My Maria

Brigitte Helm appeared in over 30 films, and yet, her first picture, Metropolis, has been, and always will be, what she is best remembered for.

I'm not sure if it's because the character(s) of Maria/Maschinenmensch are just that enduring, or if it's because all of the fact that all of her films were made in Germany, and aside from Metropolis, very few of them have been seen outside of her native country.

The films communist theme has never resonated with me in the least, but it's groundbreaking special effects and often striking visuals, as well as it's early influence on the science fiction genre, do.

Like a lot of actors and actresses from here era, she made a lot of films in a relatively short amount of time, 37 in eight years to be exact (she would also appear in a short film, which was her final film, many years later). Unlike a lot of other performers from her era though, she wasn't enamored with acting (most of which stemmed from dealing with Fritz Lang during the making of Metropolis), and was able to leave the film industry on her own terms. After retiring in 1935, she married a Jewish industrialist, and if you know your German history, you'll not be surprised to hear that this didn't sit well with the ruling Nazi party. Ultimately, she and her husband moved to Switzerland, where they had a couple of children and led out the rest of their lives [Please note that this is just the Cliff's notes version of her career/life. Things were considerably more complicated, and for those interested, a lot more detailed information can be found elsewhere]

I myself have only seen a handful of her films, but even so, those have been enough to warrant my acquiring a small collection (if it could even be called that) of her cards over the last few years or so. I will never attempt to collect all of her cards, but do have a small want list of particular items that I'd like to get at some point -- one of which I was able to do so just in the last couple of months.

Given how many were made, there are very few German tobacco cards that can actually be considered "rare", this 1936 Aurelia Sultan Filmsterne definitely isn't one of them, and yet, it's still taken me a few years to find a decent copy. Between price, condition, and just seeing it before someone else buys it, I have had no luck in trying to find one. It hasn't helped too that they usually come up from a German seller, and once you factor in the shipping charge, it just isn't cost effective to buy it -- or at least it isn't for me. A few months ago though, a seller that I've bought from on more than one occasion (who is located in the U.S.) , and would highly recommend, bwcards, added a bunch of these to their store, and for less than $2 (that's including tax and free shipping) I was finally able to get one.

Like a lot of German tobacco sets, these were made by more than one company. I know that set was made by at least one other company, but beyond that I don't know anything else. I'm not trying to build any tobacco card "rainbows", so I will not be trying to find copies from any of the other products, one is enough. It's interesting to note too the photos for this set came from the famous German postcard/photograph producer, Ross Verlag, one of who's photos I just led off my previous post with. 

Some of you said last weekend that you'd be up for some non-sport card posts, well, it looks like I'm going to put that sentiment to the test this week, as this will be the first of three consecutive non-sport posts, all planned for the upcoming week. If I can actually finish the other two, these alone will equal my blogging output for the last three months. I'm still looking to regain some blogging rhythm, and am hoping that these will do the trick.

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, look at this guy...

I almost stepped on this fellow (eastern box turtle) while raking leaves yesterday, he was that well camouflaged amongst the buildup. He was a nice guy, and I would've liked to spend more time with him, but he was not in a very safe location, so I moved him to what was hopefully a better spot. If I'm lucky, we'll meet again someday :)