a lot of time living with her uncle, Dr. L.D. Massey MD FACP, an internal medicine physician, in Osceola, Arkansas.

At age 14, she eloped with and married Thomas F. Fox, with whom she had one son, Thomas F. Fox Jr., when she was 15. A year later, abandoned by her husband, she found herself in Memphis, Tennessee, a single parent pursuing a career in music. She landed a job with local radio stations (WMC and WREC), singing and playing the piano.

Divorced in 1929, she began her career singing at radio station WHAS where she was employed as a secretary. She took the name Dale Evans after the station manager suggested it because he believed she could promote her singing career with a short pleasant-sounding name that announcers and disc jockeys could easily pronounce.

Evans had a productive career as a jazz, swing, and big band singer that led to a screen test and contract with 20th Century Fox studios in 1942. She gained exposure on radio as the featured singer for a time on the Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy show.

Throughout this early period, Evans went through two additional failed marriages, first with August Wayne Johns from 1929 to 1935; then with accompanist and arranger Robert Dale Butts from 1937 to 1946. Neither marriage produced children.

During her time at 20th Century Fox, the studio promoted her as the unmarried supporter of her teenage 'brother' Tommy, actually her son Tom Fox, Jr., a deception that continued through her divorce from Butts in 1946 and her development as a cowgirl co-star to Roy Rogers at Republic Studios.


Vintage postcard, no KF 36. Photo: Republic Pictures.

Two icons of American pop culture

At 20th Century Fox, Dale Evans did not get good parts. She was barely visible in her film debut Orchestra Wives (Archie Mayo, 1942) She had to settle for leading roles at Republic Studios, a 'B' factory. She wasn't keen on Westerns, but Westerns were what she got.

In 1944, she was cast as leading lady to rising cowboy star Roy Rogers in Cowboy and the Senorita (Joseph Kane, 1944). She and Rogers clicked and she became his steady on-screen companion in such films as The Yellow Rose of Texas (Joseph Kane, 1944), Don't Fence Me In (John English, 1945), and My Pal Trigger (Frank McDonald, 1946). The two would become icons of American pop culture.

In 1946, Rogers' wife died and Evans' marriage to Butts ended about the same time. Roy and Dale married on New Year's Eve 1947 at the Flying L Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, where they had earlier filmed the film Home in Oklahoma (William Witney, 1946). The marriage was Rogers' third and Evans' fourth but it was successful; the two were a team on- and off-screen from 1946 until Rogers' death in 1998.

Shortly after the wedding, Evans ended the deception regarding her son Tommy. Roy had an adopted daughter, Cheryl, and two biological children, Linda and Roy Jr. (Dusty), from his second marriage. Together they had one child, Robin Elizabeth, who died of complications of Down syndrome shortly before her second birthday.

Their marriage was dogged by tragedy, including the loss of three children before adulthood. In 1965, son John David died at the age of 18 while in the army and stationed in Germany. Daughter Debbie, originally named In Ai Lee, who was of Korean and Puerto Rican ancestry, died in a bus crash in 1964. Her life inspired Dale Evans to write her bestseller 'Angel Unaware'.

Evans was very influential in changing public perceptions of children with developmental disabilities and served as a role model for many parents. After she wrote 'Angel Unaware', a group then known as the 'Oklahoma County Council for Mentally Retarded Children' adopted its better-known name 'Dale Rogers Training Center' in her honour. She went on to write a number of religious and inspirational books, and she and Roy appeared many times with Billy Graham in Crusades all over the country, singing gospel songs and giving their testimony. Evans and Rogers adopted four other children: Mimi, Dodie, Sandy, and Debbie.


British Real Photograph postcard. Photo: Republic Pictures. Caption: Greetings from Dale Evans.


Vintage postcard, no. 3498. Photo: Republic Pictures.

Happy Trails

From 1951-1957, Dale Evans and Roy Rogers starred in the highly-successful television series The Roy Rogers Show, in which they continued their cowboy and cowgirl roles, with her riding her trusty buckskin horse, Buttermilk. Alice Van-Springsteen served as a double for both Evans and Gail Davis, the actress who starred in the syndicated series Annie Oakley, often performing such tasks as tipping over wagons and jumping railroad tracks.

In addition to her successful TV shows, more than 30 films, and some 200 songs, Evans wrote the well-known song 'Happy Trails'. In later episodes of the program, she was outspoken in her Christianity, telling people that God would assist them with their troubles and imploring adults and children to turn to Him for guidance.

In late 1962, the couple co-hosted a comedy-western-variety program, The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, which aired on ABC. It was canceled after three months, losing in the ratings to the first season of The Jackie Gleason Show. The couple's headquarters became The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, California near their Apple Valley home which chronicled their lives.

In the 1970s, Evans recorded several solo albums of religious music. In 1976, Roy and Dale were inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. During the 1980s, the couple introduced their films weekly on the former The Nashville Network. In the 1990s, Evans hosted her own religious television program, A Date with Dale.

Dale Evans died of congestive heart failure in 2001, at the age of 88, in Apple Valley, California. She is interred at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Apple Valley, next to Roy Rogers. Following Dale's death, the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum moved to Branson, Missouri. Dale Evans was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6638 Hollywood Boulevard and for Television at 1737 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.


