October 19, 2021 • 10 mins
One of the most curious types of stories is when lost things turn up again. Today's tour will give you a couple of good examples, for sure.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
(00:27):
of Curiosities. Some directors like to drop easter eggs into
their films, little bonuses in their films for the eagle
eyed viewers to spot. Alfred Hitchcock often inserted himself into
the backgrounds of his films. Finding him became kind of
(00:49):
a game, one that was sometimes so distracting viewers needed
to watch a movie more than once because they didn't
catch the story the first time around. Random characters or
props do a little more than entyson audience to pay
closer attention to the background of a scene. In one instance, however,
a piece of films set decoration set off a firestorm
(01:09):
through the international art world, and it was all thanks
to a mouse. It all started around nineteen six. The
Hungarian artist Robert Barny had a big name in the
avant garde scene at the time. He had already brought
Expressionism and Cubism to the country prior to the start
of World War One. Before that, he had studied in Paris,
(01:29):
focusing on post Impressionism and studying the works of Van
Gogh and go Again. After a few exhibits of his paintings,
Barony returned to Budapest and founded his own small art
collective in nineteen eleven. He caused waves that year when
the public attended his exhibition. His paintings were so unlike
what the Hungarian critics were used to, and while some
enjoyed it, many did not. Around nineteen nineteen, Barony left
(01:54):
Hungary to live in Berlin, where he stayed for several years.
He had painted recruitment posters in support of the Ungarian
Democratic Republic, a communist state that had formed in the
collapse of Austro Hungary after the end of World War One.
When that republic fell in November of nineteen nine, Barony
was forced to flee. He continued to paint, though, pushing
(02:14):
the boundaries of Cubism and expressionism. He also became a
composer for a short time to make ends meet. Then,
in the mid nineteen twenties, Barony returned to his home
country by that time, though another style had taken hold
of him. Art Deco combined the Cubism he was familiar
with with a bold new color pellette, and incorporated influences
(02:35):
from all over the world, including China and Persia, and
above all else. Art Deco represented the future, the future
of art, of technology, and of architecture. Barony was inspired
to paint his second wife in the Art Deco style.
The portrait, measuring two feet by almost three feet, was
titled Sleeping Lady with Black Vase. It depicted a woman
(02:56):
in a blue dress reclining on a large brown couch
yellow table, with a black vase stood in front of her.
The painting was put on display in budapest Earned Museum
in nine, supposedly the last time anyone saw it before
it disappeared. It had been sold to a Jewish buyer
who eventually fled Hungary just before World War Two. After that,
(03:18):
no one ever laid eyes on it again, that is
until Greg Lee Barky sat down to watch a movie
with his daughter in two thousand nine. Barkey had been
a historian at the Hungarian National Gallery, an art museum
in Budapest. On Christmas Eve of that year, he'd come
home after a long day at work to watch a
movie on television with his young daughter. She settled into
(03:38):
his lap and Barky turned on the children's movie Stuart Little.
Part Way into the film, he saw it. It was
hanging on the wall behind the three main human characters
and the computer generated mouse. Barkey almost dropped his daughter
to the floor and shock the sleeping lady had been found.
He immediately began emailing every casting crew member connected with
(04:01):
the film, asking them about the whereabouts of the painting.
A response came from an assistant set designer who had
worked on the picture. Two years later, it turned out
that the story of Baronie masterpiece was a mysterious one.
The painting had surfaced fifty years after World War Two
at an auction in San Diego, California. The buyer at
the time had paid all of forty dollars for it.
(04:23):
It then ended up in an antique store, having been
sold to the shop for a whopping four hundred dollars.
Apparently nobody knew what they really had. It wasn't long
before a local woman walked into the store and purchased
the painting to hang in her own home. She happened
to work as a set designer in Hollywood, creating and
decorating the sets that would be seen in major motion pictures. Then,
(04:45):
while decorating the Stewart Little set, the woman realized Baroness
painting would look perfect hanging over the little family's fireplace
in the movie. She took it off her own wall
and brought it to the set. When filming completed, the
painting went back home with her. Barquis. The woman eventually
arranged a meeting he flew to her house in Washington,
where he was able to see the once lost work
(05:06):
in person. Sadly, he didn't get to take it home
with him. Sleeping Beauty with Black Vace went up for
auctions several years later, selling for over two hundred and
eighty five thousand dollars, But the story does have a
kind of happy ending. The painting wound up in the
possession of a Hungarian buyer, bringing Baronies masterpiece home once
(05:27):
and hopefully for all. Sometimes we reach a point in
our lives where we feel the need to reinvent ourselves.
