In the 1930s MGM was regarded as Hollywood’s premier film production company and renowned for the excellence of its costumes and gowns from its two designers Adrian and Dolly Tree and an array of costume makers. How did this incredible team produce such wonderful visions of beauty?

Birth of a gown no1 : Dolly Tree sketching a gown for Rita Johnson in The Girl Downstairs

The central building just inside the gates formed the massive MGM costume department which was a huge dressmaking establishment comprising executive offices, great well lit workrooms for cutters, seamstresses and fitters and vast storerooms. On the upper floors all the costumes for pictures in production were kept. One floor created modern clothes with expert seamstresses in charge. On this floor worked the beaders who mostly came from Guadalajara, Mexico and fabric painters. Another floor was devoted to period women’s costumes which were made by another team of trained workers in this particular field. There was also a store room for all the bolts of fabrics, trimmings and threads and the famous star dummies. Six other buildings housed special wardrobes for uniforms and period costumes. There was also various rooms for storing used costumes divided into categories such as street costumes, nightgowns, negligees, evening wraps and sports attire, all for re-use by extras when required.

Birth of a gown no2 : Dolly Tree and Rita Johnson discuss the gown

The first stage in the designing of the gowns or costumes for any given film was the arrival of a costume script produced by the script department. This script would tell the story briefly, setting the mood and breaking everything down into costume changes indicating points of relevance such as circumstances, the action, locale and most importantly information about the character portrayed. Sketches were then drawn to fit the personality of the star as well as the situation (photo no.1) and sometimes several sketches were made to give choice.

Overall screen designers took the view that prevailing fashions should be largely ignored. Instead clothes must be designed to reflect predicted styles at least six months ahead, when the film was released. The designer had to have the vision to anticipate seasonal modes and have an innovative imagination to develop new styles. Each designer would also have made a point of observing styles and trends both within the Hollywood film community and in fashion circles in the USA and in Europe. Travis Banton confirmed ‘Hollywood may do more to popularise the latest ideas in dress but they are not necessarily exclusively and wholly our own ideas. We are influenced by Paris and New York just as much as they are by us.’ Thankfully unlike some of his contemporaries, Banton was honest by acknowledging that designers clearly do not work in a vaccum.

Birth of a gown no3: cutting the pattern

Of course some writers have refused to acknowledge this important facet of designing clothes and to give you an idea of what blatant tomfoolry has been written, take Hedda Hooper’s report about Adrian that ‘he has never sought inspiration from any source but his own imagination.’ In contrast Adrian himself pointed out ‘research is important since fashion progresses in definite cycles. Designers must have a finger on this pulse of style and give old styles that re-surface a new flair or edge.’

Margaret Bailey observed more wryly ‘imitation for lack of a better word, among the designers was rampant and expected. A designer could not afford to ignore a good neckline or sleeve treatment simply because someone else had adopted it. Few clothes were exact duplicates because the designers were more creative than that, but every conceivable style was tried and applied more than once by each designer. When Walter Plunkett was asked about plagiarism he answered ‘I’m sure we all plagiarized. If you are following a trend, even if you are not doing it, the movement is in the air, and two designers locked in separate cells can come up with almost the same thing because that is the way people do it. I remember one gal, a designer at MGM. I wanted to borrow a fashion magazine from her to see what things were in it and there was almost nothing left in it. They were all cut out. Anything that was any good was clipped for future reference.’ One wonders who the ‘gal at MGM’ was, although it was most likely Dolly Tree .

Birth of a gown no4: fitting the pattern to a dummy

The art of the designer was further complicated by filming in black and white and each designer had to be aware of what happened to certain colours when filmed. Tom Tierney wrote ‘one interesting challenge that the costume designer of the early 30s faced was that most of films were in black and white. Thus the designer had to depend very heavily on the line of each garment for distinctive costuming. People like Adrian, Travis Banton, Walter Plunkett, Orry Kelly and Dolly Tree became absolute masters at this.’

The skilful blending of light and dark shading became vital in the overall look of a film and frequently the costume designer worked closely with the art director to balance the costume against the set. From 1934 there was also the added interference of the censorship code enforced by the Hays Office which began dictating rules of modesty with the result that every dress had to be tested for decency and for example, bare cleavage was strictly not allowed.

Birth of a gown no5: Working on the gown

Period films tended to necessitate a greater deal of effort and an enormous amount of research was conducted to obtain a clear perspective of the exact fashions in the particular time frame being filmed. However, as Edward Maeder pointed out any designer re-creating historical costumes is so influenced by contemporary fashions that it was difficult to be objective and as a result period costumes tend to combine elements of the past and present and are frequently adapted to contemporary fashion tastes.

Although this view is entirely valid many contemporary designers working on period films strive for genuine historical authenticity in a way that was not considered important in the past. Certainly Hollywood in the golden years never accepted the premise of total accuracy and most period films highlighted various anachronisms.

Birth of a gown no6: Dolly Tree checks the gown

One major problem for the designer, for example, was the difficulty in locating authentic fabrics and materials which were used in past fashions and often no longer existed. As a result the designer had to improvise and adapt available materials and techniques that frequently highlighted discrepancies.

In recreating period costumes Hollywood designers used elements from the past, combined them with contemporary fashion and introduced fashion devices that had no relevance to either the period or current styles and so developed an illusion of an earlier time and rarely replicated the exact fashions that prevailed. Adrian for example, excelled at developing this hybrid style using exaggerated forms of decoration, which bore slight resemblance to the past or present and so evinced a period feeling by using exotic and lavish effects. The result was a rather extravagant vision but one that successfully convinced the audience that they were viewing an earlier, more romantic period. Dolly Tree on the other hand, believed in preserving the spirit of the past, but not to get too stodgily stubborn about details and eskewed the use of this ‘hybrid’ technique largely because she did not work on what could be described as extravagant period pieces like Adrian. Her period films tended to be classics that could not be cluttered with fussy detail and so her costumes reflected a more restrained realism.

Birth of a gown no7: Rita Johnson's fitting

Once the costume sketches were completed there was a series of meetings with the star (photo no.2) the producer and the director at which any alterations were noted before the sketches were approved and given to the wardrobe department to be created. Here, expert drafters cut out paper patterns following the sketch (photo no.3). Wardrobe workers would then cut the costume out of plain unbleached muslin. No gown was cut from costly fabrics until a complete muslin pattern had been made.

Birth of a gown no8: Rita Johnson wardrobe test shot

The star was fitted with these muslin patterns to make sure everything worked and any surface decoration was etched in with a pencil. Thereafter dressmakers dummy figures were used for fittings (photo no.4). Dolly Tree explained how necessary it was to constantly check minute but important changes in the weights and figures of the movie queens because ‘gowns are form fitting and the slightest inaccuracy causes a wrinkle in the fabric.’ She explained that in the wardrobe department at MGM they used dummies or figures built up of wool and canvas over a papier-mache foundation and it was necessary to recheck and redimension the forms at least every six months. There was usually two or three of each important star so that the patternmakers, cutters and tailors could all be working at the same time which saved hours of patient standing for fittings and enabled the wardrobe department to finish a gown, if necessary in a day.

Next, actual work started on the gown itself. Excellence of fabric and workmanship was necessary because of the magnifying power of the camera. Skilled hand embroiderers would execute the intricate design (photo no.5). When completed the gown was once again placed on the dummy figure of the star and checked against the original sketch to make sure all the detail was correct and the intricate hand work completed to perfection (photo no.6).

When the gown or costume was completed there was a final fitting with the actress in person to ensure everything was satisfactory (photo no.7). This was the only fitting that the actress was called upon to endure. Then the ensemble was photographed as a costume test shot to be certain of its appearance before the camera (photo no.8 and no.9).

Detail of Rita Johnson's gown

The gown was then placed in a glass case labelled with the name and number of the production and the name of the actress. Once the production was finished the gown went into the stock wardrobe but even during this process the costume was still handled with great care. Dolly Tree explained this final process in the life of a screen costume ‘when a costume is not being worn in a scene it is put away with loving care in the studio wardrobe. For instance… a beige woolen suit, banded in sable which was never hung back in the wardrobe without being given a thorough going over. It was examined for infinitesimal seam rips. The fur was brushed, the garment pressed and great care was taken when it was placed on the hanger to see that the shoulder seams fell exactly where they should. The costume would then be subsequently used in other productions for minor stars or extras.’

The 4th production at the French Casino, New York was Folies d’Amour launched in late August 1936 and transferred to the London Casino in January 1937. Once again Clifford Fischer presented an excess of scenic artifice, flamboyant costumes and feminine pulchritude to such an extent that the New York Times said he was following in Ziegfeld’s footsteps with such tableaux as the Flowers of Paris, the old Jewel Box, the Metal Age and naughtiness of Goodnight.

The Flowers of Paris Scene in Folies d'Amour

In this revue, Fischer dispensed with the usual conferencier or MOC who usually had a speciality act as well and focused more on a star of the show. In this instance this was Cinda Glenn, an expatriate American, a brilliant singer, gifted dancer, fantastic comedienne and remarkable personality. She dominated the show with her highly individual humour and charm. The New York Times thought that perhaps the only criticism of the show itself was that there was a lack of humour, except for the efforts of Cinda Glenn, who they regarded as superb and the knock about clowning of the Bryants, there was scarcely a frivolous moment.

Like previous shows it was presented in two parts and with sixteen scenes, slightly less than in previous editions. It was staged once again by Jean Le Seyeux, choreography was by Natalie Komarova, music was by George Komaroff, scenery by Raymond Deshayes and Lavignac and Pellegry (except the Machine, Gold and Dancing scene by Le Seyeux) and costumes were by Max Weldy from designs by Erte and Freddy Wittop.

Cinda Glenn, the star of Folies d'Amour

Part one began with the Flowers of Paris (no.1) with the Parisian, the fern, the lady with the camellias and orange blossoms, followed by a basket of hydrangeas, cyclamens, poppies, lilacs, mimosa and sweet peas, then a wedding basket, basket of roses and basket of violettes and then a display of showgirls in gorgeous creations representing exotic flowers like the lily, the orchid, the tulip, the fuchsia, the carnation and the anthurium

The Flowers of France (no.2) followed featuring the ballet Bodenwieser from Vienna who have been described as a modern expressive company in the vanguard of the European ‘New Wave’ of dance. In the flower theme a curtain of flowers (no.3) followed with showgirls dressed as massed array of flowers and leaves.

An amusing feature number was Parisian Couples (no.4) where each dancing couple constituted a clever turn in itself with the Romantic couple (Tamara and Leonard), the Extravagant couple (Tonie Clare and Leopold), the Eccentric couple (Barry and Beatrice), the Acrobatic couple (Rona Riccardo and Ben Tyber) and the Impossible couple (Taniel and Flaccombo) plus the antics of the fantastic comedienne Cinda Glenn.

Pyramids (no.5) followed with athletic and acrobatic antics of the seven Menorcas, which led into the big spectacular scene of the Old Jewel box (no.6) featuring a singer, maids. pearls and the pearl necklace. It was a novel number in which a huge casket filled the stage, its gigantic mirror lid reflecting the girls within representing the jewels and who were only seen indirectly.

Cinda Glen was the lead as the Elegant Lady in Ladies and their seals (no.7) with a retinue of assistants and helpers that was followed by a the trapeze speciality act of Elly Ardelty in Audacity (no.8)

The Bodenwiser Ballet

The Metal Age (no.9) was a striking series of scenes introducing a symphony of Steel and a ballet illustrating a machinery mad era. Starting with the seven Menorcas as the guardians of the bronze door, the smithy (Drena) appeared with his assistants wand showgirls dressed as copper, iron, brass and nickel. This moved into Love in 1990 (with the Man and Girls of tomorrow), the Machine Age featuring the Ballet Bodenweiser, Precious metals (silver and platinum). The sequence culminated in the brilliant spectacle of Gold of the world and the Rush for Gold with all the participants dressed as gold pieces, gold diggers, ingots, women in gold, the salves, the gold, the fortune and the beggar.

Part two commenced with Olympic games (no.11) featuring the the seven Menorcas as the athletes, Zdenek Koubek as the runner and then a series of showgirls which led into the specality act of Gibson an co (no.12), the Jazz Age (no.13) with the Ballet Bodenweiser and then another big scene called La Coupole Café de Montparnasse (no.14). Here Drena acted as MOC with a display including head waiters (Menorcas), singers, dancers and guests, including Cinda Glen as the rich foreigner.

The laughing man (no.15) featured the Bryants, an outstanding pantomime act before the rather salacious scene Good night (no.16) illustrating the maids, negligee, night cap, kimono, deshabille, tea gown, bed jacket, panama and night dresses and then the Finale (no.17) led by Cinda Glenn and the entire company.

For the London show there were a few alterations and addition of the comedy act of Herman Hyde, Sally Hyde and George Keplinger, the singer Esther Gertrude Keplinger and another young American singer called Malcolm Hulbert.

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Shrouding herself with an exotic sounding name and persona, Gypsy Rhoumaje struck the big time in London and Paris from 1926 and delighted fashionable continental audiences with her exotic style of dancing and her own personal beauty. Of course nobody, least of all journalists, could spell her name right with several attempts that included Gypsy Rohoumage, Gypsy Roumahje, Gypsy Rhouma-je and Gypsy Rhouma (all with Gipsy variants).

Gypsy Rhoumaje in the Piccadilly Revels at the Piccadilly Hotel, London in 1926

Gypsy Rhoumaje was American, allegedly born in South America in about 1908 or 1909 and came from a well-known American family being the grand-niece of the great American President Ulysses S.Grant who defeated Robert E. Lee (18th president 1869-1877). All attempts to locate her true identity and her link to the Grant family have proved elusive but she may well have been a descendant of the President’s brother Orvil Lynch Grant or sister Mary Francis Grant.

One of her first appearances was on the West Coast dancing in a movie stage presentation at the Pantages theatre, Los Angeles in October 1924. Along with other acts she was billed as Gypsy Rhouma, a Hungarian dancer, and presented a series of eccentric and classical dances which according to the Los Angeles Times allowed ‘the spectators to glimpse a mode of terpsichore quite different from what Los Angeles is accustomed to.’

Thereafter, she must have migrated to New York and became a featured player either in another stage presentation, vaudeville or cabaret because in late 1925 she was snapped up by an overseas agent. She arrived in London in January 1926 at the age of 17 and stepped into a featured spot in the cabaret show Piccadilly Revels at the Piccaddily Hotel, launched 25th January and produced by Harry Foster. This edition of the popular cabaret also featured the eccentric dancing of fellow Americans Hal Sherman, Barrie Oliver and Frances White (Famous American comedienne), the British artists Max Wall, Doreen Reed and the fabulously inventive Hank the Mule (Woodward and Morrissey), plus of course the sixteen girls in delightful costumes designed by Dolly Tree. Amongst other numbers, Gypsy Rhoumaje portrayed ‘Mustika’ in ‘From the Wine List’. She also doubled each night at the Kit Kat Club in the Haymarket owned by the same management.

Programme for the Piccadilly Revels listing Gypsy Rhoumaje

Gypsy Rhoumaje in Luxe de Paris, Henri Varna's show at the Palace Theatre, Paris

From London she migrated to the bright lights of Paris and made her first appearance at a Gala at L’Ermitage (72 Avenue des Champs Elysees) in mid April in a dancing entertainment with June Roper and Kenneth Kinney (celebrated American dancers) and Harry Reso (described as the king of comic dancers). As the summer progressed she performed in some of the famed summer Parisian hotspots in the Bois de Bologne including the Chateau de Madrid (with Florence Walton and Leo Leitrim).

The Deauville Casino was her next stop at the height of the August season and presumably in the autumn of 1926 she had other cabaret engagements in Paris before spending the winter on the Riviera dancing at some of the well established nightspots including the Carlton in Monte Carlo.

Back in Paris Gypsy Rhoumaje featured in the spectacular Henri Varna revue Luxe de Paris at the Palace Theatre from March 1927 with the Spanish singer Raquel Meller as star along with the Irwin sisters. She appeared in no less than six numbers including: Dream Land (Les Chimeres) where she was the golden fleece (La Toison d’or); the Flowers of Paris as the blue Flower; the Marvellous Jewels as the Princess of Sapphires; a solo number in the dance of the fans; tropical sunshades as the coconut flower (fleur de coco) and she danced the dirty-dig. Seemingly, her Burmese dances were one of the hits of the show.

Gypsy Rhoumaje in the film White Cargo

In the midst of appearing nightly in the Palace revue she may well have doubled in cabaret and at the American ball at Claridges in early June, for example, she was one of the star performers along with Harry Pilcer, the Dodge Twins and Miss Florence. However, at some point she slipped and fell injuring her back. She obtained two and obtained two medical certificates saying she was unable to perform for at lest a month. She claimed that she left the show with Varna’s permission, thus taking thirty days off. However, Varna was not pleased and took out court action and claimed damages which he won. She was fined FF45,000 and was forced to work off the judgement for two weeks in the Empire, another of Varna’s theatres in May 1929.

Once recovered from her injury, Gypsy Rhoumaje spent the autumn of 1928 in Vienna where she must appeared in legitimate stage show, but she must have made her way back to London because she was cast in several British movies. According to Variety she had ‘vamp roles’ in Altantic (released 15/11/29) a fictionalised version of the Titanic story directed by EA Dupont and Alf’s Button (released in 1930) a comedy-fantasy directed by W.P. Kellino. In the latter Tubby Endlin was Alf Higgins who learns that a button on his jacket was fashioned from Aladdin’s lamp. Rubbing the button for luck, he summons a genie named Eustace who gives him the traditional three wishes.

However, the more prestigious film was J.B. Williams’s White Cargo (released May 1929) based on Leon Gordon’s play of the same name starring John Hamilton, Leslie Faber and Maurice Evans and Gypsy Rhoumaje who played the half-caste wanton, Tondeleyo. It was slammed by the New York Times who thought it was sluggish and unimaginative but the journalast did not like the stage production either calling it ‘no masterpiece’. Gypsy faired no better in their criticism and they thought that she simply did not realize what is demanded of her in the way of acting.

What happened to her thereafter is a mystery. If anyone knows her real identity or has details of her early career in America and what happened to her after 1929, please leave some comments.

The Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street, named after Edward Prince of Wales, opened on the 3rd April 1930 on the site of a drapers business called The Emporium. The area was soon to be known as London’s Quarter Latin now simply Soho. The exterior was in the style of an Italian Palace, and the foyer pure art deco. The auditorium was on two levels (stalls and dress circle) and seated 1,650. From its inception the shows staged (Rio Rita, Nippy, Fanfare) did not do well and even an appearance of the famous Parisian music hall star Josephine Baker failed to click. After the pantomime Aladdin the theatre was forced to close in January 1935.

Interior of the London Casino showing the audience and a show in progress

The business consortium that run the French Casino in New York saw an opportunity to open a London branch and bought the venue for £25,000 and immediately began renovations to turn the venue into a magnificent state of the art Restaurant-cabaret. The stage was converted into a semi circular revolving floor that could be moved forward and also used for dancing and the understage converted to kitchens. The auditorium was changed considerably: part of the stalls was removed to make way for the dance floor and diners could sit at tables placed in the pit space or arranged in tiers along the whole width of the dress circle from which there was a staircase on either side to the dance floor.

A programme for the London Casino

The building re-opened on the 2nd of April 1936 as The London Casino with the extravagant revue Folie Parisiennes staged by Clifford Fischer that had already scored a big success in New York and Miami the previous year. The theatre was opened from 6.30pm -2am and the revue was given twice nightly. Entry was 15s 6d weekdays and 17s 6d on a Saturday. Dinner sessions were from 7.15-10.45pm with the show at 8.15pm and supper sessions were from 11pm-2am with the show at 12. On Saturday night there was just one session from 7.30pm – 12.30am with the show at 8.15pm and 11.10am.

The Stage said that ‘there is nothing else quite like it in London’ and it was no surprise that the London Casino quickly became the place to go for an evening’s entertainment and for the first time it made money, taking on average £6-7,000 per week. Theatre World declared that it had ‘become the most popular rendezvous in the entertainment world’ where one could watch the show, socialise with friends, have dinner or supper, drink and dance. A few years later Theatre World added that it was ‘one of the smartest and most popular resorts of London’s night life’ with perfect cuisine, immaculate service and two first-rate orchestras to complete the evening.

Another programme from the London Casino

Under Clifford Fischer’s consortium seven extravagant shows were produced at the French Casino. Folies Parisienne was followed by Folies de Femmes (September 1936), Folies d’Amour (January 1937), Nuits de Folies (September 1937) a renamed version of The French Casino Folies from New York, Folies Superbes (December 1937) a renamed version of The New Folies Bergere show from New York and then in April 1938 two shows were put on: Plaisirs de Paris (at dinner) and Montmartre a Minuit or Midnight  (at supper).

In late 1938, perhaps following the demise of the French Casino in New York in November 1937, the London Casino closed. But all was not lost, Alfred Esdaile who directed the shows at the Prince of Wales Theatre took the lease over and staged La Revue du Bal Tabarin in February 1939, followed by two shows – Revue d’Elegance (at dinner) and Folies de Minuit (at supper) in August 1939.

However even Esdaile could not continue and by 1940 the London Casino had closed presumably due to the war and the fact that the blitz on London did not encourage the theatre going public to go out as before. However, in 1942 it became a forces theatre. After the war it was converted back into a theatre where variety shows were staged and it is still in use today.

Another interior of the French Casino showing the audience and a show in progress

In December 1934, the refurbished Earl Carroll Theatre located on the south-east corner of 7th Ave and 50th Street, New York City, opened as the French Casino. This glittering supper club was described by Fortune magazine as ‘a vast scarlet and silver restaurant which, in terraced rows of tables, seats fifteen hundred people without any crowding.’ For a short three year period it became the unrivalled premier nightspot in New York.

Interior shot of the restaurant & mezzanine

The original building was designed by architect George Kiester and opened 25th February 1922 as the Earl Carroll Theater with seating for 1,000. The first few shows did not do well but there was some success with The Gingham Girl (28/8/22) and Earl Carroll’s Vanities of 1923 (5/7/23). With the advent of the depression Carroll’s fortunes floundered and he rented the theatre to Radio Pictures. Carroll decided he needed a bigger space and with the backing of William R. Edrington, a Texas oil baron, bought the land East of the theatre for $1m and levelled the building. He spent a further $4.5m creating a new theatre which was an art deco masterpiece once again designed by architect George Keister with the interior designed by Joseph Babolnay.

The new lobby was three times bigger than the old one. Seating capacity was tripled with 1500 seats in the orchestra, 200 in boxes and the loge and 1300 on the balcony. In the 60 x 100 feet space under the balcony lounge areas were created. It was the first theatre to be cooled backstage, in the auditorium and public areas.

Part view of the restaurant & the stage

The premier attraction was Earl Carroll’s Vanities of 1931 (27/8/31), but Carroll could not make the theatre a success since operating costs for such lavish shows were high and the ticket prices low due to the depression. Within six months he had lost the theatre Carroll and was sued for back rent, taxes and interest. He eventually relocated to Hollywood and made more of a success there. Florenz Ziegfeld took it over, called the building the Casino Theatre and opened with a revival of his great hit Show Boat (1932) but during the run he died and the show closed. George White used the theatre for Melody (1933) but success was still elusive and the theatre closed.

