Lily Damita

August 9, 2013, 11:00 pm

Beautiful and seductive French actress Lily Damita (1902-1994) appeared in 33 French, Austrian and Hollywood films between 1922 and 1937. Her marriage with Errol Flynn was tempestuous and led to her nicknames 'Tiger Lil' and 'Dynamita'. In 1970 her only son, Sean Flynn, went missing during the Vietnam war. Lily reportedly invested millions to recover him, but sadly she never found her son back.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3150/3, 1928-1929. Photo: F.P.S.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 980. Photo: Sascha-Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4767/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.

French postcard by Cinémagazine-Selection, Paris, no. 835.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 375/2. Photo: Manassé, Wien / Sascha Film, Wien.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 375/1. Photo: Manassé, Wien / Sascha.

A Life of Mundanity
Lily (also Lili) Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France (north of Bordeaux), in 1902 (some sources say 1901, 1904 or 1906). She was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries, including France, Spain and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opéra de Paris. By the age of 16 she was performing in popular music-halls, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris under the name Lily Deslys. She also worked as a photographic model. Then a life of mundanity started. When in Biarritz, the Spanish King wanted to be presented to that 'damita dal maillo rojo' (that litte lady in the red bathing costume). Lily liked the compliment so much that she kept her nickname and appeared under the name Damita del Rojo. In 1921 she won a beauty contest by the journal Cinémagazine. The French company Société Cinématographique offered her a role in the silent film La belle au bois dormant/Sleeping Beauty (Stéphane Passet, 1922). She was praised for her beauty and freshness in this film. Soon other French films followed, including the serial L'Empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1922), La Voyante/The Clairvoyant (Leon Abrams, Louis Mercanton, 1923) with the legendary Sarah Bernhardt, and the drama Corsica (René Carrère, Vanina Casalonga, 1923).

Lily Damita in Die goldene Schmetterling

Italian postcard by Edizione E.F.A., no. 937. Photo: Lily Damita in the Austrian silent film Die goldene Schmetterling (Michael Curtiz, 1926).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1232/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1658/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Phoebus-Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3160/2, 1928-1929. Photo: F.P.S.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4268/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Lily Damita and Don Alvarado in The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Charles Brabin, 1929). The film was shot both as a silent and a sound film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4497/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Fox.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5072/1, 1930-1931.

A Fabulous Offer
Lily Damita went to Vienna to act next to Max Linderin Der Zirkuskönig but left the role to Vilma Banky. Instead she played in Mihaly Kertesz' (the later Michael Curtiz) Das Spielzeug von Paris/Red Heels (1925), which knew a huge international success. At the time, she was reportedly engaged to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, grandson of the ex-Kaiser. Count Kolowrat, owner of the Viennese Sascha Film, made her a fabulous offer, partly on instigation of the prince: directors to choose by herself, scripts written especially for her, and ways to turn her into one of Europe's biggest film stars. Thus happened. Lily's films may not have reached canonical film history but they were huge hits at the box office. They included Fiaker Nr. 13/Cab Nr. 13 (1926) and Der goldene Schmetterling/The Golden Butterfly (1926), both directed by Michael Curtiz. The latter film, based on a story by P.G. Wodehouse and largely shot in London, probably contained one of Lily's best performances. She and Curtiz married in 1925 and divorced a year later. Damita continued appearing in European productions directed by G. W. Pabst(Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe/One Does Not Play with Love; 1926), British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927), and Robert Wiene (Die Grosse Abenteuerin/The Amateur Adventure; 1928).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1953/1, 1927-1928. Photo: EPS.

French postcard in the Europe series, no. 637. Photo: Union Artistic Films.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1676/2, 1927-1928. Photo: A. Binder, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3160/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4428/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists.

A Siren of the Tropics
After several Hollywood offers, it was MGM mogul Sam Goldwyn who took Lily Damita to California to perform in The Rescue (Herbert Brenon, 1929) with Ronald Colman, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929, Charles Brabin), which were rather tedious. Things went better when Lily played a siren of the tropics in The Cock-Eyed World (Raoul Walsh, 1929) opposite Victor McLaglen. In the meantime, sound cinema had arrived. Lily didn't master English too well, so she was put in French versions of American films before dubbing became normal. She was cast with the young Gary Cooper in the early western Fighting Caravans (Otto Brower, David Burton, 1931), and with the young Laurence Olivierin Friends and Lovers (Victor Schertzinger, 1931). She returned to France and played a young adventuress in On a Vole un Homme/Man Stolen (1933) from the great Max Ophüls. According to Hal Erickson at All Movie, this lighthearted romance was "gorgeously photographed on the French Riviera and other such eye-catching locations". On a Vole un Homme was the first of a brace of films produced in France by Erich Pommer on behalf of Hollywood's Fox Films. In 1935 Lily married an unknown actor who would become Hollywood's biggest box office attraction, Errol Flynn. She reportedly retired without complaints, but their marriage was rather tempestuous, hit the press and finished in a divorce in 1942. In 1970, their only son Sean Flynn, a 28 years old photo journalist for Time Magazine and a dead ringer for his father, went missing in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. He was captured by Khmer Rouge guerrillas. In spite of huge investments by Lily, he was never found and in 1984 he was declared legally dead. Lily married three times, the last time to retired dairy owner Allen Loomis (1962-1983). All three marriages ended in a divorce. In 1994, Lily Damita died of Alzheimer's disease in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 89. In March 2010 media reported that remains, that may be those of Sean Flynn (1941-1970), have been found in a mass grave in Cambodia. Tests were scheduled to be conducted on the jaw and femur bone found and were handed over to the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh. However, the results, released June 30, 2010 by JPAC, showed the remains were not those of Sean Flynn.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4029/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5517/2, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Manassé, Wien (Vienna).

German Postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5745/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Fighting Caravans (1931).

French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Paris, no. 613. Photo: Forrester / Parant.

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 647. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Le dive del silenzio), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Helen Kennedy (Daily News), C. Parker (Starlet Showcase), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

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Françoise Arnoul

August 10, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Sting

≪ Previous: Lily Damita

Cute and sexy actress Françoise Arnoul (1931) was in the early 1950s presented as the new French sex symbol. Soon she was overshadowed by the spectacular Brigitte Bardot, but Arnoul had enough talent and range to forge a decent film career for herself.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 366. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.

French postcard by Edition du Globe, no. 429. Photo: Sam Lévin.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, no. 617. Photo: Sam Lévin, Paris.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 113. Photo: Teddy Piaz, Paris.

French postcard by Edition du Globe, no. 355.

Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam (Dutch licency holder of Ufa (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof), no. 1110. Photo: Sam Lévin, Paris.

Undressed Scenes
Françoise Arnoul was born as Françoise Annette Marie Mathilde Gautsch in Constantine, France (now Algeria), in 1931. Her father was a general in the army, Charles Gautsch; her mother was a former stage actress, Jeanne Gradwohl, who worked before her marriage under the name of Jeanne Henry. Françoise grew up in Rabat and Casablanca, and after WWII she returned to Paris. Her mother proved to be a valuable support when her daughter expressed a desire to take courses in drama. She attended the drama classes of Andree Bauer-Thérond, and made her film debut as an extra in Rendez-vous de juillet/Rendezvous in July (Jacques Becker, 1949). Her first bigger role was in L'Épave/Sin and Desire (Willy Rozier, 1949) in which she had some undressed scenes. It made her a star overnight. She was touted as the newest French sex symbol in films like Nous irons à Paris/We Will All Go to Paris (Jean Boyer, 1950) opposite nice and attractive Philippe Lemaire. In the morally rigid 1950s she played sexy and sensuous characters, that were also often troubled and destructive. She was the perverse femme fatale in films like the Georges Siménon adaptation Le Fruit défendu/Forbidden Fruit (Henri Verneuil, 1952) in which she seduces a country doctor played by Fernandel, La Rage au corps/Tempest in the Flesh (Ralph Habib, 1953) in which she is the unfaithful wife of Raymond Pellegrin, and especially in the wildly successful film noir La Chatte/The Cat (Henri Decoin, 1958) in which she played a black leather clad resistance fighter during World War II. Arnoul made of her questioning scene by the Nazis an erotic extravaganza as she slowly removes her stockings under the officer's lecherous eyes.

German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-1. Photo: Unifrance Film.

French postcard by Editions P.I.. Paris, no. 1055. Photo: Sam Lévin.

French postcard by Imp. De Marchi Frères, Marseille.

German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-288. Photo: Klaus Collignon / Ufa.

German postcard by Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft (Ufa), Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK 141. Photo: Klaus Collignon / Ufa.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 105. Photo: Ringpress / Union / Vogelmann.

Animal Endowed with Happiness
The unusually pretty and petite Françoise Arnoul proved her talent and range in such highly regarded films as Michelangelo Antonioni’s episode film I Vinti/The Vanquished (1953), the wonderful Fernandel comedy Le Mouton à cinq pattes/The Sheep Has Five Legs (Henri Verneuil, 1954), and Jean Cocteau's Le Testament d'Orphee/The Testament of Orpheus (1960). In Jean Renoir's French Cancan/French Can-Can (1955) she played Nini, a young laundress from Montmartre, who conquers the Moulin Rouge with her sexy dance. In 1964, during the shooting of Compartiment tueurs/The Sleeping Car Murder (1965, Costa-Gavras), she met director Bernard Paul who would become her life partner. From 1956 till 1960, she had been married to publicity agent Georges Cravenne (the future father of the César and Mollière awards). In the following years she focussed on assisting Paul with his first films. Together with Marina Vlady,they founded in 1968 the production company Francina, that would produce films like Dernière sortie avant Roissy/Last Exit Before Roissy (Bernard Paul, 1977). Paul died in 1980. His loss affected Francoise dearly and she had difficulty to regain a foothold in the cinema. During the 1970s her film career had tapered off, but she appeared in Raul Ruiz’ Diálogos de exiliados/Dialogues of the Exiled (1975) and Violette & François (Jacques Rouffio, 1977) as the mother of Violette (Isabelle Adjani). She also had some success as a television actress. In the late 1990s, Françoise Arnoul returned on the screen in character roles in such films as Temps de Chien/Dog Days (Jean Marboeuf, 1996), Post coitum animal triste/Smell of Geraniums (Brigitte Roüan, 1997) and Merci pour le geste/Thanks for the Gesture (Claude Faraldo, 2000). She published her autobiography entitled Animal doué de Bonheur (Animal Endowed with Happiness) in 1995. In 1997, she was the president of the jury of the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film festival. Françoise Arnoul lives in Paris and is still active as a TV actress. In his bio at Les Gens de Cinéma, Yvan Foucart writes: "The young vamp has given way to a blooming woman whose wonderful face radiates serenity. She kept her beautiful smile, her eyes still have the same sparkle and she kept an admirably slim silhouette. (...) So, dear Francoise, you understand why we can not forget you. And why we are still in love with you."

Belgian collector's card, no. 9; Collector's card, no. 98.

German postcard by Ufa, Berlin. Retail price: 25 Pfg. Photo: Cinepress / Pallas Film.

Dutch version of a German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto. Photo Herbert Fried / Ufa.

German postcard. Photo: Unifrance film.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 366. Photo: Lucienne Chevert.

Scene from French Can-Can (1955). Source: ROBAGGIO (YouTube).

Sources: Yvan Foucart (Les Gens de Cinéma) (French), Sandra Brennan (AllMovie), AlloCiné (French), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

↧

Sting

August 11, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Marie Glory

≪ Previous: Françoise Arnoul

British rock artist Sting (1951) is best known as the pop star with the high-pitched, raspy voice and blonde, spiky hair. He made his breakthrough as the singer and bass player for The Police and then launched a successful solo career. Sting occasionally ventured into acting on both film and television. He was memorable as the Mod leader in Quadrophenia (1979) and as Eddie’s father in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

British postcard by Statics, no. PC 8. Photo: Lynn Goldsmith.

The Police
Sting was born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner in Wallsend, England, in 1951. He was the eldest of four children born to Audrey Sumner née Cowell, a hairdresser, and Ernest Matthew Sumner, a milkman and engineer. His siblings were Philip, Angela and Anita. Young Gordon would often assist his father with the early-morning milk-delivery rounds, and by age 10 he became ‘obsessed’ with an old Spanish guitar that had been left behind by an emigrating friend of his father. He attended St. Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He would often sneak into nightclubs like the Club A Go-Go, where he would watch acts such as Cream and Jimi Hendrix, artists who would later influence his own music.

