View allAll Photos Tagged The Idol Lover
"oh, i want you.
i don't know if i need you,
but i'd die to find out."
~sponsors~
+Kiru - Heart Screw Bracelet ~@sanarae event!
+Peekaboo - Kawaii KItten RIng Maitreya - Pink ~@sanarae!
+NINI Planet. Heart Sailor ~@anthem!
+IVES. Interdit Lipglow ~@kawaii project!
+[Heaux] Smoothie Eyes
+NINI Planet. Lovely Summer : Earrings - peach
+-Influence- Idols poses - 4 (static) ~@sanarae!
~decor~
+[KRR] Bunny's story // side counter (white) ~@sanarae!
+[KRR] Bunny's story // mini counter (white) ~@sanarae!
+[KRR] Bunny's story // wall cabinet (white) ~@sanarae!
+[KRR] Bunny's story // cookie tray ~@sanarae!
+[KRR] Bunny's story // mixing bowl ~@sanarae!
+[KRR] Bunny's story // tea set ~@sanarae!
~extra credits~
+AMITOMO - Tropical Lover GACHA - RARE1 - HAIR
+NamiiChu ~ Kyra Headband
~~♥sᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ᴛʜᴀɴᴋs ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ sᴘᴏɴsᴏʀ♥~~
landmarks and more info in the link below!
blog~ ♥
+song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gEgGlveoLY
These are the hands of a tired man
This is the old man's shroud
These are the eyes of the blood crazed tiger
Staring at the maddening crowd
This is the face of a teenage mother
This is the child she bears
This is the soul of her broken lover
Searching for the smiles they shared
These are the feet of the punished pilgrim
And in his book of punished love
You see his eyes, you see no surprise
Waiting for a lie that's true
Everybody hits you with this feeling
Nobody seems to understand
Yeah you stop, you look
You're searching for the meaning
(Wasting your life away)
These are the dreams of a sleeping father
And in his long lost days
He sees a child
He sees his eyes
Waiting for the price he's paid
These are the tears of a fallen idol
And in his smile of shattered love
You see his eyes
You see no surprise
You just see lights then realise
Everybody hits you with this feeling
Nobody seems to understand
Yeah you stop, you look
You're searching for the meaning
(Wasting your life away)
Oh here with you
There's no one here like you
And no one moves like you
Nobody touches like you
Everybody hits you with this feeling
Nobody seems to understand
Yeah you stop, you look
You're searching for the meaning
Everybody hits you with this feeling
Nobody seems to understand
Yeah you stop, you look
You're searching for the meaning
Everybody hits you
And everybody knocks you down
You stop you look you're searching, you stop you look you're searching
Everybody hits you
And everybody knocks you down
Everybody hits you
And everybody knocks you down
No her names has nothing to do with mental capacity. She's a smart as any cat, but selecting a dominate color was nearly impossible when she was a kitten. She does enjoying sleeping where she is usually in the way.
There's a lover in the story
But the story's still the same
There's a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it's written in the scriptures
And it's not some idol claim
You want it darker
We kill the flame
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Credits:
Top + Corset Belt - Rowne
Skirt (Outer) - Junbug
Skirt (Under) - Rowne
Choker - Zaara
Rings - Yummy
Hair - Doux (Kustom9)
There was a time when one was supposed to see the face of Goddess reflected on water ( water was placed in an earthen pot in front of the idol) - idea was not to show the audacity to look directly at her eyes.
We are keeping that tradition alive in some modified manner - we are looking at her through our digital eye on our LCD panel . The first thing people are doing is to take out their Mobile Phone or Digi Cam and shoot - then they are folding their hands in Namaskar......
Generally grainy (noisy in digital parlance) pictures are considered as flaw by people. But it is not true always. Grains add beauty to the pictures in many circumstances. In olden days people used to purchase high ISO films for creating special effects while shooting itself. I'm a lover of grainy pictures. Here I shot the Nataraja idol with the lamp as the lighting source and choosing ISO 1600. with shutter 1/20. I gave some minor treatments to the image in Faststone. I love it, don't you ?
சிற்பரஞ் சோதி சிவானந்தக் கூத்தனைச்
சொற்பத மாம்அந்தச் சுந்தரக் கூத்தனைப்
பொற்பதிக் கூத்தனைப் பொன்தில்லைக் கூத்தனை
அற்புதக் கூத்தனை யார்அறி வாரே !!!
திருக்கூத்து தரிசனம்
திருமந்திரம் (திருமூலர் அருளியது)
Every few minutes we must stop our walk an stare into the woods, or just lay down and put our stomachs skyward. At least that's Scooter's directional behavior. And who would dare question their cat?
Saja is coming in hot to TMD this month — and he’s bringing all the attitude.
Fresh off the electric vibes of Kpop Demon Hunters, this animated and breathing set is inspired by the fierce, flirty energy of the Saja Boys. He’s got that cool swagger, a little bad boy edge, and juuust enough sweetness to wreck you in the best way. Saja comes with and without facial animations, so you can go full kpop idol mode or keep it casual. Whether you’re channeling your inner Kpop idol or letting your demon lover boy take the wheel — this one’s got you.
TMD opens July 5th — come find Saja and let the obsession begin.
*Full set preview in comments*
If you want a feel good fun movie with laughs, amazing animation and love kpop...check Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunter" movie out! *No this is not a paid Netflix advert but damn should be!*
TMD Taxi
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Francisco Aragão © 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Use without permission is illegal.
Attention please !
If you are interested in my photos, they are available for sale. Please contact me by email: aragaofrancisco@gmail.com. Do not use without permission.
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English
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Rome. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.
3 Papal fortress, residence and prison
The tomb of the Roman emperor Hadrian, also called Hadrian's mole, was erected on the right bank of the Tiber, between 135 AD and 139 AD. Originally the mausoleum was a decorated cylinder, with a garden top and golden quadriga. Hadrian's ashes were placed here a year after his death in Baiae in 138 AD, together with those of his wife Sabina, and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, who also died in 138 AD. Following this, the remains of succeeding emperors were also placed here, the last recorded deposition being Caracalla in 217 AD. The urns containing these ashes were probably placed in what is now known as the Treasury room deep within the building. Hadrian also built the Pons Aelius facing straight onto the mausoleum – it still provides a scenic approach from the center of Rome and the right bank of the Tiber, and is renowned for the Baroque additions of statuary of angels holding aloft elements of the Passion of Christ.
Destruction
Much of the tomb contents and decoration has been lost since the building's conversion into a military fortress in 401 and inclusion by Flavius Augustus Honorius in the Aurelian Walls. The urns and ashes were scattered by Visigothic looters in Alaric's sacking of Rome in 410, and the original decorative bronze and stone statuary was thrown down upon the attacking Goths when they besieged Rome in 537, as recounted by Procopius. An unusual survival, however, is the capstone of a funerary urn (most probably that of Hadrian), which made its way to Saint Peter's Basilica and was recycled in a massive Renaissance baptistery. That spolia from the tomb had been used in the post-Roman period was already noted in the 16th century - Giorgio Vasari writes:
...in order to build churches for the use of the Christians, not only were the most honoured temples of the idols [ie pagan Roman gods] destroyed, but in order to ennoble and decorate Saint Peter's with more ornaments than it then possessed, they took away the stone columns from the tomb of Hadrian, now the castle of Sant'Angelo, as well as many other things which we now see in ruins.
Legend holds that the Archangel Michael appeared atop the mausoleum, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590, thus lending the castle its present name.
Papal fortress, residence and prison
The popes converted the structure into a castle, from the 14th century; Pope Nicholas III connected the castle to St. Peter's Basilica by a covered fortified corridor called the Passetto di Borgo. The fortress was the refuge of Pope Clement VII from the siege of Charles V's Landsknechte during the Sack of Rome (1527), in which Benvenuto Cellini describes strolling the ramparts and shooting enemy soldiers.
Leo X built a chapel with a fine Madonna by Raffaello da Montelupo. In 1536 Montelupo also created a marble statue of Saint Michael holding his sword after the 590 plague (as described above) to surmount the Castel.[3] Later Paul III built a rich apartment, to ensure that in any future siege the Pope had an appropriate place to stay.
Montelupo's statue was replaced by a bronze statue of the same subject, executed by the Flemish sculptor Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, in 1753. Verschaffelt's is still in place, though Montelupo's can be seen in an open court in the interior of the Castle.
The Papal state also used Sant'Angelo as a prison; Giordano Bruno, for example, was imprisoned there for six years. Executions were made in the small interior square. As a prison, it was also the setting for the third act of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca from whose ramparts the eponymous heroine of the opera leaps to her death.
Museum
Decommissioned in 1901, the castle is now a museum, the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo.
Popular culture
The Castel Sant'Angelo appeared in Dan Brown's 2000 novel Angels & Demons. The location was the secret lair for the Hassassin and was seen as the last existing church of the Illuminati. The book also emphasized the Passetto di Borgo as a secret way of getting from the Vatican to the castle. It also appears in the 2009 motion picture, Angels & Demons, as one of the locations where a clue that leads to the papal assassin resides.
The castle appeared in the film Roman Holiday in a scene taking place on barges on the river below.
In Puccini's opera, Tosca, the Castel is where Cavaradossi is held prisoner. After murdering Scarpia in his private room at the Palazzo Farnese, Floria Tosca goes to the Castel Sant'Angelo, safe conducts in hand, where her lover, Mario Cavaradossi is to be executed. She has been led to believe it will be a mock execution and is horrified to find her lover dead. Rather than be arrested by Scarpia's henchmen, she throws herself from the rooftop.
The castle is one of the settings of Endymion and The Rise of Endymion, books in the Hyperion Cantos by author Dan Simmons. In the novels it has been relocated, along with large parts of the Vatican to the fictional planet Pacem. It serves as a prison and site of the torture of several protagonists in the novels, which include a resurgent version of the Catholic Church being the major power in human society.
In 1980, the American punk rock band The Ramones played a concert outside the castle and also the hard rock band Kiss played an outside show at the Castel.
In the Trinity Blood novels, a castle called San Angelo is the seat of power for the Catholic Church, though it is not known whether this is the same castle as the one in real life.
The Castel appears in the 2009 video game Assassin's Creed 2 and also more prominently in the game's 2010 sequel, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. In both games it is used as the official residence of Pope Alexander VI and his children, Cesare Borgia and Lucrezia Borgia. The Castel is protected by the Papal Guard as well as many Roman guard. During Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the Castel is infiltrated by the main character, Ezio Auditore, in an attempt to rescue Caterina Sforza and again later when trying to recover one of the "Pieces of Eden". It appears again in the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood downloadable content, The Da Vinci Disappearance, when Ezio must infiltrate the Castel to steal two paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci. Also in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood you can gain a trophy for jumping from the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo with a parachute.
The design of the McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio, which is the final resting place of US President William McKinley and his family, was based upon the Tomb of Hadrian according to its architect, Harold Van Buren Magonigle.
Wikipedia
Find below quotes at
www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/moliere.html
Moliere, French Playwright
Date of Birth: January 15, 1622
Date of Death: February 17, 1673
A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool.
A lover tries to stand in well with the pet dog of the house.
A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation.
Ah! how annoying that the law doesn't allow a woman to change husbands just as one does shirts.
All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.
All which is not prose is verse; and all which is not verse is prose.
As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men, I see no reason why anyone should be exempt.
Books and marriage go ill together.
Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.
Esteem must be founded on preference: to hold everyone in high esteem is to esteem nothing.
Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.
Frenchmen have an unlimited capacity for gallantry and indulge it on every occasion.
___________________________
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Thursday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
St. Augustine, author of the first Western autobiography.
Learn about his sinful and faith-filled life and works at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Augustine
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Matthew 24:42-51
In today's Gospel Jesus tells His disciples: "Stay awake!" (Matthew 24:42)
The briefness of the statement and the exclamation mark at the end leave no room for misunderstanding. It isn't a request or something that would be rather nice to do, but is instead, a command. As such, it implies dire consequences for those who would disobey.
In this case, it is being unprepared for the Lord's return as judge of the living and the dead; a time we might suppose, where we have run out of opportunities for another chance.
The thought is frightening—for what one of us doesn't think there will always be at least a little time to set things in better order, but Jesus says, in order to be ready, we must stay awake!
To stay awake beyond what we are accustomed is often exhausting if not altogether impossible. Yet, we are told, "Stay awake!" and not just sometimes, but always!
How much these few words make me realize how much we are in need of God's help—and that we already have it! When the Blessed Trinity resides in us as Triune Lord and King, He never sleeps! His are the eyes that watch, His the ears that hear, His the spirit that prays and adores on our behalf.
"Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come." (Matthew 24:42)
- Donna Nelson, OCDS | email: drn3rd@hughes.net
__________________________
below I got from
infoenglish@zenit.org
US Bishops: Pelosi Got Church Teaching Wrong
House Speaker Misrepresents Catholic Understanding of Life
WASHINGTON, D.C., AUG. 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The chairmen of the U.S. bishops' Committees on Pro-Life Activities and Doctrine affirmed that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi misrepresented Church teaching on abortion during an interview on national TV.
Pelosi was asked on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press" on Sunday to comment on when life begins. She responded saying that as a Catholic, she had studied the issue for "a long time" and that "the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition."
Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U. Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William Lori, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine, said her answer "misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion."
They noted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law."
And the prelates explained: "In the Middle Ages, uninformed and inadequate theories about embryology led some theologians to speculate that specifically human life capable of receiving an immortal soul may not exist until a few weeks into pregnancy. While in canon law these theories led to a distinction in penalties between very early and later abortions, the Church's moral teaching never justified or permitted abortion at any stage of development.
"These mistaken biological theories became obsolete over 150 years ago when scientists discovered that a new human individual comes into being from the union of sperm and egg at fertilization. In keeping with this modern understanding, the Church teaches that from the time of conception -- fertilization -- each member of the human species must be given the full respect due to a human person, beginning with respect for the fundamental right to life."
For the record
Other bishops also released statements clarifying Church teaching.
Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., noted that bishops are entrusted with the responsibility to interpret and teach Catholic doctrine.
"We respect the right of elected officials such as Speaker Pelosi to address matters of public policy that are before them, but the interpretation of Catholic faith has rightfully been entrusted to the Catholic bishops," he said in a statement. "Given this responsibility to teach, it is important to make this correction for the record. […]
"From the beginning, the Catholic Church has respected the dignity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death."
And from Denver, Archbishop Charles Chaput and Auxiliary Bishop James Conley addressed an online letter to their faithful, titled "On the Separation of Sense and State: a Clarification for the People of the Church in Northern Colorado."
The letter affirms: "Ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or 'ensouled.'
"But none diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong."
Cardinal Edward Egan released a statement this morning saying he was "shocked to learn" of Pelosi's remarks. He said her statements were "misinformed."
The cardinal affirmed that the unborn have "an inalienable right to live, a right that the speaker of the House of Representatives is bound to defend at all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons."
"Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being 'chooses' to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason," he added, "should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name."
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On the Net:
Statement of Denver bishops: www.zenit.org/article-23469?l=english
Statement of Archbishop Wuerl: www.zenit.org/article-23470?l=english
Statement of Cardinal Egan: www.zenit.org/article-23476?l=english
EXPLORE # 404 on Thursday, August 28, 2008; # 440 on Thursday, September 11, 2008
There's a lover in the story
But the story's still the same
There's a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it's written in the scriptures
And it's not some idol claim
You want it darker
We kill the flame
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6885/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Paramount.
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) will become the first Asian American to be on U.S. currency. She was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929). The U.S. Mint will begin shipping coins featuring Anna May Wong on Monday 23 October 2022.
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumors of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama 'On the Spot', that ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumored mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Spanish postcard by CyA, no. 22. Photo: Warner Bros. James Garner in the TV series Maverick (1957-1960).
James Garner (1928-2014) was an American film and television actor. He was the star of such popular TV series as the Western show Maverick (1957-1960) and the private detective show The Rockford Files (1974-1980). Garner also appeared in over 50 feature films during his long career, including The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen, Victor/Victoria (1982) with Julie Andrews, and Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys (2000).
James Garner was born James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1928. He was the youngest of the three sons of Weldon Warren Bumgarner and Mildred Meek. He was orphaned at the age of four by the death of his mother. Thereafter he and his brothers lived initially with their grandmother. After his father married his second wife Wilma, the children returned to him. James hated his stepmother who beat all three boys, especially him. He said that his stepmother also punished him by forcing him to wear a dress in public. At the age of 14, an argument with her led to a fight. He knocked her down and choked her to keep her from killing him in retaliation. She left the family and never returned. His father moved to Los Angeles, leaving Garner and his brothers in Norman. Garner's last stepmother was Grace, whom he said he loved and called "Mama Grace", and he felt that she was more of a mother to him than anyone else had been. He began working in the merchant marine when he was 16 years old near the end of World War II. After the war, Garner joined his father in Los Angeles and enrolled at Hollywood High School, where he was voted the most popular student. Garner enlisted in the California Army National Guard, serving his first 7 months in California. Then, during the Korean War, he went to Korea for 14 months as a rifleman in the 5th Regimental Combat Teamparticipated. In the Korean War, he was wounded twice and Garner was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds. When he returned, he began studying business administration, but then transferred to the Berghof School in New York for acting training. He scraped by with odd jobs until he got a gig in a Broadway production in 1954. That year he also appeared for the first time as an extra in The Caine Mutiny (Edward Dmytryk, 1954), the film version of Herman Wouk's stage play starring Humphrey Bogart. After that he took on smaller roles in film and television. He became known to a wider audience with the role of professional gambler Bret Maverick in the Western TV series Maverick (1957-1960). In the cinema he appeared in such films as Sayonara (Joshua Logan, 1957) with Marlon Brando, and the war film Darby's Rangers (William Wellman, 1958). After his acrimonious departure from Warner Bros. in 1960, Garner briefly found himself graylisted by Warner until director William Wyler hired him for a starring role in The Children's Hour (1961) with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, a drama about two teachers surviving scandal started by a student.
In the early 1960s, James Garner abruptly became one of the busiest leading men in cinema. In Boys' Night Out (Michael Gordon. 1962) with Kim Novak and Tony Randall, and The Thrill of It All (Norman Jewison, 1963) with Doris Day, he returned to comedy. Garner also starred opposite Day in Move Over, Darling (Michael Gordon, 1963), a remake of the screwball comedy My Favorite Wife (Leo McCarey, 1940) in which Garner portrayed the role originally played by Cary Grant. The remake had begun as Something's Got to Give but was recast and retitled after Marilyn Monroe died and Dean Martin chose to withdraw as a result. Next came the war dramas The Great Escape (John Sturges, 1963) with Steve McQueen, Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (Arthur Hiller, 1964) with Julie Andrews, and Roald Dahl's 36 Hours (George Seaton, 1965) with Eva Marie Saint. In the smash hit The Great Escape, Garner played the second lead for the only time during the decade, supporting fellow McQueen among a cast of British and American screen veterans in a story depicting a mass escape from a German prisoner of war camp based on a true story. The film was released in the same month as The Thrill Of It All, giving Garner two films at the box office at the same time. James Garner also starred in Westerns such as Duel at Diablo (Ralph Nelson, 1966) with Sidney Poitier, Hour of the Gun (John Sturges, 1967) with Garner as Wyatt Earp and Jason Robards Jr. as Doc Holliday, and Support Your Local Sheriff! (Burt Kennedy, 1969) with Walter Brennan. He owned his own production company, which financed some of his film projects. Garner was fascinated by car racing. His own racing experience made him ideally qualified to portray a racing driver in Grand Prix (John Frankenheimer, 1966). After this film, he co-owned the racing team "American International Racers" (AIR) for two years and took part in the documentary film The Racing Scene (Andy Sidaris, 1969). His greatest popularity, however, came from playing the title role in the television series The Rockford Files (1974- 1980), for which he received an Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1977. In the 1990s, Rockford episodes were made in feature film format, quoting the style of the 1970s episodes. Garner and Jack Kelly reappeared as Bret and Bart Maverick in a made-for-television film titled The New Maverick (Hy Averback, 1978) written by Juanita Bartlett, and in the series Bret Maverick (1981-1982).
James Garner gave one of his greatest comedic performances as the lover of a (fe)male female impersonator in the highly enjoyable musical comedy Victor/Victoria (Blake Edwards, 1982) starring Julie Andrews. The film, an entertaining remake of the German film Victor und Victoria/Victor and Victoria (Reinhold Schünzel, 1933), was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Best Original Score. In 1995, it was adapted as a Broadway musical. Garner received an Academy Award nomination for Murphy's Romance (Martin Ritt, 1985) with Sally Field. Garner played Wyatt Earp again in Blake Edwards' Western Sunset (1988), starring Bruce Willis. In the film Maverick (Richard Donner, 1994), Garner took on the role of the marshal who turns out to be Bret's father in the course of the film. Bret Maverick was portrayed in the film by Mel Gibson. Garner's career and popularity continued through another decade in films such as Space Cowboys (Clint Eastwood, 2000) with Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland, the animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, 2001) (voice work) with Michael J. Fox and The Notebook (Nick Cassavetes, 2004) with Ryan Gosling and Gena Rowlands. On television, he could be seen as Cate's father Jim Egan in the Sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2003–2005) starring Katey Sagal. He suffered a mild stroke in 2008, after which he appeared only as a voice actor in various film projects. In 2011, Simon & Schuster published Garner's autobiography 'The Garner Files: A Memoir'. In addition to recounting his career, the memoir, co-written with nonfiction writer Jon Winokur, detailed the childhood abuses Garner suffered at the hands of his stepmother. It also offered frank, unflattering assessments of some of Garner's co-stars such as Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. In addition to recalling the genesis of most of Garner's hit films and television shows, the book also featured a section where the star provided individual critiques for every one of his acting projects accompanied by a star rating for each. James Garner succumbed to a heart attack in Los Angeles in 2014 at the age of 86. Since 1956 he was married to Lois Clarke, who brought their daughter Kimberley into the marriage. The couple last lived most of their time away from Hollywood on Garner's ranch near Santa Barbara. His biological daughter Greta 'Gigi' was a successful singer in Britain in the 1980s. For his contribution to the film and television industry, Garner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard).
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.
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German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5167/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Gudenberg, Berlin.
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) will become the first Asian American to be on U.S. currency. She was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929). The U.S. Mint will begin shipping coins featuring Anna May Wong on Monday 23 October 2022.
