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Die Baureihe 601 der Deutschen Bundesbahn war am 7. Juni 1986 noch im Reisebüro-Sonderzugverkehr im Einsatz, hier im Bahnhof Hamburg-Altona. Auf dem Foto steht der 601 019 mit den 901 301, 104, 307, 405, 113, 308 und am Ende der 601 014. Links im Bild auf der Bahnhofsbank die Werbung: "Bifi muß mit".
www.larsbrueggemann.de/hamburger-bahnen/031-bahnhof-hambu...
Die Baureihe 601 der Deutschen Bundesbahn war am 7. Juni 1986 noch im Reisebüro-Sonderzugverkehr im Einsatz, hier im Bahnhof Hamburg-Altona. Auf dem Foto steht der 601 019 mit den 901 301, 104, 307, 405, 113, 308 und am Ende der 601 014. Links im Bild auf der Bahnhofsbank die Werbung: "Bifi muß mit".
www.larsbrueggemann.de/hamburger-bahnen/031-bahnhof-hambu...
Vintage collectors card.
Jany Holt (1909-2005) was a French actress of Rumanian origin. She had an extensive career in French cinema and French theatre from the 1930's on. She reached her zenith during the late 1930'''s and the war years.
Jany Holt was born in 1909 (some say 1911) in Bucarest, Rumania, as Ekaterina Rouxandra Vladesco-Olt. In 1926 she was sent to Paris by her parents to do commercial studies. Instead, she preferred to inscribe for a dramatic course with Charles Dullin and Gabrielle Fontan. Working as a stand-in on stage, she replaced Jackie Monnier opposite Harry Baur in David Golder. In 1935, Ludmilla and Georges Pitoëff engaged her to play in La Créature by Ferdinand Bruckner, which set off her stage and also her film career. Her film debut she had already had in 1931 with the film Un homme en habit (Robert Bossis, René Guissart), but it was from 1935 that she had an extensive career in cinema.
Passionate Jany Holt knew how to conquer the hearts of the film audiences. With her sharp profile, flaming red hair and skinny figure she could not become a soubrette and set for the more melancholic, neurotic characters. She was Giulietta Giucciardi in Un grand amour de Beethoven (Abel Gance 1936) and the unhappy lover in Courrier-Sud (Pierre Billon 1936). On the set of 'Beethoven', she met Marcel Dalio, who was impressed by her slightly sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. They married in 1936, though the Jewish Dalio refused to convert to catholicism as Holt's parents had wanted him to do. From 1936 on, she played quite extreme characters such as the hallucinating daughter of the rabbi in Le Golem (Julien Duvivier 1936), the prostitute Nastia in Jean Renoir’s Les Bas-Fonds (1936), and a bar hostess involved in an intrigue between Louis Jouvet and Erich von Stroheim in L’Alibi (Pierre Chenal 1937). One of the roles in which she best expressed her melancholy and ardour was in La Maison du Maltais (Pierre Chenal 1938), in which Holt plays the consumptive prostitute Greta, who dies in Morocco while dreaming of her beloved Normandy. After La Tragédie impériale (1937/38) by Marcel L’Herbier, in which Holt played a nun who accepts she has to kill, Holt’s best parts followed in the 1940s. In the meanwhile, she divorced Dalio, who fled to Hollywood in 1940, while the same year Holt married Jacques Porel, son of stage actress Gabrielle Réjane, who had fallen in love with her radiating personality and her red hair.
In Le Baron fantôme (1942), directed by Serge de Poligny and dialogued by Jean Cocteau, Holt was Anne, the adopted daughter of a countess. The countess’ daughter Elfy (Odette Joyeux) who is forced to do a mariage de raison, doesn’t know that the object of her passion, Hervé (Alain Cuny), is in love with the enigmatic Anne. In Les Anges du péché (Robert Bresson 1943), Holt plays Thérèse, a woman innocently imprisoned. When released she kills the man who committed the crime for which she was sentenced, and then seeks refuge at the convent of a nun (Renée Faure) who previously befriended her. Another mystical setting surrounded Holt In La Fiancée des ténèbres (De Poligny 1944), shot at the fortified city of Carcassonne and referring to the cult of the Cathars. Holt played the central character Sylvie, who believes she is cursed. In June 1945 Holt was decorated by General Charles de Gaulle, for her work in the resistance.
In the postwar era, Holt played memorable roles as the unfaithful wife of Michel Simon in Non coupable (Henri Decoin 1947) and the avenger in Mademoiselle de La Ferté (Roger Dallier 1949). After that, Holt focused on her stage work. Remarkable - but clearly smaller - roles in later years were in Gervaise (René Clément 1955), La femme gauchère/Die linkshändige Frau (Peter Handke 1978), La Passerelle (Jean Claude Sussfeld 1987), Métisse (Mathieu Kassovitz 1992), and Noir comme le souvenir (Jean-Pierre Mocky 1994), her last film part. While Holt's stage career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, working with stage directors like Paulette Pax, Jean Cocteau and Robert Murzeau, Holt was also active on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Jany Holt died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 2005, reaching the high age of 96.
Sources:
Films de France, BIFI, The Guardian,
Wikipedia (French and English) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
French postcard EPC, no. 180. Photo: Star.
Jany Holt (1909-2005) was a French actress of Rumanian origin. She had an extensive career in French cinema and French theatre from the 1930's on. She reached her zenith during the late 1930'''s and the war years.
Jany Holt was born in 1909 (some say 1911) in Bucarest, Rumania, as Ekaterina Rouxandra Vladesco-Olt. In 1926 she was sent to Paris by her parents to do commercial studies. Instead, she preferred to inscribe for a dramatic course with Charles Dullin and Gabrielle Fontan. Working as a stand-in on stage, she replaced Jackie Monnier opposite Harry Baur in David Golder. In 1935, Ludmilla and Georges Pitoëff engaged her to play in La Créature by Ferdinand Bruckner, which set off her stage and also her film career. Her film debut she had already had in 1931 with the film Un homme en habit (Robert Bossis, René Guissart), but it was from 1935 that she had an extensive career in cinema.
Passionate Jany Holt knew how to conquer the hearts of the film audiences. With her sharp profile, flaming red hair and skinny figure she could not become a soubrette and set for the more melancholic, neurotic characters. She was Giulietta Giucciardi in Un grand amour de Beethoven (Abel Gance 1936) and the unhappy lover in Courrier-Sud (Pierre Billon 1936). On the set of 'Beethoven', she met Marcel Dalio, who was impressed by her slightly sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. They married in 1936, though the Jewish Dalio refused to convert to catholicism as Holt's parents had wanted him to do. From 1936 on, she played quite extreme characters such as the hallucinating daughter of the rabbi in Le Golem (Julien Duvivier 1936), the prostitute Nastia in Jean Renoir’s Les Bas-Fonds (1936), and a bar hostess involved in an intrigue between Louis Jouvet and Erich von Stroheim in L’Alibi (Pierre Chenal 1937). One of the roles in which she best expressed her melancholy and ardour was in La Maison du Maltais (Pierre Chenal 1938), in which Holt plays the consumptive prostitute Greta, who dies in Morocco while dreaming of her beloved Normandy. After La Tragédie impériale (1937/38) by Marcel L’Herbier, in which Holt played a nun who accepts she has to kill, Holt’s best parts followed in the 1940s. In the meanwhile, she divorced Dalio, who fled to Hollywood in 1940, while the same year Holt married Jacques Porel, son of stage actress Gabrielle Réjane, who had fallen in love with her radiating personality and her red hair.
In Le Baron fantôme (1942), directed by Serge de Poligny and dialogued by Jean Cocteau, Holt was Anne, the adopted daughter of a countess. The countess’ daughter Elfy (Odette Joyeux) who is forced to do a mariage de raison, doesn’t know that the object of her passion, Hervé (Alain Cuny), is in love with the enigmatic Anne. In Les Anges du péché (Robert Bresson 1943), Holt plays Thérèse, a woman innocently imprisoned. When released she kills the man who committed the crime for which she was sentenced, and then seeks refuge at the convent of a nun (Renée Faure) who previously befriended her. Another mystical setting surrounded Holt In La Fiancée des ténèbres (De Poligny 1944), shot at the fortified city of Carcassonne and referring to the cult of the Cathars. Holt played the central character Sylvie, who believes she is cursed. In June 1945 Holt was decorated by General Charles de Gaulle, for her work in the resistance.
In the postwar era, Holt played memorable roles as the unfaithful wife of Michel Simon in Non coupable (Henri Decoin 1947) and the avenger in Mademoiselle de La Ferté (Roger Dallier 1949). After that, Holt focused on her stage work. Remarkable - but clearly smaller - roles in later years were in Gervaise (René Clément 1955), La femme gauchère/Die linkshändige Frau (Peter Handke 1978), La Passerelle (Jean Claude Sussfeld 1987), Métisse (Mathieu Kassovitz 1992), and Noir comme le souvenir (Jean-Pierre Mocky 1994), her last film part. While Holt's stage career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, working with stage directors like Paulette Pax, Jean Cocteau and Robert Murzeau, Holt was also active on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Jany Holt died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 2005, reaching the high age of 96.
Sources:
Films de France, BIFI, The Guardian,
Wikipedia (French and English) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Vintage postcard, no. 31-2.
Sandra Milowanoff (1892-1957), also written as Milovanoff, was a Russian actress who became French citizen. She was a star of the French silent cinema in the 1920s, acting with directors like Feuillade, De Baroncelli, Fescourt and Vanel.