After jobs as a bus conductor, a construction labourer, and a tax officer, he attended Northern Counties College of Education, (later part of Northumbria University) from 1971 to 1974 and qualified as a teacher. He then worked as a schoolteacher at St. Paul's First School in Cramlington for two years. On evenings, weekends, and during breaks from college and from teaching, Sting performed in local jazz bands, played cruise ships, backed strippers in cabarets, and developed a love for the bass guitar. He gained his nickname when he wore a black and gold rugby shirt during a concert. It made him look like a bee, and prompted the nickname ‘Sting’. The nickname stuck.

In 1977, Sting moved from Newcastle to London, and soon thereafter he joined Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani (who was soon replaced by Andy Summers) to form the New Wave band The Police. Between 1978 and 1983, they released five chart-topping albums and won six Grammy Awards. Although their initial sound was punk inspired, The Police soon switched to reggae-tinged rock and minimalist pop.

Sting also appeared in some British films. He played Ace Face, the leader of the Mod gang in Quadrophenia (Franc Roddam, 1979) starring Phil Daniels. The film, based on the 1973 rock opera by The Who, tells about the rivalry between the Mods and the Rockers in 1960’s England. Mark Deming at AllMovie calls it “intelligent and incisive bit of teen-centric kitchen-sink drama” and writes about Sting: “Equally memorable (is) Sting, who says practically nothing but radiates waves of icy charisma.” His next film Radio On (Christopher Petit, 1979) is a black and white road movie, featuring music by Kraftwerk and David Bowie. A DJ (David Beames) drives from London to Bristol to investigate the suicide of his brother, and on his way he meets some odd people including Sting.

The pitch-black comedy Brimstone and Treacle (Richard Loncraine, 1982) was based on a television play by Dennis Potter. Sting co-starred as a mysterious young stranger who dramatically changes the lives of a middle-aged middle-class couple (Denholm Elliot and Joan Plowright) in a North London suburb whose daughter has been totally dependent upon them after a catastrophic accident. In 1983, the last album of The Police, Synchronicity, was released. It included their most successful song, Every Breath You Take. The song, which after waking up in the middle of the night from a dream, is officially the most requested radio song of all time. While never formally breaking up, after Synchronicity the group agreed to concentrate on solo projects.

British postcard, no. RC 23650. The Police with Andy Summers (left) and Stewart Copeland (right).

French postcard by Carlton Cards / Santoro Graphics, no. CR33.

Englishman in New York
In 1981, Sting made his first live solo appearance, performing on all four nights of the fourth Amnesty International benefit The Secret Policeman's Other Ball at the invitation of producer Martin Lewis. He performed solo versions of Roxanne and Message in a Bottle. He also led The Secret Police, an all-star band including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure on his own arrangement of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released. His performances were featured prominently in the album and film of the show and drew critical attention to his work.

Sting's participation in The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the beginning of his growing involvement in raising money and consciousness for political and social causes. In 1982 he released a solo single, Spread a Little Happiness from the film version of the Dennis Potter television play Brimstone and Treacle. The song was a re-interpretation of a song from the 1920s musical Mr. Cinders by Vivian Ellis, and was a surprise Top 20 hit in the UK.

He also co-starred in the science fiction film Dune (David Lynch, 1984). With a budget of over 40 million dollars, Dune required 80 sets built on 16 sound stages and a total crew of 1700. The film was not well received by critics and performed poorly at the box-office. His following film was The Bride (Franc Roddam, 1985), an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Sting starred as Baron Charles Frankenstein and Jennifer Beals played a woman he creates in the same fashion as his infamous monster. Both films flopped and damaged Sting’s prospects as a major film star.

A minor success was the Meryl Streep vehicle Plenty (Fred Schepisi, 1985), in which Sting had only a supporting part. His first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985), included the hit singles If You Love Somebody Set Them Free and Russians. The album reached Triple Platinum and would garner Sting a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. He performed with Dire Straits at the Live Aid Concert at Wembley Stadium. Prior to the Live Aid concert, in November 1984 Sting performed Do They Know It's Christmas? with Band Aid for the relief of poverty in Africa. In 1987, Sting released ...Nothing Like the Sun, including the hit songs Fragile, Englishman in New York, and Be Still My Beating Heart. It eventually went Double Platinum. In 1988, he featured in the role of the soldier on an album of Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale with the London Sinfonietta conducted by Kent Nagano. It also featured Vanessa Redgrave and Sir Ian McKellen.

On screen he appeared in the atmospheric thriller Stormy Monday (Mike Figgis, 1988), co-starring with Sean Bean, Tommy Lee Jones, and Melanie Griffith. He also co-starred in the Italian drama film Giulia e Giulia/Julia and Julia (Peter Del Monte, 1987) with Kathleen Turner and Gabriel Byrne. This film, presented at the Venice Film Festival in 1987, was the first feature shot using the Sony HDVS wideband analogue High-definition video technique and then transferred to 35 mm film.

French postcard by Media Com +, no. G. 2. Photo: Ed. Gil.

British postcard by Heroes, London, no. SPC618.

American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, CA., Personality #131.

Bisexual Butler
Sting’s 1991 album The Soul Cages included the Top 10 song All This Time, and the Grammy-winning The Soul Cages. The album eventually went Platinum. The following year, he married film producer Trudie Styler. In 1993, he released the album Ten Summoner's Tales, which peaked at number two in the UK and US Album Charts, and went triple platinum in just over a year. A hit single on the album was If I Ever Lose My Faith in You, which earned Sting his second Grammy Award. In 1993, he released a cover of his own Police song Demolition Man from the Ghost in the Machine album for the film Demolition Man (Marco Brambilla, 1993).

Together with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, Sting performed the chart-topping song All for Love for the film The Three Musketeers (Stephen Herek, 1993). The song stayed at the top of the US charts for five weeks and went Platinum. In 1995 he played a bisexual butler in the British film The Grotesque (John-Paul Davidson, 1995) with Alan Bates, Lena Headey and Theresa Russell. His nude scenes were the highlights of that film, according to an IMDb reviewer. His 1996 album, Mercury Falling debuted strongly with the single Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot, but it dropped quickly on the charts.

Sting was also recording music for the upcoming Disney film Kingdom of the Sun, which went on to be reworked into The Emperor's New Groove (Mark Dindal, 2000). The film went through drastic overhauls and plot changes, many of which were documented by his wife, Trudie Styler. She captured the moment he was called by Disney who then informed him that his songs would not be used in the final film. The story was put into a final product: The Sweatbox, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Disney currently holds the rights to the film and will not grant its release.

More successful was his work on the British crime film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie, 1998). He played the father of a self-confident young card sharp (Nick Moran) who loses half a million pounds to a powerful crime lord in a card game. He and his friends have one week to come up with the cash. Laura Abraham at AllMovie: “a work of artistic originality as well as an accurate portrayal of life as an Eastender. A rabid, farcical look at gangsters in East End London, it contains mayhem at the center of every scene and gains additional intensity from the slow-motion technique Ritchie employs in many of his death sequences.” The film brought Guy Ritchie international acclaim and introduced former footballer Vinnie Jones, and former street merchant Jason Statham to worldwide cinema audiences.

In 1999, Sting’s album Brand New Day included the Top 40 hits Brand New Day and Desert Rose. The album went Triple Platinum and won two Grammy Awards.

French postcard by Image Media, no. 80 bis.

French postcard by Peutsch, no. 964.

Broken Music
In 2002 Sting won a Golden Globe Award for his song Until... from the film Kate and Leopold (James Mangold, 2001). It was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Song. At the 2002 Brit Awards, he received the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Later that year he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), and won an Emmy Award for his A&E special, Sting in Tuscany... All This Time.

In 2003 he released Sacred Love. He and Mary J. Blige won a Grammy for their album duet, Whenever I Say Your Name. The album did not have the hit singles like his previous releases. However, the album did reach platinum status. His autobiography Broken Music (2003) was published in October. In 2006, he released an album, to mixed reviews, entitled Songs from the Labyrinth featuring the music of English Renaissance composer John Dowland and accompaniment from Bosnian lute player Edin Karamazov.

In 2007, he reunited with the other members of The Police as the introductory act for the 2007 Grammy Awards, singing Roxanne. Subsequently they announced The Police Reunion Tour. The Police toured for more than a year, beginning with North America and eventually crossing over to Europe, South America, Australia & New Zealand and Japan. The last concert was at Madison Square Garden on 7 August 2008, during which his three daughters appeared with him onstage. In 2009 he released a new solo album If on a Winter's Night...

In the cinema he was seen in several film as himself. He had a cameos in the mockumentaries Brüno (Larry Charles, 2009) starring Sacha Baron Cohen as the gay Austrian fashion journalist Brüno, and Do It Again (Robert Patton-Spruill, 2010) which follows Boston Globe reporter Geoff Edgers on his quest to reunite British rock band The Kinks. He also gave his voice to the animation feature Bee Movie (Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith, 2007).

During his career Sting has received 16 Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, a Golden Globe, an Emmy Award, and several Oscar nominations for Best Original Song. Sting was married twice, first to actress Frances Tomelty and since 1992 to Trudie Styler. He has six children, two with Tomelty (singer Joseph Sumner (1976) and actress Fuschia Sumner (1982) and four with Styler (Mickey Sumner (1984), Jake Sumner (1985), Coco Sumner (1990) and Giacomo Sumner (1995). Sting owns a Jacobian castle in Wiltshire, a place in London, an apartment in New York, a house on the beach in Malibu, California, and a Renaissance Florentine Villa in Tuscany, Italy.

Criterion Trailer Quadrophenia (Franc Roddam, 1979). Source: Douglas Dutra (YouTube).

Trailer Brimstone and Treacle (Richard Loncraine, 1982). Source: MinervaPicturesGroup (YouTube).

Scene from The Grotesque (John-Paul Davidson, 1995) with Alan Bates and Steven Mackintosh. Source: Elena Gribkova (YouTube).

Trailer Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie, 1998). Source: thecultbox (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Mark Deming (AllMovie), Laura Abraham (AllMovie), Dan Fineberg (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

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Marie Glory

August 12, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Anthony Steffen

≪ Previous: Sting

Coquettish and captivating Marie Glory (1905-2009) made more than 50 films during the course of nearly four decades, from 1924 to 1960. For a long time, she was the longest living star of the silent era, but in 2009 she died at the age of 103.

French card by Massilia.

Jazz Bank
Marie Glory was born Raymonde Louise Marcelly Toully in Mortagne-au-Perche, Normandy, in 1905. Her father was a hairdresser, her mother a painter. When she was still an infant, the family moved to Rouen, where she studied at the Lycée Jeanne d'Arc. Aged 18, and chaperoned by her mother, she moved to Paris, where she enrolled in dance classes. It was in the French capital that she entered the first of many beauty contests, winning second place and her first professional job, working as an advertiser's model posing for postcards and posters.

She made her film debut in 1924 with a small role in Le Miracle des Loups/The Miracle of the Wolves (Raymond Bernard, 1924), a historical adventure set in the court of Louis XI. In this film she appeared under the stage name Arlette Genny, which she used until 1927, but she had her real breakthrough under the name Marie Glory in the late silent film classic L'Argent/Jazz Bank (Marcel L'Herbier, 1928) opposite Brigitte Helm. Glory played Line, the wife of aviator Hamelin (Henry Victor) who is manipulated by business tycoon Saccard (Pierre Alcover) to fly to Guyana and drill for oil there. Saccard tries to seduce Line while Hamelin is away, but she sees through his scheming and accuses him of fraud. The three hours plus French-German co-production was based on Emile Zola's classical homonymous novel but temporally transposed to the 1920s instead of the 1860s.

With her porcelain features and cloud of hair, Glory went on to captivate audiences in a string of silent films. She starred with Jean Angelo, Lil Dagover and Gaston Modot in the Franco-German coproduction Monte Cristo/The Count of Monte Christo (Henri Fescourt, 1929) and in the German production Vater und Sohn/Father and Son (Geza von Bolvary, 1929) opposite Harry Liedtke. Glory's first sound film was Le Roi de Paris/The King of Paris (1930, Leo Mittler), with exiled Serbian matinee idol Iván Petrovich.