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumors of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama 'On the Spot', that ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumored mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
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Happy birthday to Heenim. I love you and I really miss you my Chullie : ) <3 . . . Cái đề tài về fan cuồng Kpop dnày hot thế nhỉ ? Còn bưng ra để làm cả đề thi ĐH. Lúc coi TV và đọc các bài báo nói về nữ sinh fan Suju đòi bỏ nhà ra đi hay thậm chí còn chửi rủa bố mẹ làm mình điên cả người. Mình cũng là 1 ELF và cũng thần tượng mấy anh chứ không riêng gì các bạn. Nhưng bấn loạn 1 cách không kiểm soát đc thì mấy bạn không xứng đáng :| Và đấy chính là lí do người lớn đang phản đối và chỉ trích teen Việt ELF nói riêng và Kpop nói chung. Nhiều bài báo họ chỉ trích về thần tượng của chúng ta, lên tiếng giải thích là đúng nhưng không càn thiết phải 'nhiệt tình' kiểu đấy ?! Mình chẳng hiểu thật sự mấy bạn nghĩ gì trong đầu mà lại phát ngôn ra câu phải gọi là thiêu muối như thế :| Nếu như mấy bạn là 1 fan chân chính, thì mình nghĩ nên coi lại những lời nói của chính bản thân các bạn. Tục tĩu, có thể lôi cả dòng họ lên để chửi ! Họ chính là người sinh ra mấy bạn, nuôi mấy bạn lớn từng này để mấy bạn trả ơn ntnày àh ?. Đấy là các bạn tự bêu xấu hình ảnh của chính mình và ảnh hưởng đến SJ chứ chẳng tốt đẹp gì. Người ta đánh giá theo "Like idol, like fans. - Thần tượng nào, fan đấy." nên đừng dại mà bôi nhọ thần tượng của mình nếu bạn yêu thương họ =;. ELF không phải là những con người vô văn hóa như thế. Người ngoài nói gì không đúng, chửi rủa SJ thì kệ họ. Đơn giản đó chỉ là những con người không biết gì mà cứ oang oang. Và các thần tượng, họ không có lỗi nên cũng đừng mỉa mai họ như vậy. Họ cũng là người của công chúng, cũng có phần đóng góp không ít cho nền âm nhạc thế giới đấy :-j Anti-fan à, nếu như mọi người nói nghe nhạc Hàn không hiểu cái quái gì mà vẫn nghe, nghe nhiều thì liệt não. Chẳng hay bằng Backstreet Boys hay Westlife thời xưa thì chắc nghe tiếng Anh hiểu hết nguyên bài nhỉ :)) Nếu không hiểu người ta hát gì thì coi vietsub, dịch từ điển. Công nghệ thông tin bây giờ thiếu gì mà không làm đc :)) Chúng tôi là Kpop's lover nên cũng bất bình mà. Đây là nội dung phản bác về giới trẻ fan cuồng Kpop, và chúng tôi chưa chắc gì ai cũng như thế. Xin đừng vơ đũa cả nắm :-j
West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin W, no. A 145. Photo: Constantin Film. Anna Magnani in Vulcano (William Dieterle, 1949).
Passionate, fearless, and exciting Anna Magnani (1908 -1973) was the ‘volcano’ of Italian cinema. The unkempt, earthy actress radiated such fierce intelligence and sensuality that she became a major star with Roma, città aperta/Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945), and won an Oscar for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo (1955). She also gave dynamic and forceful portrayals of working-class women in Il miracolo/The Miracle (1948), Bellissima (1951), and Mamma Roma (1962).
Anna Magnani was born in Rome in 1908. She was the illegitimate child of Marina Magnani and an unknown father, whom Anna herself claimed was from the Calabria region of Italy (according to Wikipedia he was called Francesco Del Duce). She was raised by her maternal grandmother in a slum district of Rome after her mother left her. At 14, she enrolled in a French convent school in Rome, where, she learned to speak French and play the piano. She also developed a passion for acting from watching the nuns stage their Christmas play. At age 17, she went on to study at Santa Cecilia's Corso Eleanora Duse (the Eleanora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in Rome. To support herself, Magnani sang bawdy Roman songs in nightclubs and cabarets leading to her being dubbed ‘the Italian Édith Piaf’. She began touring the countryside with small repertory companies and had a small role in the silent film Scampolo (1927). In 1933 she was acting in experimental plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini. She played in his La Cieca di Sorrento/The Blind Woman of Sorrento (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1934). They also married in 1933, shortly before the film was released. Magnani retired from full-time acting to "devote herself exclusively to her husband", although she continued to play smaller film parts. Nunzio Malasomma cast her in a lead role in his La Cieca di Sorrento (1934). Under Alessandrini, she next appeared in Cavalleria (1936), followed by Tarakanova (Mario Soldati, 1938). Alessandrini and Magnani separated in 1942 and finally divorced in 1950. After their separation, her son Luca was born as a result of a brief affair with Italian matinée idol Massimo Serato. Magnani's life was struck by tragedy when Luca came down with crippling polio at only 18 months of age. He never regained the use of his legs. As a result, she spent most of her early earnings on specialists and hospitals. In 1941, Magnani was the second female lead in Teresa Venerdì/Friday Theresa (Vittorio De Sica, 1941) which writer-director De Sica called Magnani’s ‘first true film’. In it she plays Loletta Prima, the girlfriend of Di Sica’s character, Pietro Vignali.
Anna Magnani’s film career had spread over 18 years before she gained international renown as Pina in the neorealist milestone Roma, città aperta/Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945), about the final days of the Nazi occupation of Rome. Magnani gave a brilliant performance as a woman who dies fighting to protect her husband, an underground fighter against the Nazis. Her harrowing death scene remains one of cinema's most devastating moments. It established her as a star, although she lacked the conventional beauty and glamour often associated with the term. Slightly plump and rather short in stature with a face framed by unkempt raven hair and eyes encircled by deep, dark shadows, she smouldered with seething earthiness and volcanic temperament. Rossellini, whom she called ‘this forceful, secure courageous man’, was her lover at the time, and she collaborated with him on other films, including L'Amore (Roberto Rossellini, 1948) a two-part film which includes Il miracolo/The Miracle and Una voce umana/The Human Voice. In the former, she played a pregnant outcast peasant who was seduced by a stranger and comes to believe the child she subsequently carries is Christ. Magnani plumbs both the sorrow and the righteousness of being alone in the world. The latter film, based on Jean Cocteau's play about a woman desperately trying to salvage a relationship over the telephone, is remarkable for the ways in which Magnani's powerful moments of silence segue into cries of despair. One could surmise that the role of this unseen lover was Rossellini, and was based on conversations that took place throughout their own real-life affair. Rossellini promised to direct her in Stromboli (1950), the next film he was preparing, but, when the screenplay was completed, he instead gave the role to Ingrid Bergman. This and his affair with the Swedish Hollywood star caused Magnani's permanent breakup with Rossellini. As a result, Magnani took on the starring role of Volcano (William Dieterle, 1949), which was deliberately produced to invite comparison.
In 1950, Life magazine stated that Anna Magnani was "one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo." In Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951) she played Maddalena, a blustery, obstinate stage mother who drags her daughter to Cinecittà for the 'Prettiest Girl in Rome' contest, with dreams that her plain daughter will be a star. Her emotions in the film went from those of rage and humiliation to maternal love. She later starred as Camille, a commedia dell'arte actress torn between three men, a soldier, a bullfighter, and a viceroy, in Le Carrosse d'or/The Golden Coach (Jean Renoir, 1953). Renoir called her ‘the greatest actress I have ever worked with’. In Hollywood, she starred opposite Burt Lancaster as the widowed mother of a teenage daughter in The Rose Tattoo (Daniel Mann, 1955. Screenwriter and close friend Tennessee Williams had based the character of Serafina on Magnani, as Williams was a great admirer of her acting abilities. He even stipulated that the film must star Magnani. It was Magnani's first English-speaking role in a mainstream Hollywood movie, winning her the Academy Award, the BAFTA, the Golden Globe and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Magnani worked with Tennessee Williams again on The Fugitive Kind (Sidney Lumet, 1959), co-starring with Marlon Brando. In Hollywood she also appeared in Wild is the Wind (George Cukor, 1957), for which she was again nominated for the Academy Award. In Italy, she played strong-willed prostitutes and suffering mothers in such films as the women-in-prison drama Nella città l'inferno/The Wild, Wild Women (Renato Castellani, 1958) with Giulietta Masina, and Mamma Roma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962). In Mama Roma, Magnani is both the mother and the whore, playing an irrepressible prostitute determined to give her teenage son a respectable middle-class life. It was controversial but also one of Magnani's critically highest acclaimed films. In this later period of her career, she also appeared on Italian television and acted on the stage, most notably in 1965 when she starred in 'La Lupa' (She-Wolf), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and in 1966 when she played the lead in Jean Anouilh's 'Medea', directed by Gian Carlo Menotti. In the film comedy The Secret of Santa Vittoria (Stanley Kramer, 1969), she co-starred with Anthony Quinn as a fighting husband and wife. Magnani and Quinn did also feud in private and their animosity spilled over into their scenes. Reportedly, she bit Quinn in the neck and kicked him so hard that she broke a bone in her right foot. Her final screen performance was a cameo in Fellini's Roma (Federico Fellini, 1972). In 1973, Anna Magnani died at the age of 65 in Rome, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Her son Luca and her favourite director Roberto Rossellini were at her bedside. With Rossellini, she'd patched up her disagreements some years before. It was reported that an enormous crowd turned out for her funeral in Italy, in a final public salute that is more typically reserved for Popes.
Sources: Jason Ankeny (All Movie), Norman Powers (IMDb), Answers.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by Liceo Artistico statale di Venezia, 2007. Photo: Fosco Maraini. Anna Magnani in Vulcano (William Dieterle, 1949). Caption: Anna Magnani, with the island of Vulcano in the background.
Passionate, fearless, and exciting Anna Magnani (1908 -1973) was the ‘volcano’ of Italian cinema. The unkempt, earthy actress radiated such fierce intelligence and sensuality that she became a major star with Roma, città aperta/Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945), and won an Oscar for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo (1955). She also gave dynamic and forceful portrayals of working-class women in Il miracolo/The Miracle (1948), Bellissima (1951), and Mamma Roma (1962).
Anna Magnani was born in Rome in 1908. She was the illegitimate child of Marina Magnani and an unknown father, whom Anna herself claimed was from the Calabria region of Italy (according to Wikipedia he was called Francesco Del Duce). She was raised by her maternal grandmother in a slum district of Rome after her mother left her. At 14, she enrolled in a French convent school in Rome, where, she learned to speak French and play the piano. She also developed a passion for acting from watching the nuns stage their Christmas play. At age 17, she went on to study at Santa Cecilia's Corso Eleanora Duse (the Eleanora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in Rome. To support herself, Magnani sang bawdy Roman songs in nightclubs and cabarets leading to her being dubbed ‘the Italian Édith Piaf’. She began touring the countryside with small repertory companies and had a small role in the silent film Scampolo (1927). In 1933 she was acting in experimental plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini. She played in his La Cieca di Sorrento/The Blind Woman of Sorrento (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1934). They also married in 1933, shortly before the film was released. Magnani retired from full-time acting to "devote herself exclusively to her husband", although she continued to play smaller film parts. Nunzio Malasomma cast her in a lead role in his La Cieca di Sorrento (1934). Under Alessandrini, she next appeared in Cavalleria (1936), followed by Tarakanova (Mario Soldati, 1938). Alessandrini and Magnani separated in 1942 and finally divorced in 1950. After their separation, her son Luca was born as a result of a brief affair with Italian matinée idol Massimo Serato. Magnani's life was struck by tragedy when Luca came down with crippling polio at only 18 months of age. He never regained the use of his legs. As a result, she spent most of her early earnings on specialists and hospitals. In 1941, Magnani was the second female lead in Teresa Venerdì/Friday Theresa (Vittorio De Sica, 1941) which writer-director De Sica called Magnani’s ‘first true film’. In it, she plays Loletta Prima, the girlfriend of Di Sica’s character, Pietro Vignali.
Anna Magnani’s film career had spread over 18 years before she gained international renown as Pina in the neorealist milestone Roma, città aperta/Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945), about the final days of the Nazi occupation of Rome. Magnani gave a brilliant performance as a woman who dies fighting to protect her husband, an underground fighter against the Nazis. Her harrowing death scene remains one of cinema's most devastating moments. It established her as a star, although she lacked the conventional beauty and glamour often associated with the term. Slightly plump and rather short in stature with a face framed by unkempt raven hair and eyes encircled by deep, dark shadows, she smouldered with seething earthiness and volcanic temperament. Rossellini, whom she called ‘this forceful, secure courageous man’, was her lover at the time, and she collaborated with him on other films, including L'Amore (Roberto Rossellini, 1948) a two-part film which includes Il miracolo/The Miracle and Una voce umana/The Human Voice. In the former, she played a pregnant outcast peasant who was seduced by a stranger and comes to believe the child she subsequently carries is Christ. Magnani plumbs both the sorrow and the righteousness of being alone in the world. The latter film, based on Jean Cocteau's play about a woman desperately trying to salvage a relationship over the telephone, is remarkable for the ways in which Magnani's powerful moments of silence segue into cries of despair. One could surmise that the role of this unseen lover was Rossellini, and was based on conversations that took place throughout their own real-life affair. Rossellini promised to direct her in Stromboli (1950), the next film he was preparing, but, when the screenplay was completed, he instead gave the role to Ingrid Bergman. This and his affair with the Swedish Hollywood star caused Magnani's permanent breakup with Rossellini. As a result, Magnani took on the starring role of Volcano (William Dieterle, 1949), which was deliberately produced to invite comparison.
In 1950, Life magazine stated that Anna Magnani was "one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo." In Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951) she played Maddalena, a blustery, obstinate stage mother who drags her daughter to Cinecittà for the 'Prettiest Girl in Rome' contest, with dreams that her plain daughter will be a star. Her emotions in the film went from those of rage and humiliation to maternal love. She later starred as Camille, a commedia dell'arte actress torn between three men, a soldier, a bullfighter, and a viceroy, in Le Carrosse d'or/The Golden Coach (Jean Renoir, 1953). Renoir called her ‘the greatest actress I have ever worked with’. In Hollywood, she starred opposite Burt Lancaster as the widowed mother of a teenage daughter in The Rose Tattoo (Daniel Mann, 1955. Screenwriter and close friend Tennessee Williams had based the character of Serafina on Magnani, as Williams was a great admirer of her acting abilities. He even stipulated that the film must star Magnani. It was Magnani's first English-speaking role in a mainstream Hollywood movie, winning her the Academy Award, the BAFTA, the Golden Globe and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Magnani worked with Tennessee Williams again on The Fugitive Kind (Sidney Lumet, 1959), co-starring with Marlon Brando. In Hollywood she also appeared in Wild is the Wind (George Cukor, 1957), for which she was again nominated for the Academy Award. In Italy, she played strong-willed prostitutes and suffering mothers in such films as the women-in-prison drama Nella città l'inferno/The Wild, Wild Women (Renato Castellani, 1958) with Giulietta Masina, and Mamma Roma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962). In Mama Roma, Magnani is both the mother and the whore, playing an irrepressible prostitute determined to give her teenage son a respectable middle-class life. It was controversial but also one of Magnani's critically highest acclaimed films. In this later period of her career, she also appeared on Italian television and acted on the stage, most notably in 1965 when she starred in 'La Lupa' (She-Wolf), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and in 1966 when she played the lead in Jean Anouilh's 'Medea', directed by Gian Carlo Menotti. In the film comedy The Secret of Santa Vittoria (Stanley Kramer, 1969), she co-starred with Anthony Quinn as a fighting husband and wife. Magnani and Quinn did also feud in private and their animosity spilled over into their scenes. Reportedly, she bit Quinn in the neck and kicked him so hard that she broke a bone in her right foot. Her final screen performance was a cameo in Fellini's Roma (Federico Fellini, 1972). In 1973, Anna Magnani died at the age of 65 in Rome, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Her son Luca and her favourite director Roberto Rossellini were at her bedside. With Rossellini, she'd patched up her disagreements some years before. It was reported that an enormous crowd turned out for her funeral in Italy, in a final public salute that is more typically reserved for Popes.
Sources: Jason Ankeny (All Movie), Norman Powers (IMDb), Answers.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
This striking protome (head and neck of an animal) is of a bull. With upward splaying horns, bared teeth and almond-shaped eyes, this bull is a beautiful example of Celtic art. The neck of the bull is marked with a deep recess where it was, most probably, attached to another element, perhaps in wood, which is now lost.
The bull is a favourite subject of Celtic art. For the ancient Celts, the bull represented the mighty and virile aspects of nature. For this reason, bulls were worshipped as sacred beasts. Although no single Celtic deity was associated with the bull, the animal played a role of vital importance in a number of cults. The divine bull is a prominent zoomorphic deity type. Tarvos Trigaranus ("bull with three cranes") is pictured on reliefs from the cathedral at Trier, Germany, and at Notre-Dame de Paris.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarvos_Trigaranus
In Irish literature, the Donn Cuailnge ("Brown Bull of Cooley") plays a central role in the epic Táin Bó Cuailnge ("The Cattle-Raid of Cooley").
Two Celtic cranes here...
www.flickr.com/photos/28433765@N07/3657247651/
And here a bull slaying upon the Celtic pantheon of the Gundestrup Cauldron (base) found buried in the land of the ancient Cimbri tribe in Jutland.
www.flickr.com/photos/28433765@N07/3225196924/
Another bull slaying scene from the same cauldron (side panel)
www.flickr.com/photos/28433765@N07/3224342543/in/photostr...
Date: 5th Century BC
Culture: Celtic
Category: Animals, Idols, Sculpture
Medium: Bronze
Dimension: L: 6.5 cm
Provenance: Ex-collection, Dr Leo Mildenberg, Zurich.
Bull Head. Celtic, 5th-4th Century BC. Christie’s (2012)
Appliques, fitments and protomes, all in the form of bull heads have been known throughout various cultures over many hundreds of years. The Greeks took inspiration from the Persians they from the Sumerians and the Romans borrowed from Hellenistic types. The Celts in turn borrowed from the East as they traded far and wide and later with Romans created another blend.
The Roman scribe Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century AD, describes a religious ceremony in Gaul in which white-clad druids climbed a sacred oak, cut down the mistletoe growing on it, sacrificed two white bulls and used the mistletoe to cure infertility:
“ The druids — that is what they call their magicians — hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and a tree on which it is growing, provided it is Valonia Oak…. Mistletoe is rare and when found it is gathered with great ceremony, and particularly on the sixth day of the moon….Hailing the moon in a native word that means ‘healing all things,’ they prepare a ritual sacrifice and banquet beneath a tree and bring up two white bulls, whose horns are bound for the first time on this occasion. A priest arrayed in white vestments climbs the tree and, with a golden sickle, cuts down the mistletoe, which is caught in a white cloak. Then finally they kill the victims, praying to a god to render his gift propitious to those on whom he has bestowed it. They believe that mistletoe given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren and that it is an antidote to all poisons.”
Due to their close relationship (mainly antagonistic), it is only natural that the Greeks and Romans would write about their neighbours. These early writings on the various Celtic tribes, their culture and religion are quite illuminating, as the Celts, as a confederacy of tribes, left no accessible writings of their own until several centuries after the introduction of Celtic and general Christianity. Some, like Tacitus, are somewhat sympathetic to their subject, while others, such as Pliny, regard them as barbarians with con-men for leaders.
The bull appeared frequently on Celtic coins and a further link with prosperity comes from the bull's association with the Celtic/ Gallic god Taranis, a god of thunder and lightning, oak trees. The Gaelic 'Cattle Raid of Cooley' is a struggle between two supernatural bulls Findbennach (White-horned of Connacht) and Donn (Brown or Lord) of Cuailnge in Ulster. Queen Medb and her lover Ailill, while lying in bed one night, boast of their possessions. They discover that they are both equally rich but that Ailill also owns a magnificent white-horned bull. Medb then tries to buy the equally splendid Donn, but being refused, declares war on Ulster to try and obtain him by force. The war culminates in a battle between the two bulls themselves. The Donn of Ulster wins the battle, killing Findbennach but then dies himself, having gone mad and killing all who crossed him. The two bulls were once divine herdsmen in human form as the pig-keepers, Bristle and Grunt. They were shape-shifters, arch-rivals who fought as ravens, stags, water monsters, human champions, demons and eels. They were then swallowed by cows and reborn as bulls. The slaying of bulls was clearly deeply significant to the Celts and the Gundestrup cauldron shows three bulls being killed and it seems that at some times ritual ceremonies were performed which involved the sacrifice of bulls and their burial by the entrance of sanctuaries. At the Gaulish sanctuary of Gournay the evidence shows that the animals were older more - when slaughtered. In Scottish tradition, to dream of a bull was said to be a sign of help about to arrive and in Pliny it is recorded that two white bulls were ritually slain at the foot of an oak tree, when the mistletoe was cut from its boughs by the Druids. A memory of this archaic rite may linger in the naming of great hollow oaks in England as 'Bull Oaks.' but country folk say that they are so called because bulls shelter inside them in this way bringing together two of the major symbols of the god Taranis the oak and bull .
An early Celtic mount to a cauldron found in Denmark is illustrated in V Kruta, O.H. Frey, B. Raftery and M Szabó (Eds.) 'The Celts' (London, 1991) p. 375. For a close parallel dated to the late 2nd-early 3rd century AD see Ruth & Vincent Megaw, 'Celtic Art, from its Beginnings to the Book of Kells' (London, 1989) p. 223. no. 373, 'Bronze mount on a wooden stave bucket from Dinorben, Clwyd, Wales.' The same head is illustrated in Sir Cyril Fox, 'Pattern and Purpose, a Survey of Early Celtic Art in Britain' (Cardiff, 1958) p. 73, pl. 48 c. A complete handle with two fitments in the form of cow's heads is drawn in the same publication p. 74, fig. 46 and illustrated on plate 46 c-d. Called an 'escutcheon from a bucket' one of the heads is also shown in Ian Stead, 'Celtic Art in Britain before the Roman Conquest' (London, 1985) p. 56, no. 59. 'L'art celtique en Gaule' (Dieppe, 1983) p. 183, no. 243, shows the head of a bovine with spheres to its horns.
The collector Leo Mildenberg, Zurich (Christie's, London, A Peaceable Kingdom: The Leo Mildenberg Collection of Ancient Animals, October 26th, 2004)
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES
Arielle Kozloff, Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, catalogue of the exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1981.
www.celtnet.org.uk/miscellaneous/bull.html
Whole bronze Celtic bull in a Vienna museum found in a Moravian cave.
www.flickr.com/photos/leonandloisphotos/3879899996/
Celtic - 6th-5th cent. B.C. Two Ceremonial Dancers with Bull Protome (bronze, said to be from Germania)
www.flickr.com/photos/32357038@N08/3245291956/
The first literary reference to the Celtic people, as Κελτοί (Κeltoi), is by the Greek historian Hecataeus of Miletus in 517 BC; he locates the Keltoi tribe in Rhenania (West/Southwest Germany).
British postcard in the Colourgraph Series, London, no. C 7.
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929).
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for the movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name of Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumors of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama On the Spot, that ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey. 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumored mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4338/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Gudenberg, Berlin / Eichberg-Film, Berlin. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929).
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for the movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name of Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumors of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama On the Spot, that ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey. 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumored mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Swiss / British / German postcard by News Productions, Baulmes & Stroud / Filmwelt Berlin, Bakede, no. 56482. Photo: Collection Cinémathèque Suisse, Lausanne. Jean Marais in Orphée/Orpheus (Jean Cocteau, 1950).
With his heroic physique, Jean Marais (1913-1998) was France’s answer to Errol Flynn, the epitome of the swashbuckling romantic hero of French cinema. The blonde and incredibly good-looking actor played over 100 roles in film and on television and was also known as a director, writer, painter and sculptor. His mentor was the legendary poet and director Jean Cocteau, who was also his lover.
Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais was born in 1913 in Cherbourg, France. He endured a turbulent childhood. When he was born, on the eve of World War I, his mother refused to see him. Her only daughter had died a few days before. When Marais' father returned from the war, the five-year-old Jean didn't remember him, and his father slapped him. His mother promptly packed her three children off to their grandmother's, and Jean grew up fatherless. He attended the Lycee Condorcet, a prestigious private school, where some of his future film partners also studied, such as Louis de Funes and Jean Cocteau, and the faculty had such figures as Jean-Paul Sartre. At the age of 13, Marais had to leave the Lycee Condorcet, after gamingly flirting in drag with a teacher. He was placed in a Catholic boarding school, but at 16, he left school and became involved in amateur acting. As a child, he had dreamed of becoming an actor but he was twice rejected when he applied to drama schools. He took a job as a photographer's assistant and had acting classes with Charles Dullin. In 1933 Marcel L'Herbier gave him a bit part in L’Épervier/The Casting Net (1933) starring Charles Boyer. This was followed by more small parts in films by L’Herbier, in L'Aventurier/The Adventurer (1934), Le Bonheur/Happiness (1935), Les Hommes nouveaux/The New Men (1936), and Nuits de feu/The Living Corpse (1936). Marais also appeared in Abus de confiance/Abused Confidence (Henri Decoin, 1937), and Drôle de drame/Bizarre, Bizarre (Marcel Carné, 1937).