Perhaps we grow tired of our careers and decided to
(05:50):
make a change, or we chop off the hairstyle we've
had for twenty years in favor of something a little boulder.
At the dawn of World War Two, one man saw
a need to reinvent himself. But he changed more than
his hair. He changed everything. Casper brand Hoffer was an actor.
It had been his calling from a young age. Born
in Austria, Hungary in eighteen ninety one, he began attending
(06:12):
the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna
when he was just twenty two, the same school that
had once counted among its students composers Gustav Mahler and
Jean Sibelius. He then enlisted in World War One, joining
the Austro Hungarian Army as a private. Brand Hoffer eventually
rose to the rank of lieutenant and was awarded a
Medal for valor after being wounded in battle. He also
(06:34):
became a family man, settling down and having two children,
a boy and a girl, but brand Hoffer never forgot
his first love the theater. When the war ended, he
started performing in plays all over Germany, playing the Duke
of Albany in a Viennese production of King Lear, then
joining a theater company in Munich in nineteen one, before
eventually moving to Berlin. Sadly, his marriage suffered from all
(06:58):
the travel and work. Brand Hoffer was divorced in nine
and started a theater company with his new love, actress
Agnes Strob, but brand Hoffer was forced to leave Berlin
several years later. He retreated to a mountain cabin in
the state of t Roll in western Austria. For one
year he honed his craft while the Nazis took over Germany.
Brand Hoffer eventually returned, though, sporting a full beard and
(07:20):
whitened hair, intent on making his mark once more. Except
something was different about him, something other than his looks.
He was suddenly unfamiliar with aspects of the theater that
he'd known so well before. In fact, one cast mate
had to explain the concept of a monologue to him,
which brand Hoffer understood is something he called a dialogue
with my Lord God. He also fancied himself a natural actor,
(07:44):
issuing the formal education he had received when he was younger.
As far as the other cast members knew, he had
taught himself everything he knew. Brand Hoffer's first leaped back
into the theater world was a production of a play
called fraeulein Elsa. The show opened in December of night
teen thirty six. Critics loved his performance, and so did
the Nazis. They rallied behind him, lauding his rise to
(08:07):
start them as a self taught natural actor and a
poster child for their aryan agenda. The director of the
show offered brand Hoffer a three year contract. All that
had taken was one role, and he was on top
of the world in a way he'd never been before.
But then one week later, brand Hoffer came clean. He
couldn't deal with his success leading to the growth of
(08:27):
a Nazi party, and so he told them the truth.
His name was not Casper brand Hoffer, it was Leon Reese.
He'd been born to Jewish parents and had first taken
on the stage name of Leo Russ. When the Nazis
took over Berlin, the actor fled to the mountains of
t Roll, where he concocted a whole new persona for himself.
He learned to act and speak like the local farmers.
(08:48):
He let his hair get long, and he grew a beard.
Reese then soaked all the hair on his body in
hydrogen peroxide baths to diet blonde. Finally, he positioned himself
as a Christian act or, one who did not study
at a prominent German school. He was self taught, and
he took on the name of Casper brand Hoffer. Nobody
in Berlin recognized him, not even the actors and directors
(09:10):
he'd previously worked with his one year sabbatical had worked.
Following his confession, Reese was hauled into court and tried
for living under a false name. He made a stand
advocating that being an actor came down to one's talent,
not their race. A fine was levied against him for
his actions, but he knew it was only a matter
of time before he had faced harsher punishment, and so
(09:31):
he left Germany altogether. In nineteen thirty seven, Reese came
to the United States and changed his name once more.
He now went by Lionel Royce. Working his way up
with small parts in major motion pictures, he built a
nice career for himself in Hollywood, acting alongside legends like
Tyrone Power, Rita Hayworth, and Edward G. Robinson. Leon Reese
(09:52):
died of a heart attack in nineteen forty six, at
the age of fifty five. He acted in many fine
films towards the end of his life, but his finest
perform Mints was that of a Jewish actor playing an
arian who made the fools of the Nazis. Too bad
there wasn't an oscar for that category. I hope you've
(10:13):
enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe
for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the
show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was
created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works.
