Marlene Dietrich |

The French Line’s fabulous ILE DE FRANCE

December 10, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Another great YOUTUBE video from Joanna Coleman… of the ILE DE FRANCE…

Here is a wonderful piece on the great French liner ILE DE FRANCE from New York Social Diary by maritime artist and historian: Scott McBee…

The newly re-fitted SS Ile de France in 1949, having been restyle and sporting only two funnels, leaving Le Havre for its Atlantic run to New York…
by Scott McBee

The SS Ile de France was built in for the French shipping company, Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (known commercially as The French Line) at a cost of $10,000,000. Her construction began in1925 at the Penhoet shipyards in Saint-Nazaire, France. She was the first major liner built after World War I. She was launched on March 14,1926.

Seven hundred ninety-one feet in length, 91 feet wide, powered by steam turbines geared to quadruple screws, she had a service speed of 23.5 knots. After a period of 14 months for fitting out her interiors the Ile de France weighed in at 44,356 tons and left the shipyards on May 29th for her sea trials.

The cabin class salon decorated by Le Bucheron…

Her maiden voyage was on June 22, 1927 from Le Havre to New York where she received a gala welcome from New York City. had a passenger capacity of 1,395 — 541 First Class, 577 Cabin Class and 277 Tourist class after her refitting after World War II. She was neither the largest (the sixth largest) or the fastest but was and still is considered one of the most beautifully decorated ocean liners built by the French Line.

One of her most distinctive characteristics were the sumptuous, unique interiors which at the time represented a departure, something new in interior design. It would be the first time a passenger ship’s accommodations would not be designed on a theme of the past but more of what was taking place in the present time. In “The Only Way to Cross, Jon Maxtone-Graham calls the Ile “the divide from which point ocean liner decorators reached forward rather than back.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Filed Under: Cruise Memorabilia, cruise reviews, CRUISING THE PAST VIDEOS Tagged With: Cruise History, cruise liner, cruise ship history, Ile de France, Judy Garland, le bucheron, Marlene Dietrich, new york social diary, the French Line, trans-atlantic liners

The Cafe de Paris

January 16, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Cruising the Past: Historical look at London’s famous Café de Paris. The Cafe is a London nightclub, opened in 1924, which over the years has featured such performers as Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Gold, Harry Roy, Ken Snakehips Johnson, Bert Ambrose, and Maxine Cooper Gomberg. Louise Brooks made history when she worked there in December 1924, introducing the Charleston (dance) to London.

A video of the CAFE DE PARIS – FROM A MOVIE FILMED IN THE 1930s.

Cafe De Paris, in London’s Piccadilly is one of the most famous and durable venues in the world. With a glittering history, spanning nine decades, the Cafe has consistently played host to a wide variety of powerful and absorbing performers and guests, members of the aristocracy, eminent political figures, dazzling pop stars, captains of industry, superstars from the silver screen and even royalty.

1936 Nazi Color Film-Berlin in the Year of the Olympic Games.

October 28, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Cruising the past: 1936 Nazi Color Film-Berlin in the Year of the Olympic Games.

CLICK ABOVE TO PLAY THE COLOR 1936 FILM:

Nazi propaganda complete color film from 1936. An outstanding portrait of daily life in Berlin in this rare, well preserved film, with the magical feeling of the pastel colors of Agfachrome. Strangely, it appears that parts of this documentary were filmed in 1939, after the Siegessäule was moved to it’s new location.

A New Way to Look at World War 2:

The second World War has usually been seen in black and white, but after endless research a new film outlet has unearthed an abundance of superb color film that shows what it really looked like to those who were there. “Unknown World War 2 in Color” is a stunning and vivid new account of the epic conflict. Visit their website by clicking here.

THE 1936 OLYMPICS

Portrait of a Women’s United States Olympic Team Arriving Home: The fairer of Uncle Sam’s Olympic stars who competed in Berlin, are pictured upon their return to America’s shore on the SS President Roosevelt. They arrived in New York City on August 28, 1936.

American teams heading for the Olympics aboard ships including the Bremen.

(Left: Hitler with American Olympic athlete. Right: German athletes who played in the 1936 Games. One of them was gay and sent to a concentration camp where he was killed in 1943.)

The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona (two years before the Nazis came to power).

American Olympic cycling team aboard the Bremen.

