Of rats and autograph seekers.

What a treat in celebration of Edith Meinhard's birthday this year! News is a rarity, but thanks to a fellow fan in the Louise Brooks Society Facebook group (cheers, Susanne!), we can at last fill in some biographical gaps. In 1947, Edith married a man named Evald Verner Jensen, which tracks with listings I had previously found in West Berlin phone books in the 1960s. 

The above was taken from the 1968-69 phone book, which would be the last time she was listed. Edith passed away on June 26, 1968, at the age of 59. (Thanks also to Matthaus Edinger for this information.)

Also thanks to the LBS group, I came across a 1931 interview she had done for Mein Film magazine. Her charm and talent was recognized by many, and rightfully so. Without further ado, please enjoy!

(Unfortunately I only know a few German words, so the following has been automatically translated, then edited for clarity to the best of my ability. Apologies for any awkwardness herein, some things don't work out smoothly into English. I've also included scans of my personal copy for posterity.)

    I am extremely happy to be immortalized in your beautiful anniversary edition, and I would like to take the opportunity to tell you that I "got hooked” early on. My first film appearance was at the age of ten, and I was chosen by Maxim Film, who were filming an adaptation of Felix Hollander's novel "The Dancer", to play the role of the hero as a young boy. With my beguiling violin playing I could lure the rats out of their hiding places!

    God, was I scared of those rats! Even though I had made up my mind, oh, to be so brave, it took a while before I got used to the rats, and until the rats got used to me.

    This first role brought me great success and I was delighted to be able to admire my picture in all the postcard shops! And then came the high point of my ten-year existence: I was asked for an autograph! I was blessed! That seemed to me to be the culmination of fame!

    I have since overcome this overwhelming first request for my autograph, but I am always happy when I receive nice autograph letters. And for the fun of your kind readers, I will reproduce the following letter from two dear boys that I recently received:

Well-born, beautiful, gracious diva, you, our favorite film star, Edith Meinhardt!

Two of your biggest admirers send greetings and wish you the best of luck with all your films. We've seen such wonderful films with you and we cannot fail to write to you. We ask and implore you, beautiful diva, to give us two beautiful autographs. Please, please, be so good - there are no photos here, we beg you to provide some for us, and yet we hope that you are good to us, our joy would be immense. Please, please, if you can, I, Gustav B., would like a photo where you are already grown up [?], please, please, my dear one, where you can show more of your wonderful figure. Please see what you can do.

    Isn't that nice?

    I send my warmest greetings to your charming readers and the gracious editorial team, and I wish you continued well-deserved success!

I couldn't write her for an autograph, but I'm lucky to have one just the same.

"Ring twice."

It's been a long time (nearly two and a half years!) since I last posted about Edith Meinhard, largely due to a lack of new information, but I've been spurred on by recent social media activity to share more items from my collection. I thought I'd follow up on this post with photos from Voruntersuchung, a highly recommended film if you've only seen Edith in Diary of a Lost Girl. In addition to the DVD linked in that post, there is also a Spanish-subtitled version on the Internet Archive. The captions are translations of the snipes found on the back of each photo.

"The witnesses are waiting to be questioned." Edith is seated on the far left.

"Albert Bassermann (examining magistrate) interrogates Charlotte Ander (his daughter)."

"The accused before the examining magistrate."

"The real killer is caught in the courtroom."

"Sound film recording in the streets of Berlin. Under the microphone, Gustav Frohlich and Hans Brausewetter."

Page from the Voruntersuchung program, with Edith's Mella Ziehr pictured in a happier time.

The film has fine performances all around, particularly from Albert Bassermann. This was my introduction to Bassermann, and until I attended a nitrate screening of The Red Shoes two years ago I had no idea he acted in any English-language films! He's also great in Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, which now tempts me to rewatch with a giant bowl of popcorn...

Ein autogramm?

A short time ago I acquired this lovely photo postcard of Edith Meinhard:

Advertised as an autographed photo, it was likely taken between 1937 and 1940 in the midst of some of her most prominent film roles. However, prolonged inspection of the "autograph" along the left margin reveals that it is anything but. The scale of the writing, the placement and the unusual penmanship (a cursive H written as an F?) just don't add up. Compare this to her actual autograph:

I purchased the photo knowing that it wasn't inscribed with an autograph, but it's still a great, rare image, and a fine addition to a slowly growing collection.

