European Film Star Postcards

Yesterday French actress Michèle Morgan (1920-2016) has died. The classic blonde beauty has been one of her country's most popular leading ladies for over five decades. The delicate, sophisticated, and detached star was especially noted for her large, expressive eyes. Today, the second part of our in memoriam for Michèle Morgan, who was 96.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 451. Photo: Sam Lévin.

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

French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), no. 66. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 616. Photo: Sam Lévin.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 810. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Publicity still for Les orgueilleux/The Proud Ones (Yves Allégret, Rafael E. Portas, 1953).

No Goodbye Girl

During the 1950s, Michèle Morgan continued to be a major star of the European cinema. She regularly co-starred with her husband, Henri Vidal. Their films together include La belle que voilà/Here Is The Beauty (Jean-Paul Le Chanois, 1950), L'étrange Mme X/The Strange Madame X (Jean Grémillon, 1951), the lavish historical epic Napoléon (Sacha Guitry, 1955) in which she played Josephine, and Pourquoi viens-tu si tard?/Why Do You Come So Late? (Henri Decoin, 1959).

She appeared opposite idol Gérard Philipe in Les Orgueilleux/The Proud Ones (Yves Allégret, 1953) and in the bittersweet Les Grandes Manœuvres/Grand Maneuver(René Clair, 1955). Hal Erickson at AllMovie about the latter: "Phillipe plays a dashing dragoons officer, vintage 1913, who wagers his friends that he can make the next woman who enters the room fall in love with him. In strides drop-dead gorgeous Michele Morgan, and the rest writes itself. Phillipe plans a slow seduction and a quick goodbye; Morgan, need we say, is no 'goodbye girl'."

She starred in the historical film was Marie-Antoinette reine de France/Marie Antoinette Queen of France (Jean Delannoy, 1956). Morgan plays the Austrian princess who becomes the last Queen of France in waning years of the 18th century. She also appeared in the American production The Vintage (Jeffrey Hayden, 1957) with Pier Angeli and Mel Ferrer.

In the remake Menschem im Hotel/Grand Hotel (1959), Morgan played the role of Grusinskaya, which was originally portrayed by Greta Garbo in the award-winning 1932 classic Grand Hotel. Based on a book by Vicki Baum, all of the action takes place in the course of one day in a luxury hotel in Berlin. Grusinkaya is a ballerina staying at the hotel, other guests include a sophisticated thief (O.W. Fischer), a dying man (Heinz Rühmann), a businessman (Gert Fröbe), and a stenographer (Sonja Ziemann). Hal Erickson: "Events intertwine the lives of these strangers, bringing them together for some dramatic moments but not quite as effectively as in the 1932 film."

Henri Vidal suddenly died in 1959. A year later, Morgan married film director and actor/writer Gérard Oury and stayed with him till his death in 2006.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 579. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 418. Photo: Sam Lévin, Paris.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris (Licency holder in France for Ufa), no. FK 17A. Offered by Les carbones Korès 'Carboplane'. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Ufa.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 283. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Dutch postcard, no. 960.

French postcard by Editions P.I., offered by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, no. 1137. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Cravates Michèle Morgan

Michèle Morgan appeared in three films with her third husband, actor and director Gérard Oury: La belle que voilà/Here Is The Beauty (Jean-Paul Le Chanois, 1950), Le miroir à deux faces/The Mirror has Two Faces (André Cayatte, 1958) and Un homme et une femme, 20 ans déjà/A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later (Claude Lelouch, 1986). She also worked under his direction in a segment of Le crime ne paie pas/Crime Does Not Pay (Gérard Oury, 1962).

Her career took a downturn when the French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement came along in the late 1950s. Its key directors decided to cut ties with the classic French cinema, which many of them had largely despised since the days they had been serving as critics for the Cahiers du cinéma. The only film she did by a Nouvelle Vague auteur was Claude Chabrol's Landru (1963), about French serial killer Henri-Desire Landru (Charles Denner), who wined, dined, scammed, and dismembered over 10 women during WW I. Morgan played a victim, who's eventually burned down by Landru to go up in smoke.

Throughout the 1960s, Morgan continued working in the international cinema. She appeared in films like the Italian historical drama Il fornaretto di Venezia/The Scapegoat (Duccio Tessari, 1963) with Jacques Perrin, the American war drama Lost Command (Mark Robson, 1966) starring Anthony Quinn, and the French comedy Benjamin (Michel Deville, 1968) with Catherine Deneuve and Pierre Clémenti.

In 1968 she largely retired from the screen, but has occasionally returned in films like Le Chat et la souris/Cat and Mouse (Claude Lelouch, 1975) with Serge Reggiani, and Stanno tutti bene/Everbody's Fine (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1990) with Marcello Mastroianni. About the first, D.B. DuMonteil notes at IMDb: "Lelouch really plays cat and mouse with the audience as Detective Lechat (sic)(Regggiani) does with his still attractive suspect (or is it the other way about?). There are plenty of funny scenes and some witty lines. (...) Objections: there are not enough scenes where Reggiani and Morgan are together".

From the 1970s on, she has concentrated on painting, designing ties and writing poems. As a painter she has had several successful exhibitions in Paris. She established her own tie label Cravates Michèle Morgan in the late 1970s. In 1977 she published her autobiography Avec ces yeux-là (With Those Eyes). In the 1980s and 1990s she also appeared in different TV films and miniseries.

Michèle Morgan was named Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor) in 1969, and she was made an Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite (French National Order of Merit) in 1975. Morgan also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And in 1992 she was given a Honorary César Award for her long service to the French cinema.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 39. Photo: Star.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 1009. Photo: Sam Lévin.

French postcard by Z K, no. 1937.

Italian postcard by Rotalcolor, Milano, no. 72.

German postcard by ISV, no. B 15. Photo: MGM.

Trailer for Les Orgueilleux/The Proud Ones (Yves Allégret, 1953). Source: Plamen Plamenov (YouTube).

Trailer for The Vintage (1957). Source: Luis Peix (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), DB DuMonteil (IMDb), Wikipedia, AllMovie, and IMDb.

On 18 December French singer Léo Marjane (1912–2016) passed away. Marjane helped to introduce jazz in France, and recorded more than 180 songs between 1932 and mid-1950s. Her popularity reached a peak in the late 1930s and early 1940s. After World War II, her career went into sharp decline. Léo Marjane was 104.

French postcard by P.E.

French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 88. Photo: Teddy Piaz.

Alone Tonight

Léo Marjane was born Thérèse Maria Léonie Gendebien in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, in 1912.

Marjane began her career in the early 1930s singing in cabarets in Paris. She was noticed for her warm contralto voice and the clarity of her diction, and in 1936 she was signed to a contract with the Pathé-Marconi label.

Her early recordings – a mixture of original songs and standards of the era such as Begin the Beguine and Night and Day– were well received and popular. Her first hit was La Chapelle au clair de lune.

The peak of Marjane's career came in the early 1940s, when she was regarded as one of France's biggest female singing stars. In 1941, she recorded her signature song, the Charles Trenet-penned Seule ce soir (Alone Tonight), which captured the feelings of the many who were experiencing wartime separation and became one of the best-loved songs of its time.

She also appeared in a few films, including Feu Nicolas/Fire Nicolas (Jacques Houssin, 1943), starring Rellys.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 30. Photo: Gray Film. Publicity still for Feu Nicolas/Fire Nicolas (Jacques Houssin, 1943).

French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 76. Photo: Teddy Piaz.

Collaborator or no more than naïve?

Léo Marjane's success came to an abrupt halt following the Liberation of France in August 1944. She was accused of having appeared many times at venues frequented by German officers, and her numerous performances on German- and collaborator-controlled Radio Paris were also held against her.

Marjane maintained that she had been no more than naïve. Nevertheless, in the immediate aftermath of the end of World War II, the allegations and negative publicity in France led her to spend a period of time in England and Belgium, where she was largely unknown.

On her return to France Marjane resumed her recording career. Popular opinion had turned against her, however, and she found little further success. Also Marjane's style of music fell increasingly out of fashion as the 1950s progressed, although she continued to record critically praised but poor-selling material until the middle of the decade.

During this period she toured extensively in the United States, Canada and South America, and also had small roles in two films: Les deux gamines/The Two Girls (Maurice de Canonge, 1951) with Suzy Prim, and Jean Renoir's Elena et les hommes/Elena and Her Men (1956), starring Ingrid Bergman. She also appeared in Billy Wilder’s Love in the Afternoon (1957) with Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn.

In 1948 she had married to Baron Charles de la Doucette, and in 1961 she decided to abandon show business completely. The couple lived in the village of Barbizon, outside Paris, where they devoted themselves to horse breeding.

Marjane's legacy has been kept alive by devotees of French song. A career retrospective CD, Seule ce soir, was issued in France in 2004. Marjane has consistently shunned most requests for television, radio, or published media interviews. She did, however, give an interview to radio channel France Musique shortly before her 90th birthday in 2002.

Léo Marjane died in Barbizon at 104 years old. She was married twice. Her first husband was Raymond Gerard. With Baron Charles de la Doucette, she had a son, Philippe.

French postcard by O.P., Paris, no. 178. Photo: Teddy Piaz.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 810. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Sources: Le Monde (French), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

The West-German/Austrian co-production Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) is an adaptation of Erich Kästner's children's book with the same name. The novel was exceptionally progressive for its era, because it took children seriously, and unlike many other books of that time it didn't moralise or belittle them.

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 22. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Sabine Eggerth as Pünktchen and Peter Feldt as Anton. Caption: "What are you making?", Pünktchen asks. "Scrambled eggs", Anton says. Pünktchen did not see Anton at the summer place and therefore looked for him at his home. He's just about to cook lunch for his mother. Pünktchen had no idea that cooking could be so interesting.

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 47. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Sabine Eggerth as Pünktchen and Michael Janisch as Mr. Hollack. Caption: Pünktchen is particularly fond of talking to Mr. Hollack, the Chauffeur. To him, she prefers to ask the most tricky questions that the adults usually do not answer. Hollack does not always respond to their satisfaction, but he tries it at least.

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 66. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Heidemarie Hatheyer as Anton's mother and Maria Eis as Frau Übelmann. Caption: Actually, Anton's mother wanted to return the money quite openly. But now she is happy when, unseen by Mrs. Übelmann, she can push the ten mark banknote, supposedly stolen by her son Anton, under a stack of change.

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 73. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Sabine Eggerth as Pünktchen. Caption: A very thoughtful little bit lets herself be taken home by Chauffeur Hollack. "Mrs. Gast must really love her Anton", she suddenly says. "Now that's no reason to cry", replies Hollack. But Pünktchen really cries.

Cheap laughs and weak character elaborations

Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (1953) is probably the best known film by director Thomas Engel. He also worked on the script, together with Maria von der Osten-Sacken.

In the film, Mr. Pogge (Paul Klinger) and his wife Eva (Hertha Feiler) are so busy with themselves that they hardly have time to look after their nine-year-old daughter Luise called Pünktchen (Sabine Eggerth). They prefer to leave Pünktchen’s education to the nanny Miss Andacht (Jane Tilden).

But Miss Andacht does not take her duties very seriously. Several times a week, she meets in Café Sommerlatte with her fiancé Robert (Hans Putz). This dodgy man is only interested in her savings account and in the Villa Pogge, in order to be able to break in there on occasion.

One day, Pünktchen gets to know the twelve-year-old Anton Gast (Peter Feldt). His single mother (Heidemarie Hatheyer) usually works as a waitress in the Café Sommerlatte, but she is ill and has to stay in bed. So Anton helps in the cafe to finance his mother's recovery. Despite their social differences Luise, called befriends Anton, and together they undergo different adventures, even preventing a burglary by Robert in Pünktchens home.

Reviewer Thomas at IMDb: “This could have been a really nice and also touching story in the face of the two kids' different social backgrounds, but instead the makers went for cheap laughs and weak character elaborations for the entire film.” In 1999, director Caroline Link made a new version of Pünktchen und Anton. Thomas at IMDb again: “Sadly, all in all, it was equally disappointing as the one from the 1950s.”

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 76. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Hertha Feiler as Mrs. Pogger, Paul Klinger as Mr. Pogge and Claus Kaap as Klepperbein. Caption: Mr. and Mrs. Pogge go to the opera. Klepperbein sees them approaching through the front garden, and is busy. Like a puppy, he jumps around the two, thinking about how to squeeze a tip.

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 77. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Hans Putz as Robert and Jane Tilden as Miss Andacht. Caption: If the evil boys lure you ... The Pogges are in the opera, Bertha has an evening off, so Miss Andacht has to stay home tonight. But if the groom Robert comes to pick her up, then she can not resist.

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 80. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Peter Feldt as Anton. Caption: Well, thought Anton, Miss Andacht has another night out? As he continues to fulfil his duties, he keeps the couple, which is sitting in the niche next to the telephone booth, observing suspiciously. He does not know why.

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 85. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Peter Feldt as Anton. Caption: The attack command proceeds. Anton went along and showed the police the way. The house before them is dark and quiet. Would like to know how Bertha has done with the guy, he thinks.

