Dutch postcard by Uitgeverij Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4213. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Pat Boone in Journey to the Center of the Earth (Henri Levin, 1959).

Pat Boone (1934) is an American singer and actor who was the second-biggest charting artist of the late 1950s, behind only Elvis Presley. Initially, he performed Rock and Roll, but later in his career, he switched to gospel music. Over the years he has had many hit songs including 'Moody River', 'Speedy Gonzales', and 'Bernardine. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in more than 12 Hollywood films.

Charles Eugene Patrick (Pat) Boone was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1934. His father, Archie Altman Boone, was a building contractor and his mother, Margaret Virginia (née Pritchard), was a nurse. His younger brother, Nick Boone, also had a popular music career under the name Nick Todd. Pat grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and attended David Lipscombe College, North Texas State College and Columbia University from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1958. Boone began his career by performing in Nashville's Centennial Park and started recording for Republic Records in 1954. In 1955 he released a cover of the single 'Ain't That a Shame' by Fats Domino, and significantly broke the sales records of the original version. A number-one single in 1956 by Boone was a second cover and a revival of a then seven-year-old song 'I Almost Lost My Mind', by Ivory Joe Hunter, which was originally covered by another black star, Nat King Cole. It is representative of the early period of Boone's career, which mainly focused on polishing rhythm-and-blues hits into more accessible versions, allowing the Rock and Roll tunes to reach a much wider audience. Boone was also criticised for his homogenised, sanitized versions. He succeeded in removing all of the more suggestive lyrics from his cover of Little Richard's 'Long Tall Sally'. He changed the original's, "I saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally,/He saw Aunt Mary comin' and he ducked back in the alley" to, "Long Tall Sally's got a lot on the ball,/And nobody cares if she's long and tall." However, Little Richard himself once said: "It was Pat Boone who made me a millionaire". Boone had the image of a fresh-faced smooth guy, who appealed to both teenagers and their parents. His singing style, a full baritone, followed in the footsteps of his idol Bing Crosby. Soon he switched more and more to singing ballads. At the end of the 1950s, Pat Boone was only surpassed in popularity by Elvis Presley. And just like Elvis, he made an attempt at some acting. Although he made considerably fewer films than Elvis, it is said that his films were of considerably higher quality. Several film studios pursued him and he decided to go with 20th Century Fox, which had made Elvis Presley's first film. Fox reworked the play 'Bernardine' into a vehicle for Boone. The resulting film, Bernardine (Henry Levin, 1957), with Terry Moore and Janet Gaynor, was a solid hit, earning $3.75 million in the US. His recording for the title song of his second film, April Love (Henry Levin, 1957), in which he co-starred with Shirley Jones, was nominated for an Oscar. At the age of 23, he began hosting a half-hour ABC variety television series, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, which aired for 115 episodes (1957–1960). His recording of 'A Wonderful Time Up There' in 1958 became the first million-selling record with religious lyrics. Seeing himself as a devout born-again Christian, he refused music and film roles that went against his moral standards, including roles with the then-sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. In each of his film contracts, there was a term specifying that kissing his partner could not be forced on him by the director due to his religious convictions. Less popular was the musical comedy Mardi Gras (Edmund Goulding, 1958) with Christine Carère. However, the Science-Fiction adventure, Journey to the Center of the Earth (Henri Levin, 1959), with James Mason and Arlene Dahl, was a huge hit.

