Adina Mandlová
Encyclopedia
Adina Mandlová was a Czech
actress, sex-symbol of the 1930s and European movie star.
The most controversial, dominating a lot of scandals, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, undertaking love affairs and then almost lynched... Adina Mandlová is a legend. According to one source, her true first name was Jarmila, but she had more front names and later she chose Adina, probably because it worked more exotically. She was born in Mladá Boleslav
and grew in an unstable family. After changing several schools and jobs she eventually became a model girl. Her film career started in 1932 thanks to a second-rate movie Děvčátko, neříkej ne! (Girl, don't say no!), where she performed...a model girl. After another several movies she attracted Hugo Haas
, who began to keep close company with her (closer than normally close) and recommended her to respected directors like Vávra or Frič. By the way, at that time she refused a role in Machatý
's scandalous movie Extáze (Extasis, 1933), which was probably her life's fault, because the performer of the title role, [Hedy Kiesler, later succeeded in Hollywood as Hedy Lamarre. However, during a short time Mandlová became an unofficial Number One among Czech actresses. The top of her career was Kristián
(1939). I can also name Panenství (Virginhood, 1937), Mravnost nade vše
(Morality Above All, 1937), Přítelkyně pana ministra (A girlfriend of the minister, 1940), Těžký život dobrodruha (A hard life of an adventurer, 1941), Noční motýl (The Night Butterfly, 1941) etc. During the WW II Mandlová led a wild life and rumours about her scandals caused a growing aversion against her. For example, there was a rumour that she was a mistress of the German protector K. H. Frank
(which was not true, and Frank disliked her because of it.). She was also invited to Germany, where Goebbels
promised her big career, under condition that she chose a better pseudonym. Indeed, in 1943 Mandlová co-starred with German actor Heinz Rühmann
in the movie, "Ich vertraue dir meine Frau an," using the screen name of Lil Adina. However, her stay in Berlin soon ended due to Frank's intrigues. After the end of the war it showed that popular "rumours" concerning her alleged contacts with Nazis were malicious fabrications and she actually helped her former boyfriend, who had escaped from a concentration camp. However, the public demand for her punishment was stronger than facts. In May 1945 she was arrested and according to her own memoirs, one warder, who was her big fan, saved her from lynching in the front of the prison. (That she can really thank him a lot can be illustrated by the fact that director Jan Sviták
, an alleged Nazi quisling, was then lynched and subsequently shot death in a Prague street.) Then she was strongly persecuted and eventually married British pilot Joe Knight, which enabled her to emigrate to the Great Britain (1947). Here she tried to continue in her film career, but with changeable success. In 1948 she acted in a movie The Fool And The Princess, but that was practically everything, because soon after she was taken ill with tuberculosis and healed in Switzerland. Her marriage crashed and Mandlová was forced to earn money by different ways, among other things as a collaborator of a costume designer Ben Pearson, whom she later married. In the end, she lived in Malta together with her husband. Here she also wrote a bitter biography Dnes se tomu směju (Today I Am Laughing Over It, 1976). In 1991, she returned home after 45 years. Here the "old, sick and impatient lady" came to die. Despite the negative picture surrounding her figure, she was an excellent actress.
Most important roles
Život je pes – Eva Durdysová
Holka nebo kluk? – Ada Bártů
Cech panen Kutnohorských – Rozina
Kristian – Zuzana Rendlová
Kouzelný dům – Marie Ungrová
Přítelkyně pana ministra – Julie Svobodová
Pacientka dr. Hegla – Karla Janotová
Hotel Modrá hvězda – Milada Landová
Okouzlená – Milada Jánská
Noční motýl – Anča, zvaná Kiki
Šťastnou cestu – Helena Truxová
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
actress, sex-symbol of the 1930s and European movie star.
The most controversial, dominating a lot of scandals, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, undertaking love affairs and then almost lynched... Adina Mandlová is a legend. According to one source, her true first name was Jarmila, but she had more front names and later she chose Adina, probably because it worked more exotically. She was born in Mladá Boleslav
Mladá Boleslav
Mladá Boleslav is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, on the left bank of the Jizera river about 50 km northeast of Prague.Founded in the second half of the 10th century by King Boleslav II as a royal castle...
and grew in an unstable family. After changing several schools and jobs she eventually became a model girl. Her film career started in 1932 thanks to a second-rate movie Děvčátko, neříkej ne! (Girl, don't say no!), where she performed...a model girl. After another several movies she attracted Hugo Haas
Hugo Haas
Hugo Haas was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in over 60 films between 1926 and 1962, as well as directing 20 films between 1933 and 1962....