French card. Collection: Didier Hanson.

French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 2027. Photo: Studio J. Utudjian.

French postcard by Editions et Publications cinématographiques, no. 14. Photo: Studio J. Utudjian.

The Last Refuge
In the 1930s, Marie Glory played many leading roles in films like the war drama Les deux mondes/Two Worlds (Ewald André Dupont, 1930) with Henri Garat, Dactylo (Wilhelm Thiele, 1931) with Jean Murat, Madame ne veut pas d'enfants/No Children Wanted (Hanns Steinhoff, Constantin Landau, 1933), Le paquebot Tenacity/S.S. Tenacity (Julien Duvivier, 1934) opposite Albert Préjean, and the comedy Les amants terribles/The Terrible Lovers (Marc Allégret, 1936), an adaptation of Noël Coward's Private Lives. In the circus drama Les gens du voyage/People Who Travel (Jacques Feyder, 1938), she co-starred with Françoise Rosay.

While already acquainted with Italian directors when working in France, from the late 1930s on, Glory played in several Italian films: Napoli che non muore/Naples That Never Dies (Amleto Palermi, 1939) with Fosco Giacchetti, Terra di fuoco/Land of Fire (Giorgio Ferroni, Marcel L'Herbier, 1939) with the great lyric tenor Tito Schipa, and Una moglie in pericolo/A Wife in Danger (Max Neufeld, 1939), which would turn out to be her last leading film part. When war broke out in 1939, she was shooting The Last Refuge, written by the screenwriter Jacques Constant, whom she later married. She was advised to leave Nazi occupied Paris, and the film was abandoned and never finished.

French postcard. Photo: Paramount.

French card by Massilia. Photo: R. Joffres.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4595/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Super-Film.

French postcard by Editions et Publications cinématographiques, no. 974. Photo: Studio Rudolph.

Cinema Europe
Two years later, Marie Glory escaped with Constant to Spain via Biarritz, and then over the Portuguese border. She crossed the Atlantic to Buenos Aires and became active in relief and charitable work on behalf of children in occupied France. In 1942 she moved to Algeria and then Martinique, where she worked in propaganda radio. She was one of the few actresses to work under the aegis of the Free French Forces of General de Gaulle.

Following the armistice, Glory returned to France. She was decorated by the Allies, but was unable to regain her former status in the French film industry. In the 1950s she was seen in minor roles in French and Italian films. She played Antonella Lualdi‘s mother in Adorables créatures/Adorable Creatures (Christian-Jaque, 1952), Brigitte Bardot‘s mother-in-law in Et Dieu… créa la femme/…And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, 1955), and a café customer in Pierre Chenal‘s Raffles sur la ville/Sinners of Paris (1958) with Charles Vanel.

She stopped as a film actress in 1960 and as a television actress in 1964. In 1967 she returned to Paris, where she opened and managed her own beauty salon. She retired in 1973 and settled in Cannes in the south of France. Glory was one of the actresses interviewed by Kevin Brownlow for his memorable TV-series on the silent European cinema: Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (1996). In 2006, she was a guest of honour at the Cannes Film Festival‘s special screening of the restored Monte Cristo. In 2009, Marie Glory passed away in her house in Cannes, two months shy of her 104th birthday.

French postcard for Campari. Photo: Studio Lorelle. Caption: "J'aimais un Campari... plusieurs!"

French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 1034. Photo: Paramount.

French postcard by O.P., Paris, no. 50. Photo: Studio Piaz.

A fan's tribute to Marie Glory. Song: Marie (1929) by Rudy Vallee And His Connecticut Yankees. Source: Aaron1912 (YouTube).

Sources: Andre Soares (Alt Film Guide), Yvan Foucart (Les Gens du Cinema) (French), Telegraph, The Times, The Bioscope, Wikipedia and IMDb.

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Anthony Steffen

August 13, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Joë Hamman

≪ Previous: Marie Glory

Elegant, educated and handsome Anthony Steffen (Antonio Luiz De Teffè, 1929-2004) appeared in over 60 films, many of them in the lead role. The Italian-Brazilian actor had a cult following thanks to his roles in 27 Spaghetti Westerns between 1965 and 1975.

Dan Martin and Anthony Steffen in Der Letzte Mohikaner

German postcard, no. 4 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (1965) with Daniel Martin (right).

Sword and Sandal Epics
Anthony Steffen was born as Antonio Luiz De Teffè von Hoonholtz in 1929, at the Brazilian embassy in Rome. He was the son of Formula 1 champion and Brazilian ambassador Manoel de Teffè. During World War II, teenager Antonio left home to join the partisans against the Nazis. After the war he worked as a messenger boy on Ladri di biciclette/Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948) and as a second assistant director on Ci troviamo in galleria/We are in thegallery (Mauro Bolognini, 1953). He started acting in secondary roles in small scale dramas like Gli Sbandati/Abandoned (Francesco Maselli, 1955) starring Lucia Bosé, and Beatrice Cenci/Castle of the Banned Lovers (Riccardo Freda, 1956) with Micheline Presle. In these films he was credited as Antonio de Teffè. He also found gainful employment in the Peplum films, the sword and sandal epics, such as Afrodite, dea dell'amore/Aphrodite, Goddess of Love (Mario Bonnard, 1958) with Isabelle Corey, and played a small role in Sodom and Gomorrah (Robert Aldrich, 1962) starring Stewart Granger.

German postcard, no. 1 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Letze Mohikaner (1965).

German postcard, no. 3. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner (1965).

Hawkeye
Under the name Anthony Steffen, he carved a reputation within the Spaghetti Western genre between 1965 and 1975. He featured in such films as Uno Straniero a Paso Bravo/A Stranger in Paso Bravo (Salvatore Rosso, 1968), which created a cult following amongst European Exploitation fans. In the Euro-western Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965), he played the frontiersman Natty Bumppo, also known as Falkenauge (Hawkeye). He is the white ally of Unkas (Daniel Martin), the son of the chief of the Mohicans. They discover that the Huron and a gang of white bandits have destroyed the tribe of the Mohicans, and take revenge. The film was based on the famous novel The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.

German postcard, no. 12 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner.

German postcard, no. 17 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner.

Steely-faced Gunslinger
According to Matt Blake at European Film Review, Anthony Steffen is often (and unfairly) being detracted as a ‘wooden’ performer, but in many ways he is ideally suited to playing the steely-faced gunslinger synonymous with the Spaghetti Western. Steffen's most memorable role was Django in Pochi dollari per Django/Few Dollars for Django (Léon G. Klimovsky and – uncredited – Enzo G. Castellari, 1966) opposite another icon of the Spaghetti Western, Frank Wolff, and Django il bastardo/Django The Bastard (Sergio Garrone, 1969). In the latter, which he also co-wrote and produced, he played a phantom gunslinger returned from the grave to avenge his own death. According to Wikipedia, it is considered to be an inspiration for Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter (1973). Outside of the Spaghetti Western genre, Steffen also appeared in several Giallo films including La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba/The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (Emilio Miraglia, 1971). As with many of his contemporaries, the number of Steffen's roles diminished as the 1970s progressed and the Spaghetti Western genre fell into decline. One of his last films was the Brazilian thriller Momentos de Prazer e Agonia/Moments of pleasure and agony (Adnor Pitanga, 1983). Anthony Steffen eventually retired to Brazil and died in Rio de Janeiro in 2004 of cancer. He was 73 and left two sons from his marriage in Rome, Manuel and Luiz.

Anthony Steffen vs William Berger in Una lunga fila di croci/No Room To Die (Sergio Garrone, 1969). Source: Pasolini85 (YouTube).

Opening Scene of Django il bastardo/Django The Bastard (Sergio Garrone, 1969). Source: Pecosbr (YouTube).

Sources: Matt Blake (European Film Review), Daniel Camargo (IMDb), IMDb and Wikipedia.

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Joë Hamman

August 14, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Mona Goya

≪ Previous: Anthony Steffen

We generally associate the Western with the American cinema, but in the early years of the cinema there were European Westerns too. The French Western was often filmed in the Camargue, in the South of France, and Joë Hamman (1883-1974) was the French equivalent of the film cowboy. Joë had a long ranging career from 1907 to 1967, and besides his acting career he was also an affluent film director.

French postcard, Editions Cinémagazine. no. 118.

Buffalo Bill
Joë Hamman aka Joe Hamman (not to be confused with American cinematographer-producer Joe Hamann) was born as Jean Hamman in Paris, France, in 1883. His father was a Dutch expert in painting, his mother a former lady’s companion of Empress Eugénie. Hamman studied in Paris and London before going to art school in Paris. He became a noted water colourist, but he chose a different career.

When Jean was six, the circus of Buffalo Bill alias William Cody came to Paris, but young Hamman was not allowed to go. He had to wait until he was 21 and meet Cody, when his father took him on a business trip to America in 1904. Hamman and Cody met privately, became friends, and Hamman visited Cody’s North Plate house in Nebraska, meeting the extras of Cody’s wild west show, and drawing watercolours for local rangers. At a ranch in Montana, Jean Hamman learned to ride, was engaged as a cowboy, and learned to break and gather horses.

He also visited the Pine Ridge reservationin Dakota, and met Spotted Tail, war lieutenant of Indian chief Red Cloud, who donated him a buckskin war costume. Autumn 1904, he returned to Paris to do his military service, during which he staged a coach attack. When in 1905 Cody’s circus came over, Hamman was invited to join and participated in the French tour of Buffalo Bill. And Jean became Joë Hamman.

André Deed. French postcard by Edition Pathé Frères. Photo: X.

Le Desperado
In 1907 Joë Hamman started out in the cinema as both actor and director of the short silent Le desperado/The Desperado (Joë Hamman, 1907). He followed his debut with performances in some 40 more short Westerns until early 1914. These shorts included Un drame mexicain/A Mexican Drama (Joë Hamman, 1909), Un drame au Far West/A Far West Drama (Joë Hamman, 1909), and Les aventures de Buffalo Bill/The Adventures of Buffalo Bill (Joë Hamman, 1911).

For studio Éclair he starred in the tree-part serial Le vautour de la Sierra/The Vulture of the Sierra (Victorine-Hipolyte Jasset, 1909), but most of the short Westerns with Hamman were produced by Gaumont. A successful example was Le railway de la mort/The Railway of Death (Jean Durand, 1912) with Gaston Modot. From 1910 on, director Jean Durand specialised in the genre at Gaumont, though director Léonce Perret also shot some of the Gaumont Westerns.

Gaston Modot is nowadays best known as a comedian, but he was often Hamman’s antagonist in the Gaumont Westerns. Hamman directed 10 early shorts himself. He also worked for the Eclipse company in different genres, such as the adventure film L’ile d’épouvante/The Island of Terror (1911) and the Western La ville souterraine/The Subterranean City (1913).

Abel Gance. French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 473. Photo: publicity still for Napoléon (Abel Gance, 1927), with Gance himself as Saint Just.

Famous Epic
During the First World War, Joë Hamman's film acting and directing came to a halt. In 1921 he returned as an actor-director with the short adventure film Le gardian/The Rancher (Joë Hamman, 1921). In Tao ( Gaston Ravel, 1923) he appeared with other pre-war actors such as comedian André Deed. He had the male lead as Chevalier de Mallory in the costume drama L’enfant roi/The Child King (Jean Kemm, 1923), opposite Andrée Lionel as queen Marie Antoinette.

The next year followed supporting parts in Le vert galant/The Don Juan (René Leprince, 1924), Les fils du soleil/The Sons of the Sun (René le Somptier, 1924), and the detective film Le stigmate/The Stigma (Louis Feuillade, Maurice Champreux, 1924) with Jean Murat.

After a break in 1925 followed six films in 1926: Sa petite/His Little Girl (Routier-Fabre, 1926), Le capitaine Frascasse/Captain Fracasse (Henri Desfontaines, 1926), La fille des pachas/The Daughter of the Pacha (Joë Hamman, Adrien Caillard, 1926), Lady Harrington (Hewitt Claypoole Grantham-Hayes, Fred LeRoy Granville, 1926), and Le berceau de Dieu/The Cradle of God (Fred LeRoy Granville, 1926). The latter was a religious drama starring Léon Mathot in which Hamman played a triple role of Abner, Pharao and Confucius. After Sous le ciel d’Orient (Fred LeRoy Granville, 1927), opposite his old buddy Gaston Modot, Hamman ended his silent film career with a bit part as Baskytt in Abel Gance's famous epic Napoléon (1927).

