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The Parco degli Acquedotti is a public park to the southeast of Rome, Italy. It is part of the Appian Way Regional Park and is of approximately 240 ha. (590 acres)
The park is named after the aqueducts that run through it. It is crossed on one side by the Aqua Felix and also contains part of the Aqua Claudia and the remains of Villa delle Vignacce to the North West. A short stretch of the original Roman Via Latina can also be seen.
The park is near the Cinecittà film studios and is often used as a film location. In the opening shot of La Dolce Vita, a statue of Christ is suspended from a helicopter that flies along the route of the Aqua Claudia.
The park has been used as a film set for several productions, including La dolce vita, Mamma Roma, Il marchese del Grillo, La grande bellezza, Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina and the television series Roma, I Cesaroni and Distretto di Polizia.
✪ THE TSARINA – FEMDOM THRONE – PBR ✪
💎 An exclusive creation by Lost Masala for Second Life 💎
️ Published by LaridaandeLBlogger
🔥 Adult object: elegant design with interactive animations and a touch of power. Perfect for those looking for a sophisticated piece with adult-themed functionalities in virtual environments.
🌟 Key Features
✅ PBR & Classic Materials: compatible with all viewer types.
✅ Interactive Animations: wide menu with individual poses, couple poses, and adult-themed sequences (controlled content, adaptable to user preferences).
✅ Bento Support: facial expressions and natural movements.
✅ Adjustable Settings: configure access (All / Group / Owner), positions, sounds, and animations.
✅ Optional Decoration: LI 6 without decorations / LI 8 with decorations.
✅ Copyable & Modifiable: customize it as you like.
✅ Extended Compatibility: works with multiple interactive systems in Second Life.
️ How to Use
Simply sit on the throne and explore the animation menu.
Everything is adjustable for the best visual and interactive experience.
🏪 Store & Marketplace
You can try and purchase “THE TSARINA” in Second Life:
MalaFemmina (MLF) Store: Visit in SL
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Skynx/30/158/489
Marketplace: Shop on Marketplace
marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/13941
📩 For questions or support: Lost Masala (in-world)
📧 Email: losty@outlook.com
👑 “THE TSARINA” — Adult object combining style, power, and elegance in a single throne.
#SecondLife #LostMasala #PBRDesign #VirtualFurniture #SLStyle #SLShop #AdultObject #VirtualWorld #TheTsarina #LaridaandeLBlogger #MalaFemmina #MLF #Marketplace
" NOIO VULEVAN SAVUAR"
Molti di noi ricordano la famosa scenetta nel film "Totò Peppino e la Malafemmina" dove, appena arrivati a Milano, chiedevano informazioni al vigile urbano che dirigeva il traffico in piazza Duomo.
Ecco, quest'istantanea ripresa nel centro di Udine mi ha proprio ricordato quel momento....la cosa singolare è che questa vigilessa è addobbata con la divisa in uso negli anni cinquanta.
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"NOIO VULEVAN SAVUAR"
Many of us remember the famous scene in the film "Totò Peppino and the Malafemmina" where, as soon as they arrived in Milan, they asked the traffic policeman who was directing traffic in Piazza Duomo for information.
Well, this snapshot taken in the center of Udine really reminded me of that moment.... the singular thing is that this policewoman is decorated with the uniform used in the fifties.
✪ THE TSARINA – FEMDOM THRONE – PBR ✪
💎 An exclusive creation by Lost Masala for Second Life 💎
️ Published by LaridaandeLBlogger
🔥 Adult object: elegant design with interactive animations and a touch of power. Perfect for those looking for a sophisticated piece with adult-themed functionalities in virtual environments.
🌟 Key Features
✅ PBR & Classic Materials: compatible with all viewer types.
✅ Interactive Animations: wide menu with individual poses, couple poses, and adult-themed sequences (controlled content, adaptable to user preferences).
✅ Bento Support: facial expressions and natural movements.
✅ Adjustable Settings: configure access (All / Group / Owner), positions, sounds, and animations.
✅ Optional Decoration: LI 6 without decorations / LI 8 with decorations.
✅ Copyable & Modifiable: customize it as you like.
✅ Extended Compatibility: works with multiple interactive systems in Second Life.
️ How to Use
Simply sit on the throne and explore the animation menu.
Everything is adjustable for the best visual and interactive experience.
🏪 Store & Marketplace
You can try and purchase “THE TSARINA” in Second Life:
MalaFemmina (MLF) Store: Visit in SL
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Skynx/30/158/489
Marketplace: Shop on Marketplace
marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/13941
📩 For questions or support: Lost Masala (in-world)
📧 Email: losty@outlook.com
👑 “THE TSARINA” — Adult object combining style, power, and elegance in a single throne.
#SecondLife #LostMasala #PBRDesign #VirtualFurniture #SLStyle #SLShop #AdultObject #VirtualWorld #TheTsarina #LaridaandeLBlogger #MalaFemmina #MLF #Marketplace
We wish to thank you all for the likes, shares and comments.
The [MLF] The Hopium Bed winners are:
Maui (kinepela.abeyante)
Katify333
Hachimitsu (hachimitsu.hermit)
Congratulations!
The bed wil be sent to you inworld by Lost Masala. Enjoy! ♥
**********************************************
LIKE & SHARE GIVEAWAY - 2 winners!
Closing date 17th of May 2025
New original and exclusive release from OPI & Malafemmina collaborative, finally out.
[MLF] The Hopium Bed with Canopy at UBER event.
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Uber/199/96/22
TP to test the Bed:
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Skynx/39/158/489
• Textures:
29 complete sets of Textiles (pillows - sheet - mattress - blanket).
12 Leathers
16 Presets
Amazing props.
5 coffee types - click it for menu
4 leather boxes - click it for menu
8 vase types - click it for menu
Black or white candle with flame ON-OFF - click it for menu
13 iPhone screens accessed via Bed's menu
Ability to change via menu the texture of individual parts of the bed.
Ability to tint/color any face (or specular, where available) as you like.
Randomly twinkling stars above your head.
• Animations:
Over 200 couple positions + singles animations.
Latest generation Bento. Many with multiple speeds.
Some of the amazing features in new animations are:
+ Smoother animations
+ Realistic movements
+ Longer Durations
+ Animated PY cock !
+ Bouncy Breast and Butt
Like&Share and comment with your SL name on Flickr or Primfeed or Facebook.
