POLA
NEGRI
Barbara
Apollonia Chalupiec (aka Pola Negri) was the
first European actress who succeeded in Hollywood. She
was born in Lipno probably in 1894. By the time she
was 17, Pola was a stage star in Warsaw theatres. Her
first film role was in a Polish production Slave to
Her Senses. In 1917 she left to Berlin where played
in Max Reinhardt’s Deutsches Theater. She was hired
by Union Film, later known as UFA, the largest German
film production company, and teamed up with actor-turned-director
Ernst Lubitsch whom she met at Reinhardt. The Negri-Lubitsch
duo was very successful and the roles Pola played were
exotic, sexy, strong women. One of their films, Madame
DuBarry became an absolute sensation in Europe and was
optioned as Passion for exhibition in America. The film
was so well received that both were given a contract
to make a number of films in Hollywood. Forbidden Paradise,
made with Lubitsch, and Hotel Imperial were her bestselling
films. Pola had been engaged to Charlie Chaplin before
she met and fell in love with Rudolph Valentino. With
her vamp roles she rivaled Theda Bara. However a series
of misfortunes conspired to end of her career in Hollywood.
The spectacle that she put on when she threw herself
on the late Valentino's coffin in 1926 changed public
mood towards her. The Hays Office codes which did not
allow filming the very traits that made her a sex-bomb
star in Europe. And finally, her harsh voice and thick
accent seemed not to come across too well when the "talkie"
revolution continued. When her contract with Paramount
expired, she returned to France and Germany. In 1929
she completed a British film A Woman He Scorned, one
of her best. She eventually made films for UFA, which
was under Nazi management. Her splendid Mazurka was
Hitler’s favorite film and the highest-grossing Nazi
film ever outside of Germany. The actress left Germany
in 1938 opposing to the Nazi propaganda, and after Nazi
officials had labeled her as having part Jewish ancestry.
Hitler personally overturned the ban that also contributed
to rumors of their affair. In 1941 she came back to
the States and later made Hi Diddle Diddle. Her next
and final film was The Moon-Spinners made for Walt Disney.
In 1970 she published her "Memoirs of a Star."
Retiring to San Antonio, Texas with her musician friend
Margaret West at her side, she died in 1987.
Filmography:
| 1914 |
Slave
to Her Senses (Niewolnica zmyslow);
|
| 1915 |
Wife
(Zona); |
| 1916 |
Students
(Studenci);
|
| 1917 |
Bad
Girl (Bestia);
Mystery of Ujazdowskie Avenue (Tajemnica
Alei Ujazdowskich);
Arabella;
Room #13 (Pokoj nr 13);
His Last Gesture (Jego ostatni
czyn);
Die toten Augen;
Rosen, die der Sturn entblattert;
Zugelloses Blut (Rozpasana);
Nicht lange tauschte mich das Gluck
(Niedlugo mnie szczescie ludzilo);
Kusse, die man stiehlt im Dunkeln
(Za pocalunek - wieczystych nocy meki); |
| 1918 |
1918
The Yellow Pass (Der Gelbe Schein; Zolty
passport);
The Eyes of the Mummy Ma (Die Augen
der Mumie Ma; Oczy mumii);
Mania;
Carmen;
Wenn das Herz in Haf ergluht (Gdy
serce nienawiscia pala);
|
| 1919 |
Karussell
des Lebens (Awanturnica);
Madame DuBarry;
Vendetta (Zemsta krwi);
Kreuziget Sie! (also known as Die
Frau am Scheidewege; Dzieje mezatki);
Countess Doddy (Komtesse Doddy;
Hrabina Rondoli);
|
| 1920 |
Sumurun;
Das Martyrium;
Die Geschlossene Kette;
The Marquise of Armiani (Die Marchesa
von Armiani; Markiza d'Arminiani);
Poor Violetta (Arme Violetta; Biedna
violetta);
|
| 1921 |
Sappho
(Safona);
The Mountain Cat (Die Bergkatze;
Dzika kotka);
The Lady in a Glass House (Die
Dame im Glashaus);
|
| 1922 |
The Flame (Die Flamme; Glos ulicy); |
| 1923 |
Bella
Donna;
The Spanish Dancer (Hiszpanska
tancerka);
Hollywood;
The Cheat (Napietnowana);
|
| 1924 |
Forbidden
Paradise (Zakazany raj);
Men (Mezczyzni);
Lili of the Dust (Jej wielka milosc);
Shadows of Paris (Cienie Paryza); |
| 1925 |
Woman
of the World (Kobieta bezwstydna);
Flower of Night (Kwiat nocy);
East of Suez (Na wschod od Suezu);
The Charmer (Czarodziejka); |
| 1926 |
The
Crown of Lies (Sklamalam);
Good and Naughty; |
| 1927 |
Hotel
Imperial;
Barbed Wire (Za drutem kolczastym);
The Woman on Trial (Spowiedz uczciwej
kobiety); |
| 1928 |
The
Secret Hour (Godzina zmyslow);
Loves of an Actress (Milosc aktorki);
Three Sinners (Podwojne zycie);
The Woman from Moscow (Kobieta
z Moskwy); |
| 1929 |
The
Woman He Scorned (also known as The Way
of Lost Souls; Ulica potepionych dusz); |
| 1932 |
A
Woman Commands (Na rozkaz kobiety); |
| 1934 |
Fanaticism
(Fanatisme); |
| 1935 |
Mazurka
(Mazur); |
| 1936 |
Moscow
– Shanghai (Der weg nach Shanghai; Moskwa-Szanghaj); |
| 1937 |
Madame
Bovary;
Tango Notturno; |
| 1938 |
The
Secret Life (Die Fromme Luge; Pobozne klamstwo);
The Night of Decision (Die Nacht
der Entschidung); |
| 1943 |
Hi
Diddle Diddle; |
| 1964 |
The
Moon-Spinners (Ksiezycowe przadki) |
|
Life
is a dream in cinema:
POLA NEGRI
2006, 89 min.
Dir.
Mariusz K. Kotowski
documentary
film
WOMAN
OF THE WORLD
1925, 80 min.
Dir. Malcolm St. Clair
BARBED
WIRE
1927, 79 min.
Dir. Rowland V. Lee,
Mauritz Stiller
HOTEL
IMPERIAL
1927, 85 min.
Dir. Mauritz Stiller
|
