The Flickr Jacktrevor Image Generatr

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3961/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Natge, Berlin.

British gentleman actor Jack Trevor (1890-1976) had a great career in the German and Austrian silent cinema of the 1920s but during World War II he was forced by the Nazis to appear in Anti-English propaganda films.

For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards

The poster illustration is by Eric Rohman.

The original German title is "Der goldene Schmetterling".

German postcard. Photo: Cicero Film / Distribution Deutsche Tonfilme. The 'fine fleur' of late silent German cinema stars, united for a photo for an early sound film company. Standing left to right: Francis/Franz Lederer, Walter Rilla, Theodor Loos, Camilla Horn, Fritz Rasp and Walter Janssen, Sitting left to right: Paul Heidemann, Charlotte Susa, Betty Amann, Olga Tschechowa, Maria Paudler and Jack Trevor. Might be publicity for the early sound comedy Die grosse Sehnsucht/The Great Longing (Stefan Szekely/Steve Sekely, 1930), in which all acted, mostly as themselves - only Loos and Horn played characters. The plot was an excuse for 35 stars to debut in a talking picture.

Dark and gorgeous looking actor Francis Lederer (1899 – 2000) had a successful film and stage career, first in Europe as Franz Lederer, then in the United States.
German actor Walter Rilla (1894-1980) began his career in silent films, and appeared in over 130 films between 1922 and 1977. In 1933 he took his family and fled the Nazi regime. In London he played vile, foreign-tongued villains in spy films. He returned to Germany in the 1950s and wrote and directed for TV.
Theodor Loos (1883-1954) was a German stage and screen actor between the 1910s and the 1950s. He became famous for his parts in Fritz Lang’s German films.
Ethereally blonde Camilla Horn (1903-1996) was a German dancer and film star. Her breakthrough role was Gretchen in the silent film classic Faust (1926, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau). She also starred in some Hollywood films of the late 1920's and in a few British and Italian productions.
German film actor Fritz Rasp (1891–1976) appeared in 104 films between 1916 and 1976. He excelled in dark roles: villains, rapists, traitors. His most notable film parts were Der Schmale (The Thin Man) in Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927), Meinert in Tagebuch einer Verlorenen/Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), and J. J. Peachum in Die 3-Groschen-Oper/The Threepenny Opera (1931).
Paul Heidemann (1884-1968) was a German stage and screen actor, film director and film producer. He was famous for his comical parts.
Blond, German actress Charlotte Susa (1898 - 1967), was a major operetta star of the German-speaking world, and also a popular femme fatale of the German silent and early sound film.
Beautiful German-American actress Betty Amann (1905-1990) started her film career in Hollywood. Director Joe May and producer Erich Pommer discovered her for the German cinema. In their silent masterpiece Asphalt (1929, Joe May) she played the femme fatale who corrupted policeman Gustav Fröhlich.
Dignified German-Russian actress Olga Tschechova/ Tschechowa (1897-1980) was one of the most popular stars of the silent film era. She remained a mysterious person throughout her life, and was reportedly a Russian agent in Nazi Germany.
German actress Maria Paudler (1903-1990) was a popular star of the late silent German cinema. She also played the leading role in the first German tv-film.
British gentleman actor Jack Trevor (1890-1976) had a great career in the German silent cinema of the 1920’s but during World War II he was forced by the Nazis to appear in Anti-English propaganda films.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5066/1. Photo: Defina.

British gentleman actor Jack Trevor (1890-1976) had a great career in the German silent cinema of the 1920’s but during World War II he was forced by the Nazis to appear in anti-British propaganda films.See also filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/search/label/Jack%20Trevor

German postcard by Ross Verlag no. 3951/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Natge, Berlin.

British gentleman actor Jack Trevor (1890-1976) had a great career in the German silent cinema of the 1920s, but during World War II he was forced by the Nazis to appear in anti-British propaganda films.

See also filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/search/label/Jack%20Trevor

German postcard. Ross Verlag, nr. 3164/1. Atelier Hanni Schwarz, Berlin.

British gentleman actor Jack Trevor (1890-1976) had a great career in the German silent cinema of the 1920s but during World War II he was forced by the Nazis to appear in anti-British propaganda films.See also filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/search/label/Jack%20Trevor

German postcard. Ross Verlag, nr. 5074/1.

