18.00 USD
Edward Knoblauch, an American (later British) play-write, wrote Kismet in 1911. It was a great success, running in London for two years, and in New York as well.
It was translated and produced in French also. This lovely card offers us an image of the two leads in the 1913 French production, Mlle. Jeanne Desclos and M. Lucien Guitry. The play opened in Paris at the Sarah Bernhardt Theater.
One review we found in "Le Théatre," lauded the performances of the actors, but dismissed the play as being of the childish stuff of then present-day popular English plays and suggested that they would have been more impressed with it had the plot been more original and not simply drawn from the kind of thing one might read in "The Arabian Nights." We did get the impression from a number of other sources that "Kismet" did not do particularly well in France.
The play was popular enough in England and America though, that it spawned a later musical and two motion pictures as well. We've seen the 1944 film version, starring Ronald Coleman and Marlene Dietrich. We love both of these stars and though we think both of them, by 1944, were a bit past the "costume romance" stage of their careers, it's still a lot of fun.
Below is a link to a clip from the movie, with Marlene in a fantastic costume orientale, in a dance scene that diehard Dietrich fans will no doubt enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb038dGWI8E
For us, this vintage postcard is simply a wonderful couples romance item. Hope you love it too :)
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.
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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!