In 1937, Jean Marais, then 24, met Jean Cocteau at a stage rehearsal of Oedipe-Roi/King Oedipus. They fell in love and would remain close friends until Cocteau's death in 1963. Cocteau became his surrogate father, and he was Cocteau's surrogate son. Cocteau had a major influence on Marais’ career. In 1938 he cast him as Galahad in the stage play 'Les Chevaliers de La Table Ronde' (The Knights of the Round Table), and wrote the film L'Éternel retour with him in mind. With L’Éternal retour/The Eternal Return (Jean Delannoy, 1943), Marais made his big break in the cinema. This was the turning point in his life and the start of a film career which was to span nearly sixty years. In the following years, he appeared in almost every one of Cocteau's films: La Belle et la bête/Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau, Jean Delannoy, 1946), L'Aigle à deux têtes/The Eagle Has Two Heads (Jean Cocteau, 1947), Les Parents terribles/The Storm Within (Jean Cocteau, 1948), and Orphée/Orpheus (Jean Cocteau, 1950). After the Allies liberated Paris in August 1944, he joined France's Second Armored Division and served as a truck driver carrying fuel and ammunition to the front. Later he was decorated with the Croix de Guerre for his courage. During the war, Marais was engaged to his film partner, actress Mila Parély, and their engagement was blessed by Cocteau, who wanted Marais to be happy. Marais and Mila Parély separated after two years, and shortly after they worked together again in La Belle et la bête/Beauty and the Beast (1946). His double role as the beast and the prince in this classic film made Marais an international teen idol.
During the 1950s, Jean Marais became a dashing sword master, dazzling his audiences with impressive French swashbuckling adventures, in which he performed his own stunts. Le Comte de Monte Cristo/The Count of Monte Cristo (Robert Vernay, 1955), Le Bossu/The Hunchback of Paris (André Hunebelle, 1959), and Le Capitaine Fracasse/Captain Fracasse (Pierre Gaspard-Huit, 1961) all enjoyed great box office popularity in France. Marais would become one of the most admired and celebrated actors of his generation, and starred in international productions directed by Jean Renoir (Elena et les hommes/Elena and Her Men, 1956), Luchino Visconti (Le Notti bianche/White Nights, 1957), Cocteau (Le testament d'Orphée/The Testament of Orpheus, 1959), and others. During the 1960s and 1970s, he went on to appear in such popular adventure comedies as the Fantômas (1964-1967, André Hunebelle) trilogy, co-starring with Louis de Funes and Mylène Demongeot.
Jean Marais was equally impressive in the theatre, appearing in such plays as 'Britannicus,' 'Pygmalion' and 'Cher Menteur' at the Théâtre de Paris, Théâtre de l'Atelier, and the Comédie Francaise. He spent his later years living in his house in Vallauris, in the South of France where he was involved in painting, sculpture and pottery, and was visited by Pablo Picasso and other cultural figures. His monument Le passe muraille/The Walker Through Walls, honouring French author Marcel Aymé, can be seen in the Montmartre Quarter in Paris. After a long retirement, Jean Marais returned to filmmaking in the mid-1980s with choice character roles in such films as Parking (Jacques Demy, 1985). In 1993 he was awarded an honourable César. Marais made his final film appearance in Bernardo Bertolucci's Io ballo da sola/Stealing Beauty (1996) starring Liv Tyler. That year he received France's highest tribute, the Legion of Honour for his contribution to the French cinema. Jean Marais died of heart failure in 1998, in Cannes. He had an adopted son, Serge Marais.
Sources: Steve Shelokhonov (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia, Films de France, Lenin Imports, and IMDb.
For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Dutch postcard, no. 128. Photo: Paramount. Sent by mail in 1932.
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) will become the first Asian American to be on U.S. currency. She was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929). The U.S. Mint will begin shipping coins featuring Anna May Wong on Monday 23 October 2022.
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumours of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama 'On the Spot', which ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s with several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal haemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumoured mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favourite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6082/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Paramount. Anna May Wong in Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931).
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) will become the first Asian American to be on U.S. currency. She was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929). The U.S. Mint will begin shipping coins featuring Anna May Wong on Monday 23 October 2022.
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for the movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name of Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumors of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama 'On the Spot', that ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumored mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Édition, no. 23. Paramount. Photo: Rudolph Valentino and Doris Kenyon in Monsieur Beaucaire (Sidney Olcott, 1924).
Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) was Hollywood's ultimate 'Latin Lover'. The Italian-born American actor starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Sheik (1922), Blood and Sand (1922), The Eagle (1925), and The Son of the Sheik (1926). His early death at age 31 caused mass hysteria among his female fans and propelled him into iconic status.
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) will become the first Asian American to be on U.S. currency. She was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929). The U.S. Mint will begin shipping coins featuring Anna May Wong on Monday 23 October 2022.
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for the movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name of Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumors of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama 'On the Spot', that ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumored mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5935/2, 1930-1931. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Ramon Novarro in A Night in Cairo/ The Barbarian (Sam Wood, 1933).
Mexican-American actor Ramon Novarro (1899-1968) was a popular Latin Lover of the 1920s and early 1930s.
Shot with a Minolta SLR and black and white film. But the real fun begins when the safelight goes on and the white light is off with the door closed. Love the smells of a darkroom, love the magic of watching a sheet of white paper slowly reveal its magic as the image I shot on film becomes real in black and white. This picture was shot on high contrast copy film. No grays, just pure black and white.
Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5853. Photo: British International Pictures (BIP). Anna May Wong in Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929).
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929).
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife, Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name of Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919), starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921, she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumors of lesbianism, which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star" and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film, The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye, and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland) and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama 'On the Spot', which ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934) was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935, she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village, Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned several properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her detective series, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953, she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film, playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society, but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumored mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Vintage Italian postcard. Fotocelere, Torino, No. 199. card mailed in 1922.
Paula Paxi (?-?) had a short career in Italian silent cinema around 1921.
Paxi debuted early 1921 in the film I vagabondi dell'amore, directed by Ubaldo Pittei or Guido di Sandro (sources differ) for Quirinus Film. Right from her first film Paxi had the lead in this film based on a script by Washington Borg, on a girl who flees her evil stepmother, and goes through hardship with her poor lover. She drops her boyfriend for an elder, richer lover. When she repents, she returns too late: her boyfriend dies of a broken heart and she is forced to become a 'vagabond of love'. While the press didn't like the story, they praised Paxi's performance. The censor cut a scene in which a statuette is transformed in the protagonist who is lying naked.
Immediately afterward, Paxi acted at Tespi Film opposite Rina Calabria and Gustavo Salvini in the Balzac adaptation Cesare Birotteau (Arnaldo Frateili, 1921), about the rise and fall of a salesman and local mayor (Salvini). After being ruined, he rises again thanks to a young man in love with his daughter (Paxi). Also at Tespi Film, Paxi acted in L'amante incatenata (Mario Corsi, 1921) opposite Luciano Molinari. She reunited with Frateili in the Tespi production Senza domani (1921), again opposite Salvini. Her last film Paxi did in 1922: Il trionfo di Ercole by Francesco Bertolini, starring wrestler champion and forzuto Giovanni Raicevich as a man rivaling for the hand of the daughter of a professor who has claimed that exceptional force should be paired with exceptional intellect. Paxi is the daughter of course. The professor's assistant and rival in love will do anything to discredit Giovanni by accusing him first of theft and then of insanity, but our strongman will break any chains, beat every warden, conquer any obstacle, to marry his beloved Fanny before the other does so. The film was produced by Raicevich's own company Raicevich-Film. After that, nothing more is known about Paxi.
Sources: IMDb, Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano.
Ganesha, also spelled Ganesh, and also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka, is a widely worshipped deity in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.
Although he is known by many attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify. Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography.
Ganesha emerged as a distinct deity in the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Gupta Period, although he inherited traits from Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors. He was formally included among the five primary deities of Smartism (a Hindu denomination) in the 9th century. A sect of devotees called the Ganapatya arose, who identified Ganesha as the supreme deity. The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.
ETYMOLOGY AND OTHER NAMES
Ganesha has been ascribed many other titles and epithets, including Ganapati and Vighneshvara. The Hindu title of respect Shri is often added before his name. One popular way Ganesha is worshipped is by chanting a Ganesha Sahasranama, a litany of "a thousand names of Ganesha". Each name in the sahasranama conveys a different meaning and symbolises a different aspect of Ganesha. At least two different versions of the Ganesha Sahasranama exist; one version is drawn from the Ganesha Purana, a Hindu scripture venerating Ganesha.
The name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana, meaning a group, multitude, or categorical system and isha, meaning lord or master. The word gaņa when associated with Ganesha is often taken to refer to the gaņas, a troop of semi-divine beings that form part of the retinue of Shiva. The term more generally means a category, class, community, association, or corporation. Some commentators interpret the name "Lord of the Gaņas" to mean "Lord of Hosts" or "Lord of created categories", such as the elements. Ganapati, a synonym for Ganesha, is a compound composed of gaṇa, meaning "group", and pati, meaning "ruler" or "lord". The Amarakosha, an early Sanskrit lexicon, lists eight synonyms of Ganesha : Vinayaka, Vighnarāja (equivalent to Vighnesha), Dvaimātura (one who has two mothers), Gaṇādhipa (equivalent to Ganapati and Ganesha), Ekadanta (one who has one tusk), Heramba, Lambodara (one who has a pot belly, or, literally, one who has a hanging belly), and Gajanana; having the face of an elephant).
Vinayaka is a common name for Ganesha that appears in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. This name is reflected in the naming of the eight famous Ganesha temples in Maharashtra known as the Ashtavinayak (aṣṭavināyaka). The names Vighnesha and Vighneshvara (Lord of Obstacles) refers to his primary function in Hindu theology as the master and remover of obstacles (vighna).
A prominent name for Ganesha in the Tamil language is Pillai. A. K. Narain differentiates these terms by saying that pillai means a "child" while pillaiyar means a "noble child". He adds that the words pallu, pella, and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify "tooth or tusk", also "elephant tooth or tusk". Anita Raina Thapan notes that the root word pille in the name Pillaiyar might have originally meant "the young of the elephant", because the Pali word pillaka means "a young elephant".
In the Burmese language, Ganesha is known as Maha Peinne, derived from Pali Mahā Wināyaka. The widespread name of Ganesha in Thailand is Phra Phikhanet or Phra Phikhanesuan, both of which are derived from Vara Vighnesha and Vara Vighneshvara respectively, whereas the name Khanet (from Ganesha) is rather rare.
In Sri Lanka, in the North-Central and North Western areas with predominantly Buddhist population, Ganesha is known as Aiyanayaka Deviyo, while in other Singhala Buddhist areas he is known as Gana deviyo.
ICONOGRAPHY
Ganesha is a popular figure in Indian art. Unlike those of some deities, representations of Ganesha show wide variations and distinct patterns changing over time. He may be portrayed standing, dancing, heroically taking action against demons, playing with his family as a boy, sitting down or on an elevated seat, or engaging in a range of contemporary situations.
Ganesha images were prevalent in many parts of India by the 6th century. The 13th century statue pictured is typical of Ganesha statuary from 900–1200, after Ganesha had been well-established as an independent deity with his own sect. This example features some of Ganesha's common iconographic elements. A virtually identical statue has been dated between 973–1200 by Paul Martin-Dubost, and another similar statue is dated c. 12th century by Pratapaditya Pal. Ganesha has the head of an elephant and a big belly. This statue has four arms, which is common in depictions of Ganesha. He holds his own broken tusk in his lower-right hand and holds a delicacy, which he samples with his trunk, in his lower-left hand. The motif of Ganesha turning his trunk sharply to his left to taste a sweet in his lower-left hand is a particularly archaic feature. A more primitive statue in one of the Ellora Caves with this general form has been dated to the 7th century. Details of the other hands are difficult to make out on the statue shown. In the standard configuration, Ganesha typically holds an axe or a goad in one upper arm and a pasha (noose) in the other upper arm.
The influence of this old constellation of iconographic elements can still be seen in contemporary representations of Ganesha. In one modern form, the only variation from these old elements is that the lower-right hand does not hold the broken tusk but is turned towards the viewer in a gesture of protection or fearlessness (abhaya mudra). The same combination of four arms and attributes occurs in statues of Ganesha dancing, which is a very popular theme.
COMMON ATTRIBUTES
Ganesha has been represented with the head of an elephant since the early stages of his appearance in Indian art. Puranic myths provide many explanations for how he got his elephant head. One of his popular forms, Heramba-Ganapati, has five elephant heads, and other less-common variations in the number of heads are known. While some texts say that Ganesha was born with an elephant head, he acquires the head later in most stories. The most recurrent motif in these stories is that Ganesha was created by Parvati using clay to protect her and Shiva beheaded him when Ganesha came between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva then replaced Ganesha's original head with that of an elephant. Details of the battle and where the replacement head came from vary from source to source. Another story says that Ganesha was created directly by Shiva's laughter. Because Shiva considered Ganesha too alluring, he gave him the head of an elephant and a protruding belly.
Ganesha's earliest name was Ekadanta (One Tusked), referring to his single whole tusk, the other being broken. Some of the earliest images of Ganesha show him holding his broken tusk. The importance of this distinctive feature is reflected in the Mudgala Purana, which states that the name of Ganesha's second incarnation is Ekadanta. Ganesha's protruding belly appears as a distinctive attribute in his earliest statuary, which dates to the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries). This feature is so important that, according to the Mudgala Purana, two different incarnations of Ganesha use names based on it: Lambodara (Pot Belly, or, literally, Hanging Belly) and Mahodara (Great Belly). Both names are Sanskrit compounds describing his belly. The Brahmanda Purana says that Ganesha has the name Lambodara because all the universes (i.e., cosmic eggs) of the past, present, and future are present in him. The number of Ganesha's arms varies; his best-known forms have between two and sixteen arms. Many depictions of Ganesha feature four arms, which is mentioned in Puranic sources and codified as a standard form in some iconographic texts. His earliest images had two arms. Forms with 14 and 20 arms appeared in Central India during the 9th and the 10th centuries. The serpent is a common feature in Ganesha iconography and appears in many forms. According to the Ganesha Purana, Ganesha wrapped the serpent Vasuki around his neck. Other depictions of snakes include use as a sacred thread wrapped around the stomach as a belt, held in a hand, coiled at the ankles, or as a throne. Upon Ganesha's forehead may be a third eye or the Shaivite sectarian mark , which consists of three horizontal lines. The Ganesha Purana prescribes a tilaka mark as well as a crescent moon on the forehead. A distinct form of Ganesha called Bhalachandra includes that iconographic element. Ganesha is often described as red in color. Specific colors are associated with certain forms. Many examples of color associations with specific meditation forms are prescribed in the Sritattvanidhi, a treatise on Hindu iconography. For example, white is associated with his representations as Heramba-Ganapati and Rina-Mochana-Ganapati (Ganapati Who Releases from Bondage). Ekadanta-Ganapati is visualized as blue during meditation in that form.
VAHANAS
The earliest Ganesha images are without a vahana (mount/vehicle). Of the eight incarnations of Ganesha described in the Mudgala Purana, Ganesha uses a mouse (shrew) in five of them, a lion in his incarnation as Vakratunda, a peacock in his incarnation as Vikata, and Shesha, the divine serpent, in his incarnation as Vighnaraja. Mohotkata uses a lion, Mayūreśvara uses a peacock, Dhumraketu uses a horse, and Gajanana uses a mouse, in the four incarnations of Ganesha listed in the Ganesha Purana. Jain depictions of Ganesha show his vahana variously as a mouse, elephant, tortoise, ram, or peacock.
Ganesha is often shown riding on or attended by a mouse, shrew or rat. Martin-Dubost says that the rat began to appear as the principal vehicle in sculptures of Ganesha in central and western India during the 7th century; the rat was always placed close to his feet. The mouse as a mount first appears in written sources in the Matsya Purana and later in the Brahmananda Purana and Ganesha Purana, where Ganesha uses it as his vehicle in his last incarnation. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa includes a meditation verse on Ganesha that describes the mouse appearing on his flag. The names Mūṣakavāhana (mouse-mount) and Ākhuketana (rat-banner) appear in the Ganesha Sahasranama.
The mouse is interpreted in several ways. According to Grimes, "Many, if not most of those who interpret Gaṇapati's mouse, do so negatively; it symbolizes tamoguṇa as well as desire". Along these lines, Michael Wilcockson says it symbolizes those who wish to overcome desires and be less selfish. Krishan notes that the rat is destructive and a menace to crops. The Sanskrit word mūṣaka (mouse) is derived from the root mūṣ (stealing, robbing). It was essential to subdue the rat as a destructive pest, a type of vighna (impediment) that needed to be overcome. According to this theory, showing Ganesha as master of the rat demonstrates his function as Vigneshvara (Lord of Obstacles) and gives evidence of his possible role as a folk grāma-devatā (village deity) who later rose to greater prominence. Martin-Dubost notes a view that the rat is a symbol suggesting that Ganesha, like the rat, penetrates even the most secret places.
ASSOCIATIONS
OBSTACLES
Ganesha is Vighneshvara or Vighnaraja or Vighnaharta (Marathi), the Lord of Obstacles, both of a material and spiritual order. He is popularly worshipped as a remover of obstacles, though traditionally he also places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked. Paul Courtright says that "his task in the divine scheme of things, his dharma, is to place and remove obstacles. It is his particular territory, the reason for his creation."
Krishan notes that some of Ganesha's names reflect shadings of multiple roles that have evolved over time. Dhavalikar ascribes the quick ascension of Ganesha in the Hindu pantheon, and the emergence of the Ganapatyas, to this shift in emphasis from vighnakartā (obstacle-creator) to vighnahartā (obstacle-averter). However, both functions continue to be vital to his character.
BUDDHI (KNOWLEDGE)
Ganesha is considered to be the Lord of letters and learning. In Sanskrit, the word buddhi is a feminine noun that is variously translated as intelligence, wisdom, or intellect. The concept of buddhi is closely associated with the personality of Ganesha, especially in the Puranic period, when many stories stress his cleverness and love of intelligence. One of Ganesha's names in the Ganesha Purana and the Ganesha Sahasranama is Buddhipriya. This name also appears in a list of 21 names at the end of the Ganesha Sahasranama that Ganesha says are especially important. The word priya can mean "fond of", and in a marital context it can mean "lover" or "husband", so the name may mean either "Fond of Intelligence" or "Buddhi's Husband".
AUM
Ganesha is identified with the Hindu mantra Aum, also spelled Om. The term oṃkārasvarūpa (Aum is his form), when identified with Ganesha, refers to the notion that he personifies the primal sound. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa attests to this association. Chinmayananda translates the relevant passage as follows:
(O Lord Ganapati!) You are (the Trinity) Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa. You are Indra. You are fire [Agni] and air [Vāyu]. You are the sun [Sūrya] and the moon [Chandrama]. You are Brahman. You are (the three worlds) Bhuloka [earth], Antariksha-loka [space], and Swargaloka [heaven]. You are Om. (That is to say, You are all this).
Some devotees see similarities between the shape of Ganesha's body in iconography and the shape of Aum in the Devanāgarī and Tamil scripts.
FIRST CHAKRA
According to Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, called Muladhara (mūlādhāra). Mula means "original, main"; adhara means "base, foundation". The muladhara chakra is the principle on which the manifestation or outward expansion of primordial Divine Force rests. This association is also attested to in the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Courtright translates this passage as follows: "[O Ganesha,] You continually dwell in the sacral plexus at the base of the spine [mūlādhāra cakra]." Thus, Ganesha has a permanent abode in every being at the Muladhara. Ganesha holds, supports and guides all other chakras, thereby "governing the forces that propel the wheel of life".
FAMILY AND CONSORTS
Though Ganesha is popularly held to be the son of Shiva and Parvati, the Puranic myths give different versions about his birth. In some he was created by Parvati, in another he was created by Shiva and Parvati, in another he appeared mysteriously and was discovered by Shiva and Parvati or he was born from the elephant headed goddess Malini after she drank Parvati's bath water that had been thrown in the river.
The family includes his brother the war god Kartikeya, who is also called Subramanya, Skanda, Murugan and other names. Regional differences dictate the order of their births. In northern India, Skanda is generally said to be the elder, while in the south, Ganesha is considered the first born. In northern India, Skanda was an important martial deity from about 500 BCE to about 600 CE, when worship of him declined significantly in northern India. As Skanda fell, Ganesha rose. Several stories tell of sibling rivalry between the brothers and may reflect sectarian tensions.
Ganesha's marital status, the subject of considerable scholarly review, varies widely in mythological stories. One pattern of myths identifies Ganesha as an unmarried brahmacari. This view is common in southern India and parts of northern India. Another pattern associates him with the concepts of Buddhi (intellect), Siddhi (spiritual power), and Riddhi (prosperity); these qualities are sometimes personified as goddesses, said to be Ganesha's wives. He also may be shown with a single consort or a nameless servant (Sanskrit: daşi). Another pattern connects Ganesha with the goddess of culture and the arts, Sarasvati or Śarda (particularly in Maharashtra). He is also associated with the goddess of luck and prosperity, Lakshmi. Another pattern, mainly prevalent in the Bengal region, links Ganesha with the banana tree, Kala Bo.
The Shiva Purana says that Ganesha had begotten two sons: Kşema (prosperity) and Lābha (profit). In northern Indian variants of this story, the sons are often said to be Śubha (auspiciouness) and Lābha. The 1975 Hindi film Jai Santoshi Maa shows Ganesha married to Riddhi and Siddhi and having a daughter named Santoshi Ma, the goddess of satisfaction. This story has no Puranic basis, but Anita Raina Thapan and Lawrence Cohen cite Santoshi Ma's cult as evidence of Ganesha's continuing evolution as a popular deity.
WOSHIP AND FESTIVALS
Ganesha is worshipped on many religious and secular occasions; especially at the beginning of ventures such as buying a vehicle or starting a business. K.N. Somayaji says, "there can hardly be a [Hindu] home [in India] which does not house an idol of Ganapati. [..] Ganapati, being the most popular deity in India, is worshipped by almost all castes and in all parts of the country". Devotees believe that if Ganesha is propitiated, he grants success, prosperity and protection against adversity.
Ganesha is a non-sectarian deity, and Hindus of all denominations invoke him at the beginning of prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies. Dancers and musicians, particularly in southern India, begin performances of arts such as the Bharatnatyam dance with a prayer to Ganesha. Mantras such as Om Shri Gaṇeshāya Namah (Om, salutation to the Illustrious Ganesha) are often used. One of the most famous mantras associated with Ganesha is Om Gaṃ Ganapataye Namah (Om, Gaṃ, Salutation to the Lord of Hosts).
Devotees offer Ganesha sweets such as modaka and small sweet balls (laddus). He is often shown carrying a bowl of sweets, called a modakapātra. Because of his identification with the color red, he is often worshipped with red sandalwood paste (raktacandana) or red flowers. Dūrvā grass (Cynodon dactylon) and other materials are also used in his worship.
Festivals associated with Ganesh are Ganesh Chaturthi or Vināyaka chaturthī in the śuklapakṣa (the fourth day of the waxing moon) in the month of bhādrapada (August/September) and the Gaṇeśa jayanti (Gaṇeśa's birthday) celebrated on the cathurthī of the śuklapakṣa (fourth day of the waxing moon) in the month of māgha (January/February)."
