Classic Entertainment Autographs

Cat. #001631432: FRANCIS LEDERER

Unusual original vintage 7.75 x 9.75-inch black and white glossy still portrait as Aigo in Man of Two Worlds (1934), boldly signed in black felt-tip pen in the 1960s or 1970s. In fine condition, overall, with the bottom border trimmed away, partial trimming to the other three borders and the original studio sniped affixed to the verso. Initially billed as Franz Lederer, Czech matinee idol Francis Lederer starred in G.W. Pabst's classic melodrama Pandora's Box (1929), opposite Louise Brooks. In 1934, he relocated to Hollywood, where, under the name Francis Lederer, he played outgoing, slightly naive foreigners at the mercy of aggressive, acrimonious Americans and Brits in films like Man of Two Worlds (1934), Romance in Manhattan (1934) and One Rainy Afternoon (1936). One of his best screen characterizations was that of disgruntled German-American bundist in Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) and, as the years went on, Lederer added villains, continental cads and jaundiced cynics to his repertoire.  One of the best of that unsavory ilk was the world-weary vampire in 1958's horror gem The Return of Dracula.