Showing posts with label Not sooo far away from Hollywood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Not sooo far away from Hollywood. Show all posts

Sunday, 10 June 2012

"4 Million [people] waiting for next Sunday."

~ Here we go - my first entry for Monty's
 2012 Cinematic World Tour Blogathon.. ~

Frankly I feel like it is my duty to talk a little bit about the country I grew up in since there are not so many German bloggers talking about classic films in English.. Besides that I think Germany isn't quite the country most bloggers who take part in this blogathon will talk about or would think of as a country to visit.. So I saw a little gap that I could fill.. Maybe.. I will for sure talk about some films set in other countries, too.. But let's start with the film most international classic film fans will think of when the words "German film" and "vacation" a mentioned:



MENSCHEN AM SONNTAG - EIN FILM OHNE SCHAUSPIELER 
(= PEOPLE ON SUNDAY - A FILM WITHOUT ACTORS)
(Weimar Republic, 1930)
by Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Fred Zinnemann and Rochus Gliese - written also by Billy Wilder!! (Now that's quite a Hollywood-list, isn't it?)

Before I start to tell you what this film is about you have to know that this film is no usual film for it is really made without professional actors. It has "just" people acting as themselves - no actors acting in characters. It is a mixture of a narrative classic film telling you a story and a documentation. In fact it is one of the first independent films - if I may say so.. Very low budget was used - which was reportedly from the savings of the directors..

It is also one of the last German silent films - but don't be afraid: It has very little captions - so there is not too much to read - in case that would be your main problem with this film..

~ Stars who were no stars.. ~

In a nut-shell:

Berlin, Germany: On a Saturday jack-of-all-trades Wolfgang (Wolfgang von Waltershausen) meets film-extra Christl (Christina "Christl" Ehlers) and after they drink a coffee together they decide to meet again on the next day - Sunday..

~ Wolfgang und Christl in a little cafƩ.. ~

Meanwhile taxi driver Erwin (Erwin Splettstößer) has a little fight with his girlfriend - Annie (Annie Schreyer) who is working as a model - ending with them snatching off star postcards of their wall.. (including several Greta Garbo pictures of whom apparently esp. Erwin is fond and at least one picture of German film star Willy Fritsch - apparently Annie's crush.. - and yes - though they are not married they share the same flat - and bed..) The little dispute ends as Wolfgang appears and he and Erwin start to play cards instead..

~ shirty Erwin - also: Greta Garbo and Willy Fritsch.. ~

Sunday - the next day: Erwin, Wolfgang and Christl spent the day at Nikolassee - a lake in Berlin-Nikolassee - together with Christl's best friend Brigitte (Brigitte Borchert), a salesgirl in a record shop.  They will go for a swim, eat, listen to music and go for a walk..

~ a little picnic.. ~

After Christl refuses Wolfgang's advances he turns to Brigitte - who is much more of an easier prey for him - they will spent some apparently very, very, VERY intimate time under a tree while Erwin is asleep and Christl is sulking..

~ Wolfgang and Brigitte getting to know each other.. ~

After this little encounter all four of them spent some time in a pedalo on the lake - where Wolfgang and Erwin become interested into two other girls in another boat - much to the chagrin of Christl and Brigitte.

~ Christl and Brigitte - learning a lesson - and not amused about it.. ~

Finally they return to Berlin and Brigitte hopes for another Sunday with Wolfgang - who agrees towards her on that - but as we will learn rather will go with Erwin to a soccer game (I bet right now there are several German ladies living trough exactly that scenario since these days the European Championship is on..)

 Annie has overslept the whole day..

~ Sleepy Sunday for Annie.. ~
A new week is starting the next morning.. It's Monday again in Berlin..


Please, watch out for:

Kurt Gerron, Ernƶ Verebes, Heinrich Gretler and Valeska Gert.

~ Kurt Gerron ~
To be honest: I only noticed Valeska Gert.. I am ashamed of myself.. Especially since Kurt Gerron is one of my favourites.. He will receive a post of his own on this blog for sure.. He was not only an actor - you might know him from THE BLUE ANGEL with Marlene Dietrich - but also a great director. He was killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944..

