French postcard. Lewis Stone in Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923).

American film actor Lewis Stone (1879–1953) is best known for his role as Judge James Hardy in the Andy Hardy film series and as an MGM studio contract player. In 1929, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Ernst Lubitsch's lost film The Patriot (1928). With his distinguished look and grey hair, Stone was able to play the roles of well-mannered romantic men, and he appeared in seven films with Greta Garbo.

Lewis Shepard Stone was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1879, to Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball. Reportedly by age 20, Lewis's hair had turned gray prematurely. He served in the United States Army in the Spanish–American War as a lieutenant, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting. In 1912, he found success in the popular play 'Bird of Paradise' which starred Laurette Taylor. The play was later filmed in 1932 and 1951. Stone's career was interrupted by World War I where he served again in the United States Army in the cavalry as a major. After the war, he went to China to train troops. After returning from China, he made his feature film debut either in The Man Who Found Out (Unkown director, 1915), according to IMDb, or in Honor's Altar (Walter Edwards, 1916), according to Wikipedia. Stone showed up in First National's Nomads of the North (David Hartford, 1920) as a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman opposite Lon Chaney. He portrayed the title role in the silent film version of The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922) with Alice Terry and Ramon Novarro. The three stars reunited for another elegant and popular Swashbuckler, Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923). In 1924, Stone joined the newly-formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he remained for the rest of his career. The next years, he was busy. He played an adventurer opposite Wallace Beery in the dinosaur epic The Lost World (Harry O'Hoyt, 1925), adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel of the same name. The film featured pioneering stop motion special effects by Willis O'Brien, a forerunner of his work on the original King Kong. Stone was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1929 for The Patriot (Ernst Lubitsch, 1928). He played the character that gives the film its title, but he was not the top-billed star. That was Emil Jannings who starred as Emperor Paul I of Russia.

Lewis Stone made the transition from silent to sound with The Trial of Mary Dugan (Bayard Veiller, 1929), which starred Norma Shearer. Sound did not cause Lewis any problems and his appearance in the successful prison film The Big House (George Hill, 1930) furthered his career. He continued to be busy with his roles as the distinguished lead and appeared in seven films with Greta Garbo, spanning both the silent and early sound periods. He played the role of Dr. Otternschlag in Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding, 1932), in which he utters the famous closing line: "Grand Hotel. People coming. Going. Nothing ever happens." The following year, he had a larger role in Queen Christina (Rouben Mamoulian, 1933). Stone also played an adventurer in The Mask of Fu Manchu (Charles Brabin, 1932) with Boris Karloff and a police captain in Bureau of Missing Persons (Roy Del Ruth, 1933) with Bette Davis. In 1937, Stone essayed the role which would become his most famous, that of Judge James Hardy in the Andy Hardy series. Stone appeared as the judge in fourteen of the sixteen Andy Hardy features, beginning with You're Only Young Once (George B. Seitz, 1937). Tony Fontana at IMDb: "Judge Hardy was the father audiences wanted in the late 30s early 40s. He was kind, intellectual, fair and as patient as he had to be with Andy, played by Mickey Rooney. This series occupied most of his screen time until it ended and he did slow down during the late 40s." Stone also appeared in the short Andy Hardy's Dilemma, which promoted charitable donations to the Community Chest, but he had died by the time of the final Hardy feature, Andy Hardy Comes Home (Howard W. Koch, 1958).