In late October 1933, the Theatre was sold to a business consortium of Louis F. Blumenthal, Charles H. Haring and Jack Shapiro for $52,000,000. This set in motion the beginnings of the French and London Casino project. The new owners invested $125,000 in renovation work to turn the theatre into the latest, up-to-the-minute cabaret-restaurant. They took out the seating and put tiers in the balcony and orchestra with tables. One of the key features was access. In other cabaret-theatre-restaurants, balcony diners must walk down through the rear to reach the dance floor. At the French Casino can descend the balconies by means of a series of ramps flanking both sides of the auditorium to the dance floor. People can ascend and descend in the theatre proper not by going out into the lobby. It provides the means of a grand entrance. Capacity was 900 on the lower floor and 500 flanking the sides and on the mezzanine and upper balcony. The show performs on an extended circular platform which comes out from the stage proper so that a neat ringside effect is created.

A view of the cocktail lounge

The walls were covered in black velvet with brushed aluminium accents. The lobby area was covered in polished black vitrolite streaked with brown. The carpets were in three shades of green and the seats covered in plush coral coloured fabric. At the time, the French Casino was the most lavish, high volume nightclub New York had seen and redefined the formula for the rest of the decade.

The shows at the French Casino produced by Clifford C. Fischer were successful and perfectly suited to the glamourous theatre. They were opulent cabaret-restaurant revues in which acrobats, clowns and novelty acts were sprinkled among awe-inspiring production numbers and exotic tableaux with showgirls, all gorgeously costumed, that became legendary. Since the French Casino was part of a syndicate with othe venues in London, Chicago and Miami, the shows were often re-used in these locations.

The first sparkling floor show, unveiled in late December 1934 was entitled Revue Folies Bergeres (1st) and continued in different formats through the summer of 1935 and then a completely new show entitled Folie Parisienne (2nd), was launched in September 1935. In February 1936, Folies de Femmes (3rd) was staged with a huge fanfare, followed by a revised show in the summer. Folies d’Amour (4th) followed in August 1936. The fifth show soberly titled French Casino Follies (5th) opened in December 1936 followed by the New Folies Bergere (6th) show in August 1937.

Part view of the interior showing restaurant floor & mezzanine

Another view of the cocktail lounge

The French Casino dominated the high volume club business for more than three years with six hugely successful shows as earnings at other restaurants such as the the pioneering Hollywood and Paradise declined. In September 1937 there was a big challenge when Louis Brecker and bandleader George Olsen opened the even more lavish International Casino in the old Criterion Theater on Times Square. This vast supper club for 2500 patrons was arranged on three floors. It was the first to feature an escalator and could freeze an ice rink on the dance floor. Most importantly, its interior décor was more mininal and streamlined. Its opening heralded a struggle for dominance within the nightclub scene. Both venues faced huge debts and both failed. By November 1937 a new show did not materialise as effects of the depression, competition, and soaring costs forced the venue to close. Brecker and Oslen were declared bankrupt in March 1938 closing the International Casino.

Billy Rose the owner of the Casino De Paris, New York, bought the French Casino building, redecorated the interior into a tin and enamel style, renamed the place Casa Manan and opened 10th January 1938 but by the end of the year it had closed again. In 1939 the six story office building fronting 7th ave was demolished and the interiora of the theatre was converted into retail space. Eventually this was demolished in 1990.

A sketch of the interior of the French Casino with the audience and show in progress

Take a look at the page about The French Casino Project


Take a look at the page about Clifford Fischer


Take a look at the page about The London Casino


Take a look at the page about The Revue Folies Bergere


Take a look at the page about Folie Parisienne


Take a look at the page about Folies De Femme

Sources:

New York Times, Variety, Dancing Times, The Age, The Stage, Chicago Tribune

Nightclub City: Politics and Amusement in Manhatten by Burton William Peretti
Routledge Guide to Broadway by Ken Bloom
Broadway: Its History, People and Places: An Encyclopedia by Ken Bloom

The Folies de Femmes revue was the third show launched at the French Casino New York in February 1936 with an array of talent and spectacular scenes that included the Women from Paris, Military Fashions, Music of the Accordians and Supper in Paris.

The Programme for the summer edition of Folies de Femmes at the French Casino

The production was staged by Jean Le Seyeux of the Folies Bergere and rehearsed in Paris under the supervision of Clifford Fyscher. The choreography and ensemble arrangements were by Natalie Komarova, music was by George Komaroff, scenery by Lavignac and Pellegry and costumes by Max Weldy. Following the first edition (1e) there was a revised, second, summer edition (2e) before it was transferred to London in the autumn of 1936 for a third edition (3e), where it almost reverted back to the original format. There were great changes in the speciality acts between each show and some big production numbers dropped from the summer edition in New York, which do not go down to well – even the New York Times thought that it was not quite as lavish in its costumes and décor as the original first edition.

The Swiss, star Andre Randall so long a favourite conferencier at the Folies Bergere in Paris was the MOC in both New York editions and was equally at home in French and English. He was regarded as a svelte foil for the production he paced and did a great job. But he did not transfer to London his role being taken by Al Kramer.

The inclusion of Andre Stravinsly’s widow billed as Arlette Simon was a nifty little touch of the old Hammerstein that Fischer capitalised upon even though she was only one of the show girls. There were a range of other acts from France, Germany, England and Switzerland but Variety felt that the show was stronger in the second half than the first.

For Part one Andre Randall introduced the Women of Paris (all editions) with Dorothy Delford as the prime nude and Andree Lorain (Miss Paris 1935) as one of the highlighted models. There was a display of Parisian types including the Midinette (hat shop girl), the Coquette (Frivolous girl), Femme qui a du Chien (personality girl), Poule de Luxe (the courtesan), Femme qui du Chic (smart girl), Vamp (herself), Femme qui n’a rien a se meitre (the nothing to wear girl), Femme de Cinema (movie girl), Trottin (errand girl), Femme qui s’habille (adaptability girl), Femmes Excentrique (odd girl), Corset (girdle girl), Femmes qui plait aux femmes (mannish girl), Femmes comme il faut (proper girl), Femmes en Serie, Premiere Femme (eve) and La Parisinne 1936.

The Women from Paris tableaux from Folies de Femmes

Mlle Emilee Adreon from the Alhambra in Paris followed with a dance speciality (for the summer edition this was by Freda Sullivan and in London Anita Jakobi) followed by the novelty football game (1e and 3e) with a red and blue team, which led into the rather bizarre Little Fred dog football team from the Scala Berlin (1e and 3e) introduced by Sherkot (1e only) a white chalked comedian with licorice coloured lips and eyebrows from Cochran’s London revue Streamline making his first appearance in America. In the summer edition there were the Hurdle Girls, Arsene Gautier and his intelligent, dumb friends (another dog act), the Russian novelty act of Karavaeff (2e) and Ben Dova (2e) in Concicial Inebriate – a kind of musical and acrobatic act.

Another big spectacular scene was Military Fashions (all editions) with an announcer, lieutenant, Captain, Colonel, military dresses, the Spahis, Marshall of France and Drums followed by a military Fashions parade with Vera Nargo (from Alhambra, Paris) and Randall doing the pacing. Piroska (1e and 3e) from the Ambassadors Paris did an eccentric splits and snappy dance speciality.

Marita Farell did a vocal introduction to a spider web number called Autumn Sympony (all editions, except Nita Carol replaced Farrell in the summer edition) followed by a political poke at the Nazi’s in Strictly Forbidden (1e). The finale of the first half was the tableau Birds (1e and 3e) with some intricate wiring and staging as the sundry birds flit through space. Including pheasant, Guinea hen, Rooster, Numidi, Ostrich, Marabout, Bird of Paradise, Aigrettes, Nightingale, Humming birds, Blue bird and the charmer, the Dream bird, Dream bird’s feather and birds on the perches. Marita Farell warbled as the nightingale (1e and 3e). Interspersed were dancing specialities from Estelle and LeRoy, from the Savoy hotel, London (1e), Kirby’s flying ballet (1e and 3e) and Mlle Adreon (1e). In London (3e) the dance speciality was by Horam and Vander .

Part two opened with League of Nations (all editions) showing international politics done in masks with two of the three Bredwins (Jack and Joe). This was followed by Triangle (all editions), a dancing act of three – two boys and a girl – with Sonia, Gannser and Andre, a cute adagio dancing conceit impersonating Mussolini and John Bull wooing a coy La Belle France (1e only). In New York (2e) this was played by Dmitri, Karel and Andre and in London (3e) by Lowe, Burnoff and Wensley. In the London run (3e) Emil Boreo and Freddy Zane also appeared in speciality numbers. Cilly Feindt, a German act from the Scala Berlin was next riding the Prince of France, a beautiful white horse rivalling the pink-white equine in Jumbo (1e and 3e).

The next big spectacular scene was the couturier conceit of Rue de la Paix (1e and 2e) featuring a dress maker (Andre Randall), Italian customer, Hungarian customer, French customer, Premiere, Mannequins, the fiancé and fiancée. Randall was a swishy dressmaker and the hit was Alphonse Berg as the lightning dressmaker who modelled, with long strips of cloth and a couple of doo-dabs, some nifty sartorial creations on the sundry mannequins. This number was not included in the London (3ed) edition.

Nautical creations of Antoine (1e and 3e) followed, a kind of partial payoff to France’s number one coiffeur wit hthe girls in sundry bizarre head-dresses representing the Adriatic sea, the calm sea, the sun, coral, pearl, octopus, rough sea, shell, siren, algae, sea serpent, sea butterfly and birth of Venus.

Choppy from the Ambassadeurs in Paris featured in the Montmartre number (all editions) showing lightning painting on the girls bare backs. It was a switch on the current George White Scandals number where the girls front torsos above the waist are made up in facial simulations. Piroska seen earlier did another eccentric dance in Grands Ecarts (1e and 3e).

This led into another big scene called To the Music of the Accordians (all editions – in the summer edition this closed the first part) and included the femme gaucho band – the ten Argentinas from the Alhmabra, Paris who were illuminated pseudo-accordians. The femme gauchos are in odd, red, green, orange and blue costume. There was a speciality dance in an eclipsed shadow effect achieved by bunch lights aimed at the audience by
Roberts and Gaby (1e and 2e) or Lola and Louis (3e). Estelle and LeRoy did a tango dance (1e) followed by the three Bredwins an acro-comedy act from the Folies Bergere.

The finale was the elaborate supper in Paris (all editions) showing a festive board with nudes on toast, a riot of baubles and bubbles and dripping cadelabras.

The London show (3e) was interesting because like in New York, two performance were given at dinner and supper but the supper show was not the same as the dinner show and was an abbreviated version, which may have led to the formulation of staging two different shows entirely at dinner and supper a few years later.

The Finale of Folies de Femme

The first spectacular and sumptuous stage show produced by Clifford Fischer for the French Casino project in Chicago and New York in 1934 was the Revue Folies Bergere.

Programme for Revue Folies Bergere at the French Casino (1934)

The show was first presented in June 1934 at the French Casino, Chicago – the new name for the revamped Rainbo Gardens – that ran for several months before being transferred as the opening show at the French Casino, New York – the revamped Earl Carroll Theatre – at the end of December 1934. Thereafter, it may have been staged in London. Although the basic format of the production stayed the same particularly with the big spectacular numbers, some changes were made to the speciality acts throughout the run.

Produced under the supervision of Clifford Fischer, it was staged by Jacques Charles (described for an American audience as the Ziegfeld of the French revues), dances were by Madame Komarova, scenery by Pellegry and costumes by Gaston Zanel. For Chicago, the music was provided by the two orchestra of Noble Sissle and Carl Hoff and in New York by the orchestras of Carl Hoff, Don Marton and Jean Drena.

Divided into two halves it was an elaborately costumed program of one and a half hours of singing, dancing and variety numbers each characteristic of the first class music halls of Paris along with a forty-five minute interval for public dancing. There was a troupe of over one hundred performers comprising a dozen or so prinicipals and speciality acts, a chorus, can-can dancers, the Kamarova ballet dancers and mannequins.

Emile Boreo

Well known for his bizarre personality, Emil Boreo was the conferencier or MOC with his own speciality numbers. He was French and was described as a world famous comedian, singer and impersonator and had been one of the stars of Nikita Balieff’s Chauve Souris in the 1920s.

Part one comprised thirteen scenes. The proceedings started with an overture (no.1) from Carl Hoff and his orchestra, with a greeting from Emile Boreo (no.2). The first big tableau was Ca C’est Paris (no.3) with an introduction to the city of Paris that was shown as a map on a backdrop showing the different sections. Through an opening in the map appear a guide, then a manneqiun representing the city of Paris, followed by further beautiful mannequins in striking and unusual costumes depicted the sites of Paris that included the Eiffel Tower, the Moulin Rouge, the Folies Bergere, Montparnasse, La Villete, the Bastille, the Etoile, Montmartre, and Tulleries Garden.

Mlle Karene (no.4) was a speciality act described as a jockey toe dance, followed by the second big tableau called Rue de La Paix (no.5) with Les Trottins, Nina Chatalova and the ballet Komarova. Rue de la Paix in Paris was known as the avenue of the smartest dressmakers and milliners. The girls who work there were called Midinettes or Trottins, which comes from the word trot as they always walk with fast short steps. The members of the ballet appear in Trottin costume with their accompanying hat boxes and perform a toe dance.

Les Frivolites (no.6) was another big pageant illustrating articles of woman’s apparel as designed by the French couturier Jean Patou. The shops of Paris sell things dear to the heart of women and on the large revolving stage appeared mannequins dressed in lavish gowns representing all of these frivolities including such things as mascara, powder puff, lipstick, train, jewels, veil, bag, fan, parasol, red glove, muff, lace, black fur, necklace, jewel box and white fur.

Une Autre Frivolity (no.7) featured the dancing of Mlle Marie Desty with Delso and Juan in a tango. Les Manginis (no.8) were two proverbial ‘god-like’ muscle-men acrobats demonstrate amazing feats of strength and skill in a thrilling acrobatic exhibition. They were variously likened to twin Sandows or Grecian atheletes who beside their gymnastic hand to hands were ‘very Barrymore on profile.’

Desty, Delso & Juan

La Fete a Montmartre (no.9) illustrated the famous fair in Montmartre showing firstly little Parisiennes riding toy pigs on the merry go round and then can can girls appear in which Olympe Bradna stands out with her ballet taps. A La Villette (no.10) was an Apache dance with Katja, Freddy Roberts and the Ballet Komarova. La Vilette, the Apache quarter in Paris is represented with an accordian player setting the scene with a singer, street walker and drunken sailor. Caveau Caucasien (no.11) introduced Hella Slavinska and the Komarova ballet with tricky and novel costumes, followed by another number with Emile Boreo (no.12).

Cabaret hell (no.13) from the Place Blanche is the finale. La Cabaret de L’Enfer is one of the more famous ‘tourist’ cabarets in Place Blanche, Montmartre. Harold and Lola did their famous sinuous snake, contortion dance in which Harold is the snake charmer and Loa the writing snake who finally breaks the spell of her master’s little pipe and destroys him. The Komarova ballet then appeared and in their midst emerged a peirrot (Roxanne) who flirts with the girls, they pounce on him and undress him to discover he is a girl and she is then consigned to the other damned women who take her away to hell.

Part two of the programme comprised eleven scenes. The opening number was the rather salacious and provocative La Nouvelle Mode – Les Grains de Beaute (no.14) or the new fashions – the beauty spots. During the 18th century a famous French lady hairdresser created a singular fad – placing a beauty spot on their bodies. In this novelty number beautiful mannequins parade beauty spots emphasizing the most distinguished features of the anatomy in the ballet parade.

Maria Desty in the Apple Dance

Danse Sensuelle (no.15) featured the sensational ‘nude’ dancing of Jean and Jeanette as a satyr and a faun. She wore a skinny leopard skin and a smile. This was followed by Lolita Benavente (no.16), Spanish movie star and dancer fresh from Paris and then Desty, Delso and Juan (no.17) with another tango speciality.

The Day of a Parisian (no.18) was a tableau advertising the glamour of Jean Patou by showing the dresses and perfumes of Parisian women with all the mannequins in Patou dresses or mannequins dressed as Patou perfume. Olympe Bradna (no.19) as the Smallest sailor of France gave an amazing display of dancing and acrobatic artistry.

Montparnasse / the Apple Dance (no.20) was one of the most popular scenes featuring Maria Desty as Venus, Freddy Roberts as a faun and the Komarova ballet. The scene began with a group of foolish shepherdesses pursuing a shepherd. The scene is based on a famous painting ‘the judgement of Paris’ in which three goddess – Minerva, Juno and Venus – appear and ask Paris to chose the most beautiful goddess. He chose Venus and presents her with a large red apple. Venus (Maria Desty) dances with a large apple and simply caused a sensation.

Emile Boreo (no.21) followed with a speciality called Dark Eyes in several dialects and then Gloria Gilbert a whirlwind American steppeuse who came to attention at the Folies Bergere, Paris was featured in A L’Opera (no.22) a ballet of Chopin with the ballet Komarova. Gilbert spins like a top and was credited with making 400 – 500 spins in three minutes.The comic Lime Trio (no.23) were a novelty, three man contortive number. Two are baggage men and the trunk the carry contains a gollywog in black face mask who as the contortionist makes the act.

The finale was the spectacular La Fontaine de la Place de la Concorde (no.24) featuring Lolita Benavente with mannequins posed upon the famous pillars of the Place and the entire company.

The Finale

The reviews and comment of the show in Chicago and New York were laudatory. Variety said that it had been the ‘wow of Chi life’ and added that is was ‘a gasp on artistry, talent, colour, flash, dash and daring. Nudity is as Frenchy as vintage champagne. But it is all done with taste in costumes – it is not blatant or offensive.’ The Chicago Tribune thought that the show blended ‘the style of a harlem floor show with French frivolity’ and The New York Times observed that it ‘sets a high water mark in elaborate, expensive and spectaculary varied cabaret entertainment in New York since the repeal of prohibition.The show has a dash and spontaneity running through it which the average night club revue captures hereabouts only infrequently and which the typical Parisian cabaret seldom achieves on so large a scale. It offers real and sensational artists – particularly among the dancers, parades a constant assortment of gorgeously robed girls and is handsomely set amidst delightful decorations.’

Following the example of the Ambassadeurs theatre-restaurant in Paris, an ambitious business consortium conceived the idea of a chain of luxurious theatre-restaurants and at one time in the mid 1930s they had branches in Chicago, New York, Miami and London. Clifford Fischer (who owned the Ambassadeurs) staged extravagant, French inspired revues that were created to tour each venue and were hailed as being the best cabaret entertainment ever seen.

Advert for the French Casino

In late October 1933, the old Casino Theatre (The Earl Carroll Theatre) at 7th Ave and 50th street, New York was sold to a business consortium of Louis F. Blumenthal, Charles H. Haring and Jack Shapiro for $52,000,000. This set in motion the beginnings of the French Casino project with branches eventually in New York, Chicago, Miami Beach and London.

In the following summer of 1934 the Rainbo Gardens in Chicago re-opened as the French Casino. The venue sited at Lawrence Ave and North Clark Street had been closed in 1932 but had been taken over and completely revamped and redecorated by Jules Stein and Corlett Huff. Jules Stein was an interesting character – reputedly one of the richest men in the USA and president of the Music Corporation of America who controlled the careers of scores of celebrated radio and cinema stars and bands.

Stein engaged the legendary booking agent and producer Clifford Fischer to mount an ambitious production for the new venue. The show called the Revue Folies Bergere was devised in Paris at a cost of $60,000 and featured many performers from Europe. It was divided into two halves with a forty-five minute interval for public dancing with music from the Noble Sissle and Carl Huff orchestra’s. It was as if the Paris music hall had been transplanted to Chicago and the Chicago Tribune reported ‘it is the most ambitious café entertainment now on view in Chicago.’ Needless to say attendance ran at capacity and it became the ‘wow’ of Chicago nightlife.

Fischer may have inadevertently precipated or pre-empted a French wave that engulfed America by importing French style shows and naming the venues the French Casino before the success of the Maurice Chevalier films The Man from the Folies Bergere released in February 1935 and Folies Bergere in April 1936 heightened a French craze.

The Interior of the French Casino, New York

In October 1934 there were revisions to the Revue Folies Bergere and after 2am a further attraction was added that comprised a troupe of local coloured entertainers that blended the style of a Harlem floor show with French frivolity all directed by Nobel Sissle. The show itself was hailed as record-breaking and by December it was estimated that there had been 225,000 patrons attending the theatre-café.

A completely new show opened in mid December 1934 called Hello Paris, Vienna Hello. This revue had a different twist with the first section being Parisian and the second Viennese and was once again highly praised and remained until March 1935 when the venue sadly closed for some reason presumably due to high running costs.

Perhaps the consortium of Blumenthal, Haring and Shapiro and already been in discussions with Clifford Fischer, before the advent of the French Casino in Chicago, to bring his panache as producer to their new venue in New York. Or perhaps they simply observed what he was doing and decided his model was right for them. Whatever happened their new venue in New York was completely renovated with a $125,000 budget and opened as the French Casino (formerly the Earl Carroll Theatre) in late December 1934 with a capacity of 1,500.

The French Casino redefined the high volume formula for the rest of the deccade and was the most lavish theatre-restaurant club New York had seen. The venue was admired by Variety who said that it was ‘the latest in cabaret theatres and the last word in smart environment and nocturnal divertissement.’

Programme cover for Revue Folies Bergere

The sparkling Revue Folies Bergere show straight from Chicago was the first presentation provided by Fischer and Stein of the Music Corp of America (as a silent partner) while Shapiro, Haring and Blumenthal controlled the theatre. It is not clear what the split of profits were, but it is likely that Fisher was given a flat fee for staging the show.

Revue Folies Bergere featured the dancers Herald and Lola, muscle men Les Manginis, Maria Desty in a salacious apple dance with Freddy Roberts and the comedian Emil Boreo as MC. There were also several elaborate and exotic tableaux that included a tour of the Paris sights, Rue de la Paix frivolities, cabaret hell and Place de la Concorde with showgirls, all gorgeously costumed. The New York Times thought that the production set ‘a high water mark in elaborate, expensive and spectacularly varied cabaret entertainment in New York since the repeal of prohibition’ and Variety said the ‘show is a gasp on artistry, talent, colour, flash, dash and daring. Nudity is as Frenchy as vintage champagne. But it is all done with taste in costumes – it is not blatant or offensive.’

The French Casino was temporarily closed on 24th August and extensive renovations were made upon the large bar at the entrance floor of the building and finally, on 7th September, the second, even more lavish and sumptuous French Casino show was launched. Folies Parisienne featured Nikita Balieff, proprietor of the Chauve Souris as the MOC, the daring dancing trio of Arabelle, Rich and Artini, Benita Kramer in a novelty love scene, Georgie Hayes’s plastic toe work and the acrobatic comedy act of the Four Craddocks. The most talked about number was Arabella’s dance Nude at Midnight. Some of the more elaborate tableaux included the arrival of the liner Normandie, ladies with dogs, a ballet of jewels, a curtain of illusion, a pantomime bull-fight and a finale of fountains.

Programme cover for French Casino

Variety said that ‘it’s more than just a very good nitery show – it’s of production proportions.’ The atmosphere was French but the talent a mix of French, British and German and there was talk that Broadway had become more Parisian than Paris. It was a bargain considering the $2.50-$3 minimum dinner check, although a premier slot cost $10 for a de luxe dinner and cocktails.

Unlike the first deal, Blumenthal, Haring and Shapiro controlled the show as well as the theatre. Fischer produced the show but the house paid for it and Fischer shared a percentage of profits. The first year Fischer and Stein did better than the French Casino and took more net than the operating management which just put up the theatre, food and liquor.

Folies Parisienne carried on into 1936 but then closed in January to make way for the next show. In the meantime, Blumenthal, Haring and Shapiro had been busy and had invested a further $1,000,000 to build a new venue in Miami Beach at 13th street and Washington Avenue. The entire production of Folies Parisienne was transferred to the new French Casino which opened for the winter season in mid January to further great acclaim with the added attraction of the Brooks Steel and Emerson Gil orchestra’s.

