Paul van Yperen's Blog, page 235
May 11, 2019
Henry Fonda
Blue-eyed American actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982) exemplified not only integrity and strength, but an ideal of the common man fighting against social injustice and oppression. He is most remembered for his roles as Abe Lincoln in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), for which he received an Academy Award Nomination, and more recently, Norman Thayer in On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar for Best Actor in 1982. Notably he also played against character as the villain Frank in Sergio Leone's classic Spaghetti Western Once upon a time in the West (1968). Fonda is considered one of Hollywood's old-time legends and his lifelong career spanned almost 50 years.
British Art Photo postcard, no. 171.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1032a. Photo: Walter Wanger.
French postcard by Editions E.C., Paris, no. 65.
Tongue-tied personality
Henry Jaynes Fonda was born in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1905. His parents were Elma Herberta (Jaynes) and William Brace Fonda, who worked in advertising and printing and was the owner of the W. B. Fonda Printing Company in Omaha, Nebraska. His distant ancestors were Italians who had fled their country around 1400 and moved to Holland, presumably because of political or religious persecution. In the early 1600s, they crossed the Atlantic and were among the early Dutch settlers in America. They established a still-thriving small town in upstate New York named Fonda, named after patriarch Douw Fonda, who was later killed by Indians.
In 1919, young Henry was a first-hand witness to the Omaha race riots and the brutal lynching of Will Brown. This enraged the 14-years-old Fonda and he kept a keen awareness of prejudice for the rest of his life. Following graduation from high school in 1923, Henry got a part-time job in Minneapolis with the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company which allowed him at first to pursue journalistic studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1925, having returned to Omaha, Henry reevaluated his options and came to the conclusion that journalism was not his forte, after all.
For a while, he tried his hand at several temporary jobs, including as a mechanic and a window dresser. At age 20, Fonda started his acting career at the Omaha Community Playhouse, when his mother's friend Dodie Brando (mother of Marlon Brando ) recommended that he try out for a juvenile part in You and I, in which he was cast as Ricky. Then he received the lead in Merton of the Movies and realised the beauty of acting as a profession. It allowed him to deflect attention from his own tongue-tied personality and create stage characters relying on someone else's scripted words. The play and its star received fairly good notices in the local press. It ran for a week, and for the rest of the repertory season, Henry advanced to assistant director which enabled him to design and paint sets as well as act.
A casual trip to New York, however, had already made him set his sights on Broadway. In 1926, he moved to the Cape Cod University Players, where he met his future wife Margaret Sullavan. His first professional role was in The Jest, by Sem Benelli. James Stewart joined the Players a few months after Fonda left, but he would become his closest lifelong friend. In 1928, Fonda went east to New York to be with Margaret Sullavan, and to expand his theatrical career on Broadway.
His first Broadway role was a small one in A Game of Love and Death with Alice Brady and Claude Rains . Henry played leads opposite Margaret Sullavan, who became the first of his five wives in 1931. They broke up in 1933. In 1934, he got a break of sorts, when he was given the chance to present a comedy sketch with Imogene Coca in the Broadway revue New Faces. That year, he also hired Leland Hayward as his personal management agent and this was to pay off handsomely. Major Broadway roles followed, including New Faces of America and The Farmer Takes a Wife. The following year he married Frances Seymour Brokaw with whom he had two children: Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda, also to become film stars.
French postcard by Erpé, no. 30. Photo: Paramount.
British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. P 193. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang, 1937) with Sylvia Sidney.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1032. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936).
You'll be fonder of Fonda
The 29-year old Henry Fonda was persuaded by Leland Hayward to become a Hollywood actor, despite initial misgivings and reluctance on Henry's part. Independent producer Walter Wanger, whose growing stock company was birthed at United Artists, needed a star for The Farmer Takes a Wife (Victor Fleming, 1935) opposite Janet Gaynor .
I.S. Mowis at IMDb : “With both first choice actors Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea otherwise engaged, Henry was the next available option. After all, he had just completed a successful run on Broadway in the stage version. The cheesy publicity tag line for the picture was "you'll be fonder of Fonda", but the film was an undeniable hit.”
Wanger, realising he had a good thing going, next cast Henry in a succession of A-grade pictures which capitalised on his image as the sincere, unaffected country boy. Pick of the bunch were the Technicolor outdoor Western The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936) with Sylvia Sidney, and the gritty Depression-era drama You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang, 1937) with Henry as a back-to-the-wall good guy forced into becoming a fugitive from the law by circumstance).
Then followed the screwball comedy The Moon's Our Home (William A. Seiter, 1936) with ex-wife Margaret Sullavan, the excellent pre-civil war-era romantic drama Jezebel (William Wyler, 1938) featuring Bette Davis, and the Western Jesse James (Henry King, 1939) starring Tyrone Power . Fonda rarely featured in comedy, except for a couple of good turns opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Tierney - with both he shared an excellent on-screen chemistry - in The Mad Miss Manton (Leigh Jason, 1938), The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941) and the successful Rings on Her Fingers (Rouben Mamoulian, 1942).
Henry gave his best screen performance to date in Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 1939), a fictionalised account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case. Henry made two more films with director John Ford: the pioneering drama Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) with Claudette Colbert , and The Grapes of Wrath (1940), an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west during the Dust Bowl. In his career-defining role as Tom Joad, Fonda played the archetypal grassroots American trying to stand up against oppression. His relationship with Ford would end on the set of Mister Roberts (John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, 1955) when he objected to Ford's direction of the film. Ford punched Fonda and had to be replaced.
Dutch postcard by 't Sticht, Utrecht, no. 3601. Photo: R.K.O. Radio Films.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès, no. 510. Photo: Paramount, 1954.
Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2255. Photo: RKO Radio.
One of the most active and most vocal liberal Democrats in Hollywood
The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940) set the tone for Henry Fonda’s subsequent career. In this vein, he gave a totally convincing, though historically inaccurate, portrayal in the titular role of The Return of Frank James (Fritz Lang, 1940), a rare example of a sequel improving upon the original. He projected integrity and quiet authority whether he played lawman Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) or a reluctant posse member in The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, 1943). In between these two films, Fonda enlisted in the Navy to fight in World War II, and served in the Navy for three years.
He then starred in The Fugitive (John Ford, 1947), and Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948), as a rigid Army colonel, along with John Wayne and Shirley Temple in her first adult role. The following years, he did not appear in many films. Fonda was one of the most active, and most vocal, liberal Democrats in Hollywood. During the 1930s, he had been a founding member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, formed in support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal agenda. In 1947, in the middle of the McCarthy witch hunt, he moved to New York, not returning to Hollywood until 1955.
His son Peter Fonda writes in his autobiography Don't Tell Dad: A Memoir (1999) that he believes that Henry's liberalism caused him to be gray-listed during the early 1950s. Fonda returned to Broadway to play the title role in Mister Roberts for which he won the Tony Award as best dramatic actor. In 1979, he won a second special Tony, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Clarence Darrow (1975). Later he played a juror committed to the ideal of total justice in 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957) which he also produced, and a nightclub musician wrongly accused of murder in The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956).
During the next decade, he played in The Longest Day (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton a.o., 1962), How the West Was Won (John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, 1962) and as a poker-playing grifter in the Western comedy A Big Hand for the Little Lady (Fielder Cook, 1966) with Joanne Woodward. A big hit was the family comedy Yours, Mine and Ours (Melvillle Shavelson, 1968), in which he co-starred with Lucille Ball. The same year, just to confound those who would typecast him, he gave a chilling performance as one of the coldest, meanest stone killers ever to roam the West, in Sergio Leone's Western epic C'era una volta il West/Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) opposite Charles Bronson and Claudia Cardinale .
With James Stewart, he teamed up in Firecreek (Vincent McEveety, 1968), where Fonda again played the heavy, and the Western comedy The Cheyenne Social Club (Gene Kelly, 1970). Despite his old feud with John Ford, Fonda spoke glowingly of the director in Peter Bogdanovich's documentary Directed by John Ford (1971). Fonda had refused to participate until he learned that Ford had insisted on casting Fonda as the lead in the film version of Mr. Roberts (1955), reviving Fonda's film career after concentrating on the stage for years.
Illness curtailed Fonda’s work in the 1970s. A highlight was his reunion with Sergio Leone, the comic Spaghetti Western Il mio nome è Nessuno/My Name is Nobody (Tonino Valerii, 1973) with Terence Hill in the title role. Leone was (uncredited) executive producer and had the idea for the film.
In 1976, Fonda returned in the World War II blockbuster Midway (Jack Smight, 1976) with Charlton Heston. Fonda finished the 1970s in a number of disaster films with all-star casts: the Italian killer octopus thriller Tentacoli/Tentacles (Ovidio G. Assonitis, 1977), Rollercoaster (James Goldstone, 1977) with Richard Widmark, the killer bee action film The Swarm (Irwin Allen, 1978), the global disaster film Meteor (Ronald Neame, 1979), with Sean Connery , and the Canadian production City on Fire (Alvin Rakoff, 1979), which also featured Shelley Winters and Ava Gardner .
His final screen role was as an octogenarian in On Golden Pond (Mark Rydell, 1981), in which he was joined by Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane . It finally won him an Oscar on the heels of an earlier Honorary Academy Award. Too ill to attend the ceremony, Henry Fonda died soon after at the age of 77. He left a lasting legacy matched by few of his peers. His later wives were Susan Blanchard (1950-1956), Leonarda Franchetti (1957-1961) and Shirlee Fonda (1965- till his death in 1982). With Blanchard he had a daughter, Amy Fishman (1953). His grandchildren are the actors Bridget Fonda, Justin Fonda, Vanessa Vadim and Troy Garity.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1165. Photo: Warner Bros.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: publicity still for Warlock (Edward Dmytryk, 1959).
American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, no. CL/Personality # 92. Photo: Tony Korody / Sygma. Publicity still for Battle of Midway (Jack Smight, 1976).
Sources: (IMDb), (IMDb), Wikipedia, and .
British Art Photo postcard, no. 171.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1032a. Photo: Walter Wanger.
French postcard by Editions E.C., Paris, no. 65.
Tongue-tied personality
Henry Jaynes Fonda was born in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1905. His parents were Elma Herberta (Jaynes) and William Brace Fonda, who worked in advertising and printing and was the owner of the W. B. Fonda Printing Company in Omaha, Nebraska. His distant ancestors were Italians who had fled their country around 1400 and moved to Holland, presumably because of political or religious persecution. In the early 1600s, they crossed the Atlantic and were among the early Dutch settlers in America. They established a still-thriving small town in upstate New York named Fonda, named after patriarch Douw Fonda, who was later killed by Indians.
In 1919, young Henry was a first-hand witness to the Omaha race riots and the brutal lynching of Will Brown. This enraged the 14-years-old Fonda and he kept a keen awareness of prejudice for the rest of his life. Following graduation from high school in 1923, Henry got a part-time job in Minneapolis with the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company which allowed him at first to pursue journalistic studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1925, having returned to Omaha, Henry reevaluated his options and came to the conclusion that journalism was not his forte, after all.
For a while, he tried his hand at several temporary jobs, including as a mechanic and a window dresser. At age 20, Fonda started his acting career at the Omaha Community Playhouse, when his mother's friend Dodie Brando (mother of Marlon Brando ) recommended that he try out for a juvenile part in You and I, in which he was cast as Ricky. Then he received the lead in Merton of the Movies and realised the beauty of acting as a profession. It allowed him to deflect attention from his own tongue-tied personality and create stage characters relying on someone else's scripted words. The play and its star received fairly good notices in the local press. It ran for a week, and for the rest of the repertory season, Henry advanced to assistant director which enabled him to design and paint sets as well as act.
A casual trip to New York, however, had already made him set his sights on Broadway. In 1926, he moved to the Cape Cod University Players, where he met his future wife Margaret Sullavan. His first professional role was in The Jest, by Sem Benelli. James Stewart joined the Players a few months after Fonda left, but he would become his closest lifelong friend. In 1928, Fonda went east to New York to be with Margaret Sullavan, and to expand his theatrical career on Broadway.
His first Broadway role was a small one in A Game of Love and Death with Alice Brady and Claude Rains . Henry played leads opposite Margaret Sullavan, who became the first of his five wives in 1931. They broke up in 1933. In 1934, he got a break of sorts, when he was given the chance to present a comedy sketch with Imogene Coca in the Broadway revue New Faces. That year, he also hired Leland Hayward as his personal management agent and this was to pay off handsomely. Major Broadway roles followed, including New Faces of America and The Farmer Takes a Wife. The following year he married Frances Seymour Brokaw with whom he had two children: Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda, also to become film stars.
French postcard by Erpé, no. 30. Photo: Paramount.
British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. P 193. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang, 1937) with Sylvia Sidney.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1032. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936).
You'll be fonder of Fonda
The 29-year old Henry Fonda was persuaded by Leland Hayward to become a Hollywood actor, despite initial misgivings and reluctance on Henry's part. Independent producer Walter Wanger, whose growing stock company was birthed at United Artists, needed a star for The Farmer Takes a Wife (Victor Fleming, 1935) opposite Janet Gaynor .
I.S. Mowis at IMDb : “With both first choice actors Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea otherwise engaged, Henry was the next available option. After all, he had just completed a successful run on Broadway in the stage version. The cheesy publicity tag line for the picture was "you'll be fonder of Fonda", but the film was an undeniable hit.”
Wanger, realising he had a good thing going, next cast Henry in a succession of A-grade pictures which capitalised on his image as the sincere, unaffected country boy. Pick of the bunch were the Technicolor outdoor Western The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936) with Sylvia Sidney, and the gritty Depression-era drama You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang, 1937) with Henry as a back-to-the-wall good guy forced into becoming a fugitive from the law by circumstance).
Then followed the screwball comedy The Moon's Our Home (William A. Seiter, 1936) with ex-wife Margaret Sullavan, the excellent pre-civil war-era romantic drama Jezebel (William Wyler, 1938) featuring Bette Davis, and the Western Jesse James (Henry King, 1939) starring Tyrone Power . Fonda rarely featured in comedy, except for a couple of good turns opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Tierney - with both he shared an excellent on-screen chemistry - in The Mad Miss Manton (Leigh Jason, 1938), The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941) and the successful Rings on Her Fingers (Rouben Mamoulian, 1942).
Henry gave his best screen performance to date in Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 1939), a fictionalised account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case. Henry made two more films with director John Ford: the pioneering drama Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) with Claudette Colbert , and The Grapes of Wrath (1940), an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west during the Dust Bowl. In his career-defining role as Tom Joad, Fonda played the archetypal grassroots American trying to stand up against oppression. His relationship with Ford would end on the set of Mister Roberts (John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, 1955) when he objected to Ford's direction of the film. Ford punched Fonda and had to be replaced.
Dutch postcard by 't Sticht, Utrecht, no. 3601. Photo: R.K.O. Radio Films.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès, no. 510. Photo: Paramount, 1954.
Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2255. Photo: RKO Radio.
One of the most active and most vocal liberal Democrats in Hollywood
The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940) set the tone for Henry Fonda’s subsequent career. In this vein, he gave a totally convincing, though historically inaccurate, portrayal in the titular role of The Return of Frank James (Fritz Lang, 1940), a rare example of a sequel improving upon the original. He projected integrity and quiet authority whether he played lawman Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) or a reluctant posse member in The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, 1943). In between these two films, Fonda enlisted in the Navy to fight in World War II, and served in the Navy for three years.
He then starred in The Fugitive (John Ford, 1947), and Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948), as a rigid Army colonel, along with John Wayne and Shirley Temple in her first adult role. The following years, he did not appear in many films. Fonda was one of the most active, and most vocal, liberal Democrats in Hollywood. During the 1930s, he had been a founding member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, formed in support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal agenda. In 1947, in the middle of the McCarthy witch hunt, he moved to New York, not returning to Hollywood until 1955.
His son Peter Fonda writes in his autobiography Don't Tell Dad: A Memoir (1999) that he believes that Henry's liberalism caused him to be gray-listed during the early 1950s. Fonda returned to Broadway to play the title role in Mister Roberts for which he won the Tony Award as best dramatic actor. In 1979, he won a second special Tony, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Clarence Darrow (1975). Later he played a juror committed to the ideal of total justice in 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957) which he also produced, and a nightclub musician wrongly accused of murder in The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956).
During the next decade, he played in The Longest Day (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton a.o., 1962), How the West Was Won (John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, 1962) and as a poker-playing grifter in the Western comedy A Big Hand for the Little Lady (Fielder Cook, 1966) with Joanne Woodward. A big hit was the family comedy Yours, Mine and Ours (Melvillle Shavelson, 1968), in which he co-starred with Lucille Ball. The same year, just to confound those who would typecast him, he gave a chilling performance as one of the coldest, meanest stone killers ever to roam the West, in Sergio Leone's Western epic C'era una volta il West/Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) opposite Charles Bronson and Claudia Cardinale .