Pat Boone wrote the lyrics for the title song for the film Exodus (Otto Preminger, 1960), which he titled 'This Land Is Mine'. He produced and starred in a documentary, Salute to the Teenagers (1960), but did not make a film for a while, studying acting with Sanford Meisner. He returned with a military comedy, All Hands on Deck (Norman Taurog, 1961), a mild hit. He starred opposite Bobby Darin and Ann-Margret in another remake, State Fair (José Ferrer, 1962), but it was another box office disappointment. Musicals were becoming less fashionable in Hollywood. An invasion of British pop groups such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and The Kinks ended Pat Boone's career as a hit machine, although he continued to make records in the 1960s. During the early 1960s, Boone starred in a handful of British films, produced by his own Cooga Mooga productions. In one of these, The Yellow Canary (1963), he attempted to shake up his established image by portraying a nasty, ill-tempered rock star. In the 1960s, he also began writing self-help books for adolescents, including the best-seller 'Twixt Twelve and Twenty'. In the 1970s, he switched to gospel music and country and continued to perform in other media, especially radio. Later, he was a disc jockey for a popular American old-time radio station and runs his own record company, which re-releases records from the 1950s that no longer have a place on major record labels. Boone married Shirley Lee Foley, daughter of Red Foley, in 1953 and they had four daughters: Cherry, Lindy, Debby and Laury. In the 1960s and 1970s, the family toured as gospel artists and made gospel albums such as 'The Pat Boone Family' and 'The Family Who Prays'. In 1997, Boone released an album entitled 'No More Mr. Nice Guy', which featured a collection of heavy metal covers polished to fit the Pat Boone style. To advertise the album, he appeared at the American Music Awards ceremony in black leather. He lost his respectable image in one fell swoop, at least among large sections of his following among conservative Christians. Because of this action, he was fired from Gospel America, a television programme of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. However, the music from this CD was often used during the intermission of hard rock and heavy metal concerts, and the CD was appreciated by the somewhat older guard of hard rockers who saw the humour in it and could appreciate the performance of the songs, which included a choir and a full orchestra. In 2003, his gospel recordings were recognised by Nashville's Gospel Music Association and added to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Boone lived in Los Angeles for many years with his wife Shirley Foley. They were influential members of the 'Church on the Road', the Inglewood Church of Christ in San Fernando Valley. Shirley (84) passed away in January 2019, they had been married for 65 years.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Dutch and English), and IMDb.

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

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French postcard. Phototypie A. Bergeret et Cie., Nancy, 1900s. The setting may refer to a stage version but may simply also been staged for Bergeret's own interest. Around 1900 Michel Strogoff was on of the most popular adventure novels, set in 1860s Imperial Russia. In the 20th century several film adaptations would be made in France, Germany and elsewhere.

Caption: Aren't you the Children of our old Siberia? For her you need to die.

Tags:   Michel Strogoff Bergeret 1900s Adaptation novel Jules Verne Russie Russia Vintage Vedette Postcard Postkarte POstale Postkaart Postal Picture Carte Cartolina Carte Postale Card Celebrity Costume Ansichtkaart Ansichtskarte Theatre Theater Stage 1860s

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French postcard. Phototypie A. Bergeret et Cie., Nancy, 1900s. The setting may refer to a stage version but may simply also been staged for Bergeret's own interest. Around 1900 Michel Strogoff was on of the most popular adventure novels, set in 1860s Imperial Russia. In the 20th century several film adaptations would be made in France, Germany and elsewhere.

Caption: For God, czar and fatherland!

The Bergeret series is unnumbered but following the thread of the plot this could be the last card. Yet, the card www.flickr.com/photos/truusbobjantoo/51179559344/in/photo... talks about consolations by God, which may refer to Michel getting his sight again. When his mother faints when he is blinded, his tears have saved his eyes. So that card could also be the last or penultimate card.

Plot: Michael Strogoff, a 30-year-old native of Omsk, is a courier for Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The Tartar Khan (prince), Feofar Khan, incites a rebellion and separates the Russian Far East from the mainland, severing telegraph lines. Rebels encircle Irkutsk, where the local governor, a brother of the Tsar, is making a last stand. Strogoff is sent to Irkutsk to warn the governor about the traitor Ivan Ogareff, a former colonel, who was once demoted and exiled and now seeks revenge against the imperial family. He intends to gain the governor's trust and then betray him to the Tartar hordes.

On his way to Irkutsk, Strogoff meets Nadia Fedor, daughter of an exiled political prisoner, Basil Fedor, who has been granted permission to join her father at his exile in Irkutsk; the English war correspondent Harry Blount of the Daily Telegraph; and Alcide Jolivet, a Frenchman reporting for his 'cousin Madeleine'. Blount and Jolivet tend to follow the same route as Michael, separating and meeting again all the way through Siberia. He is supposed to travel under a false identity, posing as the pacific merchant Nicolas Korpanoff, but he is discovered by the Tartars when he meets his mother in their home city of Omsk.

