I have mentioned this set several times but have not used it. And I am always pleased to plug a gap.
Anyway, this card shows the film "French Lesson" - though this was not the title when it was released in the British Isles, we knew it as "French Without Tears", (which is used on the card as a subtitle). I have looked through lots of movie sites and I cannot find any country that called the film "French Lessons", but none of those include South Africa, so it is possible it was only used there. The film was directed by Anthony Asquith, and released in 1939. However, before that, it was a play, staged in 1936, and written by Terence Rattigan, who also co-wrote the shooting script for the movie.
Today it is chiefly remembered for the fact that Mantovani appeared in it, as himself. Our younger readers may not know him, but he was a very popular entertainer, who was born in Italy, but whose family relocated to the United Kingdom in 1912. And at one time he had a television series.
That leads me into the thought that when you go abroad, you often pick up little words that you find useful. However a card like this can actually be used to teach yourself a little of a foreign language too, for the back here has two languages (English and Afrikaans) at the same time, one above the other.
Likewise, Liebig cards, where the same card was issued in different languages, and you need only compare the backs to start to pick up a few words. Many collectors who specialise in cards of another country actually expand this over time, until they can eventually work out what most of the text on most of the cards means, and then expand their knowledge further by looking up the words they do not know online.
This set is rather curious, because the cards come in three different sizes. However only one size applied to each of the cards - and the idea behind this is that the album has spaces for large, medium, and standard sized cards, in an attempt, presumably, that it would resemble a proper illustrated book rather than a card album. Whilst some of the films are featured on more than one card, and some of the cards are in black and white but others are in colour.
There is another curiosity as well, because there was a first series, but that too was numbered from 1 to 250, just like our set, so do check up which set you are buying when you look for odds.
Now we have a home page for A. & M. Wix, as our Card of the Day for the 17th of May, 2022 and that contains the details of the issuer, as extracted from our original World Tobacco Issues Index, where the listing for this set is as follows :
CINEMA CAVALCADE. Two series, each Sm. 66 x 38 (70), Md. 76 x 56 (110), Lg. 103 x 68 (70). Each 200 black and white, 50 coloured. Nd. (250). Inscribed "Max, P.O.Box 5764, Johannesburg" ... W-70.1
- "A Series of 250"
- "2nd series of 250"
This is slightly altered in our updated version of the World Tobacco Issues Index, and it now reads :
CINEMA CAVALCADE. Two series, each Sm. 66 x 38 (70), Md. 76 x 56 (110), Lg. 103 x 68 (70). Each 200 black and white, 50 coloured. Nd. (250). Inscribed "Max, P.O.Box 5764, Johannesburg" ... W-800-130
- "A Series of 250"
- "Volume II - 2nd series of 250". Nd. 1/250