~ Dancer Valeska Gert in her short appearance in PEOPLE ON SUNDAY ~

Schmooze:

  • There is no full copy of this film saved since the original version was lost. So the remaining film is about 74 minutes long.
  • PEOPLE ON SUNDAY was merely filmed on Sundays in summer of 1929 due to the fact that all leading "actors" were working in their business for the rest of the week.
  • The film was made after a report Curt Siodmak wrote. At this time his name was written "Kurt".. Billy Wilder wrote the script after this report.
  • It was the first time that Curt and Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer and Fred Zinnemann worked as directors. How amazing is it to have those plus Billy Wilder together in one film??
  • For Rochus Gliese it was his second to last work as a director.
  • Cinematographer Eugan Schüfftan also worked on EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960) (<- you can read my review on this film here..)


~ Brigitte playing records.. ~

Let's face the music..

There is a new score by Elena Kats-Chernin with Czech Film Orchestra - I like that score - though some parts I find rather irritating - especially when they contain singing voices.. There is also an alternate soundtrack by Steven Garling which is a soundtrack completely made of percussion sounds. I find also that one a bit challenging.. Steven Garling himself was an expert when it came to Silent movies. He did not only work with those but also intoned Bible passages since he was a believing Christ. He died in 2008 at the age of 39 years due to cancer.

~ Brigitte at work - re-arranging the shop windows. ~

The record Brigitte selled 150times "IN EINER KLEINEN KONDITOREI" (= "In a Small CafĆ©/Pastry Shop") - is a lovely little tango by Fred Raymond. Of this tango of course excists also a spoof version.. (which I loved as a child and was often spotted singing out loud and with absolutely no mentioning of staying true to the melody or other distracting things.. it was unlike the original less the description of a romance than the narration of a dine and dash scene.. Frankly I still love to "sing" it - or at least whistle it.. Have here a version by Luigi Bernauer..




What ever happened to...


... Erwin Splettstößer?



He appeared in two other films directed by Robert Siodmak: ABSCHIED (FAREWELL) (1930) and VORUNTERSUCHUNG (INQUEST) (1931). 

-----

... Brigitte Borchert (November 15, 1910 - August 7, 2011)?



PEOPLE ON SUNDAY was the only part she would play for a film - she did appear though in a documentation about this film in 2000. She married illustrator Wilhelm M. Busch in 1936.
~ Pen drawing by Wilhelm M. Busch ~
Last year when she died with almost 101 years of age several newspapers here wrote about her and commemmorated PEOPLE ON SUNDAY

-----

...Wolfgang von Waltershausen (1900-1973)? 


He appeared also in two other films: EIN BURSCHENLIED AUS HEIDELBERG (1930) by Karl Hartl and in DER MANN, DER SEINEN MƖRDER SUCHT (LOOKING FOR HIS MURDERER) (1931) by Robert Siodmak. Both films were also written by Billy Wilder.. Sidenote: LOOKING FOR HIS MURDERER is due for a review here on this blog, too.. 

-----

... Christina "Christl" Ehlers (March 10, 1911 - February 2, 1960)?


She left Germany in 1933 with her father Alfred Ehlers (a well-known artist and architect) who tried to help as many Jewish people (including his family) as possible to escape from Nazi Germany. First they went to Spain but when Civil war broke out there Christl Ehlers, her father and her four year old son left for Great Britain. Later Christl would follow her mother - famous harpsichordist Alice Ehlers who already lived in Los Angeles. Alice Ehlers was a friend of Albert Schweitzer and they used to write several letters.. She also appears in WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)... Christl Ehlers appeared besides PEOPLE ON SUNDAY only in ESCAPE (1940) by Mervyn LeRoy in a small part as a student. In 1947 she married Hampden Wentworth and they would have four other children. In 1960 they both died due to a plane crash in New Mexico leaving behind their children - and Christl's by that time of course grown-up son..


... Annie Schreyer ?


Yes.. embarrassing.. but I couldn't find information about her.. 


Cinematic World Tour Blogathon:



I chose this film because I think people everywhere on this world can relate to it. Most of us will go on a little trip when we have a day off - and it doesn't have to be a travel around the world.. And for we never traveld too much when I was a child I can relate to this little Sunday trip to a near by lake very much..

~ Christl and Brigitte ~


On Germany and German customs

As far as I can tell: In this country soccer isn't just a sport - it's a religion. You don't make fun of it. (Trust me - I tried.. Grave mistake..) Frankly, I am not very interested in this sport - but I will get every info of it - since every information magazine in telly will talk about it - and my neighbour is shouting at "his boys" (no matter if it's "just" his home team or the national team like yesterday..) while they're in a game - apparently they won yesterday since my neighbour after that excersised his conjugal rights quite noisy.. - in case they would have lost there would just have been a certain tapping sound against my walls.. (Gosh.. I am soo wishing for thicker walls around here..)

