Elisabeth Bergner

[Estella*]

...inspired by dear somnambule who knows true beauty.

short biography from www.theoscarsite.com

[font=arial, helvetica] Born Elisabeth Ettel in Drohobycz, Austria-Hungary (now Drogovych, Ukraine), she moved to Vienna and became an international stage and screen star, rising to prominence in 1924 playing the title role in Max Reinhardt's Berlin production of Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. Married to director Paul Czinner from 1933, Bergner made several films in England and France, including CATHERINE THE GREAT (1934), which was banned in Nazi Germany for featuring "emigré Jews." [/font][font=arial, helvetica]Her role as Gemma Jones in "Verlass mich niemals wieder" / ESCAPE ME NEVER (1935) earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. In the UK, she appeared as Rosalind opposite Laurence Olivier in AS YOU LIKE IT (1936), co-starred with Ramond Massey in DREAMING LIPS (1937), and in A STOLEN LIFE (1939), all directed by Czinner. Bergner's only Hollywood movie PARIS CALLING (1941) failed to attract attention. [/font]

[font=arial, helvetica]After the war she worked in New York until she returned to England in 1950 and to Germany in 1954. She performed in theaters and in 1961 she returned to the movies. In 1970 she made her debut as a director. Her last stage appearance took place in 1973. [/font]

[font=arial, helvetica]In 1979 Elisabeth Bergner received the Ernst-Lubitsch Prize and in 1982 the Eleonora Duse Prize Asolo. In Seglitz (Berlin) a city park was named after her. In 1987 her memoirs were published.[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica] [/font]

 

[Estella*]

grace...

 

[Estella*]

power..

 

[Estella*]

there even was a fashion spread on e.b. in german vogue once, because both karl lagerfeld and amanda harlech were so fascinated by her...maybe i can find it.

 

[somnambule]

beautiful thread,anna carina,and wonderful pictures !elisabeth bergner definitely deserves an own thread.

some more...

 

[somnambule]

....the drawing is by wilhelm lehmbruck (1917)

 

[Estella*]

thanks for the additional pictures!
pictures of her are not easy to find, hm?
i thought there must be lots more..
i'm really intrigued by her style.
there is something wild and childlike about her...yet she's elegant and feminine...

 

[somnambule]

beautiful postcard,anna!!the book cover reminded me of a question i had in mind:have you read her autobiography?and if so did you like it?i came across it several times and thought of buying it but i haven´t so far."unordentliche erinnerungen" sounds promising to me though .


some pictures from corbis.com:

with hugh sinclair in "escape me never":

with charles b. cochran on the deck of the "olympic":

 

[Estella*]

hurrah, you found more!!
she is very changeable, don't you think? she hardly ever looks the same in two pictures..
no, haven't read the book so far...it sounds promising, yes...tell me when you've added it to your collection

(we are the only people here interested in madame bergner so it seemsinnocent:

 

[MulletProof]

(we are the only people here interested in madame bergner so it seemsinnocent:

well some of us just lurk and have nothing to add!

i love all of those pictures..they make me sad for some reason
oh and i cant keep on track with old actresses..i feel bad for that too lol.

 

[Estella*]

^o mullet, don't feel sad, you are the loveliest lurker!
i can't keep track with most old actresses either which is why i just lurk in the twenties actresses thread...but sometimes a face just has me hooked and then i think i understand and do not need to know (you know)

(and besides, i have a sore throat)

 

[MulletProof]

thanks.
i guess i feel slightly better now..i love old actresses and old movies, i used to watch them a lot with my grandma and she'd tell me how famous everyone was back then..gossip, rumours, etc but apparently, there are as many old actresses as new ones so it's hard for me to remember all names and recognize films and titles..

also, with most of your threads, sometimes all i have to say is 'beautiful' ' great', you see..i'm running out of variety of comments these days

 

[jennifer~]

well some of us just lurk and have nothing to add!

Jennifer Was Here.

Thanks, anna...

 

[somnambule]

she is very changeable, don't you think? she hardly ever looks the same in two pictures..

very good observation anna.i looked at the pictures again and you´re right she looks different in every picture...almost unrecognizable at times.very interesting .

"but sometimes a face just has me hooked and then i think i understand and do not need to know (you know).."
oh yes,i know .

unfortunately i can´t seem to find more pictures of her.it´s a shame .