As a bonus, the Anny Ondra/Max Schmeling vehicle Knock Out- Ein junges Mädchen, ein junger Mann is now available to stream in full on Archive.org! Edith only appears in the first 25 minutes of the film, playing catty showgirl Melitta; though one of her many small roles, she makes it memorable.

She's got the look.

In the cards.

While Edith Meinhard may not have been a superstar in her heyday, she did have fans who sought out her autograph, received substantial press for even minor roles, and was popular enough to be included on collectible cigarette cards. 

Borg cigarette card, ca. 1932.

Macedonia cigarette card, early 1930s. Love the hat!

These are the only two cards currently in my collection, but there is at least a third card that has been produced (number 18 in the linked Aurelia series). For anyone who may be interested, Edith's card from the Macedonia series is available for purchase on eBay (number 42 in the pulldown menu) as of the date of this post. I'm curious to learn more about the photographer behind these images, Yva. What a fascinating (though ultimately tragic) life and career.

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!

Het Weekblad, 1935

No major findings to report on the Edith Meinhard front, but while strolling the usual searches, I came across this snippet from the Dutch magazine Het Weekblad:

Interesting that it gives her birthday as November 4th instead of November 22nd, and that it names the two films for which she is still known for her most substantial roles, Diary of a Lost Girl and Voruntersuchung. It may prove useful to scope out Dutch film archives and databases...

The enchanting Jeanette.

The new year has brought another treasure to light! My latest eBay acquisition is a copy of Zeitgeschehen Unsere Illustrierte, a German publication covering current events, including upcoming film releases. This particular issue included an article on Musketier Meier III, which features Edith Meinhard in a minor role as Jeanette. Despite the bit part, she received a healthy dose of attention from the press:

Scan from Zeitgeschehen Unsere Illustrierte, featuring a lovely, rare promotional portrait of Edith (forgive the crease).

Article from Filmwoche, February 9, 1938.

Scan from the Musketier Meier III film program.

Die schleiertänzerin.

I had hoped to have a post ready for Edith Meinhard's birthday last Sunday, but family and work obligations put things on hold. New information is as scarce as ever, but I do have scans from a recently-acquired film program for Die Schleiertänzerin. The film was released in 1929, shortly after Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (Diary of a Lost Girl), and sadly is presumed lost.

The program is quite weathered and worse for wear, but it's another way to highlight the importance of preserving films and film ephemera regardless of condition. If there's sufficient interest I can and will continue to upload scans of film programs and other memorabilia. Why keep it to myself? It belongs to anyone and everyone. I'm thankful for film databases and social media groups that unite fans (and even industry professionals) and promote a continued interest in film history and the people who built it.

Also of interest, there is a new cut of Diary available from Kino. The print is crisp, clear, and luminous; Louise Brooks and Edith are both at their best. Thomas Gladysz of the Louise Brooks Society provides commentary on this edition, which includes the bonus short Windy Riley Goes Hollywood (Brooks speaks!).

More to come...

More rare gems.

New information on Edith Meinhard is still as scarce as ever, but I have made a couple of relevant acquisitions recently. Featured below are promotional portraits for the 1931 film Voruntersuchung, notably starring Gustav Frohlich of Metropolis fame. Having been made available for the first time in at least three years, I knew I had to make them mine. Edith is Mella Ziehr, a prostitute who returns home one morning to the scene of a grisly murder, the memory of which torments her through the duration of the film. Her social status is largely irrelevant; she is treated with dignity (except by the detectives, of course) and becomes a sympathetic character. Another great performance by Edith, and one of the few surviving films in which she has a substantial role. There is a DVD available with optional English subtitles, and it's well worth a watch.

Another treasure unearthed...

Recently I've received a couple of comments from others interested in the lovely Edith Meinhard, which is wonderful! I haven't given up on her, but it's been tough to find any new information as of late...in English, that is. Using the right keywords makes all the difference, and tonight they've led me to a lovely surprise in an issue of Das Magazin from 1928:

I hope to have more updates for you soon, major or minor. I do keep her filmography post updated as new films become available to stream or purchase. Many thanks for the wonderful feedback!

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.

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...