Pola Pola Pola! The Pola Negri Appreciation Site

The Pola Negri Appreciation Site is dedicated to preserving the memory of one of the great actresses of the early film.

Pola Negri: Hollywood Legend (Pola Negri biography)

Back in 2009, there was an article that came out in the San Fransicso edition of Examiner.com called "Six Silent Film Stars In Need of a Biography", and Pola Negri was one of the six silent movie stars featured in that article. Well, that day has finally come.

On February 24, 2011, the Polish language Pola Negri biography Pola Negri: Legenda Hollywood (Pola Negri: Hollywood Legend) was published in Poland in by the Proszynski Media. The book is authored by filmmaker Mariusz Kotowski, director of the Pola Negri: LIfe is a Dream in Cinema documentary. The book's foreword is written by yours truly, David Gasten, webmaster of Polanegri.com. Kotowski promises an English language translation for English-speaking markets soon.

See the Pola Negri biography's page on Proszynski Media's website (in Polish) and this news bulletin about the book's release from Polski Radio (in English) for more information.

Also coming soon from Mariusz Kotowski's production company Bright Shining City Productions will be a limited edition DVD box set of Pola Negri films entitled Pola Negri, The Iconic Collection: Vol.1, The Early Films.

The box set will feature The Polish Dancer (1914), Pola Negri's first film and Poland's very first feature film; The Yellow Ticket (1917); The Eyes of the Mummy (1918); and Sappho (1921). This box set will be of particular interest to Pola Negri fans and silent movie fans in general because two of the films featured on the box set, The Polish Dancer and The Yellow Ticket, have never been released on video before. The Polish Dancer in particular has up to this point only been shown occasionally at screenings, so its release is particluarly welcome.

All of the films will be scored by composer and arranger Rick Dejonge. Ia Estera is designing an elegant package, including a case booklet with photos and film descriptions. And again, yours truly wrote the back cover notes.

Grapevine Video releases rare German silent
Lucrezia Borgia (1922) starring Conrad Veidt

This has been a long time coming. Conrad Veidt has been in so many of the great German silents and silent horror movies--The Man Who Laughs, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Student Of Prague, and The Hands of Orlac are just a few. He did a lot of work for the now-forgotten director Richard Oswald, including a role as Cesare Borgia in the now largely unseen (and great!) German silent epic Lucrezia Borgia (1922).

Grapevine video has just released Lucrezia Borgia on DVD. The transfer is from a beautiful condition, complete print help by the Museum of Modern Art, and features a theatre organ score by Blaine Gale. Here is a video of Gale recording the organ score for Lucrezia Borgia:

And as promised, here are the reviews of Is Money Everything? (1923) and Gary Lucas the Golem.

Is Money Everything? is a rare and precious look at the acting of Miriam Cooper and Martha Mansfield, two lovely silent-era actresses whose film appearances are almost all lost. Gary Lucas Plays The Golem is a modern silent movie soundtrack that has played more and toured longer than almost any other non-traditional silent soundtrack of our day. It was composed in 1989 but was not released on DVD until 2008. It contains some of the most powerful and intense scene I've ever seen in a silent movie, including this hair-raising scene of the conjuring of an evil spirit:

I have some more DVD reviews coming soon, including reviews of Is Money Everything? (1923) starring Miriam Cooper and The Golem (1920) with a modern guitar and effects soundtrack by Gary Lucas (formerly of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band). And I will have some really good news soon about an extremely limited edition Pola Negri box set, which will feature two previously unavailable Pola Negri movies!

But in the meantime check out this critical article about the Neo-Burlesque Movement that I wrote for the UK commentary blog "The Thing Is..." entitled "Why The Burlesque Show is (Almost) Over". Here's a link to the original article, and here's a mirror post here on the Pola site. It's about time somebody spoke up and said something.

Review of Esther's Diary (2009), a Holocaust-themed feature film featuring a character inspired by Pola Negri

We've just added a review of the modern feature film Esther's Diary (2009), a gripping Holocaust Movie directed by Pola Negri: Life is a Dream in Cinema documentary director Mariusz Kotowski. This movie is of interest to Pola Negri fans because its most important character is directly and heavily inspired by Pola Negri. The character is endowed with some of Pola's real-life traits, and even has the name Apollonia, which "Pola" is a contraction of.

After a four-year wait, Life is a Dream in Cinema: Pola Negri is finally available on DVD as part of a poster/DVD package!

For the purchase price of a beautiful 7 ½” x 11” black and white Pola Negri poster, a DVD of the Pola Negri: Life is a Dream In Cinema documentary is included FREE in the package! This poster/DVD package can be purchased for $25.00 US via PayPal from info [ã] brightshiningcity.com, or from the online store of the film production company Bright Shining City Productions.

Click Here to Order!

Pola Negri has a new presence on the web, and its creator is none other than the actual Sun-Maid Raisin Girl herself! The Sun-Maid Raisin Girl's real name is Delia, and her image has been in the iconic Sun-Maid Raisins logo since 1970.

The Sun-Maid Raisin Girl's connection with Pola is that her father was a German baron and knew Pola personally. Apparently they were a little more than "just friends" too, which wouldn't be surprising knowing boy-crazy Pola. He was on the set with Pola during the filming of her movie Die Bergkatze (1921), and there is a photo on this new page to prove it! The Sun-Maid Raisin Girl builds pages in Squidoo.com in her spare time, and she has assembled a potpourri of info and pictures on the page, including the rare photo of Pola and her father on the set of Die Bergkatze.

Polanegri.com is hosting a special drawing in honor of the launch of the Sun-Maid Raisin Girl's Pola Negri page. Two lucky winners of the drawing will receive a sealed copy of Grapevine Video's Ladies of the German Cinema DVD coupled with a box of Sun-Maid Raisins.

The Ladies of the German Cinema DVD features the rare Pola Negri silent Sappho (1921). David Gasten, webmaster of Polanegri.com, was closely involved with the DVD's production, and it broke a sales record for best initial sales of any DVD released by Grapevine Video.

1. Email davidgasten ậ yahoø.com, and
2. Type "Sun-Maid Raisin Girl" in the subject line.

Offer ends 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time (US) on July 1, 2010; winners will be notified by July 3rd.

Grapevine Video is again offering $2 off every DVD in their catalog ordered through the Pola Negri Appreciation Site. This is not $2 off the total order either--this is $2 off every individual title!

Grapevine Video is a high-quality mail order DVD retailer that specializes in rare and hard to find silent movies. Many of the titles they offer are not available anywhere else. Grapevine offers a total of SEVEN Pola Negri titles and dozens of other titles from throughout the silent era, including an extensive list of rare European Silent titles.

1. Go to Grapevine Video's Website and start shopping. Grapevine has their titles listed in categories on the left hand side of the screen.
2. When you see a title you want to buy, click the "Add to Cart" button and an e-shopping cart page will come up.
3. In the "Customer Code" box in the e-shopping cart page, type the letters "PNAS" (for "Pola Negri Appreciation Site") to receive a $2 discount off every title you purchase! The e-shopping cart will guide you from there.

All of Grapevine Video's DVD's are Region 0, so playable worldwide. There is no limit on the number of titles you purchase either. This is an exclusive offer available only through the Pola Negri Appreciation Site.