Michael, his mother and Nadia are eventually captured by the Tartar forces, along with thousands of other Russians, during the storming of a city in the Ob basin. The Tartars do not know Strogoff by sight, but Ogareff is aware of the courier's mission and when he is told that Strogoff's mother spotted her son in the crowd and called his name, but received no reply, he understands that Strogoff is among the captured and devises a scheme to force the mother to indicate him. Strogoff is indeed caught and handed over to the Tartars, and Ogareff alleges that Michael is a spy, hoping to have him put to death in some cruel way. After opening the Koran at random, Feofar decides that Michael will be blinded as punishment in the Tartar fashion, with a glowing hot blade. For several chapters the reader is led to believe that Michael was indeed blinded, but it transpires in fact that he was saved from this fate (his tears at his mother evaporated and saved his corneas) and was only pretending.

Eventually, Michael and Nadia escape, and travel to Irkutsk with a friendly peasant, Nicolas Pigassof. They are recaptured by the Tartars; Nicolas witnesses Nadia being raped by a Tartar soldier and murders Nadia's assaulter. The Tartars then abandon Nadia and Michael and carry Nicolas away, reserving him for a greater punishment. Nadia and Michael later discover him buried up to his neck in the ground. They continue onward where they are delayed by fire and the frozen river. However, they eventually reach Irkutsk, and warn the Tsar's brother in time of Ivan Ogareff. Nadia's father, who has been appointed commander of a suicide battalion and later pardoned, joins them and Michael and Nadia are married.

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French postcard. Photo: Les productions J.N. Ermoliev / Tobis. Yvette Lebon as Nadia in the French sound film Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg, 1936). Caption: A film based on the famous novel by Jules Verne. On the back: shown at the Cinema Stanislas, between Thursday 8 and Monday 12 October. Nancy had a Cinema Stanislas (opened in 1925), but e.g. also Lunéville had one. Thursday 8 October refers to the year 1936, the year the film was released. The film premiered in Paris on 10 March 1936.

French actress Yvette Lebon (1910-2014) appeared in 39 films between 1931 and 1972. Her beautiful eyes made her one of the most attractive faces of the French cinema of the 1930s.

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French postcard by Les productions J.N. Ermoliev / Tobis for the screening of the film at the Paris cinema Marivaux. Colette Darfeuil as the evil Sangarre, who plots together with Ivan Ogareff (Charles Vanel) in the French sound film Michel Strogoff (Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg, 1936), based on the novel by Jules Verne.

Coquettish Colette Darfeuil (1906 – 1998) was a French actress with beautiful green eyes who made 110 films between 1920 and 1953.

Colette Darfeuil was born as Emma Henriette Augustine Floquet in Paris in 1906. As a girl, she was discovered by young director Pierre Colombier in the Gaumont studios when she accompanied a friend who would play a part as an extra. She made her film debut in Les étrennes à travers les ages/New Year gifts through the ages (1920, Pierre Colombier) with Dolly Davis. This was a short, silent comedy with animated sequences of women down the ages all wanting something different from what they got as New Year presents. Three years later, her film career really started with leading roles in Le retour à la vie/ Back to life (1923, Jacques Dorval) and Château historique/Historic castle (1923, Henri Desfontaines) with Thomy Bourdelle. In Germany she appeared in Der Mann im Sattel/The man in the saddle (1925, Manfred Noa) with Ernö Verebes and Angelo Ferrari. There she later also appeared in the comedy Was eine Frau im Frühling träumt/ What a woman dreams about in spring (1929, Curt Blachnitzky). But she mostly appeared in French films, such as the dramas La flamme/The Flame (1926, René Hervil) with Charles Vanel, and Sables/Sand (1929, Dimitri Kirsanoff) with Gina Manès. She had started her career as a brown-haired ingénue but in time turned into a blonde sophisticated lady.