Sandra Milowanoff was born Alexandrine Milowanoff in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, on 23 June 1892 and was the daughter of Alexis and Marie Milowanoff. She already dedicated herself to dance at a young age, and entered the corps de ballet of the famous Anna Pavlova, causing great success in Tchaikovsky’s ballet Sleeping Beauty [all Wikipedia versions write ‘in the role of Anna’, but there is no Anna in Sleeping Beauty). After a triumphant tour of various European capitals, Alexandrine left her homeland in 1917 to escape the Russian revolution. Her family found shelter in Montecarlo where she while looking for work, got a small part in a film by René Hervil and Louis Mercanton, La p’tite du sixième(1917). Fascinated by her beauty, director Louis Feuillade gave her a leading part in the 12-part serial Les Deux Gamines (1921), and when this proved to be a massive success, he cast her again in three other 12-part serials: L’Orphéline (1921), Parisette (1921) and Le fils du filibustier (1922). Together with Olinda Mano (the child actor from Feuilllade’s Judex), Milowanoff played the two title characters in Les Deux Gamines, while other actors were a.o. Blanche Montel, Georges Biscot, Edouard Maté, Fernand Herrmann and a debuting, young René Clair. The same cast returned in the subsequent Feuillade serials mentioned above, even if the male lead in Le fils du filibustier was for Aimé Simon-Girard, by then the dashing hero of the successful series film Les Trois Mousquetaires (1921) by Henri Diamant-Berger.
After a last female lead with Feuillade in his feature Le gamin de Paris (1922) with former child star René Poyen and the new child actor Bouboule – she was the real discovery of the film - Milowanoff became a regular actress for director Jacques de Baroncelli, who cast her in his dramas Néné (1923), La légende de soeur Béatrix (1923), La flambée des rêves (1924) and in particular, the Pierre Loti adaptation Pêcheur d'Islande, where she played the tragic protagonist Gaud and acted opposite Charles Vanel [and not Romuald Joubé, as all Wikipedia versions write]. Vanel plays the fisherman Yann who is in love with Gaud, the sister of his best friend Sylvestre (played by Roger San Juana) but is too proud to ask for her hand in marriage. After female leads in Jocaste (1924) by Gaston Ravel and starring Thomy Bourdelle, and Le Fantôme du Moulin-Rouge (1925) by René Clair and starring Albert Préjean, Henri Fescourt gave Milowanoff the double role of Fantine and her daughter Cosette in the 4-part historical drama Les Misérables (1925), based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel and starring Gabriel Gabrio as Jean Valjean and Jean Toulout as Javert.
Sandra Milowanoff’s career remained highly successful throughout the whole silent era. After Mauprat (1926) by Jean Epstein and with Maurice Schutz in a double role, Les larmes de Colette (1926) by René Barberis and with Paul Jorge and Renée Carl, and La proie du vent (1927) by René Clair and starring Charles Vanel, Milowanoff embarked on an international career. She first acted with the Spanish director Benito Perojo in La condesa Maria/ La comtesse Marie (1927) with José Nieto, then with the German director Felix Basch in Da hält die Welt den Atem an/ Maquillage (1927) with Marcella Albani and Werner Krauss, and next with the Swedish director Gustav Molander in Förseglade läppar/ Lèvres closes (1927) with Louis Lerch and Mona Märtenson. Curious is that both some of the French and the international productions were Albatros (co-)productions, while Milowanoff did not act in the earlier Albatros productions of the early 1920s in which Russian actors and directors were so prominent.
After her international adventures Milowanoff returned to France to act in René Barberis’ La veine (1928) with Rolla Norman, La faute de Monique (1928) by Maurice Gleize and with Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and La meilleure maîtresse (1929) by René Hervil and starring Tramel. Her last silent film was a film directed by Charles Vanel, called Dans la nuit, and starred both Vanel and Milowanoff. The film is now recognized as a virtuoso masterpiece, especially after its restoration and relaunch in 2002. Its daring framing, editing and mobile framing struck modern viewers and his style has been compared to that of Renoir, Gremillon and Franju. But at the time Dans la nuit came out in France at the same time as The Jazz Singer, so the film was completely ignored and Vanel quit film directing altogether. When sound cinema set in, Sandra Milowanoff quit acting in the film. In the 1940s Milowanoff acted in a handful of films and only in minor parts, while she quit the screen altogether in 1950. Almost completely forgotten, she died in Paris on 8 May 1957, at almost 65 years, and lies buried at the Pantin cemetery (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Sources: Ciné-Ressources (BiFi), Ciné-Artistes, Allo-Ciné. Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (French, Spanish and Italian) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
French postcard, no. 740. Photo: Harcourt.
Jany Holt (1909-2005) was a French actress of Romanian origin. She had an extensive career in French cinema and French theatre from the 1930s on. She reached her zenith during the late 1930s and the war years.
Jany Holt was born in 1909 (some say 1911) in Bucarest, Rumania, as Ekaterina Rouxandra Vladesco-Olt. In 1926 she was sent to Paris by her parents to do commercial studies. Instead, she preferred to inscribe for a dramatic course with Charles Dullin and Gabrielle Fontan. Working as a stand-in on stage, she replaced Jackie Monnier opposite Harry Baur in David Golder. In 1935, Ludmilla and Georges Pitoëff engaged her to play in La Créature by Ferdinand Bruckner, which set off her stage and also her film career. Her film debut she had already had in 1931 with the film Un homme en habit (Robert Bossis, René Guissart), but it was from 1935 that she had an extensive career in cinema.
Passionate Jany Holt knew how to conquer the hearts of the film audiences. With her sharp profile, flaming red hair and skinny figure she could not become a soubrette and set for the more melancholic, neurotic characters. She was Giulietta Giucciardi in Un grand amour de Beethoven (Abel Gance 1936) and the unhappy lover in Courrier-Sud (Pierre Billon 1936). On the set of 'Beethoven', she met Marcel Dalio, who was impressed by her slightly sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. They married in 1936, though the Jewish Dalio refused to convert to catholicism as Holt's parents had wanted him to do. From 1936 on, she played quite extreme characters such as the hallucinating daughter of the rabbi in Le Golem (Julien Duvivier 1936), the prostitute Nastia in Jean Renoir’s Les Bas-Fonds (1936), and a bar hostess involved in an intrigue between Louis Jouvet and Erich von Stroheim in L’Alibi (Pierre Chenal 1937). One of the roles in which she best expressed her melancholy and ardour was in La Maison du Maltais (Pierre Chenal 1938), in which Holt plays the consumptive prostitute Greta, who dies in Morocco while dreaming of her beloved Normandy. After La Tragédie impériale (1937/38) by Marcel L’Herbier, in which Holt played a nun who accepts she has to kill, Holt’s best parts followed in the 1940s. In the meanwhile, she divorced Dalio, who fled to Hollywood in 1940, while the same year Holt married Jacques Porel, son of stage actress Gabrielle Réjane, who had fallen in love with her radiating personality and her red hair.
In Le Baron fantôme (1942), directed by Serge de Poligny and dialogued by Jean Cocteau, Holt was Anne, the adopted daughter of a countess. The countess’ daughter Elfy (Odette Joyeux) who is forced to do a mariage de raison, doesn’t know that the object of her passion, Hervé (Alain Cuny), is in love with the enigmatic Anne. In Les Anges du péché (Robert Bresson 1943), Holt plays Thérèse, a woman innocently imprisoned. When released she kills the man who committed the crime for which she was sentenced, and then seeks refuge at the convent of a nun (Renée Faure) who previously befriended her. Another mystical setting surrounded Holt In La Fiancée des ténèbres (De Poligny 1944), shot at the fortified city of Carcassonne and referring to the cult of the Cathars. Holt played the central character Sylvie, who believes she is cursed. In June 1945 Holt was decorated by General Charles de Gaulle, for her work in the resistance.
In the postwar era, Holt played memorable roles as the unfaithful wife of Michel Simon in Non coupable (Henri Decoin 1947) and the avenger in Mademoiselle de La Ferté (Roger Dallier 1949). After that, Holt focused on her stage work. Remarkable - but clearly smaller - roles in later years were in Gervaise (René Clément 1955), La femme gauchère/Die linkshändige Frau (Peter Handke 1978), La Passerelle (Jean Claude Sussfeld 1987), Métisse (Mathieu Kassovitz 1992), and Noir comme le souvenir (Jean-Pierre Mocky 1994), her last film part. While Holt's stage career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, working with stage directors like Paulette Pax, Jean Cocteau and Robert Murzeau, Holt was also active on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Jany Holt died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 2005, reaching the high age of 96.
Sources:
Films de France, BIFI, The Guardian,
Wikipedia (French and English) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Monday's 12.08 CAR - BIFis seen at Parton in the hands of a single Class 153 against a backdrop of the Isle of Man.
Vintage postcard, no. 31-1.
Sandra Milowanoff (1892-1957), also written as Milovanoff, was a Russian actress who became French citizen. She was a star of the French silent cinema in the 1920s, acting with directors like Feuillade, De Baroncelli, Fescourt and Vanel.