All like&shares participate.
www.primfeed.com/honey.icechant/posts/9e44d69e-994f-4460-...
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 498. Photo: Vaselli.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also played in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. Gray was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by Bromostampa, Milano, no. 382.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also played in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. Gray was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1452. Photo: Agencia Liliana Biancini Sabatello.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with starring Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also plated in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this Italian sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. She was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1406. Photo: Agencia Liliana Biancini Sabatello.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. After the birth of her son, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also played in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. Gray was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. After the birth of her son, she retired from acting completely. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. At the time, the media, however, reported her age as 75, since she herself always claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by B.F.F. (Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze) Edit., no. 3719 Photo: G.B. Poletto / Compagnia Edizioni Internazionali Artistiche Distribuzione (CEIAD). Dorian Gray in Racconti d'Estate/Girls for the Summer (Gianni Franciolini, 1958).
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also played in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. Gray was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired from acting completely. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. At the time, the media, however, reported her age as 75, since she herself always claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Coming soon.
OPI & Malafemmina collaborative creation.
Video by Pete Sunny
Music: Paul Taylor - Night Rider
www.primfeed.com/honey.icechant/posts/59189cad-27ca-4935-...
Small Romanian collectors card.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also played in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. Gray was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 466. Photo: Vaselli.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with starring Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also plated in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this Italian sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. She was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
“Sentite Mezzacapa, voi avete detto che sono partiti… e dove sono andati?”
“Stanno a Milano”
“E allora, andiamo subito a Milano, vabbè!”
“Ma che vai a Milano!”
“Ma che sei pazza? Ma che vai così a Milano?
Ohh, lo sai che per andare a Milano, perlomeno ci vogliono quattro giorni di mare!”
“Eh, di mare! Se bastano!
Che poi… ahi ehi…”
“Ha detto tutto!”
“Ma che state dicendo! Per piacere!
Ma che mare e mare! A Milano ci si va per terra!”
“A piedi?”
“Ehh, a piedi!”
“Ma Mezzacapa!”
“Ma voi dove state vivendo?”
“Ah ah ah… a piedi!”
“Eh, è una parola! Voi lo sapete dove sta Milano?”
“In Calabria!
Ehm, in Sardegna. Ho sbagliato!”
“Ma quale Calabria e Sardegna! Milano è la capitale del nord!”
“Eh lo sappiamo!”
“Fatevi conto questo è lo stivale, qui in cima c’è il nord e qua sotto c’è il sud”
“Eh si capisce! Noi siamo quelli che stiamo sotto allo stivale: i sudisti”
“O nord o sud, o per terra o per mare, io ho detto che devo andare a Milano e ci andrò!
Se mi volete accompagnare, bene sennò ce vado io sola! Mio figlio deve studiare!
Mio figlio deve assolutamente lasciare quella donna, avete capito? Sennò parto io sola!”
“Benedetto, benedetto…”
“Peppì, Peppì… qui ci tocca accompagnare nostra sorella a Milano. Nostra sorella non può andare sola, è chiaro?”
“E vabbè, accompagnamola!”
“Piuttosto, ci vorrebbe qualcuno che ci mettesse a giorno; per andare a Milano non è una cosa semplice!”
“Qualcuno? Eh, e io allora qua che ci sto a fare?
E tuti mi chiamano il milanese!”
“Mezzacapa, ma parliamoci chiaro… voi siete stato veramente a Milano?”
“Eh come non ci sono stato! Ho fatto il militare nel ‘31”
“Quello che dico io…”
“Cavalleria!”
“Mezzacapa, e i milanesi, quando vi vedevano, che dicevano?”
“Eh che dovevano dire?”
“No dico, quando camminavate per la strada… beh, questo tipo straniero vah…”
“Ma per carità!
Figurati se quelli si andavano ad accorgere di me! A Milano!
Ma voi non avete idea di Milano che cosa sia!”
“Parlano, parlano eh?”
“Parlano? Ma Milano è una grande città!”
“Camminano, camminano come noi?”
“Camminano? Ma c’è un traffico enorme!
Anzi, vi dovete stare accorti eh!
Là attraversare una strada è una cosa pericolosa!”
“Oh! E chi traversa! E chi si muove, per carità!”
“Certo… certo non è una città è vero, il clima non è come qui da noi!
Lì è un clima più rigido. Vento, neve…”
“Freddo?”
“Freddo, le bufere!”
“Le bùfere?”
“Ci sono?”
“Le bùfere?”
“Eh, eccome!”
“Sciolte?”
“Sì”
“Per la strada?”
“Per la strada!”
“Per la strada, dappertutto…”
“Entrano nei palazzi, salgono le scale… eh che ne so!”
“Acqua, vento e nebbia. Eh, nebbia, nebbia…”
“Ah, questo mi impressiona vè. Tutto, ma la nebbia…”
“Ehh a Milano quando c’è la nebbia, non si vede”
“Perbacco!... e chi la vede?”
“Cosa?”
“Questa nebbia, dico…”
“Nessuno”
“Ma dico se i Milanesi a Milano quando c’è la nebbia non vedono… come si fa a vedere che c’è la nebbia a Milano?”
No, ma per carità! Ma quella non è una cosa che si può toccare!”
“Ahh ecco…”
“Non si tocca?”
“No. È una cosa che penetra…”
“Io adesso, a parte questa nebbia, io non la tocco per carità… Ma adesso se noi dobbiamo incontrare a nostro nipote e questa cantante, come li vediamo? Dove li troviamo?”
“Eh già! Già, non ci avevo pensato!”
“E quello è facile. La cantante, quella c’ha il nome sul manifesto”
“Hai capito… a Milano quando c’è la nebbia, mettono i nomi sui manifesti”
“Eh!”
“Ah ecco…”
“Dice: chi mi vuol trovare io sto qua”
“Ah, ho capito: le segnalazioni!”
Italian postcard, no. 159.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also played in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. Gray was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 182. Pina Menichelli and Andrea Conigliaro in Malafemmina, a film unknown to IMDb, but it was the alternative title of L'ospite sconosciuta/The Unknown Guest (Telemaco Ruggeri, 1923).
The plot (written by future director Amleto Palermi) deals with Pietro, a young provincial (Andrea Conigliaro) who falls into the clutches of Stasia, a mundane adventuress (Menichelli) and spends his father's money on her. Di Scenta, the father (Grasso), pushes the woman to convince the son she never loved him and enforces this by having his son discovering the two of them in a restaurant. The son shoots the woman, while the father takes the blame.