German collectors card by Holsteinisches Margarinewerk Elbgau, Hamburg-Altona, no. 91. Photo: Rhombus-Ring-Film / Herzog-Film. Publicity still for Pünktchen und Anton/Punktchen and Anton (Thomas Engel, 1953) with Peter Feldt as Anton and Curt Eilers as Polizei-Wachtmeister (police superior). Caption: A cheers, a cheers of cosiness! Even Anton forgets that he should actually return to the 'Sommerlatte' and his work. My God, one does not sit every day opposite to a supervisor from the criminal investigation department.

Sources: Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

American actress Grace Kelly (1929-1982) had a brief but very successful Hollywood career. She was the sparkling, elegant heroin in three classic Alfred Hitchcock thrillers. Her talents rivalled her beauty, winning her a Best Actress Oscar for The Country Girl in 1954. Then Europe imported her. After marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956, she became Princess of Monaco and retired from the cinema.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden Westf., no. 1878. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Mogambo (John Ford, 1953).

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden Westf., no. 1878. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954).

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 584, Photo: Paramount, 1954.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, no. 498, Photo: Virgil Apger / Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Key-set portrait from High Society (Charles Walters, 1956).

Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit. (Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze), no. 3024. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Breeding, quality and class

Grace Patricia Kelly was born in 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Margaret Katherine Majer, who had taught physical education at the University of Pennsylvania, and John Brendan Kelly, Sr., who owned a successful brickwork contracting company and was a three-time Olympic Gold winner for rowing. Her uncle was Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright George Kelly.

At an early age, Grace decided to become an actress. After her high school graduation in 1947, she struck out on her own, heading to New York. Despite her parents' disapproval, she attended and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She worked as a model and in 1949, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of August Strindberg's The Father alongside Raymond Massey.

At 19, her graduation performance was as Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story. Grace also made a foray into the infant medium of television and appeared in 60 live drama productions between 1950 and 1953. Her success on television brought her to the attention of Hollywood.

Her first film was Fourteen Hours (Henry Hathaway, 1951) when she was 22. It was a small part, but a start nonetheless. The following year, she landed the role of Amy Kane in the now-classic Western High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952), opposite starring Gary Cooper. The film turned out to be very popular. Curiously, however, she did not benefit from the film's success, and no other offers were immediately forthcoming.

In 1953, Grace appeared in only one film, the popular jungle drama Mogambo (John Ford, 1953). She played Linda Nordley next to Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. Director John Ford said that she showed "breeding, quality and class." Her role won her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1954. Grace signed a seven-year contract with MGM.

Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 552.

Modern German postcard by K & B / Filmwelt Berlin Archiv für Film-Geschichte, no. KB 55. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for To Catch a Thief (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955). Caption: Best Actress of the Year 1955.

Yugoslavian postcard by Yugoturist, Beograd / Studio Sombor, no. 183.

West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden (Westf.), no. F 38. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Publicity still for High Society (Charles Walters, 1956).

Hitchcock's perfect blonde

It was master director Alfred Hitchcock who turned Grace Kelly into a major star. She was the perfect blonde he had been seeking throughout his career. Her first film for him was Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954), the screen adaptation of Frederick Knott's Broadway hit.

Then followed her standout performance as elegant socialite Lisa Fremont in the brilliant Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954). She was cast opposite James Stewart, who played a photographer who witnesses a murder in an apartment across the courtyard while convalescing in a wheelchair. TCM: “The dazzlingly designed Hitchcock classic would be a showcase of Kelly's beauty and her true personality.”

In 1954 Kelly appeared in five films. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Georgie Elgin, the wife of a washed-up crooner (Bing Crosby) in The Country Girl (George Seaton, 1954) a film version of Clifford Odets' Broadway hit. William Holden played a director of a Broadway play, who falls for Kelly's character after casting her depressed and alcoholic husband, - an uncomfortable love triangle that mirrored real life. Reportedly Kelly had affairs with both Holden and Crosby.

In 1955, Grace teamed for the third and final time with Hitchcock on To Catch a Thief (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955), co-starring Cary Grant. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “To Catch a Thief is actually as enjoyable and engaging now as it was 40 years ago. Though the Riviera location photography is pleasing, our favorite scene takes place in a Paramount Studios mockup of a luxury hotel suite, where Grant and Kelly make love while a fireworks display orgasmically erupts outside their window.”

In 1956, she again played Tracy Lord, now in the musical comedy High Society (Charles Walters, 1956), based on the Oscar winning comedy The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940). The whimsical tale ended with her re-marrying her former husband, played by Bing Crosby. The film was a hit but turned out to be her final acting performance.

Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in High Society

Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, no. 3015. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for High Society (Charles Walters, 1956) with Bing Crosby.

Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in High Society (1956)

Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3021. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Publicity still for High Society (Charles Walters, 1956) with Bing Crosby.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 496. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Publicity still for High Society (Charles Walters, 1956).

19 April 1956; the wedding with Prince Rainier of Monaco. Monegasque postcard by S.A.P.I., Monaco. Photos: Harcourt and Picédi.

A lavish wedding watched by 30 million viewers

In 1955, Grace Kelly had met Prince Rainier III of Monaco during the Cannes Film Festival. She broke off her affair with fashion designer Oleg Cassini to marry the Prince.

News of the engagement was a sensation. The lavish wedding in 1956 was estimated to have been watched by over 30 million viewers on live television.

Grace and Rainier had three children: Princess Caroline of Monaco (1957), Prince Albert of Monaco (1958) and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco (1965).

Reportedly, Grace hoped to return to acting in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964), but Monaco's citizens were outraged about the idea of their princess playing a kleptomaniac and kissing Sean Connery. So, Marnie premiered in 1964 with Tippi Hedren in the role intended for Kelly.

Prince Rainier later dismissed director Herbert Ross entreaties for Grace to star in his drama The Turning Point (1977). For the rest of her life, Grace was to remain in the news with her marriage and her three children. As Princess of Monaco, she retained her American roots, maintaining dual U.S. and Monegasque citizenship.

In 1982, Princess Grace died in Monaco, a day after suffering a stroke while driving, causing her to crash. She was 52. An estimated 100 million people viewed her funeral on TV. Rainier, who never remarried, was buried alongside her following his death in 2005.

Trailer Mogambo (1953). Source: Movieclips Trailer Vault (YouTube).

Trailer Dial M for Murder (1954). Source: Movieclips Trailer Vault (YouTube).

Trailer Rear Window (1954). Source: Movieclips Trailer Vault (YouTube).

Trailer High Society (1956). Source: Movieclips Trailer Vault (YouTube).

Sources: Denny Jackson and Dale O'Connor (IMDb), Pedro Borges (IMDb), Jason Ankeny (AllMovie), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), TCM, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Gelukkig kerstfeest! Frohe Weihnachten! ¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! Buon Natale! Sretan Božić! Καλά Χριστούγεννα! Boldog karácsonyt! Gleðileg jól! Nollaig Shona! Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus! Linksmų Kalėdų! Среќен Божиќ God jul! Wesołych Świąt! Feliz Natal! Crăciun fericit! С Рождеством Срећан Божић veselé Vianoce! Vesel božič! God Jul! Nadolig Llawen! Gëzuar Krishtlindjet! Eguberri! Merry Christmas!

Mireille Darc. Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 436.

Patricia Roc. Dutch postcard. Photo: British Lion.

Käthe von Nagy. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7282/1. Photo: Ufa. Released in Italy by Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze.

Elizabeth Taylor. French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 1051. Photo: John Everton / Ufa.

Merry Christmas! Katharine Hepburn in Little Women

Dutch postcard by the Rialto Theatre, Amsterdam, 1934. Photo: Remaco Radio Picture. Publicity still for Little Women (George Cukor, 1933). In the picture are Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Frances Dee, Jean Parker and Spring Byington. The Dutch title of the film and the book by Louise M. Alcott is Onder moeders vleugels.

Lien Deyers. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7058/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Balász, Berlin.

Marta Eggerth. Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 593.

Marta Toren. Dutch postcard, no. 3374. Photo: Universal International / Fotoarchief Film en Toneel.

Robertino. French postcard by Editions Publistar, Marseille, no. 811. Photo: President.

Kermit. Dutch postcard by Interstat, Amsterdam. Photo: The Jim Henson Company.

Dany Robin. French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 1004. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Romy Schneider& Horst Buchholz. Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3572.

Jayne Mansfield. French postcard by Edition a la carte. Photo: Filmhistorisches Bildarchiv Peter W. Engelmeier.

Heintje Simons. German postcard by Modern Times. Photo: Interfoto. Caption: Alles schlampen, ausser mama (All bitches, except mama).

Nadja Tiller. German promotion card for Luxor.

Hunky Italian actor Kim Rossi Stuart (1969) started as a teen idol in B-films and TV movies. He turned his career in a more serious direction with arthouse hits like Michelangelo Antonioni’s Al di là delle nuvole and Romanzo Criminale/Crime Novel (2005). He also became a notable film director himself.

Italian postcard by World Collection, no. P.c. 466. Photo: A. Servello / G. Neri.

Karate Warrior

Kim Rossi Stuart was born in Rome in 1969 and named after the Rudyard Kipling novel Kim. His father, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, is an actor of Italian and Scottish descent. Kim's mother, Klara Müller, is a former top model of German and Dutch descent. Kim has three sisters, two of them actresses: Loretta Rossi Stuart and Valentina Rossi Stuart, the latter also stunt-woman. Ombretta is his third sister.

Kim began acting at the age of 5 with his father Giacomo in the film drama Fatti di gente perbene/The Murri Affair (Mauro Bolognini, 1974), starring Catherine Deneuve.

In 1983, the 14-years-old left his parents' home and also left school to further his career as an actor. He studied theatre and in 1986 he began to act regularly for TV and film. He played a novice in Der Name der Rose/The Name of the Rose (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1986), the film version of Umberto Eco’s bestseller.

He became popular with his lead in the martial arts film Il ragazzo dal kimono d'oro/Karate Warrior (Fabrizio De Angelis, 1987) and its sequels. Seymour Asses at IMDb: “It's a poorly made 'young guy learns karate from old Asian master in order fight his arch nemesis over a girl' type movie. The plot is lifted from The Karate Kid 2, but Karate Warrior expands on this by adding magic to the mix. Really, really stupid magic.”

More interesting was the dark and funny comedy Lo zio indegno/The Sleazy Uncle (Franco Brusati, 1989), starring Vittorio Gassman. Rossi-Stuart was again a smash among young Italian audiences as a dashing prince in the TV movie Fantaghirò/Cave of the Golden Rose (Lamberto Bava, 1991) with Alessandra Martines as the title character. The success lead again to several sequels.

Teen idol Rossi Stuart now began to focus on quality films, like Senza pelle/No Skin (Alessandro D'Alatri, 1994), where his role, a man with psychological problems, was appreciated by the critics. A popular film was the crime-drama Poliziotti/Policemen (Giulio Base, 1995), with Claudio Amendola and Michele Placido. Then he acted for legendary director Michelangelo Antonioni in Al di là delle nuvole/Beyond the Clouds (Michelangelo Antonioni, Wim Wenders, 1995).

Italian postcard by World Collection, no. P.c. 472. Photo: A. Servello / G. Neri.

Italian postcard by TV Stelle in the Star Collection, no. 7. Design: C. Rea.

Angel of Evil

In the mid 1990s, Kim Rossi Stuart returned to the theatre to play in William Shakespeare’s Re Lear (King Lear), directed by Luca Ronconi, and he acted with Turi Ferro in Il visitatore (The Visitor) written by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and directed by Antonio Calenda.

On TV, he played Julien Sorel in the French-series Le Rouge et le Noir/The Red and the Black (Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, 1997), based upon the famous novel by Stendhal.

In 2002 he participated in the film Pinocchio (Roberto Benigni, 2002) as Lucignolo. Then, he played in Le Chiavi di Casa/The Keys to the House (Gianni Amelio, 2004), as a young father who attempts to forge a relationship with his teenage, handicapped son after he meets him for the first time. The film and his performance won several awards.

Later he played Mimmo in the TV-film Il tunnel della libertà/The tunnel of the Freedom (Enzo Monteleone, 2004) and he had one of the leading-roles in Michele Placido's Romanzo Criminale/Kings of Crime (Michele Placido, 2005). This film was also highly acclaimed and won 15 awards.

Rossi Stuart wrote the screenplay, directed and acted in the film Anche libero va bene/Along the Ridge (Kim Rossi Stuart, 2006). It was followed by a lead role in Piano, solo (Riccardo Milani, 2007), a film based on the life of Italian jazz great Luca Flores, with Rossi Stuart playing Flores. He then starred in the comedy-drama Questione Di Cuore/A Question of the Heart (Francesca Archibugi, 2009).

Then followed Vallanzasca - Gli Angeli Del Male/Angel of Evil (Michele Placido, 2011), based on the life of Renato Vallanzasca, a famous 1970s Italian bank robber. Wallys Chamber at IMDb: “Kim Rossi Stuart has a lot of charm, mixed with a crazy brutality and a great face to slap on the front of a newspaper. There's a fantastic scene where Vallanzasca dresses as a business man and just strolls straight through into the bank's back room to help himself and it's only with this charm that he manages to go through with it.”

In the French romantic comedy L'ex de ma vie (Dorothée Sebbagh, 2014) he appeared as the Italian ex Nino of Géraldine Nakache. And he directed himself in the comedy-drama Tommaso (Kim Rossi Stuart, 2016).

