The pretty young woman featured in this vintage real photo postcard is Michele Cortes de Leone y Fabianera. Her stage name is Francoise Fabian (1933- ). She is a French film actress and she has appeared in more than 80 French and International films since 1956. She began as a stage actress and performed at the Paris Conservatoire. She trained at the Algerian Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. She is known for acting in “My Night at Maud’s” (1969), “Belle de Jour” (1967), and “Happy New Year” (1973). She acted in films by Eric Rohmer and Louis Malle. Fabian was born in Algiers, French Algeria. Her father was Spanish and her mother was Polish. She was married and widowed twice. Her first husband, Jacques Becker, was a French screenwriter and film director. Her second husband was French film actor, Marcel Bozzuffi. His roles included playing the brutal hit man in “The French Connection” (1971). The photographer of this portrait photo is Sam Levin (1904-1992). He was born in the Ukraine but emigrated to France when he was two years of age. He is famous for his stage photographs and his portraits of movie stars. His studio was in Paris. Levin was a film photographer for 75 films. He was arrested by the Nazis during World War II and was sent to a camp. His crime was, being Jewish. The fact that he was sent to a detention camp rather than a death camp, indicates there was a high ranking Nazi official acting as his guardian angel. He photographed nearly all the major French and European movie stars of the 1950’s and 1960’s. He is particularly celebrated for his photos of Brigitte Bardot. Levin did over 180 magazine covers in the United States. This postcard was published by Kores, a French company. The card is part of a series (#894). The series is comprised of 100 postcard portraits. (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard portrait feature British silent film actress, Marjorie Villis (1891-1981). Miss Villis is quite pretty and has a wonderful smile. This photograph captures her in a risque pose and a risque costume. What an amazing elaborate and busy costume. When I first saw this image, I immediately became motivated to find information about this provocative actress. I met little success in learning about Marjorie Villis. Photographs of her appear to be uncommon, and I could not find the postcard above anywhere online. I did learn that she sat for seven postcard portraits that can be found in the UK’s National Portrait Gallery, All of the portraits were taken by celebrated photographer, Alexander Bassano. The IMDb credits Villis with 15 film roles between 1915 and 1922. Villis was most noted for her roles in “The Rugged Path (1918), “A Romany Lass (1918)”, and “Brenda of the Barge (1920). She had a relatively short career. I wonder why her career ended so abruptly? The first talkie feature film did not get released until 1927, so we know that, unlike many other silent film stars, Villis was not shut out of the film industry because of an unsuitable voice or foreign accent. This postcard was published by J. Beagles & Company (London) as part of a series (no.142 J). The wonderful portrait of Miss Villis was taken by S. Ward. This vintage postcard is in very good condition (see scans)
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 