In the New York French Casino, Fischer’s third show Folies de Femmes opened early February 1936. Andre Randall from the Folies Bergere was the conferencier or MOC with principals including dancers Estelle and LeRoy, Kirby’s flying ballet, the femme gaucho band of the ten Argentinas and big tableaux that included the women of Paris, military fashions, birds and a supper in Paris. Russell Patterson also had a marionette show in the cocktail lounge for the entr’actes. Jack Denny’ orchestra performed alternatatively with Vincent Tracers from Philadelphia.

In March 1936, Fischer and the French Casino management formed their own booking agency called the International Theatrical Corporation designed to be a supplementary extension of their activities. This had long been Fischer’s main activity and he had originally planned to work with Stein of the Music Corporation of America.

Advert for French Casino Group of venues

Folies Parisienne closed in March at the French Casino, Miami and the entire cast of a hundred sailed for London. The French Casino consortium had also been busy in England and had bought the old Prince of Wales Theatre on Old Compton street, Soho and under Jack Shapiro’s direction transformed the former theatre into another magnificent cabaret-restaurant. When the London Casino opened on 2nd April 1936 with Folie Parisienne, the Stage said ‘there is nothing else quite like it in London.’ Staged twice nightly, Folies Parisienne was basically the same show that had been staged in New York and Miami but with a few alterations.

Back in New York, there was a revised summer edition of Folies de Femmes featuring the singer Diana Ward, the dancers Dario and Diane and the piano monologist Leo Beers. The fourth show Folies d’Amour was launched at the end of August with even more flamboyant costumes and sets, along with the comedienne Cinda Glenn, the clowning antics of the Bryants and tableaux that included the Jewel box and Flowers of Paris. The New York Times called it a ‘nocturnal splendour’ and ‘a perfect sultan’s dream of stage magnificence.’ At the same time the Folies de Femmes troupe decamped for the London Casino.

With branches now in New York, London and Miami, the French Casino had formed a syndicate and the shows produced by Clifford Fischer were to alternate at each venue. The consortium were keen to return to Chicago and in late December they established the Casino Parisien at the Morrison hotel in the former Terrace room with an entertainment called Revue Internationale which was an ice skating show starring the Norwegian world champion figure skater Sonja Henje (Henie). At the same time, the fifth programme at the French Casino was the French Casino Folies that included the spectacle of the bottom of the sea, birds of the Southern Seas, a thousand and one nights and the underskirts of days gone by (a Can Can scene).

Menu card for the Casino Parisienne, Chicago

The cast of Folies d’Amour left New York aboard the Normandie for London and this, the third show London show, was launched at the London Casino on 9th January 1937. The management spent more and more on each successive production and while the first and second revues at the London Casino cost £15,000 and £20,000 respectively to produce, Folies d’Amour cost £25,000. According to Theatre World the venue had become the ‘most popular rendezvous in the entertainment world.’

The French Casino, Miami Beach opened in January 1937 for its second season with Folies Montmartre which was in fact a re-working of Folies de Femme. A little later in mid-February Paris-Montparnasse opened at the Casino Parisien in the Morrison hotel with Emil Boreo as the principal, along with Choppy, the Bredwins, Georgie Hayes and Enrico Bertolosco – all of whom had appeared in Fischer’s previous shows. This was followed in May by Springtime in Paris.

In New York, the fifth Fischer show – the New Folies Bergere – was launched in mid-August at the French Casino. According to the New York Times this show topped the rest by head and shoulders and was studded with humour and mounted with magnificent taste with such tableau as Apaches, an Arabian fantasy (Algeria) and the extravagant historical finale of the Nobility of France.

At the London Casino Nuits de Folie (a re-working of the French Casino Folies) was launched in November with the venue once again being praised by Theatre World as ‘one of the smartest and most popular resorts of London’s night life.’

However, all was not good and on the eve of the launch of a new show in late November 1937, the French Casino folded in New York with a $150,000 debt. The original consortium had clearly been far too ambitious and over reached themselves. Repercussions were to follow and the Miami and Chicago venues were also abandoned. However in London, Folies Superbes was launched (a re-working of the New Folies Bergere show) in December 1937 and the London Casino remained as the only focus of the old consortium. By the end of April 1938 a new policy was inaugurated with two separate shows being staged nightly at dinner (Plaisirs de Paris) and supper (Montmartre Midnight). These shows were new and staged for the first time in London. Sadly by the end of the year the London Casino was also abandoned.

Programme for Folies-Montparnasse, Casino Parisienne, Chicago

Although this marked the end of French Casino project and the consortium behind it, Clifford Fischer carried on. He transferred his successful dual shows of Plaisirs de Paris and Montmartre Midnight to the International Casino in late 1938, which the New York Times thought rivalled anything that Broadway, had seen since his last venture at the French Casino. Sadly the International Casino did not last long either and operations were suspended by early 1939. One of Fischer’s shows – Folies d’Amour – tried out in Adelaide, Australia in April 1939 and then had its premier at the Kings Theatre Melbourne through Ernest C. Rolls.

In the meantime, Alfred Esdaile who directed the Prince of Wales Theatre re-opened the London Casino in May 1939 with La Revue du Bal Tabarin staged by Pierre Sandrini (director & producer of the Bal Tabarin in Paris) and Jacques Charles and both personally supervised the staging of the show. This was followed by Revue d’Elegance (at dinner) and Folies de Minuit (at supper) in August but thereafter Esdaile also succumbed to debts and closure followed.

Folie Parisienne was the second presentation at the French Casino New York in September 1935. It was transferred to the Miami Beach French Casino in January 1936 and was then the opening show at the London Casino in April 1936. It was a highly elaborate mix of spectacle, ballet and speciality acts with fashion shows, dog shows, butterflies, fountains, a carpet of roses, aerialists, dancers and as usual a magnificent array of mannequins and chorus girls.

Programme for Folie Parisienne

Produced under the personal supervision of Clifford Fischer it was staged by Jean Le Seyeux, choreography and ensemble arrangements were by Natalie Komarova, the music was by George Komaroff, scenery by Lavignac and Pellegry, costumes by Max Weldy and models by Jean Patou showing a range of new styles and new fabrics of rich metallics and colour effects.

It was a sumptuous, lavish, Arabian-nightish, Spanish-esque sort of revue consisting of two acts and twenty-five scenes and ran for more than two hours. The atmosphere was French but there was a talent a mix of French, British and German. When launched for the first time, the New York Times commented that there had been more continentalatmosphere in New York over the last two years than on the continent itself.

Nikita Balieff, proprietor of the Chauve Souris was the conferencier or MOC but the general belief at the New York launch was that he was not good at it and seemingly the size of theatre and size of audience defeated his personal charm and ability. He was not included in later shows in Miami and London.

The Normandie Tableaux

Part one comprised twenty-one scenes. After the overture (no.1), Georgie Hayes from the Casino de Paris showed her plastic toe work (no.2) followed by a set of three tableaux about the French liner the Normandie that was a big advertising plug. First was the Maiden Voyage of the Normandie (no.3 the arrival) with a blue, red and white groom and a range of travellers moving into How They Dress on the Normandie (no.4) showing the Coat, the Theatre Gown, the underwear, the beach pajamas, evening gown, bath ensemble, storm ensemble and sleeping pajamas. Last there was Passing through Customs (no.5). Interestingly, for the London run the scene was tactfully changed the from the French liner the Normandie to the Queen Mary.

In the Powder puff ballet (no.6) Juliana was featured as the little powder puff and other puffs in red, white and blue followed by George Campo and Elsie Roy (American but from the Ambassadeurs, Paris) who did a pantomime comedy (no.7). Next was a series of scenes with the theme of luxury: The Luxury of Feathers (no.8) had showgirls with feather muffs, feather collars, feather fans and aigrettes; then the luxury of Stockings (no.9); the Luxury of Veils (no.10); the Luxury of hats (no.11); the Luxury of Jewels (no.12) and culminating in the Living Jewel (no.13).

The Women & Their Dogs Tableaux

In Mazurka (no.14) there was a singer, three butlers and male and female dancers that preceded the wonderful Ladies and their Dogs (no.15) in which the models matched their dogs with Great Dane, Poodle, Pekinese, Fox Terrier, Bulldog, Chow and Wolfhound. So for example there was a lady wearing a chic spotted dress accompanied by a Dalmatian and another wearing tartan trotted on with a Scottie. It became one of the most popular numbers indicating that perhaps the Americans and British were as notoriously addicted to their canine pets as the Parisians.

Arabella

The most talked about and sensational number was the Midnight Bath (no.16) with Arabelle, Rich and Artini, a daring adagio trio from the Casino de Paris. Arabelle doffs seemingly her clothes completely (she was in fact costumed with surprising drapery effects whatever that means) for her Midnight Bath while her male partners in black velveteens toss her around. It was allegedly spicy and raw but not too rough a conceit in view of the atmosphere and the manner of dancing.

Mlle Lalage of the Cirque Medrano, Paris was a blond aerialist in Wings of Paris (no.17) preceding the Roses of France (no.18) and a ballet in Bouquet of Roses (no.19), that moved into Butterflies (no.20) featuring the dancing of Marietta and Rudi (from the Ambassadeurs, Paris). The final of the part one was the stunning Carpet of Roses (no.21) effect.

Part two started with the big spectacular scene of Illusions (no.22) featuring the curtain of illusions, cymbals, smokers, veil of illusions, intoxication and singers. This led into another show stopped called the Hunting Rendezvous (no.23) with Renita Kramer, a German girl. She performed ‘Dance of the Lovers’ which was a one person love scene. One half of Miss Kramer was trousered and masculine, the other half was feminine. The seduction of the female half by the male was regarded as punchy sight stuff.

Next was Georgie Hayes who did a speciality act (no.24), showgirls dressed in the Styles of Jean Patou (no.25) with Polly Frank from Ambassadeurs, Paris as featured vocalist, the Dive (no.26) with George Campo and Elsie Roy in a funny little apache burlesque, Enrico Bertaloso a handsome young tenor in Baracarolle (no.27) and Carmen Romero in Spanish Rhapsodie (no.28)

Bull Fight (no.29) was a pantomime with Vega Asp as the bull and Christian as the Matador and assorted Toreadors that led into Court Yard of the Inn (no.30) with Juliana as a Gypsy and Spanish dancers and Fun Aboard Ship (no.31) with the Four Craddocks (acrobatic comedians from the Cirque d’Hiver) as four French sailors.

The last two spectacular scenes were the extravagant Fountains (no.32) with beauties, dancers, water nymphs, graces and charioteers and the Finale (no.33) with the entire company in which the fountains play.

Gloria Gilbert billed as the greatest trick toe dancer in the world and who had appeared in the first French Casino show Revue Folies Bergere was added to the cast for the Miami and London shows.

The Fountains Tableaux

One of the most picturesque figures in show business, Clifford C. Fischer was an internationally distinquished booking agent and producer who really made a name for himself staging spectacular stage shows as part of the French Casino theatre-restaurant project in the mid 1930s.

Clifford Fischer

Born in Belgium in 1882, Clifford Fischer was the son of a purveyor of horses to the Belgian Army and as a result horses fascinated him. It was in fact a horse that was responsible for his entry into the world of show business. At the turn of the century aged 18, he was in London earnestly learning the printing and engraving trade in his uncles shop. One night at a music hall he saw a horse that could count and bow and did not mind when a pack of dalmations popped on and off its back. He signed up the creature for $250 and took it to USA and toured it for two years, thus starting his career as a booking agent. Thereafter, he joined the William Morris agency and worked with them until 1918 and brought various European acts to America including Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Lloyd (the ventriloquist), Polaire, Harry Lauder and Sarah Bernhardt.

For several years, from about 1910, he also acted as an agent for the Shubert organisation – New York theatrical producers – and for example in 1915 he brought over the French dancing team of Samya and Albert to appear at William Morris New York Roof cabaret. Admiring their Last Tango dance (a sort of Apache) he thought they would be perfect for the Shubert’s revue the Passing Show of 1916.

In late 1915 Fischer took over the running of the two cabaret floors in the Shubert’s Winter Garden Theatre also called the Palais de Danse. This had been a thriving cabaret venue with different themes and various people providing attractions. The last was the society dancer Joan Sawyer who had operated the Persian Gardens (top floor) but after a period of success, interest waned when Maurice and Florence Walton opened in the floor below.

Fischer redecorated both rooms, made one a night-club and the other a dancing – cabaret which he named the Montmartre. Joan Sawyer was seemingly retained for the Monmartre but this did not last and he terminated her engagement resulting in a law suit. Meanwhile downstairs he installed the European entertainer Nilson Fyscher and others. By the summer of 1916 Fischer had engaged the Hawaiian dancer Doraldina, who was sailing on a wave of popularity at the time, for the Montmartre and turned the fortune of the venues around. However, problems developed with the Shuberts and in late 1916 Fischer was forced out and there was a lawsuit resulting in Fischer winning $35,000. Thereafter Fischer managed Doraldina and flirted with another venue in late 1919 when he took over the Old Pekin restaurant turning it into Larue providing an entertainment of dancing and singing chorus girls, but this did not last long.

At some point Fischer married the Indian Princess Radjah who was neither Indian nor a princess but an Egyptian snake charmer from whom he subsequently separated.

Allegedly, because of a penchant for lawsuits Fischer was blacklisted by the UBO when it was first organized and finally returned to Paris in an enforced exile. Here he worked as a booking agent based in Paris as part of the William Morris Agency with Henry Lartigue and organized a brisk traffic of celebrities and assorted acts to and fro across the Atlantic.

For example, via Morris Gest, he sent Nikita Balieff’s cabaret or variety troupe called La Chauve Souris to the USA in 1922. Balieff had been immensely successful in Russia prior to the revolution and in exile Balieff presented his shows in London and Paris before making it big in America. Fischer also sent over Maurice Chevalier and imported Jeanette MacDonald and Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians. It is significant that the William Morris agency with Fischer and Lartique were responsible for booking American talent for Edmund Sayag’s series of spectacular shows at the Ambassadeurs Theatre – Restaurant in Paris during the late 1920s. Later, in the 1930s he managed the shows at the Ambassadeurs and spent most of his time in his villa in France raising pigeons.

In the 1930s he returned to America and went into production creating a series of floor shows in resorts called the French Casino in Chicago, New York and Miami Beach and the London Casino. They were opulent cabaret-restaurant shows in which acrobats, clowns, dancing duos, novelty acts, mannequins and chorus girls were sprinkled among spectacular production numbers. They were at one time grossing $5million per year.

Fischer also staged two of his shows at the International Casino, New York in 1938 and one of his shows played the San Franscico World Fair in 1939. He was stranded in America by the outbreak of the Second World War and lost his house, his restaurants and his racing pigeons.

Later, with the Shuberts he produced the variety shows Priorities of 1942 and 1943. He tried to revive vaudeville with the Shuberts in Keep ‘em Laughing. He also imported Edith Piaf to the Playhouse in 1947.

Clifford C. Fischer died at Westwood New Jersey in October 1951 after a long illness. He was 69 and left a widow Alyce.

May Vivian (1903-1924) was a vivacious actress and dancer who had just made a name for herself in London cabaret and was destined for bright things, but her life was cut short when, with all the dramatic intensity of a film tragedy, she was shot dead in the Spring of 1924 by a jealous suitor in the South of France.

A portrait of May Vivian

May Vivian’s story was poignant and much was written about her at the time with lurid headlines, sensational detail and an expose of the tragic and secret circumstances leading up to her demise. She was described as a beautiful and innocent English butterfly who danced too near the flame of love. It was agreed that this was the kind of story that skilful novelists took for plots of their fiction. Only in this case the book did not close upon the heroine’s wedding and she doesn’t love happily ever after. Instead she has an untimely grave.

May Vivian was in fact Mary Francis Smith born in 1903. She was a happy schoolgirl with a panache for dancing. Her pretty face, her trim figure and her gracefulness all helped to make her an entrancing picture. The family lived in High Lever Road, St Quinton Park, (London W10 – Kensington & Chelsea) and her father was a successful London riding master based at Ossington Street, Bayswater and Petersham Road, Petersham near Richmond. He was not anxious for his daughter to take up a professional career but Mary persisted and he finally gave in.

May Vivian’s first appearance was in the Gaby Deslys vehicle, Suzette, a musical comedy presented by Andre Charlot that opened 29th March 1917. She may have appeared in other shows and, for example, she was credited as being in the chorus of Alfred Butt’s Irene at the Empire (7/4/20-12/2/21). However, in the summer of 1921 she joined Henry de Bray as his dancing partner. De Bray was a popular dancer who had been on the circuit for some time appearing in various stage shows and as an exhibition dancer in restaurants and variety halls with several different partners. With May Vivian he presumably carried on varied engagements as before but at some point left England for a tour of South Africa and Australia. In the spring of 1922 they were part of a celebrity vaudeville entertainment at Tivoli Theatre, Melbourne. Later de Bray described her as ‘short, slim, dark little thing, wonderfully pretty with a sweet though rather small voice.’

Henry de Bray and May Vivian

By the autumn of 1922 they were back in London where cabaret was taking hold as a new form of entertainment. The Queen’s Hall Roof had introduced a cabaret in the spring of 1922 and in September 1922 a new show was produced by Jack Buchanan under the direction of Jack Hylton. May Vivian and Henry de Bray were two of the six principals along with the Trix Sisters, Tim O’Connor and Flora Lea and a beauty chorus of sixteen ‘eves’ who appeared in eight different numbers. The Cabaret Follies ran twice nightly through several different editions into 1923. By late 1923 De Bray and Vivian were appearing in Carl Hyson’s show called the One O’Clock Revue at Rector’s night club on Tottenham Court Road.

When May Vivian was appearing in the Queen’s Hall Roof cabaret, a young English Lord took notice of her and in the stereotypical way began sending her flowers, bonbons and gifts. Then he asked her for tea. But being the son of one the most powerful and richest members of the English court, he took good care to keep his friendship with the little dancer on the quiet side of things fearing scandal and publicity. Needless to say, over a period of over a year, a romance blossomed and both became madly in love with each other.

May Vivian’s uncle Henry Smith of Bloomfield Street, Harrow Road, affirmed that the young peer was madly in love with her and she reciprocated his affection. He even asked her father for permission to become engaged. Mary was nineteen and he refused on the grounds that she was not old enough to know her own mind. In the meantime the father of the young man discovered the relationship and like all English noblemen when they learn that their sons are in love with an actress or a dancer he put his foot down and told him it must end. He won his battle and within a short time his son deserted May Vivian and was swiftly married off to an heiress, bringing more money and more influence into the family.

The poor dancer was seemingly devastated and considered that her life was broken. However, she kept writing to him telling him how miserable she was. Her letters became more supplicating as time passed. She begged him to keep a place for her in his home, even if it only as a chambermaid. ‘You need never look at me if you don’t wish to’ she wrote ‘but I should be so happy just to live with you.’ She received no response and as a result became more distraught. She longed for death but her religious scruples were too strong to permit her to commit suicide and she considered she had no right to take her own life.

May Vivian was expected to become the central star of a new cabaret show in west End but just before Christmas 1923 she changed her plans and decided to do what many other dancers did – spend the winter season on the Riviera. Of course the reason for her decision to go abroad may well have been to escape her pain and try and forget what had happened.

She went on a three-day try out at a Richmond hotel with Michael Rinder, a Russian teacher of dance who was well known in London and got the job as his partner to fulfil an engagement at the Riviera Palace Hotel in the Beausoleil area of Monte Carlo. Her father only allowed her to leave the country with a chaperone called Mme Curton. This was Rinder’s second season at the same palatial and well-known hotel perched high above the principality and he arranged all nightly dances and the luxurious fetes that were given weekly.

The Riviera Palace Hotel, Beausoleil, Monte Carlo

Beausoleil.was established in the early 1900s at the same time as Monaco was becoming popular and like its neighbour became a luxurious and exclusive resort frequented by the elite of Europe’s aristocracy. The man responsible for its development was Camille Blanc, a successful business man, mayor and president of the company responsible for much of Monaco’s prestige buildings, including the Monte Carlo casino. He also owned a string of international prestige hotels and the Orient Express and was responsible for the concept of the Riviera Palace hotel.

The architect was Georges Paul Chedanne who had created the grand hotels on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. Gustave Eiffel, of the tower fame, designed the glass arboritum to protect clients from the occasional downside of winter weather. Built 180 metres above sea level the Riviera Palace hotel had exceptional and panoramic views and was very grand.

Monte Carlo had the reputation of attracting all the world’s rich moneyed aristocracies, who were seeking new amusements. As a result skilful dancers at the gilded hotel places made good money. Rinder had chosen well and with his new partner they became one of the hotest ‘sights’ on the Riviera.

May Vivian had rooms at the Riviera Palace hotel and besides regularly dancing in the evening, appeared at tea dances in the afternoon and sometimes during the day gave private lessons. In the course of her work she made the acquaintance of a young Italian called Vincenzo (Vincent) Sirello. He was about nineteen and a fine looking young man and had dancing engagements at various other hotels under the name of Resley but was also floor dancer under Mr Rinder at the Riviera Palace.

Sirello courted the dancer and and became infatuated with her charm and beauty. At first she did not resent his admiration as she was seen having supper with him but quarrels were frequent because of her many other admirers. According to friends later, he fell in love with her and begged her to marry him. She told him he was silly and would always turn the conversation away from such talk. Interestingly, she wrote to her parents and made reference to an Italian suitor who was pressing his attentions upon her to her annoyance.

She was also warned by friends or Rinder himself ‘be very careful with these Italians. They are fiery tempered, jealous and cruel. When they love a girl they are blind. It is in their latin disposition to be that way. When you pick up an Italian paper you will always find that there is at least one case a day where a man has killed his wife or girl our of jealousy. And you also find that their courts acquit these crimes on the basis that ‘passion’ is the motive.’

Michael Rinder and May VIvian

As her success became more pronounced Sirello lost his gaiety and he became jealous when Rinder danced with her and on occassions became aggressive and lost control. He made some violent scenes and accused her of being in love with her partner. It was impossible for her to calm him down.

Rinder told Vivian to steer clear of him. She allegedly said ‘I am mistress of my own soul. I am not going to say I shall not see him again. I am not in love but only sorry for him.’ For a while Sirello kept out of the way and she thought things were over and done with. Then one night May Vivian found him outside the lift gates on the top floor of her hotel as she was going to her room. He clutched her throat and forced her back over some narrow iron banisters with a 250 ft drop to the bottom of the lift shaft. She screamed and fortunately an attendant hearing her cries dashed up, caught hold of her and dragged her back to safety as Sirello fled.

The next day after this violent scene she met with Sirello and told him that their friendship must end. She told him coolly that she would never be able to love him or care for him and that from then on his advances were no longer to be endured.

It became torture for Sirello to have to dance wit her during day and be unable even to kiss her after the dance. One night while the smart crowd that formed the clientele of Riviera Hotel were anxiously waiting for the professionals to appear on the floor, the Italian entered the girls dressing room and told her ‘you will come back to me.’

WIthout turning around she said she did not have time to see him and asked him to kindly leave until she had finished dressing. But Sirello leapt across the room and seized her by the throat again and tried to strangle her and then to throw her out of the window. In the dance hall the drum roll announced their appearance and seeing they were not in sight the manager went to the room and was just in time to stop Sirello’s murderous designs. May Vivian was unconscious. She could not dance. The manager and Rinder discharged Sirello and May Vivian made no complaint.

The next day Sirello had not left the town and followed May Vivian everywhere she went. She took things casually not at all alarmed to the surprise of friends.