Sandra Milowanoff was born Alexandrine Milowanoff in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, on 23 June 1892 and was the daughter of Alexis and Marie Milowanoff. She already dedicated herself to dance at a young age, and entered the corps de ballet of the famous Anna Pavlova, causing great success in Tchaikovsky’s ballet Sleeping Beauty [all Wikipedia versions write ‘in the role of Anna’, but there is no Anna in Sleeping Beauty). After a triumphant tour of various European capitals, Alexandrine left her homeland in 1917 to escape the Russian Revolution. Her family found shelter in Montecarlo where she while looking for work, got a small part in a film by René Hervil and Louis Mercanton, La p’tite du sixième(1917). Fascinated by her beauty, director Louis Feuillade gave her a leading part in the 12-part serial Les Deux Gamines (1921), and when this proved to be a massive success, he cast her again in three other 12-part serials: L’Orphéline (1921), Parisette (1921) and Le fils du filibustier (1922). Together with Olinda Mano (the child actor from Feuilllade’s Judex), Milowanoff played the two title characters in Les Deux Gamines, while other actors were a.o. Blanche Montel, Georges Biscot, Edouard Maté, Fernand Herrmann and a debuting, young René Clair. The same cast returned in the subsequent Feuillade serials mentioned above, even if the male lead in Le fils du filibustier was for Aimé Simon-Girard, by then the dashing hero of the successful series film Les Trois Mousquetaires (1921) by Henri Diamant-Berger.
After a last female lead with Feuillade in his feature Le gamin de Paris (1922) with former child star René Poyen and the new child actor Bouboule – she was the real discovery of the film - Milowanoff became a regular actress for director Jacques de Baroncelli, who cast her in his dramas Néné (1923), La légende de soeur Béatrix (1923), La flambée des rêves (1924) and in particular, the Pierre Loti adaptation Pêcheur d'Islande, where she played the tragic protagonist Gaud and acted opposite Charles Vanel [and not Romuald Joubé, as all Wikipedia versions write]. Vanel plays the fisherman Yann who is in love with Gaud, the sister of his best friend Sylvestre (played by Roger San Juana) but is too proud to ask for her hand in marriage. After female leads in Jocaste (1924) by Gaston Ravel and starring Thomy Bourdelle, and Le Fantôme du Moulin-Rouge (1925) by René Clair and starring Albert Préjean, Henri Fescourt gave Milowanoff the double role of Fantine and her daughter Cosette in the 4-part historical drama Les Misérables (1925), based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel and starring Gabriel Gabrio as Jean Valjean and Jean Toulout as Javert.
Sandra Milowanoff’s career remained highly successful throughout the whole silent era. After Mauprat (1926) by Jean Epstein and with Maurice Schutz in a double role, Les larmes de Colette (1926) by René Barberis and with Paul Jorge and Renée Carl, and La proie du vent (1927) by René Clair and starring Charles Vanel, Milowanoff embarked on an international career. She first acted with the Spanish director Benito Perojo in La condesa Maria/ La comtesse Marie (1927) with José Nieto, then with the German director Felix Basch in Da hält die Welt den Atem an/ Maquillage (1927) with Marcella Albani and Werner Krauss, and next with the Swedish director Gustav Molander in Förseglade läppar/ Lèvres closes (1927) with Louis Lerch and Mona Märtenson. Curious is that both some of the French and the international productions were Albatros (co-)productions, while Milowanoff did not act in the earlier Albatros productions of the early 1920s in which Russian actors and directors were so prominent.
After her international adventures Milowanoff returned to France to act in René Barberis’ La veine (1928) with Rolla Norman, La faute de Monique (1928) by Maurice Gleize and with Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and La meilleure maîtresse (1929) by René Hervil and starring Tramel. Her last silent film was a film directed by Charles Vanel, called Dans la nuit, and starred both Vanel and Milowanoff. The film is now recognized as a virtuoso masterpiece, especially after its restoration and relaunch in 2002. Its daring framing, editing and mobile framing struck modern viewers and his style has been compared to that of Renoir, Gremillon and Franju. But at the time Dans la nuit came out in France at the same time as The Jazz Singer, so the film was completely ignored and Vanel quit film directing altogether. When sound cinema set in, Sandra Milowanoff quit acting in the film. In the 1940s Milowanoff acted in a handful of films and only in minor parts, while she quit the screen altogether in 1950. Almost completely forgotten, she died in Paris on 8 May 1957, at almost 65 years, and lies buried at the Pantin cemetery (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Sources: Ciné-Ressources (BiFi), Ciné-Artistes, Allo-Ciné. Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (French, Spanish and Italian) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
French postcard by Europe, no. 512. Photo: Loca-Films.
Sandra Milowanoff (1892-1957), also written as Milovanoff, was a Russian actress who became French citizen. She was a star of the French silent cinema in the 1920s, acting with directors like Feuillade, De Baroncelli, Fescourt and Vanel.
Sandra Milowanoff was born Alexandrine Milowanoff in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, on 23 June 1892 and was the daughter of Alexis and Marie Milowanoff. She already dedicated herself to dance at a young age, and entered the corps de ballet of the famous Anna Pavlova, causing great success in Tchaikovsky’s ballet Sleeping Beauty [all Wikipedia versions write ‘in the role of Anna’, but there is no Anna in Sleeping Beauty). After a triumphant tour of various European capitals, Alexandrine left her homeland in 1917 to escape the Russian Revolution. Her family found shelter in Montecarlo where she while looking for work, got a small part in a film by René Hervil and Louis Mercanton, La p’tite du sixième(1917). Fascinated by her beauty, director Louis Feuillade gave her a leading part in the 12-part serial Les Deux Gamines (1921), and when this proved to be a massive success, he cast her again in three other 12-part serials: L’Orphéline (1921), Parisette (1921) and Le fils du filibustier (1922). Together with Olinda Mano (the child actor from Feuilllade’s Judex), Milowanoff played the two title characters in Les Deux Gamines, while other actors were a.o. Blanche Montel, Georges Biscot, Edouard Maté, Fernand Herrmann and a debuting, young René Clair. The same cast returned in the subsequent Feuillade serials mentioned above, even if the male lead in Le fils du filibustier was for Aimé Simon-Girard, by then the dashing hero of the successful series film Les Trois Mousquetaires (1921) by Henri Diamant-Berger.
After a last female lead with Feuillade in his feature Le gamin de Paris (1922) with former child star René Poyen and the new child actor Bouboule – she was the real discovery of the film - Milowanoff became a regular actress for director Jacques de Baroncelli, who cast her in his dramas Néné (1923), La légende de soeur Béatrix (1923), La flambée des rêves (1924) and in particular, the Pierre Loti adaptation Pêcheur d'Islande, where she played the tragic protagonist Gaud and acted opposite Charles Vanel [and not Romuald Joubé, as all Wikipedia versions write]. Vanel plays the fisherman Yann who is in love with Gaud, the sister of his best friend Sylvestre (played by Roger San Juana) but is too proud to ask for her hand in marriage. After female leads in Jocaste (1924) by Gaston Ravel and starring Thomy Bourdelle, and Le Fantôme du Moulin-Rouge (1925) by René Clair and starring Albert Préjean, Henri Fescourt gave Milowanoff the double role of Fantine and her daughter Cosette in the 4-part historical drama Les Misérables (1925), based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel and starring Gabriel Gabrio as Jean Valjean and Jean Toulout as Javert.
Sandra Milowanoff’s career remained highly successful throughout the whole silent era. After Mauprat (1926) by Jean Epstein and with Maurice Schutz in a double role, Les larmes de Colette (1926) by René Barberis and with Paul Jorge and Renée Carl, and La proie du vent (1927) by René Clair and starring Charles Vanel, Milowanoff embarked on an international career. She first acted with the Spanish director Benito Perojo in La condesa Maria/ La comtesse Marie (1927) with José Nieto, then with the German director Felix Basch in Da hält die Welt den Atem an/ Maquillage (1927) with Marcella Albani and Werner Krauss, and next with the Swedish director Gustav Molander in Förseglade läppar/ Lèvres closes (1927) with Louis Lerch and Mona Märtenson. Curious is that both some of the French and the international productions were Albatros (co-)productions, while Milowanoff did not act in the earlier Albatros productions of the early 1920s in which Russian actors and directors were so prominent.
After her international adventures Milowanoff returned to France to act in René Barberis’ La veine (1928) with Rolla Norman, La faute de Monique (1928) by Maurice Gleize and with Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and La meilleure maîtresse (1929) by René Hervil and starring Tramel. Her last silent film was a film directed by Charles Vanel, called Dans la nuit, and starred both Vanel and Milowanoff. The film is now recognized as a virtuoso masterpiece, especially after its restoration and relaunch in 2002. Its daring framing, editing and mobile framing struck modern viewers and his style has been compared to that of Renoir, Gremillon and Franju. But at the time Dans la nuit came out in France at the same time as The Jazz Singer, so the film was completely ignored and Vanel quit film directing altogether. When sound cinema set in, Sandra Milowanoff quit acting in the film. In the 1940s Milowanoff acted in a handful of films and only in minor parts, while she quit the screen altogether in 1950. Almost completely forgotten, she died in Paris on 8 May 1957, at almost 65 years, and lies buried at the Pantin cemetery (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Sources: Ciné-Ressources (BiFi), Ciné-Artistes, Allo-Ciné. Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (French, Spanish and Italian) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 200. Photo: Alliance Cinématographique. Pierre de Guingand in L'équipage/Last Flight (Maurice Tourneur, 1928).
Pierre de Guingand (1885-1964) was a French stage and film actor in the 1920s and 1930s. He was most noteworthy for performing elegant rich men in films like Au bonheur des dames (1929) and Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame (1929).
