33.00 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!
Wonderful image of Lia (also sometimes "Lya") De Putti in very sheer veils, by the important theatrical portraitist Alex Binder of Berlin. Well, she isn't exactly nude, no, but in terms of postcard images, the level of nipple visibility cranks up the collectibility on this one by quite a lot. Risque and nude images of major motion picture stars of the 20s and 30s are often very difficult to come by. This probably has a lot to do with the suppression of nudity and violence by the Hays code in the 30s. American film and television were limited by those rules well into the 60s, making even pre-Hays, risque on screen behavior seem somehow shocking, and okay, let's face it...consequently "interesting."
She was born Amalia Putti, in Austro-Hungary, in 1897. She began in vaudeville, but made her screen debut in 1918, and was successful as both a stage and screen actress in Germany. Coming to the US in 1926, she was unable make a really successful go of Hollywood, did some work on Broadway, traveled to England, where she made some silent films, and then returned to the US to give her career there another try, but sadly developed pneumonia as a side complication resulting from, believe it or not, choking on a chicken bone, and died in New York, in 1931. So very sad.
Below, you can follow our link to Youtube, to a 10 minute segment of the film "The Sorrows of Satan," a D.W. Griffith silent from 1926, in which Lya played the "vamp." Beginning at approx. 6:30 on the clip, you get about 3 minutes of Lya being vampy. We watched the entire film, in its parts, on Youtube (you will see it offered in its segments to the right of the window, once you've followed the link), but the print is not great, there is no musical score included, and all in all, we cannot rave about it. Still, if you think you want to try it, do start at part 1 of 9, as 8 of 9 (where our link takes you), is one big spoiler.
Incidentally, and having nothing whatsoever to do with our card, the novel upon which "Sorrows of Satan" (a Faustian romantic fantasy) is based, was written by an extremely popular author at the turn of the century, Marie Corelli. She wrote romances with a pronounced "white light occult" flavor, and was apparently a friend of Oscar Wilde's. Red attempted reading some of her stuff decades ago, but is sorry to admit to finding it just a bit too dusty for fun :) The given name Mavis, by the way, found its origin in that novel, and was given added popularity, no doubt, by the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaRsN5ZsZgE
Very nice unposted condition on this card.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. Postage is for fully insured, first class, shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), 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 increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for insurance or shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.
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!