The Italian censorship was so heavy in its cuts that the film became incomprehensible to Italian audiences. Italian critics didn't like it, therefore. The censor didn't allow the representation nor even the suggestion that the son thinks he has to compete with his father in the love for Stasia. So all the scenes in which the father pretends his love for the woman in order to save his son were cut, as well as intertitles explaining this situation.
Source: Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano, 1923-1931.
Fascinating and enigmatic Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 647 Photo: Titanus. Dorian Gray in Totò lascia o raddoppia/Does Totò leave or double? (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956).
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also played in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. Gray was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by Vettori, Bologna, no. 402. Pina Menichelli and Giovanni Grasso in Malafemmina, a title unknown to IMDb, but it is the alternative title of L' ospite sconosciuta/The Unknown Guest (Telemaco Ruggeri, 1923).
The plot (written by future director Amleto Palermi) deals with Pietro, a young provincial (Andrea Conigliaro) who falls into the clutches of Stasia, a mundane adventuress (Menichelli) and spends his father's money on her. Di Scenta, the father (Grasso), pushes the woman to convince the son she never loved him and enforces this by having his son discovering the two of them in a restaurant. The son shoots the woman, while the father takes the blame.
The Italian censorship was so heavy in its cuts that the film became incomprehensible to Italian audiences. Italian critics didn't like it therefore. The censor didn't allow the representation nor even the suggestion that the son thinks he has to compete with his father in the love for Stasia. So all the scenes in which the father pretends his love for the woman in order to save his son were cut, as well as intertitles explaining this situation.
Source: Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano, 1923-1931.
Giovanni Grasso (1873-1930) was an Italian stage and screen actor. While he goes as the best Sicilian tragic actor and one of the best in Italy, he also had a limited but very important career in Italian silent cinema.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 268.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with starring Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also plated in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this Italian sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. She was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard. Bromofoto, Milano, 314. Photo Luxardo.
Teddy Reno, pseudonym of Ferruccio Merk Ricordi (Trieste, July 11, 1926), is an Italian singer, record producer and actor and naturalized Swiss.
Reno was born in Trieste, as son of the engineer Giorgio Merk (from an Austro-Hungarian family of aristocratic origins) and Paola Sanguinetti, from Rome, of Jewish ancestry, sister of engineer Giorgio Sanguinetti, owner and director of the large food company Arrigoni, with factories in the city and Cesena. In the thirties his father had to change his surname Merk Von Merkenstein in Ricordi. The boy performed for the first time in 1938 at a competition for amateurs held in Rimini, singing the song Tu sei la musica.
After September 8, Paola, wanted by the Germans for racial reasons, took refuge with her son Ferruccio in Cesena at her brother's, and in this city the boy attended the last year of high school. In June 1944, having learned that the Friulian republicans had gone to look for them in their house in Trieste, they moved to a safer refuge in the nearby Milano Marittima, protected under a false identity by the hotel entrepreneur Ettore Sovera who, in his own Hotel Mare Pineta, while hosting various German officers, gave refuge to partisans, Jews and allied prisoners in flight. In December, the Merk-Ricordi moved to the Ferrara area, but were captured and locked up in Codigoro prison; finally, fortunately, they were able to regain their freedom. Reno debuted at Radio Trieste during the Anglo-American administration of the city, launching, with the orchestra of Guido Cergoli, the song Eterno ritornello (Te vojo ben) by Bidoli. In 1946 he made a tour in Germany with the English orchestra of Teddy Foster: crossing the Rhine he had the idea of the pseudonym, using the name of the conductor and as a surname the river. After performing for the Anglo-American troops in Europe (1945-47) and then at the RAI in Turin with the orchestra of Pippo Barzizza (1948), he participated in several broadcasts with the orchestra conducted by Maestro Nicelli, in particular The Bracelet of Sheherazade, conducted by Nunzio Filogamo.
The radio activity soon favored his recording success: with CGD (a record company founded by him), between 1948 and 1961 he distinguished himself as interpreter of the romantic-melodic genre with songs of great success as Addormentarmi così (a resumption of a success of the Turinese singer Lidia Martorana), Trieste mia, Muleta mia (written by his friend Lelio Luttazzi - also from Trieste - who followed him in his recording adventure as arranger and conductor of many records published by CGD), Aggio perduto o' suonno, Accarezzame, Na voce na chitarra e o' poco e' luna, Chella lla, Piccolissima serenata, and Come sinfonia, with which he reached international fame. Still on the radio, he was among the protagonists of popular programs such as Nati per la musica (1953-54) and Punto interrogativo (1952). In the same years he also devoted himself to the theater of revue and musical comedy, participating in Rosso e Nero cin with Alberto Talegalli, Nilla Pizzi and Corrado (1954) and L'adorabile Giulio, by Garinei and Giovannini, with Carlo Dapporto and Delia Scala (1957).
While reaching second and third place at the Festival of Sanremo in 1953, from 1954 he devoted himself mainly to TV with programs (from Canzoni al caminetto, 1955-1956, to Souvenir, 1960) that hosted exceptional characters such as actresses Jennifer Jones and Kim Novak or the West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Reno was winner of the Festival of Naples 1959 with Sarrà chissà by Murolo, he was also active in theater in the afore mentioned L'adorabile and in cinema, e.g. Totò, Peppino e la... malafemmina (1956) by Camillo Mastrocinque. All in all, Reno acted in 22 films between 1951 and 1967. After bit parts in various films, in 1954 Reno had the lead in Ballata tragica, a melodrama by Luigi Capuano, with Marisa Allasio in the female lead. This was followed by the lead in another melodrama, Una voce, una chitarra, un po' di luna (1956) by Giacomo Gentilomo, in which Reno sang several songs and played his own profession, that of a singer who becomes a radio star. The success of Totò, Peppino e la... malafemmina, with Totò and Peppino de Filippo trying to stop their nephew (Reno) from marrying a music hall dancer (Dorian Gray), resulted in more films. After two films with Totò, Peppino and Vittorio De Sica in which he played himself in bit parts and song his songs, he returned in the lead of Peppino, le modelle e... "chella llà" (Mario Mattoli, 1957), in which he sang five songs including the title song Chella llà. he played himself in two films with Rita Pavone, directed by Lina Wertmüller: Rita la zanzara (1966) and Non stuzzicare la zanzara (1967), followed by two more films by Pavone by other directors.