, who began to keep close company with her (closer than normally close) and recommended her to respected directors like Vávra or Frič. By the way, at that time she refused a role in Machatý
Gustav Machatý
Gustav Machatý was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 17 films between 1919 and 1955, including Ecstasy...
's scandalous movie Extáze (Extasis, 1933), which was probably her life's fault, because the performer of the title role, [Hedy Kiesler, later succeeded in Hollywood as Hedy Lamarre. However, during a short time Mandlová became an unofficial Number One among Czech actresses. The top of her career was Kristián
Kristian
Kristian is also the spelling of the name Christian in several languages, among them Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish.Kristian may also refer to:-Given name:* Kristian Digby , British television presenter and director...
(1939). I can also name Panenství (Virginhood, 1937), Mravnost nade vše
Mravnost nade vše
Morality Above All Else is a Czech comedy film directed by Martin Frič. It was released in 1937.-Cast:* Hugo Haas as Prof. Antonín Karas* Světla Svozilová as Karolína Karasová* Adina Mandlová as Eva Karasová* Ladislav Boháč as MUDr. Jílkovský...
(Morality Above All, 1937), Přítelkyně pana ministra (A girlfriend of the minister, 1940), Těžký život dobrodruha (A hard life of an adventurer, 1941), Noční motýl (The Night Butterfly, 1941) etc. During the WW II Mandlová led a wild life and rumours about her scandals caused a growing aversion against her. For example, there was a rumour that she was a mistress of the German protector K. H. Frank
Karl Hermann Frank
Karl Hermann Frank was a prominent Sudeten German Nazi official in Czechoslovakia prior to and during World War II and an SS-Obergruppenführer...
(which was not true, and Frank disliked her because of it.). She was also invited to Germany, where Goebbels
Goebbels
Goebbels, alternatively Göbbels, is a common surname in the western areas of Germany. It is probably derived from the Old Low German word gibbler, meaning brewer...
promised her big career, under condition that she chose a better pseudonym. Indeed, in 1943 Mandlová co-starred with German actor Heinz Rühmann
Heinz Rühmann
Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann was a popular German film actor.-Life and work:Rühmann was born in Essen, Westphalia. His role in the 1930 movie Die Drei von der Tankstelle led him to film stardom. He remained highly popular as a comedic actor throughout the 1930s and early 1940s...
in the movie, "Ich vertraue dir meine Frau an," using the screen name of Lil Adina. However, her stay in Berlin soon ended due to Frank's intrigues. After the end of the war it showed that popular "rumours" concerning her alleged contacts with Nazis were malicious fabrications and she actually helped her former boyfriend, who had escaped from a concentration camp. However, the public demand for her punishment was stronger than facts. In May 1945 she was arrested and according to her own memoirs, one warder, who was her big fan, saved her from lynching in the front of the prison. (That she can really thank him a lot can be illustrated by the fact that director Jan Sviták
Jan Sviták
Jan Sviták was a Czech actor and film director. He was an important exponent of Czechoslovak film in the interwar period and during World War II. Sviták was murdered shortly after the liberation of Prague in 1945....
, an alleged Nazi quisling, was then lynched and subsequently shot death in a Prague street.) Then she was strongly persecuted and eventually married British pilot Joe Knight, which enabled her to emigrate to the Great Britain (1947). Here she tried to continue in her film career, but with changeable success. In 1948 she acted in a movie The Fool And The Princess, but that was practically everything, because soon after she was taken ill with tuberculosis and healed in Switzerland. Her marriage crashed and Mandlová was forced to earn money by different ways, among other things as a collaborator of a costume designer Ben Pearson, whom she later married. In the end, she lived in Malta together with her husband. Here she also wrote a bitter biography Dnes se tomu směju (Today I Am Laughing Over It, 1976). In 1991, she returned home after 45 years. Here the "old, sick and impatient lady" came to die. Despite the negative picture surrounding her figure, she was an excellent actress.
Most important roles
Život je pes – Eva Durdysová
Holka nebo kluk? – Ada Bártů
Cech panen Kutnohorských – Rozina
Kristian – Zuzana Rendlová
Kouzelný dům – Marie Ungrová
Přítelkyně pana ministra – Julie Svobodová
Pacientka dr. Hegla – Karla Janotová
Hotel Modrá hvězda – Milada Landová
Okouzlená – Milada Jánská
Noční motýl – Anča, zvaná Kiki
Šťastnou cestu – Helena Truxová
- The Fool and the PrincessThe Fool and the PrincessThe Fool and the Princess is a 1948 British drama film directed by William C. Hammond and starring Bruce Lester, Lesley Brook and Adina Mandlová...
(1948)