 

[MulletProof]

Jennifer Was Here.

time to come out of the closet

 

[Estella*]

^, thank you jennifer...and you're welcome!

somnambule, we will have to come back to this thread when we've read the book...i'll have a look for it

or maybe i'll find mr. lagerfelds hommage....

 

[somnambule]

anna,i don´t think i´ll buy her autobiography now.too many books here are already waiting to be read.i think i forgot to tell you that zelda threw herself from the shelf in deep despair caused by fatal neglect.i could salvage her,fortunately,and solved the problem by putting her on my lowest shelf,but who knows what she will come up with next .you see i´m under high pressure already even without elisabeth.but please let me know if you liked the book when you read it....

some quotes i found in several cinema-books...you might want to translate them,anna.i admit i´m too lazy :

"sie steht jenseits von irgendwelchem könnerprotz,etwas grosses,vereinzeltes",schwärmte kritikerpapst alfred kerr (regarding her theatre performances)

kurt tucholsky schrieb:"bergner!bergner!wie das blüht und duftet!wie das im höchsten sinne kunst ist und im höchsten sinne natur!"

und aus "reclams deutsches filmlexikon":
"b. vermochte,dank ihrer vollendeten körpersprache,ihrer kunst,kleinste seelenregungen sichtbar zu machen,den weg von emanzipatorischen gedanken zur realisierten emanzipation glaubhaft darzustellen und dabei 2 jahrzehnte frauenrevolution reflektieren."
"[...]b. etablierte in etappen den femininen freigeist."

aus "marlene dietrich" von leslie frewin:

"trotzdem schien ihr leider das innere feuer zu fehlen,das ihre körperlichen reize hätte ergänzen müssen.sie stand im scharfen gegensatz zu elisabeth bergner,die als anfängerin scheinbar körperliche hilflosigkeit entfaltete und doch über etwas endgültiges,etwas geheimnisvolles zu verfügen schien.eines tages sprach ich mit der bergner über die dietrich und rühmte ihre schönheit.die bergner stimmte wärmstens bei,aber dann fragte sie mit einem kleinen augenblinzeln und leicht spöttischer besorgnis,ob ich nicht fände,dass sie ein klein wenig zu schön sei.
ich antwortete mit einer zeile aus "romeo und julia":"ach,deine augen drohen mit mehr gefahr als 20 ihrer schwerter..." und die bergner sagte :"wenn ich so schön wäre wie die dietrich wüsste ich mit meinem talent nichts anzufangen.""


i found and bought this postcard on ebay yesterday.i´m happy as a child .i love pictures of people who are writing and i think this one is beautiful..she looks so dedicated !!
postcards nr.2 and 3 were offered by the same seller,i didn´t buy them though.

 

[somnambule]

or maybe i'll find mr. lagerfelds hommage....

oh yes,if you could find and share it that would be great .

 

[Estella*]

poor zelda!

thanks for the quotes i'm not really in the mood to translate "könnerprotz" !!!
maybe later

the postcards are very beautiful

and as you know i love pictures of people writing as well, only i have never found a good way to search that kind of pictures via google....have you?
i had been trying when making the typewriters thread on kr but it was coming up with the oddest results..many secretaries and the like...

 

[MulletProof]

aus "marlene dietrich" von leslie frewin:

"trotzdem schien ihr leider das innere feuer zu fehlen,das ihre körperlichen reize hätte ergänzen müssen.sie stand im scharfen gegensatz zu elisabeth bergner,die als anfängerin scheinbar körperliche hilflosigkeit entfaltete und doch über etwas endgültiges,etwas geheimnisvolles zu verfügen schien.eines tages sprach ich mit der bergner über die dietrich und rühmte ihre schönheit.die bergner stimmte wärmstens bei,aber dann fragte sie mit einem kleinen augenblinzeln und leicht spöttischer besorgnis,ob ich nicht fände,dass sie ein klein wenig zu schön sei.
ich antwortete mit einer zeile aus "romeo und julia":"ach,deine augen drohen mit mehr gefahr als 20 ihrer schwerter..." und die bergner sagte :"wenn ich so schön wäre wie die dietrich wüsste ich mit meinem talent nichts anzufangen.""

not sure if i got the right translation for that but just the association is dreamy

lovely postcards. was that play of romeo and juliet in english or is it just the postcard?