With James Stewart, he teamed up in Firecreek (Vincent McEveety, 1968), where Fonda again played the heavy, and the Western comedy The Cheyenne Social Club (Gene Kelly, 1970). Despite his old feud with John Ford, Fonda spoke glowingly of the director in Peter Bogdanovich's documentary Directed by John Ford (1971). Fonda had refused to participate until he learned that Ford had insisted on casting Fonda as the lead in the film version of Mr. Roberts (1955), reviving Fonda's film career after concentrating on the stage for years.
Illness curtailed Fonda’s work in the 1970s. A highlight was his reunion with Sergio Leone, the comic Spaghetti Western Il mio nome è Nessuno/My Name is Nobody (Tonino Valerii, 1973) with Terence Hill in the title role. Leone was (uncredited) executive producer and had the idea for the film.
In 1976, Fonda returned in the World War II blockbuster Midway (Jack Smight, 1976) with Charlton Heston. Fonda finished the 1970s in a number of disaster films with all-star casts: the Italian killer octopus thriller Tentacoli/Tentacles (Ovidio G. Assonitis, 1977), Rollercoaster (James Goldstone, 1977) with Richard Widmark, the killer bee action film The Swarm (Irwin Allen, 1978), the global disaster film Meteor (Ronald Neame, 1979), with Sean Connery , and the Canadian production City on Fire (Alvin Rakoff, 1979), which also featured Shelley Winters and Ava Gardner .
His final screen role was as an octogenarian in On Golden Pond (Mark Rydell, 1981), in which he was joined by Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane . It finally won him an Oscar on the heels of an earlier Honorary Academy Award. Too ill to attend the ceremony, Henry Fonda died soon after at the age of 77. He left a lasting legacy matched by few of his peers. His later wives were Susan Blanchard (1950-1956), Leonarda Franchetti (1957-1961) and Shirlee Fonda (1965- till his death in 1982). With Blanchard he had a daughter, Amy Fishman (1953). His grandchildren are the actors Bridget Fonda, Justin Fonda, Vanessa Vadim and Troy Garity.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1165. Photo: Warner Bros.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: publicity still for Warlock (Edward Dmytryk, 1959).
American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, no. CL/Personality # 92. Photo: Tony Korody / Sygma. Publicity still for Battle of Midway (Jack Smight, 1976).
Sources: (IMDb), (IMDb), Wikipedia, and .
May 10, 2019
Photo by DEFA
DEFA was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (GDR - East Germany). DEFA was an abbreviation for 'Deutsche Film AG' (German Film Corporation), reminiscent of the corporate name Ufa. It existed from 1946 to its liquidation in 1990 – nearly 45 years, longer than the GDR itself. The DEFA fostered a wide range of artistic developments. Alongside the ongoing production of light entertainment, it made films in the style of socialist realism, fairy tales and literary adaptations, staunchly antifascist films and Easterns (Indianerfilme) with a political subtext, as well as productions which took a critical view of contemporary social issues and provoked conflicts and bans.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 7/319. 1957. Photo: DEFA.
Rebellious, gravel-voiced actress, chanteuse and author Hildegard Knef (1925-2002) was one of the most important film stars of post-war Germany. She had her breakthrough in the first film released after World War II in East Germany, Die Mörder sind unter uns/The Murderers Are Among Us (Wolfgang Staudte, 1946), produced by the DEFA. Her powerful performance as a Holocaust survivor amid the ruins of postwar Berlin made her immediately a star. Over 4 million East-Germans went to the cinema to see it.
German postcard by Starfoto Hasemann. Photo: DEFA. Publicity still for Freies Land/A Free Country (Milo Harbich, 1946).
Fritz Wagner (1915-1982) was a handsome German star in the European cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. From 1938 to 1976, he appeared in more than sixty films and TV productions. After the war, he played a leading role in the drama Freies Land/A Free Country (Milo Harbich, 1946) the second film of the newly founded DEFA studio in the Soviet occupation zone which later became East Germany. The propaganda film portrayed the effects of land reforms brought in by the Soviet authorities. It would be the only DEFA film until the mid-1950s that dealt with the hardships of East-Germany's rural life, and was heavily influenced by the Italian Neorealism of that time. Most people in the film weren't professional actors but farmers. The film proved to be very unsuccessful on its release. For the DEFA, he also played a leading role in the war drama Die Brücke/The Bridge (Arthur Pohl, 1949), and in Der Kahn der fröhlichen Leute/The boat of the happy people (Hans Heinrich, 1950) which sold more than 4,100,000 tickets.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 620/64. Photo: DEFA / Neufeld. Publicity still for Figaros Hochzeit/The Marriage of Figaro (Georg Wildhagen, 1949).
Austrian Angelika Hauff (1922–1983) played the lead in several post-war German and Austrian films. For the DEFA, she appeared in three films, including the box office hit Figaros Hochzeit/The Marriage of Figaro (Georg Wildhagen, 1949) with Willy Domgraf-Fassbaender and Sabine Peters. It was based on the opera 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte, which was itself based on the play 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Pierre Beaumarchais. Hauff plays the chambermaid Susanna, around whom the men fight. The film was the first opera film made by DEFA and it was a huge success with 5,479,427 tickets sold.
A primary means of re-educating the German populace
The DEFA was officially founded on 17 May 17, 1946 in the former Althoff Studios in Potsdam-Babelsberg, part of the Soviet Occupied Zone in eastern Germany. It was the first film production company in post-war Germany. While the other Allies, in their zones of occupation, viewed a rapid revival of a German film industry with suspicion, the Soviets valued the medium as a primary means of re-educating the German populace as it emerged from twelve years of Nazi rule. The Soviet Military Administration (SMAD) handed over the license to 'Filmaktiv', a group of committed filmmakers and German Communist Party (KPD) members.
However, Wolfgang Staudte had already begun work on DEFA's first film, Die Mörder sind unter uns/The Murderers Are Among Us (1946) a few days days earlier. The first DEFA production was also Germany's very first post-war film. Staudte's film launched a long-term DEFA policy: in its style, content and ideology, it was a reaction against the propaganda films of Nazi Germany, a tactic which was to be especially successful in the DEFA's early classics. Stylistically, Die Mörder sind unter uns carried on the expressionist lighting tradition of the 1920s.
In Freies Land/Free Land (1946), Milo Harbich tried to synthesise stylistic elements of Soviet revolutionary film with didactic sermons on land reform. Kurt Maetzigs first feature film, Ehe im Schatten/Marriage in the Shadows (Kurt Maetzig, 1947), tells the story of married actors driven to suicide by the Nazis' anti-Semitic persecution, based on the fate of Joachim Gottschalk and his wife. The film was shown in all four occupation zones and drew more than ten million viewers in three years. Wolfgang Staudte's Rotation (1949) took a new approach to early 20th century German history by showing the lives of proletarian families, a contrast to the bourgeois perspective which had hitherto predominated.
The original board of directors consisted of Alfred Lindemann, Karl Hans Bergmann, and Herbert Volkmann, with Hans Klering as administrative Secretary. Klering, a former graphic designer, also designed DEFA's logo. On 13 August 1946, the company was officially registered as a joint-stock company (German: Aktiengesellschaft). By the end of the year, in addition to the Staudte film, it had completed two other feature films using the former Tobis studio facilities in Berlin and the Althoff Studios in Babelsberg. Subsequently, its principal studio was the Babelsberg Studio built by Ufa in the 1920s.
The DEFA was controlled by the Soviets. On 14 July 1947, the company officially moved its headquarters to the Babelsberg Studio, and on 13 November 1947, the company's 'stock' was taken over by the Socialist Unity Party or SED, which had originally capitalised DEFA, and pro-Soviet German individuals. Soviets Ilya Trauberg and Aleksandr Wolkenstein joined Lindemann, Bergmann and Volkmann on the board of directors, and a committee was established under the auspices of the Socialist Unity Party to review projects and screen rushes.
In July 1948, Lindemann was dismissed from the board of directors because of alleged 'financial irregularities' and replaced briefly by Walter Janka. In October 1948, the SED was instrumental in replacing Janka, Volkmann and Bergmann as corporate directors with official party members Wilhelm Meissner, Alexander Lösche and Grete Keilson. In December, the death of Trauberg and the resignation of Wolkenstein resulted in two more Soviets in their stead, Aleksandr Andriyevsky and Leonid Antonov.
In 1948, the division of Germany into zones controlled by the Soviet Union and by the Western Allies came into effect. The SED eventually became openly Communist, with a strong Stalinist orientation. On 23 May 1949, the Allies' Germany officially became the Federal Republic of Germany (commonly known as West Germany), and on 7 October 1949, the Soviet zone officially became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). All DEFA interests were incorporated into the new nation as its 'people's' film monopoly according to the strictures of Stalinist Communism and socialist realism, and effectively an arm of the government.
In 1949 director Kurt Maetzig and the writer Friedrich Wolf exposed the close connections between the Nazis and the giant chemical company IG Farben in the film Der Rat der Götter/The Council of the Gods (Kurt Maetzig, 1950). Wolfgang Staudte's Der Untertan/Man of Straw (1951) was a scathing satire of German philistinism based on the novel by Heinrich Mann. The film was banned in West Germany for years.
This era at the DEFA came to a close around 1950, when the cultured, more liberal Soviet film officers and inspectors left the country after the founding of the GDR. The DEFA was taken over by German Stalinists like hardliner Sepp Schwab, who was appointed director-general of DEFA on 23 June 1950.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. no. 4213/447, 1957. Photo: DEFA / Wunsch. Publicity still for Das singende, klingende Bäumchen/The Singing Ringing Tree (Francesco Stefani, 1957).
Christel Bodenstein (1938) appeared in many DEFA productions and is best known for her leading role as princess in the fairytale film Das singende, klingende Bäumchen/The Singing Ringing Tree (Francesco Stefani, 1957). The story, written by Anne Geelhaar, was based on a variation of 'Hurleburlebutz' by the Brothers Grimm. Bodenstein played a beautiful but selfish and haughty princess who rejects the proposal of a wealthy prince (Eckart Dux). After its release in East Germany, the film sold almost 6 million tickets in the country of about 17 million.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 966, 1959. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: DEFA / Dassdorf. Publicity still for Reportage 57 (János Veiczi, 1959).
German actor Manfred Krug (1937) was often cast as a socialist hero in DEFA films of the former GDR. He also became known in East-Germany as a jazz singer. In 1977, he returned to West-Germany, where he became a popular TV star.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1329 F, 1960. Photo: Kurt Wunsch.
Doris Abesser (1935–2016) appeared since 1956 in several films by the DEFA and became one of the studio’s most popular stars. She worked with important directors like Frank Beyer, Heiner Carow and Kurt Maetzig. After the film Der Frühling braucht Zeit/Spring Takes Time (Günter Stahnke, 1965) was banned, the promising film career of the fresh and girly actress stalled.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1649, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Schütt / DEFA.
Angelica Domröse (1941) was one of the most famous film and stage actresses of former East Germany. She became a superstar through her role as the young mother Paula in the cult classic Die Legende von Paul und Paula/The Legend of Paul and Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1684, 1962. Photo: Georg Meyer-Hanno.
Gisela May (1924-2016) was the first lady of the political song and a German national treasure. She was famous for her work at Bertolt Brecht's theatre group, the Berliner Ensemble. She was a diseuse (singing actress) in the tradition established by Lotte Lenya and Marlene Dietrich , and expert interpreter of the work of Brecht, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Kurt Tucholsky, and Jacques Brel . She also appeared in several DEFA productions and a few international films.
The definition of desirable and acceptable themes for films becoming narrower
Hans Michael Bock at Filmportal.de : "The DEFA was based on the kind of traditional studio structure used in the Ufa and in Hollywood of the 1930s, but with one crucial difference: in Hollywood and even in Nazi Germany a number of production companies existed in competition, while in the GDR there was only one, and it was controlled by state and party functionaries, with the Hauptverwaltung Film playing the crucial role from 1954 onward. The official policy was to hire no directors or screenwriters tainted by association with National Socialist propaganda films. However, those who had worked in a 'merely' technical capacity during that period were welcome."
In the tradition of all major studios, the DEFA Studios in Potsdam-Babelsberg (the former 'Ufa city') had professionals in nearly all branches of the film industry on its payroll: screenwriters, directors, scenographers, cameramen, technicians and even an ensemble of actors. The result was a high level of technical expertise, especially in the field of set design, where the old German tradition of masters and apprentices continued to flourish.
On the other hand, artistic freedom and risk-taking was limited. As Soviet-Communist-Stalinist influences took hold at DEFA, the definition of desirable and acceptable themes for films became narrower. In June 1947, a film writer's conference held in Potsdam produced general agreement that the 'new' German cinema would disavow both subjects and stylistic elements reminiscent of those seen on German screens during, and prior to, the Nazi era. By 1949, expectations for scripts were codified around a small number of topics, such as '[re-]distribution of land' or 'the two-year plan'. As in the Soviet Union, the excessive control placed by the state on authors of screenplays, as against other literary works, discouraged many competent writers from contributing to East German film.
In 1951, Das Beil von Wandsbek/The Axe of Wandsbek (Falk Harnack, 1951), based on Arnold Zweig's novel written in exile, was banned . The DEFA production was not released until 1962, heavily edited. Erwin Geschonneck's nuanced portrayal of a butcher who becomes a Nazi executioner was out of step with the official policy of depicting moral issues in black and white. With the ban on Das Beil von Wandsbek, a brief five-year period which had produced several classics of German cinema drew to a close.
Screenwriters could find their efforts rejected for ideological reasons at any stage in script development, if not from the outset. The Cold War only made the Communist leaders tighten their grip on 'their' films. The DEFA's production reached an absolute statistical nadir in 1952 and 1953, with only five films produced in each year. As a result, between 1948 and 1953, when Stalin died, the entire film output for East Germany, excluding newsreels and non-theatrical educational films, amounted to fewer than 50 titles.
The best-known film made in this period was Kurt Maetzig's two-part Thälmann – Sohn seiner Klasse / Führer seiner Klasse/Thälmann – Son of His Class / Leader of His Class (1953-1955) – a propagandistic portrait of the German Communist leader who was active in the 1920s and 1930s.
Early on the DEFA made a policy of presenting the GDR as heir to Germany's best cultural traditions. In this spirit it produced adaptations of familiar fairy tales and filmed German literary classics such as Emilia Galotti (1957), Kabale und Liebe/Intrigue and Love (1959), Die schwarze Galeere/The Black Galley (1962) and Minna von Barnhelm (1962), all by theatre director Martin Hellberg.
The popular fairy-tale films include Paul Verhoeven's Das kalte Herz/Heart of Stone/The Cold Heart (1950), DEFA's first colour film, Wolfgang Staudte's Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck/The Story of Little Mook (1953) and Das tapfere Schneiderlein/The Brave Little Tailor (Helmut Spieß, 1956). This tradition of fairy-tale and children's films was successfully carried on to the very end of the DEFA.
In the 1960s, DEFA produced the popular Eastern Die Söhne der großen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (Josef Mach, 1965), based on the novel by Lieselotte Welskopf-Henrich. It starred Serbian actor Gojko Mitić as the Sioux Tokei-itho. This spawned a number of sequels. The Eastern was the typical Eastern Bloc countries' take on the Western. It was notable for inverting Western cliches by portraying the native Americans as the 'good guys', and the American army as the 'baddies'
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1910, 1963, Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: DEFA / Pathenheimer.
Armin Mueller-Stahl (1930) is a German film actor, painter, writer and musician. He started his career as a socialist matinee-idol in the GDR. At 50, he had to emigrate to West-Germany where he found work with such major film directors as Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Later he had a successful career in Hollywood as well.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 2265, 1965. Retail price: 0,15 MDN. Photo: Schwarzer.
German actor, film director and screenwriter Ulrich Thein (1940–1995) appeared in 44 films and television shows between 1952 and 1995. His film Romanze mit Amélie/Romance with Amelie (Ulrich Thein, 1982) was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2401, 1966. Retail price: 0,15 MDN. Photo: Hans-Joachim Kundt. Publicity still for Die Söhne der grossen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (Josef Mach, 1966).
Serbian actor Gojko Mitić (1940) was the most famous Indian in Eastern Europe. The handsome star played in numerous Westerns from East-Germany between 1966 and 1984. He also worked as a director, stuntman, and author.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2.551, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Pathenheimer / DEFA. Publicity still for Die Söhne der großen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (1965).
Kati Székely (1941) appeared in the first Indians film of the DEFA, Die Söhne der großen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (Josef Mach, 1965), based on the novel by Lieselotte Welskopf-Henrich. She played the sister of the young Dakota Indian chief Tokei-ihto ( Gojko Mitic ). One of her other major films was the first film about the Berlin wall … Und deine Liebe auch/... And your love too (1962, Frank Vogel) with Armin Mueller-Stahl . After marrying Jürgen Frohriep, she gave up acting and studied psychology.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 221/69. Photo: publicity still for Spur des Falken/Trail of the Falcon (Gottfried Kolditz, 1968).
