Eva May played the leading role in the German silent film Die verwunschene Prinzessin/The Enchanted Princess (1919), directed and produced by Erik Lund and scripted by Ruth Goetz. Among the cast were also Johannes Riemann, Olga Engl, Ernst Behmer and Leopold von Ledebuhr. The film was produced by Ring Film and the sepia postcard series for the film was published by Ross Verlag.
![Eva May in Die verwunschene Prinzessin]()
German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 608/1. Photo: Ring Film. Eva May (left) in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (Erik Lund, 1919).
![Eva May in Die verwunschene Prinzessin]()
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 608/2. Photo: Ring-Film. Eva May in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (Erik Lund, 1919).
Die verwunschene Prinzessin/The Enchanted Princess (1919) was directed and produced by Erik Lund, born as Manfred Liebenau. Between 1918 and 1922 he directed dozens of silent films. He was also the first husband of the star of Die verwunschene Prinzessin, Eva May.
Eva was the princess of the silent German film industry. Her mother was the famous film actress Mia May and her father the powerful producer and director Joe May. Eva their only child and she was the apple of their eyes.
When she was only 12, Eva made her film debut in in a Stuart Webbs-Detective film called Stuart Webbs: Die geheimnisvolle Villa/The Black Triangle (1914) under the direction of her father. In 1918 Eva played the leading role in the silent film Sadja (1918) opposite Hans Albers. The film was directed by Adolf Gärtner and Erik Lund. Lund and his 16-year-old star actress fell in love and they married.
Eva went to work exclusively for the Ring-Film GmbH, managed by her husband. Lund directed his young wife in such films as Das törichte Herz/The Foolish Heart (1919), Schwarze Perlen/Black Pearls (1919) and Die Fee von Saint Ménard/The Fairy of Saint Ménard (1919). Liebenau and May created their own Eva-May-Serial for which Eva also wrote the scripts. She was treated kindly by the press and rose to ‘Jedermanns Liebling’ because of her nice roles.
But the marriage did not last long and by 1920 Eva was back with her parents and her films were now directed by her father. In the next years she would marry twice again, both times with a film director, but her marriages ended soon in divorces. Thomas Staedeli at Cyranos: "Privately Eva May was regarded as very difficult and sometimes freakish. She often argued with her father." In the night of the 9th to 10th September 1924 Eva May brought her life to an end with a gun shot. She was only 22.
![Eva May in Die verwunschene Prinzessin]()
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 608/3. Photo: Ring-Film. Eva May and Johannes Riemann in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (Erik Lund, 1919). The man on the left could be Ernst Behmer.
![Eva May in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (1919)]()
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 608/4. Photo: Ring-Film. Publicity still of Eva May and Johannes Riemann in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (Erik Lund, 1919). The man on the left, half behind Riemann, is Leopold von Ledebur. The man on the right could be Ernst Behmer.
Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia and IMDb.
German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 608/1. Photo: Ring Film. Eva May (left) in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (Erik Lund, 1919).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 608/2. Photo: Ring-Film. Eva May in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (Erik Lund, 1919).
Everybody's Sweetheart
Die verwunschene Prinzessin/The Enchanted Princess (1919) was directed and produced by Erik Lund, born as Manfred Liebenau. Between 1918 and 1922 he directed dozens of silent films. He was also the first husband of the star of Die verwunschene Prinzessin, Eva May.
Eva was the princess of the silent German film industry. Her mother was the famous film actress Mia May and her father the powerful producer and director Joe May. Eva their only child and she was the apple of their eyes.
When she was only 12, Eva made her film debut in in a Stuart Webbs-Detective film called Stuart Webbs: Die geheimnisvolle Villa/The Black Triangle (1914) under the direction of her father. In 1918 Eva played the leading role in the silent film Sadja (1918) opposite Hans Albers. The film was directed by Adolf Gärtner and Erik Lund. Lund and his 16-year-old star actress fell in love and they married.
Eva went to work exclusively for the Ring-Film GmbH, managed by her husband. Lund directed his young wife in such films as Das törichte Herz/The Foolish Heart (1919), Schwarze Perlen/Black Pearls (1919) and Die Fee von Saint Ménard/The Fairy of Saint Ménard (1919). Liebenau and May created their own Eva-May-Serial for which Eva also wrote the scripts. She was treated kindly by the press and rose to ‘Jedermanns Liebling’ because of her nice roles.
But the marriage did not last long and by 1920 Eva was back with her parents and her films were now directed by her father. In the next years she would marry twice again, both times with a film director, but her marriages ended soon in divorces. Thomas Staedeli at Cyranos: "Privately Eva May was regarded as very difficult and sometimes freakish. She often argued with her father." In the night of the 9th to 10th September 1924 Eva May brought her life to an end with a gun shot. She was only 22.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 608/3. Photo: Ring-Film. Eva May and Johannes Riemann in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (Erik Lund, 1919). The man on the left could be Ernst Behmer.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 608/4. Photo: Ring-Film. Publicity still of Eva May and Johannes Riemann in Die verwunschene Prinzessin (Erik Lund, 1919). The man on the left, half behind Riemann, is Leopold von Ledebur. The man on the right could be Ernst Behmer.
Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia and IMDb.