~ ... ~
Another quite strange German custom you can see in this film celebrated by a group of young men (around 36:16 in the clip below): They spank each other. It is an old custom and I think not that much celebrated these days - aside from special occasions.. There are several rules and different ways to "play" it - but I think this certain game they play here is: some guy is spanking another - and the one who got spanked has to guess who spanked him.. yes.. yes.. the days before World of Warcraft..


Have a look:


Again - there are not so many captions - and those which are there are translated into English.. Besides with 74 minutes it's not a very long film.. (just saying..)



Brigitte Borchert once stated that though the critics were enthusiastic about this film most "ordinary" people she spoke to were not.. They went to cinema to see a more glamourous life - not their everyday life. To see how four (resp. five) young people spent their Sunday they would not have to go to the pictures for.. They were for sure right about that - still the film was a hit. 

For me (and as I think also for many other admirers of this film) especially the scenes showing daily Berlin life in that era are the basic for this film's charme. Berlin is one of my favourite cities - and I would love to live there once.. There are few (maybe none) places in this world I feel that much at home like I do in Berlin..

~ this looks so much like the summers we spent as children on the countryside here.. ~

Besides that as I stated before it also has much relation to how I spent my summers as a child and teenager.. Just by the way there are a lot of children in this film - and sometimes one wonders what became of them.. I love all those scenes showing ordinary people and their everyday life. Yes, I love the realism of PEOPLE ON SUNDAY. It is the complete alternative draft to Hollywood's star cult - hands down: of course there was also a star cult in German cinema - and here we had (and still have) stars, too.. But it wasn't that industrialised.. (not that they didn't try..)   


About the "triangle":

~ While Christl is sleeping on his one hand.. ~


~ ... Wolfgang's other hand is handling.. uhm.. someone else.. ~

I think it's quite interesting to see Wolfgang hunting for skirts.. - or.. well.. what's under them.. I don't think he is a character I like.. But he really appears realistic to me - so do the others. None of them seems to act in a set up way - though of course there was a script.  This film also has a humour I enjoy - the scene in which Brigitte and Wolfgang will get some.. uhm.. "action" ... - the camera turns slowly away along some trees - and will end at the sight of a rubbish heap to turn back to the couple - who by now re-arrange their clothes.. (Notice that Wolfgang's shirt is tattered now and Brigitte has to fix her gaters..)  


Besides: some of the scenes in this film have a certain poetry in it..

Though this film shows apparently bygone times - it shows you very much where I come from - since for me when you change the dresses and add a better dental care it shows you how Summer did look and still looks to me..


Thank you for listening

Bon Voyage - and...

...Remember: Safety first!

Irene

Saturday, 28 April 2012

Do you remember.. ..Henny Porten?

These days I am watching a lot of old German films - and today I had a little private Henny Porten film marathon.. 

Starting with the silent classic ANNA BOLEYN (1920) by one of my favourite directors ever: Ernst Lubitsch - in this film Emil Jannings was the male lead - and going on with the 2-films-series FAMILIE BUCHHOLZ (1944) (= Buchholz family)  and NEIGUNGSEHE (1944) (= love-match) - both directed by Carl Froelich. Actually these are all films of hers I own on DVD - which is of course not too much.. And after doing this quite short marathon I decided to do a post for my Do you remember series



So - here we go with some bits about Henny Porten (you might pronounce her first name like "Hanny") - one of the first German film stars ever:

Henny Porten was born as Henny Frieda Ulricke Porten on January 7, 1890 in Magdeburg, Germany. By now Magdeburg is the capital city of German Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt. It's also the biggest city of Saxony-Anhalt. According to an article she (? I am not sure about that..) wrote she was born in 1891.

~ Magdeburg in 1890's.
(source of photo: Volksstimme )~

When in the same year her father Franz Porten (who was quite a famous actor, opera singer and director - and later became a pioneer of film in Germany) assumed control of Stadttheater (= city theater) in Dortmund  the whole family moved with him, of course.

In 1896 she had her first performance on a stage in a play called DIE WAISE VON LOWOOD (= the orphon of Lowood. It's actually JANE EYRE..) In the same year the family moved again - this time to Berlin where Henny also went to school.

