The Glories of Poland's KINO Magazine, part two

If you are anything like me (and I realize most people aren't), then you may enjoy surfing the internet and browsing old newspapers and magazines, especially international publications. I like doing so on occasion. In particular, I enjoy looking at old film magazines. They depict a world gone by. A time and place no longer. But what's more, you never know what you will find - rare and unusual images, little known interviews with favorite stars, and more. 

I am drawn to publications from Eastern Europe, especially publications from Poland. (I am of Polish heritage.) One of my favorite magazines to look through is KINO, a Polish film magazines. A small archive of the magazine, dating from the 1930s, can be found online HERE. (Warning, this archive can be problematic to navigate.)

What is especially notable about this magazine (especially in the early 1930s) is its striking, sometimes avante-garde cover art, which utilizes a muted palette and employs portrait photography and illustration, as well as moderne and art deco designs, collage, coloring, patterns, layers, geometric forms, abstraction, "exoticism" and a varied layout (i.e. title placement). It is also worth noticing the predominance of angles over curves. (As the decade progressed, KINO covers were less bold, and began to resemble the covers found on other magazines of the time.)

I found a bit of material about Louise Brooks, of course, as well as many attractive magazine covers which I wanted to share - both because they depict favorite movie stars, but also for their swell graphic design. There are so many interesting images that I need divide this post into a few parts. 

This is part two. (See the previous blog post for part one.) I will start with a Louise Brooks related cover and go from there. This first cover depicts Wallace Beery in an image taken from the 1927 film, Now We're in the Air.

Wallace Beery 1930

Colleen Moore 1930

Brigitte Helm 1932

Gary Cooper 1930

Buster Keaton 1931

Pola Negri 1935

Pola Negri 1933

Krystyna Ankwicz 1932

Krystyna Ankwicz 1936

a Polish actress 1933

 

While many of the covers depicted so far feature mostly American stars, this post finishes with a flurry of Polish personalities. There are a couple of covers featuring Pola Negri, certainly the most famous Polish movie star of her time. The third from last cover features Krystyna Ankwicz. As does the second from last cover, which caught my eye. I find that cover so dynamic and so contemporary looking. I had never heard of this lovely actress, and wanted to find out more. Here is a youtube video I just came across which features the actress singing, perhaps from a Polish film. Such eyes! I am newly smitten.

And lastly, the last cover, depicting a generic Polish actress, is also eye catching. I will end this post as I did the previous post, with a couple of interior illustrations from KINO. The first is a full page advertisement or promotion piece for a Polish theatre, the Colosseum in Warsaw. I thought the theater history buffs who might read this blog would appreciate it. And I thought the Louise Brooks buffs who read this blog might appreciate the full page portrait of the actress which follows.