Kim Rossi Stuart was in a relationship with the actresses Veronica Logan and and Simona Cavallari. He speaks English, French and Italian, is an accomplished swimmer and also plays the trumpet. He has a son Ettore (2011) with his girlfriend Ilaria Spada.

Trailer Romanzo Criminale/Kings of Crime (Michele Placido, 2005). Source: neondreams 25 (YouTube).

Italian trailer for Vallanzasca - Gli Angeli Del Male/Angel of Evil (Michele Placido, 2011). Source: 20th Century Fox Italia (YouTube).

Italian trailer for Tommaso (Kim Rossi Stuart, 2016). Source: 01Distribution (YouTube).

Sources: Dante Balzano (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Pierre Blanchar (1892-1963) was one of France's most popular show business personalities. He made many memorable stage appearances and appeared in 54 films. Blanchar often played characters who were complex and tortured. During the war he also worked as a film director.

French postcard by Viny, no. 109. Photo: Regina.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 9.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 187. Collection Les Carbones Korès 'Carboplane'. Photo: CICC. Pierre Blanchar in Bataillon du ciel/They Are Not Angels (Alexander Esway, 1947).

Papa Goodheart

Gustave Pierre Blanchard was born in Philippeville, Algeria (now Skikda, Algeria) in 1892.

He learned his craft at the Paris Conservatory, and made the first of many memorable stage appearances in 1919 (some sources say 1920). In 1922 he made his film début in the silent film Jocelyn (Léon Poirier, 1922).

Many leading roles followed in such silent films as Papa bon cœur/Papa Goodheart (Henry Krauss, 1922), Geneviève (Léon Poirier, 1923), Aux jardins de Murcie/Heritage (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1923), La Terre promise/Promised Land (Henry Roussel, 1925) with Raquel Meller, Le Joueur d'échecs/The Chess Player (Raymond Bernard, 1927), and Le Capitaine Fracasse/Captain Fracasse (Alberto Cavalcanti, Henry Wulschleger, 1929) with the young Charles Boyer.

He also appeared in the German production Diane - Die geschichte einer Pariserin/Diane, the Story of a Paris Woman (Erich Waschneck, 1929) starring Olga Tschechova.

French postcard, no. 422. Photo: publicity still for Le joueur d'échecs (1927).

French postcard by Edition Cinemagazine, Paris, no. 62. Photo: Publicity still for La Valse de l'Adieu (Henry Roussel, 1928), a biographical film on the life of composer and pianist Frederic Chopin.

Pierre Blanchar in Un Carnet de Bal (1937)

French postcard by Edition Chantal, Paris. Photo: publicity still for Un Carnet de Bal/Dance Program (Julien Duvivier, 1937).

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 36. Photo: Pathé Cinéma, Pierre Blanchar in Pontcarral, colonel d'empire/Pontcarral, colonel of the empire (Jean Delannoy, 1942).

Napoleon

Pierre Blanchar often chose to play characters which were complex and tortured, like Adjudant Gilbert Demachy in the war drama Les Croix de bois/The Wooden Crosses (Raymond Bernard, 1932) or Captain de Saint-Avit in the classic L'Atlantide (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1932) opposite Brigitte Helm.

At the film festival of Venice he was awarded the Volpi Cup as Best Actor for his role as Raskolnikov in Crime et châtiment/Crime and Punishment (Pierre Chenal, 1935).

Pierre Blanchar was the archetypical romantic and gloomy hero, but he did not neglect comedies, like Amants et voleurs/Lovers and Thieves (Raymond Bernard, 1935) with Arletty and Michel Simon, and Le Coupable/The Culprit (Raymond Bernard, 1937) with Madeleine Ozeray.

Other classic films of the 1930s were L’homme de nulle part/The Late Mathias Pascal (Pierre Chanal, 1937) with Isa Miranda, Mademoiselle Docteur (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1937) with Dita Parlo,Un carnet de bal/Dance Program (Julien Duvivier, 1937) with Marie Bell.

In 1937 he appeared also in the Alexander Pushkin adaptation La Dame de pique/Queen of Spades (1937, Fyodor Otsep), L'Affaire du courrier de Lyon (Claude Autant-Lara, Maurice Lehmann, 1937), L'Homme de nulle part/Courier of Lyons (Pierre Chenal, 1937) with Dita Parlo, and L'Étrange Monsieur Victor/Strange M. Victor (Jean Grémillon, 1938) starring Raimu.

One of Blanchar's most famous screen characterizations was Napoleon in the British A Royal Divorce (Jack Raymond, 1938) with Ruth Chatterton as Josephine de Beauharnais.

French postcard by Editions Chantal, Rueil-Malmaison. Photo: Simson.

French postcard. Photo: Simson.

French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 17. Photo: Studio Piaz.

Resistance

Before and during the Second World War, Pierre Blanchar was often requested for French-German productions by Union France-Allemagne. During the occupation of France he starred in L'Empreinte du Dieu/Two Women (Léonide Moguy, 1940), the never completed La Prière aux étoiles/The Prayer to the Stars (Marcel Pagnol, 1941), and Pontcarral, colonel d'empire/Piontcarral, Colonel of the Empire (Jean Delannoy, 1942).

He also directed two films, Secrets (1942) and Un seul amour/One Love (1943) with Micheline Presle and Gaby André.

Later he became a member of the resistance and in August 1944 he commented vibrantly the images of the liberation of Paris in the cinema newsreels.

After the war he was highly praised for his touching performance in La Symphonie pastorale (Jean Delannoy, 1946) as a minister who falls in love with a blind girl (Michèle Morgan).

This success soon was followed by roles in Patrie/Homeland (Louis Daquin, 1946), and Après l'amour/After the Love (Maurice Tourneur, 1948).

Another special role was Captain Ferane in the film Le Bataillon du ciel/They Are Not Angels (Alexander Esway, 1947), based on the novel by Joseph Kessel. This role was inspired on the life and death of Pierre Marienne (1908-1944), one of the forces behind the liberation of France. As Lieutenant Paratrooper of the fourth bataillon of the Spécial Air Service (S.A.S.) of the Free French Forces he was parachuted in Bretagne on 5 June 1944 in the frame of D-Day. After taking part in the battle of Saint Marcel on 18 June 1944, he was assassinated in the Morhiban by the French army on 12 July 1944. Blanchar had known Pierre Marienne who had worked in the pre-war cinema. He also physically resembled Marienne.

French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 1087. Photo: Pathé / Natan.

French postcard, no. 114. Photo: P.C.

French postcard by EC, no. 64. Photo: Ufa.

Belgian postcard by Photo Edition, Brussels, no. 100. Photo: Studio Cayet. Jo Cayet (1907-1987) was a famous Brussels based photographer.

Long Interval

Pierre Blanchar’s film career slowed down in the 1950s. After the title role of the comedy Mon ami Sainfoin/My Friend Sainfoin (Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon, 1950) there was a long interval till 1959.

That year he played supporting roles in Du rififi chez les femmes/Rififi and the Women (Alex Joffé, 1959) with Nadja Tiller, and the fairytale Katia/Magnificent Sinner (Robert Siodmak, 1959) with Romy Schneider.

His last film, Le Monocle noir/The Black Monocle (Georges Lautner, 1961), was shot at the château de Josselin in the Morbihan.

Pierre Blanchar died of a brain tumor in 1963, in Suresnes, France. He was married to Marte Vinot. They had a daughter actress Dominique Blanchar.

Scene from Le Joueur d'échecs/The Chess Player (1927) with Pierre Blanchar and Edith Jehanne. Source: Skazibus (YouTube).

La symphonie pastorale 1 6, by Jean, Delannoy.door jhhvideoteach
First scenes of La Symphonie pastorale (1946). Source: jhhvideoteach (Daily Motion).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970) is a typical Ostern (or Eastern), a Western produced in socialist East-Germany. Although all the characters of the film are fictitious, production company DEFA's fifth Ostern is based on real events that took place in the USA in 1898. The film is based on studies of the history and struggle of the Native Americans.

Armin Mueller-Stahl in Tödllicher Irrtum (1970)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 56/70. Photo: DEFA / Blümel Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970) with Armin Mueller-Stahl.

Armin Mueller-Stahl and Gojko Mitic in Tödlicher Irrtum (1970)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 9/76. Photo: DEFA / Blümel. Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970) with Armin Mueller-Stahl and Gojko Mitić. Caption: Two of the oil sharks, which are commissioned by the capital-heavy Mr. Allison, are placed. But what is the use of that for Shave Head? His half brother, the assistant sheriff Chris Howard, has paid with his life. As many chieftains before him, Shave Head had thought that Indians could be partakers of the wealth of the oil wells found on the reservation sites.

An act of revenge

At the end of the 19th century, the Wyoming Oil Company has established itself in the vicinity of Wind River City at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, where they have been illegally pumping oil from Native American territory.

One of the company's greedy agents, Mike Allison (Rolf Hoppe), kicks out both his white partners and the Native Americans. He has his some of his associates secretly murdered and blames it on the Native Americans, who are then killed when they get in the way of his plans.

Five chiefs with lifelong shares in the Oil Company die mysteriously as a result. The young chief Shave Head (Gojko Mitić) asks his a half-blooded brother Chris Howard (Armin Mueller-Stahl) for help. Chris assumes the post of deputy sheriff and tries to expose Allison and the murderers.

When a representative of the Oil Company turns up in Wind River City and exposes Allison's plot, the white inhabitants begin to take sides. Allison does his utmost to defend himself and finally has the oil camp set on fire, passing it off as an act of revenge...

Armin Mueller-Stahl, Rolf Hoppe and Bruno O'Ya in Tödlicher Irrtum (1970)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 65/70. Photo: DEFA / Blümel. Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970) with Armin Mueller-Stahl, Rolf Hoppe and Bruno O'Ya.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 85/70a. Photo: DEFA / Blümel. Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970).

Armin Mueller-Stahl and Hannjo Hasse in Tödlicher Irrtum (1970)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 85/70d. Photo: DEFA / Blümel. Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970).

The Sauerkraut Western

The Ostern (Eastern) was the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries' take on the Western.According to Wikipedia, the term Ostern refers to two related genres: to proper Red Westerns, set in America's 'Wild West' and mostly produced in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, and to Easterns (Osterns), set usually on the steppes or Asian parts of the USSR, especially during the Russian Revolution or the following Civil War.

Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970) is a typical Red Western and one of a total of 14 Osterns produced by the DEFA. The DEFA Osterns were directed by nine different directors, but they all had the same main actor: Yugoslav actor Gojko Mitić.

Mitic's career as the DEFA-chief of the Indians started in 1966 with Die Söhne der großen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (Josef Mach, 1966), based on the novel series of the same name by Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich and with Gojko Mitić in the leading role of Tokei-ihto. The film started a series of 'Indian films' by the DEFA studios which were very successful in Eastern Europe.

The DEFA Osterns are often compared to the Spaghetti Westerns, in that they use local scenery to double up for the American West. Favourite location for the 'Sauerkraut Western' (including the West-German Karl May films) was Yugoslavia.

Like the Karl May Westerns, Osterns like Die Söhne der großen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (1966) and Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (1970) turned the traditional American 'Cowboy and Indian' conventions on their head, casting the Native Americans as the heroes and the American Army as the villains.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 85/70f. Photo: DEFA / Blümel. Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970) with Rolf Ludwig.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 85/70h. Photo: DEFA / Blümel. Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970).

Armin Mueller-Stahl in Tödlicher Irrtum (1970)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 121/70. Photo: DEFA / Blümel Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970) with Armin Mueller-Stahl.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 123/70. Photo: DEFA / Blümel. Publicity still for Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (1970) with Stefan Lisewski.

Source: Zweitausendeins.de Filmlexicon (German), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.

Beautiful starlet Kim Parker (1933) was born in Austria as Herta Padawer. She played in a dozen European films including Pasaporte al infierno/Hi-Jack (1956) and Undercover Girl (1958). Her main claim to fame is the British Science Fiction film Fiend Without a Face (1958) about invisible atomic monsters which attack a U.S. Armed Forces base and the local residents.

German postcard by ISV, Sort V/6.

British postcard in the Greetings series. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation.

Fire Maiden from Outer Space

Kim Parker was born in 1933 in Austria as Herta Padawer. Her nickname was Kim. During WW II, she was interned in a German concentration camp and in 1945 she went as a refugee to England. She attended an art school and then commenced her career as a freelance illustrator, augmenting her earnings by modeling.

The beautiful brunette wanted to become an actress, changed her name to Kim Parker and moved to London. There she did extra work in the adventure film The Seekers (Ken Annakin, 1954), starring Jack Hawkins, and the comedy Up to His Neck (John Paddy Carstairs, 1954).

The following year she found a bigger part in the adventure film Stock Car (Wolf Rilla, 1955), starring Canadian actor Paul Carpenter. The starlet and the leading man fell in love and they married the same year. She next played a fire maiden in the Science Fiction film Fire Maidens from Outer Space (Cy Roth, 1956), which starred Susan Shaw and her husband Paul Carpenter.

With her husband she also appeared in the Spanish/British coproduction Pasaporte al infierno/Hi-Jack (Cecil H. Williamson, 1956) about a forger, who flees to Spain but then finds that his daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless gang. She played one of the three graces (another was Shirley Anne Field) in the musical The Good Companions (J. Lee Thompson, 1957) about a touring variety troupe. She appeared again in a film which starred her husband, Undercover Girl (1958).

