The Glories of Poland's KINO Magazine, part three

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 three. (See the previous blog post for part two.) I will start with a couple of Louise Brooks related covers and go from there. This first cover depicts William Powell from around the time he starred in The Canary Murder Case, which in Poland was titled Kryyk z za Swlatow. (See the end of the previous post for stunning image of Brooks as the Canary, which was published in KINO.) The second cover depicts Louise Brooks two-time co-star, Adolphe Menjou.

William Powell 1930

Adolphe Menjou 1930

Anna May Wong 1930

Nina Mae McKinney 1935

Lya di Putti 1931

Gloria Stuart 1937

Mae West 1935

Myrna Loy 1936

 

Things are getting pretty meta with the last two covers, as each depicts a celebrated American actress reading a copy of KINO. Especially so with the Mae West cover, which depicts the actress holding a copy of KINO which depicts a male figure (not sure who, perhaps Bela Lugosi?) reading a copy of KINO. The Myrna Loy cover depicts the actress reading a copy of KINO, with the Polish actress Zofia Mirska featured on the cover. Eureka, I found that one! (However, I couldn't find much on Mirska, except that she was in a film titled Prokurator (District Attorney), which was once shown in 1934 at the Little Caruso Theatre in NYC, and, Mirska was referenced in the New York Times review! (The film was shown elsewhere around the United States.)

Zofia Mirska 1933

I, for one, would like to see Prokurator (District Attorney), not only since Zofia Mirska plays in the film, but because it stars this delightful looking actress, Jadwiga Smosarska, who got a good review in the New York Times write-up.

Jadwiga Smosarska

If you are interested in exploring Polish film and Polish film magazines, I can suggest the following links. You never know what you may find, or where it may lead you.

Express Filmowy i Teatralny (1925-1928)
Film Artystyczny = Film Artistique (1937)
Kino (1930-1939)
Kino dla Wszystkich (1929-1934)
Kino dla Wszystkich i Teatr (1937-1938)
Kino i Rewja dla Wszystkich (1934)
Kino i Rewja dla Wszystkich (1935-1936)
Kino Teatr (1928-1929)
Kinematograf Polski (1919-1921)
Wiadomości Filmowe (1933-1939)
Warner Bros Donosi (1935-1939)

There were many more KINO covers I might have posted, featuring the likes of Josephine Baker, Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, Victor McLaglen, Norma Shearer, Harold Lloyd, Anita Page, Mary Brian, Laura LaPlante, and so many others -- as well as additional covers featuring the likes of John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, etc., etc., etc. The ones I did post were some of my favorites, and the ones I thought looked "cool." 

Lastly, for good measure, I am posting two covers featuring two Polish film stars of the 1930s, the great Pola Negri and the little known Zula Pogorzelska.

Pola Negri 1930

Zula Pogorzelska 1933

Ukranian-born Zula Pogorzelska seems like an interesting personality. Along with acting in films, she was also a Polish cabaret star. And like Louise Brooks, who was the first person to dance the Charleston in London, Zula Pogorzelska was the first Polish performer to introduce the Charleston on stage (in Warsaw?) at the Cabaret Pod sukienką in 1926. Sadly, she died just three years after appearing on the cover of KINO. 

A few of Zula Pogorzelska's recordings can be found on YouTube, including this risqué hit from 1926 "Ja się boję sama spać" ["I’m Afraid To Sleep Alone"], a Shimmy / Foxtrot. Was Zula Poland's Lulu? It is hard to say.