29 May 2017

New acquisitions by Didier Hanson

From time to time Didier Hanson sends us scans of great and rare postcards he recently discovered and added to his huge collection. Today EFSP presents an update for you. Sit back and enjoy.

Xenia Desni
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1026/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Ukrainian actress Xenia Desni (1894-1954) was a star of the German silent cinema.

Lien Deyers in Spione (1928)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 95/1. Photo: Fritz Lang Film. Publicity still for Spione/Spies (Fritz Lang, 1928). Collection: Didier Hanson.

Dutch actress Lien Deijers (1910-1965) - also known as Lien Deyers and Lien Dyers - was discovered by famous director Fritz Lang who gave her a part in Spione (1928). She acted in a stream of late silent and early sound films. After 1935 her star faded rapidly and her life ended in tragedy.

Rudolf Klein-Rogge in Spione (1928)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 96/1. Photo: Fritz Lang Film. Publicity still for Spione/Spies (Fritz Lang, 1928). Collection: Didier Hanson.

Rudolf Klein-Rogge (1888-1955) is best remembered as Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse and as Lang's mad scientist in Metropolis, but he played many more parts in the German cinema.

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 246, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Pola Negri
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1243/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Paramount. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Polish film actress Pola Negri (1894-1987) achieved notoriety as a femme fatale in silent films between 1910s and 1930s.

Lon Chaney
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5096/1, 1930-1931. Photo: MGM. Collection: Didier Hanson. Could be for Chaney's penultimate film Thunder (William Nigh, 1929).

American stage and film actor, director and screenwriter Lon Chaney (1883-1930) is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema. Between 1912 and 1930 he played more the 150 widely diverse roles. He is renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. ‘The Man of a Thousand Faces’ starred in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).

Vera Kholodnaya and Ossip Runitsch in Last Tango (1918)
Russian postcard, no. 140. Photo: publicity still for Posledneiye tango/Last Tango (Vyacheslav Viskovsky, 1918). Collection: Didier Hanson.

Vera Kholodnaya (1893-1919) was the first star of the Russian silent cinema. Only 26, the ‘Queen of Screen’ died of the Spanish flu during the pandemic of 1919. Although she worked only three years for the cinema, she must have made between fifty and hundred short films. The Soviet authorities ordered to destroy many of the Kholodnaya features in 1924, and only five of her films still exist.

Russian actor, producer and stage director Ossip Runitsch (1889-1947) was one of the biggest stars of the Russian silent cinema.

Jenny Golder
French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 18. Photo: G.L. Maniuel Frères. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Actress and singer Jenny Golder (ca. 1896-1928) was born in Australia to English parents, but grew up in Paris. She first appeared in variety and musical comedy shows in England and in Brussels but it was in Paris where she became well known. According to The Times obituary her personality captivated even critical audiences and her eccentric dancing was as successful as her singing. Golder appeared in many revues with American dancer, Harry Pilcer, who had also been Gaby Deslys's dancing partner. In 1925 she had her greatest success with the Folies Bergères revue at the London Palladium. Didier adds: "After al these successes, Jenny Golder killed herself in her impresario's office by gunshot (allegedly).Why? Nobody knows for sure..."

Feodor Chaliapin as Mephisto
Russian postcard, no.495. Photo: publicity still for the stage production of Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Feodor Chaliapin as Boris Godunov
Russian postcard, no.57. Photo: publicity still for the stage production of Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin (Russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин) (1873–1938) was a Russian opera singer. The possessor of a large, deep and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses and is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.

Ernst Stahl Nachbauer, Erna Morena and Paul Günther in Die elf Schill'schen Offiziere (1932)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 151/4. Photo: Märkische Film G.m.b.H. Die elf Schill'schen Offiziere/The eleven Schillian officers (Rudolf Meinert, 1932). Collection: Didier Hanson.

Erna Morena (1885-1962) had an impressive career in German silent cinema in the 1910s and 1920s, and until the mid-1930s she was regularly performing in German sound films.

Many thanks, Didier!

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