Octave-Pierre Deguingand, aka Pierre de Guingand, was born 6. June 1885 in Paris. He might have debuted in 1908 on stage in the play Ramuntcho by Pierre Loti, directed by André Antoine at the Théâtre de l'Odéon. A few years later he was visible in the play La Pèlerine écossaise (1914) by Sacha Guitry, at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens. In 1921 Guingand played in Une danseuse est morte by Charles Le Bargy, at the Théâtre des Galeries Saint Hubert. Also in 1921 Guingand debuted in film and had a big role right away as Aramis in Les Trois Mousquetaires by Henri Diamant-Berger, a 12-episode film. He again played Aramis in the sequel Vingt ans après (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1922), this time a 10-episode serial. Guingand stayed on with Diamant-Berger for the subsequent films Le Mauvais Garçon (1922), L'Emprise (1923), and Le Roi de la vitesse (1923). In the following year, Guingand played Lodovico Gonzaga in Le Vert Galant (1924) by René Leprince, this time a film in 8 episodes, while in 1925 he performed as marquis d'Aurilly in the 8-episode serial Fanfan La Tulipe, again by Leprince and starring Aimé Simon-Girard. While in 1926-27 he was almost absent from the screen, instead he performed on stage in plays such as Le Prince charmant (1925) by Tristan Bernard, at the Théâtre Michel, and Un perdreau de l'année (1926), again by Tristan Bernard, and again at the Théâtre Michel. Guigand returned to the set in 1928 in L'Équipage by Maurice Tourneur, starring Charles Vanel and Jean Murat, and in La Possession by Léonce Perret and with Italian film diva Francesca Bertini in the female lead.
In the late silent film Au bonheur des dames (Julien Duvivier 1929), Guingand played Octave Mouret, the rich owner of the department store Au Bonheur des dames, who falls for a young mannequin, Denise (Dita Parlo). Her uncle (Armand Bour), however, owns the little shop Mouret wants to tear down for the expansion of his own department store. Guingand also made another remarkable late silent performance in Germany in Ich küsse ihre hand, Madame (1928/1929), directed by Robert Land, and starring Marlene Dietrich. Guingand plays the ex-husband of Laurette Gerard (Dietrich), who is still infatuated with her despite the divorce. Laurette starts an affair with a gentleman (Harry Liedtke) until she discovers he works as a waiter. In reality, the waiter is a Russian count though.
In 1931 Guingand played in the French version of the early sound film Der Ball, Le Bal by Wilhelm Thiele, starring Germaine Dermoz and Danielle Darrieux. Next came La Chance (René Guissart 1931) with Marie Bell, Une faible femme (Max de Vaucorbeil 1932) with Meg Lemonnier, Chourinette (André Hugon 1934) with Mireille, Le Grand bluff Maurice Champreux (1933), Six cent mille francs par mois Léo Joannon (1933), Le Grand jeu (Jacques Feyder 1933) with Marie Bell, L'Appel du silence (Léon Poirier 1936) with Jean Yonnel as North Africa explorer Charles de Foucauld and Guingand as General Laperrine, Sarati, le terrible (André Hugon 1937) with Harry Baur, Sœurs d'armes (Léon Poirier 1937) with Jeanne Sully and Josette Day, and finally Remontons les Champs-Élysées (Sacha Guitry 1938) with Guitry himself in a multiple lead (a.o. Louis XV and Napoleon III) and Guingand as baron de Vitry. Occasionally Guingand continued stage acting as well, as in Le Cyclone (1931) by Somerset Maugham, directed by Jacques Baumer, at the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, and Tout n'est pas noir (1941) by André Birabeau, directed by Robert Blome, at the Théâtre Daunou. Pierre Guingand died 10. June 1964 in Versailles, where he lies buried.
Sources: French Wikipedia, IMDb, www.bifi.fr
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Imagen capturada desde cierta altura del cortejo que procesionaba el féretro descubierto con los restos mortales del prelado de Huesca doctor Mariano Supervía Lostalé, desde la iglesia de San Cayetano y hasta la estación ferroviaria de Campo Sepulcro para llevarle de regreso a la localidad de Tauste (donde había nacido en 1835) y ser allí finalmente inhumado en la capilla de Nª. Sª. de Sancho Abarca de la iglesia de Santa María. La comitiva fúnebre, que proviene de la inmediata plaza del Justicia, por disposición del rey Alfonso XIII presenta la parafernalia y honores propios de un capitán general del Ejército "que muere en plaza donde tiene mando como jefe".
Al fondo y a la izquierda, esquinero inmueble del nº 40-46 (actual nº 16) de la calle de la Manifestación proyectado por el arquitecto Julio Bravo Folch, en cuyos bajos se ubicaban los almacenes de tejidos de la Viuda de Antonio Ferrer y Bergua.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: colección Supervía Lostalé, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, ubicada, recopilada y comentada por el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Imagen capturada en los jardines traseros de la Lonja, habitual escenario fotográfico para varios minuteros allí ubicados, que en este caso retrararon a Carmen Morer Núñez y su hijo José Luis Latas Morer. La colonia de palomas que por allí revoloteaban (las "palomas de la Lonja") era un reclamo más para el recuerdo visual de la ciudad en este punto, lo que dio pie al establecimiento de la caseta de venta de bolsas de semillas para estas aves que aparece en la foto, gestionada por la "Sociedad Aragonesa de Protección a los Animales y Plantas", que para fomentar la venta de semillas publicita la adquisición con descuento del "rico chocolate" distribuido por la Mutualidad Mercantíl, S.A. Al fondo, el arbolado paseo del Ebro
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: colección Mª Pilar Latas Moner, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, ubicada y comentada por el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Imagen capturada en el cauce del río Ebro, con el monumental fondo de la fachada edilicia formada por las traseras del Palacio Arzobispal, tras el que emerge la torre de la Seo, el Seminario Conciliar de San Valero y de San Braulio, la Casa Consistorial en el ingreso a la calle de la Lonja, y el templo del Pilar con la inacabada torre de Santiago y el airoso volumen de las nuevas cúpulas, entre las que destaca por su volumen la central. El puente de Piedra ejerce de aparente peana del templo, mientras que por sus ojos fluye el agua en temporada baja, posiblemente durante el estío.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: Colección Pinilla-Miguel-Sancho, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, comentada para el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Imagen centrada en la sucursal de la Fabril Manufactura del Vestido sita en el nº 111-113 del tramo medio del Coso, esquina con la calle de la Yedra (justo a la derecha y fuera de plano). Este inmueble será derribado unos años después para dar acceso a la actual calle de San Vicente de Paúl.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: colección Pelayo Martínez, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, ubicada, recopilada y comentada por el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Imagen capturada posiblemente desde la estructura en construcción del nuevo puente sobre el río Ebro que con la denominación de puente de Nª Sª del Pilar, fue iniciado en 1887 e inaugurado en 1895. Con el fondo edilicio del barrio de La Seo y el paseo del Ebro, destaca en primer término y a la izquierda, el estribo sureño del antiguo puente de Tablas o Madera. Tras él, el emboque con la calle del Conde de Alperche. Hacia la derecha, del caserío emerge el cimborrio y la torre de la Seo, seguido a continuación por el Palacio Arzobispal y el Seminario Conciliar de San Valero y de San Braulio.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: Colección Pinilla-Miguel-Sancho, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, comentada para el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Imagen capturada en la terraza de la Hospedería del Pilar con un colectivo posado en el que destaca, sentado y a la izquierda del religioso que centra la fotografía, el alcalde José María García Belenguer. Como telón de fondo y tras la calle de Florencio Jardiel, antigua del Retiro Alto, despejada vista del templo del Pilar antes de la construcción de la casa del Cabildo y el nuevo colegio de los Infantes.
La Hospedería del Pilar fue intensamente utilizada como casa de "Ejercicios espirituales" para tandas de hombres y también de mujeres (por separado, por supuesto), que solían incluir un recuerdo en forma de fotografía de grupo en esta terraza.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: colección J.C.M., en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, ubicada y comentada para el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
French card. Phocéa Film. Suzanne Grandais in the tile role of Simplette (René Hervil, 1919).
Plot: Marie Pasque, known as Simplette (Suzanne Grandais), daughter of a greedy and brutal farmer (Gilbert Dalleu), lives in an uneventful life in her Provence village. Her godmother, Madame Rouvière (Berthe Jalabert), is fond of her and desires only that she marries her nephew, the snob and parvenu Robert (Pierre Sailhan). When she dies, Rouvière leaves her fortune to Robert on the condition that he takes Marie as his wife. Unfortunately, Robert is already in love with an actress, Tania (Tania Daleyme). To save his company from financial ruin, Robert is forced to marry Marie, but as soon as he has received the first half of the inheritance he returns to his former mistress. Marie is still in love with Robert, and she uses the other half of Madame Rouvière's inheritance to help her husband's company survive another financial crisis. When he hears of this, Robert decides to return to Marie but he arrives too late... (Source: Anonymous on IMDB, www.imdb.com/title/tt0339683/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl).
Simplette was directed but also scripted by René Hervil, while cinematography was by Léon Batifol. While IMDB claims the film came out in 1919, Cine-Ressources claims it was in 1920. See cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=49179&...