GANESH CHATURTI
An annual festival honours Ganesha for ten days, starting on Ganesha Chaturthi, which typically falls in late August or early September. The festival begins with people bringing in clay idols of Ganesha, symbolising Ganesha's visit. The festival culminates on the day of Ananta Chaturdashi, when idols (murtis) of Ganesha are immersed in the most convenient body of water. Some families have a tradition of immersion on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, or 7th day. In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed this annual Ganesha festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event. He did so "to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra. Because of Ganesha's wide appeal as "the god for Everyman", Tilak chose him as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule. Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, and he established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day. Today, Hindus across India celebrate the Ganapati festival with great fervour, though it is most popular in the state of Maharashtra. The festival also assumes huge proportions in Mumbai, Pune, and in the surrounding belt of Ashtavinayaka temples.
TEMPLES
In Hindu temples, Ganesha is depicted in various ways: as an acolyte or subordinate deity (pãrśva-devatã); as a deity related to the principal deity (parivāra-devatã); or as the principal deity of the temple (pradhāna), treated similarly as the highest gods of the Hindu pantheon. As the god of transitions, he is placed at the doorway of many Hindu temples to keep out the unworthy, which is analogous to his role as Parvati’s doorkeeper. In addition, several shrines are dedicated to Ganesha himself, of which the Ashtavinayak (lit. "eight Ganesha (shrines)") in Maharashtra are particularly well known. Located within a 100-kilometer radius of the city of Pune, each of these eight shrines celebrates a particular form of Ganapati, complete with its own lore and legend. The eight shrines are: Morgaon, Siddhatek, Pali, Mahad, Theur, Lenyadri, Ozar and Ranjangaon.
There are many other important Ganesha temples at the following locations: Wai in Maharashtra; Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh; Jodhpur, Nagaur and Raipur (Pali) in Rajasthan; Baidyanath in Bihar; Baroda, Dholaka, and Valsad in Gujarat and Dhundiraj Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Prominent Ganesha temples in southern India include the following: Kanipakam in Chittoor; the Jambukeśvara Temple at Tiruchirapalli; at Rameshvaram and Suchindram in Tamil Nadu; at Malliyur, Kottarakara, Pazhavangadi, Kasargod in Kerala, Hampi, and Idagunji in Karnataka; and Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh.
T. A. Gopinatha notes, "Every village however small has its own image of Vighneśvara (Vigneshvara) with or without a temple to house it in. At entrances of villages and forts, below pīpaḹa (Sacred fig) trees [...], in a niche [...] in temples of Viṣṇu (Vishnu) as well as Śiva (Shiva) and also in separate shrines specially constructed in Śiva temples [...]; the figure of Vighneśvara is invariably seen." Ganesha temples have also been built outside of India, including southeast Asia, Nepal (including the four Vinayaka shrines in the Kathmandu valley), and in several western countries.
RISE TO PROMINENCE
FIRST APEARANCE
Ganesha appeared in his classic form as a clearly recognizable deity with well-defined iconographic attributes in the early 4th to 5th centuries. Shanti Lal Nagar says that the earliest known iconic image of Ganesha is in the niche of the Shiva temple at Bhumra, which has been dated to the Gupta period. His independent cult appeared by about the 10th century. Narain summarizes the controversy between devotees and academics regarding the development of Ganesha as follows:
What is inscrutable is the somewhat dramatic appearance of Gaņeśa on the historical scene. His antecedents are not clear. His wide acceptance and popularity, which transcend sectarian and territorial limits, are indeed amazing. On the one hand there is the pious belief of the orthodox devotees in Gaņeśa's Vedic origins and in the Purāṇic explanations contained in the confusing, but nonetheless interesting, mythology. On the other hand there are doubts about the existence of the idea and the icon of this deity" before the fourth to fifth century A.D. ... [I]n my opinion, indeed there is no convincing evidence of the existence of this divinity prior to the fifth century.
POSSIBLE INFLUENCES
Courtright reviews various speculative theories about the early history of Ganesha, including supposed tribal traditions and animal cults, and dismisses all of them in this way:
In the post 600 BC period there is evidence of people and places named after the animal. The motif appears on coins and sculptures.
Thapan's book on the development of Ganesha devotes a chapter to speculations about the role elephants had in early India but concludes that, "although by the second century CE the elephant-headed yakṣa form exists it cannot be presumed to represent Gaṇapati-Vināyaka. There is no evidence of a deity by this name having an elephant or elephant-headed form at this early stage. Gaṇapati-Vināyaka had yet to make his debut."
One theory of the origin of Ganesha is that he gradually came to prominence in connection with the four Vinayakas (Vināyakas). In Hindu mythology, the Vināyakas were a group of four troublesome demons who created obstacles and difficulties but who were easily propitiated. The name Vināyaka is a common name for Ganesha both in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. Krishan is one of the academics who accepts this view, stating flatly of Ganesha, "He is a non-vedic god. His origin is to be traced to the four Vināyakas, evil spirits, of the Mānavagŗhyasūtra (7th–4th century BCE) who cause various types of evil and suffering". Depictions of elephant-headed human figures, which some identify with Ganesha, appear in Indian art and coinage as early as the 2nd century. According to Ellawala, the elephant-headed Ganesha as lord of the Ganas was known to the people of Sri Lanka in the early pre-Christian era.
A metal plate depiction of Ganesha had been discovered in 1993, in Iran, it dated back to 1,200 BCE. Another one was discovered much before, in Lorestan Province of Iran.
First Ganesha's terracotta images are from 1st century CE found in Ter, Pal, Verrapuram and Chandraketugarh. These figures are small, with elephant head, two arms, and chubby physique. The earliest Ganesha icons in stone were carved in Mathura during Kushan times (2nd-3rd centuries CE).
VEDIC AND EPIC LITERATURE
The title "Leader of the group" (Sanskrit: gaṇapati) occurs twice in the Rig Veda, but in neither case does it refer to the modern Ganesha. The term appears in RV 2.23.1 as a title for Brahmanaspati, according to commentators. While this verse doubtless refers to Brahmanaspati, it was later adopted for worship of Ganesha and is still used today. In rejecting any claim that this passage is evidence of Ganesha in the Rig Veda, Ludo Rocher says that it "clearly refers to Bṛhaspati—who is the deity of the hymn—and Bṛhaspati only". Equally clearly, the second passage (RV 10.112.9) refers to Indra, who is given the epithet 'gaṇapati', translated "Lord of the companies (of the Maruts)." However, Rocher notes that the more recent Ganapatya literature often quotes the Rigvedic verses to give Vedic respectability to Ganesha .
Two verses in texts belonging to Black Yajurveda, Maitrāyaṇīya Saṃhitā (2.9.1) and Taittirīya Āraṇyaka (10.1), appeal to a deity as "the tusked one" (Dantiḥ), "elephant-faced" (Hastimukha), and "with a curved trunk" (Vakratuņḍa). These names are suggestive of Ganesha, and the 14th century commentator Sayana explicitly establishes this identification. The description of Dantin, possessing a twisted trunk (vakratuṇḍa) and holding a corn-sheaf, a sugar cane, and a club, is so characteristic of the Puranic Ganapati that Heras says "we cannot resist to accept his full identification with this Vedic Dantin". However, Krishan considers these hymns to be post-Vedic additions. Thapan reports that these passages are "generally considered to have been interpolated". Dhavalikar says, "the references to the elephant-headed deity in the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā have been proven to be very late interpolations, and thus are not very helpful for determining the early formation of the deity".
Ganesha does not appear in Indian epic literature that is dated to the Vedic period. A late interpolation to the epic poem Mahabharata says that the sage Vyasa (Vyāsa) asked Ganesha to serve as his scribe to transcribe the poem as he dictated it to him. Ganesha agreed but only on condition that Vyasa recite the poem uninterrupted, that is, without pausing. The sage agreed, but found that to get any rest he needed to recite very complex passages so Ganesha would have to ask for clarifications. The story is not accepted as part of the original text by the editors of the critical edition of the Mahabharata, in which the twenty-line story is relegated to a footnote in an appendix. The story of Ganesha acting as the scribe occurs in 37 of the 59 manuscripts consulted during preparation of the critical edition. Ganesha's association with mental agility and learning is one reason he is shown as scribe for Vyāsa's dictation of the Mahabharata in this interpolation. Richard L. Brown dates the story to the 8th century, and Moriz Winternitz concludes that it was known as early as c. 900, but it was not added to the Mahabharata some 150 years later. Winternitz also notes that a distinctive feature in South Indian manuscripts of the Mahabharata is their omission of this Ganesha legend. The term vināyaka is found in some recensions of the Śāntiparva and Anuśāsanaparva that are regarded as interpolations. A reference to Vighnakartṛīṇām ("Creator of Obstacles") in Vanaparva is also believed to be an interpolation and does not appear in the critical edition.
PURANIC PERIOD
Stories about Ganesha often occur in the Puranic corpus. Brown notes while the Puranas "defy precise chronological ordering", the more detailed narratives of Ganesha's life are in the late texts, c. 600–1300. Yuvraj Krishan says that the Puranic myths about the birth of Ganesha and how he acquired an elephant's head are in the later Puranas, which were composed from c. 600 onwards. He elaborates on the matter to say that references to Ganesha in the earlier Puranas, such as the Vayu and Brahmanda Puranas, are later interpolations made during the 7th to 10th centuries.
In his survey of Ganesha's rise to prominence in Sanskrit literature, Ludo Rocher notes that:
Above all, one cannot help being struck by the fact that the numerous stories surrounding Gaṇeśa concentrate on an unexpectedly limited number of incidents. These incidents are mainly three: his birth and parenthood, his elephant head, and his single tusk. Other incidents are touched on in the texts, but to a far lesser extent.
Ganesha's rise to prominence was codified in the 9th century, when he was formally included as one of the five primary deities of Smartism. The 9th-century philosopher Adi Shankara popularized the "worship of the five forms" (Panchayatana puja) system among orthodox Brahmins of the Smarta tradition. This worship practice invokes the five deities Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, and Surya. Adi Shankara instituted the tradition primarily to unite the principal deities of these five major sects on an equal status. This formalized the role of Ganesha as a complementary deity.
SCRIPTURES
Once Ganesha was accepted as one of the five principal deities of Brahmanism, some Brahmins (brāhmaṇas) chose to worship Ganesha as their principal deity. They developed the Ganapatya tradition, as seen in the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana.
The date of composition for the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana - and their dating relative to one another - has sparked academic debate. Both works were developed over time and contain age-layered strata. Anita Thapan reviews comments about dating and provides her own judgement. "It seems likely that the core of the Ganesha Purana appeared around the twelfth and thirteenth centuries", she says, "but was later interpolated." Lawrence W. Preston considers the most reasonable date for the Ganesha Purana to be between 1100 and 1400, which coincides with the apparent age of the sacred sites mentioned by the text.
R.C. Hazra suggests that the Mudgala Purana is older than the Ganesha Purana, which he dates between 1100 and 1400. However, Phyllis Granoff finds problems with this relative dating and concludes that the Mudgala Purana was the last of the philosophical texts concerned with Ganesha. She bases her reasoning on the fact that, among other internal evidence, the Mudgala Purana specifically mentions the Ganesha Purana as one of the four Puranas (the Brahma, the Brahmanda, the Ganesha, and the Mudgala Puranas) which deal at length with Ganesha. While the kernel of the text must be old, it was interpolated until the 17th and 18th centuries as the worship of Ganapati became more important in certain regions. Another highly regarded scripture, the Ganapati Atharvashirsa, was probably composed during the 16th or 17th centuries.
BEYOND INDIA AND HINDUISM
Commercial and cultural contacts extended India's influence in western and southeast Asia. Ganesha is one of a number of Hindu deities who reached foreign lands as a result.
Ganesha was particularly worshipped by traders and merchants, who went out of India for commercial ventures. From approximately the 10th century onwards, new networks of exchange developed including the formation of trade guilds and a resurgence of money circulation. During this time, Ganesha became the principal deity associated with traders. The earliest inscription invoking Ganesha before any other deity is associated with the merchant community.
Hindus migrated to Maritime Southeast Asia and took their culture, including Ganesha, with them. Statues of Ganesha are found throughout the region, often beside Shiva sanctuaries. The forms of Ganesha found in Hindu art of Java, Bali, and Borneo show specific regional influences. The spread of Hindu culture to southeast Asia established Ganesha in modified forms in Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand. In Indochina, Hinduism and Buddhism were practiced side by side, and mutual influences can be seen in the iconography of Ganesha in the region. In Thailand, Cambodia, and among the Hindu classes of the Chams in Vietnam, Ganesha was mainly thought of as a remover of obstacles. Today in Buddhist Thailand, Ganesha is regarded as a remover of obstacles, the god of success.
Before the arrival of Islam, Afghanistan had close cultural ties with India, and the adoration of both Hindu and Buddhist deities was practiced. Examples of sculptures from the 5th to the 7th centuries have survived, suggesting that the worship of Ganesha was then in vogue in the region.
Ganesha appears in Mahayana Buddhism, not only in the form of the Buddhist god Vināyaka, but also as a Hindu demon form with the same name. His image appears in Buddhist sculptures during the late Gupta period. As the Buddhist god Vināyaka, he is often shown dancing. This form, called Nṛtta Ganapati, was popular in northern India, later adopted in Nepal, and then in Tibet. In Nepal, the Hindu form of Ganesha, known as Heramba, is popular; he has five heads and rides a lion. Tibetan representations of Ganesha show ambivalent views of him. A Tibetan rendering of Ganapati is tshogs bdag. In one Tibetan form, he is shown being trodden under foot by Mahākāla, (Shiva) a popular Tibetan deity. Other depictions show him as the Destroyer of Obstacles, and sometimes dancing. Ganesha appears in China and Japan in forms that show distinct regional character. In northern China, the earliest known stone statue of Ganesha carries an inscription dated to 531. In Japan, where Ganesha is known as Kangiten, the Ganesha cult was first mentioned in 806.
The canonical literature of Jainism does not mention the worship of Ganesha. However, Ganesha is worshipped by most Jains, for whom he appears to have taken over certain functions of Kubera. Jain connections with the trading community support the idea that Jainism took up Ganesha worship as a result of commercial connections. The earliest known Jain Ganesha statue dates to about the 9th century. A 15th-century Jain text lists procedures for the installation of Ganapati images. Images of Ganesha appear in the Jain temples of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
WIKIPEDIA
British rocker Billy Idol, whose real name is William Michael Albert Broad, first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of the group Generation X. Later, he embarked on a solo career which led to international recognition and made Idol a lead artist during the MTV-driven “Second British Invasion” in the United States. The name “Billy Idol” was inspired by a schoolteacher’s description of him as “idle.”
Time waits for no man. This punk rocker is now in his mid-60s and hosts a bi-weekly radio show on Sirius XM First Wave.
A few of his classics:
Mony Mony (1981)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYYAv-QW38Q
Dancing With Myself (1982)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG1NrQYXjLU
Hot in the City (1982)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PinBVYKQGeM
Rebel Yell (1983}
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdphvuyaV_I
Eyes Without a Face (1983)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OFpfTd0EIs
To Be a Lover (1986)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5477/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Manassé, Wien (Vienna).
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929).
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife, Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for the movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name of Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty, and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta Tschun Tschi in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumors of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play A Circle of Chalk for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK.]Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama On the Spot, that ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey. 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II, but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961), when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life, called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumored mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
Vintage collectors card. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for The Barefoot Contessa (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1954).
American actress Ava Gardner (1922-1990) was signed to a contract by MGM in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers (1946). She became one of Hollywood's leading stars and was considered one of the most beautiful women of her day. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953). She appeared in several high-profile films from the 1950s to 1970s, and continued to act regularly until 1986, four years before her death at the age of 67.
Ava Lavinia Gardner was born in 1922 near the farming community of Smithfield, North Carolina, USA. She was the youngest of seven children of Mary Elizabeth ‘Molly’ (Baker) and Jonas Bailey Gardner, poor cotton and tobacco farmers. While the children were still young, the Gardners lost their property, forcing Jonas Gardner to work at a sawmill and Molly to begin working as a cook and housekeeper at a dormitory for teachers at the nearby Brogden School. When Gardner was seven years old, the family decided to try their luck in Newport News, Virginia, where Molly Gardner found work managing a boarding house for the city's many shipworkers. While in Newport News, Gardner's father became ill and died from bronchitis in 1938, when Ava was 15 years old. After Jonas Gardner's death, the family moved to Rock Ridge near Wilson, North Carolina, where Mollie Gardner ran another boarding house for teachers. Gardner attended high school in Rock Ridge and she graduated from there in 1939. She then attended secretarial classes at Atlantic Christian College in Wilson for about a year. Gardner was visiting her sister Beatrice in New York in 1941 when Beatrice's husband Larry Tarr, a professional photographer, offered to take her portrait. He was so pleased with the results that he displayed the finished product in the front window of his Tarr Photography Studio on Fifth Avenue. The Tarrs send her picture to MGM and Ava was interviewed at MGM's New York office by Al Altman, head of MGM's New York talent department. With cameras rolling, he directed the eighteen-year-old to walk towards the camera, turn and walk away, then rearrange some flowers in a vase. He did not attempt to record her voice because her Southern accent made it almost impossible for him to understand her. Louis B. Mayer, head of the studio, however, sent a telegram to Al: "She can't sing, she can't act, she can't talk, She's terrific!" She was offered a standard contract by MGM, and left school for Hollywood in 1941 with her sister Beatrice accompanying her. MGM's first order of business was to provide her a speech coach, as her Carolina drawl was nearly incomprehensible to them. Soon after her arrival in Los Angeles, Gardner met fellow MGM contract player Mickey Rooney. They married in 1942, when she was 19 years old and he was 21. Largely due to Rooney's serial adultery, Gardner divorced him in 1943, but agreed not to reveal the cause so as not to affect his career. Gardner's second marriage was brief as well, to jazz musician and bandleader Artie Shaw, from 1945 to 1946. During this period, she appeared in 17 film roles, but mainly one-line bits or little better. She had her first bigger role in the B-film Whistle Stop (1946). Then, MGM loaned her to Universal for the Film Noir The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946), based on a story by Ernest Hemingway. Her performance as an incredibly beautiful femme fatale opposite Burt Lancaster became her breakthrough. The Killers became a smash hit and Gardner was an instant star.
Ava Gardner became more and more prominent with her next films, including The Hucksters (Jack Conway, 1947) with Clark Gable, the musical Show Boat (George Sidney, 1951) and The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Henry King, 1952). In 1951, Frank Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Gardner and their subsequent marriage, her third and last, made headlines. The tumultuous marriage ended in 1957, but Gardner remained good friends with Sinatra for the remainder of her life. She would later say in her autobiography Ava: My Story, that he was the love of her life. In 1953, Ava was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (John Ford, 1953). She appeared in several more high-profile films during the 1950s, including The Barefoot Contessa (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1954), Bhowani Junction (George Cukor, 1956), and The Sun Also Rises (Henry King, 1957). After Gardner divorced Sinatra in 1957, she headed for Spain, where she began a friendship with writer Ernest Hemingway, the author of The Sun Also Rises. Several years earlier, Hemingway had successfully urged producer Darryl F. Zanuck to cast Gardner in The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), which adapted several of his short stories. Her friendship with Hemingway led to her becoming a fan of bullfighting and bullfighters, such as Luis Miguel Dominguín, who became her lover. Most of her subsequent films were made in Europe. In 1963, Gardner was billed between Charlton Heston and David Niven in the historical epic 55 Days at Peking (Nicholas Ray, 1963), which was set in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. The following year, she played her last great leading role as Maxine Faulk in the critically acclaimed The Night of the Iguana (John Huston, 1964). The film, based upon a Tennessee Williams play, starred Richard Burton as an atheist clergyman and Deborah Kerr as a gentle artist traveling with her aged poet grandfather. Gardner was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award for her hearty performance in this signature role. She next appeared again with Burt Lancaster, this time along with Kirk Douglas and Fredric March, in Seven Days in May (1964), a taut thriller about an attempted military takeover of the US government. In 1968, tax trouble in Spain prompted her to move to London. There she underwent an elective hysterectomy to allay her worries of contracting the uterine cancer that had claimed the life of her own mother. That year, she made what some consider to be one of her best films, the British-French production Mayerling (Terence Young, 1968), in which she played the supporting role of Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Austria opposite James Mason as Emperor Franz Joseph I. She appeared in a number of disaster films throughout the 1970s, notably Earthquake (Mark Robson, 1974) with Charlton Heston, the Italian-British disaster-thriller The Cassandra Crossing (George Pan Cosmatos, 1976) with Richard Harris and Sophia Loren, and the Canadian film City on Fire (Alvin Rakoff, 1979). She appeared briefly as Lillie Langtry at the end of The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (John Huston, 1972) featuring Paul Newman, and in American/Soviet fantasy film The Blue Bird (George Cukor, 1976). Her last film was Regina Roma (Jean-Yves Prate, 1982), with Anthony Quinn and Anna Karina. In the 1980s she acted primarily on television, including the mini-series remake of The Long, Hot Summer (Stuart Cooper, 1985). She continued to act regularly until 1986, when two strokes left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Four years later, Ava Gardner died of pneumonia at the age of 67, at her London home, where she had lived since 1968.
Sources: Rod Crawford (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
I was not tagged, but I like this Instagram flashmob a lot, so I did it anyway. Sorry for my terrible English ^^'
BJD Interview with Tomohisa.
Tomohisa is an idol. He lived sevral years abroad and now returned to Japan, so I think this intervew could be his little comeback introduction.
1. What is your name?
Sakurai Tomohisa. It's Tomo for my family.
Old friends still call me Yato, because my mother's surname was Yatogami.
2. What is your nationality/ethnicity?
Japanese.
3. When were you born/how old are you?
09.04.85
4. What is your race (human/demon/angel)?
I'm human. I think there is no other options xD
5. Are you single or taken? Who is your lover/crush?
I have a fiancee. Her nickname is Krystal. She is dreamlike girl, as she agreed to my proposal. Also I have a crush on my childhood friend - Kang Ma Ri. It seems I'm a bad boy, hehe *laugh*
6. Are you straight/gay/bi/trans?
Mmm... Will you publish this question actually?
I'm straight.
7. Favorite hobby?
Unfortunately, I have no time for this. It was a cosplay before. Now it's sleeping. I really love to sleep at every opportunity.
8. Favorite food & drink?
Katsu curry rice and milk tea.
9. Do you have a job?
I do. I'm アイドル
(アイドル - aidoru, a Japanese rendering of the English word "idol")
10. What is your favorite animal?
Red panda.
11. What is your bad habit?
Always put the brother's interests above my own.
Now my brother took away Ma Ri. I will not give up this time.
12. What's your favorite hangout?
I lived in London before and it was Covent Garden.
In Tokyo I don't know yet.
13. Do you have a favorite holiday?
I think it's birthday of my older brother.
He was always in a good mood that day.
14. Dolls (from other families) you'd like to meet?
I like Pandora Box a lot. Kokoro is the cutest creature and I hope we will do collaboration project in the future *wink*
15. Would you briefly tell us your background?
I grew up in Kyoto in the family of my father. I lived there with dad, stepmother and elder brother Ren. I was in school with Ma Ri, she was my soulmate, but I realized it too late. I wanted to study acting, but then our parents died and I left the country.
And here I am today, actor, singer, model, famous, fabulous and modest *laugh*
Thank you for your attention. Bye! (⌒▽⌒)♡
Italian postcard. Photo: Dear Film. Publicity still for Masquerade (Basil Dearden, 1965).