In her last letter home May VIvian wrote ‘I have met some very charming people. Lord and lady Weir left last week and I miss them very much. I have had one two very nice presents – wonderful perfumes and a very sweet little bag in red marble and enamel. Michael and I are trying to get fixed for coming back to London. It will be sometime in April.’

The following day (sometime in mid March) there was a gala dinner event at the Riviera Palace in the midst of which May Vivian appeared with Rinder. Afterward she went for dinner with Rinder and two other friends the famous dancing duo Marjorie Moss and Georges Fontana (performing at the salubrious Hotel Metropole) at the Carlton Hotel in Monte Carlo. While they were sitting having supper and having drinks Sirello came in and watched May Vivian intently but eventually left.
‘I am afraid for you’ one of them said
‘I cannot understand the look in his eyes’ said the other.
May Vivian was extraordinary gay and happy throughout, despite her friends concern and fear.

In the early morning sometime between 3- 4am the party decided to go for a drive and then back to their respective hotels with the Riviera Palace the first stop. It was a beautiful morning and the air was full with the perfume of mimosa and roses. And they enjoyed the wonderful scenary and the sunrise during their drive. The conversation was jolly.

Suddenly about a hundred years away from the gates of the Riviera Palace Hotel, Sirello appeared out of nowhere and jumped on the foot board of the car. The driver of the car presumably stopped the car and through the open window Sirello said he wanted to talk to May Vivian but before anything was said he quickly pulled out a revolver and shot May Vivian at almost point blank range three times in he head. There were screams and she fell to the floor of the cab covered with blood. One bullet had entered her temple on one side coming out under her ear to enter Rinders nose below the eye.

Sirello immediately fled immediately and disappeared in the dark. May Vivian was attended to at once by the occupants of the car and the driver sped to the nearby hotel, where she was gently lifted out of the car and carried into the hotel lounge but died one hour later without recovering consciousness. Rinder’s wound, that had first appeared serious was later seen to be mild.

Sirello in the meantime called into a friend’s house to say he had killed the girl he loved so much and said he was going to commit suicide. The friend told him to surrender to the police but he fled. He was later caught and arrested.

As news of her murder travelled the globe at first the bare facts were released and there was no hint of the quite extraordinary tragic romance which lay hidden behind the pistol shot which ended May Vivian’s life and career. Then, as her friends and family were interviewed, letters unearthed and more detail was revealed, further stories appeared digging a little deeper into her life and the full significance of her death. The most important revelation of course was of her earlier romance with the unnamed heir to a peerage and his cruel and dismissive treatment of her.

But of course not all of the coverage was good or well balanced. Rather nastily, the scurillously tabloid American Weekly decided that May Vivian had in fact planned her own murder. ‘Heartbroken, eager to die but forbidden by her conscience to commit suicide, May Vivian lures a jealous lover to shoot her’ was their provocative headline. The gist of their assessment was that she deliberately entranced Sirello to become mad with passion because she could see that it needed only the spark of jealousy to kindle his infatuation into a flame of murder. Thus in a roundabout way she could end her life. ‘Had she figured out what the outcome of this Riviera romance would be? Her friends now feel sure she did. True enough she did not seem to be afraid of him despite the warnings. True enough she had often said and repeated that there was nothing more for her in the world.’ As far as I can see there is no substance to this whatsoever and just a lurid attempt to grab headlines and sell papers.

On the other hand The Illustrated Sunday Herald was rather hysterical with a headline that shouted ‘Dangers that beset pretty dancers.’ It thought that the Beausoliel district of Monte Carlo was what Montmartre was to Paris: the centre of seamy night life and after dark its network of hilly streets, honeycombed with low-class bars, restaurants and cafes, was the resort of undesirables and shady characters, many of whom have been expelled from Monte Carlo itself. They believed that despite the hectic spirit of flashy gaiety, Monte Carlo was unreal and vulgar and the atmosphere as unscrupulous as it was decadent. In the Casino millions of francs are lost and won and money has ceased to have any sense of value. Morals follow suit and cease to have any value either and thus the place was full of people with no scruples.

With regard May Vivian’s murder they were of the opinion that if a young girl found themselves on the nasty Riviera and being chased by a foreigner whose affections they do not want to reciprocate, she should get out of his way as quickly as possible.

‘Certain foreigners look on all pretty woman as their lawful prey and a rebuff is regarded as an insult. Who has not seen that unmistakable leer in the eyes of dark haired, well dressed southerners in the lounges and palm courts of first class foreign hotels when a pretty girl passes them? And fair haired English girls they seem to find peculiarly attractive. The attitude towards the female sex is in this case something wholly different from the vulgar, comparatively harmless girl chasing manoeuvres at a British seaside resort. It can be very grim, very loathsome. There is intrigue and adventure in the relation of the sexes in England, but murder as the result of frustrated passion is a very rare. On the continent it is not so, because the Continent and in particular that unhealthy part of it where this poor girl was done to death is hopelessly over-sexed. Sex mania flourishes like a foul miasma over a swamp. It should not be so easy for our young countrywomen to lay themselves open to the infection.’ The feature was remarkable since it completely denegrated ‘foreigners’ and Monte Carlo in general, providing a very interesting view of English snobbery and xenophobia at the time.

May Vivian was buried in Nice, a large attendance gathered at the funeral and it took three carriages to carry the flowers. Presumably Vincent Sirello was apprehended and imprisoned. The identity of her English suitor, and heir to a peerage was never revealed or hinted at.

Mae West’s gowns for She Done Him Wrong (1933) the film version of Diamond Lil (1928) seemingly caused a sensation at the time. But what is the story behind them? And who created them?

A portrait of Mae West

During the summer of 1932, Mae West arrived in Hollywood to work at Paramount studios and subsequently scored a huge hit with She Done Him Wrong the film version of Diamond Lil. As early as 1930 Universal pictures had considered transferring Mae West’s Diamond Lil to the screen but it was one of those properties that was firmly on the industry’s banned list.

Then in the summer of 1932 George Raft, the ex-gangster and rising matinee star at Paramount, pursuaded the producer William Le Baron to skip Texas Guinan in favour of securing Mae West as a character player in his nightclub melodrama Night After Night. Raft had known Mae West from his days in New York working for Owney Madden who had been a major financier of Diamond Lil and knew that she would be perfect in the part. As result Mae was signed to a contract and left New York on 16 June 1932 for Hollywood and moved into an apartment at the Ravenswood, which she would retain until her death. Mae altered her role in Night After Night and upstaged all the other players during filming in August but earnt the respect of many of Paramount’s employees for her professionalism and when the film was released on 29th October 1932 it was a smash hit.

This success contributed to Paramount’s decision to go ahead and film Diamond Lil. Despite opposition from within the industry and the Hays office shooting began in late November 1932. Released in February 1933, She Done Him Wrong was so successful that it virtually saved the ailing Paramount Studios from bankrupcy. Mae had become an invaluable asset and one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. One of the major facets of Mae West’s adaptation of Diamond Lil for Paramount was the impact of the 1890 fashions, which were admired the world over ‘as a direct result of her beautiful gowns…. woman of fashionable society on two continents are following the style of a motion picture star for the first time in fashion history. Gone are the modes that emphasized narrow hips. Forgotten are the diets that put slimness above good health. Women are women once more – all because of Mae West.’

Even Mae West herself was ebullient about her fashion contribution ‘the film She Done Him Wrong changed the fashions of two continents. The styles of the gay nineties became the rage’ she insisted emphatically. The story has often been repeated that the huge success of She Done Him Wrong with Mae West’s glamorous 1890s outfits started a fashion craze amongst the leading Parisian designers. ‘For the first time Paris was willing to admit that they were copying their styles from Hollywood.’

Schiaparelli, Patou and Mainbocher allegedy saw the movie several times and were so enchanted with Mae West’s feminine attire that they advocated a return to the curvaceous feminity of an early era abandoning the androgynous and mannish styles of the 1920s. Variety confirmed this view by reporting that ‘Paris saw the picture and went wild about it….the result was the greatest style revolution in thirty years. And Mae West is the woman responsible for it all.’ Of course this was vigorously denied by the Parisian designers in question.

Poster for She Done Him Wrong

The assessment of fashion trends in Europe and elsewhere by Paramount and Mae West herself is a matter of contention since it is generally accepted that the boyish, tubular look was gradually abandoned by many European designers toward the end of the 20s in favour of a more feminine line that included full length gowns and backless and off-the-shoulder features. The return to genuine feminity emphasing curves and the natural figure had already been foretold before the advent of Mae West’s screen career. Patou claimed credit for the longer skirt and the abolition of the boyish figure in the late 1920s but so did Norman Hartnell who claimed to have created a stir at his first Parisian show in August 1927 by de-flapping the flapper with the re-introduction of the long dress. Whilst Elsa Schiaparelli had also voiced her opinion at the end of the 1920s that figure and shape had to be restored.

What Mae West’s screen costumes in fact achieved was a greater degree of legitimacy for a return to the feminine form in fashion and popularised some of the more extreme aspects of 1890s attire that were toyed with by Paris. As a result the tightly laced corset, long feather boas, princess line gowns, large feather laden picture hats and leg of mutton sleeves were absorbed to some degree into contemporary styles along with the revival of a range of accessories such as hats, capes, gloves, jewellery and furs.

So who was responsible for Mae West’s gowns in She Done Him Wrong, which clearly had a major impact on Hollywood costume design and fashion in general? The answer alas, is far from clear. Edith Head asserted she was the designer, other researchers assign the credit to Travis Banton and Paramount itself remain enigmatic. What is significant and very strange is that unusally the film does not carry a screen credit for costume design. Edith Head was clear about what happened ‘Travis Banton was on vacation in Paris. Mae West came to the studio. We could not wait for him to come back, so I did the clothes. They not only became a style, but it was the only time that Paris admitted that there was a Hollywood. They didn’t mention the designer, but they said ‘Le style Mae West, c’est magnifique!’ It became the rage to have hourglass figures, feather boas and all that stuff. This was an amusing gay, camp kind of thing and Paris was amused by it. But it was definately not fashion.’

Robert La Vine re-inforced Head’s claim ‘when Banton left the studio for a buying spree in Paris, the responsibilities shouldered by his assistant (Edith Head) included the costuming of Mae West in She Done Him Wrong. Although West’s hourglass figure had already been well established, Head’s gowns continued to play up the actress as the screen’s super courtesan. With her pouter-pigeon bosom and generous hips relentlessly boned and corseted, West made movie history.’

However, the press kit for I’m No Angel depicted a different story ‘Mae West has always admired the lovely. alluring curves of the Gay Nineties. She introduced them to New York society about five years ago when she staged Diamond Lil. But at the time New York was unprepared for the hour glass waist, the curvacious sweeping the floor jewel embroidered gown. ‘I was simply dressing in a way that would show my own rounded figure’ Miss West declares. ‘Naturally I selected gowns that would show me off to the best advantage.’ At any rate, at the time she went to Dorothy Tree, well known theatrical designer, who planned them according to her suggestions from gowns worn thirty years ago by Mrs John Jacob Astor and the late Lillian Russell. Then came She Done Him Wrong in the motion pictures. Travis Banton famous Paramount designer, created new styles in addition to the gowns planned by Dorothy (Dolly) Tree.’

Poster for She Done Him Worng

Given that Edith Head was quite convinced that she had designed Mae West’s gowns, why should Paramount’s publicity department insist that the job was done by Travis Banton and why did they make it abundantly clear that it was Dolly Tree who created the unique Mae West image in the first place? And finally, what does the comment that Banton ‘created new styles in addition to the gowns planned by Dorothy Tree’ actually mean?

Initially, Tom Tierney who re-evaluated the evidence when preparing an unpublished book on Hollywood costume design, was convinced that there was some strange goings-on with regard to the costuming of She Done Him Wrong. He believed that ‘Banton based his designs on those which Dolly Tree had done for the Broadway production. Edith Head was brought into the picture because Miss West objected to Travis Banton designing her costumes because his uncle was the judge who had sent her to jail for her lewdness conviction for the stage production of Sex. I dearly doubt that Edith designed anything for that production (although she always listed it in her credits) but was merely the studio’s ‘designer of credit’ to appease Miss West.’ In later conversations Tierney believed that Dolly Tree could have been brought into Paramount on Mae West’s insistance to recreate her Diamond Lil gowns for the screen and that neither Travis Banton or Edith Head were involved but in the end no-one got screen credit and ‘Dolly got aced out by studio politics.’ This is not inconceivable since the filming of She Done Him Wrong took place from 21 November to December 1932, pre-production would have taken place from September and Dolly Tree was available for freelance work at this time since her contract at Fox expired 14 October 1931 and she did not start at MGM until early 1933.

There were in fact at least seven changes of costume for Mae West in She Done Him Wrong as opposed to five in Diamond Lil and although each outfit was from new designs they were very clearly based on the set styles of the original stage costumes. The one big difference was that for the screen the issue of modesty became an issue so that the original strapless and low cleavage gowns for the stage were modified with more fabric covering what must be covered along with the addition of ruffles to be less revealing for the censors.

Whatever happened it was Dolly Tree and not Travis Banton or Edith Head that created the timeless Mae West ‘look’ first seen in the costumes for the stage production of Diamond Lil. If indeed she was not brought into Paramount it still doesn’t alter the fact that either Head or Banton adapted Dolly Tree’s basic Mae West style formulae for the screen and then claimed all the credit. Why else would it be mentioned in the press kit? The importance of this issue is highlighted by a pertinent comment from Norman Norrell who felt that Travis Banton is underrated and that his talent surpassed Adrian’s, since Banton’s costumes were timeless and established many famous images as with the Mae West look. Banton’s talent was no doubt equal to Adrian’s but Norrell has missed the point – on this particular score Norell should be praising Dolly Tree and it is she who has been underrated.

Costumes for Mae West in Diamond Lil

Costumes for Mae West in She Done Him Wrong

One of the premier locations in Europe in the 1920s and the show piece of Ostende was the magnificently appointed Kursaal entertainment complex.

The Kursaal, Ostende

The Casino Kursaal situated on the Digue, the chief promenade, was without doubt a pleasure palace without equal and was described as ‘the great, soul searching, musical stage of the world’s finest artists’. The original Kursaal was a timber framed building built in 1852 and designed by Hendrik Bevaert. The second building erected in 1865 was stone built with oriental cupolas and domes. In the third phase the old building was demolished and in 1875 the architect Alban Chambon created an Oriental fairy tale palace in a magnificent Byzantine style.

Lavishly decorated it comprised a huge concert hall with a capacity of 6,000 used by a sympony orchestra of 125 besides a restaurant, café, ballroom, shops, post office, rooms for reading room, billiard room, casino or gaming room, a large exhibition room and the tastefully decorated Leopold 11 saloon.

The Kursaal thereafter became the centre of fashionable life in Ostende but its prestige really took off in the 1920s under the direction of Edmund Sayag who had taken responsible for revitalising Ostende after the destruction of the First World War. He became renowned for staging spectacular summer shows during the height of the season usually from the end of May to the end of September.

An interior view of the Kursaal

For example, the 1924 season started in July with the dancing of Joan Pickering and Dany Fer, followed in August by the introduction of the famous Midnight Follies cabaret direct from the Hotel Metropole in London featuring the dancing of Moss and Fontana. The Salle des Ambassadeurs within the Kursaal complex was transformed into a gorgeous Chinese temple with huge Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling and green red and gold dragons everywhere. Then in September, Sayag imported the Moonlight Folie cabaret from the Queen’s Hall Roof, London featuring the dancing of Divina and Charles.

Throughout the summer other acts appeared including the dancing of the celebrated international dancing team Maurice and Leonora Hughes, the singing of Raquel Meller, and performances from Harry Pilcer and Little Tich.

In the summer of 1926 Sayag presented an amazing array of talent. Throughout the summer the Jazz bands of Paul Whiteman and Irving Aaronson and his Commanders played continuously. From 24th July for four-weeks he offered Edward Dolly’s Dolly’s Revels starring the Dolly Sisters, Gaston and Andre, Fred Sylvester, Steele and Winslow, Evie Lynn and Henry de Bray and the twelve Dolly girls. With seventy-five original costume designs by Dolly Tree it must have been a staggeringly sumptuous show. The second big show featuring Florence Mills and her Blackbirds troupe from Paris commenced a run of several weeks from 12th August.

In the famous Salle des Ambassadeurs, Sayag presented Anna Pavlova and her ballet and through the rest of the summer he also featured other acts including the dancing of Cortez and Peggy, Florence Walton and Leon Leitrim and Lester Allen and Nellie Breen, along with the singing of the tenor Martinelli and one again Raquel Meller.

Take a look at the page about the Edmund Sayag


Take a look at the page about Ostende La Reine Des Plages


Take a look at the page about Moss and Fontana


Take a look at the page about Edward Dolly

Affectionately called ‘La Reine Des Plages’ (Queen of the beaches), Ostende developed into one of the most important beach resorts in Northern Europe and was greatly favoured by the British. But during the First World War it was in the front line and suffered. As the 1920s dawned it made a comeback and attracted an international and cosmopolitan clientele that rivalled other fashionable places like Deauville and Biarritz.

A poster for Ostende

The playground of aristocrats and the crowned heads of Europe the seaside resort of Ostend combined all the elements of climate, comfort and pleasure with a sandy beach, pretty parks, squares and avenues, numerous entertainments and a beautiful promenade with sumptuous waterfront buildings and luxurious hotels.

Set half way along the forty mile Belgian coastline, Ostende was originally a small fishing village. The city was protected from the North Sea by a series of large dikes built in the late 14th century but its importance as a harbour rose in the 18th and 19th centuries, and a railway link to Brussels was built in 1838. At the same time it allure as a seaside retreat grew and when Kings Leopold I and II spent their summers there it became even more fashionable. In 1846 it became a transit harbour to England, sending its first ferry boat to Dover. The British love affair with the seaside resonated with this development and eventually hundreds of passengers travelled between Ostende and England in a space of just two hours, which made it a perfect long weekend destination for British travelers in search of slightly ‘foreign’ flavour. Indeed, it was British demand that helped stimulate the growth of Ostende and it became one of the most cosmopolitan and popular of European resorts by the turn of the century.

The First World War caused serious damage to Ostende but shortly afterward the business entrepeneur Edmund Sayag took charge of revitalising the resort and within a few years it was flourishing even more so than before with nearly one million visitors per year. In the 1921 season over 50% of visitors were Belgian, 30% British and nearly 17% French. By 1931 the statistics had changed with the British predominating with 41% , 40% Belgian and only 10% French. Sayag did such a good job that in the mid 20s Ostende was being described as ‘the most aristocratic Belgian seaside resort’ and Americans called it the Atlantic City of Belgium.

A view of the promenade at Ostende

Getting to Ostende was straightforward. As a port and major fishing centre, Ostende had a modern, well equipped harbour with a series of docks that could accommodate the most modern merchant vessels.It was also a train hub. There was a Southern Railway boat and rail service between Dover and Ostend with two express services in each direction throughout the year. The journey from London took six hours with only two hours on the boat itself. Ostende was also the starting point for a variety of express trains to all parts of Europe. There was a regular service
to Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, Brussels and Antwerp and it took two hours to get to Brussels and six to Paris.

Although Ostende was a place to visit most of the spring and summer it was at the height of the season during June to August that it became a cosmopolitan assemblage of rank, fashion and beauty. Deauville, long the champion of society throughout August soon learned that a visit to Ostend was added before or after its season.

The sea air was invigorating and deemed to be a restorative of lost strength and shattered health and excellent for recuperation. Ostend also had mineral springs with remarkable properties. The spring in the park was taken from an artisan well bored out in 1858-9. It was impregnated with chlorinated sodium sulphide, alkali, arsenic, lithia, silicate and borate and regarded as a valuable combination in the treatment of various ailments and so was considered to be one of the most remarkable spa sources in Europe.

The esplanade or promenade (called the Digue) was an unrivalled edifice and was a paved walk way about 100 feet wide which followed the coast as far as Westende – a length of 12 miles. It looked out over the North sea and a glorious, expansive sandy beach that extended for miles and was covered with bathing machines painted white with black stripes that were towed into the sea by Flanders horses (miniature wooden houses on wheels). The playing sands were ever animated and ever picturesque.

Another view of the promenade at Ostende

All along the promenade were magnificent hotels, splendid palatial residences and pretty private houses for the rich with every modern convenience and boarding houses for the less fortunate. One of the most salubrious place was the Royal Palace hotel on the Digue (at end of Rue de l’Hippodrome and the rue de l’Hotel) was a palatial establishment situated between the racecourse and the sea front and was only open during the summer with a luxurious restaurant, concert hall and gardens. Other notable establishments included the Royal Phare hotel and restaurant (with 150 apartments, a salle de danse and an American bar); Helvetia Hotel, Digue (40 rooms with restaurant and terrace facing the sea); Westminster Hotel, 22 Boulevard Van Iseghem (40 rooms and restaurant); Hotel Continental, Digue; Wellington and Globe Hotel, Digue (100 rooms with restaurant); The Grand Hotel, Digue; Continental Hotel; the Grand Hotel; the Splendid Hotel; the Majestic Palace Hotel; the Ocean Hotel with the Carlton restaurant and the Grand Hotel Osborne.

There were extensive shopping opportunities especially on the Rue de la Chapelle which was the main artery leading from the station to the Digue. Almost every conceivable type of shop was there from ladies or gentleman attire to souvenir shops and bazaars. Other interesting streets for shops were the Rue Adolph Buyl, Rue de Flandre, Boulevard Van Iseghem and Rue Longue.

There were many lovely restaurants and tea rooms including the tea room at the Bouguet Royal just opposite the main bathing sands. There was also a rather wonderful establishment called Femina Dancing at 7 Rue de Flandre, that was described as a smart, high class rendezvous and seemingly was a form of nightclub with refreshments, dancing, music and some form of entertainement. However, the most important entertainment edifice was the vast and impressive Kursaal complex which contained every conceivable facility and became one of the most prestigious venues in Europe in the mid 1920s.

Throughout the season there were endless society events in all the hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues that included balls, bouquet and fan competitons, beauty shows, festivals, bazaars, fancy-fairs, firework displays and floral processions. Horse racing at the Hippodrome Wellington formed one of the big events and on the outskirts of the race course were to be found tennis courts, golf courses, butts for pigeon shooting and a polo ground, providing endless recreational activities for the more athletic and lively.

Generall acitivities included bathing, lying in the sunshine, strolls along the seafront, endless shopping, surfing, sailing, sampling the local cusine, gambling, watching horse racing and tours of the old town and fishing harbour. Also, it was the best place to start a visit to the Flanders battlefields.

A Map of Ostende

Take a look at the page about The Kursaal


Take a look at the page about Edmund Sayag

Poccardi’s was a Parisian institution and, at one time, the most famous Italian restaurant in Paris.

Advert for Poccardi Restaurant, Paris

The establishment was first opened at 12 Rue Favart opposite the entrance to the Opera Comique with dining rooms upstairs and downstairs along with various private rooms. Each room was offered the same menu and there were no variants in pricing. The upstairs room always seemed to preserve a little more select atmosphere and was regarded as ‘snugger’ with a more intimate and sophisticated atmosphere perfect for couples or small parties. It became the most favoured Italian restaurant in Paris with an exceptional cellar and highly regarded cusine. As one gourmet said ‘there is no establishment more popular or better filled that Poccardi’s.’

However, such was its popularity that it became difficult to dine in peace and comfort as the atmosphere was ardent, the tables thronged with people and the din immense. At times the restaurant even overflowed onto the boulevard.

Another, much larger and sumptuously decorated branch was soon opened situated rather appropriately at 9 Boulevard des Italiens with a bar at 36 Rue Saint Marc. This became equally popular and during Expo ’25 it became an exotic attraction for visitors and certainly after 1925 is was greatly more in vogue.