~ Henny's older sister Rosa Porten ~


In 1906 Henny Porten had - together with her older sister Rosa her first appearances on short films her father directed. Of great influence for those films was the friendship between Franz Porten and film producer Oskar Messter

~ Pioneer of German film: Oskar Messter, November 22, 1866 -  December 6, 1943 ~

As her father came from an opera background most of those films they did were based on opera arias. According to Henny Porten the first "movie" they made together in 1907 was based on an aria from LOHENGRIN by Richard Wagner. These films were actually kind of early talkies: While Henny and her father were acting a record was played - so their acting had to fit the music and of course also had to be just the lenght of those. Afterwards the films were shown simultaneous to the replayed records. 

~ Henny Porten, ca. 1910 ~


In 1911 Rosa and Henny Porten were the stars in their first film with a self-contained plot: LIEBESGLÜCK EINER BLINDEN / DIE BLINDE. (lit. translation: love bliss of a blind woman / The blind woman) The story was written by Rosa Porten - and it's said that the idea came to Henny after she and Rosa saw some blind children on a walk. Henny Porten was finally chosen to play the lead in this film. It was produced by Messter's projection GmbH. 

~ Henny Porten in LIEBESGLÜCK EINER BLINDEN (1911) - source:  filmportal.de ~
The film became a big success. Back then actors weren't always named in credits - mostly because film wasn't anything to take serious. But after the showing of LIEBESGLÜCK EINER BLINDEN the audience kept asking who the blind girl was - a star was born. Well.. that's what the press said - and what Henny Porten herself liked to tell about the beginning of her career. It might have been a bit different and less "magical" - but what actually was born was one myth of stardom. 

On October 10, 1912 she married Curt A. Stark - an actor and director - who would direct many of her films with her as the female lead. 

~ Lotte Müller, Curt A. Stark & Henny Porten in EIN LEBEN (= a life) (1911/12) - source : filmportal.de ~

Excuse this short leap, please: Actually Curt A. Stark was born at castle Saupark Springe. I grew up just a few miles/kilometres away from that place.. See: I am practically part of Henny Porten's family.. 

~ Jagdschloss Springe (= hunting castle Springe) - Kaiser Wilhelm II. and his court very often had hunting parties there - some of them were quite.. ..uhm.. ..scandalous.. ending with some pornographic pictures of various guests - and some blackmail, too..~

.. and now back to our star: 

By now Henny Porten already was one of the two big female stars of German films - the other star was Asta Nielsen. Henny was actully that popular that a magazine suggested her (as a joke of course) to be the next president in Reichstag of Weimar Republic.

~ Asta Nielsen in 1912 - quite daring.. ~
In 1913 Messter's film company starts a film series starring Henny Porten. Her big and almost mesmerising eyes made her performances quite impressive. Though she was able to act in quite a burlesque kind of comedy - she mostly appeared in kind of a soulful madonna like parts. Quietly suffering.. According to my great-grandfather (who was a more or less successful pianist) Henny Porten who appeared on screen merely as an "eternal virgin" was in real life "less prudish - but always a real lady."



In 1914 WWI was declared and Curt A. Stark was drafted. There is actually a rumour that Henny Porten herself revived German film industry in 1915 almost on her own - as most males were drafted - or like Oskar Messter enlisted themselves. She was the star in a film written by herself: DAS ENDE VOM LIED (lit. translated: The end of the song).

In 1916 Curt A. Stark was "killed in action".

~ a really beautiful publicity still ~


In 1917 Henny Porten acted in an advertisement film for war bonds which was frequently shown at the movies - which is noteable because it shows how much stardom now could be used to sell things. She made several films during this period and had a big fan base. 

Actually several teenage girls used to write her letters and waited in front of her house for her to come out - one of them adored her that much that she not only waited for Henny Porten so that said little fan could hand her over a self-coloured postcard: No, she also sewed a cushion for her crush - and was more than just happy when she visited a film premiere of a Henny Porten film - and saw her cushion on the screen.. 

This young girl who was intent to become a violonist and reportedly also played the violin for her target of affection later actually had to deal with some fans herself - but by then she wasn't called Marie Magdalene anymore - the world would know her as Marlene Dietrich.

~  romanticising Henny Porten and wearing the biggest bow - of course.. :
Marlene Dietrich
- in 1917 yet to become a Hollywood star.. ~

In 1919 a project which was long anticipated by Henny Porten finally saw the light of day: ROSE BERND based on the play of Gerhart Hauptmann was made into a film - of course with her as the female lead.

In 1920 Henny Porten made two films with director Ernst Lubitsch which both became very successful: The comedy KOHLHIESELS TƖCHTER (KOHLHIESEL'S DAUGHTERS) - which is actually based on a successful droll story. It has it's origins in Shakespeare's THE TAMING OF THE SHREW and was remade several times. Also in 1930 - again with Henny Porten in a double leading role..