Luis Trenker. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 685, 1919-1924. Photo: Atelier Yva, Berlin.

For the Last Time
When sound cinema arrived, Joë Hamman made a comeback and played leads in several early sound films. He was the title character in Le roi des aulnes/The Erl King (Marie-Louise Iribe, 1930-1931) based on Johan Wolfgang Goethe’s ballad. He appeared in both the German version, Erlkönig, and the French version, Le roi des aulnes. Hamman also featured in Adieu les copains/Farewell Mates (Léo Joannon, 1930), and he appeared and co-directed the French version of Luis Trenker’sBerge in Flamme: Les monts en flammes/Mountain in Flames (Joë Hamman, Luis Trenker, 1931).

His parts got smaller, such as in Je serai seule après minuit/After Midnight I'm Alone (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1931), Romance à l’inconnue/Romance With An Unknown Woman (René Barberis, 1931) starring Annabella, Danton (André Roubaud, 1932), the Mistral-adaptation Mireille (René Gaveau, 1933), Le train d’amour/The Love Train (Pierre Weil, 1935), and Le clown Bux/Bux, the Clown (Jacques Natanson, 1935) starring Suzy Vernon, in which Hamman played a cowboy for the last time.

In the late 1930s, Hamman played smaller parts in four films by Henri Fescourt: L’occident/The West (1937), Bar du sud/Southern Bar (1938), Vous seule que j’aime/I Love You Alone (1939), and Face au destin/Facing Destiny (1940) with Jules Berry. The latter film proved to be emblematically titled. France had just got involved in the Second World War and Hamman himself faced destiny too: during the war he was not offered anymore film roles. And after the war, Hamman played an uncredited role as general Kellermann in Napoléon (Sacha Guitry, 1955), starring Jean-Pierre Aumont. His only other and final performance was an uncredited part in Pop’game (Francis Leroi, 1967). Joë Hamman died in Dieppe, France, in 1974. Some of his early Westerns are now on DVD. Gaumont, Le cinéma premier, II (2009) contains one disc with Jean Durand's Westerns shot in the Camargue.

Suzy Vernon. French postcard by Europe, no. 1105. Photo: Paramount.

Sources: Herve Ciret (An Indian in the Western Lighthouse), Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.

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Mona Goya

August 15, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Max Hansen

≪ Previous: Joë Hamman

Mona Goya (1909–1961) was a Mexican-born French film actress who rose to fame in the 1930s.

French postcard for Campari. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères.

Lavish Production
Mona Goya was born Simone Isabelle Marchand in Mexico City in 1909. She probably debuted in film in Germaine Dulac's late silent film Princesse Mandane (1928). In the same year she also acted in various other films, such as the period piece Madame Recamier (1928) by Gaston Ravel and she had a small part in Marcel L'Herbier's lavish production L'Argent (1928), starring Marie Glory, Brigitte Helm and Pierre Alcover.

Goya's career really set off with the arrival of sound film around 1930. She played an upper-class woman who falls in love with a fisherman in the British film The Lady from the Sea (Castleton Knight, 1930) with a young Ray Milland. She also acted opposite Charles Boyer in Revolte en prison (Pál Fejös, George W. Hill, 1930) - the French version of the MGM drama The Big House (George W. Hill, 1930), and in the Georges Biscot comedy Hardi les gars!/Bold guys (Maurice Champreux, 1931).

French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 43. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

BB
Mona Goya acted opposite Victor Boucher in La Banque Némo (Marguerite Viel, 1934), while in the late 1930s she often acted opposite Fernandel in La porteuse de pain/The Bread Peddler (Renée Sti, 1934), François Ier/Francis the First (Christian-Jaque, 1937), Josette (Christian-Jaque, 1937), and Ernest le rebelle/Ernest the Rebel (Christian-Jaque, 1938).

In the immediate post-war years she was often paired with Bourvil such as in Pas si bête/Not so stupid (André Berthomieu, 1946) and Blanc comme neige/White Like Snow (André Berthomieu, 1948). In the 1950s, she had supporting parts in films with Nicole Courcel (Gibier de potence/Gigolo, (Roger Richebé, 1951); Les amants de Bras-Morts/The Lovers of Bras-Mort (Marcello Pagliero, 1951)) and Brigitte Bardot (Le portrait de son père/His father's portrait (André Berthomieu, 1953); Babette s'en va-t-en guerre/Babette Goes to War (Christian-Jaque, 1959)).

All in all Goya acted in some 80 films, mostly French productions. Between the mid-1940s and late 1950s, she also acted on stage. Mona Goya died of cancer in 1961, at Clichy-la-Garenne. For a while she was married to actor Fernand Fabre, but they divorced.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 190. Photo: Carlet.

Sources: Wikipedia (French and English) and IMDb.

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Max Hansen

August 16, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Lotte Lorring

≪ Previous: Mona Goya

Danish cabaret artist, actor, comedian and singer Max Hansen (1897-1961) was known as 'The Little Caruso'. During the 1920s, he was one of the most popular stars of Berlin.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5542/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Biograph-Film.

Who Takes Love Seriously?
Max Hansen was born Max Josef Haller in Mannheim, Imperial Germany in 1897. He was an illegitimate child to the Danish actress Eva Haller and the Swedish Officer Schürer von Waldheim (according to other sources he had a Jewish father, the Hungarian artist Joseph Walder). Max grew up with foster-parents in Munich, where he first appeared at the Cabaret Simplizissimus at the age of 17. In 1914 he moved to Vienna, where he completed his studies as a ballad singer. Filmportal.de: “Thinking that it may perhaps be advantageous to draw attention to his Scandinavian origins, he changes his name to Hansen. Profiting from his powerful, highly modulating voice, he becomes known as the ‘little Caruso’ in cabarets and variety theatres, performing comical couplets, sketches and opera parodies.”

In 1923, Hansen was discovered by Hubert Marischka. He asked him for the tenor role of Baron Kolomán Zsupán in the Emmerich Kálmán operetta Gräfin Mariza (Countess Mariza) at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. After 900 performances, the popular production moved to the Metropoltheater in Berlin, where Hansen became also very successful. In Berlin he founded the KadeKo, the Kabarett der Komiker (the Cabaret of Comedians) with Paul Morgan and Kurt Robitschek in 1924. Hansen was engaged by Max Reinhardt for his revival of Jacques Offenbach's La belle Hélène, and by Erik Charell for his production of Franz Lehar's Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow). Hansen's greatest stage success was playing Leopold the waiter in Ralph Benatzky's operetta-musical Im weißen Rößl (The White Horse Inn) in 1930.

He had already undertaken this part in the silent film Im weißen Rößl/The White Horse Inn (Richard Oswald, 1926) with Liane Haid. A year earlier, he had made his film debut in Husarenfieber/Hussars Fever (Georg Jacoby, 1925) with Georg Alexander. In the following years he appeared in popular silent films like Familie Schimeck/The Schimeck Family (Alfred Halm, Rudolf Dworsky,1926), and Venus im Frack/Venus in evening dress (Robert Land, 1927) with Carmen Boni. From 1925 on, Hansen also recorded his own hits, which audiences appreciated for their parody and cabaret-like wit.

His real film career began in the sound film era. His first sound film was Wien, du Stadt der Lieder/Vienna, City of Song (Richard Oswald, 1930) with Charlotte Ander and Paul Morgan. The excellent singer was soon pinned down for swinging musicals and comedies. He found an ideal partner in Jenny Jugo in films like Wer nimmt die Liebe ernst.../Who Takes Love Seriously? (Erich Engel, 1931). He also played opposite Gitta Alpár in Die - oder keine/She, or Nobody (Carl Froelich, 1932).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5520/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Terra / United Artists.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5060/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Harlip, Berlin.

Have you ever been in love with me?
Max Hansen satirized Adolf Hitler as a homosexual with his song War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt? (Have you ever been in love with me?), which caused the rage of the Nazis. He was thrown with tomatoes at the premiere of the comedy Das häßliche Mädchen/The Ugly Girl (Hermann Kosterlitz, 1933). The film was made in early 1933, during the transition from the Weimar Republic to Nazi Germany, and premièred in September that year. According to Wikipedia, the film's representation of the ‘ugly girl’ as outsider has been described as a metaphorical way to explore the outsider existence of Jews. Star Dolly Haas and director Hermann Kosterlitz, both Jewish, left Germany and later worked in the United States, where Kosterlitz became well known as Henry Koster.

Hansen returned to Vienna and worked again at the Theater an der Wien. He starred in the film Csardas (Jacob Fleck, Luise Fleck, Walter Kolm-Veltée, 1935) with Irén Zilahy. He also performed in Switzerland, Amsterdam, Oslo and Helsinki. In 1936 he met Zarah Leander on a Scandinavian tour and engaged her as his stage partner in the operetta Axel an der Himmels Tür (Axel at Heaven’s Gate), with music by Ralph Benatzky, produced in Theater an der Wien. It was a hit. After Austria was invaded by Germany in 1938, Hansen emigrated to Denmark, where he founded his own theatre at Copenhagen. He also appeared in Danish films like Tror du jeg er født i går!/Do you think I was born yesterday! (Lau Lauritzen, Jr., Alice O'Fredericks, 1941) and En flicka för mej (Börje Larsson, 1943). In addition he wrote several songs under the pseudonymous ‘Sylvester’.

In 1951 he returned to Germany and was successful once again singing the role of Leopold the waiter in The White Horse Inn. In 1953 Hansen moved back to Copenhagen, where he died in 1961. His final film appearance was in the Danish comedy Hvad vil De ha'?/What do you want? (Jens Henriksen, Preben Neergaard, 1956) starring Dirch Passer. Hansen was married to Austrian actress Lizzi Waldmüller till 1938 and since 1940 to Britta Annette Sylvester-Hvid. He had four children. His daughter Ann-Mari Max Hansen (1949) and his son Max Hansen Jr. (1954) are both actors too. In 2004 German director Douglas Wolfsperger portrayed Hansen in his documentary War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?

German postcard by Ross Verlag / Odeon. Photo: Schneider, Berlin.

Max Hansen sings War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?. Source: Edmolch (YouTube).

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

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Lotte Lorring

August 17, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Imported from the USA: Jayne Mansfield

≪ Previous: Max Hansen

German actress and singer Lotte Lorring (1893-1939) started as an operetta singer in provincial theatres. Between 1920 and 1935, she played both in support and leading roles in German silent and sound films. Incidentally she appeared in international productions.

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 854. Photo: Sascha.

Interesting Directors
Lotte Lorring was born in Berlin, Germany in 1893. First she worked in provincial theatres and she made a name for herself as an operetta singer. In 1919 she made her film debut in Sein letzter Trick/His Last Trick (Rolf Brunner, 1919) with Heinrich Peer and Ernst Pittschau. She then appeared in Der Meisterschuss/The Master Shot (Rolf Brunner, 1920) and Es bleibt in der Familie/It Runs in the Family (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1920), starring Paul Heidemann.

In France, she played in L’ouragan sur la montagne/The Hurricane on the Mountain (Julien Duvivier, 1921) and Le logis de l'horreur/The Sinister Guest (Julien Duvivier, 1921), in which she played the female lead. During the second half of the 1920s, she worked with interesting directors in films like Das graue Haus/The Gray House (Friedrich Feher, 1926) with Magda Sonja, Eine Dubarry von heute/A Modern Dubarry (Alexander Korda, 1926) starring Maria Corda, and Königin Luise.1. Teil: Die jungend der königin Luise/Queen Louise (Karl Grune, 1927).

Lorring co-starred opposite Harry Piel in the comedy Sein größter Bluff/The Big Bluff (Henrik Galeen, Harry Piel, 1927), and opposite Mady Christians in Fräulein Chauffeur/Miss Chauffeur (Jaap Speyer, 1928). In Austria, she appeared for Sascha-Film in Wem gehört meine Frau?/Whom belongs my wife? (Hans Otto, 1929), starring Fritz Kampers.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4762/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

Paramount
Lotte Loring played the lead in her first sound film, Karriere/Career (Adolf Trotz, 1930) with Walter Rilla. For Paramount, she played in the German-language comedy Ich heirate meinen Mann/I'm marrying my husband (E.W. Emo, 1931), an alternate-language version of Her Wedding Night (Frank Tuttle, 1930).