In 1961 Reno returned to deal actively with discography by founding a new label, the Galleria del Corso, with which he launched, among others, Bruno Lauzi. In the same year he invented the Festival degli sconosciuti (Festival of the Unknowns) at Ariccia (near Rome), with the aim of discovering and launching new talents; The first edition was held in 1962 and was won by a young singer from Turin, Rita Pavone, who married Teddy Reno in Switzerland with a religious ceremony held in Lugano on March 15, 1968. This was after a series of controversies due to the age difference between the two, and above all due to the fact that in 1960 Teddy Reno was separated from his first wife (from whom he obtained a divorce after the law came into force in 1971), the film producer Vania Protti (later Vania Protti Traxler), whom he had already introduced to the viewers of Canzoni al caminetto, and had a son with, Franco Ricordi, by whom he would have two grandchildren. After 1976 Teddy Reno and Rita Pavone married civilly in Ariccia.
With the singer Reno had two children and settled in Switzerland since 1968. Here Ferruccio Ricordi resumed his original surname, Merk. Over the years he slowed down his activity as a singer, but it continued: in December 2007 he released Se questo non è amore (If This is not Love), an album in which he recants his greatest hits with new arrangements by maestro Paolo Ormi and Victor Bach, and in which he includes a new song, Se questo non è amore (If This is not Love), written by Emanuela Tomasini and Roberto Fia. On July 6, 2013 he was awarded the special prize "Grand Prix Corallo città di Alghero" for his career. In 2014, on the occasion of his 70 years of career, Reno recorded a CD entitled Teddy Reno 70 years (of career). For his 90 years in July 2016 a double album was released, entitled Pezzi da... 90 with the production of Alberto Zeppieri and the collaboration of Trio Tregenerazionale. The album, in addition to new versions of his historical successes, contains unreleased tracks such as L'amore non ha età, L'altra metà di me written by Rita Pavone and Uno come noi, a song composed for Pope Francis.
Source: Italian Wikipedia.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano. Photo: Fotominio. Pina Menichelli and Giovanni Grasso in Malafemmina, a title unknown to IMDb, but it is the alternative title of L' ospite sconosciuta/The Unknown Guest (Telemaco Ruggeri, 1923).
The plot (written by future director Amleto Palermi) deals with Pietro, a young provincial (Andrea Conigliaro) who falls into the clutches of Stasia, a mundane adventuress (Menichelli) and spends his father's money on her. Di Scenta, the father (Giovanni Grasso), pushes the woman to convince the son she never loved him and enforces this by having his son discovering the two of them in a restaurant. The son shoots the woman, while the father takes the blame.
The Italian censorship was so heavy in its cuts that the film became incomprehensible to Italian audiences. Italian critics didn't like it, therefore. The censor didn't allow the representation nor even the suggestion that the son thinks he has to compete with his father in the love for Stasia. So all the scenes in which the father pretends his love for the woman in order to save his son were cut, as well as intertitles explaining this situation.
Source: Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano, 1923-1931.
Fascinating and enigmatic Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale.
Giovanni Grasso (1873-1930) was an Italian stage and screen actor. While he goes as the best Sicilian tragic actor and one of the best in Italy, he also had a limited but very important career in Italian silent cinema.
Small Italian collector card, no. 291. Photo: Ivo Meldones. Totò in L'imperatore di Capri / The Emperor of Capri (Luigi Comencini, 1949).
Totò (1898–1967) was one of the most popular Italian film stars ever, nicknamed il principe della risata (the prince of laughter). He starred in about 100 films, many of which are still frequently broadcast on Italian television. Totò is an heir of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition, and can be compared to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. His style and some of his recurring jokes and gestures are universally known in Italy.
Totò was born Antonio Clemente in the Rione Sanità, a poor district of Naples, in 1898. Totò is a typical pet name for Antonio in Naples, and it most properly comes from the Neapolitan dialect variant Totonno. He was the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and the penniless Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis from Naples, who nevertheless did not legally recognise him until 1937. The young Totò preferred sports to studying, and in an incident with either a football or in the boxing ring, part of his nose became paralysed. It gave him that look which later became his trademark. Totò much regretted growing up without a father, to the point that at the age of 35, when he was already very popular, he managed to have Marquis Francesco Maria Gagliardi Focas adopt him in exchange for a life annuity. As a consequence, when Marquis de Curtis recognised him, Totò had become an heir of two noble families, hence claiming an impressive slew of titles. In 1946, when the Consulta Araldica—the body that advised the Kingdom of Italy on matters of nobility—ceased operations, the Tribunal of Naples recognized his numerous titles, so his complete name was changed from Antonio Clemente to Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Ducas Komnenos Gagliardi de Curtis of Byzantium, His Imperial Highness, Palatine Count, Knight of the Holy Roman Empire, Exarch of Ravenna, Duke of Macedonia and Illyria, Prince of Constantinople, Cilicia, Thessaly, Pontus, Moldavia, Dardania, Peloponnesus, Count of Cyprus and Epirus, Count and Duke of Drivasto and Durazzo. For someone born and raised in one of the poorest Neapolitan neighbourhoods, this must have been quite an achievement, but in claiming the titles (at the time they had become meaningless), the comedian also mocked them for their intrinsic worthlessness. When he was not using his stage name Totò, he mostly referred to himself simply as Antonio De Curtis. Totò's mother wanted him to become a priest, but as soon as 1913, at the age of 15, he was already acting as a comedian in small theatres, under the pseudonym Clerment. In the minor venues where he performed, Totò had the chance to meet famous artists like Eduardo De Filippo, Peppino De Filippo and Carlo Scarpetta. He served in the army during World War I and then went back to acting. He learned the art of the Guitti, the Neapolitan scriptless comedians, heirs to the tradition of the Commedia dell'Arte, and began developing the trademarks of his style, including a puppet-like, disjointed gesticulation, emphasised facial expressions, and an extreme, sometimes surrealistic, sense of humour. In 1922, Totò moved to Rome to perform in bigger theatres. He performed in the genre of Avanspettacolo, a vaudevillian mixture of music, ballet and comedy preceding the main act. He became adept at these revues and in the 1930s he had his own company, with which he travelled across Italy.