American postcard by Mike Roberts, Berkeley / Inland Distributing Co., Lancaster, CA, for the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum, Victorville, Calif., no C27256. Caption: Roy and Dale.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Jim Beaver (IMDb), Donald Greyfield (Find A Grave), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

La Collectionneuse: Mirror, Mirror, Part 2

March 11, 2022, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Jackie Coogan's 1924 European Tour

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The use of mirrors has become established in films. It developed as a device in the European silent cinema in the 1910s to distinguish the new medium from theatre and to connect film more with painting. Mirrors are often used for visual dialogues between off-screen and on-screen characters and for creating excitement and voyeurism in films. Last week, Ivo Blom selected postcards in which the mirror is an important and intriguing device in the picture. Today, Marlene Pilaete presents her interesting selection of 15 actresses and mirrors. Marlene: ""Here is a selection of my own “mirror” film star cards. I hope you’ll enjoy them."


French postcard, no. 153. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères. Caption: “Les jolies jambes de Mistinguett” (“Mistinguett’s pretty legs”).

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


British postcard by Lilywhite Ltd., no. C.M. 433 F.

Poppy Wyndham (1893-1928) starred in several British pictures in 1919 and 1920. She then turned to interior design before developing a passion for flying. An aviation pioneer, she died while trying to cross the Atlantic by plane in 1928.


Indian postcard by Jugatram & Co., Bombay, no. 295. Caption: Miss Jubeda, prominent Indian screen star.

Zubeida (1911-1988) was a major Indian film star from 1924 to the mid-1930s. She notably was the heroine of Alam Ara/The Light of the World (Ardeshir Irani, 1931), the first Indian talkie.


Danish postcard by J. Chr. Olsens Kunstforlag, Eneret, no. 472.

Dorothy Dalton was an American actress of the silent screen, at Kay-Bee, Thomas Ince Corp, and Famous Players/ Paramount. In the early 1920s she was a huge film star.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5551. Photo: Fox.

Brunette, petite American actress Sharon Lynn (1901-1963) was featured in several Fox movies from 1928 to 1930, including musicals such as Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 (1929), Happy Days (1929) and Let’s Go Places (1930). However, her most famous role is certainly the evil saloon singer Lola Marcel in Way Out West (1937) with Laurel and Hardy.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5999. Photo: Ifuk Verleih / Delog Film.

Blond, German actress Charlotte Susa (1898-1967), was a major operetta star of the German-speaking world, and also a popular femme fatale of the German silent and early sound film.


Postcard by I.P., no. 1002b. Photo: MGM.

Mary Carlisle (1914-2018) entered films at the age of fifteen as the result of a try-out of a drama. She and Ann Dvorak were chosen out of 600 applicants. Her first role was with Jackie Coogan in Long Live the King (1923), and after playing leads in short subjects appeared in Grand Hotel (1932), East of Fifth Avenue (1933), and other films, and soon started making a name for herself in featured roles.


British postcard by Raphael Tuck & Sons, no. 10. Photo: Gaumont-British.

Evelyn Laye (1900–1996) was one of England's most popular stars of musical revue and operetta during the 1920s. She did a few screen appearances in both London and Hollywood, including in the classic musical Evensong (1934).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9314/1, 1935-1936. Photo: Paramount.

Sylvia Sidney (1910-1999) was an American stage, screen, and film actress whose career spanned over 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s, such as An American Tragedy (1931), City Streets (1931), Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage (1936), and Fritz Lang's Fury (1936) and You Only Live Once (1937). She later gained attention for her role as Juno, a caseworker in the afterlife, in Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice (1988), and she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2289/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Paramount.

American actress and singer Dorothy Lamour (1914-1996) is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... comedies, starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. During World War II, Lamour was among the most popular pin-up girls among American servicemen.


Italian postcard. Photo: M. de Nisco.

A popular revue performer, Vera Rol (1920-1973) had leading roles in two Italian films in the second part of the 1940s: Malaspina (1947) and Nennella (1948).


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 436.

American actress Judith Braun (1930) is known for her film and TV roles in the 1950s and early 1960s. She was married to Walter Bernstein.


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 490.

Sophia Loren (1934) rose to fame in post-war Italy as a voluptuous sex goddess. Soon after, she became one of the most successful stars of the 20th Century, who won an Oscar for her mother role in La ciociara/Two Women (Vittorio De Sica, 1960).


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 51/14.

American actress Shelley Winters (1920-2006) appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television. She was a major film presence for six decades, and turned herself from a Blonde Bombshell into a widely-respected actress who won two Oscars, for The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and A Patch of Blue (1965). Less known, Winters also appeared in several European films, including Alfie (1966) and Roman Polanski's Le Locataire (1976).



Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 1034.

Rita Pavone (1945) was one of the biggest teenage stars in Europe during the 1960s, and one of the few Italian pop stars to gain a foothold in the American market. Pavone also starred in several 'Musicarellos'.

See more posts by Marlene Pilaete in our special section La Collectionneuse.