Rolf Hoppe (1930) played villains in many ‘Osterns’ by the DEFA. An example is Spur des Falken/Trail of the Falcon (Gottfried Kolditz, 1968), starring Gojko Mitic as the Indian hero. Hoppe also appeared in other Mitic films, Weiße Wölfe/White Wolves (Konrad Petzold, Bosko Boskovic, 1969), one of the most popular DEFA films ever, and Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970), also with Armin Müller-Stahl . In 1971, Hoppe was awarded the National Prize of East Germany for artistic achievement.
A large pool of outstanding actors
DEFA is associated with a host of important and influential directors, including Frank Beyer, Wolfgang Staudte, Kurt Maetzig, Konrad Wolf, and Heiner Carow. Yet it was difficult to become a director without following a strictly predefined path which included attending the Babelsberg Film Academy, founded in 1954 as the Deutsche Hochschule für Filmkunst (German Academy for Film).
At the same time, the DEFA managed to get many of the country's major writers involved in film projects: Christa Wolf, Klaus Schlesinger, Fritz Rudolf Fries. Others like Günther Rücker and Jurek Becker worked as freelance or salaried screenwriters. With a large pool of outstanding actors at its disposal (most of them from East Berlin theatres), the DEFA produced first-rate film actors, some of whom – such as Manfred Krug, Armin Mueller-Stahl , Angelica Domröse and Jutta Hoffmann – became stars whose popularity endured even after their defection to the west.
East Germany's most popular star was Erwin Geschonneck. As a communist in Nazi Germany, he was forced to emigrate, only to be extradited to the Nazis by the USSR, after which he survived several years in a concentration camp. After the war he worked with Bertolt Brecht at the Berliner Ensemble. On several occasions he used his influence to lift the prohibition on blacklisted films (his own included).
In the 1980s the GDR opened its film market to western productions, one of the major factors leading to a crisis at the DEFA. Finally, the end came with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. In 1992, DEFA was officially dissolved and its combined studios sold to a French conglomerate, Compagnie Générale des Eaux, later Vivendi Universal. On 13 October 1993, the last feature film with the DEFA signet, Novalis - Die blaue Blume/Novalis - the Blue Flower (Herwig Kipping, 1993), celebrated its premiere.
In 2004, a private consortium acquired the studios. The films produced at the DEFA studios after World War II included approximately 950 feature films, 820 animated films, more than 5,800 documentaries and newsreels. Some 4,000 foreign language films were dubbed into German, which were acquired by the privatised version of the former East German film distribution monopoly, Progress Film. The DEFA estate is presently administered by the DEFA Foundation.
East-German card by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 134/69, 1969. Photo: Uhlenhut.
As a student, Jaecki Schwarz (1946) had his breakthrough with his lead role in the war film Ich war neunzehn/I was nineteen (Konrad Wolf, 1968). With his non-convential acting style and his dry humour, he became a popular actor in dozens of DEFA films and East-German TV productions.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 17/72, 1971. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: DEFA. Publicity still for Eolomea (1971) with Cox Habbema and Ivan Adonov.
Cox Habbema (1944-2016) was a Dutch actress, stage director, writer and former managing director of the Municipal Theatre in Amsterdam. From 1969 till 1984 she mainly lived and worked in East-Berlin, where she appeared in several DEFA films.
Big East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 163/73, 1971. Retail price: 0,50 M. Photo: Linke.
Tall and lean Winfried Glatzeder (1945) was one of the most popular film stars of former East Germany. He played the charming, gawky Paul in the GDR cult-film Die Legende von Paul und Paula/The Legend of Paul and Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 143/72. Photo: Blasig. Publicity still for Es ist eine alte Geschichte/It Is an Old Story (Lothar Warneke, 1972).
Katharina Thalbach (1954) is one of Germany's most respected stage actresses mostly working in Hamburg and Berlin. With her half-brother Benjamin, she played in the DEFA film Es ist eine alte Geschichte/It is an old story (Lothar Warneke, 1972). In 1975, she appeared in another DEFA production Lotte in Weimar (Egon Günther, 1975), starring Lilli Palmer and based on the novel by Thomas Mann. In December 1976, she left East Germany together with longtime companion Thomas Brasch and daughter Anna after the expulsion of songwriter Wolf Biermann. Internationally, she became known for her part in Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum (1979), Volker Schlöndorf’s award-winning film adaptation of the novel by Günter Grass. She has also directed since the late 1980s.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 147/75. Photo: DEFA.
Nina Hagen (1955) is known for her theatrical vocals and is often referred to as the ‘Godmother of Punk' due to her prominence during the punk and new wave movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During her 40-years-career she appeared in several European films, including several East-German films and TV films sometimes alongside her mother Eva-Maria Hagen . She appeared in Heiraten/Weiblich/Marrying/Female (Christa Kulosa, 1975), Heute ist Freitag/Today is Friday (Klaus Gendries, 1975), Liebesfallen/Love Traps (Werner W. Wallroth, 1976) and Unser stiller Mann/Our Quite Man (Bernhard Stephan, 1976). Her career in the GDR was cut short after her stepfather Wolf Biermann's East German citizenship was withdrawn from him in 1976.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 43080.
American actor, singer and political activist Dean Reed (1938–1986) was one of the most unusual European film stars ever. While he was unknown at home in the US, he was a superstar in communist Eastern Europe. Over the years ‘the Red Elvis’ played in 23 films, including a series of Easterns fro the DEFA. His third wife, German actress Renate Blume (1944) appeared in more than 70 films and television shows since 1964. Her film debut Der geteilte Himmel/Divided Heaven (Konrad Wolf, 1964) was an international success and later she co-starred in Easterns with Gojko Mitic and Dean Reed .
Sources: Hans-Michael Bock (Filmportal.de) and Wikipedia.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 7/319. 1957. Photo: DEFA.
Rebellious, gravel-voiced actress, chanteuse and author Hildegard Knef (1925-2002) was one of the most important film stars of post-war Germany. She had her breakthrough in the first film released after World War II in East Germany, Die Mörder sind unter uns/The Murderers Are Among Us (Wolfgang Staudte, 1946), produced by the DEFA. Her powerful performance as a Holocaust survivor amid the ruins of postwar Berlin made her immediately a star. Over 4 million East-Germans went to the cinema to see it.
German postcard by Starfoto Hasemann. Photo: DEFA. Publicity still for Freies Land/A Free Country (Milo Harbich, 1946).
Fritz Wagner (1915-1982) was a handsome German star in the European cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. From 1938 to 1976, he appeared in more than sixty films and TV productions. After the war, he played a leading role in the drama Freies Land/A Free Country (Milo Harbich, 1946) the second film of the newly founded DEFA studio in the Soviet occupation zone which later became East Germany. The propaganda film portrayed the effects of land reforms brought in by the Soviet authorities. It would be the only DEFA film until the mid-1950s that dealt with the hardships of East-Germany's rural life, and was heavily influenced by the Italian Neorealism of that time. Most people in the film weren't professional actors but farmers. The film proved to be very unsuccessful on its release. For the DEFA, he also played a leading role in the war drama Die Brücke/The Bridge (Arthur Pohl, 1949), and in Der Kahn der fröhlichen Leute/The boat of the happy people (Hans Heinrich, 1950) which sold more than 4,100,000 tickets.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 620/64. Photo: DEFA / Neufeld. Publicity still for Figaros Hochzeit/The Marriage of Figaro (Georg Wildhagen, 1949).
Austrian Angelika Hauff (1922–1983) played the lead in several post-war German and Austrian films. For the DEFA, she appeared in three films, including the box office hit Figaros Hochzeit/The Marriage of Figaro (Georg Wildhagen, 1949) with Willy Domgraf-Fassbaender and Sabine Peters. It was based on the opera 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte, which was itself based on the play 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Pierre Beaumarchais. Hauff plays the chambermaid Susanna, around whom the men fight. The film was the first opera film made by DEFA and it was a huge success with 5,479,427 tickets sold.
A primary means of re-educating the German populace
The DEFA was officially founded on 17 May 17, 1946 in the former Althoff Studios in Potsdam-Babelsberg, part of the Soviet Occupied Zone in eastern Germany. It was the first film production company in post-war Germany. While the other Allies, in their zones of occupation, viewed a rapid revival of a German film industry with suspicion, the Soviets valued the medium as a primary means of re-educating the German populace as it emerged from twelve years of Nazi rule. The Soviet Military Administration (SMAD) handed over the license to 'Filmaktiv', a group of committed filmmakers and German Communist Party (KPD) members.
However, Wolfgang Staudte had already begun work on DEFA's first film, Die Mörder sind unter uns/The Murderers Are Among Us (1946) a few days days earlier. The first DEFA production was also Germany's very first post-war film. Staudte's film launched a long-term DEFA policy: in its style, content and ideology, it was a reaction against the propaganda films of Nazi Germany, a tactic which was to be especially successful in the DEFA's early classics. Stylistically, Die Mörder sind unter uns carried on the expressionist lighting tradition of the 1920s.
In Freies Land/Free Land (1946), Milo Harbich tried to synthesise stylistic elements of Soviet revolutionary film with didactic sermons on land reform. Kurt Maetzigs first feature film, Ehe im Schatten/Marriage in the Shadows (Kurt Maetzig, 1947), tells the story of married actors driven to suicide by the Nazis' anti-Semitic persecution, based on the fate of Joachim Gottschalk and his wife. The film was shown in all four occupation zones and drew more than ten million viewers in three years. Wolfgang Staudte's Rotation (1949) took a new approach to early 20th century German history by showing the lives of proletarian families, a contrast to the bourgeois perspective which had hitherto predominated.
The original board of directors consisted of Alfred Lindemann, Karl Hans Bergmann, and Herbert Volkmann, with Hans Klering as administrative Secretary. Klering, a former graphic designer, also designed DEFA's logo. On 13 August 1946, the company was officially registered as a joint-stock company (German: Aktiengesellschaft). By the end of the year, in addition to the Staudte film, it had completed two other feature films using the former Tobis studio facilities in Berlin and the Althoff Studios in Babelsberg. Subsequently, its principal studio was the Babelsberg Studio built by Ufa in the 1920s.
The DEFA was controlled by the Soviets. On 14 July 1947, the company officially moved its headquarters to the Babelsberg Studio, and on 13 November 1947, the company's 'stock' was taken over by the Socialist Unity Party or SED, which had originally capitalised DEFA, and pro-Soviet German individuals. Soviets Ilya Trauberg and Aleksandr Wolkenstein joined Lindemann, Bergmann and Volkmann on the board of directors, and a committee was established under the auspices of the Socialist Unity Party to review projects and screen rushes.
In July 1948, Lindemann was dismissed from the board of directors because of alleged 'financial irregularities' and replaced briefly by Walter Janka. In October 1948, the SED was instrumental in replacing Janka, Volkmann and Bergmann as corporate directors with official party members Wilhelm Meissner, Alexander Lösche and Grete Keilson. In December, the death of Trauberg and the resignation of Wolkenstein resulted in two more Soviets in their stead, Aleksandr Andriyevsky and Leonid Antonov.
In 1948, the division of Germany into zones controlled by the Soviet Union and by the Western Allies came into effect. The SED eventually became openly Communist, with a strong Stalinist orientation. On 23 May 1949, the Allies' Germany officially became the Federal Republic of Germany (commonly known as West Germany), and on 7 October 1949, the Soviet zone officially became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). All DEFA interests were incorporated into the new nation as its 'people's' film monopoly according to the strictures of Stalinist Communism and socialist realism, and effectively an arm of the government.
In 1949 director Kurt Maetzig and the writer Friedrich Wolf exposed the close connections between the Nazis and the giant chemical company IG Farben in the film Der Rat der Götter/The Council of the Gods (Kurt Maetzig, 1950). Wolfgang Staudte's Der Untertan/Man of Straw (1951) was a scathing satire of German philistinism based on the novel by Heinrich Mann. The film was banned in West Germany for years.
This era at the DEFA came to a close around 1950, when the cultured, more liberal Soviet film officers and inspectors left the country after the founding of the GDR. The DEFA was taken over by German Stalinists like hardliner Sepp Schwab, who was appointed director-general of DEFA on 23 June 1950.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. no. 4213/447, 1957. Photo: DEFA / Wunsch. Publicity still for Das singende, klingende Bäumchen/The Singing Ringing Tree (Francesco Stefani, 1957).
Christel Bodenstein (1938) appeared in many DEFA productions and is best known for her leading role as princess in the fairytale film Das singende, klingende Bäumchen/The Singing Ringing Tree (Francesco Stefani, 1957). The story, written by Anne Geelhaar, was based on a variation of 'Hurleburlebutz' by the Brothers Grimm. Bodenstein played a beautiful but selfish and haughty princess who rejects the proposal of a wealthy prince (Eckart Dux). After its release in East Germany, the film sold almost 6 million tickets in the country of about 17 million.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 966, 1959. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: DEFA / Dassdorf. Publicity still for Reportage 57 (János Veiczi, 1959).
German actor Manfred Krug (1937) was often cast as a socialist hero in DEFA films of the former GDR. He also became known in East-Germany as a jazz singer. In 1977, he returned to West-Germany, where he became a popular TV star.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1329 F, 1960. Photo: Kurt Wunsch.
Doris Abesser (1935–2016) appeared since 1956 in several films by the DEFA and became one of the studio’s most popular stars. She worked with important directors like Frank Beyer, Heiner Carow and Kurt Maetzig. After the film Der Frühling braucht Zeit/Spring Takes Time (Günter Stahnke, 1965) was banned, the promising film career of the fresh and girly actress stalled.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1649, 1961. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Schütt / DEFA.
Angelica Domröse (1941) was one of the most famous film and stage actresses of former East Germany. She became a superstar through her role as the young mother Paula in the cult classic Die Legende von Paul und Paula/The Legend of Paul and Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1684, 1962. Photo: Georg Meyer-Hanno.
Gisela May (1924-2016) was the first lady of the political song and a German national treasure. She was famous for her work at Bertolt Brecht's theatre group, the Berliner Ensemble. She was a diseuse (singing actress) in the tradition established by Lotte Lenya and Marlene Dietrich , and expert interpreter of the work of Brecht, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Kurt Tucholsky, and Jacques Brel . She also appeared in several DEFA productions and a few international films.
The definition of desirable and acceptable themes for films becoming narrower
Hans Michael Bock at Filmportal.de : "The DEFA was based on the kind of traditional studio structure used in the Ufa and in Hollywood of the 1930s, but with one crucial difference: in Hollywood and even in Nazi Germany a number of production companies existed in competition, while in the GDR there was only one, and it was controlled by state and party functionaries, with the Hauptverwaltung Film playing the crucial role from 1954 onward. The official policy was to hire no directors or screenwriters tainted by association with National Socialist propaganda films. However, those who had worked in a 'merely' technical capacity during that period were welcome."
In the tradition of all major studios, the DEFA Studios in Potsdam-Babelsberg (the former 'Ufa city') had professionals in nearly all branches of the film industry on its payroll: screenwriters, directors, scenographers, cameramen, technicians and even an ensemble of actors. The result was a high level of technical expertise, especially in the field of set design, where the old German tradition of masters and apprentices continued to flourish.
On the other hand, artistic freedom and risk-taking was limited. As Soviet-Communist-Stalinist influences took hold at DEFA, the definition of desirable and acceptable themes for films became narrower. In June 1947, a film writer's conference held in Potsdam produced general agreement that the 'new' German cinema would disavow both subjects and stylistic elements reminiscent of those seen on German screens during, and prior to, the Nazi era. By 1949, expectations for scripts were codified around a small number of topics, such as '[re-]distribution of land' or 'the two-year plan'. As in the Soviet Union, the excessive control placed by the state on authors of screenplays, as against other literary works, discouraged many competent writers from contributing to East German film.
In 1951, Das Beil von Wandsbek/The Axe of Wandsbek (Falk Harnack, 1951), based on Arnold Zweig's novel written in exile, was banned . The DEFA production was not released until 1962, heavily edited. Erwin Geschonneck's nuanced portrayal of a butcher who becomes a Nazi executioner was out of step with the official policy of depicting moral issues in black and white. With the ban on Das Beil von Wandsbek, a brief five-year period which had produced several classics of German cinema drew to a close.
Screenwriters could find their efforts rejected for ideological reasons at any stage in script development, if not from the outset. The Cold War only made the Communist leaders tighten their grip on 'their' films. The DEFA's production reached an absolute statistical nadir in 1952 and 1953, with only five films produced in each year. As a result, between 1948 and 1953, when Stalin died, the entire film output for East Germany, excluding newsreels and non-theatrical educational films, amounted to fewer than 50 titles.
