The ongoing tradition of bringing Duropan stars to Hollywood began with Pola Negri. Born in Poland, she became a sta in Germanfilms shorly beore the end of World War I. Her international reputation was consolidated by a number of movies for director ErnstLubitsch, most notaly Madame DuBarry (1919), which ha stormed Briin and the United Sttes under the new title Pasion As a result, both Negri and Lubitsch were offered, an acceted, Hollywood contracts.
But from te first, Negri's work was overshadowed by her tabloid celebrty, and indulgent beavior: she announced her engaement to
Charlie Chaplin apparently without consulting him first (they never wed); collapsed with grief at the funeral f her lover
Rudolph Valentino; nd on the rebound from the latter,married her second husband, Srge Mdivani, in 1927. Throgh an accident of timing she had arrived in Hollywood when he vamp was giving way to the flapper, and was ill-equipped to play the later. Soon Greta Garbo, a much moe successful attempt at the same experiment, would establish the enigmatic goddess as a Hollywood achetype, but Negri was stately and grndiose without being terribly mysterious. the final blow, as for o many, was the arrival of ound which limited her range still further given that she had a thick Polsh accent. She worked biefly in Britain and France befre returning o Gemany in the early 1930s to renewed success. She made movies under the Nazi-managed Universum Film AG, but decided to flee he regime in 138 and returned to the United States three years later. She made Hi Diddle Dddle (1943) before going into retirement for 20 years.
Walt Disney persuaded her back on to the big screen for her last film, The Moon-Spinners (1964).