~ Henny Porten as both KOHLHIESEL'S DAUGHTERS (1920)~

The other Lubitsch film she did in 1920 was ANNA BOLEYN - and like in KOHLHIESEL'S DAUGHTERS - the male lead was given to Emil Jannings

~ with Emil Jannings in ANNA BOLEYN (1920)~
After that Henny Porten founded her own production company and married Wilhelm Ritter von Kaufmann-Asser (The shorter version is more widely known - it spares his title Ritter = knight : Wilhelm von Kaufmann)

~ a postcard saying:  Henny Porten's wedding - July 24, 1921 - to the civil registry office ~
Wilhelm von Kaufmann was a successful doctor - but he gave up his career to support his wife's career in her production firm. Henny Porten still was one of the most engaged film actresses who worked with several famous directors as E. A. Dupont or Carl Froelich. In 1924 Carl Froelich joined her production company with his own company. Now it was called Henny-Porten-Froelich-Gesellschaft.

In 1927 she suffered from artrithis and had to rest for several weeks to recover. 


In 1930 she appeared in her first real talkie: SKANDAL UM EVA (SCANDAL ABOUT EVA) directed by G.W. Pabst. It was quite a success - though she was not convinced about the success of talkies at all - even in 1932 she still stated that silent movies would have a come back and talkies would not survive for long. Apparently she did not believe in their quality when it came to acting - which to me seems to reflect the attitude of theather actors towards (silent) films.. But Henny Porten always was true to silent films - when years before the talkies became common she was asked to appear on stage she prefered working in the (silent) movies.

~ "Henny Porten in her home" ~

When in 1933 the Nazis took over in Germany Henny Porten suddenly had to face that her stardom could not completely protect her and her husband who was jewish. 

Though she had not to face a kind of persecution like others did because standing to her husband and not agreeing in having a divorce her life wasn't as easy as before anymore. She was practically banned from filming - that she did not have to face concentration camp was mostly based on the fact that Hermann Gƶring's younger brother Albert spoke out for her. Though Hermann Gƶring was leader of German air force and quite a high ranked politician in Nazi-Germany Albert Gƶring was actually against the National socialistic party and helped several potential victims to escape.

~ Albert Gƶring, March 9, 1895 -  December 20, 1966 ~
During 3rd Reich Henny Porten made only nine films - which is really quite a break-in considering that in her whole career she made more than 170 films - and would after WWII only appear in about four other films. 
She and Wilhelm von Kaufmann planned to leave Nazi Germany - but his mother became seriously ill so they stayed with her. Later his application for leave was approved - but hers was not. 

One of those friends who still sticked by her was Carl Froehlich. He took care that she was casted for the 1944 films FAMILIE BUCHHOLZ (= Buchholz family) and NEIGUNGSEHE (= love-match). Both very entertaining films set in 1880's Berlin with Henny Porten in the part of Wilhelmine Buchholz - a famous and very prudish writer who tries to get her beautiful daughters (KƤthe Dyckhoff and Marianne Simson) married properly and overdoing it quite terribly. One of the (not really willing) husbands to be is Gustav Frƶhlich - one of my favourite German actors ever who you might know from METROPOLIS (1927)..

~ Henny Porten and Gustav Frƶhlich - a few seconds from now and her smile will be gone.. ~
Apparently while she was filming FAMILIE BUCHHOLZ which contained several funny scenes and was meant to entertain the no longer sure of victory German public (and it actually is quite a cute mini film series.. ) Wilhelm von Kaufmann was arrested by the Gestapo. It is reported that she immediately went to the SS to free her husband - with success. I guess this might be based on her still not completely faded popularity. 

~ ca. 1931 ~

According to Cinzia Romani's book TAINTED GODDESSES : FEMALE FILM STARS OF THE THIRD REICH which is actually quite incorrect in some aspects - so I am not sure whether this story is true or not - Henny Porten and her husband were bombed out at some night and practically homeless with no help in sight. - Other sources say they had to leave their home in Berlin by order of German Wehrmacht (= unified armed forces of Nazi Germany) and had to flee.

They found a home in Ratzeburg - which still meant a lot of meanderings in their lifestyle. Ernst Lubitsch who sent some care packages to help was reportedly planning to help her also with her career by envisaging some parts in Hollywood films for her but he died before those plans could be realised. There weren't many parts for Henny Porten now - the truth is that she was almost forgotten because of the big leap in her career - besides: Though there were a few offers from Hollywood - they weren't very promising in the whole - and: she did not accept every film that was offered to her. In case she considered the part too small - or not ambitious enough - she would reject it. For most of the time she now helped her husband who was again working as a doctor. 

