Tag Archives: Jazz Age

Personalities

Jenny Steiner

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Jenny Steiner
 
Jenny Steiner was one of the most exotic and glamorous stars of Jazz Age Berlin. Largely a dancer, she was also a model, a singer and an accomplished impersonator. Well known as one of Rudolf Nelson’s leading stars, her legacy has survived in numerous images and yet her importance has been somewhat marginalised. She was partner to several dancers but the most prominent association was with the somewhat mysterious Ipsen Andre who was most likely a pseudonym for the famous dress  designer Joe Strassner whom she married in 1932. 
 

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Film

Herbert Langley

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 Originally a baritone in opera, Langley made his film debut in 1922 for Herbert Wilcox and was an instant hit in heavy, villainous roles gaining the description of ‘Britain’s best ‘bad man’ and the British Lon Chaney.

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Film

British SIlent Film Star Malcolm Tod

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The British Silent Film Star Malcolm Tod 1897-1968
 
‘A rising notability on British screens,’ Motion Picture Studio 2/6/23 Malcolm Tod was ‘blessed with plenty of push and go.’ Picturegoer February 1924
 
Quintessential English looking and with youth and good looks on his side, Tod became a rising star on the British screen, first in juvenile roles and then playing smart, slightly snobbish aristocrats and gentlemen. He became even more prominent in continental productions during the slump of the mid-1920s but faded from view by the early 1930s.
 

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Fads

Doggies Dictate Dress

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Doggies Dictate Dress

From the turn of the century through the Jazz Age, fashionable ladies became more closely linked to their doggies. The term ‘A Woman’s best friend’ was certainly more apt than the old phrase ‘A Man’s best friend’. Dogs became an essential part of life for any smart society woman, and influenced their matrons wardrobe. Thus, doggies dictating dress became a distinctive fad.

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Reviews

Illustrated biography of Ladislaus Czettel

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Ladislaus Czettel
Hungarian inventiveness, French charm and Slavic fantasy
by Angelo Luerti

A unique insight into the life and career of the prolific designer Ladislaus Czettel (1895-1949) is available for the first time in this new book. Superbly produced, the book is a limited edition hardback, privately published in Milan, Italy and contains 240 pages and over 200 photographs many in colour.

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Dancing Duos

The dancers Ernest and Yvonne

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The Dancers Ernest and Yvonne

One of the most popular and prestigious ballroom dancing acts in Germany in the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 1930s was that of Ernest and Yvonne who seemingly emerged out of nowhere in about 1925 and danced not just in Germany but also France, Holland, England and other parts of Europe.

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Venues

Princes Restaurant,  Piccadilly, London

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Princes Restaurant, Piccadilly, London

The Princes Restaurant and Hotel at 190-195 Piccadilly, London was created in the late 19th century and in 1924 became a Limited company retitled New Princes (Ltd). It combined a hotel with an entertainment hall or restaurant, galleries and other function rooms. In the Jazz Age of the 1920s it was one of the most popular social rendezvous in London and one of London’s major cabaret venues for the New Princes Frivolities.

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This 'n' That

la Tournee des Grands Ducs

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la Tournee des Grands Ducs

la Tournee des Grands Ducs was an intriguing term for a nocturnal tour of the Montmartre night-spots in Paris, which came about in the late 19th century due to the antics of the Russian nobility. Thereafter, in the Jazz Age of the 1920s, it simply became a term to describe an evening outing exploring the night-spots of Paris and ‘painting the town red.’

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Personalities

Hanns Gerard

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One of Germany’s leading exponents of dance in the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 1930s, alongside Mary Wigman, Harald Kreutzberg and Rudolf von Laban, was Hanns Gerard who created his touring company the Ballett Gerard out of Berlin. His performance style was totally distinctive, unique and different. Although described as ballet it was also more akin to pantomime and revue with themed ‘stories’ supported by distinctive costumes and décor.

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Venues

Florida Tanzpalast,  Berlin

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The Florida Tanzpalast in Berlin was only open for a short period of time from late 1927 to 1928 and then ownership changed and it became Himmel und Hölle. Nevertheless, it was one of the premier night rendezvous in Berlin during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 1930s.

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