René Hervil (1881-1960) was a French director, who after having acted in shorts by Jean Durand, Gerard Bourgeois and Camille de Morlhon, started to direct the comical series with the characters Fred (performed by himself) and Maud (performed by actress Aimée 'Miss' Campton). Between 1916 and 1918 he co-directed with Louis Mercanton a large string of films, among which two films with Sarah Bernhardt (Jeanne Doré, 1916, and Mères françaises, 1917) and several films with Suzanne Grandais (Midinettes, 1916; Oh, ce baiser!, 1916; Suzanne, 1916; and Suzanne, professeur de flirt coquin, 1916. In 1919 he was joint again with Grandais again in Simplette, now directed on his own. Hervil would continue to direct the whole 1920s through, and also easily stepped over to sound film. In the mid-1930s he stopped filming.
Suzanne Grandais (1893-1920) was nicknamed the French Mary Pickford because of her angel face. She was one of the most beautiful and sophisticated actresses of the French silent cinema. At the age of 15, she already started to play on the stage. After roles at the Lux and Eclair film companies, she was discovered by Louis Feuillade who hired her for Gaumont. In 1911-1913, she made some 45 films for Gaumont, mostly short comedies and drama's for Gaumont, firstly playing in Feuillade's series Scènes de la vie telle qu'elle est and afterward in the Léonce series, with Léonce Perret as partner and director. Some Gaumont films were features such as Perret's Le Mystère des roches de Kador (1912). Grandais switched to the German Dekage company in 1913-14 for which she did another 18 feature films, directed by Marcel Robert. After that, she founded her own film company with Raoul d'Archy, Les Films Suzanne Grandais. During the war, Grandais also worked at Eclipse and Phocéa. The Eclipse drama Suzanne (1916) was a major international success and turned Grandais into a star. Suzanne Grandais, however, died suddenly in a car crash while making the film L'Essor (Charles Burguet 1920) in the Alsace.
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 19. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères. Caption: Maurice de Féraudy de la Comédie Française.
Maurice de Féraudy (1859-1932) was an actor of the Comédie-Française and a French director. He was also a notable actor and director in French silent cinema.
Dominique Marie Maurice de Féraudy was born in Joinville-le-Pont near Paris on 3 December 1859. His father was the commander of the Ecole militaire de gymnastique at Joinville-le-Pont. After the Conservatoire, where he was a pupil of Got, Maurice entered the Théâtre Français in 1880. He became ‘sociétaire’ of the Comédie-Française in 1887, and ‘doyen’ (dean) in 1929, but he left the same year. He was much acclaimed as a comedian, because of his performances full of gaiety. The role of his life, which he performed some 1 200 times within 30 years – and had the monopoly on it – was that of Isidore Lechat in Les affaires sont les affaires (Business is business) by Octave Mirbeau (1903). Other plays he acted in were by a.o. Bataille, Kistemaekers, Guitry, Ibsen, but also classics by Molière, Balzac and Dumas fils. Between 1896 and 1905 Féraudy taught at the Conservatoire, training upcoming actors like Gabriel Signoret. Féraudy also wrote numerous songs for Paulette Darty, such as the famous Fascination (1901), reprised afterwards by Suzy Delair and Diane Dufresne. He was the father of Jacques de Féraudy (1886-1971), an actor as well.
In 1908-1909 Féraudy debuted in cinema, directing almost 40 shorts under the aegis of his short-lived company Théâtro-Films. His own son Jacques debuted in two of these films, Simple histoire (1908) and Georgette (1908). Afterwards, Féraudy directed a handful of mostly short films at Pathé and Gaumont, with actors who would later become famous, such as Albert Dieudonné, Roger Karl, Maria Falconetti and Jean Angelo. Féraudy last’s direction was the film Après lui (1918) in which he had the lead himself. While most of the films he directed are forgotten now, better known are the films in which he acted. In the 1910s Féraudy acted in films at Eclair, such as Les gaités de l’escadron (Joseph Faivre, Maurice Tourneur 1913), La dame de Monsoreau (Emile Chautard 1913), and Monsieur Lecoq (Tourneur 1914). In the 1920s Féraudy enjoyed the pleasure of playing memorable roles despite his high age. After supporting roles in two films with René Hervil: L’ami Fritz (1921) and Blanchette (1921), both with Léon Mathot in the lead, Féraudy had the male lead himself together with young Jean Forest in Crainquebille (1922) by Jacques Feyder. In this adaptation of a novel by Anatole France, Féraudy played an ageing street vendor who has worked all his life at Les Halles in Paris. Innocently he lands in jail and loses his customers once released, thus becoming an alcoholic. A young street boy (Forest) prevents him from suicide, though, convincing him to start all over again. Next Féraudy played the title role in the Balzac adaptation Le Cousin Pons (Jacques Robert 1923), about a musician and poor art collector who is befriended by a sympathetic German (André Nox), but vultures around him such as his wealthy parvenu lawyer cousins and his landlady realize he possesses a valuable art collection, trying to crush poor Pons.
Féraudy next played in Le secret de Polichinelle (Hervil 1923) about a son who wants to marry a working-class girl (Andrée Brabant) against the wishes of his parents, Le Coeur des gueux (Alfred Machin/ Henri Wulschleger 1925) with Ginette Maddie, the Danish film Klovnen (Anders Sandberg 1926) with Gösta Ekman and Karina Bell, Lady Harrington (Fred Leroy-Granville/ H.C. Grantham-Hayes 1926) with Claude France and Warwick Ward, Fleur d’amour (Marcel Vandal 1927) in which Féraudy had the male lead opposite Rose Mai, and the German film Die Hölle von Montmartre (Willy Reiber/ Franz Seitz 1928) with Eric Barclay and Suzy Vernon. A last memorable part was Féraudy’s role in the tragicomedy Les Deux timides by René Clair (1928) in which Pierre Batcheff plays Frémissin, a timid young lawyer who loves Cécile (Vera Flory) whose father (Féraudy) suffers from the same timidity. When because of his weak defence a brutal husband is sentenced, the latter (Jim Gérald) uses all means to wreck the young lawyer’s own future marriage with Cécile, as he wants her for himself. Helped by his future father-in-law, Frémissin triumphs and clears his father-in-law and himself from all slander. After one last part in the early French sound film Ça aussi! … c’est Paris (Antoine Mourre 1930), Féraudy retired. He still acted on stage and was even highly successful in Cette vieille canaille in 1931-1932. Maurice de Féraudy died in Paris on 12 May 1932 and lies buried at the cemetery of Montparnasse.
Sources: French Wikipedia, IMDB, www.bifi.fr/public/index.php, dvdtoile.com/, Le Petit Parisien, 13 May 1932.
French postcard, 1920s. Photo Comoedia. Nos artistes dans leur loge, No. 185.
Gabriel Signoret aka Signoret (1878-1937) was a French actor and director who played in some 85 films, mostly silent ones.
Gabriel Augustin Marius Signoret was born in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) on 15 November 1878. Between 1909 and 1938 Signoret acted in some 85 French films, mostly short silent films at the start of his career, while his last film was released post-mortem. Signoret had an extremely rich career on the French stage, mostly as actor, but occasionally also as director. Between 1900 and 1906 Signoret was highly active at the Théâtre Antoine, mostly in plays directed by André Antoine himself, such as the Naturalist plays La Terre (1902) by Emile Zola and The Good Hope (1902) by Herman Heijermans, but also classics like Shakespeare’s King Lear (1904). In 1907 Signoret moved to the Théâtre Réjane where he stayed until 1909. After that he switched from one theatre to another, such as the Théâtre du Gymnase and Théâtre Femina, acting in plays by a.o. Bernstein, Feydeau and Tristan Bernard, as well as revue and opéra-bouffe. After a gap in 1919-1922, Signoret continued his stage career in the 1920s and 1930s, but less intense as before. He directed two plays: Les Marchands de gloire (1925) by Marcel Pagnol and Paul Nivoix, at Théâtre de la Madeleine, and Trois pour 100 (1933) by Roger Ferdinand, at the Théâtre Antoine.
His film career Gabriel Signoret started in 1909 at Pathé Frères with the so-called film d’art films, often based on famous stage plays and involving actors from the French stage. Under direction of André Calmettes, he acted in Rival de son père (1909), L’aigle et l’aiglon (1910) and L’Usurpateur (1911, co-directed by Henri Pouctal). Between 1911 and 1914 Signoret played at Pathé in some twenty short films, most directed by René Leprince (some in co-direction with Ferdinand Zecca), some by Camille De Morlhon. While he also acted in some films at Gaumont in 1914-1915, directed by Louis Feuillade, Signoret’s main output as film actor in the First World War years remained at Pathé, with films directed by Leprince & Zecca and De Morlhon. In 1916 he also started to act at Eclipse in the films by René Hervil and Louis Mercanton, such as the war propaganda film Mères françaises (1917), starring Sarah Bernhardt, Le Torrent (1917) with Louise Lagrange and Jaque Catelain, and Bouclette (1918), starring Gaby Deslys. For the latter two Marcel L’Herbier had written the scripts. In 1916 Signoret played in Noël cambrioleur, his first part in a film by director Jacques de Baroncelli. It would be the start of an intense collaboration in the late 1910s and early 1920s, with Signoret starring in De Baroncelli’s films Le Delai (1918) with Denise Lorys, Flipotte (1920) with Suzanne Bianchetti, Le Secret du Lone Star (1920) with Fanny Ward, La Rafale (1920) with Yvette Andreyor, Le Rêve (1921) with Andrée Brabant, Le Père Goriot (1921) with Claude France, and Roger la Honte (1922) with Rita Jolivet. Signoret also acted in films by the Impressionist avant-garde such as La Cigarette (1919) by Germaine Dulac and Le Silence (1920) by Louis Delluc. This intensity explains why Signoret was away from the stage in the early 1920s. Until the mid-1920s Signoret had a steady career in French silent cinema, with memorable titles like La Porteuse de pain (René Le Somptier 1923) with Suzanne Desprès, L’Ornière (Edouard Chimot 1924) with Ginette Maddie, L’Enfant des Halles (Leprince 1924) with Bianchetti, Les Deux gosses (Mercanton 1924) with Yvette Guilbert, and Jocaste (Gaston Ravel 1924) with Sandra Milowanoff.
