New finds

[Mrs Vindecco]

Found these while I was googling tonight and didn't think they were familiar, well certainly not to me.

[woofy]

The middle picture looks like a rehearsal for the famous "umbrella scene" in The Maltese Falcon.

[Violet]

These are beautiful, Mrs V, thanks so much for sharing them. I especially love the first one, utterly adorable.

[woofy]

The first picture looks like it comes from the late 1940s, around the time of Der Verlorene. The last picture looks mid 50s, after he started going down hill fast.

[meerschwein]

I think that being sent to that narcotics prison in 1947 broke something in him. He wasn't the same afterwards.

[Violet]

I agree. I'm currently studying towards a degree in psychology and the treatments for addiction in those days were horrific. Peter was so brave trying to fight his addiction and I feel so sad thinking about how much he must have suffered.

Mrs V, that final photo wasn't showing up for me before. It's one of my favourites, just gorgeous.

[Mrs Vindecco]

Glad you liked it Violet.

I'm afraid I find it difficult talking about Peter's addiction at times, having a relative that suffered from drug addiction though not to the severity of Peter's.

I think he was brave and honest enough to try and get it sorted so many times throughout his life. By 1947, the fact he was more or less busted and on the road to bankruptcy, he must have been utterly humiliated and that pains me. The one saving grace is that all this wasn't made public because God know's what the media would have done! I also find it sad that one of his "treatments" was electric shock therapy, which again I find horrible as I have seen first hand the effects of this can have. My elderly Aunt had EST about the same time and my Gran always said she was never the same afterwards and her problems still continue to this day.

[Violet]

I was saddened to read about your Aunt, I'm really sorry I'm also sorry to hear that her problems still persist. Some people do swear by EST but personally I think it's pretty barbaric and I'm not convinced that it doesn't do more harm than good. There is certainly a lot of evidence of the damage it can do. 

I admire Peter so much for repeatedly trying to fight his addiction. Peter had a hard and sad life. I think losing his mother at such a young age would have had a profound effect on him. I also think that loss probably influenced his relationships with women throughout his entire life. It's heartbreaking to think of his suffering, the EST and the fact that he never got the help he needed.

I absolutely agree, he was fortunate that his addiction was not made public. Attitudes towards addiction are very different now than they were back then and I think it would have been devastating to him if people knew. The media can be very cruel at times. He was a special man and I wish he had had a happier life. 

[Mrs Vindecco]

EST was definitely used too much in the 40's, though I'm sure it worked for some people. Sadly, I'm of the opinion that mental health will never be an EXACT science. I'd like to think that Peter could fight his addiction if he had been around today, but who knows.

The death of his mother must have had a profound effect on Peter plus he was very bitter towards his step-mother, so I'm sure that did have an effect on his future relationships. In certain respects, I believe, Peter had a "little boy lost" vibe about him that may have attracted women and helped with his performances and I wonder if this originated after his mother's death.