A series of passionate love letters from Robey, to his mistress, Blanche Littler, written whilst on location for 'Don Quixote'

ex 23 3rd

Georg Wilhelm PABST (director, 1885-1967). - Feodor CHALIAPIN, Sr. (1873-1938, starred as Don Quixote).

Sir George ROBEY (1869-1954, co-starred as Sancho Panza).

A series of 28 autograph letters (signed with initial ‘G.’), from the South of France, to his mistress (and future wife) Blanche Littler. All are written during the filming of the ‘Adventures of Don Quixote’ (released in 1933), most seem to be unpublished.[September – November 1932]Most 8vo., a few 4to, with a total of 62 pages. Eight with associated envelopes. Provenance: estate of Lady Blanche Robey.

A series of passionate love letters from Music Hall star, George Robey, to his mistress, theatre manager and impresario, Blanche Littler (they married in 1938). 22 of the letters (a total of 51 pages) also include information and opinions from Robey that relate the filming of the “Adventures of Don Quixote”, directed by G. W. Pabst.

As the letters make clear: Robey did not like making movies (way to much ‘hanging around’ waiting for the weather to improve), and he didn’t much like France, hated being separated from Blanche, but appreciated the work that had gone into the production and has no bad words to say about Chaliapin. Despite all this, always a professional, he gave a performance which ensured that this was seen as probably his best film work.

Chaliapin’s “acting and singing was sensational. He made many sound recordings between the 1900 and 1938, of which the 1913 recordings of the Russian folk songs 'Vdol po Piterskoi' and 'The Song of the Volga Boatmen' are best known. The only sound film which shows his acting style is 'Don Quixote' (1933). Chaliapin worked for impresario Sol Hurok and sang for 8 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he had an immense success. Chaliapin collaborated with Maxim Gorky, who wrote and edited his memoirs, which he published in 1933. Chaliapin revolutionized opera by bringing serious acting in combination with great singing. Chaliapin Sr. was the undisputed best basso in the first half of the 20th century. … Feodor Chaliapin Sr. died on April 12, 1938, in Paris, France. He was laid to rest in the Novodevichy Monastery Cemetery in Moscow.” (IMDb)

Pabst “is considered by many to be the greatest director of German cinema, in his era.” (IMDb).

Literature: ‘George Robey. The Darling of the Halls.’ By Peter Cotes (London: 1972), pp. 107-111, includes extracts from three of the letters