During World War II, Lewis Stone was a lieutenant colonel in the California National Guard. Stone was MGM's longest-contracted actor and the longest-ever-contracted actor at a studio up to his death. In the 1950s he continued to appear in a number of films including remakes of the two Swashbucklers he had made 30 years before with Alice Terry: Scaramouche (George Sidney, 1952), and The Prisoner of Zenda (Richard Thorpe, 1952), both starring Stewart Granger. The week before his death, he (together with Lionel Barrymore) received a gold key to his dressing room. He had made approximately 100 films. Lewis Stone died in Hancock Park, Los Angeles in 1953, aged 73. He reportedly suffered a heart attack while chasing away some neighborhood kids who were throwing rocks at his garage. Another published report states that on that date Stone and his third wife were watching television when they heard a racket in the back yard. When he investigated, Stone found lawn furniture once again floating in the pool and glimpsed three or perhaps four teenage boys running towards the street. Stone gave chase despite his wife's warning not to exert himself. Upon reaching the sidewalk, Stone suddenly collapsed. A gardener, Juan Vergara, witnessed the chase and summoned aid. A photo published in newspapers of the day showed Stone lying on the sidewalk immediately after the incident. Following his death, he was interred at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. He was married three times. His wives were Florence Oakley, Margaret Langham, and Hazel Elizabeth Wolf. With Oakley, he had two children. Lewis Stone was later honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6524 Hollywood Blvd.

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Lewis Stone Lewis Stone American Actor Acteur Darsteller Schauspieler Hollywood Film Screen Picture Cine Kino Cinema Movie Movies Filmster Star Sepia Vintage Postcard Postkarte Carte Postale Cartolina Tarjet Postal Postkaart Briefkarte Briefkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Scaramouche 1923 Rex Ingram

© All Rights Reserved

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 679/2. Photo: Bafag. Alice Terry as Princess Flavia and Lewis Stone as King Rudolf in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922).

Alice Terry (1900–1987) was an American film actress and director, who appeared in almost 40 films between 1916 and 1933. Though a brunette, Terry's trademark look was her blonde hair, for which she wore wigs from 1920 onwards. Her most acclaimed role is the leading lady in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rex Ingram, 1921) starring Rudolph Valentino. Ingram, who married her in 1921, would shoot her in many of his films and often paired her to Ramon Novarro. Terry proved also in films without her husband’s direction she was a legitimate star. In 1923 the couple moved to the French Riviera, where they set up a small studio in Nice and made several films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy.

American film actor Lewis Stone (1879–1953) is best known for his role as Judge James Hardy in the Andy Hardy film series and as an MGM studio contract player. In 1929, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Ernst Lubitsch's lost film The Patriot (1928). With his distinguished look and grey hair, Stone was able to play the roles of well mannered romantic men>, and he appeared in seven films with Greta Garbo.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Alice Terry Alice Terry American Actress Actrice Hollywood Movie Star Lewis Stone Lewis Stone Actor Acteur Darsteller Schauspieler Movie Movies Film Cinema Cine Kino Picture Screen Filmster Star Vintage Postcard Cartolina Carte Postale Carte Postale Tarjet Postal Tarjet Postal Postkarte Postkaart Briefkarte Briefkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Ross Ross Verlag The Prisonder of Zenda 1922 Bafag Rex Ingram

© All Rights Reserved

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 783/1. Photo: Bafag. Alice Terry as Princess Flavia in The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922).

Alice Terry (1900–1987) was an American film actress and director, who appeared in almost 40 films between 1916 and 1933. Though a brunette, Terry's trademark look was her blonde hair, for which she wore wigs from 1920 onwards. Her most acclaimed role is the leading lady in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rex Ingram, 1921) starring Rudolph Valentino. Ingram, who married her in 1921, would shoot her in many of his films and often paired her to Ramon Novarro. Terry proved also in films without her husband’s direction she was a legitimate star. In 1923 the couple moved to the French Riviera, where they set up a small studio in Nice and made several films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy.

