18.00 USD
Here at Red Poulaine, we have a special place in our hearts for the Italian actress images of the early 1900s and into the 1920s. The quality of the portrait photography and subsequent postcard publication was particularly rich, with a flair for the dramatic and mysterious. Many of our favorites, like Anna Fougez and Nella Regini, began their careers as sciantose, a variation on the French term chanteuse, meaning female singer, but bringing to it other meanings, and implying a dark, mysterious, exotic quality that appealed to the theater going public at the time, and certainly appeals to us :) Naturally we love all of our images or we probably wouldn't purchase them for our shop, and feel an almost filial affection for the performers onto whom we project imagined personalities and traits (is that weird? :), but there is something about what seems to have been at the time a very Italian penchant for carrying the illusion of the stage and screen out into the public venue, a tendency to make even larger, the already "larger than life" persona of the theatrical personality, that we really love. So we have decided to open a new section devoted exclusively to these Italian artistes. We call it "La Bella Donna," and yes it is a bit of a play on words, given the tendency in many of these cards to focus on qualities of a "femme fatale" type. We hope you will enjoy these images as much as we do.
Francesca Bertini was born Elena Seracini Vitiello, in 1888, Florence, Italy. She began her career on the stage, but made her film debut in 1907. By the mid 1910s, she was a much sought after star, and in 1920, won a contract with 20th Century Fox Studios. So, we might have been able to see her in some "blockbuster" American films, but in 1921, she broke her contract with Fox, and ran off to marry the Swiss Count, Alfred Paul Cartier, a former soccer champion of great renown, who had retired from the sport to take up the family trade of banking. Yes, this Cartier was, incidentally, a close relation of the Cartiers one associates with diamonds, so the ring was probably a beauty :)
We are always tickled when we are able to say that the two lived happily ever after, which apparently they did! Ahhh :)
Signorina Bertini returned to film in the late 20s, and appeared in various roles well into her later life. Her husband passed away in 1959, while she lived on until 1985.
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!