Xenia Desni

Ukrainian actress Xenia Desni (1894-1962) was a star of the German silent cinema. She appeared in many films by Johannes Guter for Ufa. A highlight in her career was the silent Operetta Ein Walzertraum/A Waltz Dream (1925) by Ludwig Berger.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3738/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 48/6. Photo: Ufa. Xenia Desni and Willy Fritsch in Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925), adapted from the Oscar Straus operetta.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1026/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Xenia Desni in Die gefundene Braut/The Found Bride (Rochus Gliese, 1925).


Austrian photo by Willinger, Wien. Xenia Desni and Livio Pavanelli in the German silent film Die letzte Einquartierung aka Küssen ist keine Sünd'/Kissing is no sin (Rudolf Walther-Fein, Rudolf Dworsky, 1926). A gift from their niece Tatiana.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 669/1. Photo: Naxos-Film / Verleih E. Weil & Co. Xenia Desni in the comedy Nixchen (Curt Blachnitzky, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3760/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

A successful but short film career in Berlin

Xenia Desni (Ukrainian: Ксенія Десні) was born Ksenia Desnytska in 1894 in the town of Oster near Kyiv, then part of the Russian Empire and now Ukraine. Her artistic talent was evident from an early age, and her passion for dance in particular was supported and encouraged by her parents. In 1911 she gave birth to her daughter, the future stage and film actress of the 1930s and 1950s, Tamara Desni. During the turmoil of the First World War and the Russian Revolution, Desni and her family fled to Constantinople (now Istanbul) where she worked as a variety dancer.

She travelled to Berlin where she had a successful but short film career in the 1920s. Several sources claim that she made her film debut with Sappho (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1921) starring Pola Negri, but there is no evidence of this. Desni's name first appeared in 1921 in the credits of Weib und Palette/The Call of Fate (1921), directed by Johannes Guter, who later cast her in many of his films.

Their next film was Die Schwarze Pantherin/The Black Panther (Johannes Guter, 1921) starring Yelena Polevitskaya and produced by Erich Pommer. The film was produced by Russo Film, a small production outfit associated with Decla-Bioscop, which had been set up to produce films based on literature. Die Schwarze Pantherin/The Black Panther was adapted from a play by Volodymyr Vynnychenko, a Ukrainian statesman, political activist, writer, playwright and artist who served as the first prime minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Xenia signed a contract with the Ufa.

With Guter she worked on such films as Bardame/Barmaid (1922) with Paul Hartmann, Der Ruf des Schicksals/The Call of Destiny (Johannes Guter, 1922) with Fritz Kortner and Ernst Hofmann, Die Prinzessin Suwarin/Princess Suwarin (Johannes Guter, 1923) starring Lil Dagover and based on the novel by Ludwig Wolff, which had previously appeared in the Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung. She played Hedwig Tell the wife of the title figure in Wilhelm Tell (Rudolf Dworsky, Rudolf Walther-Fein, 1923). The film portrays the story of the legendary Swiss national hero William Tell. Other successful productions were Die Andere/The Other Woman (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1924), Der Sprung ins Leben (Johannes Guter, 1924) and the German-British costume film Dekameron-Nächte/Decameron Nights (Herbert Wilcox, 1924) based on two stories from the 'Decameron' by Giovanni Boccaccio with Lionel Barrymore as Prince Saladin. It was followed by Der Turm des Schweigens/The Tower of Silence (Johannes Guter, 1925) based on the play 'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare. Many films by Johannes Guter are considered lost, but this film was restored by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in 2006 and was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007.

Desni played the beautiful violinist/conductor Franzi Steingruber alongside Mady Christians (Princess Alix von Flausenthurn) and Willy Fritsch (Prince Consort Nikolaus Count Preyn) in Ein Walzertraum/A Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925). Ein Walzertraum was based on the 1907 operetta 'Ein Walzertraum' composed by Oscar Straus. At first, Berger had not wanted to film Straus' operetta because an operetta as a silent film seemed an absurd idea to him. Stephanie D'heil at Steffi-Line: "But then he realised: 'Here is new territory! Silent film from the spirit of music. Melody in every face, rhythm in every movement and shot. This is the only way to artistically realise the banal story of a puritanically educated princess who learns from a violinist how to make her husband happy. With actors who first have to be "renovated". Berger becomes an obsessive, a tamer. He transforms the elegiac Russian Xenia Desny into a lively personality." Ein Walzertraum/A Waltz Dream became a worldwide success. Unlike many of Ufa's ambitious productions of the 1920s, Ein Walzertraum managed to recover its production cost in the domestic market alone and was influential in the development of later Viennese operetta films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 571/1, 1919-1924. Photo: A. Eberth, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1026/4, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Xenia Desni in Die gefundene Braut/The Found Bride (Rochus Gliese, 1925). From Tatiana.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1028/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. From Tatiana.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1788/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3151/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.