I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can
(10:35):
learn all about it over at the World of Lore
dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
(00:27):
of Curiosities. Some directors like to drop easter eggs into
their films, little bonuses in their films for the eagle
eyed viewers to spot. Alfred Hitchcock often inserted himself into
the backgrounds of his films. Finding him became kind of
(00:49):
a game, one that was sometimes so distracting viewers needed
to watch a movie more than once because they didn't
catch the story the first time around. Random characters or
props do a little more than entyson audience to pay
closer attention to the background of a scene. In one instance, however,
a piece of films set decoration set off a firestorm
(01:09):
through the international art world, and it was all thanks
to a mouse. It all started around nineteen six. The
Hungarian artist Robert Barny had a big name in the
avant garde scene at the time. He had already brought
Expressionism and Cubism to the country prior to the start
of World War One. Before that, he had studied in Paris,
(01:29):
focusing on post Impressionism and studying the works of Van
Gogh and go Again. After a few exhibits of his paintings,
Barony returned to Budapest and founded his own small art
collective in nineteen eleven. He caused waves that year when
the public attended his exhibition. His paintings were so unlike
what the Hungarian critics were used to, and while some
enjoyed it, many did not. Around nineteen nineteen, Barony left
(01:54):
Hungary to live in Berlin, where he stayed for several years.
He had painted recruitment posters in support of the Ungarian
Democratic Republic, a communist state that had formed in the
collapse of Austro Hungary after the end of World War One.
When that republic fell in November of nineteen nine, Barony
was forced to flee. He continued to paint, though, pushing
(02:14):
the boundaries of Cubism and expressionism. He also became a
composer for a short time to make ends meet. Then,
in the mid nineteen twenties, Barony returned to his home
country by that time, though another style had taken hold
of him. Art Deco combined the Cubism he was familiar
with with a bold new color pellette, and incorporated influences
(02:35):
from all over the world, including China and Persia, and
above all else. Art Deco represented the future, the future
of art, of technology, and of architecture. Barony was inspired
to paint his second wife in the Art Deco style.
The portrait, measuring two feet by almost three feet, was
titled Sleeping Lady with Black Vase. It depicted a woman
(02:56):
in a blue dress reclining on a large brown couch
yellow table, with a black vase stood in front of her.
The painting was put on display in budapest Earned Museum
in nine, supposedly the last time anyone saw it before
it disappeared. It had been sold to a Jewish buyer
who eventually fled Hungary just before World War Two. After that,
(03:18):
no one ever laid eyes on it again, that is
until Greg Lee Barky sat down to watch a movie
with his daughter in two thousand nine. Barkey had been
a historian at the Hungarian National Gallery, an art museum
in Budapest. On Christmas Eve of that year, he'd come
home after a long day at work to watch a
movie on television with his young daughter. She settled into
(03:38):
his lap and Barky turned on the children's movie Stuart Little.
Part Way into the film, he saw it. It was
hanging on the wall behind the three main human characters
and the computer generated mouse. Barkey almost dropped his daughter
to the floor and shock the sleeping lady had been found.
He immediately began emailing every casting crew member connected with
(04:01):
the film, asking them about the whereabouts of the painting.
A response came from an assistant set designer who had
worked on the picture. Two years later, it turned out
that the story of Baronie masterpiece was a mysterious one.
The painting had surfaced fifty years after World War Two
at an auction in San Diego, California. The buyer at
the time had paid all of forty dollars for it.
(04:23):
It then ended up in an antique store, having been
sold to the shop for a whopping four hundred dollars.
Apparently nobody knew what they really had. It wasn't long
before a local woman walked into the store and purchased
the painting to hang in her own home. She happened
to work as a set designer in Hollywood, creating and
decorating the sets that would be seen in major motion pictures. Then,
(04:45):
while decorating the Stewart Little set, the woman realized Baroness
painting would look perfect hanging over the little family's fireplace
in the movie. She took it off her own wall
and brought it to the set. When filming completed, the
painting went back home with her. Barquis. The woman eventually
arranged a meeting he flew to her house in Washington,
where he was able to see the once lost work
(05:06):
in person. Sadly, he didn't get to take it home
with him. Sleeping Beauty with Black Vace went up for
auctions several years later, selling for over two hundred and
eighty five thousand dollars, But the story does have a
kind of happy ending. The painting wound up in the
possession of a Hungarian buyer, bringing Baronies masterpiece home once
(05:27):
and hopefully for all. Sometimes we reach a point in
our lives where we feel the need to reinvent ourselves.