In the first years of the sound era, she played in some ten films, but soon her roles became less frequent. She had substantial parts in Schwarzwaldmädel/Black Forest Girl (Georg Zoch,1933), and Johannisnacht/Midsummer Eve (Willy Reiber, 1934) starring Lil Dagover. Her final film was Leichte Kavallerie/Light Cavalry (Werner Hochbaum, 1935), starring Marika Rökk.

Four years later, Lotte Lorring died in her hometown Berlin in 1939. She was only 45.

German postcard by Margarinewerk Eidelstedt Gebr. Fauser GmbH, Holstein. Serie 1, Bild 12. Photo: Marcus.

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

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Imported from the USA: Jayne Mansfield

August 18, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Ralph Arthur Roberts

≪ Previous: Lotte Lorring

A New Series! In the following months we will present in 'Imported from the USA' 10 Hollywood movie stars who worked intensively in the European cinema. Many did that at the end of their careers. Others became stars in European productions and later returned to the US.

Some Hollywood stars were much more popular in Europe than at home. A fabulous example is sweet Jayne Mansfield (1933-1967), one of Hollywood's original platinum blonde bombshells. Although most of her American films did not do much at the European box offices, Jayne herself was a sensation whenever she came to Europe to promote her films. During the 1960s when Hollywood had lost its interest in her, Jayne continued to appear cheerfully in several European films.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 900/78. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Shocking The Nation
In 1957 Jayne Mansfield did a legendary promotional visit to the Netherlands. The film she promoted, Kiss Them for Me (Stanley Donen, 1957), was quickly forgotten, but forty years later her visit was dearly remembered with an exhibition, a book and a TV documentary. Obviously, Jayne shocked the nation while showing her voluptuous figure in a tight sweater and doing her interviews with her lisp, breathless voice. During her visit, photographers went wild. With the photo and film coverage you can easily reconstruct now her complete trip. And with all the cameras around her, Jayne kept on smiling and posing.

We can see her glorious entrance at the stairs of the KLM airplane, Jayne drinking champagne from a wooden clog, posing on a table at the offices of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, surrounded by dozens of marines on a war ship, at the premiere of her film in cinemas in Amsterdam and The Hague, interviewed on TV by Dutch celebrity Wim Sonneveld, kissing DOS goal keeper and one time film star Frans de Munck before a soccer match, posing sweetly in a Volendam costume, and finally Jayne waving from the airplane that flew her to another country, her next stop of the promo tour.

Jayne was a phenomenon - all over Europe.

Jayne Mansfield, Arriving at Schiphol, 10 October 1957. Photo: Ben van Meerendonk / AHF. Collection: IISG, Amsterdam (Flickr).

Jayne with her dog Powderpuff, Press Conference at Schiphol, 10 October 1957. Photo: Ben van Meerendonk / AHF. Collection: IISG, Amsterdam (Flickr).

Jayne Mansfield visits the offices of De Telegraaf, 10 October 1957. Photo: Ben van Meerendonk / AHF. Collection: IISG, Amsterdam (Flickr).

Jayne Mansfield visits the printers of De Telegraaf, 10 October 1957. Photo: Ben van Meerendonk / AHF. Collection: IISG, Amsterdam (Flickr).

Jayne Mansfield on the editors table during her visit at the De Telegraaf, 10 October 1957. Photo: Ben van Meerendonk / AHF. Collection: IISG, Amsterdam (Flickr).

Prominent, Problematic Breasts
Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1933. She was the only child of Herbert William, a successful attorney of German ancestry, and Vera Jeffrey Palmer of English descent. While attending the University of Texas at Austin, Mansfield won several beauty contests. However her prominent breasts were considered problematic, and led to her losing her first professional assignment—an advertising campaign for General Electric.

A natural brunette, Mansfield had her hair bleached and coloured platinum blonde when she moved to Los Angeles. She posed nude for the February 1955 issue of Playboy, modelling in pyjamas raised so that the bottoms of her breasts showed. This helped launch Mansfield's career, and that year, she became a major Broadway star as Marilyn Monroe-like actress Rita Marlowe in the Broadway version of George Axelrod's play Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

This role won her a contract at 20th Century Fox. The following year, she reprised the role in the film version, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Frank Tashlin, 1957), with Tony Randall, and became a major Hollywood star. She showcased her comedic skills in The Girl Can't Help It (Frank Tashlin, 1956), and her dramatic assets in The Wayward Bus (Victor Vicas, 1957) opposite Joan Collins. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “Despite good dramatic performances in such films as The Wayward Bus (1957), Kiss Them for Me (1957), and The Burglar (1957), Mansfield was forever typed as a parody Marilyn Monroe.” By the late 1950s, with the decrease of the demand for big-breasted blonde bombshells and the increase in the negative backlash against her over-publicity, she became a box-office has-been.

Italian postcard by Rotalcolor, no. 3.

German postcard by ISV, Sort IV/6.

Big German postcard by ISV, no. PX 5.

French postcard by Huit, Paris / ISV, no. D 25. Photo: Film-Press.

German postcard by ISV, no. A 60. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for The Girl Can't Help It.

Bernard of Hollywood
While Hollywood studios lost interest in her, Jayne Mansfield’s film career continued in Europe with films in United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and Greece. 20th Century Fox loaned her out for the British neo-noir thriller Too Hot to Handle/Playgirl After Dark (Terence Young, 1960). Jayne played a nightclub dancer opposite Leo Genn, Karlheinz Böhm and Christopher Lee. In Britain, she also appeared The Challenge/It Takes a Thief (John Gilling, 1960) with Anthony Quayle and Carl Möhner.

Hollywood then sent her to Italy for Gli amori di Ercole/The Loves of Hercules (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1960) opposite muscleman and husband Mickey Hargitey. Bruce Eder at AllMovie: “a fairly lavishly produced but otherwise relatively undistinguished sword-and-sandal adventure.” After her contract with 20th Century Fox ended, she made in Germany Heimweh nach St. Pauli/Homesick for St. Pauli (Werner Jacobs, 1963) starring Schlager star Freddy Quinn, and Einer frisst den anderen/Dog Eat Dog (Gustav Gavrin, 1964). Mark Deming at AllMovie describes the latter as an “offbeat but stylish crime drama”. At the time, she was photographed in Germany by legendary glamour photographer Bernard of Hollywood (a.k.a. Bruno Bernard) , which resulted in a series of very sexy and popular postcards. Jayne moved on to Italy for the comedies L'Amore Primitivo/Primitive Love (Luigi Scattini, 1964), and Panic Button (George Sherman, Giuliano Carnimeo, 1964) with Maurice Chevalier.

During the 1960s, Mansfield remained a highly visible celebrity, through her publicity antics and her daring performances in international nightclubs. In early 1967, she filmed her last screen role: a cameo in A Guide for the Married Man (Gene Kelly, 1967), a comedy starring Walter Matthau. Mansfield had taken her professional name from her first husband, public relations professional Paul Mansfield, with whom she married in 1950 at age 16, and with whom she had a daughter. She was the mother of three children from her second marriage to actor–bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay (1958-1964). She married her third husband, Italian-born film director Matt Cimber/Matteo Ottaviano in 1964, and separated from him in 1966. Mansfield and Cimber had a son. In 1967, while driving to a club engagement in New Orleans, Jayne Mansfield died in a car accident. She was only 34 years old at the time. Her fourth child, Mariska Hargitay, would later become a well-known TV actress.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 900/78. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 900/78. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Herman Selier (De terugkeer van Jayne Mansfield in Nederland) (Dutch), Joel Nickerson (IMDb), Mark Deming (AllMovie), Bruce Eder (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

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Ralph Arthur Roberts

August 19, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Bella Polini

≪ Previous: Imported from the USA: Jayne Mansfield

With his monocle, German film actor Ralph Arthur Roberts (1884–1940) played high ranking gentlemen such as directors and entrepreneurs in German comedies of the 1920s and 1930s. He also worked as a film director, creative director and screenwriter for the German cinema, wrote stage plays and was the director of the Theater in der Behrenstrasse in Berlin. However, he is best known for a song he wrote, the evergreen Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins (I May Never Go Home Anymore).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5673/1, 1930-1931. Photo: K. Lindner.

Unfitting Behaviour
Ralph Arthur Roberts was born Robert Arthur Schönherr in Meerane, Germany in 1884. He was the son of a baker, Carl Robert Schönherr and his wife Berta Elisabeth Schönherr-König. He grew up in Dresden, where he already worked as an extra at the Albert-Theater during his time at the Realgymnasium. His side-job promptly lead to his expulsion from school for ‘unfitting’ behaviour, but he decided to follow his passion and to take acting lessons with Adolf Winds at the Theaterakademie and composition lessons with Felix Draeseke at the Dresden Conservatory.

In 1903, Roberts debuted as an actor at the Residenz-Theater Wiesbaden. Guest performances followed at the Trianon-Theater in Berlin and at the Schauspielhaus in Breslau. From 1907 he worked in Hamburg, where he became a member of the Thalia-Theater in 1909. After war service as an officer, he continued to play at the Thalia Theater, where he also directed. Here he became a popular character comedian in productions of plays like Tartüff (Tartuffe), Die Fledermaus (The Bat), and other comedies.

Furthermore, Roberts directed the revue Bunt ist die Welt for which he wrote the song Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins. It would become a classic and in 1954 it was used again in the film by the same name. In 1921 he became director of the Komödienhaus in Berlin, and in 1928 he opened his own Theater in der Behrenstrasse. Here, Roberts presented several boulevard comedies which he had written himself.

Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 287. Photo: Remaco. Publicity still for Eine Nacht im Paradies/One Night in Paradise (Carl Lamac, 1932) with Anny Ondra.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8256/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Ideal-Film, Berlin. Publicity still for Keine Angst vor Liebe/Don't Be Afraid of Love (Hans Steinhoff, 1933) with Liane Haid.

High-class Gentleman Characters
In addition, Ralph Arthur Roberts played supporting roles as high-ranking directors and entrepreneurs in numerous films. He started after the First World War at the Hamburg film studio Vera-Filmwerke in films like Der Tod und die Liebe/Death and Love (Paul Otto, 1919) and Erdgift/Natural Posion (Paul Otto, 1919). Roberts made a convincing performance in the role of the gloomy character in Erdgift. He also appeared in the Thomas Mann adaptation Buddenbrooks (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1923) with Mady Christians and Alfred Abel. However, he was best known for his comedies. He often worked with the Dutch director Jaap Speijer, such as at Elegantes Pack/Elegant Pack (1925) with Eugen Klöpfer and Mary Odette. Very successful were Moral (Willi Wolff, 1928) with Ellen Richter, and Der Raub der Sabinerinnen/The robbery of the Sabine Women (Robert Land, 1928) with Ida Wüst.

In the sound film era, his monocle soon became a permanent asset of his high-class gentleman characters. In 1930 and 1931 he appeared in more than 20 films. He used his comic talent, for eccentric characters as the doll manufacturer in the operetta Einbrecher/Burglars (Hanns Schwarz, 1930) with Lillian Harvey and Willy Fritsch, the prosecutor in Der Maulkorb/The Muzzle (Erich Engel, 1937) and King Charles X in Tanz auf dem Vulkan/Dance on the Volcano (Hans Steinhoff, 1938). Filmportal.de: “all of the performances were linked by Roberts’ eccentric way of acting and his tendency to make every character seem eccentric and quirky in some way.”

Roberts could not attend the premiere of his last film, Wie konntest Du, Veronika!/How could you, Veronica! (Milo Harbich, 1940) featuring Gusti Huber. Earlier in 1940, Ralph Arthur Roberts had died of an oyster poisoning in Berlin. He was 55. After the war, he soon was forgotten, but his song Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins proved to be an evergreen and was used again in the popular film Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins/Reeperbahn at half past midnight (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1954) with Hans Albers and Heinz Rühmann.

German postcard by Margarinewerk Eidelstedt Gebr. Fauser GmbH, Holstein. Serie 1, Bild 58. Photo: Marcus.

German postcard by Das Programm von Heute / Ross Verlag. Photo: Ufa.

Sources: Hansjoachim Schönherr (Neue Deutsche Biografie) (German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Rudi Polt (Find A Grave), Filmportal.de, Film-Zeit.de (German), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.