Managing her daughter

Xenia Desni's film career flourished in the years 1926-1927. She made one film after another, including Der rosa Diamant/The Pink Diamond (Rochus Gliese, 1926) with Rudolf Klein-Rogge, the comedy Familie Schimeck/The Schimeck Family (Alfred Halm, Rudolf Dworsky, 1926) with Livio Pavanelli and Max Hansen, and Madame wagt einen Seitensprung (Hans Otto, 1927). With Harry Liedtke and Hans Albers, she co-starred in the cheerful Nixchen (1926) based on the novel by Helene Keßler alias Hans von Kahlenberg. She reunited with Willy Fritsch for Die Boxerbraut/The Boxer's Bride (Johannes Guter, 1926).

In France, she appeared with Louise Lagrange and Ricardo Cortez in the silent drama La danseuse Orchidée/The Orchid Dancer (Léonce Perret, 1928). It was shot at the Victorine Studios in Nice. Her last silent film was the Austrian historical drama Erzherzog Johann/Archduke John (Max Neufeld, 1929) starring Igo Sym as Archduke John of Austria, a nineteenth-century member of the Habsburg Dynasty. After the advent of sound film, Xenia Desni's screen career came to an end, probably due to a lack of voice technique.

Between 1924 and 1926, Xenia Desni had a summer residence built in Bansin, which she lived in with her daughter for several years until the house became the property of the industrial magnate Gerdes. According to IMDb and English Wikipedia, she appeared in one more film, the German crime film Kriminalkommissar Eyck (Milo Harbich, 1940) starring Anneliese Uhlig and Paul Klinger.

Her daughter Tamara Desni (1911-2008) acted in a half dozen German sound films. In 1931, Xenia and Tamara settled in London. There Tamara worked for decades as an actress in the British film industry. She was married to Canadian actor Raymond Lovell (1900-1953).

In 1950, Tamara moved with Lovell to France. In 1956, she and her fifth husband, Albert Lavagna, opened a successful hotel and restaurant, L'Auberge Chez Tamara, on the Cote d'Azur in Grasse. Xenia eventually moved in with them. Xenia Desni died in 1962 in Roquefort-les-Pins on the Côte d'Azur. She was 68.


German photo by Ufa.


Vintage photo. Xenia Desni and her daughter Tamara having fun at the beach, in the early 1920s. From Tatiana.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 48/4. Photo: Ufa. Xenia Desni in Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925), based on the Oscar Straus operetta.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 513/1. Photo: Sascha.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 670/1. Photo: Naxos-Film / Austrian distr. E. Weil. Hans Albers and Xenia Desni in Nixchen (Kurt Blachnitzky, 1926).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 669/2. Photo: Naxos-Film / distr. E. Weil & Co. Probably also a postcard for the German silent film comedy Nixchen (Curt Blachnitzky, 1926), as this was Naxos' only production with Desni.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 963. Photo: National Film. / Distr. Mondial A.G. Probably a card for the National Film production Die Bräutigame der Babette Bomberling/The Grooms of Babette Bomberling (Viktor Janson, 1927).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5014. Photo: National Film / Verleih Mondial-Film. Xenia Desni in the National Film production Die Bräutigame der Babette Bomberling/The Grooms of Babette Bomberling (Vikor Janson, 1927). N.B. Walter Rilla does not act in this film so the actor is probably Egon von Jordan.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1069/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag. Berlin, no. 1567/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Aafa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1661/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Willinger, Wien.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1975/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Aafa. Xenia Desni and Harry Liedtke in Ein Mädel aus dem Volke/A girl from the people (Jacob Fleck, Luise Fleck, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4454/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.


Vintage photo of Tamara and Xenia Desni. From Tatiana.

Source: Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-Line - German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Find A Grave, Wikipedia (English, Ukranian and German) and IMDb.

Ein Walzertraum (1925)

Willy Fritsch, Mady Christians and Xenia Desni were the stars in the German silent Ufa production Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925), based on the Oscar Straus operetta. The success of the film led to a wave of operetta films in Germany and Austria and paved the way to Hollywood for director Ludwig Berger.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 48/1. Mady Christians and Willy Fritsch in the Ufa-film Ein Walzertraum (Ludwig Berger, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 48/2. Photo: Ufa. Lydia Potechina (left) and Willy Fritsch in Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925).

An internationally successful operetta

Originally, 'Ein Walzertraum' was one of the best-known operettas by Oscar Straus, a Viennese composer of operettas and film scores and songs. The German libretto was by Leopold Jacobson and Felix Dörmann, based on the novella 'Nux, der Prinzgemahl' (Nux, the Prince Consort) by Hans Müller-Einigen from his 1905 book 'Buch der Abenteuer' (Book of Adventures).