The best-known film made in this period was Kurt Maetzig's two-part Thälmann – Sohn seiner Klasse / Führer seiner Klasse/Thälmann – Son of His Class / Leader of His Class (1953-1955) – a propagandistic portrait of the German Communist leader who was active in the 1920s and 1930s.
Early on the DEFA made a policy of presenting the GDR as heir to Germany's best cultural traditions. In this spirit it produced adaptations of familiar fairy tales and filmed German literary classics such as Emilia Galotti (1957), Kabale und Liebe/Intrigue and Love (1959), Die schwarze Galeere/The Black Galley (1962) and Minna von Barnhelm (1962), all by theatre director Martin Hellberg.
The popular fairy-tale films include Paul Verhoeven's Das kalte Herz/Heart of Stone/The Cold Heart (1950), DEFA's first colour film, Wolfgang Staudte's Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck/The Story of Little Mook (1953) and Das tapfere Schneiderlein/The Brave Little Tailor (Helmut Spieß, 1956). This tradition of fairy-tale and children's films was successfully carried on to the very end of the DEFA.
In the 1960s, DEFA produced the popular Eastern Die Söhne der großen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (Josef Mach, 1965), based on the novel by Lieselotte Welskopf-Henrich. It starred Serbian actor Gojko Mitić as the Sioux Tokei-itho. This spawned a number of sequels. The Eastern was the typical Eastern Bloc countries' take on the Western. It was notable for inverting Western cliches by portraying the native Americans as the 'good guys', and the American army as the 'baddies'
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1910, 1963, Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: DEFA / Pathenheimer.
Armin Mueller-Stahl (1930) is a German film actor, painter, writer and musician. He started his career as a socialist matinee-idol in the GDR. At 50, he had to emigrate to West-Germany where he found work with such major film directors as Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Later he had a successful career in Hollywood as well.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 2265, 1965. Retail price: 0,15 MDN. Photo: Schwarzer.
German actor, film director and screenwriter Ulrich Thein (1940–1995) appeared in 44 films and television shows between 1952 and 1995. His film Romanze mit Amélie/Romance with Amelie (Ulrich Thein, 1982) was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2401, 1966. Retail price: 0,15 MDN. Photo: Hans-Joachim Kundt. Publicity still for Die Söhne der grossen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (Josef Mach, 1966).
Serbian actor Gojko Mitić (1940) was the most famous Indian in Eastern Europe. The handsome star played in numerous Westerns from East-Germany between 1966 and 1984. He also worked as a director, stuntman, and author.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2.551, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Pathenheimer / DEFA. Publicity still for Die Söhne der großen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (1965).
Kati Székely (1941) appeared in the first Indians film of the DEFA, Die Söhne der großen Bärin/The Sons of Great Bear (Josef Mach, 1965), based on the novel by Lieselotte Welskopf-Henrich. She played the sister of the young Dakota Indian chief Tokei-ihto ( Gojko Mitic ). One of her other major films was the first film about the Berlin wall … Und deine Liebe auch/... And your love too (1962, Frank Vogel) with Armin Mueller-Stahl . After marrying Jürgen Frohriep, she gave up acting and studied psychology.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 221/69. Photo: publicity still for Spur des Falken/Trail of the Falcon (Gottfried Kolditz, 1968).
Rolf Hoppe (1930) played villains in many ‘Osterns’ by the DEFA. An example is Spur des Falken/Trail of the Falcon (Gottfried Kolditz, 1968), starring Gojko Mitic as the Indian hero. Hoppe also appeared in other Mitic films, Weiße Wölfe/White Wolves (Konrad Petzold, Bosko Boskovic, 1969), one of the most popular DEFA films ever, and Tödlicher Irrtum/Fatal Error (Konrad Petzold, 1970), also with Armin Müller-Stahl . In 1971, Hoppe was awarded the National Prize of East Germany for artistic achievement.
A large pool of outstanding actors
DEFA is associated with a host of important and influential directors, including Frank Beyer, Wolfgang Staudte, Kurt Maetzig, Konrad Wolf, and Heiner Carow. Yet it was difficult to become a director without following a strictly predefined path which included attending the Babelsberg Film Academy, founded in 1954 as the Deutsche Hochschule für Filmkunst (German Academy for Film).
At the same time, the DEFA managed to get many of the country's major writers involved in film projects: Christa Wolf, Klaus Schlesinger, Fritz Rudolf Fries. Others like Günther Rücker and Jurek Becker worked as freelance or salaried screenwriters. With a large pool of outstanding actors at its disposal (most of them from East Berlin theatres), the DEFA produced first-rate film actors, some of whom – such as Manfred Krug, Armin Mueller-Stahl , Angelica Domröse and Jutta Hoffmann – became stars whose popularity endured even after their defection to the west.
East Germany's most popular star was Erwin Geschonneck. As a communist in Nazi Germany, he was forced to emigrate, only to be extradited to the Nazis by the USSR, after which he survived several years in a concentration camp. After the war he worked with Bertolt Brecht at the Berliner Ensemble. On several occasions he used his influence to lift the prohibition on blacklisted films (his own included).
In the 1980s the GDR opened its film market to western productions, one of the major factors leading to a crisis at the DEFA. Finally, the end came with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. In 1992, DEFA was officially dissolved and its combined studios sold to a French conglomerate, Compagnie Générale des Eaux, later Vivendi Universal. On 13 October 1993, the last feature film with the DEFA signet, Novalis - Die blaue Blume/Novalis - the Blue Flower (Herwig Kipping, 1993), celebrated its premiere.
In 2004, a private consortium acquired the studios. The films produced at the DEFA studios after World War II included approximately 950 feature films, 820 animated films, more than 5,800 documentaries and newsreels. Some 4,000 foreign language films were dubbed into German, which were acquired by the privatised version of the former East German film distribution monopoly, Progress Film. The DEFA estate is presently administered by the DEFA Foundation.
East-German card by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 134/69, 1969. Photo: Uhlenhut.
As a student, Jaecki Schwarz (1946) had his breakthrough with his lead role in the war film Ich war neunzehn/I was nineteen (Konrad Wolf, 1968). With his non-convential acting style and his dry humour, he became a popular actor in dozens of DEFA films and East-German TV productions.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 17/72, 1971. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: DEFA. Publicity still for Eolomea (1971) with Cox Habbema and Ivan Adonov.
Cox Habbema (1944-2016) was a Dutch actress, stage director, writer and former managing director of the Municipal Theatre in Amsterdam. From 1969 till 1984 she mainly lived and worked in East-Berlin, where she appeared in several DEFA films.
Big East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 163/73, 1971. Retail price: 0,50 M. Photo: Linke.
Tall and lean Winfried Glatzeder (1945) was one of the most popular film stars of former East Germany. He played the charming, gawky Paul in the GDR cult-film Die Legende von Paul und Paula/The Legend of Paul and Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 143/72. Photo: Blasig. Publicity still for Es ist eine alte Geschichte/It Is an Old Story (Lothar Warneke, 1972).
Katharina Thalbach (1954) is one of Germany's most respected stage actresses mostly working in Hamburg and Berlin. With her half-brother Benjamin, she played in the DEFA film Es ist eine alte Geschichte/It is an old story (Lothar Warneke, 1972). In 1975, she appeared in another DEFA production Lotte in Weimar (Egon Günther, 1975), starring Lilli Palmer and based on the novel by Thomas Mann. In December 1976, she left East Germany together with longtime companion Thomas Brasch and daughter Anna after the expulsion of songwriter Wolf Biermann. Internationally, she became known for her part in Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum (1979), Volker Schlöndorf’s award-winning film adaptation of the novel by Günter Grass. She has also directed since the late 1980s.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 147/75. Photo: DEFA.
Nina Hagen (1955) is known for her theatrical vocals and is often referred to as the ‘Godmother of Punk' due to her prominence during the punk and new wave movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During her 40-years-career she appeared in several European films, including several East-German films and TV films sometimes alongside her mother Eva-Maria Hagen . She appeared in Heiraten/Weiblich/Marrying/Female (Christa Kulosa, 1975), Heute ist Freitag/Today is Friday (Klaus Gendries, 1975), Liebesfallen/Love Traps (Werner W. Wallroth, 1976) and Unser stiller Mann/Our Quite Man (Bernhard Stephan, 1976). Her career in the GDR was cut short after her stepfather Wolf Biermann's East German citizenship was withdrawn from him in 1976.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 43080.
American actor, singer and political activist Dean Reed (1938–1986) was one of the most unusual European film stars ever. While he was unknown at home in the US, he was a superstar in communist Eastern Europe. Over the years ‘the Red Elvis’ played in 23 films, including a series of Easterns fro the DEFA. His third wife, German actress Renate Blume (1944) appeared in more than 70 films and television shows since 1964. Her film debut Der geteilte Himmel/Divided Heaven (Konrad Wolf, 1964) was an international success and later she co-starred in Easterns with Gojko Mitic and Dean Reed .
Sources: Hans-Michael Bock (Filmportal.de) and Wikipedia.
May 9, 2019
Kim Basinger
American film actress and former top model Kim Basinger (1953) won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in L.A. Confidential (1997). Her other films include Never Say Never Again (1983), Nine ½ Weeks (1986), Batman (1989), and 8 Mile (2002). She was married to actor Alec Baldwin from 1993 to 2001.
French postcard, no. C 324. Photo: publicity still for Never Say Never Again (Irvin Kershner, 1983). The tiger print one piece Basinger wears in Never Say Never Again (1983)'s final scene was given to her by the Playboy organisation.
French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, Paris, no. 2. Photo: Collection de l'École de Cinéma CAMIRIS. Publicity still for Nine ½ Weeks (Adrian Lyne, 1986) with Mickey Rourke.
French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, no. 18. Photo: Collection de l'École de Cinéma CAMIRIS, Lyon. Kim Basinger in Nadine (Robert Benton, 1987).
French postcard by Editions Mercuri, no. 88. Photo: Warner Bros inc. Photo: publicity still for Batman (Tim Burton, 1989) with Michael Keaton.
British postcard by Heroes Publishing Ltd., London, no. SPC2429. Kim Basinger in Batman (Tim Burton, 1989).
Financial success came along with new found fame
Kimila Ann Basinger was born in 1953, in Athens, Georgia. She comes from an entertainment background. Her father was a musician, who played big-band jazz and her mother was a dancer, who had performed water ballet in several Esther Williams movies.
As a schoolgirl, she was very shy. To help her overcome this, her parents had Kim study ballet from an early age. At 16, Basinger branched out into beauty pageants. She won the title of Junior Miss Georgia and competed at the national Junior Miss event in New York City.
While in New York, Basinger caught the eye of a modelling agent at the Ford Modeling Agency. She soon landed a contract and first gained fame as a model for Breck Shampoo. At the age of 20, Kim was a top model commanding $1,000 a day. Throughout the early 1970s, she appeared on dozens of magazine covers and in hundreds of ads.
In the mid-1970s, Basinger moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. She landed a number of small parts at first, making guest appearances on such shows as Charlie's Angels. In 1978, Basinger starred in the TV movie Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold. She portrayed Lorene Rogers in the Miniseries From Here to Eternity (1979) and its short-lived spin-off series the following year.
In 1980, she married make-up artist Ron Snyder (they divorced in 1989). Basinger made her film debut in the Western drama Hard Country (David Greene, 1981) with Jan-Michael Vincent. Two years later, her career started to skyrocket with the James Bond film Never Say Never Again (Irvin Kershner, 1983) starring Sean Connery and with Basinger as the 'Bond girl'.
More major film projects soon followed, including The Natural (Barry Levinson, 1984) with Robert Redford, and the steamy romance 9 1/2 Weeks (Adrian Lyne, 1986) with Mickey Rourke. She played a small-town Texan beauty in Nadine (Robert Benton, 1987). Her breakout role was as photojournalist Vicki Vale in the blockbuster hit Batman (Tim Burton, 1989) with Michael Keaton.
Kim was a last-minute replacement for Sean Young. This took her to a career high. Financial success also came along with her new found fame. But Basinger became known for her unusual business decisions. In 1989, she and some other investors bought the town of Braselton, in her native Georgia, for $20 million. Basinger sought to make the community near Atlanta a tourist destination, but she ended up selling it five years later as she faced personal bankruptcy.
Vintage postcard, no. X 142. Photo: publicity still for Nine ½ Weeks (Adrian Lyne, 1986) with Mickey Rourke.
French postcard in the Collection Cinéma by Studio Magazine, no. PSM 399. Photo: Christophe D'Yvoire.
British postcard, no. 1003.
British postcard by New Line, no. 146.
One of Hollywood's most attractive yet volatile couples
While making The Marrying Man (Jerry Rees, 1991), Kim Basinger fell for her co-star Alec Baldwin. The pair wed in 1993, becoming one of Hollywood's most attractive yet volatile couples. Basinger and Baldwin welcomed their only child together in 1995. They named their daughter Ireland. Kim took some time off to stay at home with her child.
Basinger's career had floundered a bit. In 1993, she found herself in an intense legal battle after breaking a verbal agreement to appear in Jennifer Lynch's Boxing Helena (1993). The court sided with the film's producers, ordering the actress to pay millions for breach of contract. The case was later overturned on appeal.
In 1997, Basinger gave one of her greatest performances in L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) opposite Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe. She starred as a high-end prostitute with an intentional resemblance to actress Veronica Lake in this 1950s crime drama. She won an Academy Award for her work on the film.
Despite this acclaim, Basinger soon appeared in more headlines than film roles. She filed for divorce from her husband Alec Baldwin in 2001 and spent years locked in a bitter custody dispute over their daughter.
After her divorce, Kim Basinger took on few acting roles. She reteamed with L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson for the rap drama 8 Mile (Curtis Hanson, 2002) in which she played the mother of Eminem. Two years later, she co-starred with Jeff Bridges in The Door in the Floor (Tod Williams, 2004) and with Chris Evans and Jason Statham in the thriller Cellular (David R. Ellis, 2004).
Basinger's later films include Charlie St. Cloud (Burr Steers, 2010) with Zac Efron, and Grudge Match (Peter Segal, 2013) with Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone. She has also made a return to modelling, signing with IMG Models in 2013.
Kim Basinger is a strict vegetarian, who devoted energy to animal rights issues and posed for anti-fur advertisements of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Recently, she appeared in the film The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016) with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling and the Fifty Shades of Grey (Sam Taylor-Johnson, 2015) sequels Fifty Shades Darker (James Foley, 2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (James Foley, 2018) with Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan.
French postcard by Sonis, no. C 62. Photo: Warner Bros inc. Photo: publicity still for Batman (Tim Burton, 1989).
Italian postcard by Teletutto in the Le più belle del mondo series, no. 7.
British postcard, no. MM 196.
Belgian postcard in 'De 50 mooiste vrouwen van de eeuw' (The 50 most beautiful women of the century) series by P magazine, no. 20. Photo: Sante D'Orazio / Outline.
Spanish postcard in the Collecciòn 'Estrellas cinematográficas' by Cacitel, no. 39.
Vintage postcard, no. X238.
Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia and .
French postcard, no. C 324. Photo: publicity still for Never Say Never Again (Irvin Kershner, 1983). The tiger print one piece Basinger wears in Never Say Never Again (1983)'s final scene was given to her by the Playboy organisation.
French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, Paris, no. 2. Photo: Collection de l'École de Cinéma CAMIRIS. Publicity still for Nine ½ Weeks (Adrian Lyne, 1986) with Mickey Rourke.
French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, no. 18. Photo: Collection de l'École de Cinéma CAMIRIS, Lyon. Kim Basinger in Nadine (Robert Benton, 1987).
French postcard by Editions Mercuri, no. 88. Photo: Warner Bros inc. Photo: publicity still for Batman (Tim Burton, 1989) with Michael Keaton.
British postcard by Heroes Publishing Ltd., London, no. SPC2429. Kim Basinger in Batman (Tim Burton, 1989).
Financial success came along with new found fame
Kimila Ann Basinger was born in 1953, in Athens, Georgia. She comes from an entertainment background. Her father was a musician, who played big-band jazz and her mother was a dancer, who had performed water ballet in several Esther Williams movies.
As a schoolgirl, she was very shy. To help her overcome this, her parents had Kim study ballet from an early age. At 16, Basinger branched out into beauty pageants. She won the title of Junior Miss Georgia and competed at the national Junior Miss event in New York City.
While in New York, Basinger caught the eye of a modelling agent at the Ford Modeling Agency. She soon landed a contract and first gained fame as a model for Breck Shampoo. At the age of 20, Kim was a top model commanding $1,000 a day. Throughout the early 1970s, she appeared on dozens of magazine covers and in hundreds of ads.
In the mid-1970s, Basinger moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. She landed a number of small parts at first, making guest appearances on such shows as Charlie's Angels. In 1978, Basinger starred in the TV movie Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold. She portrayed Lorene Rogers in the Miniseries From Here to Eternity (1979) and its short-lived spin-off series the following year.