Perhaps we grow tired of our careers and decided to
(05:50):
make a change, or we chop off the hairstyle we've
had for twenty years in favor of something a little boulder.
At the dawn of World War Two, one man saw
a need to reinvent himself. But he changed more than
his hair. He changed everything. Casper brand Hoffer was an actor.
It had been his calling from a young age. Born
in Austria, Hungary in eighteen ninety one, he began attending
(06:12):
the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna
when he was just twenty two, the same school that
had once counted among its students composers Gustav Mahler and
Jean Sibelius. He then enlisted in World War One, joining
the Austro Hungarian Army as a private. Brand Hoffer eventually
rose to the rank of lieutenant and was awarded a
Medal for valor after being wounded in battle. He also
(06:34):
became a family man, settling down and having two children,
a boy and a girl, but brand Hoffer never forgot
his first love the theater. When the war ended, he
started performing in plays all over Germany, playing the Duke
of Albany in a Viennese production of King Lear, then
joining a theater company in Munich in nineteen one, before
eventually moving to Berlin. Sadly, his marriage suffered from all
(06:58):
the travel and work. Brand Hoffer was divorced in nine
and started a theater company with his new love, actress
Agnes Strob, but brand Hoffer was forced to leave Berlin
several years later. He retreated to a mountain cabin in
the state of t Roll in western Austria. For one
year he honed his craft while the Nazis took over Germany.
Brand Hoffer eventually returned, though, sporting a full beard and
(07:20):
whitened hair, intent on making his mark once more. Except
something was different about him, something other than his looks.
He was suddenly unfamiliar with aspects of the theater that
he'd known so well before. In fact, one cast mate
had to explain the concept of a monologue to him,
which brand Hoffer understood is something he called a dialogue
with my Lord God. He also fancied himself a natural actor,
(07:44):
issuing the formal education he had received when he was younger.
As far as the other cast members knew, he had
taught himself everything he knew. Brand Hoffer's first leaped back
into the theater world was a production of a play
called fraeulein Elsa. The show opened in December of night
teen thirty six. Critics loved his performance, and so did
the Nazis. They rallied behind him, lauding his rise to
(08:07):
start them as a self taught natural actor and a
poster child for their aryan agenda. The director of the
show offered brand Hoffer a three year contract. All that
had taken was one role, and he was on top
of the world in a way he'd never been before.
But then one week later, brand Hoffer came clean. He
couldn't deal with his success leading to the growth of
(08:27):
a Nazi party, and so he told them the truth.
His name was not Casper brand Hoffer, it was Leon Reese.
He'd been born to Jewish parents and had first taken
on the stage name of Leo Russ. When the Nazis
took over Berlin, the actor fled to the mountains of
t Roll, where he concocted a whole new persona for himself.
He learned to act and speak like the local farmers.
(08:48):
He let his hair get long, and he grew a beard.
Reese then soaked all the hair on his body in
hydrogen peroxide baths to diet blonde. Finally, he positioned himself
as a Christian act or, one who did not study
at a prominent German school. He was self taught, and
he took on the name of Casper brand Hoffer. Nobody
in Berlin recognized him, not even the actors and directors
(09:10):
he'd previously worked with his one year sabbatical had worked.
Following his confession, Reese was hauled into court and tried
for living under a false name. He made a stand
advocating that being an actor came down to one's talent,
not their race. A fine was levied against him for
his actions, but he knew it was only a matter
of time before he had faced harsher punishment, and so
(09:31):
he left Germany altogether. In nineteen thirty seven, Reese came
to the United States and changed his name once more.
He now went by Lionel Royce. Working his way up
with small parts in major motion pictures, he built a
nice career for himself in Hollywood, acting alongside legends like
Tyrone Power, Rita Hayworth, and Edward G. Robinson. Leon Reese
(09:52):
died of a heart attack in nineteen forty six, at
the age of fifty five. He acted in many fine
films towards the end of his life, but his finest
perform Mints was that of a Jewish actor playing an
arian who made the fools of the Nazis. Too bad
there wasn't an oscar for that category. I hope you've
(10:13):
enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe
for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the
show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was
created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works.
I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can
(10:35):
learn all about it over at the World of Lore
dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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