The young Jacobson presented Oscar Straus with a libretto for 'Ein Walzertraum' at a coffee house in the Vienna Prater in 1906. Straus was inspired by the text and completed the work within 12 months. 'Ein Walzertraum' premiered on 2 March 1907 at the Carltheater in Vienna.

Following the success of the operetta in Vienna, productions of the work, under the name 'A Waltz Dream', were mounted in English for premieres at the Chestnut Street Opera House in Philadelphia on 6 January 1908, in New York City at the now-demolished Broadway Theatre on 27 January 1908 (with an English libretto adapted by Joseph Herbert), and in London on 28 March 1908 at the Hicks Theatre (adapted by Basil Hood, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, starring Gertie Millar and W.H. Berry). Lily Elsie and Amy Evans starred in the 1911 revival at Daly's Theatre.

The international success of the operetta exceeded Straus's expectations, and special praise was reserved for the famous waltz theme from Act Two. Straus later arranged various numbers from the operetta and included the graceful main waltz theme into a new concert waltz. The piece made Straus's international reputation, touring internationally after the Vienna, New York and London run and enjoying many revivals. The operetta did not remain as popular over the decades as Straus' 'The Chocolate Soldier', but several modern productions have been mounted. In 1991, Ohio Light Opera produced the work, and in 1992, Light Opera Works of Illinois mounted a production.

Film versions of the operetta include the Hungarian silent film Varázskeringö/Magic Waltz (1918) directed by Michael Curtiz, the German film Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (1925) directed by Ludwig Berger, and releases in Finland (1926) and Poland (1931). Ernst Lubitsch made the best-known film version, The Smiling Lieutenant (1931), starring Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 48/3. Photo: Ufa. Xenia Desni and Willy Fritsch in Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 48/4. Photo: Ufa. Xenia Desni in Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925).

The amorous lieutenant and the princess

Erich Pommer produced for the Ufa a wonderful silent film version of the operetta, Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925), with a great cast and fine exterior shots at the famous Imperial Schloss Schönbrunn.

Sunnyboy Willy Fritsch plays the amorous lieutenant Nicholas Count Preyn of the Austrian royal guard. 'Niki' has a new girlfriend, the violin-playing Franzi Steingruber (Xenia Desni). He's crazy about her and is smiling at her while on duty in the street. King Eberhard XXIII (Jacob Tiedtke) and his daughter Princess Alix (Mady Christians) from the neighbouring kingdom of Flausenthurm drive by, and Alix intercepts a wink meant for Franzi.

The princess falls for Niki, marries him (he has no choice in the matter), and whisks him off to Flausenthurm. Franzi follows and enjoys a brief affair with Niki before Anna finds out. Franzi, much more experienced in the ways of the world, gives the socially awkward princess Alix lessons on how to win the affection of her husband.

The cast of Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream also included such great character actors as Lydia Potechina, Mathilde Sussin, Karl Beckersachs, Julius Falkenstein, Hans Brausewetter and Lucie Höflich. The film was a great box office hit but also a critical success. For director Ludwig Berger, Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream brought an invitation to Hollywood.

In Germany, Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream led to a wave of silent operetta and Vienna films. In the sound era, this genre culminated in the world hit Der Kongress tanzt/The Congress dances (Erik Charell, 1931) with Lilian Harvey and of course Willy Fritsch.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 48/5. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925) with Xenia Desni and Willy Fritsch.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 48/6. Photo: Ufa. Xenia Desni and Willy Fritsch in Ein Walzertraum/The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925).


German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 115, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Ein Walzertraum/A Waltz-Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925) with Mady Christians and Willy Fritsch.

Sources: Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 1 January 2024.

A new gift from Tatiana

Last week again a letter arrived from the USA. It contained vintage material of Ukrainian-born silent film star Xenia Desni and of her beautiful daughter Tamara Desni. It was sent to me as a gift by their niece Tatiana, the daughter of Xenia's sister who now lives at the East Coast. Earlier she has sent us a package containing 39 Ross Verlag postcards, which she had collected as a little girl. Later, she found more private photos, studio stills and a flyer in her family archive and donated it all to European Film Star Postcards. This time it is mainly material of Tamara Desni (1910–2008), who started her stage and film career as a child in Berlin, and appeared in several British films during the 1930s and 1940s. We're honoured and grateful for this new gift, and so happy we can share this unique material today with you.


Photo of Tamara and Xenia Desni, ca. 1935.


Photo of Tamara Desni, ca. 1920.


Photo of Xenia and Tamara having fun at the beach, early 1920s.


Photo of Tamara Desni by Otto Kurt Vogelsang, Berlin, 1930.