In 1937, Totò appeared in his first film, Fermo con le mani/Hands Off Me! (Gero Zambuto, 1937). His debut contains some classic scenes, like the one in which he tries to give a haircut to a bald man. Another scene where he fishes from the fishmonger's counter was repeated in later films like Cops and Robbers and Toto in Paris. As middle-aged orphan Gaspare in I due orfanelli/The Two Orphans (Mario Mattoli, 1947) he had his big breakthrough. The majority of his films were essentially meant to showcase his performances and contain his name, Totò, in the title. Often, they were parodies of established film genres. Fine examples are Totò al Giro d'Italia/Totò at the Tour of Italy (Mario Mattoli, 1948) with a cameo of famous cyclist Fausto Coppi, Totò Sceicco/Totò the Sheikh (Mario Mattoli, 1950), Totò Tarzan/Tototarzan (Mario Mattoli, 1950), Totò terzo uomo/Totò the Third Man (Mario Mattoli, 1951), and Totò a colori/Totò in Colour (Tonino Delli Colli, Steno, 1952), which was the first Italian colour film, in Ferraniacolor. Totò a colori is widely regarded as Totò's masterpiece. He appears in a chase scene where he hides from his pursuers by disguising himself as a wooden marionette on stage. Once the show is over, his body collapses just like a dead puppet. Another masterpiece is Guardie e ladri/Cops and Robbers (Mario Monicelli, Steno, 1951) with Aldo Fabrizi. The style of the film, produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti, is close to Italian neorealism. For his part, Totò won the Nastro d'Argento (Silver ribbon award), and the film was a huge success, liked by the critics. For Totò, Guardie e ladri represented a real turning point, for the first time, his film got exclusively positive reviews, and his interpretation is still considered one of the best of his career. Totò had the opportunity to act side by side with virtually all major Italian actors of the time. In Fifa e arena/Fright in the Arena (Mario Mattoli, 1948) and several other comedies, his co-star was the beautiful Isa Barzizza. His co-star in 47 morto che parla/47 dead speak (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1950) was another film beauty, Silvana Pampanini. Sophia Loren was the beauty in Miseria e nobiltà/Poverty and Nobility (Mario Mattoli, 1954). He co-starred with Orson Welles in L'uomo, la bestia e la virtù/Man, Beast and Virtue (Steno, 1953). The most renowned and successful team which Totò formed was with Peppino De Filippo. De Filippo was one of the few actors to have his name appear in film titles along with that of Totò, for example in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956) and Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956), for which Peppino De Filippo was awarded with a Nastro d'Argento (Silver ribbon award) for best supporting actor. During a tour in 1956, Totò lost most of his eyesight due to an eye infection that he had ignored to avoid cancelling his show and disappointing his fans. The handicap, however, seldom affected his schedule and acting abilities. Among Totò’s best-known films are also the anthology film L'Oro di Napoli/The Gold of Naples (Vittorio De Sica, 1954), the classic crime comedy I soliti ignoti/Big Deal on Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli, 1958) with Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio Gassman as a pair of thieves who head a group of criminals in a break-in attempt, and the French-Italian comedy La Loi C'est la Loi/La legge è legge/The Law Is the Law (Christian-Jacque, 1958) with Fernandel as a French customs sergeant who conducts an ongoing war of nerves with Italian smuggler Totò on the Franco-Italian border. The publicity attending the long-anticipated teaming of France's favourite comedian and his Italian counterpart helped to make The Law Is the Law one of the most successful films in both comedians' careers.
Totò's unmistakable figure, with his peculiarly irregular ‘stone-face’, and his unique ability to disarticulate his body like a marionette, were very popular, and his comic gags are now part of Italian culture. Wikipedia notes that his typical character is uneducated, poor, vain, snobbish, selfish, naive, opportunist, hedonist, lascivious and generally immoral, although fundamentally good-hearted. Partly because of the radical, naive immorality of his roles, some of his most spicy gags raised much controversy in Italian society. Che fine ha fatto Totò Baby?/Whatever happened to Totò Baby? (Ottavio Alessi, 1964) a parody of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, included a cheeky and gross celebration of cannabis, in an era when drugs were generally perceived as depraved and dangerous. Nevertheless, such controversies never affected the love of the Italian public for him. In Pasolini's Uccellacci e uccellini/The Hawks and the Sparrows (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1966) with Ninetto Davoli as Totì’s son, the episode La Terra vista dalla Luna/The Earth As Seen From The Moon from Le streghe/The Witches (Pier Paolo Pasolini a.o., 1965-1967) with Silvana Mangano, and the episode Che cosa sono le nuvole/What are clouds? from Capriccio all'italiana/Caprice Italian Style (Steno, Pier Paolo Pasolini a.o., 1968 -released after his death), he displayed his dramatic skills. These roles gave him the artistic acknowledgement that had eluded him so far by more stringent critics, who only began to recognise his talent after his death. Despite his physical appearance, Totò had a reputation as a playboy. He had a relationship with Silvana Pampanini in the 1940s. One of his lovers, the famous café-concert singer Liliana Castagnola, committed suicide in 1930 after their relationship ended. This tragedy marked his life. He buried Liliana in his family's chapel and named his only daughter Liliana De Curtis. She was born in 1933 to his first wife, Diana Bandini Rogliani, whom he had married in 1932 (according to IMDb in 1935). He dedicated his most famous song, Malafemmena (Wayward Woman), to Diana after they separated in 1939. From 1951 on, he lived with Franca Faldini, and they married in 1954. A personal tragedy was the premature birth of their son Massenzio in 1954. The boy died a few hours later. In 1967, Totò passed away at the age of 69 in Rome, after a series of heart attacks. Wikipedia: “Even in death he was unique—due to overwhelming popular request there were three funeral services: the first in Rome, a second in his birth city Naples—and a few days later, in a third one by the local Camorra boss, an empty casket was carried along the packed streets of the popular Rione Sanità quarter where he was born. Totò's birth home has been recently opened to the public as a museum, and his tombstone is frequently visited by fans, some of whom pray to him for help, as if he were a saint.”
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Volker Boehm (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
Italian postcard. Photo Reale, No. 320.
Giovanni Grasso (1873-1930) was an Italian stage and screen actor. While he goes as the best Sicilian tragic actor and one of the best in Italy, he also had limited but very important career in Italian silent cinema.