~ Henny Porten in better times (though looking grave):
Photo card for DER RUF DER LIEBE  (= call of love) (1916) 


Eventually after solely one film she did in 1950 ABSENDER UNBEKANNT (= addresser unknown) she agreed on making two films for DEFA which was the filmstudio owned by German Democratic Republic: CAROLA LAMBERTI - EINE VOM ZIRKUS (circa. = Carola Lamberti - of circus) (1954) and DAS FRƄULEIN VON SCUDERI (circa. = Miss von Scuderi) (1955).

~ with Catja Gƶrna in CAROLA LAMBERTI - EINE VOM ZIRKUS (1954) ~
After that she did not receive another acting part in a film. It is possible that working for DEFA made it impossible for her to receive one in a West German film. On the other hand she did not receive a DEFA contract because she did not agree to move to German Democratic Republic. In 1956 she appeared in a film which featured stars of bygone days of German film - but this was apparently just kind of a cameo. I did not see that one yet - so I sadly can not tell about it and have to believe what I found out through several sources.

In 1957 Henny Porten and Wilhelm von Kaufmann moved back to Berlin. They were completely broke. On October 21, 1959 Wilhelm von Kaufmann died and barely one year later on October 15, 1960 Henny Porten followed him. In May 1960 when she was already seriously ill she was given the Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Thank you all so very much for listening!

Yours very well and truly

Irene

Friday, 2 December 2011

Happy Birthday!

Finally the weekend is near - and some people were born this day...

...like these gentlemen:


Ray Walston

*December 2, 1914 (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA)

† January 1, 2001 (Beverly Hills, California, USA)


I love him most in KISS ME, STUPID (1964) and SOUTH PACIFIC (1958). He was a wonderful actor - who most US followers will probably know best as MY FAVORITE MARTIAN..

~ HE could wear it.. ~


-----


Brendan Coyle

* December 2, 1963 (Corby, Northamptonshire, England, UK)


I love him. He is very attractive.. He is also an amazing actor. I think most of my female followers will know him from several (magnificent!!) BBC series like NORTH & SOUTH, DOWNTON ABBEY, LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD ...

~ at this point I might warn you: Every december I fall in a completely BBC mania - so prepare for at least one review.. ~


-----


And here some German ladies:



Sybille Schmitz



* December 2, 1909 (Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)

† April 13, 1955 (Munich, Bavaria, Germany)


Very fascinating, glamourous actress - she was very successful during the 3rd Reich in various dramas - her most popular films might be TITANIC (1943) and the horror film VAMPYR (1932) (-> the US titles for that film are THE VAMPIRE (actually "Vampyr" is a dated way to write "Vampir" = engl. "vampire"), CASTLE OF DOOM and NOT AGAINST THE FLESH.)

Sadly she was kind of a self destructive persona who suffered from depression, alcoholism and drug abuse. After several attempts she took her life with an overdose of sleeping pills. - For those of you who are fond of such bits of information: Her last character in a film also died due to suicide..

The film VERONIKA VOSS (1982) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder is (loosely) based on her life.



-----


Rita Paul

*December 2, 1928 (Berlin, Germany)


She was more a singer than an actress - she appeared in about two US films: UNDER FIRE (1957) and FRƄULEIN (1958). I love her voice - and though you might not understand her - you could listen (if you like):



She is singing a song named DAS IST NICHTS FƜR KLEINE MƄDCHEN (= "That's not for little girls") - in this song her mother doesn't allow her to kiss/love boys .. the male voice is Bully Buhlan - he is singing that his mother forbid him to play with dolls and told him to be nice to girls - though he didn't like them.. ... well - you may take this song as you please..


I fell for Rita Paul's voice when I was about ten years old - back then I had no idea how she might look.. I was certain that she had to be very, very pretty.. and even if she would look like a barrel filled with porcupines I would love her. (..stubborn little me.. ... oh - and I like porcupines..) Well - look (and decide) for your own:


Here she is with Bully Buhlan - with whom she sang several songs during the 1950s - it's one of my favourite pictures..:

~ Mission of the day: give someone you like a hug! ~

Well.. that's about it for today.. Enough of obscure German actresses..

This obscure little German girl says:

Thank you all for listening!

Yours (very well and) truly

Irene