British gentleman actor Jack Trevor (1890-1976) had a great career in the German silent cinema of the 1920’s but during World War II he was forced by the Nazis to appear in anti-British propaganda films.See also filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/search/label/Jack%20Trevor

Howard Waldrop examines his prize, the "Jack Trevor Cup."

Michael and Linda Moorcock present the Jack Trevor Story Memorial Prize (aka the Prix Jack Trevor Story) to Howard Waldrop during Armadillocon 31.

Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, nr. 5778. Photo: Pan-Film AG.

British gentleman actor Jack Trevor (1890-1976) had a great career in the German silent cinema of the 1920’s but during World War II he was forced by the Nazis to appear in Anti-English propaganda films.

Jack Trevor was born as Anthony Cedric Sebastian Steane in 1890, in London-Lambeth, Great-Britain. He served for the Manchester regiment during World War I and was wounded in 1916 which led to his release as a so-called war-disabled person. He came from a good family and got married with Alma, an alleged daughter from a liaison between baroness Mary Vetsera and the Austrian successor to the throne Rudolf. Alma committed suicide one year later. In the early 1920’s Jack Trevor started to work for the silent British cinema in films like Petticoat Loose (1922, George Ridgwell) with Warwick Ward and Pages of Life (1922, Adelqui Migliar) with Evelyn Brent. After a few years he moved over to the booming German film industry. When Trevor (sometimes credited as Jac Trevor) got a film offer from director Friedrich Zelnik to appear with Hans Albers and Lya Mara in Die Venus von Montmarte (1925), he accepted it at once. That year he also appeared with stars like Lil Dagover, Emil Jannings, Jenny Jugo and Conrad Veidt in Liebe macht blind/ Love Makes Us Blind (1925, Lothar Mendes), and opposite Lili Damita in the hit Fiaker Nr. 13/Cab nr. 13 (1926, Michael Kertész aka Michael Curtiz). To his other well-known films of the 1920's belong Geheimnisse einer Seele/Secrets of a Soul (1926, Georg Wilhelm Pabst), Der goldene Schmetterling/The Golden Butterfly (1926, Michael Kertész aka Michael Curtiz), Die Frau ohne Namen/The Woman Without a Name (1927, Georg Jacoby), Der Katzensteg/Betrayal (1927, Gerhard Lamprecht), Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney/ The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927, Georg Wilhelm Pabst), Moderne Piraten/Modern Pirates (1928, Manfred Noa) Abwege/Crisis (1928, Georg Wilhelm Pabst) and Narkose/Narcose (1929, Alfred Abel, Ernst Garden). In 1928 he also appeared in an uncredited part in Alfred Hitchcock’s Champagne (1928) starring Betty Balfour. Trevor always played aristocrats and high officers. In fact he impersonated on screen what he was in his private life: the typical English gentleman.

The transition to the sound film turned out to be difficult for Jack Trevor. With his insufficient knowledge of the German language he got only few roles. He appeared in the war drama Two Worlds (1930, Ewald André Dupont), the British language version of Les deux mondes (1930, Ewald André Dupont), and in Die fünf verfluchten Gentlemen/The Five Accursed Gentlemen (1931, Julien Duvivier) again an alternate language version of a French film, Les cinq gentlemen maudits (1931, Julien Duvivier). Later he was able to act more often in supporting roles in such films as Henker, Frauen und Soldaten/Hangmen, Women and Soldiers (1935, Johannes Meyer) with Hans Albers, Engel mit kleinen Fehlern/Angels with Minor Faults (1936, Carl Boese) with Adele Sandrock, and Der Scheidungsgrund/Grounds for Divorce (1937, Carl Lamac) with Anny Ondra. Trevor, who owned a huge fortune, travelled through Europe and didn't much pick up of the political changes in Germany. When the war broke out he was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo, while his family stayed in Oberammergau. Finally he was forced to take part in anti-British propaganda films like Carl Peters (1941, Herbert Selpin), Mein Leben für Irland (1941, Max W. Kimmich) and Ohm Krüger (1941, Hans Steinhoff). After the war he came into an according to Thomas Staedeli of Cyranos “ vicious circle and Trevor was extradited to England”. There he was sentenced to prison for three years because of his support to the Nazis. The sentence was quashed again three months later because it was proved that this collaboration didn't come off of his own free will. Trevor turned again to the pleasant sides of life but he never took part in a film again. Jack Trevor died in 1976, in Deal, England.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de and IMDb.