In 1980, she married make-up artist Ron Snyder (they divorced in 1989). Basinger made her film debut in the Western drama Hard Country (David Greene, 1981) with Jan-Michael Vincent. Two years later, her career started to skyrocket with the James Bond film Never Say Never Again (Irvin Kershner, 1983) starring Sean Connery and with Basinger as the 'Bond girl'.
More major film projects soon followed, including The Natural (Barry Levinson, 1984) with Robert Redford, and the steamy romance 9 1/2 Weeks (Adrian Lyne, 1986) with Mickey Rourke. She played a small-town Texan beauty in Nadine (Robert Benton, 1987). Her breakout role was as photojournalist Vicki Vale in the blockbuster hit Batman (Tim Burton, 1989) with Michael Keaton.
Kim was a last-minute replacement for Sean Young. This took her to a career high. Financial success also came along with her new found fame. But Basinger became known for her unusual business decisions. In 1989, she and some other investors bought the town of Braselton, in her native Georgia, for $20 million. Basinger sought to make the community near Atlanta a tourist destination, but she ended up selling it five years later as she faced personal bankruptcy.
Vintage postcard, no. X 142. Photo: publicity still for Nine ½ Weeks (Adrian Lyne, 1986) with Mickey Rourke.
French postcard in the Collection Cinéma by Studio Magazine, no. PSM 399. Photo: Christophe D'Yvoire.
British postcard, no. 1003.
British postcard by New Line, no. 146.
One of Hollywood's most attractive yet volatile couples
While making The Marrying Man (Jerry Rees, 1991), Kim Basinger fell for her co-star Alec Baldwin. The pair wed in 1993, becoming one of Hollywood's most attractive yet volatile couples. Basinger and Baldwin welcomed their only child together in 1995. They named their daughter Ireland. Kim took some time off to stay at home with her child.
Basinger's career had floundered a bit. In 1993, she found herself in an intense legal battle after breaking a verbal agreement to appear in Jennifer Lynch's Boxing Helena (1993). The court sided with the film's producers, ordering the actress to pay millions for breach of contract. The case was later overturned on appeal.
In 1997, Basinger gave one of her greatest performances in L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) opposite Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe. She starred as a high-end prostitute with an intentional resemblance to actress Veronica Lake in this 1950s crime drama. She won an Academy Award for her work on the film.
Despite this acclaim, Basinger soon appeared in more headlines than film roles. She filed for divorce from her husband Alec Baldwin in 2001 and spent years locked in a bitter custody dispute over their daughter.
After her divorce, Kim Basinger took on few acting roles. She reteamed with L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson for the rap drama 8 Mile (Curtis Hanson, 2002) in which she played the mother of Eminem. Two years later, she co-starred with Jeff Bridges in The Door in the Floor (Tod Williams, 2004) and with Chris Evans and Jason Statham in the thriller Cellular (David R. Ellis, 2004).
Basinger's later films include Charlie St. Cloud (Burr Steers, 2010) with Zac Efron, and Grudge Match (Peter Segal, 2013) with Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone. She has also made a return to modelling, signing with IMG Models in 2013.
Kim Basinger is a strict vegetarian, who devoted energy to animal rights issues and posed for anti-fur advertisements of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Recently, she appeared in the film The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016) with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling and the Fifty Shades of Grey (Sam Taylor-Johnson, 2015) sequels Fifty Shades Darker (James Foley, 2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (James Foley, 2018) with Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan.
French postcard by Sonis, no. C 62. Photo: Warner Bros inc. Photo: publicity still for Batman (Tim Burton, 1989).
Italian postcard by Teletutto in the Le più belle del mondo series, no. 7.
British postcard, no. MM 196.
Belgian postcard in 'De 50 mooiste vrouwen van de eeuw' (The 50 most beautiful women of the century) series by P magazine, no. 20. Photo: Sante D'Orazio / Outline.
Spanish postcard in the Collecciòn 'Estrellas cinematográficas' by Cacitel, no. 39.
Vintage postcard, no. X238.
Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia and .
May 8, 2019
The Red Shoes (1948)
The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948) is one of the best films about ballet thanks to the vision of its directors. The ballets, 'The Red Shoes ballet' by Sir Robert Helpmann and 'The Shoemaker' by Leonide Massine, are magnificently staged. The glorious Technicolor cinematography by Jack Cardiff is tremendous. Moira Shearer with her red hair and peaches and cream skin projects a refined presence in the film that is hard to forget. Cinematography, music, acting and ballet combined make a timeless classic with a vivid look that 70 years after, still appears fresh and glamorous.
Moira Shearer . British postcard by 'The People' Show Parade Picture Service, London, no. P. 1041. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 649. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 650. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer and Robert Helpmann in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
Torn between Lermontov's demands and those of her heart
The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948) is basically a fairy tale loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen story. Emeric Pressburger's story appears simple at first glance, but is a challenging study of the value and purpose of art, and of aestheticism as a creed.
At a performance by the Ballet Lermontov at Covent Garden Opera House, music student Julian Craster ( Marius Goring ) is in attendance to hear the ballet score 'Heart of Fire', composed by his teacher, Professor Palmer. Separately present is Victoria 'Vicky' Page ( Moira Shearer ), a young, unknown dancer from an aristocratic background, with her aunt, Lady Neston. As 'Heart of Fire' progresses, Julian recognises the music as one of his own compositions.
During the performance, Professor Palmer receives an invitation to an after-ballet party at Lady Neston's residence, also asking charismatic Boris Lermontov ( Anton Walbrook ), the company impresario, to attend. Julian leaves the performance in disillusionment at his professor's plagiarism of his music. Lermontov and Vicki meet, and he invites her to a rehearsal of the company.
Julian has written to Lermontov to explain the circumstances behind Heart of Fire, but then tries to retrieve the letter. Lermontov's assistant Dimitri thwarts all attempts by Julian to gain entry to Lermontov's suite, but finally Lermontov gives Julian an audience. Julian says that he wishes to retrieve his letter before Lermontov has seen it, except that Lermontov has already read the letter.
Lermontov asks Julian to play one of his own works at the piano. After hearing Julian play, he hires him as a répétiteur for the company orchestra and assistant to the company's conductor, Livingstone Montague. Lermontov realises that Julian was the true composer of 'Heart of Fire'.
Julian and Vicky arrive for work at the Ballet Lermontov on the same day. Later, Vicky dances with Ballet Rambert in a matinee performance of Swan Lake at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate, in a production with a company led by Marie Rambert (who appears in the film as herself in a wordless cameo). Watching this performance, Lermontov realises her potential and invites Vicky to go with Ballet Lermontov to Paris and Monte Carlo. He decides to create a starring role for her in a new ballet, 'The Red Shoes', for which Julian is to provide the music.
Under the authoritarian rule of Lermontov, his proteges realise the full promise of their talents, but at a price: utter devotion to their art and complete loyalty to Lermontov himself. Under his near-obsessive guidance, Vicky is poised for superstardom, but earns Lermontov's scorn when she falls in love with Julian. Vicky leaves the company and marries Craster, but still finds herself torn between Lermontov's demands and those of her heart.
At the 21st Academy Awards, The Red Shoes won awards for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction. It also had nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 651. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 653. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer , Robert Helpmann and Leonide Massine in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 654. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer , Robert Helpmann and Leonide Massine in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
British Real Photo postcard by Rotary Photographic Company, London, no. F.S. 20. Caption: [Leonide] Massine conducts a class with the Principals and the Corps de Ballet in the Rehearsal Room at Covent Garden for the film The Red Shoes.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
Moira Shearer . British postcard by 'The People' Show Parade Picture Service, London, no. P. 1041. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 649. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 650. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer and Robert Helpmann in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
Torn between Lermontov's demands and those of her heart
The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948) is basically a fairy tale loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen story. Emeric Pressburger's story appears simple at first glance, but is a challenging study of the value and purpose of art, and of aestheticism as a creed.
At a performance by the Ballet Lermontov at Covent Garden Opera House, music student Julian Craster ( Marius Goring ) is in attendance to hear the ballet score 'Heart of Fire', composed by his teacher, Professor Palmer. Separately present is Victoria 'Vicky' Page ( Moira Shearer ), a young, unknown dancer from an aristocratic background, with her aunt, Lady Neston. As 'Heart of Fire' progresses, Julian recognises the music as one of his own compositions.
During the performance, Professor Palmer receives an invitation to an after-ballet party at Lady Neston's residence, also asking charismatic Boris Lermontov ( Anton Walbrook ), the company impresario, to attend. Julian leaves the performance in disillusionment at his professor's plagiarism of his music. Lermontov and Vicki meet, and he invites her to a rehearsal of the company.
Julian has written to Lermontov to explain the circumstances behind Heart of Fire, but then tries to retrieve the letter. Lermontov's assistant Dimitri thwarts all attempts by Julian to gain entry to Lermontov's suite, but finally Lermontov gives Julian an audience. Julian says that he wishes to retrieve his letter before Lermontov has seen it, except that Lermontov has already read the letter.
Lermontov asks Julian to play one of his own works at the piano. After hearing Julian play, he hires him as a répétiteur for the company orchestra and assistant to the company's conductor, Livingstone Montague. Lermontov realises that Julian was the true composer of 'Heart of Fire'.
Julian and Vicky arrive for work at the Ballet Lermontov on the same day. Later, Vicky dances with Ballet Rambert in a matinee performance of Swan Lake at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate, in a production with a company led by Marie Rambert (who appears in the film as herself in a wordless cameo). Watching this performance, Lermontov realises her potential and invites Vicky to go with Ballet Lermontov to Paris and Monte Carlo. He decides to create a starring role for her in a new ballet, 'The Red Shoes', for which Julian is to provide the music.
Under the authoritarian rule of Lermontov, his proteges realise the full promise of their talents, but at a price: utter devotion to their art and complete loyalty to Lermontov himself. Under his near-obsessive guidance, Vicky is poised for superstardom, but earns Lermontov's scorn when she falls in love with Julian. Vicky leaves the company and marries Craster, but still finds herself torn between Lermontov's demands and those of her heart.
At the 21st Academy Awards, The Red Shoes won awards for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction. It also had nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 651. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 653. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer , Robert Helpmann and Leonide Massine in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 654. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Moira Shearer , Robert Helpmann and Leonide Massine in The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948).
British Real Photo postcard by Rotary Photographic Company, London, no. F.S. 20. Caption: [Leonide] Massine conducts a class with the Principals and the Corps de Ballet in the Rehearsal Room at Covent Garden for the film The Red Shoes.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
May 7, 2019
Das Herz des Casanova (1919)
Bruno Kastner was beloved as the elegant dandy and charming bonvivant of the German silent cinema. Das Herz des Casanova/The Heart of Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919) was one of the silent films on which his fame as a heartthrob was based. Ross Verlag made a series of sepia postcards for the film, of which we show four below.
Bruno Kastner. erman postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 181/2. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 622/2. Photo: Ring-Film. Bruno Kastner in Das Herz des Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919). The actress on the left is Ria Jende .
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 622/2. Photo: Ring-Film. Bruno Kastner in Das Herz des Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919). The actor on the right may be Karl Platen.
Slim, good-looking, young - and unfit for military service
Bruno Kastner was discovered by Danish film diva Asta Nielsen . He made his film debut opposite her in the short comedy Engelein/Little Angel (Urban Gad, 1914), with Fred Immler and Hanns Kräly. He followed the success of this film with the sequel Engeleins Hochzeit/Little Angel's Wedding (Urban Gad, 1916).
Most men of his age were in the war, the demand for actors was bigger than the offer. Bruno Kastner was slim, good-looking, young - and unfit for military service. During the First World War, Kastner quickly became a matinee idol in Germany, especially popular with female fans. His picture decorated many bedside tables.
The German press commented on Kastner's rise to stardom and how vexed postmen were having to transport love letters from fans to Kastner in laundry baskets. Kastner cemented his romantic image by appearing as the ardent suitor to such popular actresses Dorrit Weixler , Lotte Neumann and Mia May in a number of films of the era.
Male filmgoers were less fond of Kastner's image of a handsome dandy and gave him the nickname 'Kleiderbügel' (coat hanger) - a reference to his slim build and fashionable wardrobe.
Bruno Kastner himself wrote the screenplay for Das Herz des Casanova, together with Erich Rennspies. It was one of the four films that he would star in and for which he would write the script. The others were Nur ein Diener/Only a Servant, Der letzte Sonnensohn/The Last Sun Son and Der Weltmeister/The World Champion. All were directed and produced by Erik Lund (pseudonym for director-producer Manfred Liebenau) for the Berlin-based firm Ring-Film and were released in 1919.
His co-stars in Das Herz des Casanova/The Heart of Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919) were Ria Jende , Rosa Lichtenstein and Karl Platen. Not much else is known about the film, except that the sets were created by Siegfried Wroblewsky and that Curt Courant was behind the camera.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 622/4. Photo: Ring-Film. Bruno Kastner in Das Herz des Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 622/7. Photo: Ring-Film. Bruno Kastner in Das Herz des Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919).
Sources: Hans-Michael Bock (Filmportal.de - German)Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.
Bruno Kastner. erman postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 181/2. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 622/2. Photo: Ring-Film. Bruno Kastner in Das Herz des Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919). The actress on the left is Ria Jende .
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 622/2. Photo: Ring-Film. Bruno Kastner in Das Herz des Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919). The actor on the right may be Karl Platen.
Slim, good-looking, young - and unfit for military service
Bruno Kastner was discovered by Danish film diva Asta Nielsen . He made his film debut opposite her in the short comedy Engelein/Little Angel (Urban Gad, 1914), with Fred Immler and Hanns Kräly. He followed the success of this film with the sequel Engeleins Hochzeit/Little Angel's Wedding (Urban Gad, 1916).
Most men of his age were in the war, the demand for actors was bigger than the offer. Bruno Kastner was slim, good-looking, young - and unfit for military service. During the First World War, Kastner quickly became a matinee idol in Germany, especially popular with female fans. His picture decorated many bedside tables.
The German press commented on Kastner's rise to stardom and how vexed postmen were having to transport love letters from fans to Kastner in laundry baskets. Kastner cemented his romantic image by appearing as the ardent suitor to such popular actresses Dorrit Weixler , Lotte Neumann and Mia May in a number of films of the era.
Male filmgoers were less fond of Kastner's image of a handsome dandy and gave him the nickname 'Kleiderbügel' (coat hanger) - a reference to his slim build and fashionable wardrobe.
Bruno Kastner himself wrote the screenplay for Das Herz des Casanova, together with Erich Rennspies. It was one of the four films that he would star in and for which he would write the script. The others were Nur ein Diener/Only a Servant, Der letzte Sonnensohn/The Last Sun Son and Der Weltmeister/The World Champion. All were directed and produced by Erik Lund (pseudonym for director-producer Manfred Liebenau) for the Berlin-based firm Ring-Film and were released in 1919.
His co-stars in Das Herz des Casanova/The Heart of Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919) were Ria Jende , Rosa Lichtenstein and Karl Platen. Not much else is known about the film, except that the sets were created by Siegfried Wroblewsky and that Curt Courant was behind the camera.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 622/4. Photo: Ring-Film. Bruno Kastner in Das Herz des Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 622/7. Photo: Ring-Film. Bruno Kastner in Das Herz des Casanova (Erik Lund, 1919).
Sources: Hans-Michael Bock (Filmportal.de - German)Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.
May 6, 2019
Viviane Romance
Temperamental and beautiful Viviane Romance (1912-1991) played dozens of flirts, femme fatales and fallen women in black & white classics of the French cinema of the 1930s and 1940s.
French postcard by Viny, no. 12. Photo: Paris Film. Publicity still for Naples au baiser de feu/Naples Under the Kiss of Fire (Augusto Genina, 1937).
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 13.
French postcard by P.I., Paris, no. 2. Publicity still for Carmen (Christian-Jaque, 1944).
French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, no. 24. Photo: Discina. Publicity still for Carmen (Christian-Jaque, 1944).
French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, no. 554 B. Photo: Sirius. Publicity still for Cartacalha, reine des gitans/Cartacalha (Léon Mathot, 1942).
Miss Paris
Viviane Romance was born Pauline Arlette Ortmans in 1912 in Roubaix, France.
At 13, she made her debut as a bit player at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, then did some modelling work, and at 14, she joined the troupe at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. She also performed the 'Can-can' at the legendary Parisian nightclub Bal Tabarin. In 1930, Viviane was elected Miss Paris, and caused a small scandal because she had a child.
She made her film debut with a cameo role in Paris-girls (Henry Roussell, 1929) with Fernand Fabre. She appeared in several films over the next few years, including La Chienne/The Bitch (Jean Renoir, 1931), Liliom (Fritz Lang, 1934), and Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934). Opposite Jean Gabin , she played in La Bandera/The Bandage (Julien Duvivier, 1935).