A typical dinner began with a range of hors d’oeuvres washed down with a sparkling Lacrima Crisiti Rose. Moving onto the Chianti there would have been an extensive menu of minestone soup, lobster Fra Diavolo, linguine with red clam sauce, thick country bread and shaved Parmesan cheese, mini calzones, eggplant Parmigiana, grilled Italian sausage and Veal Sorrentino. Lastly, a simple zabaglione and then cheeses with some delightful dessert wine.

The exterior of Poccardi restaurant

Interior of Poccardi restaurant

Like so many other gourmet palaces its former glory is long gone and it is now part of the modern fondness of chains that eradicate individuality, this one called Bistro Romain.

Marjorie Moss and Georges Fontana were the most graceful and sought after British dancing duo in the 1920s. They secured high praise in London and Paris before conquering New York and were regarded by some as ‘the greatest pair of dancers since the Vernon Castles.’

Moss and Fontana. London 1923

As a young girl, Marjorie Violet (Mollie) Moss (born 1893) attended classes with the legendary ballet dancer Pavlova at Ivy House in 1913. Here she met the dancer Phyllis Bedells who took her under her wing. When Pavolva left London, Mollie Moss became one of Bedell’s special pupils and performed for the first time in The Vine produced 22nd March 1915 at the Empire Theatre. Bedell trained Moss as her understudy and described her as having ‘flaxen curls and a simple charm.’ It is believed that Moss also served an apprenticeship with the Theodore Kosloff Company. She was tiny, fragile and delicate and in later life emerged having a limitless capacity to socialise. Although she liked to keep her early life a secret you couldn’t help notice her cockney accent.

Nothing is known about Georges Fontana’s early life but his career appears to have begun in the summer of 1919 when he was dancing at charity events with a certain ‘Olga’ and appearing in The Girl for the Boy at the Duke of Yorks theatre. However, by the autumn he had partnered with Marjorie Moss and they were appearing daily at midnight to huge applause at the Grafton Galleries, in Grafton Street, the Valhalla of dance clubs, giving an exhibition of ballroom and novelty dances including the tango and shimmy. Of their Valse, Dancing Times said that it was ‘without doubt the best exhibition number I have seen and is exceedingly well rendered by these two…. the acrobatic portion of the number is restrained and dainty and executed without effort.’ They were a perfect match.

The couple moved on in early 1920 to the Trocedero Restaurant in Piccadilly – another late night rendezvous and a popular after-the-theatre supper and dancing club. Here they danced daily from 11.30pm for a long extended season until Moss fell ill. This was a recurrent problem for many years to come, as she was frail and susceptible to illness. By the summer she had recovered and they began a six week season at the Casino at Spa, Belgium from the middle of July and dressed in oriental attire in one number they delighted audiences with their character dances. Moss thought that ‘the dancing here is not very good…’ but they delighted in teaching new steps to everyone.

Moss and Fontana dancing a Valse

On their return to London that autumn they stepped into a featured slot at the new cabaret show at Murray’s night Club in Beak Street and also returned to the Grafton Galleries. Their appeal and popularity was blossoming and they accepted an amazing array of offers for 1921. As Phyllis Bedells said ‘they owed a great and international popularity to the delightful way they had adapted the technique of classical ballet to the ballroom.’

In early 1921 they took the Riviera by storm with their grace and panache and entertained the elite of European society at the Cannes Casino to the music of Billy Arnold’s band. Their success was so great that their engagement was extended until the end of the season on 2nd April. Moving to Paris they danced for a variety of private parties including one for the American Ambassador Hughes Wallace before commencing a season in the ballroom of the salubrious Claridge’s Hotel on the Champs Elysees from 25th May for a month. The hotel was always filled with a smart crowd both afternoon and evening particularly on Tuesdays and Fridays, which were the gala nights. Their dancing, once again to the music of Billy Arnold’s band, apparently sent the Parisians and the Americans into ecstasy.

Dancing Times observed ‘there is very little of ballroom dancing in their work. In this they differ entirely from such world famous couples as the Castles and Maurice and Florence Walton. These two have evolved a style of their own which is rapidly finding many imitators. Light as a feather and graceful as a bird on the wind, Miss Moss’s grand jete en l’air as she is raised from the floor without the semblance of an effort by Mr Fontana is one of the most beautiful things to be seen in dancing today….. though they dance in the ballroom they are not ballroom dancers and though they generally wear the ordinary evening dress of the smart man and woman of today, theirs is the true spirit of the dance which will endure for all time.’

Moss and Fontana

As the season moved forward Moss and Fontana followed Billy Arnold and Varaldi and their bands from Claridge’s in Paris to the Deauville Casino during the August season, where dance, teas, dance suppers and dance dinners were held daily. The rest of the year was spent back at Claridge’s, Paris where they delighted Parisians with amongst other things a Bacchanalian dance.

They were back at the Cannes Casino in early 1922 along with Billy Arnold’s Band and enjoyed all the glittering galas including a Fete au Clair de Lune where they were dressed in Pierrot and Pierette costumes, Fete au village dressed as peasants with a village dance, Fete aux Indes with an oriental dance, Fete des Oiseaux and Fete au Zulu. They were described as ‘the most graceful couple seen dancing on the Riviera.’ Moving back to London, they completed a two-month engagement at the elite Embassy Club in Bond Street and filled the place to overflowing. They were such a draw that Dancing Times exclaimed ‘I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that when the Tatler described them as ‘the greatest pair dancers since the Vernon Castles’ it was correct. There is no couple which can do such a spin as these two.’ At a Tango Ball held at the Princes Galleries on 18th May they demonstrated a correct ballroom tango that was regarded the most instructive ever.

Sadly, Marjorie Moss fell ill again and had to undergo an operation on 12th June cancelling the final three weeks at the Embassy and their forthcoming Deauville engagement. Her recuperation period was long and in the interim, Fontana danced with Olivette (who was his wife and ran a dancing academy in Bond Street) at Murray’s Club.

By the Spring of 1923 the team re-appeared and commenced a month long engagement at Ciro’s London branch on 2nd March to much adulation ‘these two are without doubt the most attractive exhibition dancing couple now performing in Europe.’ They were soon back on the circuit and in Paris performed at Harry Pilcer’s Les Acacias night-spot for six weeks, before dancing at the Pre-Catalan summer resort in the Bois de Bologne. The Parisian society fixer, M. Andre de Fouquires paid them a handsome compliment by saying ‘with them it is the art of dancing seen in all its beauty.’

Moss and Fontana in the Midnight Follies

From mid-July to the end of the year they were the stars of a new edition of Carl Hyson’s sumptuous cabaret the Midnight Follies at the Hotel Metropole, one of the largest and most popular shows in London. During the winter Hyson transfer the show to the Restaurant Des Ambassadeurs in the Hotel Metropole, Monte Carlo in early 1924. One of their character numbers was a poupee dance in which Fontana was the blackist of golliwogs and Marjorie Moss a darling girl baby doll. As usual there was high praise ‘seldom has any exhibition dancing received so much applause.’ Further appreciation was rapturous saying their work demonstrated ‘sheer beauty and grace.’

Serge Diaghileff went specially to see them and was captivated. He went back several times taking Mlle Nijinska, his maitre de ballet and all his principals. He was so delighted with what he saw that he announced that he was contemplating producing a ballet in which the dances will be modelled after their style of dancing.

During April, on their return to London via Paris they danced for a short season at the fashionable Le Perroquet in Paris above the foyer of the famous Casino de Paris music hall and at the beginning of May opened in Carl Hyson’s Spring edition of the Midnight Follies at the Hotel Metropole. They also conducted daily tea dances and a series of Dinners Fleuris held every Sunday that were modelled on those given in the Ambassadeur Restaurant in Monte Carlo. The first was called ‘Un Soir a la Nagasaki’ where they performed in a bower of mauve wisteria while the restaurant was lit by dozens of tiny Japanese lanterns and the tables decorated with sprigs of almond, cherry and apple blossoms.

During the summer, when most of London cabaret’s closed, they passed through Paris on route to Aix-Le-Bains where they were the star attraction at the Villa Des Fleurs. For one gala called Les Venus Poudrees the ballroom was transformed with white decor and a white ballet was given along with Moss and Fontana performing as a white Pierrot and Columbine. They returned to London for the autumn season in the Midnight Follies but were then made an offer by the American booking agent E. Ray Goetz who believed he could get them added to a Florenz Ziegfeld show. In early November they sailed for America arriving in New York 15th November. Since no show appearance materialised they performed at the Beaux Arts and fulfilled a series of engagements at private houses. Then on 7th January they made their debut at the Club Mirador at 51st and 7th street, a venue co-owned by Goetz. The Mirador became the smartest New York rendezvous, with sky high prices and waiters and bus boys from noble families who could speak three languages without errors. Moss and Fontana were hailed unanimously as the greatest dancers that America had seen since the Castles.

Moss and Fontana dancing at Club Mirador

In the summer of 1925 they were back in Europe and spent a long season at Harry Pilcer’s Acacias night club before returning to America and Club Mirador. Eventually, they were placed in the Charles Dillingham show Sunny. Once again they caused a sensation ‘Miss Moss possesses the grace of Pavlova and the fire of Bernhardt. Mr Fontana is incomparable both as a dancer and actor.’ In the winter they made a trip to Miami Florida, a location that was becoming a winter resort par excellence shadowing Newport and other traditional vacation spots. Here on the oceanfront was a vast, luxurious houseboat with a restaurant, cafe, veranda, ballroom and apartments and Moss and Fontana were the star attraction onboard. They arrived back in New York at the beginning of April to appear again at Club Mirador for several weeks before returning to Europe. They danced at Edmund Sayag’s Ambassadeur’s theatre-restaurant in Paris for two weeks before transferring to his Kursaal pleasure palace at Ostend and then back to the Champs Elysee Music Hall in Paris and Le Perroquet from the autumn. They had a triumph with the usual glowing praise stressing the class and personality of their performance.

Back in London, toward the end of the year they starred in the new Midnight Follies show at the Hotel Metropole, this time produced by Cyril Richard and Quentin Todd. But then, once again, shortly after opening, disaster struck and poor Marjorie Moss was struck down with pleurisy on 9th December. She was sent to Chamounix in France to recuperate for a long period in early 1927 and this meant the abandonment of their Club Mirador contract in New York that had been due to start in May.

It was not until September 1927 that Marjorie had recovered sufficiently for her to resume her career. Moss and Fontana made their debut at Le Perroquet in Paris in September before opening at the Club Lido in New York in early October. Their success was once again phenomenal and they created an absolute furore through the spring of 1928 and even doubled up in vaudeville appearing at Keith’s Palace Theatre performing their rendition of El Tango Tragico. Here they received their first snub with Variety saying that since they were only ballroom dancers, they lacked sensationalism and were unsuitable for vaudeville but thought they looked good as ‘eye fillers with a good set and fetching costumes.’ Later in the year, along with Beatrice Lillie they were the stars of Charles Cochran’s New York run of This Year of Grace at the Selwyn Theatre.

Moss and Fontana in New York, 1928

Their popularity throughout 1929 and 1930 at the Club Lido continued and the venue became the favourite gathering place of the ultra sophisticated New York crowd. They performed three dances nightly ‘showing the last gasp in gracefulness, costuming and co-operation, still right on top of their profession and rate $1,700 weekly, a certain class draw.’ In the spring of 1930, Moss and Fontana were also the stars of Lew Leslie’s International Revue, an extravagant production launched at the Majestic Theatre. But it was costly, unwieldy and overlong and only ran for 12 weeks.

After this Moss and Fontana’s busy schedule slowed down, Late in 1930 Marjorie Moss conducted a dance studio in conjunction with the hat-shop of Princess Francesco Rospigliosi although she performed with Fontana in Sweet and Low, Billy Rose’s production at the Chanin’s 46th St Theatre. In early 1931 they were back in London for a short visit and were appearing at the famous Kit Kat Club in the Haymarket, but this appears to have been their last engagement together and Marjorie was soon back in New York. One of her good friends in New York was the show business socialite Mercedes de Acosta well known for numerous lesbian affairs with other leading female personalities. When Acosta gained a writing contract at RKO in Hollywood, she left for the West Coast with Marjorie. Still battling a recurrent respiratory condition, perhaps the climate was of benefit. Of course there were, and still are, rumours about their relationship.

In Hollywood Marjorie met fellow Brit, film director Edmund Goulding, and they became friends. According to Matthew Kennedy, Goulding’s biographer, Marjorie said she didn’t have any place to hold parties so he offered his house. He proposed and she said yes. It all happened very quickly and they were married in November 1931, to the great surprise of many. Louise Brooks claimed the hasty marriage was due to Marjorie’s tuberculosis and her uncertain future. For others it was simply a lavender marriage as after all most of their inner circle was gay. Whatever the truth of the relationship, Goulding cared for her but their time together was short since Marjorie’s TB accelerated and on 3 February 1935 she died.

Georges Fontana teamed with Anna Ludmila in early 1932 and appeared in New York, London and Paris for a few years but by 1934 he was dancing with an English girl called Connie Carpenter. He continued dancing through the 1930s and in March 1941 partnered the temperamental and legendary film star Mae Murray in a Merry Widow Waltz in Billy Rose’s new cabaret show at the Diamond Horseshoe in New York. He was last known to be running a lucrative liquor agency in 1946 and did not ‘worry a bit about his waistline.’

By the mid 1920s Europe and America were immersed in a ‘doll craze’. All smart women had to have a ‘poupee’ doll and they were seen everywhere. They were not played with but were decorative or used as an accessory and took many different forms with a huge range of styles and costumes.

Rosalind Boudoir Doll from Bonnie's Cat's Meow

Dolls have been in existence for thousands of years and were predominately used by children of the feminine persuasion, although women too were partial to their allure. Their appearance and dress changed throughout the centuries and usually reflected contemporary attire. During the Renaissance and thereafter, dolls dressed in the latest fashions were sent around the courts of Europe. To impress and as a talking point, women of means had elaborate doll houses made and they dressed their dolls in wide ranging costumes to show off their sewing skills and creativity. Later, leading up to World War 1, dolls become increasingly elaborate displaying both character and costume.

But after the war with society changing something happened in Paris with a Russian theme that ignited a fad. According to Susanna Oroyan the European art-doll phenomenon may have been the result of the fact that the war had destroyed social and economic traditions ‘youthful survivors found no ‘grown up’ established world of custom to fit back into so they continued to be the children they were before the war.’

At the end of the war and with the Versailles Peace Treaty the West was introduced to the mysterious and ‘exotic’ Slavic countries of Eastern Europe. Equally, the Russian revolution had precipitated a huge influx of Russian refugees in Paris. Suddenly there was a great demand grew for Slavic and Russian art, handicrafts and fashions. The energetic Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and other Russian refugees organised a charitable sale of Russian handicrafts in Paris and then London in early 1921 that included toys, embroidery, drawings, sculptures and clothing. Russian dolls were also prominent and some were used as tea cosies and others simply for interior décor. This exhibition highlighted the new émigré craft of rag doll making with Russian peasant clothing.

French girl with boudoir doll

Impetus to all things Russian was given by Nikita Balieff’s cabaret or variety troupe called La Chauve Souris, who had been immensely successful in Russia prior to the revolution. One of his more popular numbers was a Russian Doll number. In exile Balieff presented his shows in London and Paris before making it big in America in 1922 through the promoters Morris Gest and Clifford C. Fischer.

At the time the largest doll workshop in Paris run by Mrs Lazareva produced all kinds of dolls dressed in national or fashionable costume. The most avant-garde in style were created by the painter and sculptor Maria Vassilieff (another Russian refugee and a true modernist). In 1920 she collaborated with the couturier Paul Poiret creating a series of puppets for the first season of the Swedish Ballets Suedois. She also created the dolls that Paul Poiret gave away to clients that were dressed in the exact replicas of costumers new ensembles. Whether Poiret started this marketing ploy is not known since various other couture establishments did the same. Vassilieff was also one of the artists featured in Pavlovna’s handicraft exhibitions and no doubt featured her dolls. By 1924 they were so mainstream that the management of le Perroquet night-spot over the Casino de Paris foyer, that boasted the smartest crowd in Paris, gave each lady a beautifully dressed poupee (doll) as a souvenir.

Generically the dolls were called by various names that to some extent still endure today : art, portrait, boudoir, art deco, flapper, vamp, bed, smoker, salon or parlor dolls. These new dolls were different to what had been produced before as they were characterized by ornate, long limbs. long thin bodies, little hands and less ‘doll’ like, or ‘child’ like features or expressions; they had a stylized rather than a realistic appearance.

Cabaret artist Jean Rai with boudoir doll (1925)

The dolls varied in size from 24″ – 32″ with smaller dolls averaging 14″ – 18″ and were made out of a variety of media. The heads were usually of composition (sawdust mixed with a staying agent such as sugar water or starch placed in a mould) or of cloth or felt and some hands, feet and bodies were of composition too. Most of the bodies were soft of cloth or felt and stuffed with cotton. The composition heads were beautifully painted with blush and eye shadow, ‘bee stung’ red lips and even beauty marks. Hair was human, camel, mohair or silk strands.

There were hundreds of different styles and treatments that followed exotic, historical, theatrical, foreign, fantasy or mythological themes. More popular inspiration came from the Eighteenth century of the French court and Marie Antoinette, the Elizabethan or early Georgian period, the romantic styles of the 1840s, Napoleon’s first empire, Pier rot, Harlequin, and Commedia figures from the Italian theatre, contemporary flappers with cigarettes, harem girls and flamenco or apache dancers.

The trend of adopting these dolls appears to have started with the theatrical profession when dolls were created imitating great actresses and some actresses gave these portrait dolls to their co-workers. Later, they spread to society at large. As one contemporary commentator observed ‘we must have our little fads, otherwise life would jog along in too monotonous a fashion.’ Seemingly, most people ordered dolls for their own amusement. They were regarded as funny and their owners like to laugh at them and show them of to their friends. But equally they symbolized the rise of the new woman and epitomized a feminine dream of an adventurous, glamorous and more exciting new life. As Pat Brill (a boudoir collector) says ‘Here was a doll that represented all that was titillating and taboo and could be proudly displayed in their home particularly in the bedroom. The dolls were very tactile to the touch, so it easy to imagine a flapper enjoying playing, posing, cuddling and whispering secrets to her boudoir pal.’

Dress designer Dolly Tree with her boudoir dolls (1924)

Soon there were many companies making boudoir dolls including Le Poupees Gerb in Paris, the elegant creations from Lafitte Desirat and Italian dolls from Lenci a company started by Enrich and Elena Saving of Turin in 1920. There was a growth in ‘Functional boudoir dolls’ that included such things as cushions, doll lamps, night light dolls, doll head pillows, laundry bag dolls, candy box dolls, manicure doll, cigarette and pencil servers, door stops, incense burner, telephone cover dolls and handbags.

The fad in America quickly took hold. With prices in Europe at bargain levels, thousands of Americans flocked there particularly London and Paris (to escape prohibition too) and the women took back dolls. But America was also quick to make their own versions. In 1922 the Belgian sisters Helene and Mathilde Sardeau arrived in New York and began making dolls. One of the first dolls made was ordered by Eva Le Gallienne of Liliom (1921) fame and she gave it to Nazimova. Some dolls were made to represent stage characters or portrait dolls. For example Lenore Ulrie in the role of Kiki. (1921-22) Other notable customers included Elsie de Wolfe, Doris Keane, Carlotta Monterey, Natacha Rambova and Rudolph Valentino. The Valentino’s had 160 dolls made as props or advertising objects to send around for exhibition at theatres where their new films were to appear.

Other American toy and novelty companies followed suit and started to produce similar dolls including the Flapper Novelty Doll Company and Gerling Toy Company. McCall’s and other pattern companies also began to make both patterns for dolls and patterns for clothing.

Movie star Marie Provost with her boudoir doll

Of course the biggest impetus to the adoption of boudoir dolls was the effect of the movies and once the doll fad reached America, movie stars took them to heart. And as we know it was the movies that became the trendsetters in hairstyles, lifestyles and fashion. Soon Marlene Dietrich, Clara Bow and others were seen on the screen with their dolls and their fans were enchanted and copied them.

But not everyone was amused. The fad amongst London’s fashionable young women was viewed with some disdain when at a dance at a leading hotel 30 young women were seen carrying their dolls. In Paris a book entitled Les Poupees de Paris by Pierre Calmette had a preface by Anatole France, the philospher who suggested that the decrease in the French birth rate was to be blamed in part to the fantastic dolls that have found their way into every boudoir in the French capital. He sounded a note of alarm saying women of France are forgetting their duty when they choose to play with their dolls.

Max Schlapp, professor of Neuropathology thought ‘these exaggerated dolls are the temporary whim of abnormal women. I use the word advisedly, because women who are normal have children and have no time to waste on baubles. The changes in the economic and industrial world in the last 50 years are to blame in a great measure for the emotional instability found in women of today.’

The stock market crash of 1929 destroyed many doll companies and although the boudoir doll continued for a while she soon waned in popularity perhaps due to the onset of the depression.

The dark, glamorous and exotic sounding Dora Duby was an outstanding American solo dancer who found fame in Europe during the 1920s particularly in Paris where she was called the ‘Pet star’ of the famous Le Perroquet cabaret.

Dora Duby in Paris

Dora Duby was born 9th October 1902 in Seattle Washington (although some sources say it was California). At the age of twelve she became a pupil of the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who sent her to New York to study under Luigi Albertieri, the Italian dancer and ballet master who also taught Fred Astaire. Between 1913 and 1927 Albertieri was ballet master of the New York Metropolitan Opera House where he staged many ballets and operas. After her training, Dora Duby spent two years with Pavlova’s ballet company before leaving to specialise in modern acrobatic dancing.

Her career in Broadway started with appearances in the musical The Lady in Red (a brief run in mid 1919), followed by the Charlotte Greenwood vehicle Linger Longer Letty (late 1919) and then the Shubert’s’ cabaret show The Midnight Rounders of 1921 in the roof of the Century theatre. In October 1921 she landed a more prominent role in the Shubert Brothers musical revue extravaganza Bombo at the Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre starring Al Johson. The show also featured the celebrated dancing duo Cortez and Peggy.

In June 1923 there were startling reports that she was suing millionaire Harold Grier of the Dominion Glass Company, Montreal for breaking a promise of matrimony. Duby alleged that they met on one of Grier’s regular trips to New York, they enjoyed a courtship and he proposed on 15th January but failed to go through with his promise and so she sued for $100,000. His lawyers offered $1,000. Dora was dancing at the Hotel Walton in Philadelphia at the time and it is not known if she accepted the offer.

Dora Duby in 1927

Whatever the outcome, she decided to cross the Atlantic after being secured by Albert de Courville for his revue The Whirl of the World at the Palladium theatre, London that ran from March 1924. Within a month she was doubling up in the new cabaret being staged at the Piccadilly Hotel. Edward Dolly’s Dolly’s Revels was a lively new experience that had been launched in the Ballroom of the Piccadilly in February 1924. Eddie changed the programme regularly and Dora endured through several incarnations in April and May.

By the summer of 1924 she had crossed the channel and was experiencing the delights of Paris. In July she joined the cabaret at the Club Daunou (renamed the 400 Club) and appeared with the Tomson Twins (a British pair of dancers). For the autumn season she became the featured performer at the ultra-fashionable cabaret Le Perroquet above the foyer of the Casino de Paris. It was here that she renewed her acquaintance with a young Alexander Morgan Hamilton (grandson of the financier J.P. Morgan), who rumour claimed chased her across the ocean to marry her. When Duby arrived back in New York in late November with Alexander Hamilton aboard the Majestic, she denied rumours of a romance. She simply said that he had paid her some attention in Paris and so people assumed they were together. She also said that she had no confirmed theatrical contracts and was planning to return to Europe in the New Year.

