Willy Eichberger aka Carl Esmond ~ This card is from the 1936 series Bunte Filmbilder. It measures about 2¼"x2¾" and has a great photo of Carl Esmond! This is an original cigarette card issued as #151 of the series. Given that it is over 70 years old it is in excellent condition. Please study my scan!

Austrian actor Willy Eichberger fled Hitler's Europe and became character actor Carl Esmond in dozens of American films from the 1930s through the 1970s. He initially studied drama in Vienna at the State Academy of Dramatic Arts and started his film career in 1933 in the German film Kaiserwalzer. He developed into a matinée idol in both Germany and Austria before moving first to London and then to the United States. For a brief period, he also used the name Charles Esmond. Making his English speaking debut in the classic The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Esmond went on to appear opposite Errol Flynn in The Dawn Patrol (1938), Gary Cooper in both Sergeant York (1941) and The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), Ray Milland in Ministry of Fear (1944), Susan Hayward in Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947) and Gregory Peck in The World in His Arms (1952).

This lot consists of a genuine German cigarette premium issued between about 1930 and 1937. In general, German cigarette cards and premiums make an interesting and inexpensive addition to any collection. The Nazi government of Germany opposed smoking and eventually put an end to cigarette cards. As a result, the native German card collecting hobby never developed to the extent of that in Britain or the United States. As a result, most German premiums and cards cost only a fraction of what might be expected from their American and British cousins.

Large photos are shown smaller than actual size while small ones are generally enlarged to as much as twice their original size. Almost all photos and cards are scanned through protective sleeves or pages which tends to cut the clarity a bit. Enlarged defects tend to look worse than they actually are.