Princesse Tam Tam/Princess Tam Tam (Edmond T. Gréville, 1935) was a French adaptation of G.B. Shaw's Pygmalion with Josephine Baker as a beautiful native African woman, who is ‘westernised’ by a handsome writer and then introduced to high society as an exotic princess.
Viviane Romance made a strong impression in La belle équipe/The Good Crew (Julien Duvivier, 1936) as the sensual Gina who plots the destruction of Jean Gabin ’s character because he refuses to make love to her. La belle équipe constituted a milestone in the French Cinema. From this time on Romance was regarded as one of France's leading film actresses and an insurance at the box office.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 126. Photo: Discina.
French postcard by SERP, Paris, no. 41. Photo: Studio Harcourt.
French postcard by EPC, no. 166. Photo: A.C.E.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 13.
French postcard by Viny, no. 24. Photo: Star.
Fallen Women With Hearts of Gold
Viviane Romance reportedly was offered a Hollywood film contract, but she rejected. She preferred to make films in her native France and many noted directors asked her to. However, she also resided for many years in Italy where she made several Italian language films in the 1950s.
Throughout her career she played dozens of exotic femme fatales, courtesans, vamps and fallen women with hearts of gold. Among her best films during the occupation of France were Angélica/Blood Red Rose (Jean Choux, 1940), and the excellent melodrama Vénus aveugle/Blind Venus (Abel Gance, 1941). She also starred in the title role of Carmen (Christian-Jaque, 1944), a French-Italian version of the famous opera by Georges Bizet.
After the war followed the dark thriller Panique/Panic (Julien Duvivier, 1946) based on a novel by Georges Siménon, Passion (Georges Lampin, 1951) and the anthology film Les Sept péchés capitaux/The Seven Deadly Sins (Yves Allégret, 1952). Her last film from this period was Pitié pour les vamps/Pity for the Vamps (Jean Josipovici, 1956).
She went into production with her then-husband Clément Duhour, but without much success. After 1956 her acting roles were few, and she suffered considerable financial hardship. In 1962, she starred with Jean Gabin in the suspenser Mélodie en sous-sol/Any Number Can Win (Henri Verneuil, 1962).
Eventually she re-appeared on television in the early 1970s. In 1973 she made one final film appearance in the thriller Nada/The Nada Gang (Claude Chabrol, 1974), answering a special request by director Claude Chabrol. It was her 65th film.
She published her memoirs, Romantique à mourir in 1986. Viviane Romance died of cancer in 1991 in Nice, France. She had married and divorced three times. Her spouses were actor Georges Flamant , actor Clément Duhour and director Jean Josipovici.
French collectors card by Massilia. Photo: Paris Film Production. Publicity still for Naples au baiser de feu/Naples Under the Kiss of Fire (Augusto Genina, 1937).
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 37. Sent by mail in 1944. Photo: Star.
French postcard by Erpé, no. 509. Photo: Star.
French postcard by A.C.E., no. 138.
Vintage collectors card, no. A 62.
French postcard by Edit. Chantal, Rueil, no. 554-S. Photo: R.A.C. Publicity still for Le joueur/The Player (Gerhard Lamprecht, Louis Daquin, 1938).
Italian postcard. Photo:Scalera. Viviane Romance and Georges Flamant in Rose di sangue/Angélica (Jean Choux, 1939), based on the novel 'Les compagnons d'Ulysse' by Pierre Benoît.
German postcard. Photo: IFA-Film. Publicity still for Carmen (Christian-Jaque, 1945).
French postcard, no. 554. Photo: Films Derby. Collection: Didier Hanson.
French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 161. Photo: Studio Harcourt.
French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 314. Photo: Teddy Piaz.
Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 1923.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 454. Photo: Sam Lévin.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), (IMDb), Yvan Foucart (Les gens du cinema - French), Wikipedia, and .
French postcard by Viny, no. 12. Photo: Paris Film. Publicity still for Naples au baiser de feu/Naples Under the Kiss of Fire (Augusto Genina, 1937).
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 13.
French postcard by P.I., Paris, no. 2. Publicity still for Carmen (Christian-Jaque, 1944).
French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, no. 24. Photo: Discina. Publicity still for Carmen (Christian-Jaque, 1944).
French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, no. 554 B. Photo: Sirius. Publicity still for Cartacalha, reine des gitans/Cartacalha (Léon Mathot, 1942).
Miss Paris
Viviane Romance was born Pauline Arlette Ortmans in 1912 in Roubaix, France.
At 13, she made her debut as a bit player at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, then did some modelling work, and at 14, she joined the troupe at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. She also performed the 'Can-can' at the legendary Parisian nightclub Bal Tabarin. In 1930, Viviane was elected Miss Paris, and caused a small scandal because she had a child.
She made her film debut with a cameo role in Paris-girls (Henry Roussell, 1929) with Fernand Fabre. She appeared in several films over the next few years, including La Chienne/The Bitch (Jean Renoir, 1931), Liliom (Fritz Lang, 1934), and Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934). Opposite Jean Gabin , she played in La Bandera/The Bandage (Julien Duvivier, 1935).
Princesse Tam Tam/Princess Tam Tam (Edmond T. Gréville, 1935) was a French adaptation of G.B. Shaw's Pygmalion with Josephine Baker as a beautiful native African woman, who is ‘westernised’ by a handsome writer and then introduced to high society as an exotic princess.
Viviane Romance made a strong impression in La belle équipe/The Good Crew (Julien Duvivier, 1936) as the sensual Gina who plots the destruction of Jean Gabin ’s character because he refuses to make love to her. La belle équipe constituted a milestone in the French Cinema. From this time on Romance was regarded as one of France's leading film actresses and an insurance at the box office.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 126. Photo: Discina.
French postcard by SERP, Paris, no. 41. Photo: Studio Harcourt.
French postcard by EPC, no. 166. Photo: A.C.E.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 13.
French postcard by Viny, no. 24. Photo: Star.
Fallen Women With Hearts of Gold
Viviane Romance reportedly was offered a Hollywood film contract, but she rejected. She preferred to make films in her native France and many noted directors asked her to. However, she also resided for many years in Italy where she made several Italian language films in the 1950s.
Throughout her career she played dozens of exotic femme fatales, courtesans, vamps and fallen women with hearts of gold. Among her best films during the occupation of France were Angélica/Blood Red Rose (Jean Choux, 1940), and the excellent melodrama Vénus aveugle/Blind Venus (Abel Gance, 1941). She also starred in the title role of Carmen (Christian-Jaque, 1944), a French-Italian version of the famous opera by Georges Bizet.
After the war followed the dark thriller Panique/Panic (Julien Duvivier, 1946) based on a novel by Georges Siménon, Passion (Georges Lampin, 1951) and the anthology film Les Sept péchés capitaux/The Seven Deadly Sins (Yves Allégret, 1952). Her last film from this period was Pitié pour les vamps/Pity for the Vamps (Jean Josipovici, 1956).
She went into production with her then-husband Clément Duhour, but without much success. After 1956 her acting roles were few, and she suffered considerable financial hardship. In 1962, she starred with Jean Gabin in the suspenser Mélodie en sous-sol/Any Number Can Win (Henri Verneuil, 1962).
Eventually she re-appeared on television in the early 1970s. In 1973 she made one final film appearance in the thriller Nada/The Nada Gang (Claude Chabrol, 1974), answering a special request by director Claude Chabrol. It was her 65th film.
She published her memoirs, Romantique à mourir in 1986. Viviane Romance died of cancer in 1991 in Nice, France. She had married and divorced three times. Her spouses were actor Georges Flamant , actor Clément Duhour and director Jean Josipovici.
French collectors card by Massilia. Photo: Paris Film Production. Publicity still for Naples au baiser de feu/Naples Under the Kiss of Fire (Augusto Genina, 1937).
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 37. Sent by mail in 1944. Photo: Star.
French postcard by Erpé, no. 509. Photo: Star.
French postcard by A.C.E., no. 138.
Vintage collectors card, no. A 62.
French postcard by Edit. Chantal, Rueil, no. 554-S. Photo: R.A.C. Publicity still for Le joueur/The Player (Gerhard Lamprecht, Louis Daquin, 1938).
Italian postcard. Photo:Scalera. Viviane Romance and Georges Flamant in Rose di sangue/Angélica (Jean Choux, 1939), based on the novel 'Les compagnons d'Ulysse' by Pierre Benoît.
German postcard. Photo: IFA-Film. Publicity still for Carmen (Christian-Jaque, 1945).
French postcard, no. 554. Photo: Films Derby. Collection: Didier Hanson.
French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 161. Photo: Studio Harcourt.
French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 314. Photo: Teddy Piaz.
Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 1923.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 454. Photo: Sam Lévin.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), (IMDb), Yvan Foucart (Les gens du cinema - French), Wikipedia, and .
May 5, 2019
Shelley Winters
American actress Shelley Winters (1920-2006) appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television. She was a major film presence for six decades, and turned herself from a Blonde Bombshell into a widely-respected actress who won two Oscars, for The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and A Patch of Blue (1965). Less known, Winters also appeared in several European films, including Alfie (1966) and Roman Polanski's Le Locataire (1976).
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 273.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 316. Photo: Universal International.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 830. Photo: Universal International.
The limitations of the Blonde Bombshell role
Shelley Winters was born Shirley Schrift in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1920. She was the daughter of Rose (née Winter), a singer with The Muny, and Jonas Schrift, a designer of men's clothing; her parents were Jewish immigrants. Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was three years old.
Winters studied at The New School in New York City, where she appeared in high school plays. Her first film was What a Woman! (Irving Cummings, 1943) starring Rosalind Russell. Throughout the 1940s, she mostly played bit roles and studied in the Hollywood Studio Club.
In the late 1940s, she shared an apartment with another newcomer, Marilyn Monroe . Winters achieved stardom with her breakout performance as the the party girl waitress who ends as the victim of insane actor Ronald Colman in A Double Life (George Cukor, 1947).
She quickly ascended in Hollywood with leading roles in The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949) with Alan Ladd, and Winchester 73 (Anthony Mann, 1950), opposite James Stewart. Universal Pictures built her up as a Blonde Bombshell but she quickly tired of the role's limitations.
She washed off her makeup and played against type to set up Elizabeth Taylor 's beauty in A Place in the Sun (George Stevens, 1951), still a landmark American film. Her performance brought Winters acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Throughout the 1950s, Winters continued to star in films, including Meet Danny Wilson (Joseph Pevney, 1952) as Frank Sinatra's leading lady, and most notably in Charles Laughton 's Night of the Hunter (1955), with Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish .
In Great Britain she played in the Christopher Isherwood adaptation I Am a Camera (Henry Cornelius, 1955) opposite Julie Harris and Laurence Harvey , and in Italy in Mambo (Robert Rossen, 1954) opposite Silvana Mangano and her second husband Vittorio Gassman .
She also returned to the stage on various occasions during this time, including a Broadway run in 'A Hatful of Rain' (1955–1956), opposite future, third husband Anthony Franciosa. Although she was now in demand as a character actress, Winters continued to study her craft. She attended Charles Laughton 's Shakespeare classes and worked at the Actors Studio, both as student and teacher.
Belgian collectors card by De Beukelaer, Anvers, no. A 7. Photo: Universal International.
Belgian postcard, no. 17. Caption: Sally Winters (sic).
Belgian postcard, no. 163. Photo: Universal.
Belgian postcard, no. 652.
Belgian postcard, no. 1052. Photo: R.K.O. Publicity still for Behave Yourself! (George Beck, 1951) with Farley Granger .
The fading, alcoholic former starlet
In 1960, Shelley Winters won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Diary of Anne Frank (George Stevens, 1959), and six years later, she won another Oscar, in the same category, for A Patch of Blue (Guy Green, 1965). She donated her Oscar for The Diary of Anne Frank to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
Notable roles during the 1960s included her lauded performance as the man-hungry Charlotte Haze in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita (Stanley Kubrick, 1962); starring opposite Michael Caine in Alfie (Lewis Gilbert, 1966), and as the fading, alcoholic former starlet Fay Estabrook in Harper (Jack Smight, 1966).
The following decade she could be seen in The Poseidon Adventure (Ronald Neame, 1972) as the ill-fated Belle Rosen (for which she received her final Oscar nomination), and in Next Stop, Greenwich Village (Paul Mazursky, 1976).
Winters also starred in interesting European films like Roman Polanski’s thriller Le Locataire/The Tenant (1976) with Isabelle Adjani , and Mario Monicelli’s drama Un borghese piccolo piccolo/A Very Little Man (1977) with Alberto Sordi .
She also returned to the stage during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably in Tennessee Williams' 'Night of the Iguana'. She appeared in such cult films as Wild in the Streets (Barry Shear, 1968), Bloody Mama (Roger Corman, 1970) and Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (Curtis Harrington, 1971). She also starred in the Broadway musical 'Minnie's Boys' (1970) as Minnie Marx, the mother of Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, and Gummo Marx.
During her 50 years as a widely known personality, Winters was rarely out of the news. Her stormy marriages, her romances with famous stars, her forays into politics, and feminist causes kept her name before the public. She delighted in giving provocative interviews and seemed to have an opinion on everything.
That led to a second career as a writer. She recalled her conquests in her autobiographies, like 'Shelley Also Known As Shirley', and wrote of a yearly rendezvous she kept with William Holden, as well as her affairs with Sean Connery , Burt Lancaster , Errol Flynn , Farley Granger and Marlon Brando .
Winters gained significant weight later in life, but lost much of it for (or before) an appearance at the 1998 Academy Awards telecast, which featured a tribute to Oscar winners past and present. In a recurring role in the 1990s, Winters played the title character's grandmother on the ABC sitcom Roseanne.
Her final film roles were supporting ones: she played a restaurant owner and mother of an overweight cook in Heavy (James Mangold, 1995), with Liv Tyler and Debbie Harry, and as an aristocrat in The Portrait of a Lady (Jane Campion, 1996), starring Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich. Her final film was the Italian comedy La bomba (Giulio Base, 1999) with her former husband Vittorio Gassman (whose last film this was too) and his son Alessandro Gassman.
Winters was married four times; her husbands were: Captain Mack Paul Mayer, whom she married on New Year's Day, 1942; they divorced in October 1948. Winters wore his wedding ring up until her death, and kept their relationship very private. In 1952, she married Vittorio Gassman . They divorced in 1954 and had one child, Vittoria (1953), a physician, who practices internal medicine at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut. She was Winters' only child. Later husbands were Anthony Franciosa (1957-1960) and long-time companion Gerry DeFord, whom she married hours before her death in 2006.
Shelley Winters died at the age of 85 on 14 January 2006, of heart failure at the Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills.
Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois-d'Haine, no. C. 335. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for My Man and I (William A. Wellman, 1952).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 817. Photo: Universal-International.
Dutch postcard by DRC, no. F 210. Photo: M.G.M.
Italian postcard, no. 575.
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 133. Photo: Universal International.
Sources: (IMDb), Wikipedia, and .
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 273.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 316. Photo: Universal International.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 830. Photo: Universal International.
The limitations of the Blonde Bombshell role
Shelley Winters was born Shirley Schrift in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1920. She was the daughter of Rose (née Winter), a singer with The Muny, and Jonas Schrift, a designer of men's clothing; her parents were Jewish immigrants. Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was three years old.
Winters studied at The New School in New York City, where she appeared in high school plays. Her first film was What a Woman! (Irving Cummings, 1943) starring Rosalind Russell. Throughout the 1940s, she mostly played bit roles and studied in the Hollywood Studio Club.
In the late 1940s, she shared an apartment with another newcomer, Marilyn Monroe . Winters achieved stardom with her breakout performance as the the party girl waitress who ends as the victim of insane actor Ronald Colman in A Double Life (George Cukor, 1947).
She quickly ascended in Hollywood with leading roles in The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949) with Alan Ladd, and Winchester 73 (Anthony Mann, 1950), opposite James Stewart. Universal Pictures built her up as a Blonde Bombshell but she quickly tired of the role's limitations.
She washed off her makeup and played against type to set up Elizabeth Taylor 's beauty in A Place in the Sun (George Stevens, 1951), still a landmark American film. Her performance brought Winters acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Throughout the 1950s, Winters continued to star in films, including Meet Danny Wilson (Joseph Pevney, 1952) as Frank Sinatra's leading lady, and most notably in Charles Laughton 's Night of the Hunter (1955), with Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish .
In Great Britain she played in the Christopher Isherwood adaptation I Am a Camera (Henry Cornelius, 1955) opposite Julie Harris and Laurence Harvey , and in Italy in Mambo (Robert Rossen, 1954) opposite Silvana Mangano and her second husband Vittorio Gassman .
She also returned to the stage on various occasions during this time, including a Broadway run in 'A Hatful of Rain' (1955–1956), opposite future, third husband Anthony Franciosa. Although she was now in demand as a character actress, Winters continued to study her craft. She attended Charles Laughton 's Shakespeare classes and worked at the Actors Studio, both as student and teacher.
