18.00 USD
Welcome to "Idols of the 1920s," where we hope to provide a special, cozy place for those of you who long to linger among the stars of the early silver screen, the hoofers and songbirds of dear old vaudeville's fading hours, a few divas of the grand opera, and of the operetta too, flappers, flappers, more flappers, and of course, and perhaps especially, those femmes fatales who with one smoldering glance can melt a heart, or break it in two. Have fun!
Born Vilma Koncsics (1901-1991) Miss Banky was the daughter of a highly placed government official in Emperor Franz Joseph's Austro-Hungary.
Growing up in Budapest, she was fascinated by film from a young age, and won a part in a film at age 19.
In 1925, Samuel Goldwyn visited Budapest, and signed her to a contract. Her family, and her fiancee were already unhappy with the idea of her being an actress, but she ignored all of their wishes, and ran off (hardly running off, really, she was 24 years old :) to Hollywood, where she was called the Hungarian Rhapsody, and became a tremendous success.
She was leading lady to Rudolf Valentino in "The Eagle," and "Son of the Shiek," and made many more films before the talkies reared their head, and her heavy Hungarian accent apparently stood in the way of her continued success.
She married silent movie star Rod La Rocque (Wait, we know what you're thinking, but that was the name this French-Canadian fellow was actually born with, and no, he never starred in an episode of the Flintstones :) to whom she stayed happily married until his death in 1969.
Miss Banky sold real estate with her husband, played a lot of golf, and established an educational foundation. Sounds like a relatively uneventful, happy later life. I think we can say that is a very nice thing.
Almost all of our bio information was drawn from a wonderfully concise article on Wikipedia. Thanks Wikipedia!
A visit to Youtube will produce numerous clips from her film career, allowing you to see why she was so greatly loved. A very beautiful woman, and a gifted actress. I think, through Youtube, we were able to enjoycomplete copies of both "The Winning of Barbara Worth" (early Gary Cooper too!), and "Son of the Sheik."
Beautiful atmospheric image. A very nice, unposted card.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!