Ruth Harriet Louise, Greta Garbo, The Torrent 1925 via
Ruth Harriet Louise, Greta Garbo, Love, 1927 via
Ruth Harriet Louise, Greta Garbo in “The Mysterious Lady”, 1928 via
Ruth Harriet Louise, Greta Garbo, The Temptress, 1926 via
Ruth Harriet Louise Greta Garbo, The Single Standard, 1929 via
Ruth Harriet Louise, Greta Garbo, A Woman of Affairs, 1929 via
London St. pouls by aerial in 1927
Horse carriages and monuments in Rome, Italy
Amsterdam by Bernard Eilers, 1920
Paris by Pierre-Yves Petit, 1920
The Gran Vía in Madrid, 1920s
The sisters, Roszika (later known as Rose or Rosie) and Janszieka (later known as Yansci or Jenny) Deutsch, were born on October 25, 1892 in Budapest, Hungary. Their parents, Julius and Margaet Deutsch, emigrated to the United States in 1905. As children, the sisters trained as dancers and began earning money in beer halls as early as 1907.
In 1913, the Dolly Sisters decided to try to forge separate careers. Rosie appeared in The Whirl of the World on stage while Jenny teamed up with dancer Harry Fox (whom she married in 1912) in Honeymoon Express. Jenny and Fox also toured the vaudeville circuit as a dance duo. Both sister made their film debuts in 1915: Jenny in The Call of the Dance and Rose in Lily and the Rose.
After World War I ended, the Dolly Sisters moved to France where they bought a chateau. They toured the theatres and dance halls of Europe and were courted by numerous wealthy men and royalty including Carol II of Romania, Christian X of Denmark and Alfonso XIII of Spain.
While in Europe, the sisters became well known for gambling excursion at casinos and horse tracks which were usually financed by wealthy admirers.
By early 1927, the Dolly Sisters’ popularity began to decline. Their highly publicized Paris show A vol d’oiseau, closed after eight weeks. The sisters spent more time gambling than performing and eventually retired by 1929.
In 1945, 20th Century Fox released the biographical film The Dolly Sisters. June Haver portrayed Rosie and Betty Grable portrayed Jenny.
The Dolly Sisters via
Madame d’Ora- The Dolly Sisters, 1928-1929 via
The Dolly Sisters via
The Dolly Sisters via
The Dolly Sisters via
The Dolly Sisters via
Salomé (1923), was directed by Charles Bryant and starred russian silent-movie queen Alla Nazimova – the film is an adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play of the same name.
The play itself is a loose retelling of the biblical story of King Herod and his execution of John the Baptist (here, as in Wilde’s play, called Jokaanan) at the request of his stepdaughter, Salomé, whom he lusts after.
Salomé is often called one of the first art films to be made in the U.S. The highly stylized costumes, exaggerated acting (even for the period), minimal sets, and absence of all but the most necessary props make for a screen image much more focused on atmosphere and on conveying a sense of the characters’ individual heightened desires than on conventional plot development.
Alla Nazimova in Salomé 1923, directed by Charles Bryant via
Alla Nazimova in Salomé 1923, directed by Charles Bryant via
Alla Nazimova, in “Salomé” directed by Charles Bryant, 1923 via
Alla Nazimova, in “Salomé” directed by Charles Bryant, 1923 via
Alla Nazimova, in “Salomé” directed by Charles Bryant, 1923 via
Alla Nazimova, in “Salomé” directed by Charles Bryant, 1923 via
Alla Nazimova, in “Salomé” directed by Charles Bryant, 1923 via
Alla Nazimova, in “Salomé” directed by Charles Bryant, 1923 via
Asta Nielsen (1881 – 1972), was a Danish silent film actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen’s 74 films were made in Germany where she was known simply as Die Asta (The Asta).
In 1911 she was contracted to German producer Paul Davidson for $80,000 a year, then the highest salary for a film star. In 1924 she was famously co-starred with that other great Scandinavian diva, Greta Garbo, months before Garbo left for Hollywood and MGM.
Noted for her large dark eyes, mask-like face and boyish figure, Nielsen most often portrayed strong-willed passionate women trapped by tragic consequences. Due to the erotic nature of her performances, Nielsen’s films were heavily censored in the United States and her work remained relatively obscure to American audiences.
She is credited with transforming movie acting from overt theatricality to a more subtle naturalistic style. Nielsen founded her own film studio in Berlin during the 1920s, but returned to Denmark in 1937 after the rise of Nazism in Germany. A private figure in her later years, Nielsen became a collage artist and an author.
Asta Nielsen via
Asta Nielsen, 1920 via
Asta Nielsen while filming the freaudlose Gasse,1925 via
Asta Nielsen via
Asta Nielsen via
Luisa Casati (1881 – 1957) was an Italian heiress, muse, and patroness of the arts in early 20th-century Europe. A celebrity and femme fatale, the marchesa’s famous eccentricities dominated and delighted European society for nearly three decades. She dramatically altered her appearance to become a bewitchingly beautiful figure from some bizarre fairy tale. She wore live snakes as jewellery and was infamous for her evening strolls; naked beneath her furs whilst parading cheetahs on diamond-studded leads. Nude servants gilded in gold leaf attended her. Bizarre wax mannequins sat as guests at her dining table, some of them rumoured to contain the ashes of past lovers. Without question, the Marchesa was the most scandalous woman of her day.
She became a muse to Italian Futurists , captivated artists and literary figures and had numerous portraits painted and sculpted by various artists. She posed for photographs by Man Ray, Cecil Beaton and Baron Adolph de Meyer. Many of them she paid for, as a wish to “commission her own immortality”. She is famous for saying “I want to be a living work of art”.
Portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati by unknown photographer, (ca. 1903) via
“Luisa Casati” by Alberto Martini ca. 1906. Portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati on one of her night strolls along the Grand Canal in Venice
Portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati by Adolf Demeyer, 1913
Portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati by Man Ray, 1922
Portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati by Cecil Beaton, 1954
FROM THE BYGONE 