It marked the second and final time that the International Olympic Committee would gather to vote in a city which was bidding to host those Games. The only other time this occurred was at the inaugural IOC Session in Paris, France, on April 24, 1894. Then, Athens, Greece, and Paris were chosen to host the 1896 and 1900 Games, respectively.

American skating team aboard the Bremen.

Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, a favorite of Hitler’s, was commissioned by the IOC to film the Games. Her film, entitled Olympia, introduced many of the techniques now common to the filming of sports.

MARLENE DIETRICH AT BERLIN’S ADLON HOTEL

October 23, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Adlon Hotel History: Marlene Dietrich, Berlin, 1929. At the annual Presseball in the famous Hotel Adlon, Dietrich wore tails and pants, which was unheard of at that time. She had to stand very still because the exposure was always between half a second and a second. If someone moved I had to take the picture over again.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE ADLON HOTEL’S WEBSITE

History of the Hotel Adlon Kempinski

On October 24, 1907 the Vossische Zeitung in Berlin reported: “Yesterday, His Majesty the German Emperor, Her Majesty the German Empress, the Princesses and the Princes visited the impressive building of the Hotel Adlon and paid their tribute to that site.” From this day on the history of the Hotel Adlon began taking its course – the history of a hotel which was built with the support of Emperor Wilhelm II, and which within three years would become the most beautiful and most luxurious hotel in the world.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: SOCIAL HISTORY Tagged With: adlon hotel, adlon palais, Berlin, china club, gdr, Hotel Adlon, lorenz Adlon, louis adlon, Marlene Dietrich, Nazis, roaring twenties

Cruise History – 1930s home movies aboard the liner SS Bremen and photos of famous passengers. Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Winston Churchill, Marlene Dietrich, J. Krishnamurti, William Randolph Hearst and Jimmy Donahue.

March 4, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

These are amusing black and white home movies shot aboard the SS Bremen in 1930 courtesy of shipgeek.com.

The SS “Bremen” of 1929 was one of a pair of ocean liners built for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) for the transatlantic passenger service.

The “Bremen” was notable for her low streamlined profile, and modern approach to her design.

Her sister ship was the SS|Europa|1930|2, later renamed “Liberté”.

The German pair sparked the building of the large (and very expensive) express liners of the 1930s.

1936 – Cary Grant, the popular movie star, is pictured aboard the S. S. Bremen, as he arrived in New York City.

History

“Bremen” and her sister were designed to have a cruising speed of 27.5 knots, allowing a crossing time of 5 days. This speed enabled Norddeutsche Lloyd to run regular weekly crossings with two ships, a feat that normally required three. It was claimed that Bremen briefly reached speeds of 32 knots during her sea trials.

Originally it was planned to have the “Bremen” make a simultaneous transatlantic crossing with her sister “Europa”, but the “Europa” was held up by a serious fire during fitting-out, so the “Bremen” made a solo maiden voyage, departing Bremerhaven for New York City on 16 July, 1929. She arrived four days, 17 hours, and 42 minutes later, capturing the westbound Blue Riband from the RMS|Mauretania|1906|2 with an average speed of 27.83 knots. This voyage also marked the first time mail was carried by a ship launched plane for delivery before the ship’s arrival. A Heinkel He12, piloted by Jobst von Studnitz, was launched a few hours before arrival in New York with a number of mailbags. On her next voyage she took the eastbound Blue Riband with a time of 4 day 14 hours and 30 minutes and an average speed of 27.91 knots. This was the first time a liner had broken two records on her first two voyages. The “Bremen” lost the westbound Blue Riband to her sister “Europa” in 1930. “Bremen” lost the eastbound Blue Riband to SS “Normandie” in 1935.

As Nazism gained power in Germany, “Bremen”, and her pier in New York, were often the site of Anti-Nazi demonstrations. On July 26, 1935 a group of demonstrators boarded “Bremen” just before she sailed and tore the Nazi party flag from the jackstaff and tossed it into the Hudson River. On September 15, 1935 Hitler declared the Nazi Flag to be the exclusive national flag of Germany in response to this incident, removing the status of the original flag of the Weimar Republic as co-national flag.

