New acquisitions: Kwatta collectors cards from Belgium

Recently I found a series of Belgian collectors cards at Delcampe, which were published in or around 1950 by the chocolate factory Kwatta in Bois-d'Haine. During the late 1940s, Kwatta had produced sets of Film Star trading cards in black and white, which were issued with the Kwatta chocolates. These cards in colour were part of the C-series. At your local shop you could buy an album with the format 12 X 17,5 cm for 100 cards. The album was named Ciné Stars. On the cover was a lion, which referred to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. And indeed, most stars were under contract with MGM. Check out the posts on Kwatta, EFSP did earlier in 2015 and in 2018.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 209. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Lana Turner(1921-1995) was one of the most glamorous superstars of Hollywood's golden era.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 215. Photo: M.G.M. Robert Mitchum in Desire Me (George Cukor, Jack Conway, 1947).

American film star Robert Mitchum (1917–1997) is one of the icons of Hollywood thanks to his roles as tough guys, loners and drifters in many War films, Westerns and such classic Film Noirs as Out of the Past (1947) and His Kind of Woman (1952). His facade of cool, sleepy-eyed indifference proved highly attractive to both men and women. Mitchum portrayed two of the scariest screen villains ever: the psychotic evangelist Reverend Harry Powell in Night of the Hunter (1955) and cruel rapist Max Cady in the original Cape Fear (1962). During his notable 55-year acting career, he appeared in more than 125 films.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 221. Photo: MGM.

Tall, rugged American actor James Craig (1912-1985) is best known for appearances in films like Kitty Foyle (1940) and All That Money Can Buy (1941), and his stint as a leading man at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s where he appeared in films like The Human Comedy (1943).


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois-d'Haine, no. C. 223. Photo: MGM. Deborah Kerr and Clark Gable in The Hucksters (Jack Conway, 1947).

British film star Deborah Kerr (1921-2007) was nicknamed 'The English Rose' for her fresh natural beauty. In many films the stage, television and film actress played 'classic' English ladies, but during the 1950s she became known for her versatile roles in major Hollywood productions.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 224. Photo: MGM. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy in New Moon (Robert Z. Leonard, 1940).

Red-headed and blue-green eyed operatic singer Jeanette MacDonald (1903-1965) was discovered for the cinema by Ernst Lubitsch, who cast her opposite Maurice Chevalier in The Love Parade (1929). Later 'the Iron Butterfly' co-starred with Nelson Eddy in a string of successful musicals and played opposite Clark Gable in San Francisco (1936).


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 232. Photo: MGM. Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride (Vincente Minnelli, 1950).

American actor Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. He was the first actor to win back-to-back Oscars for Captains Courageous (1937) with Freddie Bartholomew, and for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938) with Mickey Rooney. Considered by his peers as one of the best Hollywood actors, Tracy was noted for his natural performing style and versatility.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 243. Photo: MGM. Valentina Cortese in Malaya (Richard Thorpe, 1949).

Italian film and stage actress Valentina Cortese (1923-2019) appeared in more than 100 Italian, French, British and American films and TV series. Cortese was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in François Truffaut’s La nuit américaine/Day for Night (1973). She also worked with such titans of cinema as Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 248. Photo: MGM. Robert Taylor in Ambush (Sam Wood, 1950).

Robert Taylor (1911-1969) was called "The Man with the Perfect Profile". He won his first leading role in Magnificent Obsession (1935). His popularity increased during the late 1930s and 1940s with appearances in A Yank at Oxford (1938), Waterloo Bridge (1940), and Bataan (1943). He was the quintessential MGM company man until the demise of the studio system in the late 1950s.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 253. Photo: MGM. Betty Garrett in On the Town (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1949).

Betty Garrett (1919-2011) was a sunny American actress, comedian, singer and dancer. She originally performed on Broadway, and was then signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She appeared successfully in several classic musicals like On the Town (1949) when the Communist scare in the 1950s brought her career to a screeching, ugly halt. She returned to Broadway and made guest appearances on several television series. Garrett later became known for the roles she played in two prominent 1970s sitcoms: Archie Bunker's liberal neighbour Irene Lorenzo in All in the Family (1973-1975) and landlady Edna Babish in Laverne & Shirley (1976-1981).


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 283. Photo: MGM. Ann Sothern in Shadow on the Wall (Pat Jackson, 1950).

American actress Ann Sothern (1909-2001) had a career on stage, radio, film, and television, that spanned nearly six decades. In 1939, MGM cast her as Maisie Ravier, a brash yet lovable Brooklyn showgirl, which lead to a successful film series. In 1953, Sothern moved into television as the star of her own sitcom Private Secretary. In 1987, Sothern appeared in her final film The Whales of August, and earned her only Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 288. Photo: MGM. Jane Powell in Nancy Goes to Rio (Robert Z. Leonard, 1950).

Jane Powell (1929) was the singing and dancing star of MGM musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. She is best known for her role as Milly in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 306. Photo: MGM. Ann Miller in On the Town (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1949).

Ann Miller (1923-2004) was an American dancer, singer and actress. She was famed for her speed in tap dancing and her style of glamour: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a splash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasised her lithe figure and long dancer's legs. Miller is best remembered for her work in the classic Hollywood musicals Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Kiss Me Kate (1953).


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 315. Photo: MGM. Paula Raymond in Duchess of Idaho (Robert Z. Leonard, 1950).

Paula Raymond (1924-2003) was an American model and actress who played the leading lady in numerous films and television series. In 1950, she was put under contract by MGM, where she played opposite leading men such as Cary Grant and Dick Powell. She is probably best remembered for one of the first atomic monster movies, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953). In the late 1950s and early 1960s, she appeared in countless episodes of TV series.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 317. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Handsome Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009) was the epitome of elegance, charm and grace on film, stage and television. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he reinvigorated the Latin Lover style in Hollywood without achieving top screen stardom. He fought to upscale the Latin image in Hollywood and this may have cost him a number of roles along the way, but he gained respect and a solid reputation and provided wider-range opportunities for Spanish-speaking actors. Montalban is probably best remembered for his starring role as the mysterious Mr. Roarke on the TV series Fantasy Island (1977–1984), with Hervé Villechaize as his partner Tatto, and as Grandfather Valentin in the Spy Kids franchise.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 321. Photo: MGM. John Lund in Duchess of Idaho (Robert Z. Leonard, 1950).

American actor John Lund (1911-1992) was a handsome blond, blue-eyed leading man who came to Hollywood after a major Broadway success. He started out promisingly in engaging romantic leads in the late 40s, but settled quickly into playing stuffed shirts and the third wheel in love triangles.