Parker had her biggest part in the independently made British production Fiend Without a Face (Arthur Crabtree, 1958). The Science Fiction film tells about mysterious deaths at the hands of a mentally created invisible life form that feeds on atomic power and then steals human brains and spinal columns to use as bodies in order to multiply its numbers. The screenplay by Herbert J. Leder was based upon Amelia Reynolds Long's 1930 short story The Thought Monster, originally published in the March 1930 issue of Weird Tales magazine.

Fiend Without a Face created a public uproar after its British premiere, according to Wikipedia:"The British Board of Film Censors had demanded a number of cuts before its release and finally granted the film an 'X' certificate, but newspaper critics were still aghast at its horrifying special effects. Questions were actually raised in Parliament as to why British censors had allowed Fiend Without a Face to be released, notably: 'What is the British film industry thinking by trying to beat Hollywood at its own game of overdosing on blood and gore'. Criterion released a deluxe DVD edition of the film in 2007.

Kim's career went nowhere. Her next film role was a secretary in the comedy-drama Count Your Blessings (Jean Negulesco, 1959), starring Deborah Kerr and Rossano Brazzi. It was her last film credit. In 1958, she had filed a divorce petition against Carpenter in London, naming bosomy showgirl Sabrina as co-respondent. Later, Kim Parker moved to the USA and married Terry J. Howell. In 1977, her second marriage also ended in a divorce.

Kim Parker - c. 1959. Source: thetag1 (Flickr).

Kim Parker - c. 1959. Source: thetag1 (Flickr).

Trailer Fiend Without a Face (1958). Source: Obscure Trailers (YouTube).

Sources: Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen, Wikipedia and IMDb.

One of our favourite online places is 'La collectionneuse'. Marlène Pilaete creates here beautiful albums with her vintage postcards of international film actresses. Each album is a precious, glittering diamond. But doesn't Marlene collect postcards of male stars? Yeah, she does, and today EFSP can present you a selection!

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no, A 1218, 1937-1938. Photo: ACE. Collection: Marlene Pilaete. Comment Marlène: "my favourite French actor in one of my favourite French movies, Gueule d'amour (1937)."

French actor and war hero Jean Gabin (1904-1976) was one of the great stars of the 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 (1937), a deserter in Le Quai des brumes (1938) or the head gangster in Pépé le Moko (1937), Gabin was impeccable, bringing a 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.

German postcard by Photochemie, no. K. 1743. Photo: Alex Binder, Paris. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Ernst Lubitsch (1892-1947) was a German-American actor, screenwriter, producer and film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having ‘the Lubitsch touch.’ He was nominated three times for the Oscar for Best Director and in 1947, he received an Honorary Academy Award.

German postcard by Heliogravüre J.B. Obernetter, München. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Bavarian comedian Karl Valentin (1882-1948) starred in many silent German films in the 1920s. Valentin was also active as a cabaret performer, clown, author and film producer, and was sometimes called the 'Charlie Chaplin of Germany'. His work influenced artists like Bertolt Brecht and Samuel Beckett.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 803, 1925-1926. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Louis Davids (1883-1939) was a Dutch cabaret and revue artist who also appeared in several Dutch films, both during the silent and the sound era. He is widely considered one of the Netherlands' biggest names in performing arts ever.

German postcard.by Ross Verlag, no. 3229/1, 1928-1929. Photo: M. von Bukovich (Atelier K. Schenker). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

German actor Kurt Gerron (1897-1944) starred on stage in the original version of Bertolt Brecht's and Kurt Weill's Dreigroschen Oper/Three-Penny Opera as Tiger Brown. He also participated in the very successful films Die Drei von der Tankstelle/The Three of the Gas Station (1930) and Der Blaue Engel/The Blue Angel (1930). The Ufa offered him to work as a director, but in 1933 he was forced by the Nazis to leave the film studio. He left Germany, and worked successfully as a director in the Netherlands. In 1943 he was sent to a concentration camp and was forced to direct the propaganda-pseudo-documentary Der Fuehrer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt (1944). After that he was murdered in Auschwitz.

Osvaldo Valenti in Ungarische Rhapsodie (1928)

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3965/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Ungarische Rhapsodie/Hungarian Rhapsody (Hanns Schwarz, 1928). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Osvaldo Valenti (1906-1945) was an Italian film actor, who appeared in 56 films between 1928 and 1945. He and his lover, actress Luisa Ferida, were executed by partisans in Milan, Italy, due to their links with Fascism.

Peter Lorre in Schuß im Morgengrauen (1932)

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6989/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Schuß im Morgengrauen/A Shot at Dawn (Alfred Zeisler, 1932). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Peter Lorre (1904–1964) with his trademark large, popped eyes, his toothy grin and his raspy voice was an American actor of Jewish Austro-Hungarian descent. He was an international sensation as the psychopathic child murderer in Fritz Lang’s M (1931). He later became a popular actor in two British Hitchcock thrillers and in a series of Hollywood crime films and mysteries. Although he was frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner in the US, he also became the star of the successful Mr. Moto detective series.

British postcard in the Picturegoer series, no. 910. Photo: MGM. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Hungarian actor Béla Lugosi (1882–1956) is best known as the vampire Count Dracula in the horror classic Dracula (1931). He started his film career in the silent Hungarian cinema and also appeared in German silent films. In the last phase of his career he became the star of several of Ed Wood's low budget epics and other poverty row shockers.

British postcard.in the Picturegoer series. no. D 745. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation.Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

English comedian and actor Benny Hill (1924-1992) is best remembered for his long-running The Benny Hill Show on TV, full of slapstick, burlesque and double entendres. Hill's film credits include Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and The Italian Job (1969).

British postcard in the Picturegoer series, no. S 144. Photo: Allen newton. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

In the late 1950s, British singer, actor and Sir Cliff Richard (1940) was known as Britain's answer to Elvis Presley. The ‘Cliff Richard musical’ became the number one cinema box office attraction in Britain for both 1962 and 1963.

Dutch promotional postcard for Fantômas (André Hunebelle, 1964). Caption: Fantomas - Genius of crime. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

With his heroic physique, Jean Marais (1913-1998) was France’s answer to Errol Flynn, the epitome of the swashbuckling romantic hero of French cinema. The blonde and incredibly good-looking actor played over 100 roles in film and on television, and was also known as a director, writer, painter and sculptor. His mentor was the legendary poet and director Jean Cocteau, who was also his lover.

French postcard. Photo: Aubert-Philips. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

French singer and composer Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) was one of the most important figures in French pop music, renowned for provocative and scandalous releases as Je t'aime... moi non plus, as well as for his artistic output, which embodied many genres. He appeared in several French and Italian films and directed four films, in which his longtime lover Jane Birkin starred.

12 Men

Over the years, Marlene Pilaete has acquired quite a few male stars postcards but they were unsorted, she wrote me a while ago. At my request, she started to sort them out and mailed me: "I've began little by little to sort them out ... but I didn't realize that I had so many." Finally, after Christmas, a mail from Brussels, Belgium arrived: "It was not easy but I hope that the choices I've made will be interesting. Of course, I've chosen European people and I've selected postcards which are not on your blog." And what a wonderful selection it is: full of interesting curiosities (Benny Hill!) and beautiful, little-seen images of classic stars. I especially adore the incredible Louis Davids and Kurt Gerron postcards. Never seen before, never!

Merci beaucoup, Marlène!

July 2016 was an excellent month for EFSP. For the first time since May 2010, when we started counting, there were more than 90,000 pageviews in one month. But December 2016 was even better! Three days ago we passed the magical number of 100,000 pageviews. So like everybody, EFSP finishes this year partying ánd looking back. If you like to join the party: here are the 12 most popular star posts ever.

12. Elsa Martinelli: 4900 views

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/255.

Glamorous Elsa Martinelli (1935) is an Italian actress and former fashion model. She showed her beautiful curves in many European and Hollywood productions of the 1950s and 1960s, but somehow she never became the star she was destined to become in the mid-1950s.

11. Marina Berti: 5401 views

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano (Milan), no. 384. Photo: Atlantisfilm.

Italian actress Marina Berti(1924-2002) is a forgotten diva from the postwar Italian cinema. She was a popular starlet of Italian and Hollywood films in the 1940s and early 1950s – sometimes credited as Maureen Melrose.

10. Elke Sommer: 6819 views

German postcard by UFA (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft), Berlin-Templehof, no. CK 438. Photo: Herbert Fried / UFA.

Gorgeous Elke Sommer (1940) was a German sex symbol who conquered Hollywood in the early 1960s. With her trademark pouty lips, high cheek bones and sky-high bouffant hair-dos, Sommer made 99 film and television appearances between 1959 and 2005. The blonde film star was also one of the most popular pin-up girls of the sixties, and posed twice for Playboy.

9. Gérard Philipe: 6904 views

French Postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 371. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Gérard Philipe (1922–1959) was adored for his good looks, but he was also a very talented actor. He was sought out by France's preeminent directors for his versatility and professionalism. His early death has elevated him to a near legendary status in France.

8. Marion Michael: 7161 views

German postcard by Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft (UFA), Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3865. Retail price: 25 Pfg. Photo: Stempka-Cinepress / Arca.

German film actress and singer Marion Michael (1940-2007) was a one hit wonder as Liane, the jungle girl. As the female Tarzan, the blonde beauty has become an icon of the German cinema.

7. Ornella Muti: 7806 views

Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

Beautiful Italian actress Ornella Muti (1955) often appeared in sexy Italian comedies and dramas, but she also worked for such major European directors as Marco Ferreri, Francesco Rosi and Volker Schlöndorff. English language audiences probably know her best as the sensuous Princess Aura in Flash Gordon (1980).

6. Aïché Nana: 8581 views

Italian postcard by Rotalcolor, Milano (Milan), no. 238.

In 1958, a 'striptease' by the then 18 years old Lebanese actress and former belly dancer Aïché Nana (1940-2014) at a Roman party caused an international scandal. Subsequently she became one of the icons of ‘La Dolce Vita’, the liberated era of sex, drugs and rock & roll as documented by Federico Fellini. Aïché Nana appeared in 15 European films between 1956 and 1985.

5. Mylène Démongeot: 9692 views

German postcard by Kruger, no. 902/162.

Beautiful Mylène Demongeot (1935) became one of the blond sex symbols of the French cinema when she seduced Yves Montand in Les sorcières de Salem (1957). The coquettish French actress would go on to co-star in the three Fantômas adventures and many other European films of the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1980s she also became a producer.

4. Claudia Cardinale: 9841 views

German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. H 72.

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale (1938) is one of Europe's iconic and most versatile film stars. The combination of her beauty, dark, flashing eyes, explosive sexuality and genuine acting talent virtually guaranteed her stardom. Her most notable films include the classics 8½ (Federico Fellini, 1963), Il Gattopardo (Luchino Visconti, 1963), and Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968).

3. Bud Spencer: 10705 views

Italian postcard. Promotional card for Io Sto Con Gli Ippopotami/I'm for the Hippopotamus (Italo Zingarelli, 1979).

On 27 June 2016, 86-years old Bud Spencer has died in Rome, Italy of natural causes. The huge Italian actor with his trademark black beard was the popular star of many Spaghetti Westerns and low-budget action films of the late 1960s and 1970s. In 18 films he co-starred with his long time film partner Terence Hill. In his youth, Spencer (then: Carlo Pedersoli) was the first Italian to swim 100 metres in less than a minute. He also had a degree in law, and he registered several patents.

2. Marina Vlady: 13806 views

French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 74. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Sensual and alluring French star Marina Vlady (1938) had the makings of just another blonde bombshell, but in 1963 she stunned everybody with her performance in L’Ape Regine/The Conjugal Bed. At the Cannes Film Festival the feline beauty won that year the Golden Palm for Best Actress.

1. Alain Delon: 26048 views

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, 1967. retail price: 0,20 MDN.Photo: publicity still for Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and his brothers (Luchino Visconti, 1960).

Alain Delon (1935) was the breathtakingly good-looking James Dean of the European cinema of the late 1950s and early 1960s who proved in this film that he was also a magnificent actor.

Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017! EFSP starts the New Year with a guest post. Film historian Ivo Blom chose for this New Year's post 12 postcards from his collection which feature mirrors. Ivo: "Mirror, mirror on the wall... Already in Antiquity mirrors had a connotation of magic, a tradition which has maintained – just think of Snow White or Harry Potter’s Mirror of Erised. The use of real mirrors in film has also become an established feature of film language. It developed in the 1910s as a typical European phenomenon in silent cinema, which set cinema apart from theatre."

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 289/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Fern Andra Atelier.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 289/3, 1919-1924. 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 tightroping, riding horse without a saddle, driving cars and motorcycles, bobsleighing, and even boxing.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 589, 1919-1924. Photo: Ring-Film. Eva May in Staatsanwalt Jordan (Erik Lund, 1919). The man on the left is Hermann Picha, May is the lady watching herself in the mirror.

Eva May (1902-1924) was the daughter of film star Mia Mayand producer Joe May. It was only natural that she would follow suit. She became ‘everybody’s darling’ but in 1924 she committed suicide.