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Bella Polini

August 20, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Ricardo Rodríguez

≪ Previous: Ralph Arthur Roberts

Beautiful Bella Polini appeared in several German silent films of the 1920s.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 795/2, no. 1925-1926. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Visually Stunning
Bella Polini probably made her film debut opposite Harry Piel in his adventure film Der Verächter des Todes/The despiser of death (Harry Piel, 1920). She then played a dancer in Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s horror film Der Bucklige und die Tänzerin/The Hunchback and the Dancer (1920), starring Sascha Gura. The film, written by Carl Mayer and photographed by Karl Freund, is considered lost now, but at the time it was praised as being visually stunning. Pollini appeared again with Harry Piel in Das Gefängnis auf dem Meeresgrund/The prison on the seabed (Harry Piel, 1920). The following year Polini played in the two-parter Die Brillantenmieze/The Diamond Kitty (Wolfgang Neff, 1921) featuring Ria Alldorf. The next year, she had a supporting part in Die Kartenlegerin/The Fortune Teller (Bruno Eichgrün, 1922) for Hegewald Film. She also appeared in another Hegewald production, Morast (Wolfgang Neff, 1922). For Elysium Film, she appeared in Die Rote Marianne/Red Marian (Friedrich Berger, 1922).

German postcard by Ross Verlag, nr. 5046/2 , 1930-1931. Photo: Ariel Film.

Aufklärungsfilm
Four years later, Bella Polini played again a dancer in her final film Dürfen wir schweigen?/Should We Be Silent? (Richard Oswald, 1926). This production had an all-star cast including Conrad Veidt, Walter Rilla and Mary Parker. It was a remake of the Aufklärungsfilm Es werde Licht/Let there be light! (1917) about venereal disease, which was also directed by Richard Oswald. An Aufklärungsfilm is a German educational film that treats taboo subjects - especially in the area of sexuality. Oswald had made Es Werde Licht on behalf of the German War Office during the First World War. It was a great commercial success and the Aufklärungsfilm became a popular genre in the German cinema of the 1910s and 1920s. The genre made a come-back during the 1960s and 1970s. Sadly, Dürfen wir schweigen? (1926) is considered as lost now. About Bella Polini, we could not find further information. If you know more about her, please let us know.

Conrad Veidt. German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1426/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Vaida M. Pál, Budapest.

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

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Ricardo Rodríguez

August 21, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Andrée Standart

≪ Previous: Bella Polini

Spanish Actor Ricardo Rodríguez appeared in several Eurowesterns of the 1960s. In Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965) he played the evil Magua, leader of the Huron tribesmen.

Ricardo Rodriques in Der Letzte Mohikaner

German postcard, no. 63 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (1965). Caption: "Magua weiss, dass auch sein Ende da ist. Der alte Häuptling spricht ihm die Stammesehre ab und gewährt ihm drei Trommelwirbel Vorsprung zur Flucht. Doch Magua rührt sich nicht. Nach dem dritten Trommelwirbel stricken ihn die Pfeile der Bogenschützen nieder. Neben Unkas findet er den Tod." (Magua knows that his end is here. The old chief speaks to him from the tribal honor and grants him three drum roll lead to flee. But Magua does not move. After the third drum roll the arrows of the archers knit him down. Besides Uncas he finds death.)

Indians
We did not find any private information about Ricardo Rodríguez (also Rodrigues). He made his first film appearance as ‘8th gendarme’ in The Ceremony (Laurence Harvey, 1963), a crime drama starring Laurence Harvey and Sarah Miles.

This debut was soon followed by small roles as an Indian in Eurowesterns like the excellent Spanish western Antes llega la muerte/Hour of Death (Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent, 1964), and Aventuras del Oeste/Seven Hours of Gunfire (Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent, 1965), starring Rik van Nutter as Buffalo Bill and Adrian Hoven as Wild Bill Hickok.

Rodríguez also appeared in Dos pistolas gemelas/Two Guns for Two Twins (Rafael Romero Marchent, 1966) starring the twin Pilar and Emilia Bayona (aka Pili y Mili) and Sean Flynn. Flynn, the son of Erroll Flynn and Lily Damita, disappeared a few years later, during the Vietnam war.

Joachim Fuchsberger, Ricardo Rodriguez, Der Letzte Mohikaner

German postcard, no. 20 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner with Joachim Fuchsberger.

German postcard, no. 26 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner.

Eurospyfilm
Ricardo Rodriquez then portrayed Magua, the evil leader of the Huron tribesmen in the German-Italian-Spanish Western Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965), based on James Fenimore Cooper's famous novel The Last of the Mohicans. For the German version his voice was synchronized by Gerd Duwner.

Apart from the Eurowesterns, he also appeared in another popular European film genre of the 1960s, the Eurospyfilm. An example is Asso di picche operazione controspionaggio/Operation Counterspy (Nick Nostro, 1966). In the 1970s followed parts in films like La Leyenda del alcalde de Zalamea/The Legend of the Mayor of Zalamea (1973, Mario Camus) with Francisco Rabal.

Rodriquez last feature film was the hard boiled cop/jungle action pic from Sergio Leone collaborator Aldo Sambrell, La Última jugada/Last Chance (Aldo Sambrell, 1975) in which Ricardo Rodríguez was credited as Richard Roader. According to IMDb reviewer Sorsimus: "A strange mixture of euro crime cinema and jungle war... Short, fast paced and reasonably sleazy, viewed in the right frame of mind, this one should be good for a couple of laughs. The biggest shortcoming must be Sambrell's directing, which has so little regard for coherence, that the film becomes almost a surreal experience."

In 2004 Ricardo Rodríguez finally appeared in the short Historia de un destino/History of a Destiny (Diego Sanchidrián, 2004).

Karin Dor and Ricardo Rodriguez in Der Letzte Mohikaner

German postcard, no. 25 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner with Karin Dor.

Ricardo Rodríquez in Der Letzte Mohikaner

German postcard, no. 57 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (1965).

German trailer for Der Lezte Mohikaner (1965). Source: Hightower1979 (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

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Andrée Standart

August 22, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Helmuth Schneider

≪ Previous: Ricardo Rodríguez

Andrée Standart (or Standard) appeared in silent French films of the late 1920s as well as in the first French sound production.

French postcard by EC, no. 52. Collection: Didier Hanson.

The Queen
This card of beautiful Andrée Standard is one of the 'rares' of Didier Hanson's collection. It's the only card of her on the net and the actress seems to be completely forgotten. We could not find more information about her than her filmography. But some of her films are very interesting. She appeared both in the greatest epic of the French silent cinema and in the first French sound film.

Andrée Standart started her film career probably in Le prince charmant/Prince Charming (Victor Tourjansky, 1925) with Claude France, Nathalie Kovanko and Jaque Catelain as the Prince. That year she had a bigger role in the comedy 600000 francs par mois/600,000 francs per month (Nicolas Koline, Robert Péguy, 1925) opposite Nicolas Koline and Charles Vanel.

Standart played a queen in the comedy Titi premier, roi des gosses/Titi the first, king of the kids (René Leprince, 1926). In the historical epic Napoléon (Abel Gance, 1927), she played the minor part of Thérèse Tallien. Tallien admires beautiful Joséphine de Beauharnais (Gina Manès) at the Victim's Ball at Les Carmes, formerly the prison where Joséphine was held. She was credited now as Andrée Standard, and continued to be so in some of her following films.

Jaque Catelain. Yugoslavian postcard by Jos. Caklovic, Zagreb, no. 75. Photo: Moslinger Film, Zagreb.

The Shark
Andrée Standard had a bigger role again in Le duel/The Duel (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1928), starring Mady Christians and Gabriel Gabrio. In Spain she appeared in La condesa María/Countess Mary (Benito Perojo, 1928) with Sandra Milowanoff. It was a coproduction with the French Albatross Studio. She also appeared in the war film Andranik (Acho Chakatouny, 1929).

Her next production was the sound film Le requin/The Shark (Henri Chomette, 1930). A ruined ship-owner (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) deliberately sinks his ship so that he can claim the insurance money. He is acquitted by the court but his wife (Gina Manès), who only just survived the disaster, takes her revenge by killing him. Le Requin was the first full length French sound film. It included several songs and dialog in the end sequences as well as a synchronized soundtrack.

Andrée Standart’s second sound film was Le train des suicides/The Train of Suicides (Edmond Gréville, 1931). Locked in a train, several willing suicides are impatiently awaiting the death that has been promised them by an unscrupulous fraudster. Just when they have all been driven almost insane with anxiety, the door is opened and a detective unmasks the criminal. It was Andrée Standart's last screen appearance.

Sandra Milowanoff. French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 403.

Sources: Films de France, Wikipedia and IMDb.

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Helmuth Schneider

August 23, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Lea Giunchi

≪ Previous: Andrée Standart

Blond, handsome actor Helmuth Schneider (1920-1972) appeared in more than 50 films and also worked as an assistant director. He worked in Germany, but also in Latin America, Italy and France.

German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel. Photo: Wega / NF / Michaelis.

Star of the Heimat Film
Helmuth (often Helmut) Schneider was born in Munich, Germany in 1920. Her studied medicine in his hometown in 1938, and then attended the drama school of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. In 1942 he made his stage debut in the comedy Sophienlund. He had to quit his engagement at the Deutsches Theater for the war effort, and he was wounded in France.

Schneider made his film debut for the Ufa with a small part in the musical drama Träumerei/Daydream (Harald Braun, 1944) about the love story of Clara Wieck Schumann (Hilde Krahl) and Robert Schumann (Mathias Wieman). In 1946, Schneider left Germany and stayed in Latin America where he worked in the film business under the name Alexandre Carlos. In 1952, he was back in Germany and and played at the Deutsches Theater in Göttingen.

In the cinema, he co-starred with Edith Mill in the romantic drama Zwei Menschen/Two People (Paul May, 1952). It made both stars of the Heimat film. The following years he was the handsome hunter or forrester in several forgettable German rural romances, such as Der Fischer vom Heiligensee/The fisherman from Heiligensee (Hans H. König, 1955), Drei Birken auf der Heide/Three birch trees on the heath (Ulrich Erfurth, 1956) and Jägerblut/Blood of the hunter (Hans H. König, 1957). In 1959, he starred as Kara Ben Nemsi in the Karl May adventure Der Löwe von Babylon/The Lion of Babylon (Johannes Kai, Ramón Torrado, 1959) with Georg Thomalla and Theo Lingen.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 880. Photo: J. Arthur Rank-Film. Publicity still for Unter den Sternen von Capri/Under the stars of Capri (Otto Linnekogel, 1953).

German postcard by F.J. Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 704.

German postcard by Kunst und Bild.

Unsympathetic Nazi Officer
In the 1960s, when the German film industry experienced a downturn, Helmuth Schneider worked for television, such as for the crime series Stahlnetz (1960-1963), the German version of Dragnet. He moved to Rome, which was the new centre of the European cinema. He had a supporting part in the adventure film Captain Sindbad (Byron Haskin, 1963) starring Guy Williams and Heidi Brühl, and the war film The Secret Invasion (Roger Corman, 1964) with Stewart Granger and Raf Vallone.

In France he appeared as an unsympathetic Nazi officer in war dramas like Le facteur s'en va-t-en guerre/The Postman Goes to War (Claude Bernard-Aubert, 1966) starring Charles Aznavour, and Paris brûle-t-il?/Is Paris Burning? (René Clément, 1966) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Charles Boyer. He played such a role again in the war comedy La grande vadrouille/Don't Look Now, We've Been Shot At (Gérard Oury, 1966) with Bourvil and Louis de Funès. He also had a part in the fifth and final episode of the Angélique series with Michèle Mercier, Angélique et le sultan/Angélique and the Sultan (Bernard Borderie, 1967).

In Italy he made a Spaghetti Western, Ciakmull - L'uomo della vendetta/The Unholy Four (Enzo Barboni, 1970). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “It's one of those Spaghetti Westerns in which the heroes and heavies are virtually indistinguishable. Though the outlaw leader (played by George Eastman credited by his birth name Luigi Montefiore) is evil incarnate, he isn't much worse than the four mercenaries hunting him down. Stalwart John Ford-regular Woody Strode is given plenty of screen time, and he makes the most of it. Director Enzo Barboni was billed as E. B. Clucher in the American prints.” Schneider also played in another war film Gott mit uns/The Fifth Day of Peace (Giuliano Montaldo, 1970) starring Franco Nero. His final film was À la guerre comme à la guerre/War is war (Bernard Borderie, 1972), a historical war comedy starring Leonard Whiting and Curd Jürgens.