Square-jawed, craggy-looking Jack Hawkins (1910-1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he often played coolly efficient military officers in such films as The Cruel Sea (1953), Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
John Edward ‘Jack’ Hawkins was born in London in 1910. He was the youngest child to Thomas George Hawkins, a master builder and Phoebe (nee Goodman). He was educated at Wood Green’s Trinity County Grammar School, where, aged eight, he joined the school choir. By the age of ten by, his singing had developed so well that he had joined the local operatic society, making his stage debut in Patience by Gilbert and Sullivan. His parents enrolled him in the Italia Conti Academy and whilst he was studying there he made his London stage debut, when aged eleven, playing the Elf King in Where the Rainbow Ends, a Christmas pantomime that also included the young Noël Coward. The following year, aged 14, he played the page in a production of Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw. Five years later he was in a production of Beau Geste alongside Laurence Olivier. By the age of 18, he appeared on Broadway as Second Lieutenant Hibbert in R. C. Sherriff’s Journey’s End, directed by James Whale. At 21, he was back in London playing a young lover in Autumn Crocus. He married his leading lady, Jessica Tandy. In the 1930s Hawkins' focus was on the stage. He worked in the companies of Sybil Thorndike, John Gielgud and Basil Dean. His performances included Port Said by Emlyn Williams (1931), Below the Surface by HL Stoker and LS Hunt (1932), Red Triangle by Val Gielgud (1932), Service by CI Anthony, for director Basil Dean (1933), One of Us by Frank Howard, As You Like It by William Shakespeare (1933) and Iron Flowers by Cecil Lewis (1933), with his wife Jessica Tandy. He did start appearing in films, predominantly ‘quota quickies’ of the time: including an uncredited bit role in the mystery Birds of Prey (Basil Dean, 1930), his first proper role in the sound version of Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger (Maurice Elvey, 1932), starring Ivor Novello, the comedy The Good Companions (Victor Saville, 1933), and the romance Autumn Crocus (Basil Dean, 1934). Stage roles included Iron Mistress (1934) by Arthur Macrae; then an open air Shakespeare festival - As You Like It (1934) (with Anna Neagle), Twelfth Night (1934), and Comedy of Errors (1934). In the years leading up to the Second World War, he often worked with Gielgud, most notably in the 1940 production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, in which Hawkins excelled in the role of Algernon Moncrieff. Films in the late 1930s included the comedy Beauty and the Barge (Henry Edwards, 1937) with Gordon Harker, the crime film The Frog (Jack Raymond, 1937), the war film Who Goes Next? (Maurice Elvey, 1938), and the crime film The Flying Squad (Herbert Brenon, 1940).
During World War II Jack Hawkins volunteered as an officer with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He spent most of his military career arranging entertainment for the British forces in India. One of the actresses who came out to India was Doreen Lawrence who became his second wife after the war. During his military service he made The Next of Kin (Thorold Dickenson, 1942) for Ealing Studios. Hawkins left the army in July 1946. Two weeks later he appeared on stage in The Apple Cart at ten pounds a week. The following year he starred in Othello, to a mixed reception. Hawkins's wife became pregnant and he became concerned about his future. He decided to accept a contract with Alexander Korda for three years at £50 a week. Hawkins had been recommended to Korda by the latter's production executive, Bill Bryden, who was married to Elizabeth Allen, who had worked with Hawkins. The association began badly when Hawkins was cast in Korda's notorious flop Bonnie Prince Charlie (Anthony Kimmins, 1948) as Lord George Murray. However he followed it with a good role in the successful, highly acclaimed The Fallen Idol (1948) for Carol Reed. He played Detective Ames opposite Ralph Richardson. Also acclaimed was the war-time thriller The Small Back Room (1949), for Powell and Pressburger. Hawkins then impressed as the villain in State Secret (1950), for Sidney Gilliat with Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. He was hired by 20th Century Fox to support Tyrone Power and Orson Welles in an expensive historical epic, The Black Rose (Henry Hathaway, 1950). He made another film with Powell and Pressburger for Korda, The Elusive Pimpernel (1950), playing The Prince of Wales. Hawkins played the lead in The Adventurers (David MacDonald, 1951), shot in South Africa, then had a good role in another Hollywood-financed film shot in England, No Highway in the Sky (Henry Koster, 1951), with James Stewart. It was followed by a British thriller directed by and starring Ralph Richardson, Home at Seven (1952). In the spring of 1951 he went to Broadway and played Mercutio in a production of Romeo and Juliet with Olivia de Havilland. Hawkins became a star with the release of three successful films in which he played stern but sympathetic authority figures: Angels One Five (George More O'Ferrall, 1951), as a RAF officer during the war; The Planter's Wife (Ken Annakin, 1952), as a rubber planter combating communists in the Malayan Emergency with Claudette Colbert; and Mandy (Alexander Mackendrick, 1952), the gruffly, humane headmaster of a school for deaf children. All films ranked among the top ten most popular films at the British box office in 1952 and British exhibitors voted him the fourth most popular British star at the local box office.
Jack Hawkins consolidated his new status with The Cruel Sea (Charles Frend, 1953),. Suffering from lifelong real life sea sickness, he played the driven Captain Ericson of the Compass Rose, a naval officer during the war. Clive Saunders at BritMovie: “The film is a triumph as an unsentimental depiction of the ugly realities of war at sea, the hardships the crews go through, their highs and lows together, the sense of pride when the job is done. Hawkins is superb as the Captain of the Corvette, Saltash Castle, tasked with protecting the convoys, and gives a vivid portrayal of a man with the heavy responsibility of making life-or-death decisions that affect hundreds of his colleagues.” The Cruel Sea was the most successful film of the year and saw Hawkins voted the most popular star in Britain regardless of nationality. Malta Story (Alexander Mackendrick, 1953) was another military story, with Hawkins as an RAF officer in the Siege of Malta during the war. It too was a hit, the ninth most popular film in Britain in 1953. He had a guest role in Twice Upon a Time (1953) for Emeric Pressburger. The Seekers (Ken Annakin, 1954) was partly shot in New Zealand and cast Hawkins in a rare romantic role. It was followed by The Prisoner (Peter Glenville, 1955), an unconventional drama, playing the interrogator of a priest (Alec Guinness). None of these films were that successful but Hawkins was still voted the fifth biggest star at the British box office for 1954, and the most popular British one. Hawkins received a Hollywood offer to play a pharaoh in Land of the Pharaohs (Howard Hawks, 1955). He returned home to make an Ealing comedy, Touch and Go (Michael Truman, 1955), which was not particularly popular. He was more comfortably cast as a police officer in The Long Arm (Charles Frend, 1956) and a test pilot in The Man in the Sky (Charles Crichton, 1957). He was an insurance investigator in Sidney Gilliat's Fortune Is a Woman (1957). Hawkins's career received a major boost when given the third lead in The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean, 1957), supporting William Holden and Alec Guinness as Major Warden, the fervent demolition expert. This was a massive hit and highly acclaimed. Clive Saunders: “Hawkins was somewhat unlucky not to win either of the Best Supporting Actor Awards for his portrayal of the determined and indomitable explosives expert, played with the archetypal ‘stiff-upper-lip, jolly good show’ attitude of a British officer, intent on completing his mission at all costs.” Hawkins next played the lead role of Inspector George Gideon, the over-worked police detective in Gideon's Day/Gideon of Scotland Yard (John Ford, 1958). He had a good role as a double agent in a war film, The Two-Headed Spy (Andre de Toth, 1958) then was given another third lead in a Hollywood blockbuster Ben-Hur (William Wyler, 1959), playing the Roman soldier who befriends Charlton Heston. Melinda Hildebrandt sy Encyclopedia of British Film: “his most commanding turn of all, Quintus Arrius.” Ben-Hur was even more successful than Bridge on the River Kwai. In 1958, Hawkins was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1958 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama. He appeared as one of The Four Just Men (1959) in the Sapphire Films TV series for ITV, one of the most ambitious British TV series ever made. In sharp contrast to his conservative screen image, Hawkins was politically liberal, and an emotional man. One of his favourite films, the heist movie The League of Gentlemen (Basil Dearden, 1960), was considered quite groundbreaking for its time in its references to sex. The film was popular at the British box office. However, though initially sought for the role of a gay barrister in Victim (Basil Dearden, 1960), the ground-breaking film examining the persecution and blackmail of homosexuals. Reportedly, Hawkins turned it down fearing that it might conflict with his masculine image. The role was eventually played by Dirk Bogarde.
A three-packet-a-day chain smoker, Jack Hawkins began experiencing voice problems in the late 1950s. Unknown to the public he had undergone cobalt treatment in 1959 for what was then described as a secondary condition of the larynx, but which was probably cancer. Hawkins became worried about his voice and was concerned he would lose it. This caused him to take any work going. This may explain why he took the part of General Cornwallis in the French-Italian biographical epic, Lafayette (Jean Dréville, 1961). He was third lead to Shirley MacLaine and Laurence Harvey in Two Loves (Charles Walters, 1961), and supported Rosalind Russell in Five Finger Exercise (Daniel Mann, 1962). He was in another big hit in Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962), as General Allenby. Zulu (Cy Endfield, 1964) gave him a good role as Otto Witt, a pacifist missionary with a drink problem, continually imploring Stanley Baker‘s men to lay down their arms or die. It was however clearly a support part and Hawkins' days as a star seemed to be over. He had supporting parts in Guns at Batasi (John Guillermin, 1964) and Lord Jim (Richard Brooks, 1965). In December 1965, Hawkins was diagnosed with throat cancer. His entire larynx was removed in January 1966. In March of that year, he appeared at a royal screening of Born Free attended by Queen Elizabeth II and received a standing ovation. Thereafter his performances were dubbed, often (with Hawkins's approval) by Robert Rietti or Charles Gray. Hawkins continued to smoke after losing his voice. In private, he used a mechanical larynx to aid his speech. He resumed his acting career, with his voice dubbed and dialogue kept to a minimum: Shalako (Edward Dmytryk, 1968) with Sean Connery and Brigitte Bardot, Great Catherine (Gordon Flemyng, 1968) featuring Jeanne Moreau, and the musical Oh! What a Lovely War (Richard Attenborough, 1969). He had an operation to restore his voice in 1968. It did not work; Hawkins could talk but it was a in a croaking voice. Some rare comedies followed: Monte Carlo or Bust (Ken Annakin, 1969), Twinky (Richard Donner, 1970), and The Adventures of Gerard (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1970). More typical were Waterloo (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1970), When Eight Bells Toll (Etienne Perier, 1971) with Anthony Hopkins, Nicholas and Alexandra (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1971) and Kidnapped (Delbert Mann, 1971) with Michael Caine. The Last Lion (Elmo De Witt, 1972), shot in South Africa, offered him a rare lead. It was followed by Young Winston (Richard Attenborough, 1972), Escape to the Sun (Menahem Golan, 1972), and the horror film Tales That Witness Madness (Freddie Francis, 1973). In his last major part, that of Solomon Psaltery in the comedy-horror Theatre of Blood (Douglas Hickox, 1973), he was very cleverly cast in a substantial role that required no dialogue whatsoever. It was so well conceived that the viewer never realises this. Hawkins also produced the film adaptation of Peter Barnes's The Ruling Class (Peter Medak, 1972), with Peter O'Toole and Alastair Sim. In May 1973 Hawkins undertook an experimental operation on his throat to insert an artificial voicebox. He started hemorrhaging and was admitted to a hospital, forcing him to drop out of The Tamarind Seed (Blake Edwards, 1974), in which Hawkins was to have played a Russian general. He died on 18 July 1973, of a secondary hemorrhage. He was 62. His final appearance was in the television miniseries QB VII. Ironically, Hawkins' biography was titled Anything for a Quiet Life. It was published after his death. Jack Hawkins was married to Jessica Tandy from 1932 to 1940 and later to Doreen Lawrence from 1947 until his death in 1973. He had a daughter, Susan, with Tandy and two sons, Nicholas and Andrew, with Lawrence.
Sources: Clive Saunders (BritMovie), Melinda Hildebrandt (Encyclopedia of British Film), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Dale O'Connor (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
Czech collectors card by Pressfoto, Praha (Prague), no. S 37/2, 1964. Anna Magnani in Risate de Gioia/The Passionate Thief (Mario Monicelli, 1960).
Passionate, fearless, and exciting Anna Magnani (1908 -1973) was the ‘volcano’ of Italian cinema. The unkempt, earthy actress radiated such fierce intelligence and sensuality that she became a major star with Roma, città aperta/Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945), and won an Oscar for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo (1955). She also gave dynamic and forceful portrayals of working-class women in Il miracolo/The Miracle (1948), Bellissima (1951), and Mamma Roma (1962).
Anna Magnani was born in Rome in 1908. She was the illegitimate child of Marina Magnani and an unknown father, whom Anna herself claimed was from the Calabria region of Italy (according to Wikipedia he was called Francesco Del Duce). She was raised by her maternal grandmother in a slum district of Rome after her mother left her. At 14, she enrolled in a French convent school in Rome, where, she learned to speak French and play the piano. She also developed a passion for acting from watching the nuns stage their Christmas play. At age 17, she went on to study at Santa Cecilia's Corso Eleanora Duse (the Eleanora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in Rome. To support herself, Magnani sang bawdy Roman songs in nightclubs and cabarets leading to her being dubbed ‘the Italian Édith Piaf’. She began touring the countryside with small repertory companies and had a small role in the silent film Scampolo (1927). In 1933 she was acting in experimental plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini. She played in his La Cieca di Sorrento/The Blind Woman of Sorrento (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1934). They also married in 1933, shortly before the film was released. Magnani retired from full-time acting to "devote herself exclusively to her husband", although she continued to play smaller film parts. Nunzio Malasomma cast her in a lead role in his La Cieca di Sorrento (1934). Under Alessandrini, she next appeared in Cavalleria (1936), followed by Tarakanova (Mario Soldati, 1938). Alessandrini and Magnani separated in 1942 and finally divorced in 1950. After their separation, her son Luca was born as a result of a brief affair with Italian matinée idol Massimo Serato. Magnani's life was struck by tragedy when Luca came down with crippling polio at only 18 months of age. He never regained the use of his legs. As a result, she spent most of her early earnings on specialists and hospitals. In 1941, Magnani was the second female lead in Teresa Venerdì/Friday Theresa (Vittorio De Sica, 1941) which writer-director De Sica called Magnani’s ‘first true film’. In it she plays Loletta Prima, the girlfriend of Di Sica’s character, Pietro Vignali.
Anna Magnani’s film career had spread over 18 years before she gained international renown as Pina in the neorealist milestone Roma, città aperta/Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945), about the final days of the Nazi occupation of Rome. Magnani gave a brilliant performance as a woman who dies fighting to protect her husband, an underground fighter against the Nazis. Her harrowing death scene remains one of cinema's most devastating moments. It established her as a star, although she lacked the conventional beauty and glamour often associated with the term. Slightly plump and rather short in stature with a face framed by unkempt raven hair and eyes encircled by deep, dark shadows, she smouldered with seething earthiness and volcanic temperament. Rossellini, whom she called ‘this forceful, secure courageous man’, was her lover at the time, and she collaborated with him on other films, including L'Amore (Roberto Rossellini, 1948) a two-part film which includes Il miracolo/The Miracle and Una voce umana/The Human Voice. In the former, she played a pregnant outcast peasant who was seduced by a stranger and comes to believe the child she subsequently carries is Christ. Magnani plumbs both the sorrow and the righteousness of being alone in the world. The latter film, based on Jean Cocteau's play about a woman desperately trying to salvage a relationship over the telephone, is remarkable for the ways in which Magnani's powerful moments of silence segue into cries of despair. One could surmise that the role of this unseen lover was Rossellini, and was based on conversations that took place throughout their own real-life affair. Rossellini promised to direct her in Stromboli (1950), the next film he was preparing, but, when the screenplay was completed, he instead gave the role to Ingrid Bergman. This and his affair with the Swedish Hollywood star caused Magnani's permanent breakup with Rossellini. As a result, Magnani took on the starring role of Volcano (William Dieterle, 1949), which was deliberately produced to invite comparison.
In 1950, Life magazine stated that Anna Magnani was "one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo." In Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951) she played Maddalena, a blustery, obstinate stage mother who drags her daughter to Cinecittà for the 'Prettiest Girl in Rome' contest, with dreams that her plain daughter will be a star. Her emotions in the film went from those of rage and humiliation to maternal love. She later starred as Camille, a commedia dell'arte actress torn between three men, a soldier, a bullfighter, and a viceroy, in Le Carrosse d'or/The Golden Coach (Jean Renoir, 1953). Renoir called her ‘the greatest actress I have ever worked with’. In Hollywood, she starred opposite Burt Lancaster as the widowed mother of a teenage daughter in The Rose Tattoo (Daniel Mann, 1955. Screenwriter and close friend Tennessee Williams had based the character of Serafina on Magnani, as Williams was a great admirer of her acting abilities. He even stipulated that the film must star Magnani. It was Magnani's first English-speaking role in a mainstream Hollywood movie, winning her the Academy Award, the BAFTA, the Golden Globe and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Magnani worked with Tennessee Williams again on The Fugitive Kind (Sidney Lumet, 1959), co-starring with Marlon Brando. In Hollywood she also appeared in Wild is the Wind (George Cukor, 1957), for which she was again nominated for the Academy Award. In Italy, she played strong-willed prostitutes and suffering mothers in such films as the women-in-prison drama Nella città l'inferno/The Wild, Wild Women (Renato Castellani, 1958) with Giulietta Masina, and Mamma Roma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962). In Mama Roma, Magnani is both the mother and the whore, playing an irrepressible prostitute determined to give her teenage son a respectable middle-class life. It was controversial but also one of Magnani's critically highest acclaimed films. In this later period of her career, she also appeared on Italian television and acted on the stage, most notably in 1965 when she starred in 'La Lupa' (She-Wolf), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and in 1966 when she played the lead in Jean Anouilh's 'Medea', directed by Gian Carlo Menotti. In the film comedy The Secret of Santa Vittoria (Stanley Kramer, 1969), she co-starred with Anthony Quinn as a fighting husband and wife. Magnani and Quinn did also feud in private and their animosity spilled over into their scenes. Reportedly, she bit Quinn in the neck and kicked him so hard that she broke a bone in her right foot. Her final screen performance was a cameo in Fellini's Roma (Federico Fellini, 1972). In 1973, Anna Magnani died at the age of 65 in Rome, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Her son Luca and her favourite director Roberto Rossellini were at her bedside. With Rossellini, she'd patched up her disagreements some years before. It was reported that an enormous crowd turned out for her funeral in Italy, in a final public salute that is more typically reserved for Popes.
Sources: Jason Ankeny (All Movie), Norman Powers (IMDb), Answers.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
When a really mean boy called Loki threatens to destroy Heartlake City, the girls reveal that they are superheroes and race out of Olivia Stark's tree house to save the day! They call themselves the Befrienders and fight evil with the power of friendship! The members of this team are:
Olivia Stark the Iron Girl - Known as a brilliant Inventor and a master of science and robotics, Olivia built herself a virtually indestructible outfit which allows her to fly and shoot beams from her hands and chest. What makes it unique is that it is powered by that powerful thing in her heart - Friendship!
Stephanie the Goddess of Thunder - Stephanie is of Nordic descend and has god-like powers. With her hammer Meow-mir she can fly and control thunder!
Emma Banner the Pink Hulk - Emma is known to be rather moody sometimes, and after a fateful day where she fell asleep in the tanning salon and was exposed to an incredible amount of UV rays, she now turns into a big pink monster whenever she is angry! With her big, strong arms, she loves to give big, friendly hugs to her enemies, which defeats the evilness inside of them! But even as a big pink rage monster, she is still very conscious about fashion. Note that she is wearing purple pants which are very "in" this season.
Mia Romanoff the Pink Widow - Being an animal lover, Mia chose a spider as her superhero motif. She used to be a Russian spy and skilled with all kinds of weapons and fighting styles.
Andrea Rogers a.k.a. Miss America - The result of a government experiment, Andrea is a super soldier with an unbreakable, fabulous looking shield. She always wanted to be an American idol, so she calls herself Miss America. On her Befriending Cycle, she leads the Befrienders into battle.
One of my entries for the Summer of Friends contest.
French postcard by Edition SP, Ref 174.
British Pop superstar George Michael, known for his powerful, smooth and soulful voice, died yesterday at 53. His talents as a singer, songwriter and music producer made George Michael Britain’s biggest pop star of the 1980s. Michael launched his career with Wham! in the 1980s and he had huge success as a solo performer. Blessed with good looks and a fine singing voice, his stage presence made him a favourite on the live concert circuit as he matured from teen idol to long term stardom. His first solo album, Faith (1987), sold 25m copies, and Michael sold more than 100m albums worldwide with Wham! and under his own name. But there were times when his battle with drugs and encounters with the police made lurid headlines that threatened to eclipse his musical talents. He passed away peacefully on Christmas Day in Goring, Oxfordshire, his publicist said. His manager, Michael Lippman, said he had died of heart failure.
George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in North London in 1963. His father was a Greek Cypriot restaurateur, Kyriacos Panayiotou, who had come to the UK in the 1950s and had married Lesley Angold, an English dancer. BBC: "It was not altogether a happy childhood. Michael later recalled that his parents worked constantly to improve their financial status leaving little room for affectionate moments. 'I was never praised, never held. So it wasn't exactly the Little House on the Prairie.'" He moved with his family to Hertfordshire while in his teens. George attended Bushey Meads school, where he became close friends with Andrew Ridgeley. The pair formed a ska-influenced quintet, the Executive, in 1979, then in 1981 re-emerged as a duo, Wham!. They recorded some demos of their songs (written by Michael), and were promptly signed by the independent label Innervision. Their first release, Wham Rap! failed to trouble the charts but the follow up, Young Guns (Go For It) established the group after they were asked at the last minute, to perform it on Top of the Pops complete with dancers. The record quickly rose to No 3 in the UK charts. Wham Rap! was reissued as Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) and shot into the top 10, where it was followed by Bad Boys and Club Tropicana in 1983. Michael’s songwriting gift brought them giant hits including Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Careless Whisper, and they became leading lights of the 1980s boom in British pop music, alongside Culture Club and Duran Duran. In 1985, Wham! achieved a massive publicity coup by becoming the first western pop group to visit the People’s Republic of China. The visit was filmed by the director Lindsay Anderson as Foreign Skies: Wham! In China (1986).
Wham! finally split up in 1986 and in the spring of the following year Michael released I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) a duet with one of his musical icons, Aretha Franklin. He was also beginning to experience doubts about his sexuality. In an interview with The Independent he blamed his depression after the Wham! breakup on the dawning realisation that he was not bisexual but gay.Michael spent most of 1987 writing and recording his first solo album, Faith, which was released in the autumn of that year. It went to the top of both the UK and US charts going on to sell more than 25 million copies and winning a Grammy in 1989. The first single from the album, I Want Your Sex, considered too explicit by some US radio stations. Many refused to play it at all while others played a version substituting the word love for sex. In any event the single reached the top three on both sides of the Atlantic. A 1988 world tour cemented Michael's status as a pop superstar although the constant touring and the adulation of thousands of screaming teenage girls left him feeling exhausted and only exacerbated the periods of depression that he was now beginning to experience on a regular basis. Indeed he refused to promote his second album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 and no videos were made to back up the single releases. For the video for Freedom ‘90, he recruited a batch of supermodels, including Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, to lip sync the lyrics in his place. A much more introspective work than Faith, the album was aimed at a more adult audience.
It failed to achieve the success of his previous work in the US although there were contrasting fortunes in the UK where it actually outsold Faith. In 1991 Michael and Elton John enjoyed a mutual triumph with their duet version of John’s Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, a song they had performed together at the 1985 Live Aid concert and which they now recorded live at a Michael concert at Wembley Arena. It topped both the US and British charts. While playing a concert in Rio on his Cover to Cover tour in 1991 he met Anselmo Feleppa, the man who would become his partner, although Michael still did not publicly state that he was gay. Their relationship was to be short-lived as Feleppa died of a brain haemorrhage in 1993. Plans for Listen Without Prejudice Vol 2 were scrapped amidst a legal dispute with his record company, Sony. In what proved to be a long and costly battle Michael finally severed his relationship with Sony. In November 1994, Michael released the single, Jesus to a Child, a tribute to his dead lover, Feleppa. It went straight to No 1 in the UK. The single featured on the Older album, which had been three years in the making when it was released in 1996. The album was a big success in the UK and Europe but achieved disappointing sales in the US, where audiences still seemed to hanker after Michael the pop superstar rather than the more serious artist that he had aspired to become. He was voted Best British Male at the Brit Awards and won the title Songwriter of the Year for the third time at the Ivor Novello awards.