In the early 1930s, when sound cinema had set in, Signoret returned to acting in French cinema. He had important parts in films by Marcel L’Herbier, mostly as high placed men: he was an admiral in Veille d’armes (1935) with Annabella and Victor Francen, with Francen being court-martialled for making mistakes in ship manoeuvres. In Les Hommes nouveaux (1936) with Harry Baur and Nathalie Paley, Signoret played marshal Lyautey in a drama about a simple worker (Baur) making his fortune in Morocco during Lyautey’s governorship. In Nuits de feu (1937) with Gaby Morlay and Francen, Signoret is an evil substitute prosecutor, who accuses a young lawyer and the wife (Morlay) of the disappeared prosecutor to have killed the husband (Francen). Other remarkable titles were Trois pour cent (Jean Dréville 1933) – the adaptation of the play which Signoret had directed himself, Ménilmontant (René Guissart 1936) in which Signoret paired with Pierre Larquey as two old men, and Arsène Lupin, détective (Henri Diamant-Berger 1937) starring Jules Berry. Signoret was the brother of actor Jean Signoret (1886-1923), but he is unrelated to actress Simone Signoret. Gabriel Signoret died in Paris on 16 March 1937.
Sources: IMDB, French Wikipedia, Ciné-Artistes, www.cinema-francais.fr, www.cineressources.bifi.fr
Imagen capturada en la plaza del Justicia abarrotada durante la salida de la iglesia de San Cayetano en féretro descubierto de los restos mortales del prelado de Huesca doctor Mariano Supervía Lostalé, donde estuvo depositado entre el 19 y el 20 de enero de 1918 para recibir el homenaje de los feligreses de la ciudad, camino de la estación ferroviaria de Campo Sepulcro para llevarle de regreso a Tauste y ser allí finalmente inhumado en la capilla de Nª. Sª. de Sancho Abarca de la iglesia de Santa María. La comitiva fúnebre, por disposición del rey Alfonso XIII, presenta la parafernalia y honores propios de un capitán general del Ejército "que muere en plaza donde tiene mando como jefe".
Al fondo de la escena, fachada de la iglesia de San Cayetano.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: colección Supervía Lostalé, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, recopilada y comentada por el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Imagen capturada desde la altura del inmueble del nº 33 del paseo de María Agustín y centrada en el cortejo del rey Alfonso XIII que, acompañado del alcalde y de los infantes Fernando y Luis Alfonso y proveniente del coso de la Misericordia, se dirige al recinto de la Exposición Hispano-Francesa para visitarlo. A la izquierda, los muros perimetrales de la gran huerta del convento de Santa Inés. A la derecha, la iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Portillo. Al fondo y en el centro, inmueble de la antigua Casa de la Galera esquinera entre la calle de Santa Inés y la calle del Portillo. Al fondo y a la izquierda, vista parcial de la torre de San Pablo Apóstol, y la torre de la Seo algo más a la derecha. En primer término y sobre el firme, tendido de la línea de Madrid del tranvía, curvea hacia la derecha y la estación de Campo sepulcro o del Mediodía.
Esta fue la primera de las dos veces que el jefe del Estado acudió a Zaragoza este año. Así, el día 14 de junio, acudió para asistir a diversas celebraciones memorialistas en las que inauguró lápidas dedicadas a José Palafox en la homónima calle; al Tío Jorge o Jorge Ibort en la homónima calle del Arrabal; a Basilio Boggiero, Santiago Sas y el barón de Warsage en el puente de Piedra; a Antonio de Torres en la calle de Don Jaime I; a la condesa de Bureta en la calle de la Torre Nueva; a Pedro María Ric en la Audiencia Provincial; finalmente, el Monumento al Reducto del Pilar no pudo ser inaugurado porque no estaba terminado. Por la tarde, el Rey fue a la plaza de toros a ver al torero Lagartijo torear miuras. En el tercer toro y aprovechando que el Lagartijo recibió un varetazo, el Rey abandonó la plaza para, como muestra la imagen, encaminarse hacia el recinto de la exposición Hispano-Francesa.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: foto Martín Miguel y Gálvez, Colección Pinilla-Miguel-Sancho, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, comentada para el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Festivo y sonriente posado de dos señoritas y una señora con dos hijos acompañada de niñera, en una imagen capturada con el fondo del decimonónico edificio de la Diputación Provincial en la plaza de la Constitución.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: colección J.C.M., en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, ubicada y comentada para el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
French postcard. Photo Pathé. Platinogravure.
René Alexandre (1885-1946) was a French actor of the Comédie-Française. Between 1909 and 1940 he acted in some 53 films, mainly shorts by Pathé but also Antoine’s rural drama La Terre (1921).
René Alexandre was born in Reims on 22 December 1885. He studied at the Conservatoire as pupil of Paul Mounet and left with two first prize awards for tragedy and comedy. After performing in Ramuntcho by Pierre Loti at the Odéon theatre, he entered the Comédie-Française in 1908, where he was ‘sociétaire’ between 1920 and 1944 and became sociétaire honoraire in 1945. His repertory included the classics such as Racine, Molière, Shakespeare and Victor Hugo, but also more modern authors such as Henri Lavedan, Paul Feerier and Henri Marx. In 1939 he would direct one play, A souffert sous Ponce Pilate by Paul Raynal. Alexandre was Chair and founder of the Association des Comédiens combattants. In Grosley-sur-Risle, where he was mayor in 1935-1940, he founded a home for actors who had fought in the First World War, like he himself. Alexandre was made Commander of the Legion of Honour.
Between 1909 and 1940 Alexandre acted in some 53 films. Most of these (41 titles) were short films for Pathé Frères, starting with Tarquine le Superbe (Albert Capellani 1908), Le roman d’un geux (Georges Monca 1908), and Benvenuto Cellini (Capellani/Camille de Morlhon 1908). Alexandre acted in several historical films such as Fouquet, l’homme au masque de fer (Camille de Morlhon, 1910) in which he played the title character, and literary films such as the Victor Hugo adaptation Notre-Dame-de-Paris (Capellani 1911), starring Henry Krauss as Quasimodo and Stacia Napierkowska as Esmeralda. Alexandre mingled these genres with modern drama and comedy, such as Coeur de femme (René Leprince, Ferdinand Zecca 1913) with Gabrielle Robinne, and the second version of Lutte pour la vie (Leprince/ Zecca 1915), again with Robinne. In 1912 Alexandre married Gabrielle Robinne, who was sociétaire of the Comédie-Française and film actress as well. Robinne was Alexandre’s partner in most of his films from 1913-1915, while another regular was Gabriel Signoret. In addition to Capellani and De Morlhon many other films of Alexandre at Pathé were directed by Henri Andréani, some also by Gérard Bourgeois. Besides the Pathé films, Alexandre also did sidesteps at Gaumont, such as Le mauvais hôte (Louis Feuillade 1910) and André Chenier (Étienne Arnaud/ Feuillade 1911).
Because of the war Alexandre did not act for years, retaking his stage and screen career in 1919, e.g. with the Pathé film Le calvaire d’une reine (Leprince/Zecca 1919) with again Robinne and Signoret. Impressive was Alexandre’s lead as Jean Macquart in André Antoine’s rural drama La terre (1921), a modern version of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Jean is the outsider looking for work, who gets trapped in the family war of Françoise (Germaine Rouer), whose uncle Père Fouan (Armand Bour), has decided to split up his belongings before his death, naively hoping to have an easy retirement, cared for by his sons and daughter. Antoine shot his adaptation of Zola’s famous novel on the French countryside near Chartres, highlighting the beauty of it but also stressing the greed and cruelty of the inhabitants. Françoise is the only member of the family who is not despicable. Snow Leopard on IMDB writes: “It is a memorable and believable adaptation, helped significantly by Antoine's naturalistic approach, excellent location cinematography, and a cast that works together very well. Just as Zola's story does, the movie reveals a great deal about the darker side of human nature, with characters well- designed to bring home its points. It is a dark, often grim drama, but for all that it is very interesting and satisfying to watch.”
Sadly enough, his lead in La Terre did not promote Alexandre to stardom in film. After La Terre, Alexandre only played in supporting parts in two silent films: Fleur du mal (Gaston Mouru de Lacotte 1923) co-starring Robinne, and Tu m’appartiens! (Maurice Gleize 1929), starring Camille Bert as an escaped convict who meets the beautiful adventuress Gisèle (Francesca Bertini). In the 1930s Alexandre occasionally played supporting parts in films, such as the driver in the Simenon adaptation La tête d’un homme (1933), starring Harry Baur as Maigret and Gaston Jacquet as the man who had his aunt killed to get money. The film was directed by Julien Duvivier, who had been Antoine’s assistant-director for La Terre. Alexandre’s last performance was in the film Paris-New York (Claude Heymann/Georges Lacombe 1940), in which he played a heartless banker.
Alexandre and Robinne lived together in Grosley-sur-Risle. Alexandre died in Vitré (Ille-et-Vilaine) on 19 August 1946. Robinne and he were buried at Saint-Cloud.