Helmuth Schneider died in a traffic accident in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1972. He was 51.

German postcard by F.J. Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 543. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation. Publicity still for Die Göttin vom Rio Beni/Strange World (Franz Eichhorn, 1951).

German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 1268. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Central Europa Film / Prisma. Publicity still for Die Schützenliesel/Schützenliesel (Rudolf Schündler, 1954).

German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 3546. Retail price: 25 Pfg. Photo: König / Kopp-Film.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Peter Hoffmann (Biografie.de) (German), Tom B. (Westerns…all Italiana), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

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Lea Giunchi

August 24, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Dorrit Weixler

≪ Previous: Helmuth Schneider

Lea Giunchi (1884-?) was the first comical actress in Italian cinema. She acted either in her own 'Lea' series, or with male comedians such as Ferdinand Guillaume (Tontolini) and Raymond Frau (Kri Kri). She also played in the Italian silent epic Quo vadis? (1913), modern dramas and action films.

British postcard by Rotary in the Opalette Series, O.3077.A. Photo: E.C. Publicity still of Lea Giunchi as Lygia in Quo vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, 1913).

Lea, Tontolini and Kri Kri
Despite Wikipedia indicating differently, Lea Giunchi was born Armanda Carolina Giunchi in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1889. She was the daughter of an Italian father and a German mother. In 1909 she moved to Rome. There her professional career took off when she became the companion of Natale Guillaume. Together with his elder – and more famous - brother Ferdinando Guillaume, Guillaume was the fourth generation of a French family who had fled from France in the late 18th century and led the life of wandering circus artists. Natale left the family circus after his father Onorato remarried. His brother Ferdinando joined him, and together they did circus acts in various European circuses. Around 1907 they started to perform in vaudeville at the Sala Umberto in Rome, under the name of 'Les Guill-Guill'. Wikipedia suggests that Giunchi was already a part of these performances.

In 1909 the Guillaume brothers were hired by the Cines film company in Rome, to become comical actors and compete with the popular French comedian André Deed. In 1910, a whole series was designed around the character of Tontolini, played by Ferdinando, and with Natale as his sidekick or antagonist. It is then that Lea Giunchi as well started to act in the films with the Guillaume brothers, firstly in Tontolini e Lea al mare/Tontolini and Lea at the Seaside (1910). Immediately she became the companion of the character Tontolini, using the name Lea (not Armanda and without her last name). Giunchi remained Ferdinando Guillaume’s sidekick in countless comedies, until Guillaume moved over the Turinese company Pasquali and became Polidor. Giunchi had become so popular that she got her own Lea series, as of 1910, starting with Lea in convitto/Lea in Her Boarding School.

Until 1916 Giunchi surely acted in some 34 Lea comedies, which were distributed all over Europe and to the United States. Examples are Lea si diverte/Lea has fun (1912), Lea vuol morire/Lea wants to die1912), and Lea e il gomitolo/Lea and the ball (1913). Giunchi collaborated with several male comedians: the fat Giuseppe Gambardella, known as Checco, Lorenzo Soderini aka Cocò, also often in drag as the ugly female antagonist of Lea, and foremost Raymond Frau, who replaced Guillaume as first comedian at Cines, when the latter left for Pasquali. Known as Kri Kri, Frau coupled with Giunchi in many comedies in the early 1910s, such as Kri Kri ama la tintora/Kri Kri loves tintora (1913) and Kri Kri e Lea militari/Kri Kri and Lea military (1913).

Giunchi continued to play in the Kri Kri films until 1915. She also joined forces in comical shorts with her own little son Eraldo, born in Rome in 1910 (and not 1906 as Wikipedia and IMDb write), and known as Cinessino. In 1911 Giunchi and Guillaume had a daughter, Sylvia. In the meantime Giunchi played in dramatic films, e.g. as Marta in Enrico Guazzoni’s adaptation of Faust (1910), and (despite her pregnancy of Eraldo) she was the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio (Giulio Antamoro, 1911), an early feature-length film with the whole Guillaume family acting.

Italian postcard by Uff. Rev. St. Terni. Photo: Cines Film. Publicity still for Quo Vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, 1913). Helped by Acte, Nero's former mistress, Ursus (Bruto Castellani) subtracts Lygia (Lea Giunchi) from the orgy of the imperial banquet, where the drunken Roman Vinicius tries to rape her.

A Worldwide Sensation
Lea Giunchi had her breakthrough as dramatic actress with the part of the Christian girl Lygia (Licia in Italian) in the epic Quo vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, 1912). The film was a worldwide sensation. She played also dramatic roles in Fior d’amore e fior di morte/Flower of love and death (1912) and Immolazione/Immolation (Enrico Guazzoni, 1914). Because of her special physical talents, Lea Giunchi played in several types of action films, from Westerns like Due vite per un cuore/A Sister's Ordeal (1912) and Sulla via dell’oro/On the golden way (1913) to mystery and detective films, such as Le mani ignote/The unknown hands (1913) and La polizia moderna )1912).

In her thesis on Giunchi, Marzia Ruta writes: “Giunchi’s acting peculiarity consisted in her ability to combine two different aspects in one single characterization: she made use of her body in a very free way, yet at the same time she also managed to be extremely charming and feminine. This is a case on its own in the context of Italian cinema of the time, where no other comic actress presented both these aspects at once: either they were the big fat woman who hit and tyrannized her poor little comic partner, or, in reverse, the coquettish and funny girl with a great ability in facial expressions (the best example of this type being the great Gigetta Morano). On the contrary, Lea made use of both the free and unprejudiced movements of her body and a coquettish femininity: this was quite a revolutionary combination of elements for the time, and Giunchi was the first, and probably the only actress to introduce it in Italian cinema. (...)

In Lea e il gomitolo (1913) Giunchi destroys her parents’ whole apartment by desperately searching for a lost ball of wool: her frenzy movement, quite like a demoniac possession, is a metaphor for Lea’s desperate search for the only female identity she knows and can imagine; by destroying the apartment, she conquers both her right to read in peace and the possibility of an alternative female identity. At a time when Italian women were not allowed to vote because their husbands were held to also represent their will, Lea persuades her boyfriend’s parents to let their son marry her by disguising herself as a doll: a big puppet who complies with all of its owner’s instructions (Lea bambola/Lea doll, 1912).”

Italian postcard by Uff. Rev. St. Terni. Photo: Cines Film. Publicity still for Quo Vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, 1913). Vinicius (Amleto Novelli) finds back Lygia (Lea Giunchi) at the catacombs of Ostriano. Left of Lygia is St. Peter (Giovanni Gizzi), right of her protector Ursus (Bruto Castellani). Vinicius plots to abduct Lygia, with the help of the Greek Chilo (Augusto Mastripietri) and a gladiator.

A Fatal Blow
While Natale Guillaume acted in several Polidor-comedies in Turin in 1914-1916, Lea Giunchi seems to have stayed in Rome, continuing at Cines. In 1915 Giunchi also signed a contract with the Caesar Film and acted for this company in such films as La cieca di Sorrento/Blind Woman of Sorrento (Gustavo Serena, 1916) in which she had the lead as the blind girl, Parigi misteriosa/Mysterious Paris (1917), an adaptation of Eugene Sue, and P.L.M., ossia l’assassinio della Paris-Lyon-Mediterranée/P.L.M. ie the murder of the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée (Edoardo Bencivenga, 1918).

In the mid-1910s she also acted at companies like Celio in La maschera dell’amore (Ivo Illuminati, 1916), and Film d’Arte Italiana in La chiamavano Cosetta (Eugenio Perego, 1917). The big wave of Italian short comedy petered out during the mid-1910s, which meant less work for Giunchi. A fatal blow came after the First World War, when her companion – they apparently never married – Natale Guillaume was killed in an aerial accident, during the shooting in Naples of a film for Polidor Film, the company founded by his brother Ferdinando.

A few months after, Lea Giunchi married Anselmo Muto, a doctor from Gaeta fifteen years older than she. Giunchi withdrew from public life for good. Muto died in Rome in 1940. After the Second World War, in 1946, Lea and Sylvia left Rome and moved to Gaeta, probably to join Muto's family. In 1951 Lea emigrated with Sylvia and Eraldo and their families to Rio De Janeiro, after which traces of her get lost. While Giunchi remains a rather enigmatic personality, several of her long and short films remain in archives inside and outside of Italy. Her brother-in-law Ferdinando was rediscovered by Federico Fellini in the post-war era and would act in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) and La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960). He died at the high age of 90.

Lea Giunchi and Bruto Castellani in Quo vadis?

Italian postcard by Uff. Rev. St. Terni. Photo: Cines Film. Publicity still for Quo Vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, 1913). Lygia (Lea Giunchi) saves Vinicius (Amleto Novelli) from the hands of Ursus (Bruto Castellani). Ursus, protector of Lygia, has just killed a gladiator who had been charged by Vinicius to kill Ursus while he himself planned to abduct Lygia.

Italian postcard by Uff. Rev. St. Terni. Photo: Cines Film. Publicity still for Quo Vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, 1913). Ursus (Bruto Castellani) and Vinicius (Amleto Novelli) implore the audience and emperor Nero to grace the Christian Lygia (Lea Giunchi), after Ursus has killed the bull on whch back Lygia had been bound. The audience raves because of Ursus' tour de force. Vinicius has stripped his cloth to show his scars from the wars, while Ursus holds up Lygia. All around Nero hold their thumbs up for grace, even if this sign seems to have been a 19th century invention and historically incorrect.

Sources: Marzia Ruta,(Riavvolgendo il gomitolo: Lea Giunchi, storia di un corpo comico dimenticato (thesis, Bologna, 2008)), Marzia Ruta (Women and the Silent Screen conference 2010), Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb.

Thanks to Marzia Ruta for additional information and corrections.

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Dorrit Weixler

August 25, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Imported from the USA: Josephine Baker

≪ Previous: Lea Giunchi

German silent film actress Dorrit Weixler (1892-1916) anticipated such better known comedy stars of the German cinema as Ossi Oswalda and Anny Ondra. The career of the bright and light comedienne was like a candle burning on both sides.

German Postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm, no. 7330.

Quicksilver
Dorrit Weixler was born in 1892. She first appeared in short films in 1911, like Seine erste Liebe/His First Love (Alwin Neuss, 1911) and Alwin auf der Hochzeitsreise/Alwin's Honeymoon Trip (Alwin Neuss, 1911), both featuring Alwin Neuss.

In 1913 she began a successful collaboration with silent film director-screenwriter Franz Hofer at the Luna Film studio. She had her breakthrough with Das rosa Pantöffelchen/The Pink Slipper (Franz Hofer, 1913) with Franz Schwaiger. Hofer and Weixler would make ten films together such as Das Liebesbarometer/The Barometer of Love (Franz Hofer, 1914). In Ein verliebter Racker/A Rascal in Love (Franz Hofer, 1915) and Fraülein Piccolo/Miss piccolo (Franz Hofer, 1915) her film partner was the future film director Ernst Lubitsch. In Fraülein Piccolo she played a quicksilver waitress dressed up as a boy to push away the clients.

Other popular roles were the temperamental teenager or the tomboy in sailor suit who is tamed by the 'right man'. During the First World War, Hofer directed her also in such patriotic war dramas as Deutsche Helden/German heroes (Franz Hofer, 1914) and Weihnachtsglöckchen/Christmas Bells (Franz Hofer, 1914).

German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm, no. 1550. Photo: Willingen.

German postcard by Verl. Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 7325.

German postcard by NPG, no. 266. Photo: Alex Binder, 1916.

Stress
In 1915, Dorrit Weixler left Hofer and Luna Film to work for producer David Oliver at Oliver-Film, where she became the leading actress. Her type of roles stayed the same, and her directors Paul Otto and Paul Heidemann were often also her partners on screen.

The films were all about her and sometimes bore her name in the titles. Examples are Dorrits Chauffeur (Paul Otto, 1915) and Dorritts Vergnügungsreise/Dorritts pleasure trip (Paul Heidemann, 1916) opposite Bruno Kastner.