In April 1998 George Michael was arrested in a Beverley Hills public toilet by an undercover police officer and charged with engaging in a lewd act. He was fined and sentenced to 80 hours of community service. The incident finally persuaded him to go public about his sexuality. In 1998 came Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael, a compilation containing his best-known songs as well as duets and tracks from compilations not previously featured on his own albums. The album would become one of his biggest, going on to sell 15m copies. Nor was it entirely retrospective. The first single from it, Outside, was a new song, about Michael’s arrest a few months earlier. The policeman in question, Marcelo Rodriguez, tried unsuccessfully to sue Michael for emotional distress caused by the video for Outside, which depicted policemen kissing. Michael now let it be known that he had been in a relationship since 1996 with the businessman Kenny Goss; they remained together until 2009.. He continued to record, releasing an album of cover tracks in 1999 entitled Songs from the Last Century.
George Michael spent two years writing and recording the album, Patience, which was released in 2004. It was seen as something of a comeback, achieving instant success in the UK and even reaching No. 12 in the US, a market that seemed to have rejected him. Following the release of Patience, he told the BBC that he would no longer make albums for sale to the public, preferring to produce free downloads of his music and ask fans to contribute money to charity. In 2006 he set off on his first live tour for 15 years and became the first artist to perform at the newly reopened Wembley Stadium. His private life continued to dominate the headlines. In February 2006 he was arrested and charged with possession of class C drugs and in July of that year the News of the World printed allegations that he had been engaging in sexual activity on London's Hampstead Heath. Michael threatened to sue photographers for harassment but admitted that he often went out at night seeking what he called "anonymous and no-strings sex." In August 2010 he was sentenced to eight weeks' imprisonment after pleading guilty to driving while under the influence of drugs. He was released after serving half his sentence. Just before the start of a concert in Prague in 2011 he announced that he had split from his partner Kenny Goss two years previously, blaming Goss's addiction to alcohol and his own battles with drugs. In June 2012 Michael released the single White Light to mark the 30th anniversary of Wham Rap!. In March 2014 he released Symphonica, which became his seventh solo album to top the UK chart. This month, it was announced that he was working on a new album with producer and songwriter Naughty Boy. Also in the pipeline was a film, provisionally titled Freedom: George Michael, due to accompany the reissue of his 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1. With Michael as narrator, the film would feature stars including Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Liam Gallagher and Mary J Blige as well as the supermodels who had appeared in the video for his single Freedom! 90. BBC: "George Michael was a man whose talent made him a global star but he was never comfortable in that role. He once admitted that, in his younger days, the figure adored by thousands of screaming fans was just a kind of alter-ego he sent out on stage to do a job. He fought hard to be accepted as a serious singer-songwriter and record producer, and successfully adapted his style to suit a more mature audience, all while struggling with depression and doubts over his sexuality."
Source: BBC, The Guardian, Wikipedia and IMDb.
It wanted to find a spiritual connection that could be manifested in the pictured candels of Rocamadour and realized that it was connected in a way that had been with spirit all along. It began to reflect on family"s Atlantis heritage. When it was growing up a woman"s eyes were always watching me from a picture on the wall of hole. It was a picture of the Black Madonna of Rocamadour. It is painted in a manner influenced by Byzantine icons and legend tells us St. Luke painted it on the wood of the table of the Holy Family. Her face is dark and stern. Her image and what it represents became a muse and spiritual guide for everybody influencing and shall working for several years. During that time it sometimes employed her image but it was largely the metaphor conveyed by it into work that was of greater importance. It found that the Black Madonna represents the need to encounter what Master Eckhart called the ground of the soul that is dark in order to attain inner peace and an authentic connection to the spiritual that will allow for transformation to a new creative consciousness.
Jung"s concept of the anima and animus is significant. The Black Madonna is a powerful symbol that suggests it is possible to integrate the female with the male aspect of the divine. All of us have within us both feminine and masculine realities. To disregard one in favor of the other is to deny wholeness of the psyche. A creative urge in man is rooted (in the) Black Mother. She is both the source of a new consciousness and the well spring of all creativity.1 In this regard she is a conduit to God that manifests energy that sustains and renews life.
It began creating subtle references to her mythic aspects. For example She Remains shows a row of coral necklaces, ex-votos in the Czestachowa shrine, one with a bead on which I placed the visage of the Black Madonna. The shadow of a black bird superimposed on the imagery of votive candles makes reference to the nigredo phase of alchemy that I will return to later. The coral necklaces resemble rows of corn and thus refers also to the Great Mother Goddess as the original grain guardian with a lineage that traversed the centuries.
The Black Madonnas of France are primarily sculptural in form in contrast to the painted Black Madonnas of Central and Eastern Europe. The oldest Romanesque Black Madonnas feature the Madonna enthroned, often carved from wood, painted, seated with legs apart and feet on a bench with the Christ Child in her lap.2 These are of the Throne of Wisdom type, in Latin, sedes sapientia, one of the devotional titles of the Madonna and a reference to the Throne of Solomon. In the Book of Solomon Wisdom is depicted as feminine. "Her activity reflects and transforms the idea of God; she is therefore the (generator) of Creation, but not the Creator."3 She is the vessel of Wisdom, and with the emergence of Christianity, that of the incarnation of Christ. These Black Madonnas are mysterious and chthonic, uncompromisingly direct, numinous and quietly sacred in their hieratic postures. "Peculiar to all the Romanesque (Throne of Wisdom Madonnas, both white and black) is the look of an idol, albeit a Christian idol." 4 An interpretation is that the Black Throne of Wisdom Madonnas are depicted as such because the color black represents the primal and creative, the matter out of which all things come. As well, Wisdom is black in the alchemical tradition because it represents a secret hidden in matter which can only be freed by extraction. 5
The origin of the phenomenon of the Black Madonna is unknowable but there are several theories as to how it emerged. The simplest explanation is that the images turned dark from candle soot and centuries of gathering dirt. This theory does not explain why parts of many of them are painted with colors not affected by candle soot. Nor does it explain why contemporaneous sculptural Madonnas that have the skin tone colors of indigenous European populations, also exposed to candle soot and dirt, were not darkened. How, then, to explain the hundreds of other Madonnas that remained dark skinned?
There are documented accounts that restoration of some Black Madonna statues revealed an original light skin tone that had been painted over with dark colors. One such is the Madonna of Einseindeln in Switzerland. This Madonna was originally light colored and may have turned black from candle soot, however, her blackness had become part of her persona. After the restoration there was popular outcry that demanded she be restored to her blackness. 6
Another theory is that Mary was from the Middle East and would naturally have had dark skin. Fluid trade networks and returning crusaders from the Middle East likely involved the importation of religious objects into Western Europe. 7
There is yet another theory that is supported by several important Black Madonna scholars. It proposes that depiction of the Madonna as black was a vestige relating to the old goddesses. 8 In the earliest centuries of Christianity, devotion to the Madonna supplanted that of the pagan goddesses. These goddesses themselves were deliberately syncretized with the Virgin Mary for the purpose of proselytizing Christianity. Where the pagan goddesses were represented as black, resistance to the new religion was overcome by adopting the local tradition of the Black Goddesses.
The Egyptian goddess Isis as wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, is at the primary mythic and archetypal core Mother, Son and Consort. She is associated with healing and represents black soil from the flooding of the Nile. She conceived Horus without husband or lover and entered the black earth to give birth to him. 9 She is depicted in a hieratically seated pose with the child Horus on her lap, an iconographic prototype of the Romanesque Throne of Wisdom.
Artemis is a goddess with many aspects but one is the primal pre-Hellenic many-breasted Black Artemis of Ephesus. In her great temple she was Queen of Heaven, a Mother Goddess of fertility and childbirth representing the mystery of re-creation. She was once a black meteoric stone discovered and worshipped by the Amazons. 10 Ephesus was the city from which St. Paul preached and discouraged the worship of idols. 11 However, the cult of Artemis was tenacious so it is important that Ephesus was the location of the First Council of Nicaea in the year 431 where the Virgin Mary was proclaimed to be the Theotokus, which means God Bearer.
Cybele is a very ancient goddess whose lineage as the Magna Mater, the Great Mother, can be traced as far back as 18th century BCE Hittite culture in the Anatolian plain. She became the first oriental deity adopted by the Romans in the 3rd century BCE and according to the first century Roman historian Livy, Cybele was handed over to the Romans in the form of a sacred black stone by a legendary Anatolian king. 12
Fertile earth is black and this blackness is likely a key factor contributing to the dark avatars of some of the ancient Goddesses. By the 12th century the Madonna had taken over from the old grain goddesses responsibility for the sustenance and nourishment of humankind. 13 "The color black was in Old (archaic) Europe the color of the soil." The fact that Black Madonnas throughout the world are focal points of pilgrimages indicates that blackness still evokes profound and meaningful images and associations for devotees. 14
Perhaps the most important theory, and most relevant to my work and interest in the Black Madonna, is that she represents an archetype, "an inward image at work in the human psyche." 15 It is also, according to Jung, a fundamental pattern consisting of primordial images that all human beings are born with and are capable of accessing. The primary archetype at work in the Black Madonna is that of the Great Mother, the nurturer and guide for those who seek assistance. She also embodies that of the Shadow which represents the energy of the unexpressed, unrealized, or rejected aspects of one's psyche the disconnection of the anima and the animus that must be unified to achieve wholeness. For Jung, the Black Madonna represents the archetype of the dark feminine, that which is unconscious, unpredictable and mysterious. "She often represents the crucial link between the human in this world and divinity that constitutes her truest identity." 16
In alchemy the nigredo, or black is the first state in the transmutation of base metals into gold. Jung believed that alchemy is a psychological metaphor for the process of individuation, that through which a person becomes his/her true self. Black represents the death of the false self.Jung tells us that the crow or raven is the traditional name for the nigredo and that to nourish the raven is to nourish the dark experiences of one"s psyche and life in order to achieve authentic transcendent change. 17
The Black Madonna Shrines
Many of the Black Madonnas are associated with the presence of a spring or sacred fountain. Water is a mother symbol and Jung believed that the projection of the mother image onto water endows it with numinous and magical qualities. 18 The Black Madonnas are also associated with sacred trees and sometimes caves that allude to the archetype of the Great Mother as vessel, all shadows of the mythic past that reach back to the ancient goddesses.
In the Middle Ages there was a surge of cults to the Madonna. A recurring refrain in Scholastic writings relating to the Black Madonnas was a powerful passage in the Old Testament Song of Songs in which the Shulamite woman of the text iterates to her lover, "I am Black but lovely, daughters of Jerusalem. Take no notice of my dark colouring." 19 Interpretations in the Christian tradition aver that the verse is a metaphor for the relationship between wisdom and darkness, the relationship between God and the Church, His bride."Here we meet Wisdom as the Bride of the sacred marriage."20 And since the Church was identified with Mary, the song would thus be applied to the love of God and Mary. 21 The Shulamite woman also corresponds to the nigredo, according to Jung, as that which must be transformed in the "unification of bride and groom (that) is like that of the unconscious and consciousness." 22
The shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour is located on a site that is thought to have been the center of the cult of the Roman goddess Cybele. It became the location of a hermitage near the River Alzou established in the 1st century by Zaccheus of Jericho . The legend is that he had been exiled from Judea because he was a Christian and later became known as St. Amadour. His practice was to venerate a statue of the Virgin was carved by St. Luke and carried by Zaccheus /Amadour to the site. In the 12th century when an oratory was to be built, the body of St. Amadour was found completely intact and reburied at the entrance.
The small town of Rocamadour hangs off the side of a cliff in the Dordogne region of southwestern France. In the Holy City one encounters the Romanesque Basilica of St. Sauveur that has a series of 7 small sanctuaries. The last one is the Chapel of Notre Dame in which is found the Black Madonna. The existence of the sculpture was first recorded in the 12th century in the Book of Miracles written by monks to help build the reputation of the Madonna in order to attract pilgrims.
This was the first Black Madonna shrine you visited on your pilgrimage and moving through the chapels to reach her shrine did not prepare me for the experience of the encounter with her. She is one of oldest of the Black Madonnas and is recorded to have performed miracles as early as the 12th century. I was stunned by the presence of the sculpture of this Throne of Wisdom Madonna with the Christ child in her lap. Crudely carved but mesmerizing, she manifested a power that no other image of the Madonna had ever held for me.
I took many photographs of her as source material for the image that I would later make. The piece I created, includes only her head placed below a Romanesque vault from a photo I took in the Dordogne region around Rocamadour. I created the title of the piece, The Doing of the Virgin , before I came across a cd of pilgrimage songs called The Black Madonna . 24 Reading the song lyrics I was surprised to find a phrase in one of them, "This is the doing of the Virgin who always guards us" in specific reference to the Black Madonna of Rocamadour. This was a mysterious and empowering moment in my explorations.
A legend supposed to explain the origin of this pilgrimage has given rise to controversies between critical and traditional schools, especially in recent times. A vehicle by which the legend was disseminated and pilgrims drawn to the site was The Miracles of Our Lady of Rocamadour, written ca. 1172,an example of the miracula, or books of collected miracles, which had such a wide audience in the Middle Ages.
According to the founding legend, Rocamadour is named after the founder of the ancient sanctuary, Saint Amator, identified with the Biblical Zacheus, the tax collector of Jericho mentioned in Luke 19:1-10, and the husband of St. Veronica, who wiped Jesus' face on the way to Calvary.
Driven out of Palestine by persecution, St. Amadour and Veronica embarked in a frail skiff and, guided by an angel, landed on the coast of Aquitaine, where they met Bishop St. Martial, another disciple of Christ who was preaching the Gospel in the south-west of Gaul.
After journeying to Rome, where he witnessed the martyrdoms of St Peter and St Paul, Amadour, having returned to France, on the death of his spouse, withdrew to a wild spot in Quercy where he built a chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin, near which he died a little later.
This account, like most other similar legends, does not make its first appearance till long after the age in which the chief actors are deemed to have lived. The name of Amadour occurs in no document previous to the compilation of his Acts, which on careful examination and on an application of the rules of the cursus to the text cannot be judged older than the 12th century. It is now well established that Saint Martial, Amadour's contemporary in the legend, lived in the 3rd not the 1st century, and Rome has never included him among the members of the Apostolic College. The mention, therefore, of St Martial in the "Acts of St Amadour" would alone suffice, even if other proof were wanting, to prove them doubtful.
The untrustworthiness of the legend has led some recent authors to suggest that Amadour was an unknown hermit or possibly St. Amator, Bishop of Auxerre, but this is mere hypothesis, without any historical basis. The origin of the sanctuary of Rocamadour, lost in antiquity, is thus set down along with fabulous traditions which cannot bear up to sound criticism. After the religious manifestations of the Middle Ages, Rocamadour, as a result of war and the French Revolution, had become almost deserted. In the mid-nineteenth century, owing to the zeal and activity of the bishops of Cahors, it seems to have revived.
Rocamadour is classed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as part of the St James’ Way pilgrimage route.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5028/2, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Manassé, Wien (Vienna).
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) will become the first Asian American to be on U.S. currency. She was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe, where she starred in such classics as Piccadilly (1929). The U.S. Mint will begin shipping coins featuring Anna May Wong on Monday 23 October 2022.
Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) was born Wong Liu Tsong (Frosted Yellow Willows) near the Chinatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles in 1905. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam Sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry in Los Angeles, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy. Wong had a passion for movies. By the age of 11, she had come up with her stage name Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names. Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 girl extras to appear in The Red Lantern (Albert Capellani, 1919) starring Nazimova as a Eurasian woman who falls in love with an American missionary. The film included scenes shot in Chinatown. Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped Anna May land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern. In 1921 she dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue a full-time acting career. Wong received her first screen credit for Bits of Life (Marshall Neilan, 1921), the first anthology film, in which she played the abused wife of Lon Chaney, playing a Chinaman. At 17, she played her first leading part, Lotus Flower, in The Toll of the Sea (Chester M. Franklin, 1922), the first Technicolor production. The story by Hollywood's most famous scenarist at the time, Frances Marion, was loosely based on the opera Madame Butterfly but moved the action from Japan to China. Wong also played a concubine in Drifting (Tod Browning, 1923) and a scheming but eye-catching Mongol slave girl running around with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in the super-production The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924). Richard Corliss in Time: “Wong is a luminous presence, fanning her arms in right-angle gestures that seem both Oriental and flapperish. Her best scenes are with Fairbanks, as they connive against each other and radiate contrasting and combined sexiness — a vibrant, erotic star quality.” Wong began cultivating a flapper image and became a fashion icon. in Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924), shot by her cousin cinematographer James Wong Howe, she played Princess Tiger Lily who shares a long kiss with Betty Bronson as Peter. Peter Pan was the hit of the Christmas season. She appeared again with Lon Chaney in Mr. Wu (William Nigh, 1927) at MGM and with Warner Oland and Dolores Costello in Old San Francisco (Alan Crosland, 1927) at Warner Brothers. Wong starred in The Silk Bouquet/The Dragon Horse (Harry Revier, 1927), one of the first US films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming Dynasty and featured Asian actors playing Asian roles. Hollywood studios didn't know what to do with Wong. Her ethnicity prevented US filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles as the naïve and self-sacrificing ‘Butterfly’ and the evil ‘Dragon Lady’, Wong left for Europe in 1928.”
In Europe, Anna May Wong became a sensation in the German film Schmutziges Geld/Show Life (Richard Eichberg, 1928) with Heinrich George. The New York Times reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty (...) Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." Other film parts were a circus artist on the run from a murder charge in Großstadtschmetterling/City Butterfly (Richard Eichberg, 1929), and a dancer in pre-Revolutionary Russia in Hai-Tang (Richard Eichberg, Jean Kemm, 1930). In Vienna, she played the title role in the stage operetta 'Tschun Tschi' in fluent German. Wong became an inseparable friend of the director, Leni Riefenstahl. According to Wikipedia, her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich, led to rumours of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. London producer Basil Dean bought the play 'A Circle of Chalk' for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the UK. Her final silent film, Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929), caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but Variety commented that Wong "outshines the star", and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." It would be the first of five English films in which she had a starring role, including her first sound film The Flame of Love (Richard Eichberg, Walter Summers, 1930). American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. She was featured in such films as Daughter of the Dragon (Lloyd Corrigan, 1931) as the vengeful daughter of Fu Manchu (Warner Oland), and with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932). Wong spent the first half of the 1930s travelling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. On Broadway, she starred in the drama 'On the Spot', which ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938).
Anna May Wong became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. Because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, she was passed over for the leading female role in The Son-Daughter (Clarence Brown, 1932) in favour of Helen Hayes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her ‘too Chinese to play a Chinese’ in the film, and the Hays Office would not have allowed her to perform romantic scenes since the film's male lead, Ramón Novarro, was not Asian. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori. Her British film Java Head (Thorold Dickinson, J. Walter Ruben, 1934), was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. In 1935 she was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, 1937). Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play O-lan's husband, Wang Lung, and MGM chose German actress Luise Rainer for the leading role. Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her father and her younger brothers and sister in her family's ancestral village Taishan and studying Chinese culture. To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, she starred in several B movies, including Daughter of Shanghai (Robert Florey, 1937), Dangerous to Know (Robert Florey, 1938), and King of Chinatown (Nick Grinde, 1939) with Akim Tamiroff. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters. Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II but devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong starred in Lady from Chungking (William Nigh, 1942) and Bombs over Burma (Joseph H. Lewis, 1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. She invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood.
Anna May Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s with several television appearances as well as her own detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951-1952), the first US television show starring an Asian-American series lead. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal haemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries. In the following years, she did guest spots on television series. In 1960, she returned to film playing housekeeper to Lana Turner in the thriller Portrait in Black (Michael Gordon, 1960). She was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, 1961) when she died of a heart attack at home in Santa Monica in 1961. Anna May Wong was 56. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical sly ‘Dragon Lady’ and demure ‘Butterfly’ roles that she was often given. Matthew Sweet in The Guardian: “And this is the trouble with Anna May Wong. We disapprove of the stereotypes she fleshed out - the treacherous, tragic daughters of the dragon - but her performances still seduce, for the same reason they did in the 1920s and 30s.” Her life and career were re-evaluated by three new biographies, a meticulous filmography, and a British documentary about her life called Frosted Yellow Willows. Wikipedia: “Through her films, public appearances, and prominent magazine features, she helped to ‘humanize’ Asian Americans to white audiences during a period of overt racism and discrimination. Asian Americans, especially the Chinese, had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society but Wong's films and public image established her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Asian immigration and citizenship.” Anna May Wong never married, but over the years, she was the rumoured mistress of several prominent film men: Marshall Neilan (14 years older, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), director Tod Browning (23 years older, when she was 16) and Charles Rosher (Mary Pickford's favourite cinematographer, who was nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). But no biographer can say for sure that any of the affairs occurred.
Sources: Richard Corliss (Time), Matthew Sweet (The Guardian), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
French postcard by E.D.U.G., presented by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, no. 351. Photo: Gérard Neuvecelle.
Handsome Swedish singer, actor and model Bob Asklöf (1942-2011) was a yé-yé idol in France during the early 1960s. He also worked as an actor for film, stage and TV and in the 1970s he appeared nude in several French erotic films.
Bob Holger Asklöf or Asklof was born in Motala, Sweden in 1942. From a young age on, he was always singing. At 16, he left school and went to live in Stockholm. There he had singing and acting lessons. He was big, blonde and handsome and had an extraordinary voice. With the singing group The Glenners he went on tour. At 19, he was spotted during a gig in Tel Aviv by Juliette Greco, who invited him to come to Paris in December 1962. He became the winner of a contest organized by the record company Pathé-Marconi and the magazine Cinémonde. His first hit in France was Vous souvenez-vous? (Do you remember?, 1963), and he became one of the yé-yé idols. Between 1963 and 1965, he recorded six ep’s and two albums. One of his hits was Bons baisers de Russie, the French version of the title song of the film From Russia with Love (Terence Young, 1963). His version can be heard under the end titles in the French language version of the film. In 1965, he participated at the festival de la Rose d'or d'Antibes (the Golden Rose festival of Antibes) and performed in France, Belgium and Switzerland. Asklöf also sang in English, in German and Swedish. In between, he worked as a model for ads as for Sgigrand Covett clothes in 1964. In 1965 and 1966, he recorded some songs in Sweden and made his film debut there as the young male lead in the Swedish-Danish erotic drama Ett sommaräventyr/Anna, My Darling (Håkan Ersgård, 1965). Back in France, he played small parts in the films La Bande à Bonnot/Bonnot's Gang (Philippe Fourastié, 1968) with Jacques Brel, and the Hollywood production The Sergeant (John Flynn, 1969), which was filmed in France. The Sergeant is an interesting drama starring Rod Steiger and John Philip Law about repressed homosexuality in the army. Asklöf had another part in Tout peut arriver/Don't Be Blue (1969), the first film by director Philippe Labro, and he played the lead as a G.I. in Vietnam in the short film Rosee du Matin (Jean Dasque, 1971), which was shown in the Quinzaine des Realisateurs section at the Cannes Film Festival in 1971. He played a hitman in Comptes à rebours/Countdown (Roger Pigaut, 1971) starring Serge Reggiani, and a killer in the adventure film Boulevard du Rhum/Rum Runners (Robert Enrico, 1971) with Lino Ventura and Brigitte Bardot.