Sources: French Wikipedia, IMDB, www.filmsdefrance.com, www.cine-ressources.bifi.fr.
French postcard by Coquemer Gravures, Paris. Photo: Félix / Gaumont. Juana Borguèse as the evil Baronne d'Apremont in La nouvelle mission de Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1917-1918).
Very little is known about Juana Borguèse who played the evil Baronne d'Apremont in La nouvelle mission de Judex (Louis Feuillade 1917-1918). Together with another mysterious and dangerous woman, Gaby (Cyprien Giles), she 'creates havoc in tandem', as Vicki Calahan writes in Zones of Anxiety: Movement, Musidora, and the Crime Serials of Louis Feuillade. The Baronne has hypnotic powers - mark the eyes on the card - enabling her to force the innocent to do things against their will. According to the site of the Cinémathèque française she also played an uncredited part in the earlier film Judex (Feuillade 1917) where Musidora played the scheming villain Diana Monti. Juana Borguèse might have been a pseudonym.
Sources: IMDB, cineressources.bifi.fr.
Imagen capturada desde cierta altura en el ferial de atracciones instalado durante las Fiestas del Pilar del año 1939 (oficialmente denominado por el régimen "Año de la Victoria") en el Campo de la Victoria, despejado entorno de la nueva plaza de San Francisco (antes de España), donde la actual calle de Bruno Solano. Hacia el fondo, el arbolado paseo de Fernando el Católico (antes avenida de Francisco Giner de los Ríos), y las pioneras manzanas 49 y 50 de Casas Baratas del ensanche de Miralbueno, finalizadas a principios de la década con proyecto del arquitecto Secundino Zuazo Ugalde (delimitadas actualmente entre las calles de Cortes de Aragón, Corona de Aragón, Baltasar Gracián y avenida de Goya).
Al fondo y hacia la derecha, la torre de San Pablo y la cúpula de la iglesia de Santiago el Mayor señalan la distancia de la ciudad consolidada.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: foto Pelayo Martínez Hernández, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, ubicada, recopilada y comentada por el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Imagen capturada desde la frondosa zona de huerta de la Torre del abogado Felipe José Guillén y Larraz, que posa con naturalidad junto a su familia en el centro de la escena, junto al singular edificio de tres alturas con el ingreso acolumnado de su fachada principal recayente al camino de San José. Esta torre confrontaba, a la izquierda, con el pabellón sanatorio de las Hermanitas Enfermas, integrante del gran complejo asistencial de la Congregación de las Hermanitas de los Ancianos Desamparados.
A mediados de siglo, esta extensa torre fue derribada y reurbanizada integralmente. Sobre su solar se levantaron varios nuevos bloques de viviendas, y por su huerta fue prolongado el antiguo callejón del Pilar (hasta entonces con entrada y salida por Miguel Servet, frente al Matadero), para conectarlo con la avenida de San José. Este callejón fue redenominado entonces como calle del Matadero.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: foto Gustavo Freudenthal, Colección Guillén-Bernad-Fairén, en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, comentada para el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
Imagen capturada al agradable sol del atardecer invernal en la esquina suroccidental del complejo edilicio de la Granja Agrícola de Zaragoza y centrada en un posado colectivo realizado en el arbolado camino que enlazaba la trinchera del ferrocarril de Zaragoza a Barcelona y el camino de Cabaldós, en el que al fondo se destaca la estructura de la fábrica de aglomerados o briquetas de Minas y Ferrocarriles de Utrillas, S.A. A la izquierda, esquina entre el pabellón de la escuela de peritos y el cocherón de maquinaria agrícola de la Granja.
Proyecto GAZA ("Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua") es un compendio de imágenes de la antigua Zaragoza (España), acompañadas de textos creados por José María Ballestín Miguel y la colaboración de Antonio Tausiet.
Fuente visual de la imagen: foto Luis Checa Toral, colección J.C.M., en aragon-photo.bifi.es/, comentada para el Gran Archivo Zaragoza Antigua (GAZA).
French postcard. Sadag de France, Imp., Paris, No. 109.
Romuald Joubé (1876-1949) was an actor of French silent cinema, who became famous for his part in Abel Gance’s J’accuse (1918).
Romuald Joubé, originally Romuald, Charles, Eugène Goudens Jean Sylve Joubé was born 20 June 1876 in Mazères en Ariège. Joubé already acted around 1900 on stage, with the troupe of the Nouveau-Théàtre of Paris, directed by Lugné-Poë. Around 1909 he started at the Théàtre de l’Odéon with plays directed by André Antoine, the master of Naturalism in French theatre. In 1910 he debuted in the film d’art cinéma films, playing in various shorts, often directed by Henri Desfontaines: Shylock, le marchand de Venise (Henri Desfontaines 1910), Polyeucte (Camille de Morlhon 1910), Philémon et Baucis (Georges Denola 1911) in which he was Philemon, Le Roman de la momie (Albert Capellani 1911), Milton (Desfontaines 1911), La Mégère apprivoisée (Desfontaines 1911), Le Colonel Chabert (Henri Pouctal/André Calmettes 1911) as Chabert himself, Brittanicus (De Morlhon 1912) in the title role, Antar (Pathé 1912), Parmi les pierres (Adrien Caillard 1912), Sublime amour (Desfontaines 1913), Marie Tudor (Capellani 1913), Serge Panine (Pouctal 1913), L'avocate (Gaston Ravel (1913), La Carabine de la mort (Desfontaines 1913), Le Baiser supreme (Edmond Floury 1913), Larron d'honneur (Pathé 1913), La Reine Margot (Desfontaines 1914), Les Deux gosses (Capellani 1914), L’Arriviste (Gaston Leprieur 1914), Pêcheur d'Islande (Pouctal 1915), Amour sacré (Dominique Bernard-Deschamps 1915), La Forêt qui écoute (Desfontaines 1916), and Le Dernier rêve (Desfontaines 1916).
In 1917 Joubé started to act in various features by André Antoine, who transferred his Naturalism onto cinema as well: the Dumas père adaptation Les Frères corses (1917), the François Coppée adaptation Le Coupable (1917), and the fishermen drama Les Travailleurs de la mer (1918), based on Victor Hugo. By now Joubé was playing both leading parts (André Cornelis, 1918) and supporting roles (Simone, 1918; Sublime offrande, 1919). In 1918-1919, however, Joubé played one of his most famous roles in the pacifist, First World War drama J’Accuse/ I Accuse by Abel Gance, which was released in France in April 1919, so few months after the Armistice. Joubé plays Jean Diaz, a poet who is in love with Edith (Marise Dauvray), the wife of François Laurin (Séverin-Mars). The two men meet in the trenches and experience the horrors of the war. Laurin saves Diaz’ life and sacrifices himself for the benefit of the other two. Edith is raped by a German, raising the fruit of this encounter despite hostility. Maddened, Diaz returns from the trenches, despises his art and asks the village inhabitants: was it worthwhile, all the sacrifices, while the ghosts of the killed soldiers march up to them.
With J’Accuse Joubé established his career, though he didn’t continue to act with Gance. Instead he performed opposite Emmy Lynn in La faute d’Odette Marchal (Henri Roussel 1920), opposite Huguette Duflos in Mademoiselle de La Seiglière (André Antoine 1921), opposite Sylviane Dumont in Fleur de neige (Paul Barlatier 1921) and he played the title role in the Jules Verne adaptation Mathias Sandorf (Fescourt 1921). Subsequently he played opposite Pierre Fresnay in Le Diamant noir/The Black Diamond (André Hugon 1922) and opposite Nathalie Lissenko in La Fille sauvage (Henri Etievant 1922). From 1923 Joubé played less frequently in film, alternating with the stage (e.g. the title role in Peer Gynt, Paris 1924), but he still had big film roles as Andréa in Rouletabille chez les bohémiens (Fescourt 1923) with Gabriel de Gravone, as the title character in the historical adventure film Mandrin (Fescourt 1924) costarring Jacqueline Blanc, as a mystery man opposite De Gravone in Le Manoir de la peur (Alfred Machin, released 1927), and as chevalier Robert Cottereau in the lavish period piece Le Miracle des loups/Miracle of the Wolves (Raymond Bernard 1924). In 1925 Joubé not only acted opposite Lilian Constantini in La Chèvre aux pieds d'or (Jacques Robert, released 1926), but also went to Italy to act in several historical films by Giulio Antamoro: La Fanciulla di Pompei /La madone du rosaire (1925), La Cieca di Sorrento (1925) and Frate Francesco (1927). Probably Joubé’s last silent film was the Henri Kistemaeckers adaptation Princesse Masha (René Leprince 1927). The film is about an illegitimate Russian princess, raised by revolutionary intellectuals, who flees to Paris during the revolution and falls in love with a Frenchman (Joubé), but marries a cruel Russian ambassador to save her foster father (in vain). Returned to Russia during the war, she tries to flea again, with her French lover, and sacrifices herself in the end for his honor. The film starred Claudia Victrix, a French singer who debuted in this film. Costars were Jean Toulout and Andrée Brabant.