German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, no. 842. Photo: Imperial-Film.

Grete Lundt aka Grete Lund (1892-1926) was as an Austrian stage and screen actress, who played in Austrian and German silent films. Lundt was befriended with Julius Barmat, the Jewish merchant who would be the centre of the Barmat Scandal, which discredited the SDP because of the exposure of wide-spread corruption. It also raised anti-Semitism, and helped the right wing to win the 1925 elections. Lundt’s career went down by lack of work and money, aggravated by a morphine addiction. In order to pay for the costs of a morphine addicts clinic, she had to sell her house and all her belongings. On New Year’s Eve 1926, a desperate Lundt committed suicide in the Vienna-Berlin D-train, using an overdose of morphine. Grete Lundt died 60 years ago.

To create suspense and voyeurism

Mirrors were used for visual dialogues between off-screen and onscreen characters and for the creation of suspense and voyeurism. It then developed both in mainstream and avant-garde cinema, in particular in German cinema of the 1920s and early 1930s, and subsequently in classical Hollywood cinema.

It is part of a wish to prefer a more synthetic approach in cinema, by use of deep staging and lengthy shots over analytical editing in which acting is cut up over several shots. It is also part of a wish to suggest that the world of cinema does not stop at the borders of its frame, involving the off-screen space and off-screen characters.

Of course mirrors may be explained in film sets as natural ingredients, even if in constructed interiors. People will dress themselves in front of mirrors, check their face and clothes, comb their hair, shave, use make up or remove it again. Mirrors also add a dimension to the filmic space, showing parts that otherwise would remain hidden: the fourth wall.

But mirrors can also be used in a narrative and metaphorical way, such as the introspection, the showing of guilt and desire, passages to other worlds, the calling of the future or ghosts from the past.

American postcard, monogram K Ltd. Francesca Bertini in Odette (Giuseppe De Liguoro, 1916).

Majestic diva of the Italian silent cinema Francesca Bertini (1892-1985) was one of the first European film stars. During the first quarter of the twentieth century she often played the 'femme fatale', with men devouring eyes, glamorous attire, clenched fists, and in opulent settings, or the suffering 'femme fragile, who is devastated by the adultery of her man.

Spanish postcard by Chocolate Salas Sabadell. Leda Gys in Fernanda (Gustavo Serena, 1917), based on Victorien Sardou's play.

Italian film diva Leda Gys (1892-1957) starred in ca. 60 dramas, comedies, action thrillers and even westerns of the Italian and Spanish silent cinema. Her claim to fame came with the film Christus (1916), shot in Egypt and Palestine, where Gys performed the Madonna.

Italian postcard by Ed. G. Vettori, Bologna. 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 Ross Verlag, no. 1174/1, 1927-1928. Georges Biscot aka Biscot Meyer.

Georges Biscot (1886-1945) was a popular French music-hall and revue singer and actor, who also knew a career in French silent and sound film.

The Venus Effect

In postcards with stars of the silent cinema we mostly encounter the joy of mirroring oneself, as in the postcards with the Italian divas like Francesca Bertini and Leda Gys enjoying their own beauty.

It happens though often with a twist, the so-called Venus-effect, after Diego Velazquez’ portrait called Rokeby Venus. In order to get a perfect reflection of the portrayed person, the mirror is placed obliquely, showing us the reflection of the person at its best. Instead, the person is likely not to see himself or herself but rather the camera, so the onlooker. Also the mirror is often tilted, to avoid the reflection of the camera.

In the 1920s the French magazine Comoedia released a series of hundreds of postcards of French actors of the stage, called Nos artistes dans leur loges (Our artists in their dressing-rooms). We notice the actors and often also their reflections in the set-up of their dressing-rooms.

The artists are dressed in theatre costumes that often refer to famous plays they were in, and photos attached to the mirrors confirm this. Still, many of these actors had also rich careers in French cinema as well, such as here Maxime Desjardins and Jane Rollette.

One of my favourites is the young Renée Simonot, who did not act in film but was a famous voice actor in France and at the age of 105 is still alive. You may not recall her right away but she is the mother of Catherine Deneuve.

French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 133. Photo: Comoedia.

Maxime Desjardins (18961-1936) was a French stage and screen actor, who peaked in the French silent cinema of the 1920s. From 1912 Desjardins acted in cinema, first in short films at Pathé Frères and at Eclair, later in films by acclaimed directors as Abel Gance, Julien Duvivier and Henri Diamant-Berger.

French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 258. Photo: Comoedia.

Jane Rollette aka Jeanne Rollette (1891-1994) was a French film actress who peaked in Louis Feuillade's serial films of the late 1910s and early 1920s. In Barrabas (Louis Feuillade, 1919) Georges Biscot played Biscotin, while Rollette played Biscotine.

French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 118. Photo: Comoedia.

Firmin Gémier (1869-1933) was actor, director and theatre manager at the French stage, promotor of the Théâtre populaire and founder of the first Théâtre national populaire in Paris in 1920. He also acted in French silent and sound cinema of the 1910s to the 1930s.

French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 25. Photo: Comoedia.

Renée-Jeanne Simonot (born 1911) is a French stage actress. Simonot was one of the first French actresses to begin the dubbing of American films in France from the beginning of the talkies in 1929 through the 1930s. She was married to actor Maurice Dorléac, and is the mother of actresses Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac, and grandmother of actors Christian Vadim and Chiara Mastroianni.

Ivo, thank you very much!

Alluring French leading lady Corinne Calvet (1925-2001) made a big splash in Hollywood in the early 1950s with her sultry looks and her highly publicised legal battles.

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Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 309. Photo: Paramount.

Dutch postcard, no. AX 319. Photo: Paramount.

Mexican collectors card, no. 96. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 604. Photo: Paramount, 1951.

British Greetings postcard. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Curvaceous

Corinne Calvet was born as Corinne Dibos in Paris in 1925. Her mother was one of the scientists who contributed to the invention of Pyrex, a glassware that enabled food to be cooked directly in the glass in an oven.

At the age of 12 Corinne appeared in a short film about billiards called Super Cue Men. She decided to become an actress while studying law at the Sorbonne. She went to study at L'Ecole du Cinema and after WW II she appeared in French radio and stage productions.

She made her feature film début with a small role in La part de l'ombre/Blind Desire (Jean Delannoy, 1945) starring Jean-Louis Barrault. Soon followed bigger roles in Pétrus (Marc Allégret, 1846) with Fernandel, Nous ne sommes pas mariés/We Are Not Married (Bernard-Roland, Gianni Pons, 1946) and Le château de la dernière chance/The Castle of the Last Chance (Jean-Paul Paulin, 1947).

She was discovered in 1947 by Paramount producer Hal Wallis, who invited her to come to Hollywood. He cast the French beauty in the Casablanca derivation Rope of Sand (William Dieterle, 1949). As the only woman in a cast that included Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains, the curvaceous 23-year-old Calvet could not help but be noticed. Also in the cast was handsome 27-year-old John Bromfield, whom she soon married.

Next followed a role in the comedy My Friend Irma Goes West (Hal Walker, 1950), opposite Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, with whom she later also appeared in Sailor Beware (Hal Walker, 1952).

Calvet's few films made for Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century-Fox were somewhat better, two of them under John Ford, though they were among the director's weakest works: When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950), in which she played a French underground leader who woos soldier Dan Dailey, and as a vivacious barmaid fought over by soldiers Dailey and James Cagney in What Price Glory? (1952). Also at Fox, Calvet was a spirited partner of Danny Kaye in a nightclub act in On The Riviera (Walter Lang, 1951).

In 1952 Calvet filed a million-dollar slander lawsuit to actress Zsa Zsa Gabor for telling several people, including a newspaper columnist, that Calvet was not really French. Later that year this came out to be not a genuine feud but just another publicity stunt.

The following years Calvet appeared in a string of films, usually playing French characters, opposite such leading men as Alan Ladd in Thunder In The East (Charles Vidor, 1952), James Stewart in the excellent western The Far Country (Anthony Mann, 1954), and Tony Curtis in So This Is Paris (Richard Quine, 1955).

She also continued to act in Italian and French productions, like the thriller Bonnes à tuer/One Step to Eternity (Henri Decoin, 1954), Le ragazze di San Frediano/The Girls of San Frediano (Valerio Zurlini, 1955), and Le Avventure Di Giacomo Casanova/Sins of Casanova (Steno, 1955) opposite Gabriele Ferzetti.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 319. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Dutch postcard by J. Sleding, Amsterdam, no. 38.

Yugoslavian postcard by Studio Sombor, no. 192.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 639, offered by S.A. Victoria, Brussels. Photo: Paramount Pictures, 1950.

British postcard. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Has Corinne Been a Good Girl?

In 1955, Corinne Calvet married actor/writer Jeffrey Stone and cooled her acting career. The couple had a son, Robin. Between her marriages and liaisons she made sporadic appearances on American television series and in such films as the British suspense film Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons (W. Lee Wilder, 1960) with George Sanders, Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (Martin Ritt, 1962) and Apache Uprising (R.G. Springsteen, 1966).

In the 1970s she started a career as a psycho-therapist. On the screen she appeared in such fare as the TV film The Phantom of Hollywood (Gene Levitt, 1974) and the soft-core porn film Too Hot to Handle (Don Schain, 1976). In the 1980s, Calvet played a victim of Oliver Reed in Dr Heckle and Mr Hype (Charles B. Griffith, 1980), and had a cameo in The Sword And The Sorcerer (Albert Pyun, 1982).

Calvet was married four times. Her first marriage was to actor John Bromfield (1948-1954), who, she claimed had been ordered to marry her by their studio. She also claimed that "he had an addiction to sex, which he needed to satisfy in order to sleep". Her second marriage was to minor actor/writer Jeffrey Stone (1955-1962). In 1966 she married director Albert C. Gannaway in Las Vegas, with whom she had made the Western Plunderers of Painted Flats (1959), the last film for Republic Pictures. But Gannaway left her just a week after their marriage. In 1967, her longtime boyfriend, millionaire Donald Scott sued her to recover assets that he had placed under her name in order to hide them from his wife in a divorce battle. Saying that Calvet had used voodoo to control him, Scott settled his differences with her after a bitter two-week trial. Calvet's final marriage was to producer/commercial photographer Robert J. Wirt (1968-1971). All marriages ended in divorce.

Calvet once told a reporter that American men make wonderful husbands if you don't love them. But if you love them, she advised, don't marry them. Corinne Calvet died in 2001 in Los Angeles of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 76. She is survived by a son of her fourth marriage, Michael.

In her memoir, entitled Has Corinne Been a Good Girl? (1983), she stated that the roles she played for Hollywood studios typecasted her and never challenged her acting ability. And about the title: readers and filmgoers were left to make up their own minds as to the answer.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 119. Photo: Paramount.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 741. Photo: Paramount.

British postcard in the Celebrity Autograph Series by L.D. LTD., London, no. 172. Photo: Universal-International.

French postcard, no. 850. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. 1609. Photo: Paramount.

Vintage postcard.

Trailer for My Friend Irma Goes West (1950). Source: Paramountmovies Digital (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Brian J. Walker (Brian’s Drive-In Theater), Philippe Garnier (Libération), Jon Thurber (Los Angeles Times), Ronald Bergan (The Guardian), Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen, Wikipedia and IMDb.

French singer and actress Polaire (1874-1939) had a career in the entertainment industry which stretched from the early 1890s to the mid-1930s. She encompassed the range from music-hall singer to stage and film actress. Her most successful period professionally was from the mid-1890s to the beginning of the First World War.

French postcard by S.I.P. , Paris, no. 1074. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

French postcard by S.I.P. , Paris. Sent by mail in 1904. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

French postcard by Phototypie Pierre Coltman, Paris. Photo: Manuel. Publicity still for the play Claudine à Paris by Willy. Sent by mail in 1903.

French postcard by Phototypie Pierre Coltman, Paris. Photo: Manuel. Publicity still for the stage production Claudine à Paris by Willy.

Tha ma ra boum di hé

Polaire was born Émilie Marie Bouchaud in Agha, Algeria, in 1874. According to her memoirs she was one of eleven children of whom only four survived – and eventually only two, Émilie and her brother Edmond. When her father died of typhoid, her mother temporarily placed the children under the care of Polaire’s grandmother in Algiers.

In 1891, at the age of 17 she came to Paris to join her brother Edmond who performed there in the café-concerts under the name of Dufleuve. She had already sung in cafes in Algiers and continued on this path, eventually becoming a popular music-hall singer and dancer.

She performed the French version of Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay: Tha ma ra boum di hé. It would be her greatest success, already from the start. She became a big name and was portrayed by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the magazine Le Rire in 1895.

Not only her singing and dancing qualities were remarkable, Polaire also distinguished herself by her particular physique, having an exceptional wasp waist, at a time when women tortured themselves with tight corsets to refine their waist.

After a first failed attempt to conquer New York as a singer, Polaire returned to Paris where she expanded her range with prose theatre as well. She managed to get the role of Claudine in Colette’s play Claudine à Paris, which she performed at the Bouffes-Parisiens in 1902. She again performed the play in the US in 1910. This time she was a big hit in the US and came back loaded with money.

