The more Glenda, the merrier.

In continued celebration of the lovely Glenda Farrell's birthday (June 30), what better time to share more wonderful portraits?

Promotional portrait for The Secret Bride (the snipe refers to the working title of Concealment).

Swathed in stripes. Portrait by Elmer Fryer.

"Glenda Farrell, star of the films, is shown here in her latest gown for formal evening wear. It is a tuxedo suit of claret colored satin. Her tailored blouse is flesh marquisette with tiny pleated cuffs and a bow tie at the neckline. Her poke bonnet hat has a starched veil of the same shade as her suit."

"Glenda's Weakness is Black and White. Glenda Farrell, star of the shadow drama, can't resist costumes which feature the ever popular black and white motif, and in this one she found a really unique adaptation of the blending. Her dress is of black woolen cloth and the lapels, hat and high gauntlet gloves are of leather."

Promotional portrait for The Keyhole. A fantastic animal print combination that looks...

...quite familiar! Still from The Mystery of the Wax Museum.

Glad tidings.

Warmest wishes to all this holiday season! A new job (among other things) has kept me busy, but I wanted to take the time to spread some joy and cheer, this time in the form of the wonderfully hardboiled Glenda Farrell. She's become a perennial favorite and my go-to for comic relief, and she could do it in style...

Promotional portrait for Man's Castle. "The dress has a definite [bateau] neckline with a border of galyak that emphasizes the shoulders. The sleeves are modified leg-o-mutton and the belt is black suede. An unusual belt clasp has a very cute holder for a red lipstick in the center. A red pin is fastened in the black galyak trimming. Black purse, black kid shoes, black galyak hat and cream suede gloves are used with the dress."

Promotional portrait for Go Into Your Dance.

The first Glenda Farrell photo I ever purchased, featuring a dress worn in Havana Widows. I adore the beaded starburst design.

Promotional portrait for Man's Castle. "This swagger suit is fashioned of rough grey wool alternately striped in black and white and trimmed with a broad mannish collar of black Persian lamb fur. In this photograph the broad shoulders are stressed, proving once again that Hollywood creates its own fashion decrees. Miss Farrell has chosen a grey cloth hat fashioned of the same plain material as the skirt of her suit. Her other accessories for wear with this outfit are of black, resulting in an effective blend of gray, black and white."

Promotional portrait for The Big Shakedown. "Her fall street frock is of brown crepe trimmed with stitched white crepe, and the matching hat is created along the new Chinese trend, with a pointed peak. Orry-Kelly designed them."

Second dance.

Edith Meinhard is best known for her Weimar-era work, most notably 1929's Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (Diary of a Lost Girl), but she also held status as a featured player with major German film studio UFA in the late 1930s. Unlike the few UFA projects she completed earlier in the decade (such as 1931's Voruntersuchung), these roles were relatively minor, but she received substantial press just the same.

               Top photo, Edith is on the top left. Bottom photo, Edith is second from right (the "3"). Photo credit.

A lovely, lucky recent find.

Another acquisition, a promotional photo for 1939's Hallo Janine!

From film to canvas.

At last I can reveal the fruits of my labor! Though I took art classes all the way through college, I have somehow never painted a portrait...until now. No real surprise whom I've chosen to paint:

[Top to bottom] The finished product; the photo I used as a model (a promo shot from 1929's Tagebuch einer Verlorenen).

I had actually completed most of the painting by mid-July but had to set it aside for numerous reasons, mostly that I didn't want to overwork and derail my progress. I'll need to get a better photo of the painting eventually, one that better showcases the details. Not a picture-perfect replica, and more of a stylized piece (new mantra: when in doubt, Art Deco), but I feel rather pleased with the end result. More to come soon! Take care.

Signed, sealed, delivered.

Things have been quiet on the Edith Meinhard front for a while...that is, until I found this gem on eBay:

Most Edith-related auctions that come up are either film programs or DVDs, but my jaw dropped when I saw this photo postcard. It just had to be mine. The autograph is original, and most likely done around the same time the postcard was produced (early-to-mid-1930s). It seems that Edith was well-known and well-renowned enough to have fans seeking her autograph, and how comforting to know that she received the appreciation she deserved. Who knows what other treasures may be out there?

Oh, could she dance...

Sadly, there have been no major advances in my search for more information about Edith Meinhard's career...but I've come across a couple of interesting clippings that detail time spent working the cabaret circuit. Seeing her dance (and even sing) in films like Die Austernlilli, Hallo Janine!, and Musketier Meier III, I had a hunch that she had had some theater experience. It turns out that she was rubbing elbows with the likes of Rudolf Nelson and Kurt Gerron (her collaborator/co-star on several film projects).

The original source notes that this illustration is from a performance of "Glück muß man haben!"in 1930 at Rudolf Nelson's theater on Kurfürstendamm. Gerron is second from left, Meinhard is furthest right.

I still have a great deal of research ahead of me with regard to Berlin's cabaret scene, but I did find an advertisement from 1927 (with thanks to Google Books) in Rudolf Hösch's Kabarett von Gestern:

She was listed as a dancer in the first show, which confirms my suspicions, though I'd like to know what her role was in the Ilse Bois show. Perhaps it was one of her cabaret performances that caught the eye of a film executive...

I have also updated her filmography post, and will continue to do so as more of her films become available.