Dora Duby in 1925

When Duby returned to Europe she appeared at various Riviera resorts in February including the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo and a charity event in Cannes before she returned to Paris. Once again she was the star attraction at Le Perroquet at the beginning of March 1925. By May she was appearing with the American dancers Bernard and Rich at Harry Pilcer’s Acacias nightspot and then at the Abbaye d’Theleme in July. During September she was the attraction at the luxurious Villa des Fleurs in Aix le Bains before returning to Paris to be featured at Ciro’s restaurant in October.

The virtuosity of her acrobatic dancing and her undoubted popularity secured a major featured role in the new spectacular revue Paris En Fleurs at the Casino de Paris, launched 28th November 1925. The show starred the Dolly Sisters, Maurice Chevalier, Yvonne Valle, Madeleine Loys and Rowe Sisters and ran through 1926. At the same time Duby doubled month after month at Le Perrequet such was her popularity.

After eight months at the Casino de Paris and Le Perroquet she left Paris for Venice where she opened for three weeks at the Excelsior Lido on 25th July 1926, followed by appearances at the Casino in Deauville and in Bairritz where she danced before the King and Queen of Belgians and King Alphonso of Spain. Then she took a trip to Vienna appearing in Hubert Marischka’s revue Wien Lacht Wieder, at the Stadtheater for eleven months. At the end of her engagement she made a trip back to New York for a few weeks before returning to Europe in Mid-November.

For the next six months at least she starred in an undisclosed show that was taken to China and India. On her return to France in August 1928 she visited Aix Le Bains and presumably performed at the Villa des Fleurs once again. What happened in 1929 is not clear but she visited New York three times in the Spring, late summer and winter. During the latter trip she visited Palm Beach and described as ‘the girl with the most beautiful legs in the world’ danced at the Embassy Club wearing a stunning and colourful gown by Worth made of bird of paradise feathers valued at $1,500 for a two-week engagement from 19th January 1930.

Dora Duby in the late 1920s

Allegedly she returned to Paris at the end of February but it is not known what she was doing but perhaps she performed once again in cabaret. In August 1930 she was caught up in tragic events. The French duo Edmonde Guy and Ernest Van Duren were suffering professional and emotional turmoil and Guy had been dancing with a new partner Jack Forrester. Dora Duby was impressed with Van Duren and tried to secure him as her own dancing partner but failed. After she left for Buenos Aires and a tour of South America, Van Duren tragically died of complications from alcohol and narcotic ingestion.

On her return to Europe in 1931, Duby was disillusioned with her career and spent two years studying at the famous Mary Wigman school in Berlin. Wigman was a pioneer of expressionist dance and became an iconic cultural figure in Weimer Germany and a leading figure in the history of European dance.

In late 1932 when she arrived back in New York, Duby said ‘danclng is no longer just a question of legs and arms. Dancers must have an idea and then they must convey it to their audiences. It takes head work.’ She was preparing to back up her theories in a series of recitals showing the modern dances that she evolved during two years study. It was observed that the glittering costumes she wore before had been swept away since her new thinking was that costumes should be colourful and fascinating but not so glamorous that they detract from the dancer. Equally, the musical comedy steps and the crash of jazz, which accompanied her pirouettes, were also banished. In their place she wore costumes designed by modern artists and performed to piano music written by modern composers such as Ravel or Debussy.

Seemingly thereafter Duby continued to divide her time between Europe and America and by 1936 she had become Director of the Mexico Government Dance school, but her career was not as colourful as it had been.

The artist simply known as Nerman rose to stardom creating charming caricatures of theatrical and musical celebrities in the 1920s and Hollywood stars in the 1930s. But he also did much advertising work, book illustration and was an accomplished painter.

A photograph of Nerman

Einer Nerman (October 6, 1888 – 1983) was born to a middle class family in the industrial city of Norrköping, Sweden where his father owned a bookstore. He had a twin brother Birger (6 October 1888 – 1971) who was an archaeologist and writer and an elder brother Ture (18 May 1886,– 7 October 1969) a socialist, journalist and political activist who became the leader of the Swedish Communist party.

When he was young, Nerman enjoyed drawing, including sketching performers in theatrical shows and he was greatly influenced by Aubrey Beardsley. It was no surprise that he moved to study art in Stockholm in 1905 and for three years attended art school at Knostforbudets. At the age of 19 in 1907, he had his first drawings published in a Swedish magazine. Then In 1910 he visited Paris and studied for a short time with Henri Matisse at the Academie Matisse before wandering around Europe.

He was back in Sweden by 1912 and studied music and dance and decided he wanted to go on the stage. Then in 1918 he met the popular English composer, actor and singer Ivor Novello. Novello was at the height of his fame as a composer of the most popular song of the Great War, Keep the Home Fires Burning. Novello went to Stockholm on a propaganda mission and sang pro-british songs in Rolf’s Cabaret night club. On the walls he saw Nerman’s décor and met the artist and his wife Kajsa and told him he ought to visit London and draw the stars of the London stage.

Nerman first visited London in 1919 as a ballet dancer in a variety bill at the London Coliseum. But when he learned he had to tour the regions he broke his contract and returned to Sweden. However, his experience did give him a unique understanding of how a dancer moves that was highly useful in transferring this insight to pen and ink. He clearly decided that being an artist was preferable to being a dancer.

A sketch by Nerman of the main stars of the London show 'Rats'

At some point he worked with Kurt Atterberg of the Swedish ballet and designed all the costumes and sets for a show called Vierges Folles or Foolish Virgins that was staged in November 1920 at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris and then in November 1923 at the Century Theatre New York. His designs followed traditional Swedish folk imagery
and the costumes were rustic and brightly coloured and were perceived as being evocative of Hans Christian Andersen. The music equally followed old Swedish folk tunes.

Nerman made another visit to London in 1921 and within a few months his cartoons, pen and line drawings as well as watercolours and pastels were seen in many of the fashionable drawing rooms, private clubs, theatre lobbies and sports clubs. He was fortunate to be engaged by the editor of the Tatler to visit two plays per week and provide a page of drawings. His enchanting and provocative portrait of the all the major stars of the stage made him famous and his career blossomed to the extent that no new opening was considered complete unless the slender and properly groomed Swede was in attendance. He became well known to people like Bernard Shaw, Sir Henry Irving, Charles Hawtrey, Beatrice Lillie, Ellen terry, Mrs Patrick Campbell and others and was always a first nighter at Covent Garden Opera and knew all the leading singers including his favourite Nellie Melba. His attraction to music led to Eve magazine also offering him the opportunity to provide a monthly page of caricatures of celebrated singers, conductors and other musicians who performed at the Albert Hall and elsewhere.

In the early 1930s Nerman moved back to Sweden with his wife and three children but with the with the advent of World War 11 some friends decided to move to USA. His wife persuaded him to go and they stayed in America for ten years. Based in New York he worked for the Journal American and part of his assignment was to visit Hollywood and draw the stars of the screen, including the two Swedish stars Ingrid Bergman and Greta Garbo.

In 1950 he returned to Sweden and lived in an 18th Century house outside Stockholm. He composed music for many of his brother Ture’s poems and illustrated some of his brother’s book covers. He also illustrated many of the books by Selma Lagerlöf.

Nerman died in 1983.

The Cercle (Casino) of Aix-Le-Bains was an elegant and architecturally magnificent monument comprising a labyrinth of rooms dedicated to entertainment and pleasure.

The Grand Cercle of Aix-Le-Bain

In 1824 the number of visitors to Aix-le -Bains was around 4,000 a year and it was thought that a place was needed for assembly and recreation. And so the Chateau of the Marquis d’Aix (a 16th century building that later became the town hall) was adopted for this purpose and given the name of the Cercle d’Aix, even though it was also called the Casino. As traffic increased a handsome ballroom was built based on the designs of architect M. Melano, who was superintending the restoration of the Abbey of Hautecombe.

As visitors increased, the old venue was deemed insufficient and in 1847 a plot of land was acquired and new buildings were erected under the direction of the architect Pellegrini and in 1849 the saloons were opened to the public. The venue comprised a central ballroom (the Grand Salon or Salle des Fetes) with lounges on either side – one for gambling and one for reading and writing, along with a restaurant and terrace. The new edifice was a brilliant success, the gaming tables attracted a large number of visitors, the regiments from the garrison at Chambery furnished a band of excellent musicians and many successful fetes and balls were staged during the season. An elegant little movable stage was added in 1853 and various comedies and comic operas were presented and for twenty years Strauss conducted his orchestra here before going to Vichy.

The Cafe showing the vaulted ceiling in the Grand Cercle

By 1861 the number of visitors had increased to 7,000 and by 1880 it was more than 20,000. The Cercle d’Aix saw its receipts double in ten years from 1871 to 1881. As a result there was a vast extension of entertainment and facilities to meet the demand and the building and gardens were embellished to form the building that was best remembered in its prime during the Jazz Age. Two side wings were added with a new Salle de Baccara and Salle de Lecture and in 1899, a new theatre was built with 900 seats.

On entering the main vestibule overlooking the entrance court, one crossed the old drawing room made into the luxurious Galeria des Glaces and enter the festival chamber, or Grand Salon (Salle des Fetes), that had an exquisitely painted ceiling. On the right a gallery (Foyer du Theatre) gave access to the theatre and on the left was access to the Salon des Mosaiques (Grand Hall or Salle de Concerts), the Salle de Bacchus (café/restaurant), the restaurant and the terraces of the garden, via three flights of stairs.

The arrangement of the Cercle d’Aix allowed visitors to pass from one part of the building to the other without going out of doors, to always be under shelter, to be cool in the summer on the various terraces, to enjoy a delightful view of the gardens, and to see all that is passing through the Cercle.

The Salon des Mosaiques or the great hall, which served in some way as an annexe to the Grand Salon or Salle de Fetes, was quite sumptuous. The centre was occupied by an artistic gaselier in silvered and gilt bronze, with a circular velvet-covered seat surrounding its base. Similar seats were placed around the columns, near the restaurant.

The Cafe in the Grande Cercle

The vaulted ceiling of the hall was decorated in 1883 with splendid mosaics by the great Venetian artist Dr. Salviati, after cartoons by the artist Lameire and on the plans of the architect Boudier of Paris. Salviati was Charles Garnier’s collaborator at the Opera of Paris. The mosaics are regarded as masterpiece of decorative art and comprise 3,500,000 golden enamel cubes on a surface of 300 m².

The central vault is ornamented at the top with a scroll bearing in letters of gold on a blue background the name of the town of Aix, and supported by two winged figures. This device occupies the centre of a medallion formed by the twelve signs of the zodiac, beautifully executed in cameo and relieved by polished uncut stones of various colours. At angles are four large standing figures symbolize the four seasons with their attributes. The gold background is covered with elegant arabesques and grotesque floral devices.

The four small vaults contain no figures, but simply ornaments in polished uncut stones. Lastly, the four double arches each have a medallion in the centre with the figure of a child representing the genius of the elements, and on each side bouquets of foliage and flowers interwoven with ribbons on which are inscribed the names of four thermal or mineral spas of Savoy.

The programme of summer events followed a similar plan for decades. Three times a week from June 1st to September 15th comic operas, interpreted by celebrated artistes were stages while from September 1st to October 15th Italian operas were produced. Also three times a week grand symphonic concerts were performed. Tuesday was reserved at the Cercle for the evening fete with music, illumination of the grounds, firework displays, and a grand ball in the Salle des Fetes. Every day a special Italian orchestra played in the grounds during the daytime and in the evening. Finally, in addition various theatrical and dancing artistes were frequently engaged for special fetes and appearances.

In the summer of 1923 for example, M. Sartori, the Director of the Cercle had been let down by the dancing team of Ted Trevor and Dina Harris from London. In there place he engaged the team of Robert Sielle and Annette Mills who scored such a hit that they remained in residence for twelve weeks, the longest contract for any dance team there.

Regular fetes were organised in Cercle by Parisian experts Ruhlmann and Flers in the summer. For example, in 1924 the season started with ‘Primavera’ (16/7) about Hollywood and America’s own garden of the Hesperides. Then there was ‘Pour Etre Belle’ (a paean to modern woman), ‘Pulcinella’ (a Venetian comedy of masks), ‘Semiramis’ (a night with the dark queen of old Babylon) and ‘Ali Baba’ (a musical version from the Thousand and one Nights). At the height of the season was ‘Venus Poudres’ (27/8) a colourful musical evocation of the famous beauties of the XV111 century centred around the gallantries of Mimi Dancourt, the Bois de Boulogne under Louis XV, the opera in those days and other recollections. This was followed by ‘Il y a Cent Ans’ (3/9) a revival of Aix a hundred years ago. Fireworks, dancing and special concerts accompanied all the fetes.

Plan of the Grand Cercle

The Villa des Fleurs was a stunning entertainment complex set in beautiful gardens that made it one of the most fashionable places in Europe during the 1920s.

The stunning Villa Des Fleurs at Aix-Le-Bain

In the beginning there was a detached building known as the Villa des Fleurs in the middle of a beautiful park in a great position just below the Cercle d’Aix. It was let out each year either to seasonal visitors or as a venue for special evening fetes. Eventually, a consortium bought the building for development. They had the vision that the venue could be developed into another entertainment complex mirroring the success of the Cercle. An administrative committee for formed, and a manager appointed by this committee, was responsible for running the entire Casino complex.

The old building was far too small and so renovations were made connecting it to two other buildings by means of an enclosed gallery. Finally, The Grand Casino of the Villa des Fleurs, or more briefly the Villa des Fleurs was opened in 1880. The buildings and gardens were bounded by the Avenue Victoria, Avenue Marie and the Avenue de la Gare, that led to the railway station. The principal entrance was at the end of the Avenue des Fleurs that ran down through the town past the Grand Cercle.

On entering the building there were various halls, vestibules, offices, reading and conversation-rooms, a ballroom and a large and beautiful gaming room, well ventilated and arranged (Salon de Jeux or Salle de Baccara). The interior décor was luxurious and tasteful and an artist called M. Domer from Lyons covered the walls with allegorical paintings.

A sketch of night time frivolity at the Villa des Fleurs

After passing through the second hall was the main restaurant and further on was the pretty theatre with various other adjoining rooms. The theatre could readily be converted into a ballroom or dining-hall by removing the movable seats. There was also a semi-open-air Grand Galerie du Music hall for concerts.

Like the Cercle d’Aix the Villa des Fleurs offered various amusements to its subscribers and visitors. Every afternoon an orchestra of forty-five musicians played excellent concerts in the kiosk in the park and in the evening the same orchestra performed elsewhere in the complex. Every day except Saturday there was a theatrical representation. A comic opera or operetta troupe alternated with plays comedy, drama, or vaudeville. Saturday evening was reserved for a grand musical fete and general illumination of the park, followed by a beautiful display of fireworks with a grand ball as the finale.

During the season the administration of the Villa des Fleurs also provided performances from well-known vocal, dancing or theatrical artistes specially engaged for the occasion.

The Villa des Fleurs became world renowned for staging beautiful themed galas and in the summer of 1924 for example there was ‘Les Venus Poudrees’ with white decor and a white ballet featuring the dancing of Moss and Fontana performing as a white Pierrot and Columbine. Later in the season they had a charming Lotus Stem gala with Christiane and Duroy providing the dancing. In the summer of 1926, the glamorous and highly popular American dancer Dora Duby was the main attraction and in 1927 the American team of Charles Sabin and Edwina St Claire stopped by in the midst of an extensive European tour.

Plan of the Villa des Fleurs

The Pony Trot was an extension of the Pony Ballet allegedly devised by John Tiller in the 1890s and made famous by the Dolly Sisters in 1914 and thereafter as an exhibition dance.

The Tiller Girls in he Pony Trot (1924)

The Pony ballet was a type of kick-line routine developed by the British choreographer John Tiller sometime in the 1890s. A group of eight girls were dressed as ponies and imitated the animals movements with exact precision and in perfect harmony. A later innovation divided the group into two sets of four ponies and added two taller girls as drivers who simply trotted behind, reining in the other ponies.

Tiller’s troupes were so popular and successful that from the late 1890s they were dancing all over the world, particularly in America, the UK and Europe. In 1899 Tiller introduced the Pony ballet in George Lederer’s show The Man in the Moon that opened 24th April 1899 at the New York Theatre. Tiller’s troupe’s proliferated across the globe and in 1912 he had companies at the Folies Bergere and the Apollo in Paris, at Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Turin, Berlin, London and New York. His pony ballet was a resounding success and quickly copied.

For example, in June 1907 Mortimer M. Thiese had a pony ballet in The Maid and the Millionaire, a musical production staged with Henry Pincus at the Madison Square Roof Garden. At the beginning of their career the Dolly Sisters were appointed as two of the eight ‘pony’ girls. Later, in mid 1909, the Dolly Sisters were also in the English pony ballet of Lew Field’s The Midnight Sons.

When the dancing craze hit Broadway after 1910, many new venues opened as a cabaret and dancing nightspot. One of the most popular places, opening in mid 1913, was the Jardin de Danse in the roof of the New York Theatre at 45th Street that originally had been the base for Ziegfeld’s Follies from 1907-1912. At the same time exhibition dancing duos emerged who demonstrated the new dances and the New York Roof, as it was called, became one of the main centres of dancing excellence and innovation. During the spring season of 1914 the star dancers were Carlos Sebastian and Dorothy Bentley aided by the team of Mons Le Roy and Mlle Mone. In April 1914 the latter duo starting demonstrating a fast rag taken at double time all around the dance floor with a few incidental steps thrown in for diversion which they simply called ‘their Pony Trot’. When Mr Seabury and Miss Shaw, who were also engaged at the New York Roof tried to replicate their dance Le Roy was furious and there was a light altercation.

The Dolly Sisters & Clifton Webb doing the Pony Trot in Fun of the Fayre (1922)

Perhaps Le Roy was not happy when the Dolly Sisters (Jenny and Rosie) adapted a Pony Trot dance to fit their unique style when they opened at the New York Roof on 9th May 1914. Their nightly debut was ‘a sensational ensemble of costume novelty dances’ with Carlos Sebastian, one of the most successful ballroom dancers of the time who was often partnered by Joan Sawyer or Dorothy Bentley and had been the star performer at the New York Roof for sometime. Their premiere was a veritable triumph ‘so brilliantly beautiful and daintily diaphanous is the costuming of these fascinating young feminines that they have been christened the Heavenly twins’ and prominent society folk and theatrical celebrities crowded the rectangle of private boxes about the dance floor with Ethel Barrymore, Gaby Deslys, Nora Bayes, Diamond Jim Brady, Gertrude Vanderbilt, Mary Pickford and Blanche Sweet amongst the glitterati of notables.

They changed clothes for each of the four dances and an introduction, which according to Variety were all new and foreign to New York. The introduction was a fantastic dream with just the Dollies wearing modernised Grecian gowns of golden yellow ‘a fluttering affair in gauzy material’ which enabled them to give bewildering high kicks. For the Papalatsa, an exotic fantasy and sort of Spanish Maxixe, Jenny danced with Carlos who looked just like a Castillian. Carlos next made his entrance carrying Rosie who wore an ideal summer costume – a fringed shawl dress and they danced the Havana Rumba a thing of gymnastic whirls which was a tropical triumph. Finally, the Arhumba was a mix of Hungarian and Mexican movement with Carlos Sebastian dressed as a Mexican.

But, the piece de resistance was The Hunt Scole Galop described as a transcendance of terpsichore that eclipsed anything of the kind ever attempted. Variety thought it was ‘the best thing as a novelty dance that has been shown in a very long time’. Sebastian in a coach hat, evening and driving dress carried a whip and drove the two Dollies with quaint black masks and odd animal ears as ponies around the floor making them leapt over four low hurdles which brought ‘the most sincere applause New York has yet heard.’

A sketch of the Dolly Sisters and Eddie Dolly doing the Pony Trot (1924)

The Hunt Scole Galop was a clumsy name and before long it was simply called The Pony Trot. It was clearly an adaptation of the existing so called Pony Trot and firmly based on the Tiller Pony Ballet, but this was a clever, polished and innovative version. Clearly it must have been devised by the Dolly Sisters and Carlos Sebastian, and one must not forget that the Dolly Sisters gained their early training in the Pony Ballet. This amazing dance became one of the Dolly Sister’s unique trademarks during the 20s in Europe.

When the Dolly sisters arrived in London to appear in Albert De Courville’s revue Jigsaw, staged at the London Hippodrome from 16 June 1920 one of their featured numbers was the Hunt Scole Galop now called simply The Pony Trot in the scene ‘Sports’. For some the best thing in the show was their dance as a pair of spirited ponies, plumed and prancing with Laddie Cliff as the nimble coachman in charge of a whip and veins. Later, from the autumn of 1922, they also performed the dance in C.B. Cochran’s show Fun of the Fayre with Clifton Webb as the trainer.

It was such a neat idea that it was swiftly copied and adapted by many others including Mistinguett and Harry Pilcer in Paris Qui Jazz (from 6/10/1920) at the Casino de Paris and Jenny Golder and Harry Pilcer in Palace Aux Nues at the Palace Theatre (from 16/9/27) where it was renamed the ‘Cob-Trot’ but with just one ‘filly’ and the trainer.

The Dolly Sisters meanwhile kept the dance in their repertoire and performed it in during a vaudeville tour of America in Paris in late 1923 with their brother Eddie, at the Cannes Casino in Spring 1924 with Billy Arnold and in March 1924 with Eddie again at a charity entertainment in Paris. At the same time John Tiller had a further troupe of girls appearing at the Folies Bergere this time in Coeurs En Folie (from 14/6/24) and in one of the numbers Les Poneys d’Orlandino the eight girls were once again decked as ponies for a pony ballet.

The Tiller Girls in their pony outfits at the Folies Bergere (1924)

The legendary Delmonico’s dominated New York society for almost one hundred years from 1824-1923 representing a standard of excellence in food, elegance and service.

The Second Delmonico's at Beaver & South William Street, New York (c.1891)

Giovanni (John) Delmonico was the youngest of three sons born 1788 in Switzerland on the border with Italy. He eventually settled in New York opening a shop in 1824 near the Battery as an importer of French and Spanish wines. His older brother Peter, a pastry chef in Berne, joined him and both brothers under the name of ‘Delmonico Brothers’ decided to open a cafe and pastry shop at 23 William Street in 1827 and then a restaurant next door where they introduced a carefully economized French cuisine and courteous service. At the time few restaurants existed and providing a hot lunch became a popular novelty and innovation.

Success meant that four nephew arrived to help in the business – Lorenzo, Siro, Francois and Constantine. Success also meant expansion with a country estate and a lodging house at 76 Broad Street. When a fire destroyed the William Street building in 1835 they opened a new restaurant on a site at the junction of Beaver, William and South William Streets in September 1837 affectionately called ‘The Citadel’. The pillars supporting the portico came from Pompeii itself and were said to be the oldest architectural features in New York.

With an investment of over $100 million it had a gloriously sumptuous interior with private dining rooms that outstripped the competition by emphasising lavishness, attention to detail, quality of food and service and an extensive wine cellar. One of the upstairs dining rooms had a parquet floor and with its handsome proportions made a perfect ballroom. The establishment became the social mecca for balls and other forms of entertainments well into the 1850s and its success was highlighted by the eradication of the social taboo preventing women entering such a place and the huge desire to dance, especially amongst the younger set.