Colette Darfeuil made an easy transition from silent to sound with Abel Gance’s science-fiction film La fin du monde/The End of the World (1931). HaL Erickson at AllMovie: “As a comet speeds along on a collision course with Planet Earth, the world prays for a miracle. Scientist Victor Francen races against time to avoid the cataclysm, while Francen's religious-fanatic brother (played by director Gance) puts his fate in the hands of God. Meanwhile, the governments of the world adopt near-fascistic methods to keep their panicking minions under control. Once all hope is abandoned, virtually all of civilization degenerates into a drunken orgy, replete with rape and bestiality. The worst is reserved for last, as the ever-approaching comet causes a plethora of natural disasters before the final ‘Big Bang.’“ The 1930’s were a busy decade for Darfeuil. It started with films like Cendrillon de Paris/Cinderella of Paris (1930, Jean Hémard) and the comedy Voici dimanche/Here is Sunday (1930, Pierre Weill) with Tony D’Algy. She played leads in Pour un soir..!/For one night...! (1931, Jean Godard) opposite the young Jean Gabin, and the Guy de Maupassant adaptation Le rosier de Madame Husson/Mrs. Husson's Virginity Prize (1932, Dominique Bernard-Deschamps) featuring Françoise Rosay. Rex Ingram and his wife Alice Terry directed her in a supporting part in the Arab adventure Baroud (1932) with Pierre Batcheff. The British director shot his only sound film in Morocco, at the heyday of the French colonial empire, to retire shortly afterwards from the film industry. Russian director Fyodor Otsep directed her in the drama Mirages de Paris/Paris Illusions (1933) with Jacqueline Francell. This was an alternate language version of Großstadtnacht/Big city night (1932, Fyodor Otsep) with Dolly Haas and Trude Berliner in Darfeuil’s role. Other films include Pour être aimé/To be loved (1933, Jacques Tourneur) with Pierre Richard-Willm, the Fernandel comedy Les bleus de la marine/The new recruits of the Navy (1934, Maurice Cammage), and with Buster Keaton Le roi des Champs-Élysées/The King of the Champs Elysees (1934, Max Nosseck).

Colette Darfeuil had a successful career, but never managed to become a real star. She often played seductive femme fatales, sometimes even vulgar characters. She was one of the pretty partners of the legendary silent star Iwan Mosschukin in the sound version of Casanova (1933, René Barberis). She was directed by her husband Pierre Weill in Le train d'amour/Love Train (1935). During the 1930’s she mixed such starring parts with supporting roles in films like La chanson du souvenir (1936, Serge de Poligny, Detlev Sierck a.k.a. Douglas Sirk), the French language version of the Ufa production Das Hofkonzert/The Court Concert (1936, Douglas Sirk), both starring Márta Eggerth. A success was the adventure film Michel Strogoff/Michael Strogoff (1936, Jacques de Baroncelli, Richard Eichberg) starring Adolf Wohlbrück a.k.a. Anton Walbrook. This was another alternate language version of a German production, Der Kurier des Zaren/The Czar’s Courier (1936, Richard Eichberg) based on the novel by Jules Verne. In Belgium she played in several comedies by Gaston Schoukens, such as Bossemans et Coppenolle (1939) with Raymond Aimos, and in Italy she made the romantic comedy L'amore si fa così/Love you so (1939, Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia). She had a supporting part in the war drama Untel père et fils/Heart of a Nation (1945, Julien Duvivier) with Raimu and Michèle Morgan. The film about how the people of Paris cope with the strains and struggles of war was shot in 1940 but not released in France until November 1945 because of WW II. It was released in the US in 1943. After the war she appeared in Jacqueline Audry’s Les malheurs de Sophie/The Misfortunes of Sophie (1946). That year, her mother died and from that point on she only accidentally worked for the cameras. In 1952, she played opposite Michel Simon in La fille au fouet/ Girl with the Whip (1952, Jean Dreville). She also played in the German version, Das Geheimnis vom Bergsee (1952, Jean Dreville). It was her last film. Aged 92, Colette Darfeuil died in 1998 in Montfort- l'Amaury, France. She was divorced of film director Pierre Weill and was the widow of producer René Bianco.

Source: Pascal Donald (CinéArtistes) (French), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), AlloCiné (French), Les gens du Cinéma (French), Wikipedia (German and French) and IMDb.

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