Giovanni Grasso was born in Catania, Sicily, on December 19, 1873, as the son of puppet master Angelo Grasso and Ciccia (Francesca) Tudisco, his second wife and puppet master too. Angelo Grasso’s father supposedly had introduced the puppet theatre in Catania, from Naples. In Catania Angelo opened a small puppet theatre, entitled Teatro Machiavelli, which at his death, in order to survive, turned into a vaudeville theatre. Small provincial companies stopped there, alternating edifying dramas with farces and subject performances ("scenoni"), inspired by news events. In this eclectic environment of the 1890s, young Giovanni Grasso was trained as a man of the theatre. He decided to brush up his paternal puppets, presenting – successful - shows. Among his greatest admirers was the playwright and journalist Nino Martoglio, who led the famous actor Ernesto Rossi to the Machiavelli. At the end of the show, Rossi, dazed by the expressive power of the puppeteer, urged him to become an actor.
This was the first of the "revelation meetings" – with a.o. people like D'Annunzio, Babel, and Mejerchol'd - that punctuated Grasso’s life, whose art was perhaps greater and, above all, more meaningful than he was aware of. At Rossi's requests Grasso rearranged the auditorium and increasingly alternated written texts with crime scenes, thus beginning to define his own dramaturgical repertory that clung to Sicilian texts but renewed by his interventions and his acting. Among his battle horses we must remember I mafiusi di La Vicaria di Palermo, by G. Mosca & G. Rizzotto; La zolfara, by G. Giusti Sinopoli; and Cavalleria rusticana, by Giovanni Verga. I mafiusi (1863), was based on the stories of an authentic mafioso, a certain Gioacchino D'Angelo (Jachinu Funciazza, in theatrical fiction), just out of jail. The drama had an immediate and lasting success, especially when Grasso began to interpret it. Zolfara, based on the big upheaval of the strikes of the Sicilian miners, did not gain much recognition when premiered in 1895, but thanks to Grasso’s version in dialect, became a triumph. Instead, Cavalleria rusticana, following Grasso’s often used practice, was represented in the Sicilian translation of Martoglio.
In 1901 Grasso formed his own company Città di Catania, with Angelo Musco as ‘brilliante’ and Carmelina Tria as first actress (later replaced by Mimì Aguglia and after her by Marinella Bragaglia). He did his first world tour, starting at the Politeama in Salerno (with La zolfara), on initiative of the capocomico (company manager) Mimì de Cesare, who sensed Grasso’s great talent. The tour subsequently touched Avellino and Naples, with a good artistic success but failed economic results. The real consecration of Grasso, however, took place in Rome, where he was called for some charity performances organized for the victims of the Modica flood (September 1902). On 30th November 1901 Grasso made his debut in Argentina with Cavalleria rusticana and I mafiusi. When asked about Grasso, Martoglio answered: "His mirror is nature"; this axiom, together with his powerful vigor, instinctive to the limit of violence, remained the trademark of the actor and his company. Always on the occasion of the Argentine Luigi Capuana, who had assisted, offered him the reworking in dialect of his play Malia, while G., prevented from returning to Catania because of the illness of his brother Micio, continued with resounding success his performances in Rome at the Teatro Metastasio.
Back in Catania, the Macchiavelli burned down in 1903. The same year Martoglio wrote for Grasso a new text, Nica, and together with him he raised the first Sicilian dialectal drama company, which included Musco, Bragaglia, Lo Turco, Totò Majorana , Micio Grasso, and the families Spadaro and Balistrieri. The repertory included, in addition to the dramas already mentioned, La lupa and Caccia al lupo by Verga; San Giuvanni addicullatu by Martoglio; Mastru Libertu l’armeri by F. Marchese; La festa di Adernò by Grasso himself. After performances in Catania and Naples, the company set off for a new tour. While La zolfara played without great success in Milan, Gabriele DÁnnunzio, present, was was struck by the expressive power. Nica and Cavalleria rusticana went better, even if critics condemned the interventions in the latter. After Milan, the tour continued touching Florence, Palermo, Messina and, again, Naples. Returned to Catania in August 1903, Grasso had to accept again the economic failure of the tour, and dedicated himself to the reconstruction of the Teatro Machiavelli. Meanwhile, urged by V. Ferraù, administrator of the company - who, however, mindful of past experiences, asked free hand in commercial management -, Martoglio gave life to the second Sicilian dialectal drama company, which, in 1904, set off for a new tour, ending in Turin. However, this time a novelty among the repertory became the hit of the season: 'A figghia di Joriu, G. Borgese’s Sicilian version of D'Annunzio's tragedy La figlia di Jorio, performed at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 17th September 1904.
At the end of 1906, the company departed for Spain, the initial stage of the long season of the big tours abroad, starting on 8 January 1907 at the Novedades theater in Barcelona, continued in Portugal, and from there to South America. After reprisals in Buenos Aires, the famous French actor A. Lugné Poe, impresario of Eleonora Duse, hired the Sicilian actors for one of their most important international impact: a tour in France. Here they arrived in January 1908. After the Parisian debut with Malia at the Marigny Theater, critics wrote: "No convention, no tradition: nature, life". The realism of the actors was compared to that of the "Japanese", the recitation was defined as "of an infinitely accurate and precise accuracy". Grasso’s repertory was classic: 'A figghia di Joriu, Cavalleria rusticana and La morte civile by P. Giacometti, already known to the Parisian public. Great appreciation was also obtained for La lupa, La zolfara, and Rusidda, by critics such as C. Mendès and by actors like Mounet-Sully. The usual appreciation for the "naturalness" of acting was now joined by the recognition for the great technical expertise of Grasso and his companions.
While Verga withdrew his texts for the changes made arbitrarily by Grasso (his also happened afterwards with Capuana and even with Martoglio), Grasso on February 3, 1908, preceded by the echo of French success, debuted in London, again with Malia. Here he saw the excellent criticisms repeated that praised his realism as "amazing, fulminant, colossal" and, again, his great acting technique. In October the company made its debut in Berlin and, after a fleeting episode in Hungary, moved to Russia, at the time one of the most vital centres of the European theatre. The debut was in St. Petersburg, with Malia, Feudalism (a Sicilian version of A. Campagna di Terra baixa, by A. Guimerà and another pillar of the repertoire of Grasso after his South American tour,), Stone between stones of H. Sudermann, The zolfara and 'A figghia di Joriu. Subsequent shows were given in Moscow and Odessa, both very important for the construction of the "fame" of Grasso and for the definition of his artistic figure.
