19.00 USD
Camilla Horn, Silent Film Star, Mopes at the Beach! Circa 1920
Camilla Horn (1903-1996) was trained as a young girl for a career as a dressmaker, but longed to be an actress. In the mid 1920s she found work as an extra in the silent film "Madame Doesn't Want Any Children." Also working as an extra on that film was a young Marlene Dietrich!
In 1926, Fraulein Horn got her career making break, when she replaced Lillian Gish as Gretchen, in F.W. Murnau's Expressionist Masterpiece "Faust."
Soon after this, she traveled to the U.S., where she made a few films (starring opposite John Barrymore in "Tempest" to name one), but returned to Europe at about the same time sound arrived on the scene. It wasn't the advent of sound that was the problem, though, as she continued to make talkies in Europe, had a very nice singing voice, and was quite successful, but we will guess it was the language barrier that was the obstacle to her success in Hollywood.
***One of the great things about the silent era, we think, was the ability of fine actors and actresses to make films in countries far from their own, with language never being a great obstacle. An excellent example of this would be Sessue Hayakawa, a Japanese actor who, early on, with a very heavy accent, and not a lot of English, was a popular leading man in silent film, cast romantically opposite actresses of European descent. His skilled dramatic performances, dark good looks, and moody, brooding expressiveness broke many hearts in an era when ethnocentricity and predjudice against difference of any sort was rampant, so really, silent film was bridging that gap, but once sound displaced it, that bridge all but collapsed for decades.***
Camilla Horn's unwillingness to toe the political line during the 1930s in Germany, made her unpopular with the Nazis, but she waited them out, and her popularity as an actress continued into the 1950s.
Below is a link to a Youtube clip of a short, very early, ballad by the Boss (Bruce Springsteen), called Camilla Horn. We thought you might find that fun, and another Youtube link to a clip from the Murnau film "Faust," with the focus on Fraulein Horn's character, Gretchen.
Springsteen link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfZ4RyReDXI
Murnau link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIrn-BxfAYI
Thanks as always, Wikipedia, for all the info, and to Youtube, where we so often find pertinent and wonderful clips! Verily, admits this antique seller of olde tyme curiosities, this series of tubes, this interwebs, is a most remarkable invention! :)
Beautiful card in lovely, unposted condition.
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 not charge for 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.
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