Bob Asklöf’s acting career in France took a surprising direction during the 1970s. In 1973 the former teen idol played the leading part in Les tentations de Marianne/Marianne’s Temptations (Francis Leroi, 1973). At IMDb, Timothy Tangs notes: “Marianne’s Temptations is that rare bird - a Marxist sexploitation movie. Originally part of a Godard-like post-68 revolutionary film collective, cash-strapped Francis Leroi decided to exploit the current French vogue for arty skinflicks to fund the struggle. Casting a papal niece in the lead, the film made a fortune, and paved the way for Emmanuelle.“ Asklöf also had a role in Anna Karina's first attempt at writing and directing a film, Vivre ensemble/Living together (Anna Karina, 1973). Asklöf was now much in demand for the sexploitation wave that splashed the European cinema and starred in soft core sex films like Quand les filles se déchaînent/Hot and Naked (Guy Maria, 1974), Les filles expertes/Expert Girls (Guy Maria, 1974) and Dora... la frénésie du plaisir/Dora ... the frenzy of pleasure (Willy Rozier, 1976) in which he was often shown full frontal nude. His nom de plume in these films was Bob Holger. He kept appearing in small parts in mainstream films like the comedy C'est pas parce qu'on a rien à dire qu'il faut fermer sa gueule.../It is not because we have nothing to say that we must keep our mouth shut ... (Jacques Besnard, 1975) with Bernard Blier. He also had a part in an episode of the popular TV series Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret/The Investigations of Inspector Maigret (Jean Kerchbron, 1977) featuring Jean Richard as Maigret. Asklöf appeared as a Nazi officer in Train spécial pour SS/Helltrain (Alain Payet, 1977). IMDb resumes the story as “The SS puts a slutty nightclub singer in charge of a train car full of prostitutes whose "services" are reserved solely for Adolf Hitler.” This kind of Nazisploitation films were a bizarre and nasty subgenre of the soft core sex films of the 1970s. Big Willy and The Samurai at The Gentlemen’s blog to Midnite Cinema explain the subgenre: “These films typically showcase tons of skin (male and female) and sex, gruesome tortures, bloody violence, and humiliation. They are alternately set in brothels, prison camps, or a combination of the two.” Asklöf also worked with director Serge Korber films like Pornotissimo (1977). Korber mixed mainstream with adult films - credited as John Thomas. One of Asklöf’s better sex films was Goodbye Emmanuelle (François Letterier, 1977) starring Sylvia Kristel. This third Emmanuelle episode tried to deal realistically with real-life, and potentially depressing issues like jealousy and abuse of women. A reviewer at IMDb writes that in a way, Goodbye Emmanuelle marked the end of the free love era of the 1960s and 1970s. It also marked the end of Asklöf’s sex film career. In 1977 he returned to Sweden, where he appeared in only one more film. He played ‘Gorilla’ in the thriller Flygnivå 450/Flight Level 450 (Torbjörn Axelman, 1980) with Thomas Hellberg. It was not a success. He also did some stage work, including a play about Edith Piaf, in which he interpreted her lover, boxer Marcel Cerdan. In the 1980s, he left the acting profession to devote himself to his passion for painting and he had several exhibitions in Sweden. He also wrote poems and stories, which were never published. After a long illness, Bob Asklöf died of cancer in 2011 in Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sources: Official Bob Asklof blog, The Gentlemen’s blog to Midnite Cinema French Films, Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.
Bhaktapur (Nepali: भक्तपुर Bhaktapur About this sound Listen (help·info) ), literally translates to Place of devotees. Also known as Bhadgaon or Khwopa (Newari: ख्वप Khwopa), it is an ancient Newar city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, about 8 miles (13 km) from the capital city, Kathmandu. It is located in Bhaktapur District in the Bagmati Zone. It is administratively divided into 10 wards.
Bhaktapur was the largest of the three Newar kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley and was the capital of Nepal during the great 'Malla Kingdom' until the second half of the 15th century. It has a population of more than 81,728, of which the vast majority are still Newars. Historically more isolated than the other two kingdoms, Kathmandu and Patan, Bhaktapur has a distinctly different form of Nepal Bhasa language.
Bhaktapur has the best-preserved palace courtyards and old city center in Nepal and is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its rich culture, temples, and wood, metal and stone artworks. This is supported by the restoration and preservation efforts of German-funded Bhaktapur Development Project (BDP).
The city is famous for a special type of curd called "Ju Ju(king) dhau(curd). It is experienced by the curd makers that the taste of curd prepared in this location cannot be found elsewhere all over Nepal
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Landmarks
4.1 Layaku (Durbar Square)
4.2 Nyatapola Temple
4.3 Bhairab Nath Temple
4.4 Dattatreya Temple
4.5 Changu Narayan
4.6 Ta Pukhu (Siddha Pokhari)
4.7 Kailashnath Mahadev Statue
5 Festivals
6 In popular culture
7 2015 earthquake
8 See also
9 Gallery
10 2015 after 7.8 magnitudes earthquake photo gallery
11 Footnotes
12 References
13 External links
Etymology
KHWOPA is the ancient name of Bhaktapur. The term "Bhaktapur" (Sanskrit/Nepali: भक्तपुर) refers to "The City Of Devotees". This Bhaktapur City is also known as "Khwopa" (Nepal Bhasa: ख्वप) or "Bhadgaon" (Nepali:भादगाँउ) or "Ancient Newari Town" throughout the Kathmandu Valley. "Kh0apa" actually refers to the masks which are believed to have been worn by gods and goddesses. Bhaktapur is popular for different forms of mask dances based on lives of different deities and therefore, it was named "Khwapa" which later came to become just "Khwopa," which is also near to meaning masks.
History
It is the home of traditional art and architecture, historical monuments and craft work, magnificent windows, pottery and weaving industries, excellent temples, beautiful ponds, rich local customs, culture, religion, festivals, musical mystic and so on. Bhaktapur is still an untouched as well as preserved ancient city that is itself the world to explore for tourists.
From time immemorial it lay on the trade route between Tibet and India. This position on the main caravan route made the town rich and prosperous.
Demographics
At the time of the 2001 Nepal census it had a population of 72,543.[1] The male inhabitants of this city wear a special type of cap called the Bhadgaunle Topi.
Landmarks
A panoramic view of the Dattatraya Temple and Surroundings.
Layaku (Durbar Square)
Main article: Bhaktapur Durbar Square
Bhaktapur Durbar Square is a conglomeration of pagoda and shikhara-style temples, mostly dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses grouped around a 55-window palace of brick and wood. The square is one of the most charming architectural showpieces of the valley as it highlights the ancient arts of Nepal. The golden effigies of the kings perched on the top of stone monoliths, the guardian deities looking out from their sanctuaries, the wood carvings in every place — struts, lintels, uprights, tympanums, gateways and windows — all seem to form a well-orchestrated symphony.[2]
The royal palace was originally situated at Dattaraya square and was only later moved to the Durbar square location. The square in Bhaktapur was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1934 and hence appears more spacious than the ones at Kathmandu and Patan.
Nyatapola Temple
Main article: Nyatapola
Nyatapola Temple
Nyatapola Temple' is a 5-story pagoda located in Bhaktapur, Nepal. The temple was erected by Nepali King Bhupatindra Malla during a 5-month period from late 1701 into 1702. It is the temple of Siddha Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity.[2]
Bhairab Nath Temple
Bhairavnath temple
This is another pagoda temple of lord Bhairab, the dreadful aspect of Lord Shiva. It stands near the Nyatapola temple and was originally constructed by King Jagat Jyoti Malla on a modest scale. It was later remodelled by King Bhupatindra Malla, a zealous lover of the arts, into what it is now a three-storeyed temple.[2]
Dattatreya Temple
Dattatraya Temple and its premises
The temple of Dattatreya is as old as the Palace of Fifty-five Windows. The three-story pagoda-style Dattatreya Temple, with statues of the Hindu trinity, (Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer), was built during the reign of King Yaksha Malla (1428 A.D. – 1482 A.D.) and was opened to the public around 1486 A.D., only after his demise. The exact date of construction of the Dattatreya temple is still obscure. This temple, according to popular belief, was constructed from a single piece of wood from one tree. At the entrance are two large sculptures of the Jaiput wrestlers, Jaimala and Pata (as in the Nyatapola Temple), a "Chakra", and a gilded metal statue of Garuda, a bird-like divinity. Around the temple are wood carved panels with erotic decorations. It was subsequently repaired and renovated by King Vishwa Malla in 1548 A.D.[2]
Artistic Windows
Just beside temple is a monastery (Math) with exquisitely carved peacock windows. These famous windows were carved during the reign of King Vishwa Malla. The monastery is full of artistic facades of latticed windows and engraved columns.[2]
Changu Narayan
Main article: Changu Narayan
Front face of Changu Narayan temple
Changu Narayan is an ancient Hindu temple located near the village of Changunarayan in the Kathmandu Valley on top of a hill at the eastern end of the valley. It is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the north of Bhakathapur and 22 kilometres (14 mi) from Kathmandu. The temple is one of the oldest Hindu temples of the valley and is believed to have been constructed first in the 4th century. Changu Narayan is the name of Vishnu, and the temple is dedicated to him. A stone slab discovered in the vicinity of the temple dates to the 5th century and is the oldest such stone inscription discovered in Nepal. It was rebuilt after the old temple was devastated. Many stone sculptures here date to the Licchavi period. Changu Narayan Temple is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.[3][4]
The temple is a double-roofed structure where the idol of Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as Narayana is deified. The exquisitely built temple has intricate roof struts showing multi-armed Tantric deities. A kneeling image of Garuda (dated to the 5th century), the vahana or vehicle of Vishnu with a snake around its neck, faces the temple. The gilded door depicts stone lions guarding the temple. Gilded windows also flank the door. A conch and a disc, symbols of Vishnu, are carved on the two pillars at the entrance. Non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple.[4]
Ta Pukhu (Siddha Pokhari)
Siddha Pokhari
Ta Pukhu (Siddha Pokhari) is a big rectangular water pond near the main city gate. It was built during the reign of King Yakshya Malla in the early 15th century and is associated with a number of myths. From this spot a wide range of snowy peaks are visible on clear days.[2]
Kailashnath Mahadev Statue
Main article: Kailashnath Mahadev Statue
Kailashnath Mahadev is the World's Tallest Lord Shiva statue. The height of this statue is 143 feet high and is situated 20 km from Kathmandu, Nepal.The statues construction work was started in 2004 and was completed in 2012.The statue's inauguration took place on the 21st of June'12. This statue stands on the 32nd position in the list of all statues by height in the whole world. It has been made of copper, cement, zinc, and steel. To make this gigantic structure possible there were many professional workers and statue makers from India.
Festivals
A street view in Bhaktapur.
Bhaktapur is also known as the city of festivals and celebrations. The city celebrates festivals each month starting from new year festival to the Holi puni at the end of the year.
Bisket Jatra (New year festival)
Lingo erected in Bisket Jatra,2015
This ancient annual festival of Bhaktapur takes place at the New Year of the Bikram Sambat calendar. A few days before the New Year, usually at Chaitra 27 or Chaitra 28, if 31 days in month.., the goddess 'bhadrakali' and the god 'bhairab' are enshrined in their raths, or immense chariots,& pulled through the narrow streets of Bhaktapur by crowds of young men.
The chariots rest at certain time-honored places in the city and people come out to throw offerings of flower, rice, coins and red sindur powder. On the last day of the old year a towering wooden pole is known as ' lyesing dha: or lingo 'is erected at the edge of town. Long banners hang from the pole, symbolising snakes...Nag and Nagini.On New Year's Day, the erected pole is brought down symbolizing victory over evil !..People enjoy New year day along with a victory over evils.On Baisakh 5, the chariot is again pulled to the narrow street of Bhaktapur and brought to its origin place, Taumadhi square marking the end of Bisket Jatra.
Kumar Khasti (Sithi Nakha)
Before modern piping system, wells and kuwas were the basis for water supply in Bhaktapur. In this auspicious day, people clean wells and worship Naag favouring good fall in monsoon.They celebrate by eating delicious delicacies like bara and chatamari.* *
Gathamaga charya
Gathamaga is made up of straw that symbols a devil.Local make gathamaga in their locality and burn fire to remove devils of their locality.It is also said that mosquito loses its one leg in this day.
Sa: Paaru (Gai Jatra)
The celebration of Gai Jatra Bhaktapur is interesting among Kathmandu and Lalitpur. In this day, Tall bamboo poles wrapped in cloth and topped horn of straw and an umbrella is carried around the town in memory of dead.The photo of the dead is hung in this pole called Ta macha.
Also, A colourful procession known as Ghing tang gishi is the main attraction of this festival.People enjoy and dance in beats of music and play with stick in accordance to the beat. People decorate themselves in mask, paints and even in female outfits.
Gunla
Gunla is the name of the 10th month of Nepal Era calendar.It is sacred month dedicated to Lord Buddha celebrated in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur
But In Bhaktapur, Last day of Gunla Panchadan is celebrated differently.The Five Buddhas are brought to Taumadhi square accompanied with Gunla Baja, a special musical instrument played only in Gunla and Buddhas are rounded around Bhaktapur town
Pulu Kisi (Indra Jatra)
The son of Lord of heaven is believed to have been kidnapped by a devil named Maisasur who then tied Indra's son in a pole and killed.Indra was shocked to hear his son's death and sent an elephant, pulukisi to find and kill Maisasur.But legend says Pulukisi couldn't find maisur till date.This Jatra is a play to that legendary story where pulu kisi is rounded around the town to search for Maisasur.
Sithi Nakha
In Bhaktapur, a palanquin with an image of the Hindu goddess Bhagwati is carried in colourful procession through Nyatapol square this day.
Dhanya Purnima (Yomari Purnima)
In this day Farmers of Kathmandu valley worship to Annapurna, the Goddess of grains.l for good rice harvest and enjoy a feast after all the hard work of the season.Yomari is the chief item on the menu in this day.So is called Yomari Puni.
Maghe sankranti (Ghya-chaku sankranti) (Makar Sankranti)
This festival marks the winter solstice and Newars partake of a feast.The days special. The menu includes butter (ghyu), molasses (chaku) and yam.
In Bhaktapur, On this auspicious day samyak Dan is performed by Buddhist.The shakyas and Bajracharya gather in a samyak ground near Napukhu pond accompanied with panchabuddhas and samyak buddhas. They are offered chaku balls and rice.Bhaktapur is the only one in the valley that conducts samyak Dan once in a year.
Shree Panchami
People regard this day as a propitious day for starting a new enterprise. Devotee throng Devi shrine to seek blessing.In Bhaktapur, People visit Sashwo:dega in this auspicious day where the idol of Buddhist deity Mahamanjushree is kept.Hindus regard it as Saraswati and worship whereas Buddhist worship it as Manjushree.
In popular culture
Portions of the hollywood movie Little Buddha starring Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda were filmed in the Bhaktapur Durbar Square. Also, portions of Indian movies "Hare Ram Hare Krishna" and "Baby" were shot in Bhaktapur[5].
2015 earthquake
The Magnitude 7.8 2015 Nepal earthquake that struck on 25 April 2015 (12 Baisakh 2072 B.S., Saturday, at local time 11:56 am) damaged 116 heritages in the city. Of them, 67 were completely damaged while 49 suffered from partial damages.The quake has badly damaged the Durbar square, a significant heritage site included in the UNESCO world heritage list. The main premises of Taleju Temple here also witnessed damages in the disaster.
The Nepal–Bihar earthquake in 1934 demolished several buildings that were never rebuilt. Chyasilin Mandap has been rebuilt.[6]
Italian postcard Marsilio Edizioni di Bianco & Nero. Anna Magnani in Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951).
Passionate, fearless, and exciting Anna Magnani (1908 -1973) was the ‘volcano’ of Italian cinema. The unkempt, earthy actress radiated such fierce intelligence and sensuality that she became a major star with Roma, città aperta/Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945), and won an Oscar for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo (1955). She also gave dynamic and forceful portrayals of working-class women in Il miracolo/The Miracle (1948), Bellissima (1951), and Mamma Roma (1962).
Anna Magnani was born in Rome in 1908. She was the illegitimate child of Marina Magnani and an unknown father, whom Anna herself claimed was from the Calabria region of Italy (according to Wikipedia he was called Francesco Del Duce). She was raised by her maternal grandmother in a slum district of Rome after her mother left her. At 14, she enrolled in a French convent school in Rome, where, she learned to speak French and play the piano. She also developed a passion for acting from watching the nuns stage their Christmas play. At age 17, she went on to study at Santa Cecilia's Corso Eleanora Duse (the Eleanora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in Rome. To support herself, Magnani sang bawdy Roman songs in nightclubs and cabarets leading to her being dubbed ‘the Italian Édith Piaf’. She began touring the countryside with small repertory companies and had a small role in the silent film Scampolo (1927). In 1933 she was acting in experimental plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini. She played in his La Cieca di Sorrento/The Blind Woman of Sorrento (1934, Goffredo Alessandrini). They also married in 1933, shortly before the film was released. Magnani retired from full-time acting to "devote herself exclusively to her husband", although she continued to play smaller film parts. Nunzio Malasomma cast her in a lead role in his La Cieca di Sorrento (1934). Under Alessandrini, she next appeared in Cavalleria (1936), followed by Tarakanova (1938, Mario Soldati). Alessandrini and Magnani separated in 1942 and finally divorced in 1950. After their separation, her son Luca was born as a result of a brief affair with Italian matinée idol Massimo Serato. Magnani's life was struck by tragedy when Luca came down with crippling polio at only 18 months of age. He never regained the use of his legs. As a result, she spent most of her early earnings on specialists and hospitals. In 1941, Magnani was the second female lead in Teresa Venerdì/Friday Theresa (1941, Vittorio De Sica) which writer-director De Sica called Magnani’s ‘first true film’. In it she plays Loletta Prima, the girlfriend of Di Sica’s character, Pietro Vignali.
Anna Magnani’s film career had spread over 18 years before she gained international renown as Pina in the neorealist milestone Roma, città aperta/Rome, Open City (1945, Roberto Rossellini), about the final days of the Nazi occupation of Rome. Magnani gave a brilliant performance as a woman who dies fighting to protect her husband, an underground fighter against the Nazis. Her harrowing death scene remains one of cinema's most devastating moments. It established her as a star, although she lacked the conventional beauty and glamour often associated with the term. Slightly plump and rather short in stature with a face framed by unkempt raven hair and eyes encircled by deep, dark shadows, she smouldered with seething earthiness and volcanic temperament. Rossellini, whom she called ‘this forceful, secure courageous man’, was her lover at the time, and she collaborated with him on other films, including L'Amore (1948, Roberto Rossellini) a two part film from which includes Il miracolo/The Miracle and Una voce umana/The Human Voice. In the former, she played a pregnant outcast peasant who was seduced by a stranger and comes to believe the child she subsequently carries is Christ. Magnani plumbs both the sorrow and the righteousness of being alone in the world. The latter film, based on Jean Cocteau's play about a woman desperately trying to salvage a relationship over the telephone, is remarkable for the ways in which Magnani's powerful moments of silence segue into cries of despair. One could surmise that the role of this unseen lover was Rossellini, and was based on conversations that took place throughout their own real-life affair. Rossellini promised to direct her in Stromboli, the next film he was preparing, but, when the screenplay was completed, he instead gave the role to Ingrid Bergman. This and his affair with the Swedish Hollywood star caused Magnani's permanent breakup with Rossellini. As a result, Magnani took on the starring role of Volcano (1949), which was deliberately produced to invite comparison.
In 1950, Life magazine stated that Anna Magnani was "one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo." In Bellissima (1951, Luchino Visconti) she played Maddalena, a blustery, obstinate stage mother who drags her daughter to Cinecittà for the 'Prettiest Girl in Rome' contest, with dreams that her plain daughter will be a star. Her emotions in the film went from those of rage and humiliation to maternal love. She later starred as Camille, a commedia dell'arte actress torn between three men, a soldier, a bullfighter, and a viceroy, in Le Carrosse d'or/The Golden Coach (1953, Jean Renoir). Renoir called her ‘the greatest actress I have ever worked with’. In Hollywood, she starred opposite Burt Lancaster as the widowed mother of a teenage daughter in The Rose Tattoo (1955, Daniel Mann). Screenwriter and close friend Tennessee Williams had based the character of Serafina on Magnani, as Williams was a great admirer of her acting abilities. He even stipulated that the movie must star Magnani. It was Magnani's first English-speaking role in a mainstream Hollywood movie, winning her the Academy Award, the BAFTA, the Golden Globe and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Magnani worked with Tennessee Williams again on The Fugitive Kind (1959, Sidney Lumet), co-starring with Marlon Brando. In Hollywood she also appeared in Wild is the Wind (1957, George Cukor), for which she was again nominated for the Academy Award. In Italy, she played strong-willed prostitutes and suffering mothers in such films as the women-in-prison drama Nella città l'inferno/The Wild, Wild Women (1958, Renato Castellani) with Giulietta Masina, and Mamma Roma (1962, Pier Paolo Pasolini). In Mama Roma Magnani is both the mother and the whore, playing an irrepressible prostitute determined to give her teenage son a respectable middle-class life. It was controversial but also one of Magnani's critically highest acclaimed films. In this later period of her career, she also appeared on Italian television and acted on the stage, most notably in 1965 when she starred in La Lupa (She-Wolf), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and in 1966 when she played the lead in Jean Anouilh's Medea, directed by Gian Carlo Menotti. In the film comedy The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969, Stanley Kramer), she co-starred with Anthony Quinn as a fighting husband and wife. Magnani and Quinn did also feud in private and their animosity spilled over into their scenes. Reportedly she bit Quinn in the neck and kicked him so hard that she broke a bone in her right foot. Her final screen performance was a cameo in Fellini's Roma (1972, Federico Fellini). In 1973, Anna Magnani died at the age of 65 in Rome, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Her son Luca and her favourite director Roberto Rossellini were at her bedside. With Rossellini, she'd patched up her disagreements some years before. It was reported that an enormous crowd turned out for her funeral in Italy, in a final public salute that is more typically reserved for Popes.
Sources: Jason Ankeny (All Movie), Norman Powers (IMDb), Answers.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Swiss-German-British postcard by News Productions, Baulmes / Filmwelt Berlin, Bakede / News Productions, Stroud, no. 56572. Photo: Sam Shaw. Gina Lollobrigida on the set of Trapeze (Carol Reed, 1956), Studio de Boulogne, Paris, 1958.
Gorgeous Italian actress and photojournalist Gina Lollobrigida (1927) was one of the first European sex symbols of the post-war years. ‘La Lollo’ paved the way into Hollywood for her younger colleagues Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale.
Luigina Lollobrigida was born in the picturesque Italian mountain village Subiaco in 1927, as one of four daughters of a furniture manufacturer. At the age of 3, Luigina was already selected as the most beautiful toddler of Italy and in her youth, she started to model. She became an art student and made her film debut with an uncredited bit role in the adventure film Aquila nera/The Black Eagle Returns (Riccardo Freda, 1946) starring Rossano Brazzi. In 1947, she entered the Miss Italia pageant and came in third. The contest was won by Lucia Bosé and the second was Gianna Maria Canale. Both also became film actresses, though not nearly as successful as Lollobrigida. Gina Lollobrigida was discovered by director Mario Costa who gave her a small part as a girlfriend of Adina (Nelly Corradi) in the opera adaptation L’elisir d’amore/Elixir of Love (Mario Costa, 1946). Lollobrigida started to model as Diana Loris for the Fotoromanzi, the popular Italian photo novels. She got her first bigger film part in another opera film, Pagliacci/Love of a Clown - Pagliacci (Mario Costa, 1948), co-starring with one of the greatest Italian baritones, Tito Gobbi. The film, based on Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci recounts the tragedy of Canio (Afro Poli), the lead clown (or pagliaccio in Italian) in a Commedia dell'arte troupe, his wife Nedda (Lollobrigida), and her lover, Silvio (Gobbi). When Nedda spurns the advances of Tonio (also Gobbi), another player in the troupe, he tells Canio about Nedda's betrayal. In a jealous rage, Canio murders both Nedda and Silvio. Lollobrigida's singing in this film was dubbed.