Photo of Tamara Desni as a young dancer, ca. 1930.


British flyer by Ludo Press Ltd. for Palace Pier Theatre, Brighton, 1949. Photos: publicity stills for the play For Husbands Only by John Sibley and starring Edgar K. Bruce and Tamara Desni.

Thank you so much, Tatiana!

This post was updated on 31 December 2023.

EFSP starts 2017 with a new pageview record

2016 was an excellent year for EFSP. For the first time since May 2010, when we started counting, there were more than 90,000 pageviews in one month in July 2016. December 2016 was even better when we passed the magical number of 100,000. This month, January 2017, the party got even busier and Blogger counted more than 120,000 pageviews for EFSP this year already. So thank you, for visiting EFSP! My special thanks go to Ivo, Egbert, Didier, Marlene (check out her latest post about female stars who passed away in 2016 at La Collectionneuse) and the other friends who help and advise. Tomorrow you'll find here a guest post of one of these friends, David Anderson of the blog Bunched Undies and a week later a new guest post by Didier Hanson. Today we remember a wonderful gift of three years ago. When we returned from our holidays in Italy in 2014, there was this little parcel from East-Hartford, USA, waiting for us at our neighbour's house. It contained rare postcards, photos and a clipping on the Ukrainian-born silent film star Xenia Desni and her daughter Tamara Desni, who had an impressive film and stage career herself in Great Britain. The postcards were sent to us by a relative of the Desni's, their niece Tatiana. In the past, Tatiana had already sent us some scans of the postcards of Tamara Desni and now she gave us the 39 Ross Verlag postcards, which she had collected as a little girl. Again, thanks Tatiana!


Austrian photo by Willinger, Wien. From Tatiana. Xenia Desni and Livio Pavanelli in the German silent film Die letzte Einquartierung aka Küssen ist keine Sünd'/Kissing is no sin (Rudolf Walther-Fein, Rudolf Dworsky, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 886/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Decla / Ufa. From Tatiana.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 886/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Decla / Ufa. From Tatiana.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1069/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. From Tatiana.

Xenia Desni

Ukrainian-born actress Xenia Desni (1894-1954) was a star of the German silent cinema. Xenia - also known as Dada - was born in Kiev, but travelled at the beginning of the 1920s to Berlin.

She made her film debut with Sappho (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1921). She often worked with director Johannes Guter such as for her breakthrough film Die Prinzessin Suwarin/The Princess Suwarin (1923) starring Lil Dagover.

In the next years followed other successful productions such as Die Andere/The Other (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1924). An international hit became the silent operetta Ein Walzertraum/A Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925) with Willy Fritsch.

This was followed by Familie Schimeck/The Schimeck Family (Alfred Halm, Rudolf Dworsky, 1926), Madame wagt einen Seitensprung/Madam dares an Escapade (Hans Otto, 1927), and Erzherzog Johann/Archduke John (Max Neufeld, 1929).

After the coming of sound film, her career soon ended. But Xenia helped to shape the film and stage career of her beautiful daughter.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1026/4, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. From Tatiana.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1028/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. From Tatiana.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1026/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. From Tatiana.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 571/3, 1919-1924. Photo: A. Eberth, Berlin. From Tatiana.

Tamara Desni

Tamara Desni (1910–2008) started her stage and film career as a child in Berlin. Tamara acted in three German sound films before leaving with her mother to Great Britain.

In 1931, she made her triumphant London stage debut in the operetta White Horse Inn. For this spectacular production, the entire Coliseum theatre was transformed into the Tyrol. The production was based on the German operetta Im weissen Roessl. White Horse Inn was a smash hit and ran for 500 performances at the Coliseum. The production is even credited with saving the theatre, which was faltering as a music hall.

Tamara followed this up with another leading role in a German import at the Coliseum, the musical Casanova, featuring music by Johann Strauss, Jr.

Desni's British film career took off with the comedy Falling for You (Robert Stevenson, Jack Hulbert, 1933), supporting the popular musical comedy team of Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge.

Later films included the thriller Forbidden Territory (Phil Rosen, 1934), another Jack Hulbert comedy Jack Ahoy (Walter Forde, 1935) and the historical drama Fire Over England (William K. Howard, 1937), with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.

Tamara Desni’s film career continued through 1950. After that she moved to the South of France, where her bar and restaurant L'Auberge Chez Tamara, became a popular attraction around Grasse in the Alpes Maritimes.


German postcard for Otto Kurt Vogelsang Lichtbildner, Berlin. From Tatiana.


British postcard. From Tatiana.


British postcard. From Tatiana.


British photo by Vivienne 20th Century Studios Ltd, London. From Tatiana.

NB. For the number fetishists among us:  Blogger counted 126,864 page views for EFSP in January 2017.