Delmonico's at Fifth Avenue & 44th Street, New York (c. 1897)

In 1840 Francois died followed by John and Lorenzo took over the running of the business with Peter and they opened a hotel on Broadway facing Bowling Green in 1846. Following the migration of fashionable New York society uptown, Lorenzo relocated Delmonico’s to the corner of Broadway and Chambers street in 1856 and then in 1860 (the year Peter died) another restaurant opened on the site of the old Grinnell Mansion at 5th Ave and 14th Street. With it s beautiful ballrooms, dining rooms and private rooms it eclipsed the glories of previous establishments and became the greatest of all Delmonico’s institutions influencing the social etiquette of New York and the nation for decades to come.

One of the first restaurants to openly compete with Delmonico’s materialised with the sumptuously appointed Maison Doree (recalling the Parisian establishment of that name) which opened in 1861 on the South side of Union Square between Broadway and 4th Avenue. However, Delmonico’s at 14th Street kept its prominence by staging regular dances under the patronage of established matrons and they lured away Charles Ranoffer, the head chef from Maison Doree. Then in 1870 Archibold Gracie Kent (a famous banker) rather than stage a ball at his home, gave the first private ball at Delmonico’s to introduce his daughter to society. Thus, not only did Delmonico’s start the trend of staging private functions but also the first coming out balls for ‘debutante’ young ladies.

A lunch at Delmonico's at Fifth Avenue & 26th Street, New York (1890)

Thereafter, Delmonico’s became the place for social gatherings par excellence and banquets, balls and gala entertainments were staged with increased sumptuousness including the exclusive Patriach Balls in the 1870s. The café at 14th Street also became a notable resort for distinguished literary, political and society notables who stopped in daily for cocktails and chat. Delmonico’s also relaxed their rules about women who were now allowed unescorted in the restaurant until the dinner hour.

Despite the crash and collapse of 1873 and a depression, once again as the tide of fashion moved northward, so Delmonico’s decamped in 1876 from 14th street to 26th and 5th Avenue facing Madison Square into an equally well appointed venue. This was the location of the new hub of handsome residences and Delmonico’s sparkled with a main dining room on the ground floor and a men’s café, ballrooms and other rooms on the upper floors. In 1877 the restaurant at Chambers and Broadway was closed and relocated to 112 Broadway and Pine.

Despite attacks by puritans, (including a temperance battle that precipitated prohibition) and dancing being attacked for its late hours, extravagance and alleged danger to health, the 1870s was America’s Gilded Age and balls continued one after the other at the new Delmonico’s and at dozens of other venues. According to Arthur Murray during the season 1865-1866, 600 balls were given in New York and an estimated $7 million spent by the guests with dancing as the principal feature. Dance halls, concert saloons and beer gardens sprung up everywhere affording new places for everyone, not just the privileged few, to dance.

Delmonico's at Fifth Avenue & 14th Street, New York

Gradually Lorenzo shifted the burden of the business to Charles (son of Francois), his nephew and when Lorenzo died 1881, followed shortly by Siro, Charles took control of Delmonico’s.

Louis Sherry opened another threat in 1890 at 5th Ave and 37th street. Magnificent and opulent, Sherry’s one notable feature was the spacious 70 square foot ballroom that outshone in splendour, the somewhat tarnished red and gold 50 square foot ballroom of Delminico’s at 26th Street. Sherry’s immediately captured some of the season’s smartest dance affairs and become equal with Delmonico’s in the stakes of the smartest restaurant in New York. But, not to be caught out, Delmonico’s promptly redecorated their ballroom in an elaborate Louis Quinze style.

At the same time (in 1891) the old Citadel at Beaver and William Street was replaced by a new structure on the same site, but this time eight stories high. A cafe and the restaurant were on first floor; on the second floor were a ladies dining room and two private dining rooms. The Kitchen was on the top floor. Later, in 1897 Delmonico’s following the trend of nightlife moving northward, moved uptown from 26th street to the northeast corner of 5th Ave and 44th street. Once again here was the usual luxury: a ladies restaurant, Palm Garden, Cafe on the ground floor, first floor dining rooms (including a Blue room upholstered in satin), a ballroom on the third floor and a roof conservatory. Thus, Delmonico’s had an uptown and downtown establishment.

The Delmonico Hotel, New York (1929)

Between 1890 and 1910 there was a huge growth of new and luxurious dining options that were called lobster palaces because of their gilded interiors and late night lobsters suppers. These venues had exceptionally elegant decor and interiors, perfect service and excellent cuisine. Delmonico’s was no longer the only dining experience favoured by the sophisticated and wealthy and there was stiff competition from such places as the Waldorf Astoria, Bustanoby’s, Churchill’s, Martin’s, Maxim’s, Murray’s Roman Gardens, Rectors, Knickerbocker Grill, Shanley’s and Reisenweber’s. Most were located above and near Broadway and 42nd street in the district to become known as Times Square and catered for those looking for dinner, after-theatre suppers and late night entertainment.

When Charles Delmonico died in 1901 the business was handed over to his aunt, Rosa Delmonico and when she died in 1904 her niece Josephine Crist Delmonico took over. Despite rising income, financial difficulties arose and certain relatives were not happy with the management of the business. After lengthy challenges Delmonico’s was resolved into a stock company that opened the way for an infusion of capital. And yet, despite all the legal wrangling Delmonico’s, regarded as a citadel of conservatism, continued as a convention of social form and custom, and once again it became a perfect venue for society balls and functions.

As many other comparable venues opened indoor roof gardens for the summer months, so did Delmonico’s and a marvellous new Palm Trellis room was unveiled in 1909 in the uptown venue. It was cool and inviting with electric fans, the white trelliswork was covered in wisteria, the window boxes were filled with hydrangeas and even the elevators had matching decor. For the 1910 autumn season the main restaurant was redecorated in a light shade of green. The walls of the main dining room were hung with silk and at the windows were Louis XV cream lace curtains which harmonised with the natural wood carvings and onyx fireplace. Yellow and brown tones prevailed and large palms and lamps with yellow shades added to the feeling of subdued richness. Two new features were introduced with afternoon tea and after theatre supper rooms, plus an orchestra conducted by Sixte Busoni who played in each room.

Delmonico's at Beaver Street, New York, today

On the surface all appeared good and prosperous and the lease on the uptown restaurant was renewed in 1911 to 1927. But custom and tradition were not enough to keep a place running. Attempts were made to keep up with the new trend of cabaret and the society dance Joan Sawyer was engaged in early 1914 to entertain guests in the trellised gardens. With the outbreak of war the management lent every cooperation to the war effort and organised fund raising events. But in 1917 the downtown Beaver Street restaurant was closed and sold. With looming prohibition, Delmonico’s like other restaurants sold of its wine cellar. It was not long before bankruptcy proceedings were filed and eventually the uptown Delmonico’s was sold to Edward L. C. Robins on the day that prohibition came into effect in 1919. Robins struggled to maintain morale but lost and on 21st May 1923 was forced to close.

But thereafter, the name was still a draw and in 1929 for example, the plush Hotel Delmonico opened at Park Avenue and 59th Street. This thirty-one storey structure was grand and imposing with a restaurant, grill room or café and ballroom, along with private suites or apartments on the upper twenty-seven stories. At about the same time a restaurateur called Oscar Tucci opened a revived Delmonico’s at 2 South William Street, which stayed in business until 1977. Other Delmonicos have operated in the space from 1981–1992 and from 1998 to the present.

The blond and vivacious Bee Jackson was described as the Charleston Queen and was certainly one of the more prominent advocates of the dance in America and Europe but did not ‘invent’ the dance itself. In the midst of a brilliant, international career she died tragically in her mid twenties.

Bee Jackson in a typical dancing pose

Bee (Beatrice) Jackson was born in Flushing, New York and grew up in Bound Brook, New Jersey. She danced through her early years with her favourite toy, a phonograph. ‘I danced because I loved it’ she said and simply worked out steps to her favourite tunes even though she had no conception of routine; that intricate pattern that is weaved into a dance to symbolise or express a thought or a feeling.

At the age of fifteen, when her dancing madness was well known, she was asked to play the ingenue in an amateur production of The Earl and the Girl. On vacation in New York with her mother she got an audition for her first show and appeared in the Shubert Brother’s cabaret show The Midnight Rounders in the Century Roof (1921). This was followed by appearances in further Shubert shows including The Whirl of New York (1921) and the Al Jolson musical Bombo (1921-22).

She finally got an audiion with Ned Wyburn who for many years was Florenz Ziegfeld’s dance master, and she clearly had flair because she was snapped up and placed in the chorus of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1922. One of the principals was Gilda Gray and Bee was part of her chorus in her South Sea Isle dance. She was so good at doing the Hawaiian dance that she became her understudy.

When the show closed in the summer of 1923 and went on the road, Bee stayed in New York and went into Ziegfeld’s Summer show. At the same time, Gilda Gray remembered her and gave her a job doing a Hawaiian and jazz dance at her nightclub called the Rendezvous. She did not stay long and moved onto the Question Mark run by Dan McKetrick which was a mecca of celebrities in the literary, sporting and dramatic worlds. Here she met the senator (later mayor) Jimmie Walker, Jack Dempsey, Jack Kearns, Johnny Dundee and his manager Jimmie Johnson and Damon Runyon.

When her engagement in Ziegfeld’s Follies and her appearances at the Question Mark ended she became one of the models in chorus of the Shubert Brothers revue Artists and Models launched 20th August 1923 at Shubert theatre with Frank Fay as compere.

Bee Jackson doing the Charleston

Bee Jackson dancing the at the Piccadilly Hotel cabaret, London (1925)

Bee claimed that she needed a new dance sensation to bring her to the attention of other stage managers. Upon seeing the show Running Wild in late 1923, she saw the Charleston as her winning ticket and was taught the dance. She gave an audition to the booking agent Harry Bestry and he put her into a new show at the Silver Slipper night club in early 1924. When the Sliver Slipper was padlocked in June 1924, W.T. Granlund, announcer for WHN Radio took her to the El Fey Club and introduced her to Texas Guinan and danced there through the autumn of 1924. Then on 28th December 1924 she began a run at Club Richman (opened that autumn by the entertainer Harry Richman) which landed her contracts to dance in Florida, Havana, London and Paris.

Of course there is another story. Ned Wayburn claims that he ‘invented’ the dance and got Bee Jackson to dance it in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1922. Whatever the story, Bee never claimed to have invented the dance merely to be one of the first to bring it to public attention.

Via Harry Richman, Bee appeared in vaudeville starting with a week at Keith’s Palace Theatre and then an extensive tour of the USA in early 1925. At some point she was cast to appear in Ivan Abramson’s film Lying Wives (released 13th June 1925) that starred Clara Kimball Young. The film was panned and regarded as being rather dull. By the summer of 1925 she was appearing at Lew Leslie’s fashionable Rue de la Paix nightspot at West 54th Street. When this closed she accepted an offer to appear in London at the Piccadilly Hotel Cabaret.

The Piccadilly Revels autumn show (28/9/25 – 29/11/25) featured the sensational American singers Sissle and Blake, the dancing duo Carl Hyson and Peggy Harris and the singer Jane Green. Bee was billed as ‘the champion shimmy shaker and Charleston dancer from America’ and much was made of her law court action against a dancing teacher on the grounds that thanks to him she could not help shimmying whenever jazz was played. Her featured number was Charleston Baby of Mine where she was introduced by the dancing of Muriel Montrose and the chorus. Throughout her stay in London she also doubled at the Kit Kat Club in the Haymarket owned by the same management as the Piccadilly.

Oddly, in the midst of her success in London her betrothal to Carl Foreman, professional swimmer and former lifeguard was announced, once he was free of the current Mrs Foreman – Isabel Bennett. However back in America and unmarried, Bee spent the winter in Palm Beach at the Lido-Venice Hotel described as Florida’s smartest restaurant with fellow artist ‘Baby Peggy’ Litman and Nat Bruce’s Orchestra. From Florida she may have gone onto to Havana before going to Los Angeles to join Will Morrissey’s Music Hall Revue. With a cast of 75 and 36 beauties in the chorus, Bee was one of the key principals joining Dolores Ellen, the dancing of Midgie Miller and Bing Crosby and Al Rinker. The show opened 30th April at the Orange Grove Theatre and toured California through Los Angeles, San Diego, San Fransisco and Santa Barbara until early September.

Bee Jackson in costume for her tour in Europe (1932)

Bee Jackson in costume for her tour in Europe (1932)

Returning to New York Bee danced the rest of the summer at the Castillian Royal before joining the regional tour of Florenz Ziegfeld’s Palm Beach Nights revue renamed No Foolin. Then, she was back in Florida for the winter again, this time in the Spanish Dance Gardens, part of the Coral Gables Golf and Country Club. Here she performed the Charleston, Tap and Black Bottom in a show that also featured Nesta Glynn and Garber’s Orchestra.

After spending the summer of 1927 back at the Castillian Gardens, New York she made another trip to Europe and amongst her engagements appeared at the Florida Club in Paris in November. She arrived in New York aboard Majestic just before Christmas and in early 1928 embarked upon another vaudeville tour with the Francis Knight Orchestra and others. By the end of the year was appearing in the smart New York rendezvous of the Club Mirador.

Thereafter, her engagements become a little sketchy and difficult to confirm. She appeared in the short lived stage show Carnival in the spring of 1929 and then made another visit to Europe appearing in the Italian production of Wonder Bar in 1931. Bee returned to the Piccadilly Hotel cabaret in the summer of 1931 in a show that featured Rex Evans and was dancing the Rhumba, which she claimed to have introduced to New York in 1927.

By mid 1932 she was performing in Vienna and London and again making the most of her rendition of the Rhumba. In Vienna she was hounded by the good looking King Zog of Albania, a noted womaniser, who proposed that she try out the Albanian climate with him. Her answer was a good old fashioned American sock in the nose. Bee followed up these engagements with further appearances in Constantinople and Berlin where she allegedly was cast in a German talkie and was then back in New York by late 1932. Here she appeared in vaudeville where she at the Palace Theatre with Noble Sissle and his orchestra.

Bee was in rehearsals for a new show at the Paramount Club in Chicago in the summer of 1933 when she was taken sick with appendicitis, underwent an operation and died 18th July aged 24 or 26.

Before she became an international renowned costume designer for stage and screen in the early 1920s, Dolly Tree excelled as an illustrator.

Dolly Tree sketching in her studio

Dolly Tree (1899-1962) forged a successful career during the 1920s and 1930s in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood. Her artistic flair touched so many stage and screen personalities that even if you have never heard of her before you will be familiar with her elegant creations for such movie stars as Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell, Judy Garland and other MGM starlets. She was also responsible for creating the quintessential 1890s look for Mae West.

Dolly Tree was also an accomplished artist and despite the fact that she made her mark as a costume designer for stage and screen, like several of her contemporaries in London such as E.P. Kinsella, Aubrey Hammond and Gordon Conway she also maintained a keen interest in commercial illustration.

Dolly Tree was born in 1899 near Bristol, England and at early age gravitated to the stage following in her mother’s footsteps and by 1915 was appearing in British silent films. She started drawing at an early age and it was her talent as an illustrator that soon overshadowed her aspirations as an actress.

The turning point in her career as an artist came when she went to see Vanity Fair launched at the Palace Theatre in November 1916 with Marion Peake and Regine Flory. She saw the play on several occasions and remarked ‘I was fascinated by the wonderful dancing and art of Regine Flory and admired her so much that I started to design a special poster of her, really to amuse myself, based on my recollections of this vivid artist seen across the footlights.’ A friend saw the finished design and liked it so much that he took it directly to Sir Alfred Butt who bought it and gave her a two-year contract (roughly 1917-1918) to design posters and programme covers for all his shows.

Programme cover for The Beauty Spot (1918)

The Tatler was complementary and said that her ‘work is now so well known, particularly where the stage is concerned, for she has done some excellent poster work’ for such successes as The Boy (1917), The Beauty Spot (1918), Going Up (1918), Telling the Tale (1918), The Latest Craze (1919), The Kiss Call (1919), Very Good Eddie (1919) and Hello America (1919).

It must have been the success of her work for Sir Alfred Butt that precipitated her decision to develop a career as a comic artist and by 1918 (possibly even earlier) she had expanded her activities as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines. ‘I drew tons of things in black and white and carted them solemnly around Fleet Street, knowing not a single soul.’ Eventually her persistence paid off and she started selling her sketches ‘at five shillings each, I got rid of quite a lot of things’ she observed ‘I did quite well with such subjects as fluffy flappers and lightsome lingerie.’ Accordingly her sketches began to appear regularly in a range of publications. Her first known drawings were published in The London Mail in April 1918 and she continued to supply sketches for this publication throughout 1918 and into 1919 and then in late 1918 contributed sketches for The Royal Magazine.

She also began drawing illustrations for the newly published magazine Pan, which was devoted to the burgeoning new youth culture and was self-admittedly ‘a journal for saints and cynics’. The Tatler had ceased running their very popular ‘Letters of Eve’ in January 1919 which had been illustrated by the legendary artist ‘Fish’ (Anne Harriet Fish) but in early 1920 Pan announced that ‘Eve’ had joined their staff and a new Letters of Eve began to be published penned again by Mrs Maitland Davidson. Dolly Tree was soon drawing the comic sketches for the top and tail sections of these pages from February to April 1920.

It has been observed that these sketches were ‘in a spirit, format and style capitalising on Fish’s popularity in the Tatler’ but Dolly Tree did not attempt to create a unique character like ‘Eve’. After a while Dolly Tree turned her attention to the fashion pages entitled “My Box” by Pandora and created a series of fashion sketches of actual models from some of the major London couture houses reflecting the latest styles prevalent both in London and Paris.

Postcard - Gypsy

Most of Dolly Tree’s sketches featured a young woman engaged in various poses and were as she described – ‘fluffy flappers’. Her drawings were less stylised and angular than the style adopted by Fish and her women appeared more natural and realistic. They were very polished, charming, and full of wit and movement, reflecting the quirky nature of the text and reflecting qualities that were to find full expression in her costume designs.

Besides drawing comic cartoons and commercial illustrations she also drew caricatures and portraits of leading stage and screen personalities and The Tatler remarked that they had ‘won her much deserved praise’. At this time she also created some beautifully distinctive colour illustrations for a postcard manufacturer including a series of six depicting The First Kiss, First Glass of Champagne, First Love letter, First Evening Dress, First Cigarette and the First Bouquet. She also designed covers for sheet music.

In the midst of her work as an illustrator, some of her sketches for sets and costumes were bought by the producer Julian Wylie for several revues and pantomimes staged in 1918 and 1919. Wylie must have been aware of her programme and poster work for Albert Butt and perhaps Butt introduced her to Wylie, with whom he had business dealings. Her career as a dress designer began and illustration took an increasingly back seat.

During the eight-year period from 1919 to her departure for New York in late 1926 she provided designs for well over sixty stage productions in the UK and Europe. She became one of London’s leading designers with adulation such as ‘Miss Tree has a genius for dress design as all of us who go to the theatre know.’

However, Dolly Tree did not abandon her fondness for illustration entirely for in 1927 shortly after she had arrived in New York a story appeared in Variety that revealed she was going to do freelance theatrical and newspaper work, specialising in posters, covers and pen and ink social cartoons of the Nell Brinkley order. This must have been in addition to her recent contract with the theatrical dress designing agency of Brooks Costume Company.

At about this time two books appeared in London carrying her work. Clove and Lettuce, was published by The Diamond Press in August 1927 with a series of nineteen sketches, including the cover which accompanied Plummy’s amusing satire on the London social season. The text followed the clever and funny conceit of one rabbit in London writing to another rabbit in New York and the sketches concealed identities by representing everyone as rabbits too. She also provided a series of illustrations with “Nick” for the book Nonsense Tales by Langford Read, which was also published by the Diamond Press sometime in 1927. This book contained a series of short stories for children aged 9 to 90, which had previously appeared in the fledgling Radio Times.

However, after a three-year stay in New York, 1930 became a watershed as she was signed to Fox studios and left New York for Hollywood saying goodbye to her career as an illustrator and theatrical dress designer.

Cocktails became a huge fad in 1920s Europe as America languished in prohibition. For many, they were regarded as undoubtedly ‘America’s chief contribution to the pleasures of civilisation.’

To unravel the origins of the cocktail and individual cocktails requires wading through a bewildering concoction of myth, legend and misinformation. There are as many theories about the origin of the cocktail as there are varieties. However, despite the fact that cocktails have been around for over a century they seemingly rose to prominence in American at the turn of the century but went underground with the introduction of prohibition. Then in the early 1920s cocktails became an essential ingredient in any European fashionable society gathering and Europe went cocktail mad.

Although the origin of the cocktail is not agreed what is known is that the first use of the word in print was in 1803 in an early American paper called the Farmer’s Cabinet and this was followed in 1806 by the editor of the Balance and Colombian Repository in Hudson, New York defining ‘Cocktail’ as a ‘stimulating liquor composed of spirits, sugar, water and bitters.’

There are some interesting theories about how the word came about. Three resonate and are often quoted. First, that it originated in the French quarter of New Orleans by a Frenchman called Peychaud, who operated a drug store, possessed a family formula for a conconction of cognac and bitters and combined in an egg cup known as a coquetier. Other variants were produced and it became misprounced as cocktail. Second, about the beginning of the last century there was friction between the American Army of the Southern states and King Axolotl of Mexico. At peace talks the King asked the American general if he wanted a drink. The King’s daughter Coctel created a drink and it became known as a cocktail. Lastly, when cocktails were first being mixed the blend of wonderful colours was deemed to look like the tail of a cock (rooster) and so was called cocktail.

Cocktail shaking

Whatever the origins, ‘cocktails’ evolved because of several key elements: the availability of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, mixing, carbonated water, ice and curiosity. In the 18th century most taverns served toddies that were warm drinks flavored with sugar and spices. In 1767 the innovation of artificial carbonation influenced drinking habits and fizzy water began to be served with whiskey. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, early refrigeration enabled drinks being served cold and then the easy availability of ice in 1870 transformed cocktail culture. At the same time a booming economy and the growing affluence of the middle and upper classes fuelled the growth of bars, cafes and restaurants and a desire for novelty and the search for something new and original.

By the mid-1800s the word cocktail became part of the American vernacular. In 1862, for example, in The Bartenders Guide by Jerry Thomas there were thirteen cocktail recipes that were described as being ‘a new invention that is being served up at Galas, Sportsmen meetings and other high level social events.’ Cocktail culture blossomed during the heady days of the gay 90s and early 1900s with the rise of the grand eateries or lobster palaces.

In Europe things were somewhat different and prior to the First World War no-one was offered drinks before dinner in smart London houses with the exception of sherry, sherry and soda, sherry and bitters or bock and seltzer. It was Americans abroad that stimulated demand. In fact in early 1910 many Americans overseas started a campaign for cheaper cocktails. Starting in Berlin the campaign swept through Paris and London. The favourites such as the Manhattan, Martini, highballs, golden fizzes and gin rickeys all cost about 25 cents and the demand was for a reduction to 15 or 20 cents. The proprietor of the principal American hotel rendezvous in Berlin said that he was afraid to bring cocktails within the reach of the masses because he was convinced that sooner or later he would be unable to cope with the demand. In London their were similar grumbles as there were several places where a palatable cocktail could be found such as Manager Gustave of the Savoy and Manager Kramer of the Carlton.

What can be deduced was that prior to the First World War cocktail consumption in Europe was slight because of the high cost and was confined to a small niche minority of those in the know. For example, in early 1914 a group of French aviators stationed at Versailles invented, what was regarded as, the first French cocktail called the Pegoud (named after Adolphe Pegoud French aviator) described as a fiery concoction of orange and lemon juice and the ingredients of a Martini. It was observed that all other cocktails were known only at the American bars in Paris and so the cocktail found its way to the Rue Daunou where the majority of the American bars were located. One of these bars was The New York Bar where Harry MacElhone, who became world famous for his cocktails, was the bartender.