Obtaining the part of Claudine was not so easy, Polaire writes in her memoirs. Colette's husband, Willy, at the time reclaimed the rights of Colette’s novels, and didn’t consider this music-hall singer fit for this serious part. But a dashing and headstrong Polaire managed to convince Willy in person that she was Claudine, so she got the part.

Claudine à Paris was performed some 120 times in France, with great success. Colette herself was very satisfied about the result. Willy even managed to exploit the success by a whole line of merchandising. Afterwards Polaire would consider him her substitute father.

French postcard. Photo Gerschel, Paris. Polaire and Willy.

French postcard. Photo: Gerschel, Paris. Polaire in Le P'tit Jeune Homme. Polaire played this travesty role in 1903 at the Bouffes-Parisiens.

French promotion card by S.I.P. for Vin Désiles. Photo: Pirou. Caption: Drink the wine Désiles. Doctors won't have bread. Polaire.

French postcard by B.J.C., Paris. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Bouffes-Parisiens.

A poor trapeze worker

From 1909, Polaire appeared in several film roles. She made two films at Pathé frères, Moines et guerriers/Nuns and warriors (Julien Clément, 1909) and La tournée des grand-ducs/The Grandduke’s Tour (Léonce Perret 1910), in which she aptly played a dancer.

She went to Germany to play a Cuban lady in Zouza (Reinhard Bruck, 1911), in which future film director Richard Oswald was one of her co-stars.

Back in France she acted again at Pathé in Le visiteur/The Visitor (Albert Capellani, René Leprince, 1911), but she mostly was active at the Éclair film company between 1911 and 1914, starting with Le poison de l’humanité/The Poison of Humanity (Émile Chautard, Victorin Jasset, 1911).

From 1912 to 1914 she did a series of six films with then young and upcoming film director Maurice Tourneur, working for Éclair: Les gaîtés de l'escadron/The Funny Regiment (1913), based on the novel by Georges Courteline; Le dernier pardon (1913), a comedy written by Gyp; La dame de Monsoreau (1913), after Alexandre Dumas père; Le Friquet (1914), with Polaire in the title role; Soeurette/The Sparrow (1914); and the mystery film Monsieur Lecoq (1914), after Émile Gaboriau. Her co-stars in these films were often Maurice de Féraudy, Charles Krauss, Henry Roussel and Renée Sylvaire.

Le Friquet was restored by the Cinémathèque française in the mid-1990s and was shown at international festivals. It deals with a poor trapeze worker who loses her lover to a rich, immoral lady and then commits suicide during her trapeze act. It was based on a play Polaire had performed herself in 1904.

French postcard. Photo: H. Manuel. Publicity still for the stage play Claudine à Paris (1902) at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens. Sent by mail in 1906.

French postcard by EM. Photo: H. Manuel. Publicity still for the stage play Claudine à Paris (1902) at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens.

French postcard by ND Phot., no. 30 Photo: H. Manuel. Caption: Polaire (Gymnase).

French postcard, no. 666. Photo: H. Manuel. Publicity still for the stage play Claudine à Paris (1902) at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens. Sent by mail in 1908.

The thinnest waist of 33 cm

After World War I, Polaire dedicated herself primarily to the stage. During her career, she recorderd many of her songs as Tha ma ra boum di hé, La Glu - based on a poem by Jean Richepin, Tchique tchique by Vincent Scotto, the telephone song Allo! Chéri!, song with her partner Marjal, and she recited Charlotte prays to Our Lady by Jehan Rictus.

"Mademoiselle Polaire" is cited by the Guinness Book of Records as co-holder, with the British Ethel Granger, of the thinnest waist of 33 cm. She herself says in her memoirs to have repeatedly circled her waist by a fake collar of the 'normal size' of 41 or 42 cm.

Polaire had become a wealthy lady with a house on the Champs-Elysées and a country house in the Var, Villa Claudine. Well into the 1920s she continued to gamble away huge fortunes.

She posed for various painters such as Antonio de La Gandara, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Leonetto Cappiello, Rupert Carabin and John / Juan Sala. Sala became in 1893 the portraitist of Parisian society. His life-sized portrait of Polaire (1910) was auctioned at Drouot's in Paris on 28 June 2016.

Polaire died in 1939 at the age of 65 in Champigny-sur-Marne in the Val-de-Marne.

NB. Sources like IMDb mix up Polaire with Italian actress Pauline Polaire. Pauline Polaire (1904-1986) was a younger actress who was active in the 1920s in several Italian Forzuti films around strongmen characters like Maciste and Saetta. Her real name was Giulietta Gozzi and she was a niece of the Italian diva Hesperia (Olga Mambelli).

French postcard, no. 8307. Photo: H. Manuel. Publicity still for the stage play Claudine à Paris (1902) at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens. Collection: Didier Hanson.

French postcard. Photo: Stebbing.

French postcard by S.I.R., no. 1074. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Polaire sings Tchique Tchique (1923). Source: Luna Fae (YouTube).

Sources: Polaire - Un Etoile de la Belle Epoque (French), Du temps des cerises aux feuilles mortes (French), Wikipedia (English, French and Dutch), and IMDb.

In the silent Italian melodrama La chiromante/The Fortune Teller (1922), film diva Italia Almirante Manzini stars opposite the divos Lido Manetti, Albert Collo and Oreste Bilancia. The film was directed by Italia's husband, Mario Almirante, for the Fert Film studio.

Italia Almirante and Lido Manetti in La chiromante

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano. Photo: Fert. Italia Almirante Manzini andLido Manetti in La chiromante/The Fortune Teller (Mario Almirante 1921).

Italian postcard, no. 03. Photo: Fert. Publicity still for La chiromante (Mario Almirante, 1922). Caption: The Spiders Room.

Italian postcard, no. 29. Photo: Fert. Publicity still for La chiromante (Mario Almirante, 1922) with Italia Almirante Manzini. Caption: The good lady.

Catching men just to destroy them

In La chiromante/The Fortune Teller aka La maschera del male (1922), Italia Almirante Manzini plays Lucretia. When she was young, Lucretia was raped by her her stepfather (Franz Sala).

As an adult, Lucretia decides to take revenge by being implacable to all men. Becoming 'Countess Turchina', owner of a gambling house, she catches the men just to destroy them. First she destroys them economically and subsequently, with the art of her fatal seduction, she reduces them to slaves.

But when Lucretia meets the young Santino (Lido Manetti) she falls in love with him and saves him the fate of all the other men. Lucretia withdraws out of repentance to a kindergarten to assist abandoned children.

La chiromante was well received in the Italian press. The script was written by future film director Amleto Palermi, and the photography was by Ubaldo Arata.

Italian postcard, no. 34. Photo: Fert. Publicity still for La chiromante (Mario Almirante, 1922). Caption: The gambling room.

Italian postcard, no. 34. Photo: Fert. Publicity still for La chiromante (Mario Almirante, 1922). Caption: Restaurant chicot (little stump).

Italian postcard, no. 35. Photo: Fert. Publicity still for La chiromante (Mario Almirante, 1922), with Italia Almirante Manzini,Oreste Bilancia and Lido Manetti. Caption: You fool, if you stay with her, you'll be worthy of her!

Italian postcard, no. 40. Photo: Fert. Publicity still for La chiromante (Mario Almirante, 1922). Caption: At the horse races, meeting of the countess Turchina and the three inseparable friends.

Source: Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb.

Czech actress Milena Dvorská (1938-2009) appeared in 70 films and television shows between 1955 and 2009. Dvorská could be seen in many Czech historical films and in fairy tale films.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 283, 1957. Photo: Gerhard Kindt.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 855, 1958. Photo: Gerhard Pullmann.

There was once a Princess

Milena Dvorská was born in 1938 in Prostejov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). As a teenager, she worked as a nurse.

She had no drama training, but still she was discovered for the cinema. Her film debut was as Princess Maruška in the fairy tale Byl jednou jeden kraal/There was once a King (Bořivoj Zeman, 1955). The same year she made Anděl na horách/Angel in the Mountains (Borivoj Zeman, 1955).

After these parts, she had a professional drama training at the DAMU - Divadelní fakulta Akademie múzických umění (the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts) in Prague.

After graduating in 1961, her adult film career started with films like Poslední růže od Casanovy/The last roses from Casanova (Václav Krška, 1966) in which she played the young Countess Valerie Valdstejns, and the comedy Nejlepší ženská mého života/The Best Woman in My Life (1968), the final film of director Martin Fric.

She would appear in more than 60 very diverse Czechoslovakian film productions. In 1961, she also became a member of the company of the Prague theatre D 47, led by Emil František Burian. Till 1991, she appeared there in numerous roles.

Between 1970 and 1972, she played in Prague at the Krejčovým Divadlem za branou, a theatre founded by Otomar Krejča. After she left the theatre in 1991, she worked for a while for the office of President Vaclav Havel.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1042, 1959.

Felix Le Breux and Milena Dvorska in Poslední ruze od Casanovy (1966)

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2688, 1965. Photo: publicity still for Poslední ruze od Casanovy/Last Rose from Casanova (Václav Krska, 1966) with Felix Le Breux as Casanova.

Cult following

In addition to her film appearances Milena Dvorská also took roles in television films and television series. She acted in an episode of the well-known Czech television series Pan Tau (Jindrich Polák, 1970). In 1973 Dvorská played in the East-German-Czech coproduction Die Elixiere des Teufels/The Devil’s Elixir (Brigitte Karsten, Ralf Kirsten, 1973), an adaptation of the novel by E. T. A. Hoffmann.

In 1975 she played the role of the queen in the mini-series Des Christoffel von Grimmelshausen abenteuerlicher Simplizissimus/The adventurer Simplicissimus (Fritz Umgelter, 1975) alongside Matthias Habich. Opposite Libuše Šafránková, she played the wicked witch in the fairytale film Malá mořská víla/The Little Mermaid (Karel Kachyňa, 1977), based on the tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

Another classic fairy tale film is Jak se budí princezny/How to awake Sleeping Beauty with a kiss (Václav Vorlíček, 1977), in which she played the queen and the mother of Marie Horáková.

In the cinema, she had supporting parts in such Czech productions as the drama Běž, ať ti neuteče/Do Be Quick (Stanislav Strnad, 1977), the comedy Jára Cimrman ležící, spící/Jára Cimrman Lying, Sleeping (Ladislav Smoljak, 1983), about the fictional national hero Jára Cimrman, and the drama Noc smaragdového měsíce/The Night of the Emerald Moon (Václav Matějka, 1985).

That year, she was also in the melancholy comedy Vesničko má středisková/My Sweet Little Village (Jiří Menzel, 1985) which was nominated for the Oscar for Best foreign language film. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia the film retains a cult following. In a film version of the opera Libuše by Smetana she embodied in an impressive manner the title role.

Among her last films were another adaptation of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, Šípková Růženka (Stanislav Párnický, 1990) and the bitter comedic-drama Kamenný most/the Stone Bridge (Tomás Vorel, 1996). She also worked as a voice actor. In 1997 she was nominated for the Czech film award Český lev. In 2006, she published her memoir Vyprávění o životě (Talking about life).

Milena Dvorská died on in 2009 in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. She was 71. Her husband was Josefa Krause and they had a daughter, Lucii, and a son, Jakuba.

Scene from Poslední růže od Casanovy/The last roses from Casanova (1966) with Felix le Breux and Milena Dvorská. Source: geislerrgmail (YouTube). Sorry, no subtitles!

Czech trailer for Kamenný most/the Stone Bridge (1996). Source: VOREL FILM official channel (YouTube). Sorry, no subtitles!

Sources: Jaroslav ‘Krib’ Lopour (CSFD – Czech), Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.

For a brief period during the Weimar Republic, Hertha Thiele (1908-1984) appeared in several controversial stage plays and films. She is best known for playing a 14 year old schoolgirl in love with her female teacher in the ground-breaking Mädchen in Uniform/Girls in Uniform (1931). She received thousands of fan letters - mostly from women. Decades later, Thiele became a well known film and television actress in East Germany.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6997/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Ufa.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7174/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Deutsche Lichtspiel-Syndikat (DLS). Publicity still for Das erste Recht des Kindes/The first right of the child (Fritz Wendhausen, 1932).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7174/2, 1932-1933. Photo: Deutsche Lichtspiel-Syndikat (DLS). Publicity still for Das erste Recht des Kindes/The first right of the child (Fritz Wendhausen, 1932).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7423/1, 1932-1933. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères, Paris.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7423/1, 1932-1933. Studio Lorelle, Paris.

Lesbian-themed Films

Hertha Thiele was born in Leipzig in 1908. Her father worked as a locksmith. She began her acting career on stage at the Schauspielhaus (theatre house) in Leizig with the play Krankheit der Jugend/Disease of Youth by Ferdinand Bruckner in 1928.

Two years later she had her breakthrough there in the original version of Christa Winsloe's play Ritter Nerestan/Knight Nerestan, set in a Prussian boarding school for girls.

She made her film debut in the adaptation, Mädchen in Uniform/Girls in Uniform (Leontine Sagan, Carl Froelich, 1931). Thiele played Manuela, a schoolgirl deeply infatuated with her teacher, played by Dorothea Wieck. The film made her a star and she received thousands of fan letters, mostly from women.