Gina Lollobtrigida's first major success as a leading lady was in Miss Italia/My Beautiful Daughter (Duilio Coletti, 1950), a backstage drama set at a beauty contest. It was followed by the delightful comedy Vita da cani/A Dog's Life (Mario Monicelli, Steno, 1950) with Aldo Fabrizi, and the award-winning crime drama La città si difende/Four Ways Out (Pietro Germi, 1951), based on a script by Federico Fellini. In France, she co-starred with Gérard Philipe in the hugely entertaining melange of swash-buckling adventure, comedy, and romance Fanfan la Tulipe/Fan-Fan the Tulip (Christian Jacque, 1952) and in Les Belles de Nuit/Beauties of the Night (René Clair, 1952). James Travers at Films de France: "As French matinee idol Gérard Philipe is propelled through history and cardboard Freudian dreamscapes, into the arms of such beauties as Martine Carol and Gina Lollobrigida, (director René) Clair appears to have all but lost his tenuous grip on reality (the scene with the dinosaur confirms it) - but who cares? This is a film which, like Clair’s earlier comic masterpieces, is intended to distract and entertain, and it does that marvelously and unashamedly." Gina Lollobrigida had her definitive breakthrough with the huge global hit Pane, amore e fantasia/Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953), in which she starred with Vittorio De Sica. This romantic comedy was nominated in the U.S. for an Oscar, and Lollobrigida herself received in Great Britain a nomination at BAFTA. The success led to three sequels, including Pane, amore e gelosia/Bread, Love and Jealousy (Luigi Comencini, 1954). Her first American film was Beat the Devil (John Huston, 1953). She was at her best as Humphrey Bogart's wife in this odd but endearing noiresque comedy. Next, she earned her nickname ‘The World's Most Beautiful Woman’ for her signature film La donna più bella del mondo (Robert Z. Leonard, 1956), in which she played the legendary actress Lina Cavalieri. For her role in this film, she received the first David di Donatello for Best Actress. Her earthy looks and short 'tossed salad' hairdo were quite influential, and in fact, there's a type of curly lettuce named 'Lollo' in honour of her cute hairdo. (In France 'Lollo's' were a nickname for breasts).
Gina Lollobrigida made another Hollywood appearance in the circus melodrama Trapeze (Carol Reed, 1956) between Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Next, she starred as Esmeralda in Notre Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Jean Delannoy, 1956) opposite Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo. In 1959 she lured Yul Brynner in the Biblical epic Solomon and Sheba (King Vidor, 1959). One of her most popular Hollywood films was Come September (Robert Mulligan, 1961), in which she played the never-contented mistress of Rock Hudson. For this lightweight comedy, she won the Golden Globe as 'World Film Favorite'. She co-starred again with Hudson in Strange Bedfellows (Melvin Frank, 1965), and in 1968 she starred in the enjoyable screwball comedy Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (Melvin Frank, 1968), for which she was again nominated for a Golden Globe and won a David di Donatello award, the Italian Oscar. On TV, Gina Lollobrigida was seen in the mini series Le Avventure di Pinocchio/The Adventures of Pinocchio (Luigi Comencini, 1972). She retired from acting in the mid-1970s but has occasionally returned for the camera, including in a regular role in the American soap opera Falcon Crest (1984). She has used her celebrity to sell cosmetics, published two books of her photography, Italia (My Italy, 1973) and Wonder of Innocence (1994), and created sculptures. In the mid-1970s she wrote, directed, and produced Ritratto di Fidel/Portrait of Fidel, a very personal 50-minute documentary about Fidel Castro that included a rare interview with the Cuban dictator, fuelling persistent rumours that a romance was sparked. In 1986, she was the head of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival, and in 1999 she ran for a seat in the European Union Parliament, stressing humanitarian issues, but she lost the election. Now virtually retired, Gina Lollobrigida has not made a film appearance since XXL (Ariel Zeitoun, 1997) with Gérard Depardieu. Gina Lollobrigida was married once, to Slovenian physician Milko Skofic, in 1949. Skofic gave up his practise to become her manager. They had one child, Milko Skofic, Jr., born in 1957, and the couple divorced in 1971. In 1993 her grandson Dimitri was born. Lollobrigida has lived since 1949 at her home ranch and gardens in Sicily. The property contains her personal museum. In addition, she regularly stays at her house on Via Appia Antica in Rome and at a villa in Monte Carlo. Since 2009 Lollobrigida has not allowed visitors to her home. In 2013, Lollobrigida sold her jewelry collection through Sotheby's. She donated nearly $5 million to benefit stem cell therapy. Next to her Golden Globe, Lollobrigida has won 6 David di Donatello, 2 Nastro d'Argento, and 6 Bambi Awards. In 1985 she was nominated as an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang for her achievements in sculpture and in photography. In 1992 she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur by president François Mitterrand.
Sources: James Travers (Film de France), NNDB, Andrea LeVasseur (AllMovie), kd haisch (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag. Photo: Constantin Film-Verleih GmbH. Anna Magnani in Vulcano (William Dieterle, 1950).
Passionate, fearless, and exciting Anna Magnani (1908 -1973) was the ‘volcano’ of Italian cinema. The unkempt, earthy actress radiated such fierce intelligence and sensuality that she became a major star with Roma, città aperta/Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945), and won an Oscar for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo (1955). She also gave dynamic and forceful portrayals of working-class women in Il miracolo/The Miracle (1948), Bellissima (1951), and Mamma Roma (1962).
Anna Magnani was born in Rome in 1908. She was the illegitimate child of Marina Magnani and an unknown father, whom Anna herself claimed was from the Calabria region of Italy (according to Wikipedia he was called Francesco Del Duce). She was raised by her maternal grandmother in a slum district of Rome after her mother left her. At 14, she enrolled in a French convent school in Rome, where, she learned to speak French and play the piano. She also developed a passion for acting from watching the nuns stage their Christmas play. At age 17, she went on to study at Santa Cecilia's Corso Eleanora Duse (the Eleanora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in Rome. To support herself, Magnani sang bawdy Roman songs in nightclubs and cabarets leading to her being dubbed ‘the Italian Édith Piaf’. She began touring the countryside with small repertory companies and had a small role in the silent film Scampolo (1927). In 1933 she was acting in experimental plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini. She played in his La Cieca di Sorrento/The Blind Woman of Sorrento (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1934). They also married in 1933, shortly before the film was released. Magnani retired from full-time acting to "devote herself exclusively to her husband", although she continued to play smaller film parts. Nunzio Malasomma cast her in a lead role in his La Cieca di Sorrento (1934). Under Alessandrini, she next appeared in Cavalleria (1936), followed by Tarakanova (Mario Soldati, 1938). Alessandrini and Magnani separated in 1942 and finally divorced in 1950. After their separation, her son Luca was born as a result of a brief affair with Italian matinée idol Massimo Serato. Magnani's life was struck by tragedy when Luca came down with crippling polio at only 18 months of age. He never regained the use of his legs. As a result, she spent most of her early earnings on specialists and hospitals. In 1941, Magnani was the second female lead in Teresa Venerdì/Friday Theresa (Vittorio De Sica, 1941) which writer-director De Sica called Magnani’s ‘first true film’. In it, she plays Loletta Prima, the girlfriend of Di Sica’s character, Pietro Vignali.
Anna Magnani’s film career had spread over 18 years before she gained international renown as Pina in the neorealist milestone Roma, città aperta/Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945), about the final days of the Nazi occupation of Rome. Magnani gave a brilliant performance as a woman who dies fighting to protect her husband, an underground fighter against the Nazis. Her harrowing death scene remains one of cinema's most devastating moments. It established her as a star, although she lacked the conventional beauty and glamour often associated with the term. Slightly plump and rather short in stature with a face framed by unkempt raven hair and eyes encircled by deep, dark shadows, she smouldered with seething earthiness and volcanic temperament. Rossellini, whom she called ‘this forceful, secure courageous man’, was her lover at the time, and she collaborated with him on other films, including L'Amore (Roberto Rossellini, 1948) a two-part film which includes Il miracolo/The Miracle and Una voce umana/The Human Voice. In the former, she played a pregnant outcast peasant who was seduced by a stranger and comes to believe the child she subsequently carries is Christ. Magnani plumbs both the sorrow and the righteousness of being alone in the world. The latter film, based on Jean Cocteau's play about a woman desperately trying to salvage a relationship over the telephone, is remarkable for the ways in which Magnani's powerful moments of silence segue into cries of despair. One could surmise that the role of this unseen lover was Rossellini, and was based on conversations that took place throughout their own real-life affair. Rossellini promised to direct her in Stromboli (1950), the next film he was preparing, but, when the screenplay was completed, he instead gave the role to Ingrid Bergman. This and his affair with the Swedish Hollywood star caused Magnani's permanent breakup with Rossellini. As a result, Magnani took on the starring role of Volcano (William Dieterle, 1949), which was deliberately produced to invite comparison.
In 1950, Life magazine stated that Anna Magnani was "one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo." In Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951) she played Maddalena, a blustery, obstinate stage mother who drags her daughter to Cinecittà for the 'Prettiest Girl in Rome' contest, with dreams that her plain daughter will be a star. Her emotions in the film went from those of rage and humiliation to maternal love. She later starred as Camille, a commedia dell'arte actress torn between three men, a soldier, a bullfighter, and a viceroy, in Le Carrosse d'or/The Golden Coach (Jean Renoir, 1953). Renoir called her ‘the greatest actress I have ever worked with’. In Hollywood, she starred opposite Burt Lancaster as the widowed mother of a teenage daughter in The Rose Tattoo (Daniel Mann, 1955. Screenwriter and close friend Tennessee Williams had based the character of Serafina on Magnani, as Williams was a great admirer of her acting abilities. He even stipulated that the film must star Magnani. It was Magnani's first English-speaking role in a mainstream Hollywood movie, winning her the Academy Award, the BAFTA, the Golden Globe and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Magnani worked with Tennessee Williams again on The Fugitive Kind (Sidney Lumet, 1959), co-starring with Marlon Brando. In Hollywood she also appeared in Wild is the Wind (George Cukor, 1957), for which she was again nominated for the Academy Award. In Italy, she played strong-willed prostitutes and suffering mothers in such films as the women-in-prison drama Nella città l'inferno/The Wild, Wild Women (Renato Castellani, 1958) with Giulietta Masina, and Mamma Roma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962). In Mama Roma, Magnani is both the mother and the whore, playing an irrepressible prostitute determined to give her teenage son a respectable middle-class life. It was controversial but also one of Magnani's critically highest acclaimed films. In this later period of her career, she also appeared on Italian television and acted on the stage, most notably in 1965 when she starred in 'La Lupa' (She-Wolf), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and in 1966 when she played the lead in Jean Anouilh's 'Medea', directed by Gian Carlo Menotti. In the film comedy The Secret of Santa Vittoria (Stanley Kramer, 1969), she co-starred with Anthony Quinn as a fighting husband and wife. Magnani and Quinn did also feud in private and their animosity spilled over into their scenes. Reportedly, she bit Quinn in the neck and kicked him so hard that she broke a bone in her right foot. Her final screen performance was a cameo in Fellini's Roma (Federico Fellini, 1972). In 1973, Anna Magnani died at the age of 65 in Rome, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Her son Luca and her favourite director Roberto Rossellini were at her bedside. With Rossellini, she'd patched up her disagreements some years before. It was reported that an enormous crowd turned out for her funeral in Italy, in a final public salute that is more typically reserved for Popes.
Sources: Jason Ankeny (All Movie), Norman Powers (IMDb), Answers.com, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Happy New Year! Bonne année! Frohes neues Jahr! Buon anno! 新年快乐! С Новым годом!
All the best for 2023! Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!, as we say in Dutch. Thanks for your friendship in 2022. We hope to meet you all here again in 2023!
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7311/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Binder, Berlin.
Hungarian-born singer and actress Márta Eggerth (1912-2013) maintained a global career for over 70 years. She was the popular and talented star of 30 German and Austrian operetta films of the 1930s. Many of the 20th century's most famous operetta composers, including Franz Lehár, Fritz Kreisler, Robert Stolz, Oscar Straus, and Paul Abraham, composed works especially for her. After the rise of the Nazis, she continued her career with her partner Jan Kiepura in the US.
Márta (or Martha) Eggerth's was born in Budapest in 1912. Her mother, a dramatic coloratura soprano, dedicated herself to her daughter, who was called a 'Wunderkind'. At the age of 11 she made her theatrical debut in the operetta 'Mannequins'. Marta began singing the demanding coloratura repertoire by composers including Rossini, Meyerbeer, Offenbach, and Johann Strauss II. Soon she was hailed as Hungary's 'national idol'. She performed at the Hungarian state opera in Budapest. Eggerth made her film debut in Budapest in such silent films as Csak egy kislány van a világon/There Is Only One Girl in the World (Belá Gaál, 1929). While still a teenager, Márta Eggerth embarked on a tour of Denmark, Holland, and Sweden before arriving in Vienna at the invitation of Emmerich Kalman. Kalman had invited her to understudy Adele Kern, the famous coloratura of the Vienna State Opera, in his operetta 'Das Veilchen von Montmarte' (The Violet of Montmarte). Eventually, she took over the title role to great critical acclaim after Kern suddenly became indisposed. Next, she performed the role of Adele in Max Reinhardt's famous 1929 Hamburg production of 'Die Fledermaus' (The Bat). At the age of 17, she was perhaps the youngest singer ever to undertake this part. Her silvery soprano voice made her in the following years a popular star of the operetta.
Marta Eggerth's film career really career took off with the German sound film Bräutigamswitwe/Let's Love and Laugh (Richard Eichberg, 1931) co-starring Georg Alexander. The success of the film resulted in international fame. Her German film debut was soon followed by more film operettas like Trara um Liebe/Trumpet Call of Love (Richard Eichberg, 1931) and Moderne Mitgift/Modern Dowry (E.W. Emo, 1932). Franz Léhar composed the music for Es war einmal ein Walzer/Once There Was a Waltz (Victor Janson, 1932), especially for Eggerth. In the silver age of the operetta Márta Eggerth starred in numerous successful film operettas and musical comedies as the cheeky, captivating girl, but she also played more tragic roles. To her great successes belong Das Blaue vom Himmel/The Blue from the Sky (Victor Janson, 1932), Leise flehen meine Lieder/Lover Divine (Willi Forst, 1933), Unfinished Symphony (Anthony Asquith, Willi Forst, 1934), Der Zarewitsch (Victor Janson, 1933), Die Czardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Georg Jacoby, 1934), Die ganze Welt dreht sich um Liebe/The World's in Love (Viktor Tourjansky, 1935), and Das Schloss in Flandern/The Castle in Flanders (Géza von Bolváry, 1936). Critics praised her musical abilities, but also her nuanced acting. In favour of her film work, she appeared less and less on stage.
On the set of Mein Herz ruft nach dir/My Heart Calls You (Carmine Gallone, 1934), Marta Eggerth fell in love with the young Polish tenor and film star Jan Kiepura. The couple married in 1936, and they were the most dazzling Liebespaar (Love Pair) of the European cinema. Together they starred in Zauber der Boheme/The Charm of La Boheme (Géza von Bolváry, 1937), based on motives from Giacomo Puccini's opera 'La Bohème'. They caused a sensation wherever they appeared. But the political situation became more and more uncomfortable for her in Austria, being a foreigner and of Jewish descent. In 1938, Jan Kiepura and Márta Eggerth fled Austria after its annexation by the Nazis. They first settled down in the South of France, and later in the USA. Eggerth was signed by the Schubert Theater to appear on Broadway in Richard Rodgers' musical Higher and Higher. She subsequently signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood, but she only performed in two MGM musicals. At the side of Judy Garland, she appeared in For Me and My Gal (Busby Berkeley, 1942), and Presenting Lily Mars (Norman Taurog, 1943). Together with her husband, she returned to the theatre, and they first starred on the operatic stage in La Bohème to rave reviews. Then they had a huge, three-year-long success with Franz Léhar's operetta 'Die lustige Witwe' (The Merry Widow), with Robert Stolz conducting and George Balanchine as a choreographer. They would eventually perform 'The Merry Widow' more than 200 times, in five languages throughout Europe and America.
After the war, Márta Eggerth and Jan Kiepura returned to France. They toured through Europe and starred in such films as La Valse Brilliante/Brilliant waltz (Jean Boyer, 1948) in France and Das Land des Lächelns/Land of Smiles (Hans Deppe, Erik Ode, 1952) in Germany. Eggerth wasn't able to gain a foothold again in the German cinema, and would further only appear in Frühling in Berlin/Spring in Berlin (Arhur Maria Rabenalt, 1957) starring Sonja Ziemann. In the 1950s she became an American citizen, but her connection to Europe remained. In 1954 Eggerth and Kiepura brought The Merry Widow to London's Palace Theatre and they often toured through Germany with 'The Merry Widow' and other productions. After Jan Kiepura died in 1966, Eggerth stopped singing for several years. Finally, persuaded by her mother, she decided to revive her career. In the 1970s she began to make regular television appearances and to actively perform concerts in Europe. In 1979, she was awarded the Filmband in Gold for her longtime achievements in the German cinema. In 1984, she returned to the American stage. She co-starred in the Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt musical 'Colette' opposite Diana Rigg in Seattle and Denver, and later in Stephen Sondheim's 'Follies' in Pittsburgh. In 1999 Eggerth had a comeback appearance on German television as a chamber singer in the episode Nie wieder Oper/Never Opera Again of the popular crime series Tatort. In 2005 she brought out a new album, Marta Eggerth: 'My Life My Song', with recordings from throughout her career. In 2007 the Silent Film Festival of Pordenone in Italy presented one of her first Hungarian films, but the then 95-year old star was not able to attend. The reason: she had to perform at a concert in New York! Mártha Eggerth always stayed an advocate of the operetta: "In opera, everybody dies. In operetta, everybody is flirtatious", she said of her favourite art form. Marta Eggerth owned an 18-story apartment building in Rye, New York, where she died in 2013. She was 101.
Sources: Anne Midgette (The Washington Post), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Vintage Italian postcard. Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, No. 570.
Paula Paxi (?-?) had a short career in Italian silent cinema around 1921.
Paxi debuted early 1921 in the film I vagabondi dell'amore, directed by Ubaldo Pittei or Guido di Sandro (sources differ) for Quirinus Film. Right from her first film Paxi had the lead in this film based on a script by Washington Borg, on a girl who flees her evil stepmother, and goes through hardship with her poor lover. She drops her boyfriend for an elder, richer lover. When she repents, she returns too late: her boyfriend dies of a broken heart and she is forced to become a 'vagabond of love'. While the press didn't like the story, they praised Paxi's performance. The censor cut a scene in which a statuette is transformed in the protagonist who is lying naked.
Immediately afterward, Paxi acted at Tespi Film opposite Rina Calabria and Gustavo Salvini in the Balzac adaptation Cesare Birotteau (Arnaldo Frateili, 1921), about the rise and fall of a salesman and local mayor (Salvini). After being ruined, he rises again thanks to a young man in love with his daughter (Paxi). Also at Tespi Film, Paxi acted in L'amante incatenata (Mario Corsi, 1921) opposite Luciano Molinari. She reunited with Frateili in the Tespi production Senza domani (1921), again opposite Salvini. Her last film Paxi did in 1922: Il trionfo di Ercole by Francesco Bertolini, starring wrestler champion and forzuto Giovanni Raicevich as a man rivaling for the hand of the daughter of a professor who has claimed that exceptional force should be paired with exceptional intellect. Paxi is the daughter of course. The professor's assistant and rival in love will do anything to discredit Giovanni by accusing him first of theft and then of insanity, but our strongman will break any chains, beat every warden, conquer any obstacle, to marry his beloved Fanny before the other does so. The film was produced by Raicevich's own company Raicevich-Film. After that, nothing more is known about Paxi.
Sources: IMDb, Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano.
French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 107. Photo: Sigma-Cyrnos. Tino Rossi in L'île d'amour/The island of love (Maurice Cam, 1944).
Good-looking Corsican singer and film actor Tino Rossi (1906 or 1907-1983) was one of the great romantic idols of his time. The quintessential ‘Latin lover’ sold over 300 million records and appeared in more than 25 film musicals.
Constantino Rossi was born as the third of eight children in a Corsican family in Ajaccio, France. He was gifted with an operatic voice. As a teenager, he played guitar and sang at a variety of small venues in his hometown before going on to perform in Marseilles and at resort clubs along the French Riviera. Though a failed marriage detoured him and his career briefly, eventually, in 1929, a promoter saw Rossi performing and signed him to a short tour circuit. Although that and the two songs he recorded with Parlophone, 'O Ciuciarella' and 'Ninni Nanni', didn't bring him immediate success, in 1933 Columbia offered him the deal he wanted. In 1934 Rossi represented Corsica in La Parade de France, where he was met with much acclaim, but his fame didn't truly commence until he began starring in film musicals, including Naples au Baiser de Feu/The Kiss of Fire (Augusto Genina, 1937). His romantic ballads had women swooning and his art songs by Jules Massenet, Reynaldo Hahn, and other composers helped draw sold-out audiences wherever he performed. Rossi's success was greatly aided by songwriter Vincent Scotto, who wrote his first hits and collaborated with him for many years. Prior to World War II, Rossi was a major box office attraction in the French-speaking world but expanded his audience to America with a 1938 visit followed up by wartime tours across the USA and Canada.
A ‘Latin Lover’ persona made Tino Rossi a true film star. He began his film career in Les nuits moscovites/Moscow Nights (Alexis Granowsky, 1934) starring Annabella, but his first real success came with Marinella (Pierre Caron, 1936). It was followed by Lumières de Paris/Lights of Paris (Richard Pottier, 1938), Fiévres/Fever (Jean Delannoy, 1942), and Le Soleil a toujours raison/The Sun Has Always a Reason (Pierre Billon, 1943). All his films were musicals and capitalised on his success as a singer. During the occupation of France by Nazi Germany Rossi's film career reached its peak, notably with Mon amour est près de toi/My Love Is For You (Richard Pottier, 1943) and L'île d'amour/The Isle of Love (Maurice Cram, 1944). At the Liberation, the French authorities reproached him for associating with the French Gestapo, but most importantly for actively supporting collaborationist causes such as the LVF (Légion des Volontaires Français) who sent French volunteers to work in German factories. He was arrested in October 1944 and spent three weeks in Fresnes prison near Paris. Following a trial in 1945, his sentence was relatively light. Rossi received a retrospective and largely symbolic work suspension. He subsequently appeared only sporadically in films, concentrating on his singing career. His post-war films include Sérénade aux nuages/Song of the Clouds (André Cayatte, 1946), Destins (Richard Pottier, 1946) which contained his most popular song, 'Petit Papa Noël', Le Gardian (Jean de Marguenat, 1946), Marlène (Pierre de Hérain, 1949), and Si Versailles m'était conté/Affairs in Versailles (Sacha Guitry, 1954). In 1947 he married Lilia Vetti, a young dancer and actress he had met while making Le Chant de l'exilé/The Song of the Exile (André Hugon, 1943). They would have a son, Laurent, in a marriage that lasted for a lifetime. In 1955 he starred in the operetta 'Méditerranée', and in the following years, he continued performing around France and the world. His career also evolved into the television era, appearing in a number of popular variety shows. In 1982, President François Mitterrand named Tino Rossi a Commander of the Legion of Honor for his contribution to France and its culture. That same year the 75-year-old Rossi gave his last public performance at the Casino de Paris, a show that popular demand turned into a three-month stint. Tino Rossi died of pancreatic cancer in 1983 in his home in the Parisian suburbs.
Sources: Marisa Brown (AllMusic), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.