In Moscow, personalities of the caliber of K.S. Stanislavski, V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and N. Craig attended his shows, while Grasso, at the height of his success, was received at court. In Odessa he saw a fourteen-year-old Babel, who would later write on it in one of his Stories of Odessa (1931). In Babel's stunned words, Grasso’s performance of Grasso in Feudalism, already famous, exploded to theoretical attention, the famous anecdote for the way in which the pastor, played by Grasso, kills his rival by biting him in the throat, after having literally "flown" across the whole scene. In this respect, Mejerchol'd wrote: "I realized numerous laws of the biomechanics when I saw the acting of the magnificent Sicilian tragic actor Grasso". By identifying the biomechanical roots in the movement of the whole body, regardless of the part directly affected, Mejerchol'd was the first in succeeding to clarify that "expressive power", which many had only intuitively perceived. With Grasso it was always the whole body that acted, spoke, or simply, was present, that is: to be perceived, on stage.
In 1909, after the Russia tour, the company returned to England. Particularly significant, this time, was Grasso’s interpretation of Othello, one of Grasso’s earliest roles but one he had always refused to represent outside his Catania. The success was, as usual, amazing, while critics spoke now openly of self-restraint, while for Feudalism they defined Grasso "a physical obsession", but a controlled obsession and guided by technique. In April 1910, the company embarked on a second eight-month tour to South America, touching Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Peru. Back in Catania, after a new stop in England, Grasso married singer Concetta Silvia Carducci, with whom he had lived from the times of the Machiavelli variety, and with whom he had four children. He then dissolved the company for a long period of rest. More or less since this time Grasso, now in a declining phase, threw off his theatrical activity, although never interrupted and even if the repertoire was enriched with new texts, including Il berretto a sonagli by Luigi Pirandello. In 1913 he played Cavalleria rusticana in Rome; in 1916 he was in Messina; in 1917 in Palermo and in 1919 in Rome, at the Teatro Eliseo. In 1921, with first actress Carolina Balistrieri Bragaglia, he left for a tour in the United States, debuting on September 8th in New York, at the Major Royal Theatre, in the heart of the Italian quarter, with Feudalism. The performances lasted for five months, with traditional battle horses like Malia and Cavalleria rusticana, but also with novelties by young authors. Success continued to be great, but at the end of this tour his voice showed the first signs of hoarseness worsened over time. In 1923, G. formed a new company with his brother Micio, his cousin Giovanni junior (who eventually would become a famous sound film actor too), and Virginia Balistrieri, junior’s wife. In 1927-28 Grasso did his last tour in America. In his last years, with a by now almost extinct voice, he gradually lost the public’s favor.
Giovanni Grasso was also a popular cinema actor. Already in 1910, during his second South American tour, he had shot, directed by Mario Gallo, two films taken from his famous theatrical interpretations: La morte civile/Muerte civil and Cavalleria rusticana. But it was, as usual, Martoglio to offer him the most significant occasions. In fact, the latter, at the end of 1913, had been appointed artistic director of the Rome based company Morgana films. It was this production house that made the trilogy, also directed by Martoglio: Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914), starring Grasso and Virginia Balestrieri and based on the drama Capitan Matteo Blanco by the same Martoglio; Sperduti nel buio (Lost in the dark, Martoglio 1914), with Grasso, Balestrieri and Maria Carmi and after the drama by Roberto Bracco; and Teresa Raquin, with Maria Carmi and Dillo Lombardo but without Grasso, and after Émile Zola’s famous novel. In Sperduti nel buio, of 1914, which is Grasso’s most famous film and was considered almost an incunabulum of neorealist cinema, Grasso interpreted the blind Nunzio. In a review, Bracco underlined the "expressive" contrast between the grace of the character and the power of the actor. In the early 1940s Sperduti nel buio was hailed as precursor of what would become Italian Neorealism, but during the war the German took the print from the Roman archive and it never resurfaced; neither other prints of the film, raising its mythology.
The cinematographic activity of Grasso continued until 1926. Between 1919 and 1926 he was highly active and performed in some nine films, including Mala Pasqua (Ignazio Lupi, 1919) with Linda Pini, L’ospite sconosciuta/ Malafemmina (Telemaco Ruggeri, 1923) with Pina Menichelli, and Cavalleria rusticana (Mario Gargiulo, 1924) with Grasso as Alfio, Mary Cléo Tarlarini as Nunzia, Tina Xeo as Santuzza and Livio Pavanelli as Turiddu. Twice Grasso had the lead in Balzac adaptations Vautrin (Alexandre Davrennes, 1919) and Tromp-la-Mort (Devarennes, 1920). Amleto Palermi directed Grasso in three films: Dopo il peccato (1920) with Bella Starace Sainati, Il dramma dell’amore (1920) with Claretta Sabatelli, and La casa degli scapoli (1923) with Diomira Jacobini and Livio Pavanelli. Grosso’s last part was in the Capuana adaptation Il cavalier Petagna (Mario Gargiulo, 1926), with Soava Gallone. Giovanni Grasso died in Catania on 14 October 1930.
Unfortunately, almost all of his films have been lost. With particular reference to Sperduti nel buio, one of the most sought films in the world of film archives and film history, we can only talk about it on the basis of the screenplay, photos and reviews. A booklet with 24 photos has been put online on the website www.ilcinemamuto.it/betatest/sperduti-nel-buio/. But sometimes fortune smiles at us. In 2005, at the Dutch EYE Filmmuseum, a tinted print of the short film Un amore selvaggio (Cines 1912, director unknown) was found, restored and relaunched internationally. It was not only the only film with the Southern actors Raffaele and Luisella Viviani, but it is now also the only surviving film with Giovanni Grasso (even if his part is unmentioned in Bernardini&Martinell’s famous filmography Il cinema muto italiano). When in 2011 the film was shown in Sicily before the heirs of Grasso and Viviani’s son, they immediately recognized the actors. It was in 1912 that Cines shot 3 films with Viviani (his only ones) and that also famous plays in which Grasso where filmed: Malia and Feudalismo, were filmed. Un amore selvaggio, is a rural drama, clearly influenced by the literary works of Verga and Capuana. On a Sicilian farm, brother Giuseppe (Viviani) and Carmela (Luisella Viviani), sister, both work. The rebel and violent Giuseppe is fired for offending his master, and would like to take his sister with him, but she refuses because she desperately loves the owner’ son Alessandro (Grasso), who rejects her and is already engaged. The woman then tries to poison her rival in love, but is discovered and in turn cast out. In order to take revenge, she tells Giuseppe that she has been seduced and asks his brother to kill Alessandro, but while she spies the rival's house she rolls into an embankment and is cared for by Alexander's good and kind girlfriend. Repentant, Carmela confesses Giuseppe she lied, just as he is about to hit Alessandro with a sickle. He forgives her and the two leave together. The brutal and tragic character of Giuseppe reminds of Grasso’s expressive parts, so it is remarkable Viviani plays that part and Grasso has a more moderate role.