End of May 1916, she made her stage debut in the Theater am Nollendorfplatz in a 'Dorrit Weixler-week'. One night she collapsed on stage. Unfortunately the stress of turning out one film after another - over 20 films in two years - had been too much for Dorrit. While trying to recover in a Berlin sanatorium, matters grew worse. She became dependent on morphine. In 1916, at the apex of her success, Dorrit Weixler committed suicide by hanging herself. She was only 24 years old.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 76/5. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin.

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 77/4. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin.

German postcard by Verlag Hans Dursthoff, Berlin, no. 996. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin / Oliver-Film.

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

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Imported from the USA: Josephine Baker

August 26, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Else Bötticher

≪ Previous: Dorrit Weixler

Today, we continue our new series 'Imported from the USA'. Tall and dark Josephine Baker (1906-1975) was an American singer and dancer who became a legend in Europe. In 1925 'the Bronze Venus' became an instant success in Paris with her coffee skin, ebony eyes, long legs, and 'smile to end all smiles'. She was the first African American female to become a world-famous entertainer, to integrate an American concert hall, and to star in a major film, the French production La Sirene des Tropiques/Siren of the Tropics (1927).

Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5293. Photo: Walery, Paris

Racial Discrimination

Josephine Baker was born Frida Josephine McDonald in 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri, US. Her mother, Carrie McDonald, was a laundress, and her father, Eddie Carson, a vaudeville drummer.

Josephine dropped out of school at the age of 12, and first danced for the public on the streets of St. Louis for nickels and dimes.

At 15, she was recruited for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville show, and she married a Pullman porter named William Howard Baker. Two years later she left him and ran away from St. Louis, feeling there was too much racial discrimination in the city.

She headed to New York City and during the Harlem Renaissance, she performed at the Plantation Club and in the chorus of the popular Broadway revues Shuffle Along (1921) and The Chocolate Dandies (1924).

She performed as the last dancer in a chorus line, a position in which the dancer traditionally performed in a comic manner, as if they were unable to remember the dance, until the encore, at which point they would not only perform it correctly, but with additional complexity.

Josephine Baker was then billed as 'the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville.'

Albert Prejean. German Postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6201/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Paramount.

Banana Dance
In 1925, Josephine Baker opened in Paris in La revue negre at the Théatre des Champs-Élysées, where she became an instant success for her erotic dancing and for appearing practically nude on stage.

After a successful tour of Europe, she reneged on her contract and returned to France to star at the Folies Bergères, setting the standard for her future acts.

She performed the Danse sauvage, wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas. She quickly became a favourite of the French, and her fame grew.

Baker performed in a handful of silent and early sound films, including La Sirene des Tropiques/Siren of the Tropics (Henri Étiévant, Mario Nalpas, 1927) at the side of Pierre Batcheff, Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934) opposite Jean Gabin, and La princesse Tam Tam/Princess Tam-Tam (Edmond T. Gréville, 1935) with Albert Préjean.

At this time she also scored her greatest song hit, J'ai deux amours (1931).

In 1937 she renounced her American citizenship and became a citizen of France.

During World War II she served in the French Resistance for which she would receive the highest French military honour, the Croix de Guerre.

Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 5293, 1970.

Communist Sympathizer?

Josephine Baker had many ups and downs during her career.

Although based in France, Baker supported the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s. In 1951 the Stork Club in New York City had refused to serve her because she was black. This led to a confrontation with columnist Walter Winchell.

Later, she was falsely accused of being a communist sympathizer, and the FBI started a file on her. During the McCarthy era, she was told that she was no longer welcome in the United States.

In France, she was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, France's highest honour, in 1961.

In the late 1960's, she began having financial difficulties, and stopped performing in 1968. Princess Grace offered her a home in Monaco when she learned of Josephine's financial problems.

At the request of Princess Grace, she performed at Monaco's summer ball in 1974, and was a great success. That same year, she staged a week of performances in New York and called the show An Evening with Josephine Baker.

Baker had just begun a Paris revue celebrating her half-century on the stage, when on 10 April 1975 she was stricken and went into a coma. She died without regaining consciousness.

Her funeral was held in Paris, and she was buried in Monaco.

Josephine Baker was married six times: to foundry worker Willie Wells (1919), William Howard Baker (1920-1923), 'Count' Pepito di Abatino (1926), French sugar magnate Jean Lion (1937-1938), orchestra leader Joe Bouillon (1947-1957) and finally to American artist Robert Brady (1973 till her death in 1975).

She adopted 12 children, partly because she couldn't have any of her own and partly because she believed in equality for all, no matter what nationality, religion or race.

Josephine Baker performs the Danse sauvage at the Folies Bergères. Source: dsmrtgrl (YouTube).

Josephine Baker in Pathécolor, shot for the french silent film La Revue Des Revues (1927). Source: stjn00 (YouTube).

The first episode of 'Imported from the USA' was dedicated to Jayne Mansfield.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

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Else Bötticher

August 27, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Vanda Hudson

≪ Previous: Imported from the USA: Josephine Baker

In the early 20th century, German actress Else Bötticher (1880-1966) performed with famous stage stars in international theatres. During the 1910s, she made several silent films. In the sound era, she returned to the cinema but then only played small roles as wives and mothers.

With Vilma Conti. German postcard by BNK, no. 33 583/1. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Caption: "Fuss-Tanz-Duett. So ein Damesfüsschen zierlich und klein. Die Tanzhusaren" (Foot-dance duet. Such a dainty and small lady foot. The Dance Hussars).

Acting Greats

Else Bötticher began her career at age 18 in the province. Then she played for two years Nora in theatres in the US.

Back in Germany, she was a partner of such acting greats as Josef Kainz and Max Pallenberg.

Max Reinhardt engaged her several times for his guest directions in Munich. Bötticher also repeatedly did guest performances in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and France.

However, she worked mainly in German theatres such as the Königlichen Hoftheater zu Stuttgart (Royal Court Theatre in Stuttgart) and especially, since shortly before the First World War, in Berlin theatres such as the Trianon-Theater.

In the later years of the Weimar Republic, she was seen at the Neues Theater am Zoo and other stages.

With Vilma Conti. German postcard by BNK, no. 33 583/2. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Caption: "Fuss-Tanz-Duett. Fährt man erst per Untergrund.... Die Tanzhusaren." (Foot-dance duet. You can learn only on the ground.... The Dance Hussars).

Forgotten Silent Productions

According to Wikipedia and other sources, for a long time, the cinema seemed to play only a minor role in the artistic work of Else Bötticher. However, The German Early Cinema Database shows that Bötticher appeared in several now forgotten productions during the 1910s.

Her first film was the Messter production Fräulein Leutnant/Miss Lieutenant (Carl Wilhelm, 1914) in which she played the title role opposite Albert Paulig and Hans Mierendorff.

She also appeared in the sequel Fräulein Feldgrau/Miss Feldgrau (Carl Wilhelm, 1914) again with Albert Paulig.

Her other silent films included Die Nicht aus Amerika/The Niece from America (1917), Frau Hempels Tochter/Mrs. Hempel’s Daughter (Julius Dewald, Edmund Edel, 1919) and De Profundis (Georg Jacoby, 1919) starring Ellen Richter.

Ellen Richter. German postcard by NBC, no. 120/3. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.

Mothers And Wives

After the seizure of power by the National Socialists, Else Bötticher again regularly performed before the camera. She received mostly small roles – as mothers and wives.

She played the Rectors wife and mother of Annemarie Sörensen in So ein Flegel/Such a Boor (Robert A. Stemmle, 1933) starring Heinz Rühmann in a double role, the earlier version of the hit film Die Feuerzangenbowle/The Punch Bowl (Helmut Weiss, 1943).

In 1933, she also returned to a the Berlin stage and performed at the Metropolitan Theater.

With the outbreak of the war in 1939, she ended her film work for a long time. Her theatrical commitments were also limited.

After the war, the elderly actress only played guest roles.

Her final film appearance was a bit part in Mein Vater, der Schauspieler/My Father the Actor (Robert Siodmak, 1956) starring O.W. Fischer.

In 1966, Else Bötticher died in Berlin. She was 85.

Heinz Rühmann. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6564/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.

Sources: The German Early Cinema Database, Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

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Vanda Hudson

August 28, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Valeska Gert

≪ Previous: Else Bötticher

Beautiful starlet Vanda Hudson (1937-2004) was one of the blond bombshells of the British cinema in the post-war years. She appeared in a dozen films and TV series of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Yugoslavian postcard by Studio Sombor, no. 288. Photo: Rank.

Too Sexy For Blackpool

Vanda Hudson was born as Wanda Zaleska in Silesia, part of present-day Poland (some sources say Villefrance, France), in 1937. She moved to Great Britain in 1948 and made her screen debut in 1955. I could not find much more information about her private life on the web.

There is a 1958 press picture of her in a sexy dress in which she is presented as a cabaret singer. According to the subscript Vanda “joined the summer show on Blackpool's Central pier and brought along this gold Lame and sequin dress to wear in her act. But producer Peter Webster decided it was too sexy for Blackpool holiday makers so he ruled that the dress is out. Instead Vanda wears a less revealing simple styled dress to cover her 38-22-36 figure.”

A publicity stunt for the Central pier and for the blond bombshell?

Since the mid-1950s Vanda worked as an actress in films and TV series. According to IMDb, she made her TV-debut in 1955 in the British Detective series The Vipe (Richard Lester a.o., 1954-1960).

Her first film appearance was an uncredited part in the World War II drama Seven Thunders (Hugo Fregonese, 1957) starring Stephen Boyd.

More small parts followed in the drama Innocent Sinners (Philip Leacock, 1958), the Frankie Vaughan vehicle The Heart of a Man (Herbert Wilcox, 1959) in which she played a character called Cha Cha, and the Oscar nominated drama Libel (Anthony Asquith, 1959) starring Dirk Bogarde.

Press photo of Vanda Hudson in Blackpool in 1958. Source: Art 247.

Vanda Hudson in Circus of Horrors (1960). Source: Cinemorgue.

Lurid And Risqué

In 1960 Vanda Hudson played a supporting part in the comedy Bottoms Up (Mario Zampi, 1960), just credited as Vanda.

That year she also appeared in the horror film Circus of Horrors (Sydney Hayers, 1960) starring Anton Diffring and German star Erika Remberg.

IMDb reviewer Guanche calls it “Lurid and risqué for its time, and still quite unsettling (…) This is a grim story of a doctor fleeing some botched plastic surgeries. He takes over a backwoods circus and populates it with beautiful, yet disfigured female performers whom he restores to beauty and rescues from lives of prostitution and rejection. Of course, once the circus becomes successful, the ladies no longer feel like putting up with, or putting out for him, so he devises elaborate circus ‘accidents’ to deal with their ingratitude.”

Vanda plays one of his victims, who meets a particularly gruesome end. Anton Diffring sabotages the knife-thrower's act and sexy target girl Magda von Meck (Vanda) is stabbed in the throat.

German postcard by ISV, no. 11/6.

Yugoslavian postcard by Studio Sombor, no. 288. Sent by mail in 1963. Photo: Rank.

Scandalous Luxemburg Production

Vanda Hudson’s biggest film role came the following year with her part as Fina in the romance Ticket to Paradise (Francis Searle, 1961), for which she was billed third.

More supporting parts followed in the crime films Jungle Street (Charles Saunders, 1961) starring David McCallum and Jill Ireland, and Strip Tease Murder (Ernest Morris, 1961) with Ann Lynn.

She then appeared in Double Danger (Roger Jenkins, 1961), an episode of the first season of the legendary mystery TV series The Avengers (1961-1969) starring Patrick Macnee as secret agent John Steed.

Vanda played a bit part in the comedy Father Came Too! (Peter Graham Scott, 1964) starring James Robertson Justice.

In 1963 she retired to raise her family but in 1967 she was seen in the scandalous Luxemburg production Happening (Marc Boureau, 1967) with André Dumas.

Two years later she appeared topless as an aspiring actress in the sex comedy A Promise of Bed (Derek Ford, 1969) with Victor Spinetti. It would be her final film.

Subsequently she ran the restaurant Turpin’s in Hampstead, north London.

Vanda Hudson died in 2004, aged 70.

Trailer of Circus of Horrors (1960). Source: Wicked Vision Magazine (YouTube).

Sources: The Stage, Cinemorgue, Screenweek, Art. 247 and IMDb.

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