Next Hertha Thiele starred with Ernst Busch in Bertolt Brecht's Kuhle Wampe/To Whom Does the World Belong? (Slatan Dudow, 1932). This interesting film shows the difficult life of a working class family in Berlin in times of the Great Depression. The film was censored in 1932 and banned by the Nazis in 1933, accused of communist tendencies.

Thiele also had a leading role opposite Hermann Thimig and Viktor de Kowa in Kleiner Mann, was nun?/Little Man What Now (Fritz Wendhausen, 1933) based on the novel by Hans Fallada.

She was reunited with Dorothea Wieckin another lesbian-themed film, Anna und Elisabeth/Anna and Elizabeth (Frank Wisbar, 1933). The film was banned by the Nazis soon after it opened. Later, Thiele said that this was the most important work of her career. During the early 1930s, she also continued to play in stage productions by Max Reinhardt (Molnar's Harmonie, 1932) and Veit Harlan (Veronika, 1935).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6845/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Gerstenberg-Dührkoop, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8117/2, 1933-1934. Photo: FFG (Carl Froelich-Film GmbH). Publicity still for Reifende Jugend/Ripening Youth (Carl Froelich, 1933).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8537/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Suse Byk, Berlin.

Dutch postcard by City Film, no. 603. Photo: publicity still for Elisabeth und der Narr/Elisabeth, die weisse Schwester von St. Veith (Thea von Harbau, 1934). Hertha Thiele starred as Elisabeth Dietrich.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 684. Photo: Gerstenberg-Dührkoop, Berlin.

Not Blowing With The Wind

In 1933 the Nazi government approached Hertha Thiele to appear in the propaganda film Hans Westmar (Franz Wenzler, 1933). She replied to propaganda minister Josef Goebbels: "I don't blow with the wind each time it changes directions." Her film career was thwarted.

In 1932 she had married actor Heinz Klingenberg. She left him when he accepted the title role in the propaganda-film S.A.-Mann Brand/Storm Trooper Brand (Frans Seitz, 1933). They divorced in 1936. That year she was also excluded from the Reichstheater and Reichsfilmkammer.

After this Berufsverbot she left Germany for Switzerland in 1937. It took five years before she was able to find acting work in Bern.

In 1949 Thiele went with her second, Swiss husband to East Germany where she worked for the Berliner Rundfunk. She tried to start a theatre there, but did not succeed. For years she lived in Switzerland and Paris, working as a psychiatric nursing assistant.

In 1966, she finally returned to East Germany. There she worked in stage productions in Magdeburg and Leipzig. During the 1970s she was often seen in TV series and made-for-TV films, including the popular crime series Polizeiruf 110/Police Call 110.

Thiele's work was featured in a television documentary Das Herz auf der linken Seite/The Heart at the Left Side (1975). In 1983 followed a retrospective at the Berlin Film Festival (Exil – Sechs Schauspieler aus Deutschland/Exile - Six Actors from Germany) and a monography on her life and work, which was published by the Deutsche Kinematek.

To her last films belong the DEFA productions Die Legende von Paul und Paula/The Legend of Paul and Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973) starring Angelica Domröse, and Die Unverbesserliche Barbara/The Incorrigible Barbara (Lothar Warneke, 1977) with Dutch actress Cox Habbema.

Hertha Thiele died in 1984 in East-Berlin.

Dorothea Wieck and Hertha Thiele in Mädchen in Uniform (1931)

Dutch Postcard by M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam, Z., no. 104 e. Photo: Fim Film, Amsterdam. Publicity still for Mädchen in Uniform/Girls in Uniform (Leontine Sagan, Carl Froelich, 1931).

British card in the series Film Shots by Film Weekly. Photo: Deutsche. Publicity still for Mädchen in Uniform/Girls in Uniform (Leontine Sagan, Carl Froelich, 1931) with Dorothea Wieck.

Scene from Mädchen in Uniform/Girls in Uniform (1931). Source: Greek Anon (YouTube).

Scene from Kuhle Wampe/To Whom Does the World Belong? (1932). Source: Kanal von raikomat (YouTube).

Trailer for Die Legende von Paul und Paula (1973). Source: DEFA Stiftung (YouTube).

Sources: Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-line - German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de (German), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Leslie Banks (1890–1952) was an English stage and screen actor, director, and producer. He is now best remembered for playing gruff, menacing characters in black-and-white films of the 1930s and 1940s.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 919a. Photo: Herbert Wilcox Prod. Publicity still for Three Maxims (Herbert Wilcox, 1936).

A sadistic, diabolical hunter

Leslie James Banks, CBE was born in West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire, in 1890. His parents were George and Emily (née Dalby) Banks. He attended school at Glenalmond College in Scotland and later studied at Keble College, Oxford with the intention of becoming a parson but decided against this.

Banks joined Frank Benson's company and made his acting debut in 1911 at the town hall, Brechin, playing Old Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice. He then toured the United States and Canada with Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore in 1912–1913.

Returning to London, he appeared for the first time on the West End, as Lord Murdon in The Dangerous Age in 1914. During the First World War he served with the Essex Regiment. He suffered injuries that left his face partially scarred and paralysed. This later disqualified him from many leading roles that required handsome actors.

In his acting career he would use this injury to good effect by showing the unblemished side of his face when playing comedy or romance and the scarred, paralysed side of his face when playing drama or tragedy. After the war, Banks joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He returned to London in 1921 and established himself as a leading dramatic actor and West End star known for his powerful yet restrained performances.

Working in both London and New York City, he gained prominence on both sides of the Atlantic, and it was when he was in New York that Kenneth Macgowan persuaded him to go to Hollywood. Banks formidable bulk and intimidating face served him well in his first important film role in The Most Dangerous Game (Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1932). He played the sadistic Russian Count Zaroff, a diabolical hunter who arranges for a ship to be wrecked on an island where he can unleash his vicious dogs and hunts the passengers in the jungle for sport.

Ralph Michael Stein at IMDb: “Zaroff is, of course, evil but he's also oddly sympathetic. What's a count to do when he can buy anything and only the most extraordinary hunting will bring him happiness? In that light his trophy room becomes understandable, his bloody diversion almost sympathetic. Banks is very effective in this role where he swings between culture and carnage.” The film is based on a 1924 short story of the same name by Richard Connell and also features Joel McCrea and Fay Wray.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 818. Photo: London Films.

The Man Who Knew Too Much

For the rest of his career, Leslie Banks divided his time between Britain and the United States and between film and theatre. One of his most successful films was the British thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1934) with Edna Best and Peter Lorre.

José Luis Rivera Mendoza at IMDb: “The performances by the actors are of an excellent quality, with Leslie Banks leading the cast with his charming presence and very British wit. His ability to mix drama with comedy makes his character a very real and likable person, that portrays remarkably the everyman placed in an uncommon situation.”

Hitchcock remade the film in 1956 with James Stewart, but the two films are very different in tone, in setting, and in many plot details. Hal Erickon at AllMovie: “the original 1934 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much is arguably a more historically significant and aesthetically interesting film. It was Hitchcock's first true international hit.”

A box office smash was Farewell Again/Troopship (Tim Whelan Sr., 1937), a multi-plotted British comedy-drama about soldiers on leave and the people they've left. Other film with Banks include the historical drama Fire Over England (William K. Howard, 1937) notable for the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, and Hitchcock’s last British film Jamaica Inn (Alfred Hitchcock, 1939) with Charles Laughton and Maureen O’Hara in her first major film role.

Against 'type', Banks starred in British mystery film The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (Thorold Dickinson, 1939), as the eccentric Inspector Anthony Slade. Jim Cross at IMDb: “He plays a curious character who we meet rehearsing policemen in full uniform AND tutus for some sort of theatrical performance! Further, he has a large selection of different hats that he self-consciously picks from every time he has to go and perform some task; when he has to delegate an arrest to his sergeant, he even delegates the appropriate (fishing) hat to him also! Altogether, the character played is fascinating and odd: an English eccentric or a (coded- it is 1939!) gay characterization? Either way, it is Leslie Banks' playing that makes this film at all worth watching...”

Leslie Banks in Fire over England (1937)

British postcard by Art Photo, no. 101. Photo: London Films / Erich Pommer Production. Publicity still for Fire over England (William K. Howard, 1937).

Fresh and lively - even challenging and daring

Leslie Banks appeared as the Chorus in Henry V (1944), Laurence Olivier's brilliant Technicolor film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name.

Bruce Eder at AllMovie: “Laurence Olivier's Henry V confounded almost every assumption about bringing Shakespeare's work to the screen. In contrast to previous Shakespeare adaptations, it was fresh and lively -- even challenging and daring -- in its presentation and structure; it had fun with its subject, while other versions had been reverent and respectful; and it delighted audiences, scholars, and critics alike, becoming the first screen adaptation of a Shakespeare play to receive mostly enthusiastic reviews and turn a profit.”

Banks played a supporting part in the thriller The Small Back Room (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1949) about the bureaucratic and personal frustrations of a crippled munitions expert (David Farrar) during World War II.

Banks’ final film was Madeleine (David Lean, 1950), based on a true story about Madeleine Smith (Ann Todd), a young Glasgow woman from a wealthy family who was tried in 1857 for the murder of her lover, Emile L'Angelier (Ivan Desny). The trial was much publicized in the newspapers of the day and labeled "the trial of the century". Banks played the authoritarian father, unaware of Madeleine's secret life.

His theatre roles included Eliza Comes to Stay (his American debut in 1914), Captain Hook in Peter Pan (his New York debut in 1924), Petruchio in William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (1937), the kindly, doddering schoolmaster in the original 1938 staging of Goodbye, Mr Chips (1938), and James Jarvis in the Kurt Weill musical Lost in the Stars (1950).

Leslie Banks married Gwendoline Haldane Unwin in 1915 and the couple had three daughters: Daphne, Virginia, and Evangeline, who became an actress. Banks was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to theatre in 1950, the year of his last appearances on stage and screen.

Leslie Banks died in 1952, aged 61, from a stroke he suffered while walking.

10 Leslie Banks_Gallaher (Portraits of Famous Stars; 10)

British collector's card by Gallaher in the Portraits of Famous Stars series, no. 10. Collection: Manuel Palomino Arjona (Flickr).

41 Leslie Banks & Nora Pilbeam (The Man Who Knew Too Much)_Gallaher (Famous Film Scenes; 41)

British collectors Card by Gallaher In the Famous Film Scenes, no 41. Leslie Banks and Nora Pilbeam in The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1934).

Sources: Bruce Eder (AllMovie), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Ralph Michael Stein (IMDb), José Luis Rivera Mendoza (IMDb), Jim Cross (IMDb), AllMovie, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Strawberry blonde and blue-eyed Angela Lansbury (1925) is a British-born character actress, who works in the United States since the Second World War began. She began her career as a teenager in the films Gaslight (1944) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). She was later known for her mother roles in films like The Manchurian Candidate (1962). In the 1980s, she obtained her greatest fame on TV as Jessica Fletcher in the mystery series Murder, She Wrote (1984).

Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois - D'Haine, no. C 301. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948).

Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 166. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The Other Woman

Angela Brigid Lansbury was born Regent Park, London in 1925. She was the daughter of actress Moyna MacGill, and timber merchant and politician Edward Lansbury, who died when she was only 9 years old.

Her grandfather, George Lansbury, was the British Labour Party leader in the 1930s. Her younger twin brothers are art director and producer Edgar Lansbury and TV producer Bruce Lansbury, and her older half-sister is Isolde Denham.

Lansbury studied acting from her youth. With her mother and brothers, she departed for the United States in 1940, as the Second World War began. In New York City, Lansbury received a scholarship to study drama at the Lucy Fagan school. She was contracted by MGM while still a teenager.

Lansbury was nominated for an Academy Award for her first film, Gaslight (George Cukor, 1944). Opposite Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, she played the house maid Nancy. Two pictures later, she was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress, this time for playing dance hall lady Sibyl Vane in The Picture of Dorian Gray (Albert Lewin, 1945), based on Oscar Wilde’s story of a man who makes a supernatural pact to remain young at a high cost. She did win a Golden Globe for her supporting role in this film.

Lansbury landed other major roles, including that of Elizabeth Taylor’s older sister in National Velvet (Clarence Brown, 1944) and opposite Judy Garland in the musical The Harvey Girls (George Sidney, 1946). Now established as a supporting player of quality, she began a long career, often as 'the other woman' in major productions and as the leading lady in lesser films.

Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois - D'Haine, no. C 8. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois - D'Haine. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The manipulating mother

Angela Lansbury became an American citizen in 1951. She appeared as Princess Gwendolyn opposite Danny Kaye in the comedy film The Court Jester (Melvin Frank, 1956), as Minnie Littlejohn in The Long Hot Summer (Martin Ritt, 1958), and as Mabel Claremont in The Reluctant Debutante (Vincente Minelli, 1958).

Her features, while not at all old-appearing, gave her an air of maturity that allowed her to pass as much older than she actually was. She began playing mother roles, often to players of her own age, while yet in her thirties. Lansbury played Elvis Presley's mother in Blue Hawaii (Norman Taurog, 1961), despite only being 10 years older than him.

She was also the manipulating mother of Laurence Harvey in the Cold War thriller The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962), while in real life being scarcely three years Harvey's senior. The latter brought her a third Academy Award nomination for supporting actress.