Belgian collectors card by De Beukelaer, Anvers, no. A 7. Photo: Universal International.
Belgian postcard, no. 17. Caption: Sally Winters (sic).
Belgian postcard, no. 163. Photo: Universal.
Belgian postcard, no. 652.
Belgian postcard, no. 1052. Photo: R.K.O. Publicity still for Behave Yourself! (George Beck, 1951) with Farley Granger .
The fading, alcoholic former starlet
In 1960, Shelley Winters won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Diary of Anne Frank (George Stevens, 1959), and six years later, she won another Oscar, in the same category, for A Patch of Blue (Guy Green, 1965). She donated her Oscar for The Diary of Anne Frank to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
Notable roles during the 1960s included her lauded performance as the man-hungry Charlotte Haze in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita (Stanley Kubrick, 1962); starring opposite Michael Caine in Alfie (Lewis Gilbert, 1966), and as the fading, alcoholic former starlet Fay Estabrook in Harper (Jack Smight, 1966).
The following decade she could be seen in The Poseidon Adventure (Ronald Neame, 1972) as the ill-fated Belle Rosen (for which she received her final Oscar nomination), and in Next Stop, Greenwich Village (Paul Mazursky, 1976).
Winters also starred in interesting European films like Roman Polanski’s thriller Le Locataire/The Tenant (1976) with Isabelle Adjani , and Mario Monicelli’s drama Un borghese piccolo piccolo/A Very Little Man (1977) with Alberto Sordi .
She also returned to the stage during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably in Tennessee Williams' 'Night of the Iguana'. She appeared in such cult films as Wild in the Streets (Barry Shear, 1968), Bloody Mama (Roger Corman, 1970) and Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (Curtis Harrington, 1971). She also starred in the Broadway musical 'Minnie's Boys' (1970) as Minnie Marx, the mother of Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, and Gummo Marx.
During her 50 years as a widely known personality, Winters was rarely out of the news. Her stormy marriages, her romances with famous stars, her forays into politics, and feminist causes kept her name before the public. She delighted in giving provocative interviews and seemed to have an opinion on everything.
That led to a second career as a writer. She recalled her conquests in her autobiographies, like 'Shelley Also Known As Shirley', and wrote of a yearly rendezvous she kept with William Holden, as well as her affairs with Sean Connery , Burt Lancaster , Errol Flynn , Farley Granger and Marlon Brando .
Winters gained significant weight later in life, but lost much of it for (or before) an appearance at the 1998 Academy Awards telecast, which featured a tribute to Oscar winners past and present. In a recurring role in the 1990s, Winters played the title character's grandmother on the ABC sitcom Roseanne.
Her final film roles were supporting ones: she played a restaurant owner and mother of an overweight cook in Heavy (James Mangold, 1995), with Liv Tyler and Debbie Harry, and as an aristocrat in The Portrait of a Lady (Jane Campion, 1996), starring Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich. Her final film was the Italian comedy La bomba (Giulio Base, 1999) with her former husband Vittorio Gassman (whose last film this was too) and his son Alessandro Gassman.
Winters was married four times; her husbands were: Captain Mack Paul Mayer, whom she married on New Year's Day, 1942; they divorced in October 1948. Winters wore his wedding ring up until her death, and kept their relationship very private. In 1952, she married Vittorio Gassman . They divorced in 1954 and had one child, Vittoria (1953), a physician, who practices internal medicine at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut. She was Winters' only child. Later husbands were Anthony Franciosa (1957-1960) and long-time companion Gerry DeFord, whom she married hours before her death in 2006.
Shelley Winters died at the age of 85 on 14 January 2006, of heart failure at the Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills.
Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois-d'Haine, no. C. 335. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for My Man and I (William A. Wellman, 1952).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 817. Photo: Universal-International.
Dutch postcard by DRC, no. F 210. Photo: M.G.M.
Italian postcard, no. 575.
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 133. Photo: Universal International.
Sources: (IMDb), Wikipedia, and .
May 3, 2019
Alessandra Panaro (1939-2019)
Last Wednesday, 1 May 2019, Alessandra Panaro (1939-2019), an Italian former film actress of the late 1950s and early 1960s, passed away. She is best known for Luchino Visconti's crime drama Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and His Brothers (1960).
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1649. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus. Alessandra Panaro in Cerasella (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1959).
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1309.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1310.
The Young Love Interest
Alessandra Panaro was born in Rome, Italy in 1939. Panaro began her film career in 1954 with Il barcaiole di Amalfi/The boatman of Amalfi (Mino Roli, 1954) starring Mario Vitale.
One of her next films was the Italian drama Gli innamorati/Wild Love (1955) directed by Mauro Bolognini. The film, starring Antonella Lualdi and Franco Interlenghi , was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
In a considerable number of romantic comedies she played the young love interest. Examples are the big hit Poveri ma belli/Girl in a Bikini (1956) and the sequels Belle ma povere/ Poor Girl, Pretty Girl (1957) and Poveri milionari (1959). All were directed by Dino Risi and starred Marisa Allasio , Maurizio Arena , Renato Salvatori , Lorella De Luca and Panaro.
On TV she co-hosted with Lorella De Luca the show Il Musichiere/The musicians in 1957. In 1957 she also played the leading role in the comedy Lazzarella by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, a film based on a popular song written by Domenico Modugno and Riccardo Pazzaglia.
She played Totò ’s daughter in the satire Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche/Toto, Peppino and the Fanatics (Mario Mattoli, 1958) with Peppino De Filippo . And she played Nora, the girlfriend of Bruno ( Mario Girotti - the future Terence Hill ) in the film Cerasella (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1959) featuring Claudia Mori .
Italian postcard by Casa Edit. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze (B.F.F.). Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1439, 1961. Alessandra Panaro and Johnny Dorelli in Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche/Toto, Peppino and the Fanatics (Mario Mattoli, 1958).
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 805.
Marked by inflamed passions
Alessandra Panaro’s best known film is the beautiful drama Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and His Brothers (Luchino Visconti, 1960). Set in Milan, it tells the story of an immigrant family from the South, led to the industrial North by the matriarch (Katina Paxinou).
Presented in five distinct sections, the film weaves the story of Vincenzo (Spiros Fócas), Simone ( Renato Salvatori ), Rocco ( Alain Delon ), Ciro (Max Cartier) and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi) as they struggle to adapt to life in the large and impersonal city of Milan.
In typical fashion for a director known for helping build Italian neo-realism, the film ends with no substantive resolution, but with clouds of doom hanging over the family. Panaro played Ciro’s fiancee Franca.
Elbert Ventura at AllMovie : “Painted with bold strokes and marked by inflamed passions, Rocco and His Brothers holds you in rapt attention despite its sprawling story. Visconti punctuates the Parondis' struggles with two harrowing scenes of ritualized violence that profoundly change the family and underscore the operatic determinism of Visconti's vision.
The movie's visceral intensity is matched only by the elegance and intelligence of the mise-en-scène, with its fine compositions, graceful camera moves, and evocative black-and-white cinematography. A work of overpowering power and stark beauty, Rocco and His Brothers stands as a vivid masterpiece from one of cinema's great artists.”
Italian postcard, no. 464.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 746.
Italian postcard by Rotalphoto, Milano, no. 723.
Beautiful virgin Queen
During the golden age of the European genre film, Alessandra Panaro played roles in each popular genre. She often used the more American sounding pseudonym Topsy Collins.
She co-starred in Peplums – the Italian sword-and-sandal adventure films - like Le Baccanti/The Bacchantes (Giorgio Ferroni, 1960) with Pierre Brice , and Ulisse contro Ercole/Ulysses Against Hercules (Mario Caiano, 1962) starring Georges Marchal . She played the beautiful virgin Queen Medea, Gordon Scott 's heroic Prince Glaucus' love interest, in Ercole contro Molock/Hercules Against Moloch (Giorgio Ferroni, 1963).
In Germany she appeared in the Karl May Western Der Schatz der Azteken/The Treasure of the Aztecs (Robert Siodmak, 1965) with Lex Barker . One of her last films was the Spaghetti Western 30 Winchester per El Diablo/30 Winchesters for El Diablo (Gianfranco Baldanello, 1965) starring Carl Möhner .
After finishing her film career she returned to the screen with her old colleague Lorella de Luca in the film comedy La madama/The Madam (Duccio Tessari, 1976) starring Christian De Sica and Carole André.
33 years later she made another guest appearance in an episode of the Brazilian TV series A Grande Família/The Large Family (2009). Her final screen appearance was in the Italian film La notte è piccola per noi/The Night is Small for us (Gianfrancesco Lazotti, 2016) with Cristiana Capotondi and Philippe Leroy.
Panaro was married twice, first to Italian-Egyptian banker Jean-Pierre Sabet who died in 1983, and then to actor Giancarlo Sbragia, who died in 1994. Alessandra Pannaro passed away in Geneva, Switzerland. She was 79.
Italian postcard by Turismofoto.
Trailer for Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and His Brothers (1960). Source: Our Man In Havanna (YouTube).
Leader for 30 Winchester per El Diablo/30 Winchesters for El Diablo (1965). Source: John Huston1 (YouTube).
Sources: Elbert Ventura (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Italian, German and English), and I.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1649. Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus. Alessandra Panaro in Cerasella (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1959).
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1309.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1310.
The Young Love Interest
Alessandra Panaro was born in Rome, Italy in 1939. Panaro began her film career in 1954 with Il barcaiole di Amalfi/The boatman of Amalfi (Mino Roli, 1954) starring Mario Vitale.
One of her next films was the Italian drama Gli innamorati/Wild Love (1955) directed by Mauro Bolognini. The film, starring Antonella Lualdi and Franco Interlenghi , was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
In a considerable number of romantic comedies she played the young love interest. Examples are the big hit Poveri ma belli/Girl in a Bikini (1956) and the sequels Belle ma povere/ Poor Girl, Pretty Girl (1957) and Poveri milionari (1959). All were directed by Dino Risi and starred Marisa Allasio , Maurizio Arena , Renato Salvatori , Lorella De Luca and Panaro.
On TV she co-hosted with Lorella De Luca the show Il Musichiere/The musicians in 1957. In 1957 she also played the leading role in the comedy Lazzarella by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, a film based on a popular song written by Domenico Modugno and Riccardo Pazzaglia.
She played Totò ’s daughter in the satire Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche/Toto, Peppino and the Fanatics (Mario Mattoli, 1958) with Peppino De Filippo . And she played Nora, the girlfriend of Bruno ( Mario Girotti - the future Terence Hill ) in the film Cerasella (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1959) featuring Claudia Mori .
Italian postcard by Casa Edit. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze (B.F.F.). Photo: G.B. Poletto / Titanus
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1439, 1961. Alessandra Panaro and Johnny Dorelli in Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche/Toto, Peppino and the Fanatics (Mario Mattoli, 1958).
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 805.
Marked by inflamed passions
Alessandra Panaro’s best known film is the beautiful drama Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and His Brothers (Luchino Visconti, 1960). Set in Milan, it tells the story of an immigrant family from the South, led to the industrial North by the matriarch (Katina Paxinou).
Presented in five distinct sections, the film weaves the story of Vincenzo (Spiros Fócas), Simone ( Renato Salvatori ), Rocco ( Alain Delon ), Ciro (Max Cartier) and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi) as they struggle to adapt to life in the large and impersonal city of Milan.
In typical fashion for a director known for helping build Italian neo-realism, the film ends with no substantive resolution, but with clouds of doom hanging over the family. Panaro played Ciro’s fiancee Franca.
Elbert Ventura at AllMovie : “Painted with bold strokes and marked by inflamed passions, Rocco and His Brothers holds you in rapt attention despite its sprawling story. Visconti punctuates the Parondis' struggles with two harrowing scenes of ritualized violence that profoundly change the family and underscore the operatic determinism of Visconti's vision.
The movie's visceral intensity is matched only by the elegance and intelligence of the mise-en-scène, with its fine compositions, graceful camera moves, and evocative black-and-white cinematography. A work of overpowering power and stark beauty, Rocco and His Brothers stands as a vivid masterpiece from one of cinema's great artists.”
Italian postcard, no. 464.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 746.
Italian postcard by Rotalphoto, Milano, no. 723.
Beautiful virgin Queen
During the golden age of the European genre film, Alessandra Panaro played roles in each popular genre. She often used the more American sounding pseudonym Topsy Collins.
She co-starred in Peplums – the Italian sword-and-sandal adventure films - like Le Baccanti/The Bacchantes (Giorgio Ferroni, 1960) with Pierre Brice , and Ulisse contro Ercole/Ulysses Against Hercules (Mario Caiano, 1962) starring Georges Marchal . She played the beautiful virgin Queen Medea, Gordon Scott 's heroic Prince Glaucus' love interest, in Ercole contro Molock/Hercules Against Moloch (Giorgio Ferroni, 1963).
In Germany she appeared in the Karl May Western Der Schatz der Azteken/The Treasure of the Aztecs (Robert Siodmak, 1965) with Lex Barker . One of her last films was the Spaghetti Western 30 Winchester per El Diablo/30 Winchesters for El Diablo (Gianfranco Baldanello, 1965) starring Carl Möhner .
After finishing her film career she returned to the screen with her old colleague Lorella de Luca in the film comedy La madama/The Madam (Duccio Tessari, 1976) starring Christian De Sica and Carole André.
33 years later she made another guest appearance in an episode of the Brazilian TV series A Grande Família/The Large Family (2009). Her final screen appearance was in the Italian film La notte è piccola per noi/The Night is Small for us (Gianfrancesco Lazotti, 2016) with Cristiana Capotondi and Philippe Leroy.
Panaro was married twice, first to Italian-Egyptian banker Jean-Pierre Sabet who died in 1983, and then to actor Giancarlo Sbragia, who died in 1994. Alessandra Pannaro passed away in Geneva, Switzerland. She was 79.
Italian postcard by Turismofoto.
Trailer for Rocco e i suoi fratelli/Rocco and His Brothers (1960). Source: Our Man In Havanna (YouTube).
Leader for 30 Winchester per El Diablo/30 Winchesters for El Diablo (1965). Source: John Huston1 (YouTube).
Sources: Elbert Ventura (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Italian, German and English), and I.
May 2, 2019
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse (1921-2008) was born to be a dancer. She became one of the top female dancers in the golden era of the musical. Her films include Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953), Brigadoon (1954) and Silk Stockings (1957). She was one of the few actresses to have danced with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.
Dutch postcard. Photo: M.G.M. Publicity still for Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952) with Gene Kelly.
French postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 1167. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Brigadoon (Vincente Minnelli, 1954).
Spanish postcard by Royal Books, Barcelona, 1993. Photo: Eric Carpenter. Publicity still for Meet Me in Las Vegas (Roy Rowland, 1956) .
Dutch postcard by P. Moorlag, Heerlen, sort. 1/8.
A Girl Called Sid
Cyd Charisse was born Tula Ellice Finklea in 1921 (some sources say 1922) in Amarillo, Texas. Her Baptist jeweller father encouraged her to begin her ballet lessons for health reasons. She was frail and sickly at the time and had a bout with polio.
During a family vacation in Los Angeles when she was 12, her parents enrolled her in ballet classes at a school in Hollywood. One of her teachers was a handsome young dancer and dance instructor, named Nico Charisse.
She joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at age 13 and became a member of the corps de ballet at age 14. With the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, she toured the United States and Europe, adopting the name Felia Sidorova.
In Paris, Nico and Cyd married when she was 18. After World War II broke out the company disbanded and the Charisse couple moved to Hollywood. In 1942, they had a son, Nicky.
Charisse got her start in Hollywood when Ballet Russe star David Lichine was hired by Columbia for a ballet sequence in the musical film Something to Shout About (Gregory Ratoff, 1943). She was billed now as Lily Norwood. The same year, she played a Russian dancer in Mission to Moscow (1943), directed by Michael Curtiz.
In 1945, she was hired to dance with Fred Astaire in Ziegfeld Follies (Vincente Minelli a.o., 1945), and that uncredited appearance got her a seven-year contract with MGM. Producer Arthur Freed preferred the name Charisse to Norwood and changed the spelling of her nickname Sid to Cyd. The nickname originated from her little brother. Initially, he could not say sister and called her Sid.
Her first speaking part was supporting Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls (George Sidney, 1946). Her dark looks initially had her cast as ethnic beauties. She was cast as Ricardo Montalban's fiancee in the film Fiesta (Richard Thorpe, 1947), and as a Polynesian in the Esther Williams' musical On an Island with You (Richard Thorpe, 1948).
In 1947, Charisse’s marriage to Nico Charisse ended in divorce. She married singer Tony Martin in 1948.
Spanish postcard by Ediciones J.R.N., no. 35/7.
Italian postcard by Bromostampa, Torino/Milano.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 422. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1953.