When sound cinema became standard in France, Joubé didn’t act in films for years, though he was visible in a sonorised version of Le Miracle des loups (1930). In 1929 he acted in various stage plays in Canada, together with Germaine Rouer: Le monde où l'on s'ennuie, Primerose, El Cid and La Flambée. In the same year he also acted in Histoires de France, the play by Sacha Guitry that opened the new Théàtre Pigalle in Paris in 1929. In 1937 he returned to the film set with a small part as Jean Diaz in Abel Gance’s own remake of J’accuse (released 1938), while the larger share of the character was played by Victor Francen. That year he also played Clouet in Sacha Guitry’s period piece Les Perles de la couronne (1937). Joubé played his last roles in film and on stage during the Second World War: on stage he played in the Simenon adaptation Le Pavillon d'Asnières (1943), while on the set he performed in Andorra ou les hommes d'Airain (Émile Couzinet 1942), Chant de l'exilé (André Hugon 1943) and Le Brigand gentilhomme (Couzinet 1943). Romuald Joubé died on 14 Septembre 1949 in Gisors (Eure).
Sources: IMDB, French Wikipedia, cineressources.bifi.fr, filmsdefrance.com
French postcard in the Nos Artistes dans leur loge series, no. 131. Photo: Comoedia.
Maurice de Féraudy (1859-1932) was an actor of the Comédie-Française and a French director. He was also a notable actor and director in French silent cinema.
Dominique Marie Maurice de Féraudy was born in Joinville-le-Pont near Paris on 3 December 1859. His father was the commander of the Ecole militaire de gymnastique at Joinville-le-Pont. After the Conservatoire, where he was a pupil of Got, Maurice entered the Théâtre Français in 1880. He became ‘sociétaire’ of the Comédie-Française in 1887, and ‘doyen’ (dean) in 1929, but he left the same year. He was much acclaimed as a comedian, because of his performances full of gaiety. The role of his life, which he performed some 1 200 times within 30 years – and had the monopoly on it – was that of Isidore Lechat in Les affaires sont les affaires (Business is business) by Octave Mirbeau (1903). Other plays he acted in were by a.o. Bataille, Kistemaekers, Guitry, Ibsen, but also classics by Molière, Balzac and Dumas fils. Between 1896 and 1905 Féraudy taught at the Conservatoire, training upcoming actors like Gabriel Signoret. Féraudy also wrote numerous songs for Paulette Darty, such as the famous Fascination (1901), reprised afterwards by Suzy Delair and Diane Dufresne. He was the father of Jacques de Féraudy (1886-1971), an actor as well.
In 1908-1909 Féraudy debuted in cinema, directing almost 40 shorts under the aegis of his short-lived company Théâtro-Films. His own son Jacques debuted in two of these films, Simple histoire (1908) and Georgette (1908). Afterwards, Féraudy directed a handful of mostly short films at Pathé and Gaumont, with actors who would later become famous, such as Albert Dieudonné, Roger Karl, Maria Falconetti and Jean Angelo. Féraudy last’s direction was the film Après lui (1918) in which he had the lead himself. While most of the films he directed are forgotten now, better known are the films in which he acted. In the 1910s Féraudy acted in films at Eclair, such as Les gaités de l’escadron (Joseph Faivre, Maurice Tourneur 1913), La dame de Monsoreau (Emile Chautard 1913), and Monsieur Lecoq (Tourneur 1914). In the 1920s Féraudy enjoyed the pleasure of playing memorable roles despite his high age. After supporting roles in two films with René Hervil: L’ami Fritz (1921) and Blanchette (1921), both with Léon Mathot in the lead, Féraudy had the male lead himself together with young Jean Forest in Crainquebille (1922) by Jacques Feyder. In this adaptation of a novel by Anatole France, Féraudy played an ageing street vendor who has worked all his life at Les Halles in Paris. Innocently he lands in jail and loses his customers once released, thus becoming an alcoholic. A young street boy (Forest) prevents him from suicide, though, convincing him to start all over again. Next Féraudy played the title role in the Balzac adaptation Le Cousin Pons (Jacques Robert 1923), about a musician and poor art collector who is befriended by a sympathetic German (André Nox), but vultures around him such as his wealthy parvenu lawyer cousins and his landlady realize he possesses a valuable art collection, trying to crush poor Pons.
Féraudy next played in Le secret de Polichinelle (Hervil 1923) about a son who wants to marry a working-class girl (Andrée Brabant) against the wishes of his parents, Le Coeur des gueux (Alfred Machin/ Henri Wulschleger 1925) with Ginette Maddie, the Danish film Klovnen (Anders Sandberg 1926) with Gösta Ekman and Karina Bell, Lady Harrington (Fred Leroy-Granville/ H.C. Grantham-Hayes 1926) with Claude France and Warwick Ward, Fleur d’amour (Marcel Vandal 1927) in which Féraudy had the male lead opposite Rose Mai, and the German film Die Hölle von Montmartre (Willy Reiber/ Franz Seitz 1928) with Eric Barclay and Suzy Vernon. A last memorable part was Féraudy’s role in the tragicomedy Les Deux timides by René Clair (1928) in which Pierre Batcheff plays Frémissin, a timid young lawyer who loves Cécile (Vera Flory) whose father (Féraudy) suffers from the same timidity. When because of his weak defence a brutal husband is sentenced, the latter (Jim Gérald) uses all means to wreck the young lawyer’s own future marriage with Cécile, as he wants her for himself. Helped by his future father-in-law, Frémissin triumphs and clears his father-in-law and himself from all slander. After one last part in the early French sound film Ça aussi! … c’est Paris (Antoine Mourre 1930), Féraudy retired. He still acted on stage and was even highly successful in Cette vieille canaille in 1931-1932. Maurice de Féraudy died in Paris on 12 May 1932 and lies buried at the cemetery of Montparnasse.
Sources: French Wikipedia, IMDB, www.bifi.fr/public/index.php, dvdtoile.com/, Le Petit Parisien, 13 May 1932.
French postcard by Éditions Cinémagazine, no. 414. Photo: Sartony.
Genica Missirio (1895-?) was a Romanian actor who starred in the French silent cinema of the 1920s.
Little is known about Genica Missirio, which seems odd, as he was quite a popular actor in French silent cinema of the 1920s. Missirio, born in Craiova, Romania on March 8th, 1895, had his breakthrough as a film actor in the 1921 Orientalist adventure film and Pierre Benoit adaptation L’Atlantide by Jacques Feyder, starring Jean Angelo, Georges Melchior and Stacia Napierkowska. Missirio played the captain Aymard, who at the beginning of the film finds Lieutenant Saint-Avit (Melchior) in the desert, almost dead. Recovered Saint-Avit narrates how the desert queen Antinéa (Napierkowska) seduced him in killing his buddy, Captain Morhange (Angelo), when Morhange rejected Antinéa. A few years later, St. Avit cannot forget Antinea, and with Aymard, he goes back to her, despite what she has done. The film, shot on location in the desert, was a huge commercial success. Still, the critical reception was less positive, in particular against Napierkowska, now past her prime and too round to be a femme fatale. A rare tinted nitrate copy was discovered and restored by the Netherlands Filmmuseum (now EYE), in collaboration with the French intertitles from a French copy, and had its international premiere at the 1992 Bologna Film Festival. In 2004, the Dutch restored print was released on DVD by Lobster, and in 2006 again by Home Vision Entertainment on the DVD Rediscover Jacques Feyder.
After L’Atlantide, Missirio was Serge Tchérenkol in Les ailes s’ouvrent (Guy du Fresnay 1921), opposite André Roanne and another actress from L’Atlantide: Marie-Louise Iribe. In 1922, he had the male lead in Du Fresnay’s comedy Margot, with Gina Palerme in the title role. In 1923, he played L’Aristo, notorious gang leader, in Jean Kemm’s adaptation of Arthur Bernède’s popular novel Vidocq, with René Navarre in the title role, and co-starring Elmire Vautier, Rachel Devirys and Dolly Davis. In the same year, Missirio also acted in La bouquetière des innocents (Jacques Robert 1923), the part of Concini, favourite of the French Queen Maria de Medici and the first minister of France, but hated by the French and finally killed on the instigation of King Louis XIII. Claude Merelle was the star of the film, playing the double role of Concini’s scheming wife Leonor (Claude Merelle), lady-in-waiting of the queen, as well as Margot, the innocent flower girl.
In 1924, Missirio played in Le cavalier de minuit (R.Alinat, Maurice Champeroy), starring André Nox and Gina Manès. In the same year, he had the male lead in the Albatros production L’affiche by Jean Epstein, with Nathalie Lissenko as his love interest. In 1926, Missirio acted in L’espionne aux yeux noirs by Henri Desfontaines and in another Pierre Benoit adaptation, Le soileil de minuit by Richard Garrick and Jean Legrand. In 1927, Missirio was most active, acting in Poker d’as by Desfontaines, Belphégor by Desfontaines as well (both with Navarre in the lead), Abel Gance’s epic Napoléon, Le chemin de la gloire by Gaston Roudès, and Le prince Zilah by Roudès again. While Missirio played the love interest of France Dhelia opposite Constant Rémy in Le chemin de la gloire, and Joachim Murat opposite Albert Dieudonné as Napoleon in Gance’s superproduction, Missirio had the male lead in Le prince Zilah, opposite Dhelia. Missirio’s last films were Madame Recamier (Gaston Tavel, Tony Lekain, 1928), starring Marie Bell - Missirio played Lucien Bonaparte, and Figaro (Ravel, 1929) starring Edmond Van Duren and Arlette Marchal. Possibly because of his foreign accent, he didn’t make the passage to sound cinema and quit film acting. Unknown is when he died.
Sources: IMDb, Cineressources
L’Atlantide (1921): YouTube (complete film).