Forgotten actresses are waiting to be identified

1
Forgotten actresses are waiting to be identified

• Despite the growing expertise of our film
  archiving staff and numerous new sources offered
  by the internet, some films or fragments still
  remain unidentified.
• Particularly the actresses, who are often
  uncredited on the prints, are very hard to
  recognize for the archivists, not only due to
  their varying hair-do or make-up, but also due to
  a great lack of film historical references.

2
As a result of this, the filmografies of many
actresses remain incomplete.

• This presentation is an attempt to involve a
  world-wide audience to share its knowledge of
  film history in recognizing the actresses and
  identifying the films.
• Still Anonymous group of women in the 1926
  Sunkist comedy Don't Kidd Me, Monkey, directed by
  Al Nathan.
• Many companies had these groups of women
  the bathing beauties, who would act as
  uncredited extras.

3

• All the images in this presentation are screen
  shots taken from the nitrate holdings of the
  Nederlands Filmmuseum.
• (please note that the character names mentioned,
  are taken from the dutch intertitles, which may
  not always match the original names)
• If you recognize the films, the actresses, or can
  provide any useful information leading to their
  identification, please e-mail
• erongen_at_filmmuseum.nl
• Please note that these images are for research
  purposes only.
• For professional use, please contact the
  Nederlands Filmmuseum.
• www.filmmuseum.nl

4
Unidentified actress in unidentified fragment

• Stills from probably a British film from the
  10s, with actor Lupino Lane.
• Plot Ada tricks her aunt Arabella in thinking
  she will meet the Japanese empress.
  
  
• 
  
  Ada

5
Unidentified comedy fragment

• Probably a mid 20's comedy for Fox or Universal
  with Fred Spencer
• (middle picture) and Billy Bletcher (lower-right
  picture). Actress unidentified.

6
Unidentified adventure film

• Probably a European production from the 1910's
  shot in a colonial setting.
• The plot involves Austrian and British officers
  going on a hunting party, and ending up shooting
  a lion. The officers are in competition for the
  affection of Countess Walden, who goes hunting
  with them. There is another plot line of
  disappearing diamonds. Absolutely no information
  on this film has been found so far. The actress
  (like the rest of the cast and crew) remains
  unidentified.

7
Lotos?

• Unidentified actress playing an ancient Egyptian
  beauty, called Lotos, in an unidentified
  (Italian?) film from around 1922

8
Unidentified Western

• Low-budget western from around 1922, with an
  unidentified actress in the leading role of
  Mary, who goes to the West in search of her
  father. The actor, Jack, is identified as actor
  Pete Morrison.

9
The Lady Doctor, a western comedy

• Produced by Powers Company, USA, 1910.
• Although this film is mentioned in various
  sources, no cast credits are to be found. Actress
  playing the lady doctor remains unidentified.

10
Unidentified Universal silent comedy

• Stills from a Universal Century comedy fragment,
  around 1922,
• with Jimmy Adams and Jack Earle.
• The actress is unidentified.

11
Edda Lindborg (born in 1889 in NY, USA)Even
after identification of an actress, her legacy
can be hard to trace.

• Scans from the Dutch print with the
  titleErfelijk Belast(literally A Victim of
  Heredity). The original title of this German film
  from around 1920 is not identified.
• The credits introduce Lindborg as a big star. She
  might even be the director of the film. There is
  hardly any information available about her or her
  films. All we know is that she was a stage
  actress who produced several films (Lindborg
  Film).

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Who is Cunegonde?

• The Filmmuseum collection is home to a number of
  films belonging to the Cunegonde series (Lux,
  France, 1911-1913). References to the titles can
  be found in written sources. However, the name of
  the very talented comedienne playing Cunegonde is
  never mentioned. Fortunately we can watch and
  identify her films, but the mystery around her
  person remains unsolved.

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• Compiled by
• Rixt Jonkman
• Frederique Urlings
• Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi
• Nederlands Filmmuseum
• Film Collections Department
• May, 2008
• www.filmmuseum.nl
• Nitrate film repair -
• - still is courtesy of Raymond Liefjes