Catch her if you can: Edith Meinhard's filmography

Apologies for yet another delay; life loves to get in the way of itself. I've been in constant "sponge" mode over the past several months, taking in films of all kinds as a means of expanding my film knowledge (still quite basic at this point). My summertime research of Edith Meinhard's career came to a standstill for two reasons: distraction by other projects/interests, and the inability to procure more information about her career or whereabouts. Not being in Germany or versed in the German language has been an insurmountable challenge; as I have no personal or biological connection to Edith, access to any pertinent records is nigh on impossible. The best way to examine her career remains the films themselves, and despite the aforementioned language barrier, it's been an enjoyable journey thus far. I've listed all of her feature-length films below, noting ones that are available on DVD/streaming video for anyone interested in following her career. (Edith's full filmography, which includes several short films, can be found on IMDB.)

Updated May 31, 2015

Ritter der Nacht
Der Herzensphotograph
Manner ohne Beruf
Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (Diary of a Lost Girl)- available on DVD courtesy Kino
Die Schleiertanzerin
Der Mann im Dunkel
Ein Freundin so goldig wie Du
Voruntersuchung*
Meine Frau, die Hochstaplerin
Rasputin*
Kampf um Blond
Die unsichtbare Front*
Zigeunerblut*
Knock-Out (Ein junges Madchen, ein junger Mann)*
Der schuchterne Casanova*
Der Favorit der Kaiserin*
Spiel an Bord*
Weisse Sklaven (Panzerkreuzer Sebastopol)*- also streaming at archive.org
Gleisdreieck*
Man spricht uber Jacqueline*
Die Austernlilli*
Der Unwiderstehliche*
Das Ehesanatorium
Mit versiegelter Order*
Musketier Meier III*
Grossalarm*
Mordsache Holm*
Verwehte Spuren*
Rote Orchideen*
Der Fall Deruga*
Ein Mädchen geht an Land* 
Der Blaufuchs*
Die Nacht der Entscheidung/Die Brucke ins Leben
Der Florentiner Hut*
Hallo Janine*
Der Polizeifunk meldet*
Wer küßt Madeleine?*
Wir tanzen um die Welt*
Weisser Flieder*
Jenny und der Herr im Frack- available through eBay (region 2 DVD only)
Ein Mann mit Grundsatzen?*

*available from Rare Films and More (formerly German War Films), who update their film library regularly

Update: Edith Meinhard

My research and pursuit of Miss Meinhard's film career has continued over the past month, largely yielding no major results. However, thanks to a tip from Ray, there is a glimmer of hope: Berlin phone records from 1961-1969 list an Edith Jensen-Meinhard, whose occupation is given as "Schauspielerin" (actress). Contrary to North American surname formatting, women who hyphenate their names upon marriage can apparently write their name in either order (so it seems after some lightning-quick research...feel free to correct me). If this is the case, this listing may in fact be our Edith. I have yet to find any other records, under Edith Meinhard-Jensen or Edith Jensen-Meinhard, that verify this hunch, nor can I identify this Mr. Jensen. There is also a gap that remains between 1943 and 1961; though I can't account for her whereabouts, it doesn't seem that she ever left Germany. Hamburg phone records from the late 1970s list an Edith Meinhardt (no occupation given), but she may be someone else altogether.

On another note, I've been able to view several of her films, with thanks to German War Films, and get better insight into her roles. A few mainstream DVDs are available, at least a dozen others thanks to the aforementioned GWF, and a couple films are available for streaming online. Her most prominent role (aside from Diary's Erika) was Lou in 1931's Der Mann im Dunkel, the highest billing of her career; sadly, the film is not available to the public. Most of her roles place her into one of two categories: server/maid, in which she's given very little to do or say, or singer/dancer, which is a delight. Her speaking voice is a warm purr, and her singing voice much the same. I have three more of her films coming my way shortly, and I'm hoping more will become available soon. More developments to come...

Whatever happened to...?: Edith Meinhard

Meinhard, Miss "3", helping UFA ring in 1938. Image courtesy KHM Bilddatenbank. 

If you've seen G.W. Pabst's Diary of a Lost Girl (Tagebuch einer Verlorenen), chances are good that Louise Brooks either led you to the film itself or won you over in the viewing process. However, there's a sly and spry costar that threatens to steal the show: Thymian's friend Erika, played by relative unknown Edith Meinhard. On a whim, I decided to dig deeper into Ms. Meinhard's background and repertoire...only to find that, sadly, there is next to no information about her. She was born Edith Kötteritzsch in Berlin in 1908, and after a couple of minor roles signed on with Pabst in 1929. From what I can tell, she was mostly relegated to bit parts in the '30s and '40s, though she has a fairly prominent role in 1931's Voruntersuchung, starring Gustav Fröhlich of Metropolis fame. Very few of her films can be found online, despite tireless searching, but the clips that I was able to find present an increasingly controlled and sanitized cinema experience as the Third Reich took its dark grip.

All film companies (and as a result, all entertainers and directors) were subject to intense scrutiny under Joseph Goebbels, then the Minister of Propaganda. Many entertainers employed throughout the Third Reich had no choice but to comply...anti-Nazi sentiment of any kind had dire consequences. Meinhard was working in Germany through most of the Nazi occupation, but that says nothing about her political beliefs. Her last credited role was in 1941's detective comedy Jenny und der Herr im Frack, and after a final (uncredited) part in 1943...she simply disappears. It's heartbreaking to think that someone can vanish almost completely unnoticed. I cannot find anything about her beyond film credits; no date of death (if any, though I'm hard-pressed to believe that she's still alive at the age of 103), no relatives, no marriage records, no other apparent name changes, no interviews or other press. Zilch. If you happen to have any information about Edith Meinhard (sometimes credited as Edith Meinhardt), feel free to contact me or leave a comment. In the meantime, the search continues...