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 961. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Dancing with Kelly or Astaire
Cyd Charisse appeared in a number of musicals over the next few years, but it was the celebrated Broadway Melody ballet finale with Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, 1952) that gave her her big break. She appeared in only one of the film’s many indelible dance sequences, but one was enough, and she was both sultry vamp and diaphanous dream girl. Written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, the film established her as one of Hollywood’s most glamorous and seductive talents.
A year later followed her great performance in The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953), where she danced with Fred Astaire in the acclaimed Dancing in the Dark number. It was her first starring role. Robert Berkvist in The New York Times : "Astaire played a fading Hollywood song-and-dance man hoping to make a comeback on Broadway and who finds himself cast in a show opposite a snooty ballerina (Ms. Charisse). The couple do not see eye-to-eye until they take a nighttime carriage ride through a moonlit Central Park and wind up embracing languorously to the strains of ”Dancing in the Dark.” One of the most famous sequences from the film, if not in the history of dance on film, is 'The Girl Hunt Ballet,' in which Ms. Charisse plays the vamp to Astaire’s private-eye stage character."
In Brigadoon (Vincente Minnelli, 1954), adapted from the 1947 Broadway show by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Gene Kelly and Van Johnson played American tourists who stumble on a mysterious Scottish village that materialises only once every 100 years. Kelly falls hard for a beautiful villager, Fiona (Charisse). She co-starred again with Kelly in It's Always Fair Weather (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, 1956).
In 1957 she rejoined Astaire in the film version of Silk Stockings (Rouben Mamoulian, 1957), a musical remake of Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939), with Charisse taking over Greta Garbo 's role. She had a slightly unusual serious acting role in Party Girl (Nicholas Ray, 1958), where she played a showgirl who became involved with gangsters and a crooked lawyer.
As the 1960s dawned, musicals faded from the screen, as did her career. She made appearances on television and performed in a nightclub revue with her second husband, Tony Martin. At 70, she made her Broadway debut in Grand Hotel. Her last film appearance was in That's Entertainment! III (Bud Friedgen, Michael J. Sheridan, 1994) as one of the onscreen narrators of a tribute to the great MGM musical films.
Cyd Charisse died at age 87 of a heart attack in 2008 in Los Angeles, California. She had two sons: Nicholas Charisse (1942) and Tony Martin Jr. (1950).
Belgian postcard. Photo: M.G.M. Jimmy Durante, Peter Lawford, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse, Ricardo Montalban and Xavier Cugat in On an Island with You (Richard Thorpe, 1948).
Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 36. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 37. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 1253. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Sombrero (Norman Foster, 1953).
Sources: Robert Berkvist (The New York Times), (IMDb), Wikipedia and .
Dutch postcard. Photo: M.G.M. Publicity still for Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952) with Gene Kelly.
French postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 1167. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Brigadoon (Vincente Minnelli, 1954).
Spanish postcard by Royal Books, Barcelona, 1993. Photo: Eric Carpenter. Publicity still for Meet Me in Las Vegas (Roy Rowland, 1956) .
Dutch postcard by P. Moorlag, Heerlen, sort. 1/8.
A Girl Called Sid
Cyd Charisse was born Tula Ellice Finklea in 1921 (some sources say 1922) in Amarillo, Texas. Her Baptist jeweller father encouraged her to begin her ballet lessons for health reasons. She was frail and sickly at the time and had a bout with polio.
During a family vacation in Los Angeles when she was 12, her parents enrolled her in ballet classes at a school in Hollywood. One of her teachers was a handsome young dancer and dance instructor, named Nico Charisse.
She joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at age 13 and became a member of the corps de ballet at age 14. With the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, she toured the United States and Europe, adopting the name Felia Sidorova.
In Paris, Nico and Cyd married when she was 18. After World War II broke out the company disbanded and the Charisse couple moved to Hollywood. In 1942, they had a son, Nicky.
Charisse got her start in Hollywood when Ballet Russe star David Lichine was hired by Columbia for a ballet sequence in the musical film Something to Shout About (Gregory Ratoff, 1943). She was billed now as Lily Norwood. The same year, she played a Russian dancer in Mission to Moscow (1943), directed by Michael Curtiz.
In 1945, she was hired to dance with Fred Astaire in Ziegfeld Follies (Vincente Minelli a.o., 1945), and that uncredited appearance got her a seven-year contract with MGM. Producer Arthur Freed preferred the name Charisse to Norwood and changed the spelling of her nickname Sid to Cyd. The nickname originated from her little brother. Initially, he could not say sister and called her Sid.
Her first speaking part was supporting Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls (George Sidney, 1946). Her dark looks initially had her cast as ethnic beauties. She was cast as Ricardo Montalban's fiancee in the film Fiesta (Richard Thorpe, 1947), and as a Polynesian in the Esther Williams' musical On an Island with You (Richard Thorpe, 1948).
In 1947, Charisse’s marriage to Nico Charisse ended in divorce. She married singer Tony Martin in 1948.
Spanish postcard by Ediciones J.R.N., no. 35/7.
Italian postcard by Bromostampa, Torino/Milano.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 422. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1953.
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 961. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Dancing with Kelly or Astaire
Cyd Charisse appeared in a number of musicals over the next few years, but it was the celebrated Broadway Melody ballet finale with Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, 1952) that gave her her big break. She appeared in only one of the film’s many indelible dance sequences, but one was enough, and she was both sultry vamp and diaphanous dream girl. Written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, the film established her as one of Hollywood’s most glamorous and seductive talents.
A year later followed her great performance in The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953), where she danced with Fred Astaire in the acclaimed Dancing in the Dark number. It was her first starring role. Robert Berkvist in The New York Times : "Astaire played a fading Hollywood song-and-dance man hoping to make a comeback on Broadway and who finds himself cast in a show opposite a snooty ballerina (Ms. Charisse). The couple do not see eye-to-eye until they take a nighttime carriage ride through a moonlit Central Park and wind up embracing languorously to the strains of ”Dancing in the Dark.” One of the most famous sequences from the film, if not in the history of dance on film, is 'The Girl Hunt Ballet,' in which Ms. Charisse plays the vamp to Astaire’s private-eye stage character."
In Brigadoon (Vincente Minnelli, 1954), adapted from the 1947 Broadway show by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Gene Kelly and Van Johnson played American tourists who stumble on a mysterious Scottish village that materialises only once every 100 years. Kelly falls hard for a beautiful villager, Fiona (Charisse). She co-starred again with Kelly in It's Always Fair Weather (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, 1956).
In 1957 she rejoined Astaire in the film version of Silk Stockings (Rouben Mamoulian, 1957), a musical remake of Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939), with Charisse taking over Greta Garbo 's role. She had a slightly unusual serious acting role in Party Girl (Nicholas Ray, 1958), where she played a showgirl who became involved with gangsters and a crooked lawyer.
As the 1960s dawned, musicals faded from the screen, as did her career. She made appearances on television and performed in a nightclub revue with her second husband, Tony Martin. At 70, she made her Broadway debut in Grand Hotel. Her last film appearance was in That's Entertainment! III (Bud Friedgen, Michael J. Sheridan, 1994) as one of the onscreen narrators of a tribute to the great MGM musical films.
Cyd Charisse died at age 87 of a heart attack in 2008 in Los Angeles, California. She had two sons: Nicholas Charisse (1942) and Tony Martin Jr. (1950).
Belgian postcard. Photo: M.G.M. Jimmy Durante, Peter Lawford, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse, Ricardo Montalban and Xavier Cugat in On an Island with You (Richard Thorpe, 1948).
Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 36. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C. 37. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 1253. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Sombrero (Norman Foster, 1953).
Sources: Robert Berkvist (The New York Times), (IMDb), Wikipedia and .
May 1, 2019
Conrad Nagel
American actor Conrad Nagel (1897-1970) was a tall, blue-eyed matinee idol of the 1920s. He successfully made the transition to sound film.
German postcard by Ross Verlag Foreign, no. 3785/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3787/3, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Publicity still for The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928) with Greta Garbo .
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4902/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Publicity still for The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) with Anita Page.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5113/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Publicity still for The Kiss (Jacques Feyder, 1929) with Greta Garbo .
Italian postcard, no. 165. Foto: Ebany.
The Prince Consort
Conrad Nagel was born in 1897 in Keokuk, Iowa, USA as John Conrad Nagel. Conrad was the son of a musician father, Frank Nagel, and a mother, Frances (née Murphy), who was a locally praised singer. Nagel's mother died early in his life, and he always attributed his artistic inclination to growing up in a family environment that encouraged self-expression. His father became dean of the music conservatory at Highland Park College and when Nagel was three, the family moved to Des Moines, Iowa.
After graduating from Highland Park College at Des Moines, Nagel left for California to pursue a career in the relatively new medium of motion pictures where he garnered instant attention from the Hollywood studio executives. He made his film debut in Little Women (Harley Knoles, 1918), the second film adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott story. Nagel got favourable reviews for his role as Laurie.
From 1918 to 1962, Nagel was also active on Broadway. His breakout role came in the film The Fighting Chance (Charles Maigne, 1920), opposite Swedish actress Anna Q. Nilsson .
During the 1920s, he became a popular matinee idol thanks to such films as Cecil B. DeMille's Fool's Paradise (1921) and Saturday Night (1922) with Leatrice Joy. He showed an unpretentious all-American charm. Nagel was nicknamed 'the Prince Consort', because of his numerous romantic leads opposite stars like Gloria Swanson , Bebe Daniels and Pola Negri .
In 1927, Nagel starred alongside Lon Chaney Sr. , Marceline Day, Henry B. Walthall and Polly Moran in the now lost horror film, London After Midnight (Tod Browning, 1927). Among his best known films are The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928) and The Kiss (Jacques Feyder, 1929), in which he appeared opposite Greta Garbo .
Nagel' career was waning, but he became invaluable to MGM and Warner Bros. by assisting them on passing judgement on their contract players regarding the suitability of their voices for the film microphone. He was an expert thanks to his stage background, and his diction was superb. His salary was raised to $2500 a week and he was loaned out to other studios for a sum of $30,000 for his services in aiding the transition to 'talkies'.
French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 218. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 728. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film. Conrad Nagel in The Only Thing (Jack Conway, 1925).
Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 885. Photo: Warner Bros. Postcard possibly for the period piece Glorious Betsy (Alan Crossland, 1928), in which Nagel plays Jerome Bonaparte.
French postcard by Europe, no. 705. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Dutch postcard, no. 180. Photo: Universal. Genevieve Tobin and Nagel played together in Free Love (Hobart Henley, 1930) and A Lady Surrenders (John M. Stahl, 1930).
A decidedly bland performer
Conrad Nagel was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and from 1932 to 1933, he was the president of the Academy. He was also a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
In his study 'Silent Players', Anthony Slide writes: "He probably deserves more praise for founding the Academy and as a spokesman for Actors' Equity than as an actor, for he was a decidedly bland performer, so innocuous as to almost blend in with the sets of many of his features."
During the 1930s, he appeared in little known productions as the action films The Ship from Shanghai (Charles Brabin, 1930), and Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932) with Walter Huston. He spent the next several decades in high-profile films as a character actor.
Nagel hosted the Academy Awards in 1930, 1932 and again in 1953, this time alongside Bob Hope. He was awarded a Special Oscar in 1947 for his work on the Motion Picture relief Fund. Towards the end of his film career, Nagel acted as host for radio and TV shows.
Conrad Nagel died in 1970 in his Manhattan apartment in New York. He was married to Ruth Helms, actress Lynn Merrick and Michael Coulson Smith. All marriages ended in a divorce. He had two children, Ruth Margaret (1920) with first wife, Ruth) and Michael (late 1950s) with third wife Michael.
The last of his 109 feature films had been A Stranger in My Arms (Helmut Käutner, 1959). Anthony Slide: "Curiously, despite the length of his career, the number of features in which he appeared, and the major studios for which he worked, Conrad Nagel did not appear in one film that might be regarded as a classic."
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 232.
British postcard, no. 6 of a fifth series of 25 cinema stars issued with Sarony Cigarettes. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3787/4, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928) with Greta Garbo . Collection: Joanna.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3924/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Conrad Nagel and Greta Garbo in the silent spy story The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928), based on the novel 'Der Krieg im Dunkel' by Ludwig Wolff.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4270/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6444/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Hell Divers (George W. Hill, 1931).
French postcard by Europe, no. 885. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Sources: Anthony Slide (Silent Players), Wikipedia and .
German postcard by Ross Verlag Foreign, no. 3785/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3787/3, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Publicity still for The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928) with Greta Garbo .
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4902/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Publicity still for The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) with Anita Page.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5113/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Publicity still for The Kiss (Jacques Feyder, 1929) with Greta Garbo .
Italian postcard, no. 165. Foto: Ebany.
The Prince Consort
Conrad Nagel was born in 1897 in Keokuk, Iowa, USA as John Conrad Nagel. Conrad was the son of a musician father, Frank Nagel, and a mother, Frances (née Murphy), who was a locally praised singer. Nagel's mother died early in his life, and he always attributed his artistic inclination to growing up in a family environment that encouraged self-expression. His father became dean of the music conservatory at Highland Park College and when Nagel was three, the family moved to Des Moines, Iowa.
After graduating from Highland Park College at Des Moines, Nagel left for California to pursue a career in the relatively new medium of motion pictures where he garnered instant attention from the Hollywood studio executives. He made his film debut in Little Women (Harley Knoles, 1918), the second film adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott story. Nagel got favourable reviews for his role as Laurie.
From 1918 to 1962, Nagel was also active on Broadway. His breakout role came in the film The Fighting Chance (Charles Maigne, 1920), opposite Swedish actress Anna Q. Nilsson .
During the 1920s, he became a popular matinee idol thanks to such films as Cecil B. DeMille's Fool's Paradise (1921) and Saturday Night (1922) with Leatrice Joy. He showed an unpretentious all-American charm. Nagel was nicknamed 'the Prince Consort', because of his numerous romantic leads opposite stars like Gloria Swanson , Bebe Daniels and Pola Negri .
In 1927, Nagel starred alongside Lon Chaney Sr. , Marceline Day, Henry B. Walthall and Polly Moran in the now lost horror film, London After Midnight (Tod Browning, 1927). Among his best known films are The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928) and The Kiss (Jacques Feyder, 1929), in which he appeared opposite Greta Garbo .
Nagel' career was waning, but he became invaluable to MGM and Warner Bros. by assisting them on passing judgement on their contract players regarding the suitability of their voices for the film microphone. He was an expert thanks to his stage background, and his diction was superb. His salary was raised to $2500 a week and he was loaned out to other studios for a sum of $30,000 for his services in aiding the transition to 'talkies'.
French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 218. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 728. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film. Conrad Nagel in The Only Thing (Jack Conway, 1925).
Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 885. Photo: Warner Bros. Postcard possibly for the period piece Glorious Betsy (Alan Crossland, 1928), in which Nagel plays Jerome Bonaparte.
French postcard by Europe, no. 705. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Dutch postcard, no. 180. Photo: Universal. Genevieve Tobin and Nagel played together in Free Love (Hobart Henley, 1930) and A Lady Surrenders (John M. Stahl, 1930).
A decidedly bland performer
Conrad Nagel was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and from 1932 to 1933, he was the president of the Academy. He was also a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
In his study 'Silent Players', Anthony Slide writes: "He probably deserves more praise for founding the Academy and as a spokesman for Actors' Equity than as an actor, for he was a decidedly bland performer, so innocuous as to almost blend in with the sets of many of his features."
During the 1930s, he appeared in little known productions as the action films The Ship from Shanghai (Charles Brabin, 1930), and Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932) with Walter Huston. He spent the next several decades in high-profile films as a character actor.
Nagel hosted the Academy Awards in 1930, 1932 and again in 1953, this time alongside Bob Hope. He was awarded a Special Oscar in 1947 for his work on the Motion Picture relief Fund. Towards the end of his film career, Nagel acted as host for radio and TV shows.
Conrad Nagel died in 1970 in his Manhattan apartment in New York. He was married to Ruth Helms, actress Lynn Merrick and Michael Coulson Smith. All marriages ended in a divorce. He had two children, Ruth Margaret (1920) with first wife, Ruth) and Michael (late 1950s) with third wife Michael.
The last of his 109 feature films had been A Stranger in My Arms (Helmut Käutner, 1959). Anthony Slide: "Curiously, despite the length of his career, the number of features in which he appeared, and the major studios for which he worked, Conrad Nagel did not appear in one film that might be regarded as a classic."
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 232.
British postcard, no. 6 of a fifth series of 25 cinema stars issued with Sarony Cigarettes. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3787/4, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928) with Greta Garbo . Collection: Joanna.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3924/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Conrad Nagel and Greta Garbo in the silent spy story The Mysterious Lady (Fred Niblo, 1928), based on the novel 'Der Krieg im Dunkel' by Ludwig Wolff.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4270/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6444/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Hell Divers (George W. Hill, 1931).
French postcard by Europe, no. 885. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Sources: Anthony Slide (Silent Players), Wikipedia and .
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