On August 26, 1939, in anticipation of the 1939 invasion of Poland, the Kriegsmarine high command ordered all German merchant ships to head to German ports immediately. “Bremen” was on a westbound crossing and 2 days from New York when she received the order. “Bremen”’s captain decided to continue to New York to disembark her 1770 passengers.

She left New York without passengers on August 30, 1939. She made use of bad weather, and high speed to avoid Royal Navy cruisers, arriving in Murmansk on September 6, 1939. On December 10, 1939, the “Bremen” made a dash to Bremerhaven, arriving on December 13. On the way she was sighted and challenged by the S class submarine HMS|Salmon|N65|6. While challenging “Bremen”, an escorting Dornier Do 18 seaplane forced the “Salmon” to dive for safety..

The “Bremen” was used as a barrack ship; there were plans to use her as a transport in Operation Sealion, the intended invasion of Great Britain. In 1941, the “Bremen” was set alight by a crew member while at her dock in Bremerhaven and completely gutted. A lengthy investigation discovered that the arson was the result of personal grudge against the ship’s owners and not an act of sabotage. She was broken up in 1946.

Henry Fonda, film star, and Mrs. George (Frances) T. Brokaw, New York society woman who he is reported to soon marry, are pictured upon their arrival in New York City Sept. 4, 1936 on the S. S. Bremen.

1930s -Marlene Dietrich, German movie star of “The Blue Angel” and other films returning from Germany on the S.S. Bremen.

1937-J. Krishnamurti, the Indian philosopher, aboard the S.S. Bremen, arriving in New York City for a vacation.

1934- New York, NY- William Randolph Hearst, prominant Americcan newspaper publisher, pictured aboard the S.S. Bremen as he returned to New York, Sept. 27, after a trip abroad.

James Paul Donahue, Jr. (the Woolworth heir) arrives in New York on the SS Bremen in the early 1930s. “Jimmy” was no doubt the most famous and notoriously Gay New York archetypal playboy of the 20th century. Grandson of Frank Woolworth, chain store millionaire.

1933 – New York: Toting about 60 pounds of copper on their necks, and bearing all appearances of human giraffes, three former residents of Upper Burma arrive in New York aboard the SS Bremen to join the Barnum and Bailey Circus. When asked their opinion of America, the ladies answered, “Przchmgrowow” – which might be considered a diplomatic retaliation.

Jack Johnson, former heavyweight champion, and his wife on the S.S. Bremen. Germany was far more tolerant of intermarriage than the USA.

1931-New York, NY: Former Chancellor of the British Exchequer Winston Churchill, surrounded by reporters on the S.S. Bremen, when he arrived in New York this morning, Dec. 11. Mr. Churchill, who was accompanied by his wife and daughter Diana, will make a lecture tour of the country.

1933-New York, NY- Max Schmeling (l), Germany’s former Heavyweight Champion of the world is welcomed by Jack Dempsey, also a former Heavyweight Champion of the world, as the former arrives in New York today (Friday) on the S. S. Bremen. The German boxer is to meet Max Baer in a bout sponsored by Dempsey.

Filed Under: NORTH GERMAN LLOYD, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: cary grant, cruise ship history, GERMAN LINERS, hearst, henry fonda, J. krishnamurti, jimmy donahue, Liberte, Marlene Dietrich, new york harbor, Ringling Bros. Circus, sex, SS Bremen, winston churchill

Cruise Ship History: Memories of 1929 Crash – Passengers aboard Cunard-White Star’s BERENGARIA went from millionaires to paupers!

December 13, 2008 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Groups of passengers are seen aboard the Berengaria during the fatal 1929 crash. They lost millions at sea.

The passenger liner Berengaria, originally named Imperator, was built in Germany in 1913 for the Hamburg-Amerika Line. Intended as a rival to Britain’s Olympic, Titanic, Lusitania and Mauretania, she was then the largest ship in the world (919 feet long, weighing 52,117 tons).

Marlene Dietrich aboard the Berengaria in Southampton 1937.

She was handed over to Britain after the First World War, then bought by Cunard as a replacement for Lusitania. Her first voyage for Cunard, still named Imperator, was from Liverpool to New York in February 1920. This was her only voyage from Liverpool, as she later sailed from Southampton.

During the 1920s Berengaria was the flagship of the Cunard fleet, joining Mauretania and Aquitania on the weekly service between Southampton and New York. She made her last Atlantic crossing in 1938.