Other film roles included The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (Terence Young, 1965) starring Kim Novak, and the biblical epic The Greatest Story Ever Told (George Stevens, 1965), featuring Max von Sydow as Jesus. In the partially-animated Disney musical Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Robert Stevenson, 1971), she played the witch Miss Price.

However, she concentrated more and more on stage work. She made her Broadway debut in 1957 with the play Hotel Paradiso, a French burlesque set in Paris, directed by Peter Glenville. A role in the drama A Taste of Honey (1961) and the Stephen Sondheim musical Anyone Can Whistle (1964) followed.

She achieved notable success in a number of Broadway musicals. She has been the co-recipient of 4 Grammy Awards for her leading roles in the musicals Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), Gypsy (1975) and Sweeney Todd (1979).

In 2007, she returned to Broadway after more than two decades, performing in the show Deuce. Lansbury played a former tennis pro who reunites with her doubles partner for an honours ceremony at the U.S. Open. Two years later, she won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Blithe Spirit, the revival of a Noel Coward play about a man who is haunted by the ghost of his ex-wife. Lansbury continued her stage work, playing Madame Armfeldt in the 2009 revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones, and in 2012 taking on a lead role in the Gore Vidal satire The Best Man.

Angela Lansbury in The Red Danube (1949)

Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois - D'Haine, no. C 238. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Red Danube (George Sidney, 1949).

Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois - D'Haine, no. C 280. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Red Danube (George Sidney, 1949).

Her greatest success

Angela Lansbury alternated between film, television and the stage for years. In the cinema, Lansbury appeared in 1979 as Miss Froy in The Lady Vanishes (Anthony Page, 1979), a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's famous 1938 film. The following year she appeared in The Mirror Crack'd (Guy Hamilton, 1980), another film based on an Agatha Christie novel, this time as Miss Marple, a sleuth in 1950s Kent. She also played the grandmother in the Gothic fantasy film The Company of Wolves (Neil Jordan, 1984).

That same year, she obtained her greatest success as Jessica Fletcher in the light mystery TV show Murder, She Wrote (1984). For her 12-year stint as the diplomatic, clever and kind fictional writer and sleuth, she became known and loved. From 1985 to 1996, she yearly got Emmy Award nominations for the role without ever winning for it. Eventually she took over production duties for the show as well.

In 2005, she made a notable appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She also voiced several animated characters for films like Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, 1991), in which she voiced Mrs. Potts.

Jim Beaver at IMDb: “An institution in American theatre and television, she is also an inspiration for the graciousness of her personality, which is often exploited and always admired.”

Lansbury was married twice. Her first marriage was to American actor Richard Cromwell. It ended after a year in a divorce. A recent authorized biography, Balancing Act, states that Cromwell was gay, a fact she didn't know until after their separation. Her second husband was British actor Peter Shaw, from 1949 till his death in 2003. Shaw became her manager and launched a production company that would be heavily involved in Murder, She Wrote. The couple had two children, Anthony Pullen Shaw (1952) and Deirdre Angela Shaw (1953).

Angela Lansbury was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1994 and the DBE (Dame Commander of Order of the British Empire) in 2014. A year later, she triumphantly returned to London's West End stage after a forty year absence. She starred in her Tony winning role as Madam Arcati in Blithe Spirit. For this role, she won her only Laurence Olivier award for best supporting actress in 2015.

Trailer for Gaslight (George Cukor, 1945). Source: Warner Bros. (YouTube).

Trailer for Something for Everyone (Harold Prince, 1970). Source: Dukece (YouTube).

Trailer The Mirror Crack'd (Guy Hamilton, 1980). Source: Mr80sMovies (YouTube).

Trailer The Company Of Wolves Trailer (Neil Jordan, 1985). Source: Video Detective (YouTube).

Sources: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Biography.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Handsome Victor Varconi (1891–1976) was a highly successful matinee idol of the Hungarian-Austrian and German silent cinema in the 1910s and early 1920s. Later he was the first Hungarian actor to become a Hollywood star until the sound film completely altered the course of his career.

Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for the Italian-German silent film Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926), starring Victor Varconi as Glaucus, on the photo he is training at the gymnasium. The film was one of the many adaptations of the novel The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. Sets were by Vittorio Cafiero, costumes by Duilio Cambellotti.

Italian postcard by C. Chierichetti, Milano, no. 8. Photo: Grandi Films, Roma. Publicity still for the Italian-German silent film Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii/The Last Days of Pompeii (Amleto Palermi, Carmine Gallone, 1926), starring Victor Varconi as Glaucus.

Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 360/1. Photo: Paramount-Film.

Victor Varconi in The King of Kings (1927)

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5062. Photo: Cecil B. de Mille-Studio. Publicity still for The King of Kings (Cecil B. de Mille, 1927).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4075/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Lansing Brown, Los Angeles.

Devilish Good Looks

Victor Varconi was born Mihály Várkonyi in Kisvárda, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary) in 1891. He was born into a farming family on the Hungarian/Romanian border. He attended classes at Budapest's commercial college and at the dramatic school.

The young good-looking actor thrived for a time on the Transylvanian stage, where he played leads in such productions as Liliom at the Hungarian National Theatre in Budapest. His rising popularity as a matinee idol led to film roles, and he made his debut in Sárga csikó/Son of the Pusta (Félix Vanyl, 1913).

Other of his silent Hungarian films were Bánk Bán (Mihály Kertész aka Michael Curtiz, 1914) based on the play by József Katona, Mágia/Magic (Sándor Korda aka Alexander Korda, 1917), Szent Péter esernyöje/St. Peter's Umbrella (Alexander Korda, 1917) and Fehér rózsa/White Rose (Alexander Korda, 1919) starring Maria Corda, the director’s wife. Unfortunately nearly all these early films got lost.

After World War I, under the Horthy regime, Korda and many other film makers fled to Vienna, and Varconi followed them. He changed his marquee name to the more internationally friendly Michael Várkonyi and branched out into German and Austrian films. He showed impressive performances in Aus den Tiefen der Großstadt/ From the depths of the big city (Fred Sauer, 1920) and Nachtbesuch in der Northernbank/Night visit in the Northernbank (Karl Grune, 1921).

Then followed such films as Arme Violetta/Camille (Paul H. Stein, 1921) a silent version of La Traviata starring Pola Negri, Herren der Meere/Masters of the Sea (Alexander Korda, 1922), Versunkene Welten/Sunk worlds (Siegfried Philippi, 1922) with Ria Jende, and Namenlos/Nameless (Michael Curtiz, 1923) with Mary Kid.

A huge success was the biblical epic Sodom und Gomorrha/Queen of Sin (Michael Curtiz, 1922) with Lucy Doraine. IMDb reviewer Nora Nettlerash writes about his performance in this film: “with his devilish good looks he doesn't really need to act here, and with his commanding presence he makes a great angel of the Lord”.

Hungarian postcard by B.J., Budapest.

Hungarian postcard by Kiadja Reinitz Joszef, Budapest. Photo: Papp Reszo Felv., 1918.

Hungarian postcard by Shinhazi Elet, Budapest, no. 16. Photo: Labori Miklos, Budapest.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 990/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Arenberg Atelier, Wien (Vienna).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 990/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Arenberg Atelier, Wien.

Trying His Luck in Hollywood

In 1924, because of the ever-shifting political climate of Europe, Michael Várkonyi moved to America to try his luck in Hollywood. First he played a supporting part in Poisoned Paradise (Louis J. Gasnier, 1924) starring It-girl Clara Bow.

Then he was signed by Cecil B. DeMille's company on his exceptional performance in Sodom und Gomorrha (1922). DeMille cast him as a wealthy American tin factory manager in Triumph (Cecil B. DeMille, 1924) opposite established star Leatrice Joy. He was billed now as Victor Varconi.

For DeMille's company, the smoothly handsome Varconi then played in the comedy Changing Husbands (Frank Urson, 1924) again opposite Leatrice Joy, had a character role as a bookkeeper in the afterworld in Feet of Clay (Cecil B. DeMille, 1924), later he was a Russian prince in The Volga Boatman (Cecil B. DeMille, 1926) starring William Boyd, and finally, a disgruntled Pontius Pilate in the biblical epic The King of Kings (Cecil B. DeMille, 1929).

Temporarily he returned to Europe. In Germany he reunited with director Alexander Korda and his wife Maria Corda for the comedy-drama Der Tänzer meiner Frau/Dance Fever (Alexander Korda, 1925). With Corda he also acted in the two Italian productions L'uomo piu allegro di Vienna/The happiest man in Vienna (Amleto Palermi, 1926) and the lavish spectacle Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii/The Last Days of Pompeii (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926) starring Italian diva Rina De Liguoro.

Back in Hollywood, the elegant and impeccably mannered Varconi went on to share the screen with some of the loveliest and talented ladies of silent Hollywood, including Agnes Ayres, Marie Prevost, and Jetta Goudal.

Notable is his portrayal of cuckolded husband Amos opposite Phyllis Haver's wild jazz-loving and boozing Roxie Hart in the silent Chicago (Frank Urson, 1927). His last major silent role was that of Lord Horatio Nelson in The Divine Lady (Frank Lloyd, 1929) co-starring Oscar-nominated Corinne Griffith as Lady Emma Hamilton.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 53/1. Photo: Hisa Film. Publicity still for the Italian silent epic Gi ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926). Glaucus (Victor Varconi) and the rich Julia (Lia Maris, not Rina De Liguoro as this card pretends) meet on the streets of Pompeii, so the blind flower girl Nydia (Maria Corda) hears Glaucus is back in town. Set designer Vittorio Cafiero copied various original artefacts from Pompeii for this films, such as here the small burner held up by satyrs in the shop.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 53/2. Photo: Hisa Film. Publicity still for the Italian silent epic Gi ultimi giorni di Pompei (Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi, 1926).
Glaucus (Victor Varconi) listens to beautiful and rich Greek Ione (Rina De Liguoro) playing the harp. The statue left was copied from an original Roman one.

Victor Varconi, H.B. Warner and Rudolph Schildkraut in King of Kings (1927)

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 86/6. Photo: National-Film. Publicity still for King of Kings (Cecil B. De Mille, 1927) with Victor Varconi, H.B. Warner and Rudolph Schildkraut. Caption: Caiphas accuses Jesus before Pontius Pilate.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series no. 338, London.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3734/1, 1928-1929. Photo: DPC.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4279/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Lansing Brown, Los Angeles.

Transition to the Talkies

At the peak of his career as a romantic leading man, Victor Varconi had to face transition from the silent movies to the talkies. It completely altered the course of his career. He had a nice decent voice for sound film but his accent was noticeably thick. He no longer did become offers for leading parts.

Temporarily he worked in European silent films, such as the Polish Kult ciala/The Cult of the Body (Michal Waszynski, 1930) and the German Mein Herz gehört Dir.../My heart belongs to you (Max Reichmann, 1930) with Camilla Horn.

Back in Hollywood, he regressed slightly to suave ethnic character roles, such as in the Charlie Chan mystery The Black Camel (Hamilton MacFadden, 1931) starring Warner Oland. He often played foreign or royal dignitaries, European adventurers or roguish gigolos. He also starred in English-language versions of Anglo-German co-productions, such as Der Rebell/The Rebel (Luis Trenker, Edwin H. Knopf, 1933) starring Luis Trenker.

The forced move to character roles probably added years to his Hollywood life. During World War II Hollywood utilised his talents playing nefarious Axis commanders in spy intrigue and war dramas. In The Hitler Gang (John Farrow, 1944), he was quite skillful portraying Nazi Deputy Rudolf Hess. Varconi also appeared in many of his old boss Cecil DeMille's sound epics such as The Plainsman (Cecil B. DeMille, 1936) (as Indian chief Painted Horse), Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942) starring Ray Milland, Unconquered (1947, Cecil B. DeMille) with Gary Cooper, and Samson and Delilah (Cecil B. DeMille, 1949) starring Hedy Lamarr.

After 1949 Varconi scaled down his workload. He also worked on the New York City stage and wrote for radio. Among his Shakespearean theatre endeavours were roles in Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra and Richard III. He also moved occasionally into TV in the 1950s.

Varconi did another film part in the Sci-Fi movie The Man Who Turned to Stone (László Kardos, 1957) starring Victor Jory. The plot was about a group of 18th-century scientists, who have remained young after all these centuries by using electricity to suck the life out of young women. After a supporting part in another Sci-Fi thriller, The Atomic Submarine (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1960), he retired.

Victor Varconi had appeared in 120 films. He published his memoirs It's Not Enough to Be Hungarian, just before his death. In 1976, Victor Varconi died from a heart attack in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of 85. He was married twice. His second wife was stage actress Anna Aranyosy.

Agnes Petersen and Victor Varconi in Kult ciala (1930)

Polish postcard, no. 1244. Photo: publicity still for Kult ciala/The cult of the body (Michal Waszynski, 1930) with Agnes Petersen.

Polish postcard by Edition Victoria PW, no. 209.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5061, 1929-1930. Photo: Cecil B. DeMille Studio.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3301/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Angelo Photos.

Victor Varconi and Bebe Daniels in The Song You Gave Me (1933)

British postcard. Photo: B. I. P. Publicity still for The Song You Gave Me (Paul L. Stein, 1933) with Bebe Daniels.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.