The three most popular cocktails were, and perhaps still are, the Bronx, Martini and Manhattan. The Martini is made with ¾ gin and ¼ vermouth and garnished with an olive (for a drier version less vermouth is used). Some claim that it originated in Martinez or San Francisco, California in the 1870s. More likely the drink stems from the fact that Martini is also a brand name of vermouth. Martini and Rossi created Martini Rosso dry vermouth in 1863 and when the drink arrived in the America someone mixed gin with the vermouth and simply called the drink a Martini. The Bronx was invented at the turn of the century by Johnny Solon bartender of the Old Wardorf Bar in New York and named after the Bronx Zoo. It was essentially a perfect martini with orange juice and originally comprised ½ orange juice, 2/3 gin and dash of Italian and French vermouths but became ¼ French v, ¼ Italian v, ½ gin with orange peel and ice. The Manhattan – a mix of ¾ American whisky, ¼ Italian vermouth and bitters – is regarded as one of the greatest cocktails ever created. Popular myth says it originated at the Manhattan club in New York in 1874 where it was invented by Dr Iain Marshall for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston’s mother) in honour of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tidden. It is thought more likely that it was simply invented by a bartender at a bar on Broadway in the 1860s.

After the war there were dramatic changes. As America plunged into Prohibition in early 1920, Europe went into party mode after the bleak war years and suddenly cocktails were in vogue. The bartender became an accepted personality and an icon of the 20s in white mess jacket, manipulating a cocktail shaker with aplomb and suddenly there was a demand for cocktail cabinets, shakers, suitable glasses, ice, cherries and olives.

In London no establishment was considered complete without an American bar and at places like the Ritz, Carlton, Piccadilly and other well-known West End Restaurants, diners arrived early to spend a preliminary half hour chatting over an aperitif. At the American club, ‘Collins’, was declared to be the London champion shaker, ‘Nick’ was highly regarded at the Automobile Club and Harry MacEthone was now the presiding genius at Ciro’s club. Indeed, Harry published one of the first cocktail books Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails in 1919, a book that is still in print today.

It was also observed that women especially favoured the cocktail habit. They tended to prefer the more soft or sweeter variants and the most fashionable were a Pussyfoot (egg white, grenadine, lemon and orange juice) and the Alexandra (crème of cocoa grenadine and cream).

The fad for cocktails was so great that in early 1920, producer Julian Wylie staged a cocktail ballet in his regional touring revue the Passing Show of 1920 that was launched at the Hippodrome Liverpool in March 1920. Marcelle de St Martin created all the costumes for My Lady Liqueur and sixteen American cocktails: Clover Club, Bride, Martini, Sloe Gin, Sherry, Cobbler, Crème de Menthe, Egg flip, Ponsse Café, Stinger, Manhattan, Rattlesnake, Royal Smile, Crème de Cocoa, Champagne Cocktail, Brian Duster and Infuriator.

When the Dolly Sisters returned to New York from London in early 1922 they had somehow brought through customs a portable bar from London, perhaps claiming it was something else since it was well-known they did not drink. It was a tiny bar of regulation mahogany about four feet long with a silver footrail, a towel, a drip trough, and a cut glass dish for cloves and was wheeled about like a tea wagon. With no regard for prohibition, the Dollies shook their cocktail shakers and offered their guests a range of delectable concoctions.

As time passed experimentation continued and new spirits were utilized like Vodka, Caribbean rum and Tequila, new exotic fruit juices were obtained and new cocktails invented.

Cheers! And bottoms up!

Jean Peron Couture was a thriving couture establishment with outlets in Paris and London that flourished in the 1920s. Peron received glowing praise for its gowns in publications such as The Queen and The Times and The Era announced in one feature that ‘Peron prides himself on always being a little in front of fashion.’

M.Maurice of Jean Peron and some mannequins (1925)

Peron’s Parisian salon was located at 2 Rue de Paix and it is a good guess that the company was founded at the end of the First World War like so many others. It would appear there was no real M. Jean Peron since the company was under the direction, and fronted by, a M. Maurice, who clearly was believed to be Jean Peron himself.

In the autumn of 1920 Peron Couture Ltd was inaugurated in London at 184-186 Regent Street with a collection of six hundred new creations. Four creations were highlighted. The first, a mauve bustled taffeta dress with from the hips a flounce of the new dyed lace and fastened into the belt a beautiful jade green and blue flower. Second, a black crepe de chine frock with an over dress of coarse lace dyed to match, the whole ornamented with gold gallon lined with jade. Third, a dress with a bodice with cerise-dropped velvet top, the velvet being swathed to form a belt and side sash, while the skirt was of jet and silver embroidered net. Finally, there as a magnificent gold gauze creation intermingled with black and blue with a large blue-gold motif and both the train and corsage.

Peron models from 1919

Peron knew the importance of the London stage as a vehicle for publicity and immediate stage commissions were secured and Peron dressed French Leave (1920) and Renee Kelly in The Heart of a Child (1921). The firm went on to furnish the gowns for at least twenty West End productions in the 1920s and dressed individual stars. For example, in January 1922, Evelyn Laye and Clarice Mayne were photographed in Eve magazine wearing Peron gowns. Peron also created gowns for Jenny Golder in the revue Avec le Sourire (March, 1921) at the Casino de Paris, Paris.

Peron’s spring collection in March 1921 received considerable attention. ‘There is nothing outré about Peron’s gowns; they are artistic in the best sense of the word and beauty of line, marvellous cut and attention to the smallest detail that would enhance their charm make them second to none.’ Particular mention was made of a dress with silver sequins and massed pearls from headdress to wrist, a range of Pompadour gowns, a silver ‘paillets’ gown with enormous mauve bow forming a double tissue train, a pale pink diaphanous Georgette with long hip draperies of charmeuse satin and a graceful bodice with diamante shoulder straps and a moonlight blue creation with rose shaded uncurled ostrich feathers for skirt trimming.

Throughout 1922 Peron was in great demand and created gowns for the show Jenny at the Empire and The Nutcracker Suite, To be Continued, The Hand of Death, The Better Half, London’s Grand Guidnol at the Little Theatre.

Peron Models from 1923

Peron model from 1923

The dress designer Dolly Tree was clearly swift off the mark to realise the potential of Peron’s artistry and commissioned him execute all her of gowns for Julian Wylie’s spectacular revue at the Hippodrome, Round In 50 (1922).

By the spring of 1922, Peron had moved to bigger premises at 184 -186 Regent Street. One of his models from his spring 1922 show was regarded as ‘exquisite’ by the Queen. Made of acier silver lace that had a curious net-like quality it was mounted over a sheath of silver tissue that gleamed through the lace mesh. There was a little triangular shaped vest disclosed by the line of the overdress where a diamond and jet square clasp gave a handsome finish.

The following year Peron provided all the modern gowns from designs by Dolly Tree for Julian Wylie’s next show Brighter London (1923) at the Hippodrome, Dion Titheradge’s Toni (1923) which had an initial regional run and a series of gowns for Anita Elson and Maidie Hope to wear in C.B. Cochran’s show Little Nellie Kelly at the New Oxford. One model worn by Anne Croft in Brighter London was particularly admired and featured a velvet cloak embroidered in silver, black and Egyptian blue jewelled with aquamarines and bordered with white fur and ermine tails.

The spring collection of 1923 saw considerable Egyptian influence (because of the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in November 1922). One model was created out of a new rippled lame in orchid mauve and leaf green. The under bodice was of gold tissue, with a clasp of varied stones. There was also a frock featuring an almond green lace overdress, superimposed on a sheath of black satin, with a girdle repeating the tones of black and green. There was also a blue day frock with upstanding frill of organdie edged with red a hip girdle weighted with two huge tassels one red and one white. Most conspicuous however were the fans. Every mannequin in an evening frock carried one –. from pheasant feathers dyed every conceivable shade, lace fans edged with feather fronds and fans of lace with ostrich feathers.

Annie Croft in Brighter London (1923)

There had been reports in the summer of 1923 that Peron Couture was going into liquidation, but the business seemingly carried on. Clearly, Peron must have been impressed with Dolly Tree because in August 1923 she was appointed as designer. With fashion styles changing so radically and the innovative trends being set by the new French female designers such as Chanel and Vionnet, Peron must have thought that her appointment would be of immense benefit. Peron clearly recognised her skill and realised the importance of securing the fresh new talent of a young, energetic and thoroughly modern woman who would be able to present new and more innovative contemporary collections. He would have also been fully aware of the fact that the London branch of Paquin had employed Elspeth Phelps in February 1923 which precipitated considerable media interest and that it was prudent to employ a British house designer for his London salon.

In all probability the first Peron collection that Dolly Tree would have been involved with would have been the autumn shows of 1923. The Queen magazine thought that Peron’s new models were ‘very Parisian in their originality.’ The hallmarks of this collection included the unveiling of what was referred to as an unusual and fascinating new skirt developed by Peron and Reville and the introduction of a new shade of blue. The skirt was plain to the knees, then flared out in flounces or frills. It was decided that this new skirt would need a good deal of handling, but because it was new it would probably catch on.

It was also observed that he was clever at devising frocks that – ‘to use the word much in vogue and perfectly horrible – slenderise us.’ The Times thought that Peron’s models were ‘quite distinctive’ and expressed a ‘quiet good taste.’ Peron apparently used a great deal of chiffon velvet for fur-trimmed long coats and he was not afraid to use it in colours as well as black, securing an extraordinary effect of slimness. There were also sheath like frocks that featured simple drapery and a range of black frocks for day wear in charmeuse and heavy morocain with collars and cuffs of organdie or ruffled valenciennes. The new line had a slenderising effect and at another Peron show at the Carlton Club, one coat illustrated this by the skilful use of narrow panels on the bodice, which widened to give a godet effect below the hips almost to the hem. There were also hand painted velvet and picture frocks on Grecian lines and every wrap coat and cloak was reversible.

Peron's advert for the St Moritz Collection (1923)

In late 1923 Peron presented his St Moritz Collection of specially designed winter sports suits, evening gowns, furs and sketches for fancy dresses by Dolly Tree. There were Peron gowns from Dolly Tree’s designs in The Little Revue Starts At 9 (October 1923).

But for two major West ends shows in 1924 – Leap Year at the Hippodrome and The Punch Bowl at the Duke of Yorks – Dolly Tree turned to Josephine Earle to create the modern gowns. The fact that Earle was chosen above Peron must reflect the second phase of turmoil Peron Ltd was seemingly going through at this time, since the company was placed into voluntary liquidation in January 1924 and this would have been about the time that Dolly Tree would have been planning the wardrobe for these shows. Clearly Peron was not able to fulfil her requirements and instead she gave the commission to Earle who had just opened her own fashion house the previous season in late 1923.

However, the company was re-launched again very quickly as Peron (1924) Ltd in March 1924 at the new address of 235 Regent Street with mannequin parades at 3-5pm on 24th, 25th and 26th March with tea and music. At this time Peron was described as court dressmakers and furriers. This second phase of activity may have been marked with a greater deal of involvement in the company on the part of Dolly Tree, since according to Billboard a few years later, Dolly Tree was described as sole designer for Peron Modiste, explaining that as a result she had created gowns for practically every prominent European artist.

In the spring collection of 1924, black and magpie dresses were very noticeable. Some were black with white trimmings, others opened over a white underskirt, and there was also a long white crepe de chine coat over a black satin frock, the hem and back of the sleeves embroidered in red and black. A black charmeuse was perfectly plain in front with a fringe filled V opening at the side and a tunic at the back finished with two triangular pieces fringed at the ends.

Further stage credits in 1924 included Lord O’Creation (at the Savoy), Private Room Number and Peter Weston at the Comedy. Peron also created a wardrobe for Doreen Read who with her partner Davico was the featured dancers at the Carlton Restaurant in early 1924. The most admired was made of yellow georgette edged with no less than 150 little black and white ermine tails.

Modern gowns by Peron in Brighter London (1923)

Dolly Tree selected further Peron models for inclusion in Julian Wylie’s Hippodrome show of Better Days (Spring 1925) and there were a host of other shows dressed by Peron in 1925 including No No Nanette (Palace Theatre), We Moderns (Fortune Theatre) and The Desire For Change at the Playhouse. For Sometime (February 1925 at the Vaudeville) Peron’s gowns were described as ‘prophetic.’ An uneven skirt in a new form was introduced which was turreted with three thicknesses of chiffon making the skirt dwindle to one on the left side by a series of square ended cuts outlined by diamante.

In the spring 1925 collection, there were subtle hints in several of Peron’s frocks of an attempt to revive the bustle. One was in fine lace over cyclamen satin and had one flounce of lace in front and two behind rather fuller and held in place by a broad band of turquoise and mauve beads. Another was perfectly plain in front and gathered behind with a distinctive bustle-like outline.

Little information can be traced about Peron’s further collections in 1925, 1926 or 1927. However, in the summer of 1926, before Dolly left London for New York, Peron dressed some of the featured players that included Frances Day in Beaumont Alexander’s cabaret show What staged at the New Princes Restaurant. At the same time Alfred Hitchcock used a range of Peron gowns in a mannequin parade at a dressmakers salon for a scene in his film The Lodger starring Ivor Novello.

With Dolly Tree’s departure for New York in late 1926 her association with Peron ended and the company presumably drifted. Peron carried on creating ensembles for stage shows in the first part of 1927 including The Donovan Affair at the Duke of Yorks and Fire and Overruled at the Everyman. But in mid 1927 Peron Ltd underwent changes with the company again being wound up in October 1927 although it resurfaced in 1929 at 121 Westbourne Grove and being credited for Miss Leggatt’s dresses in Diversion at the Arts and Little Theatre before moving to 80-85 Regent Street in 1930.

Thereafter the firm disappears. Peron Couture had a brief, brilliant decade at the forefront of fashion. Yet, like so many other short lived, amazingly creative and innovative fashion houses, its history and fame has been sadly forgotten.

The Apache (pronounced Ah-PAHSH, not A-PATCH-ee, like the pronunciation of the Native American Indians) is a highly dramatic dance created in 1908 by Max Dearly and Maurice Mouvet. It became a hugely popular exhibition dance for several decades following its introduction but could be seen as politically incorrect in our times due to the fact that it was rather violent, involving aggressive treatment of the female partner.

Max Dearly and Mistinguett performing The Apache (1908)

The French term Apache came about at the turn of the century and was used to describe a dubious character who was part of a Parisian street gang. They were in fact young Paris hooligans but with a more savage and vicious tendency. Prior to 1898 they were known simply as as ‘Vauriens’ or ‘no goods’ but in 1898 a crime was committed in the Faubourg du Temple that changed everything. A man was found bound, gagged, a woman’s hat pin through his nose and his face and neck outrageously cut like a tattoo. A reporter who turned up to cover the case at the Belleville police station and who was obsessed by native American Indian stories penned a headline ‘Crime Committed by the Apaches of Belleville’. The term struck a cord and was quickly adopted.

The Apaches were defined as seldom younger that fifteen and never older than twenty-two and ‘infected’ the ‘eccentric’ districts of Paris. They were nimble and known for their courage, fiendishness and ability in playing with a knife. They lived in secret dens, got up late and danced in local dives.

Maurice Mouvet was dancing in the Cafe de Paris one night and was persuaded to accompany his friend, the dancer Max Dearly, into the Paris underworld. They made their way to an Apache den described as an evil smelling cellar and they saw some Apaches in action and dancing. They made several trips to other low cabaret haunts for dance inspiration and evolved the concept of the Apache or Valse Chaloupee. Eventually, it was unveiled to an eager Parisian audience. Max Dearly performed it one night in Paris at the Ambassadeurs and Maurice in Ostend at the Kursall. A short while later, in the summer of 1908, Maurice and his partner Leona performed the new dance at Maxim’s and Max Dearly made an even bigger impact with the dance partnered with Mistinguett in the Moulin Rouge show La Revue du Moulin.

Maurice Mouvet and Florence Walton in The Quest For Life (1915)

In essence the Apache dance evolved by Dearly and Mouvet illustrated a domestic fight between two lovers. It was wild, swinging, swaying and brutal. It entailed a French underworld character (the Apache, usually a pimp) asking his woman (usually regarded as a prostitute) for money. When she refuses there are mock slaps and punches, the man picks her up and throws her to the ground, or lifts and carries her while she struggles or feigns unconsciousness. Sometimes, the woman fought back and sometimes the man dragged her by her hair before whirling her in a circle and dumping her in a heap in the corner. She would crawl back, beg forgiveness and profess her love. Eventually they perform a dance which was in essence a rhythmic waltz.

The Apache became one of Maurice’s signature dances and was refined in the course of time to be less brutal and more socially acceptable. Although it never achieved the popularity amongst the masses like the Tango or the Charleston it did continue to be a highly popular exhibition dance and performed by dozens of dancing duos in legitimate stage shows, vaudeville, cabaret and in films.

The dance took little time to be replicated. In September 1908 it was seemingly performed for the first time in America by Alice Eis and Bert French in the Broadway show The Mimic World. Critics thought it was nothing sensational but simply a pantomime showing the treatment given to a woman by a lower class bully. Further renditions were staged by Joseph Smith and Louise Alexander in the Circle Theatre (December 1908) and M.G. Mellasse and Mlle Corie at the Lincoln Square theatre (January 1909).

In the summer of 1909 Paris saw the first of the society Apache Gala Balls (bal d’Apaches) given by a prominent Parisienne countess where all guests attended in disguise as Paris hooligans described as a motley crowd of desperate looking ruffians. Later, in January 1913 Bustanoby’s restaurant in New York also staged an Apache night and decorated the room to look like a typical Apache den with fancy dress compulsory. However, in London, The Tatler was not amused by some of the new dances calling them vulgar and degenerate to the British temperament ‘things that originated in the negro quarters of American cities and among the Apaches of Montmartre underworld are surely not for us.’

Carl and Tilly Brisson in The Apache (1926)

By August 1909 the Apache was even performed in Australia by Bert Gilbert and Miss Lottie Sargent in a new musical comedy King of Cadonia at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney. The dance was given further impetus in New York in late 1909 with the touring vaudeville show called The Queen of the Moulin Rouge. Here there were depictions of two famous Parisian cabarets – the Moulin Rouge and Rat Mort – and the Apache dance, described as not being salacious but artistic and depicting fierce and vital emotions, was once again given by Smith and Alexander.

There was a flurry of other dancing duos performing the dance but when Maurice and his new partner Madelaine D’Harville arrived in New York in late October 1911 his rendition of the Apache at Louis Martin’s Cafe de L’Opera eclipsed all others and became a huge success.

A few years later a 10-part 7-hour silent film called Les Vampires was released (1915) about an Apache gang that contained a number of Apache dance sequences performed by real street Apache dancers. A year later Maurice Mouvet and his wife Florence Walton were starred in the Famous Players Lasky film The Quest For Life (1916) that featured their Apache dance.

The Apache continued to be hugely popular throughout the 1920s and in early 1927 for example, Julian Wylie staged a musical play called the Apache at the Palladium Theatre, London. The star, Carl Brisson, played a dare-devil Apache of noble birth who seeks revenge on the man who wronged his family and featured some wonderful Apache dances with his sister Tilly. At the same time Ivor Novello’s The Rat at the Prince of Wales theatre, described as ‘The Story of an Apache’ followed the same kind of pattern and was later made into a successful film.

I recently bought a rather lovely postcard showing the Dolly Sisters early in their career, signed by them (the ‘Sisters Dolly’) to a H. C. Knight. It is most likely that the card was given to Harry Knight, the speedway driver of Indianapolis in about 1911.

The front of the postcard to Harry Knight showing the Dolly Sisters in @ 1911

The Dolly Sisters (Rosie and Jenny) appeared in a New York show called The Echo but it was short-lived running from August to October 1910 and then toured. One of the stops was Indianapolis, where, in February 1911, the Dolly Sisters met Harry Knight (1889–1913), the 21-year-old fearless motorcar driver. He already knew Bessie McCoy, who introduced them and a pretty romance developed between Harry and Jenny with McCoy unknowingly playing Cupid to the pair.

Harry Knight was one of the youngest automobile race drivers in the country. Born 6th August 1889 at Jonesboro, Indianapolis near Marlon, he started his driving career before he reached the age of fourteen. He piloted a two cycle Queen car from Indianopolis to Washington and through Virginia on a 34 day trip and then joined the automobile game with D.B. Sullivan with the Westcott Company in 1903. He had also driven in Glidden Tours and at various race courses.

After the Dolly Sisters returned East many letters were exchanged and then Jenny and her mother returned to Indianopolis on a sight seeing trip. Harry escorted them and showed them the sights. Jenny was ‘deeply impressed with his courteous manner, his apparent non interest in the glamour that surrounds the youth just at this time… when she found that Knight did not drink, smoke or chew and was devoted to his mother, she decided that he would necessarily make a good husband.’

By May 1911 there were rumours of an engagement, as Harry arranged for a private box for them to see him in the 500-mile International Sweepstakes event at an Indianapolis speedway held on 30th May 1911. This was the first recorded automobile race of such distance in history and attracted worldwide attention from American and European racing teams and manufacturers. Despite controversy surrounding the conclusion it became the premier motorsports competition in the nation, and one of the most prestigious in the world.

The reverse of the postcard showing the inscription

During the race Knight, in order to avoid running into another driver (Charlie Anderson) who had been thrown from his car onto the track, swerved to avoid him and crashed into the pits. His quick thinking action was lauded and he became known as the ‘hero of Indianapolis Speedway.’ The accident was one of the causes of who actually won the race.

Jenny Dolly had allegedly promised to marry Knight provided he finished ‘in the money.’ He did not. Although love was in the air, it clearly could not compete with events in New York, and it was at this time that Florenz Ziegfeld took an interest in the Dolly Sisters as he was preparing the fifth edition of his Follies, and the first to bear his name.

The Dollies had at least four major appearances in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1911 which opened on 26th June 1911 at the Jardin de Paris/New York Theatre roof. The show closed its Broadway run on 2nd September and opened the regional tour in Chicago. Fanny Brice roomed with Vera Maxwell and the Dollies, and wherever possible they took a big travelling salesman’s room with two beds.

At some point they found themselves back In Indianapolis and were invited to a party in the country, where the dress was blue jeans and straw hats. One wonders whether the speedy Harry Knight was the host, eager to romance Jenny again. Vera and the Dollies found the party dull, but Fanny was enjoying herself and stayed when the other three walked back to town. When Fanny returned to the hotel in the middle of the night, she found her trunk in the hall and was not allowed in the room until she had banged on the door for half an hour. Despite this minor altercation, the Dollies were to remain friends with Fanny Brice throughout their lives. The show toured through Philadelphia at the New Year and finally came to a close outside New York on 30 March 1912.

About two years later on 4th July 1913, Knight was participating in a 200 mile automobile race given under the auspices of Columbus Automobile Association at Columbus, Ohio. He had been out of the reace for thirty minutes due to engine trouble and had just returned and was running at seveny miles an hour when his car blew a rear tire and capsized on the 110th lap. He was killed instantly and his companion, mechanic Milton Michaelis, was fatally injured. It was believed that his mother and his new sweetheart Miss Margaret Doyle of Cambridge City witnessed the accident as they were supposed to be attending the race.

The relationship between Knight and Jenny was doomed from the outset. They were of different professions and lived in different parts of the country. Also, Jenny and Rosie were an act. If one married the act ended and neither really wanted that to happen. A few years later a solution was found. They both married men in the theatrical profession, based in New York, who were well aware of the lifestyle and performed with their wives.