Alice Terry was born as Alice Frances Taaffe in 1899 in Vincennes, Indiana, USA. Alice started as an extra in films at age 15 to help her family financially. She made her film debut in Not My Sister (Charles Giblyn, 1916), opposite Bessie Barriscale and William Desmond Taylor. It was produced by legendary film pioneer Thomas Ince. She worked in "Inceville", Ince's studio, and would appear as an extra as several characters in his pacifist allegorical drama Civilization (Reginald Barker, Thomas H. Ince, 1916). The film was a big-budget spectacle that was compared to both The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915) and the paintings of Jean-François Millet. Civilization was a popular success and was credited by the Democratic National Committee with helping to re-elect Woodrow Wilson as the U.S. President in 1916. She was shy and was also interested in other motion picture jobs, considering work as a script girl or a cutter behind the camera as preferable to performing in front of it. For two years Alice worked in cutting rooms at Famous-Players-Lasky. This work would help her later on when she worked with Rex Ingram on his films. It was while she was working as an extra on The Devil's Passkey (Erich von Stroheim, 1920) that Alice was first noticed, by director Erich von Stroheim. Sadly, her insecurity caused her to rapidly leave the Universal lot. She never even stopped to pick up her paycheck. In 1917, she had met director Rex Ingram. Ingram promoted her to small parts in his early Metro Pictures films in the late teens. He also directed her physical transformation, overseeing a program of weight loss and dental repair, and creating “Alice Terry” — both the name and the image — as his protege. He gave her her first significant role in Hearts Are Trumps (Rex Ingram, 1920). It was during preparation for this role that Alice discovered what would become her trademark. IMDb: 'She was putting on her make-up and saw a blonde wig on the table next to her. She put it on but thought it looked silly. Just then the director Rex Ingram (who was already an admirer, both personally and professionally) walked in and saw her in it. He insisted she wear it in the film. Alice wasn't convinced until she saw the rushes the next day. "When I appeared on the screen, I looked so different, and from that time I never got rid of the wig."' Wikipedia adds that she put on her first blonde wig in Hearts Are Trumps (1920) 'to look different from Francelia Billington, the other actress in the film.' Ingram and Terry would marry in 1921. It was also in 1921 that Alice would gain acclaim as Marguerite in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), with the blonde wig. Often regarded as one of the first true anti-war films, it had a huge cultural impact and became the top-grossing film of 1921, beating out Charlie Chaplin's The Kid (1921). The film turned then-little-known actor Rudolph Valentino into a superstar and associated him with the image of the Latin Lover. The film also inspired a tango craze and such fashion fads as gaucho pants. For her husband, she would continue to play the heroine is such masterpieces as The Prisoner of Zenda (Rex Ingram, 1922) in which she appeared as Princess Flavia opposite Lewis Stone and the upcoming Ramon Novarro as the bad guy, and Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923), now featuring Ramon Novarro. Both films were smash hits. Heidi Kenaga at Women Film Pioneer's Project: '“Rex and His Queen” were one of the more celebrated director-actress teams of the 1920s, but there are indications that performing was only one dimension of Terry’s contribution to their work together.' In 1924 and 1925 the marriage between Terry and Ingram was in jeopardy, according to Wikipedia, and in that time period she worked under other directors. Alice worked on five films, and particularly her roles in Any Woman (Henry King, 1925) and Sackcloth and Scarlet (Henry King, 1925), both by Paramount Pictures, proved that Alice was a legitimate star away from her husband. She also would make the Western melodrama The Great Divide (Reginald Barker, 1924) with Conway Tearle and Wallace Beery.

In 1924, Metro would merge into the new MGM and both Rex Ingram and Alice Terry would work there. She would be directed again by Ingram in The Arab (1924), which was filmed in North Africa and owed much to the influence of screen idol Valentino, with Ramon Novarro playing the 'sheik' part. When they got back together, Terry took on a more behind-the-scenes role. During the making of The Arab (Rex Ingram, 1924) in Tunisia, they met a street child named Kada-Abd-el-Kader, whom they adopted upon learning that he was an orphan. Allegedly, el-Kader misrepresented his age to make himself seem younger to his adoptive parents. In 1925 Ingram co-directed Ben-Hur, filming parts of it in Italy. The two decided to move to the French Riviera, where they set up a small studio in Nice and started to make films on location in North Africa, Spain, and Italy. Alice would get her chance to play the wicked woman in Mare Nostrum (Rex Ingram, 1926). Filmed in Italy and Spain, this film was both a critical and financial success for the couple. Ingram would make his third independent film in Italy when he directed Alice in The Garden of Allah (Rex Ingram, 1927). Later that year, Alice would be reunited with Ramon Novarro in Lovers? (John M. Stahl, 1927), but the film would not be as well received as their earlier films. When sound came to the screen Alice and Rex retired. Her last film appearance was in the sound film Baroud (1933) starring Pierre Batcheff, which she also co-directed with husband. Alice helped so much that she was named co-director and she directed all the scenes Ingram himself appeared in. Wikipedia: 'Baroud (Rex Ingram, Alice Terry, 1933) highlighted Alice's ability as an all around filmmaker but she never took that further.' Terry and Ingram retired in the 1930s and took up painting. Once Terry and Ingram moved back to the United States they started having problems with their adopted son, Kada-Abd-el-Kader. According to Wikipedia, He 'began associating with fast women and fast cars throughout the San Fernando Valley.' Terry and Ingram sent him back to Morocco 'to finish school.' Kada-Abd-el-Kader never went back to school, but he later became a tourist guide in Morocco and Algiers. El-Kader would always tell tourists that he was the adopted son of Rex Ingram and Alice Terry. In 1950, Rex Ingram passed away. Terry was open-minded and she invited four of Rex's mistresses to his funeral. Wikipedia quotes her saying: 'Who cares, I'm the only one that can call herself Mrs. Rex Ingram.' A year later, when Columbia released Valentino (Lewis Allen, 1951), featuring Eleanor Parker and Anthony Dexter, Alice Terry filed suit against Columbia and the producers because of the way the film "falsely portrayed a clandestine relationship between Valentino and Terry". Columbia settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. In 1960, she was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6628 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Terry was still active in the 1970s. She loved hosting Sunday afternoon parties and going out to dinner in extravagant, floor length mink coats. Alzheimer's put a stop to Terry's parties and fun. Following her death in 1987 in Burbank, California by pneumonia, Alice Terry was interred at Vahalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood. Alice Terry made 29 films, not counting four appearances as an extra. Of these 29, 17 are lost films. Six exist in archives around the world and six survive on video and on television broadcast release. About her part in Rex Ingram's films, Picture Play commented in a 1924 article, she was set apart by “her unrestrained enthusiasm for her husband, her unqualified praise for his work, with absolutely no mention of her own minor but definite achievements.” Heidi Kenaga gives her at Women Film Pioneer's Project full credit for the films she made with Ingram and cites film historian Anthony Slide: 'although Terry is only given on-screen credit for Baroud — a sound film made after Ingram’s heyday and outside the US studio system — it is possible she also co-directed some parts of Ingram’s motion pictures between 1921 and 1929.'


And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Alice Terry Alice Terry American Actress Actrice Hollywood Movie Star Movie Movies Film Cinema Cine Kino Picture Screen Filmster Star Vintage Postcard Cartolina Carte Postale Carte Postale Tarjet Postal Tarjet Postal Postkarte Postkaart Briefkarte Briefkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Ross Ross Verlag The Prisonder of Zenda 1922 Bafag Rex Ingram

© All Rights Reserved

Book cover for Ruth Barton, 'Rex Ingram - visionary director of the silent screen' (2014). Publisher: University Press of Kentucky.

Tags:   Book Cover Ruth Barton Rex Ingram Rex Ingram Visionary of the silent screen Director American Regisseur Hollywood

© All Rights Reserved

Spanish collector's card. Chocolate Amatller. 1920s. Series EE, Artist 40, No. 82.

Irish born Rex Ingram (1892-1950) was a film director, producer, writer and actor in Hollywood who was responsible for a succession of silent films for Metro Pictures, later M-G-M, that topped the box office and were hailed as masterpieces by the critics. He made a star of Rudolph Valentino with The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921). When they fell out, he found a new heartthrob in Ramon Novarro, who debuted with Ingram in The Prisoner of Zenda (1922). Rex’s second marriage, to Alice Terry, saw him cast her in the lead in all but one of his films. Director Erich von Stroheim once called him "the world's greatest director".

Tags:   Amatller Chocolate Amatller Collector's Card Vintage Vedette USA AMerican Hollywood Cinema Carte Cine Card Celebrity Costume Collector's Film Film Star Movies Movie Movie Star Muet Muto Stummfilm Star Screen Silent Colored Coloured 1920s Rex Ingram director regisseur actor attore acteur Schauspieler

© All Rights Reserved