Sources: www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovanni-grasso_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ Franco Ruffini - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 58 (2002); ipercultura.com/grasso-amore-selvaggio.htm. See also Italian Wikipedia and IMDB.
Italian postcard. Bromostampa, Milano, series "Hobby".
Italian comic actor Peppino De Filippo (1903-1980) was a star of theatre, television and cinema in his country. He started his career on stage with his brother Eduardo and their sister Titina. In the 1950s and 1960s he became the partner of Totó in very popular comedy films and he appeared in two classics by Federico Fellini.
Peppino De Filippo was born Giuseppe De Filippo in Naples, Italy in 1893. He came from a typical stage family. His father was the playwright Eduardo Scarpetta and his mother Luisa De Filippo. His brother was actor and dramatist Eduardo De Filippo and his sister actress Titina De Filippo. His half-brother are the actors Vincenzo Scarpetta, Eduardo Passarelli and Pasquale De Filippo. Peppino made his stage debut at the age of six in Scarpetta's play Miseria e Nobilta. He studied the piano and went away to college for two years. During WWI, back in Naples, he joined Scarpetta's company Molinari, and it was here that he met Totò. At 22, he joined the company of Salvatore De Muto, but had to return to the Scarpetta company after his estranged father, Eduardo Scarpetta, passed away. Thus he, his brother Eduardo and their sister Titina, started to work together. After several attempts with different acting companies, they founded the Compagnia Teatro Umoristico: i De Filippo in 1931. The three staged their own brand of comedy and worked alongside the likes of Tina Pica, Carlo Pisacane, Agostino Salvietti and Giovanni Berardi. It was a very successful experience, featuring tours all over Italy, new comedies, enthusiastic ratings by critics, and sold out theaters. Peppino De Filippo played in several Italian films. He made his screen debut in the French-Italian comedy Tre uomini in frack/Three Lucky Fools (Mario Bonnard, 1933) starring Tito Schipa and his brother Eduardo. It was followed by Quei due/Those Two (Gennaro Righelli, 1935) with Eduardo and Assia Noris. In campagna è caduta una stella/In the Country Fell a Star (Eduardo De Filippo, 1939) was based on a play written by Peppino De Filippo. Peppino and Eduardo play two peasant brothers who become obsessed with an American film starlet (Rosina Lawrence) who visits their small town and they neglect their fiancées. However, in 1944, due to a controversy with his brother, Peppino abandoned the company.
In 1945, Peppino De Filippo also separated from Adele Carloni, his wife of 16 years and he debuted with his new company with I Casi Sono Due at the Teatro Olimpia in Milan. The separation if his brother and sister would allow him to find his own stylistic footprint as an author, being easily distinguishable from Eduardo's: Peppino's comedies are usually easier and more elegant. In 1950, he starred in the film comedy Luci del varietà/Variety Lights, produced and directed by Federico Fellini and Alberto Lattuada and co-starring Carla Del Poggio and Giulietta Masina. This bittersweet drama is about a beautiful but ambitious young woman who joins a group of second-rate theatrical performers on tour and inadvertently causes jealousy and emotional crises. In Italy he is probably best remembered for his comedies with Totò, starting with Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956), Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956), and La banda degli onesti/The Band of Honest Men (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). These films obtained an outstanding success, and for Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge, De Filippo was awarded with a Silver Ribbon for best supporting actor. His other comedies include Signori, in carrozza!/Rome-Paris-Rome (Luigi Zampa, 1951) with Aldo Fabrizi, Un giorno in pretura/A Day in Court (Steno, 1954), La nonna Sabella/Oh! Sabella (Dino Risi, 1957) and Ferdinando I° re di Napoli/Ferdinand I, King of Naples (1959). From 1959 to 1969 he managed the Teatro delle Arti in Rome, and had worldwide success internationally during those years. Peppino repeatedly showed his extraordinary versatility; particularly noteworthy are his performance in Il Guardiano (The Caretaker) by Harold Pinter and as Harpagon in The Miser by Molière, where he proved to be a skillful actor whose ability had grown beyond Neapolitan comedies. In the cinema, he worked again with Federico Fellini, at Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio/The Temptation of Dr Antonio, a hilarious segment for the anthology film Boccaccio '70 (1962). De Filippo plays a drooling middle-aged professor who is fed up with too much immorality. His anger knows no bounds when a provocative billboard of Anita Ekberg advertising ‘Drink more milk’ is put up opposite his residence. The image begins to haunt him and in his hallucinations he is pursued and captured by a giant form of the buxom Swedish star in a deserted Rome. At one point, his umbrella falls between her breasts. For a TV show, De Filippo invented the character Pappagone. He represented a humble servant of Cummendatore Peppino De Filippo (the title of Commendatore is a public honor of the Italian Republic). He performed as a sort of usher, a typical character of the Neapolitan theatre, and coined many funny phrases and an own jargon, that would transform into popular sayings. Peppino De Filippo died in Rome in 1980 due to a tumor. He was 76. He married three times, and his first wife Adele Carloni gave him his son Luigi, who is successfully carrying on his father's work. He married his second wife, actress Lidia Martora, only a few hours before her death. In fact they have been partners for more than 25 years, but he was still married to his first wife (and divorce was not allowed in Italy at that time). In December 1970 divorce was sanctioned by law. De Filippo asked immediately for divorce, but Lidia Martora was already seriously ill, so their wedding was allowed - a tragic trick of chance - only on the same day in which she died. In 1977 he married Clelia Mangano, his business partner.
Sources: Rosaria DiNatale (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and Italian), and IMDb.
Italian postcard in the 'Hobby' series by Bromostampa, Milano, no. 1181/5310.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950, and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film Peppino De Filippo was awarded with a Silver Ribbon for best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with starring Steve Cochran, Alida Valli and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also plated in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this Italian sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor and bodybuilder Ed Fury. She was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia and IMDb.
Vintage Italian postcard, 1920s. La Rotofotografica. Rinascimento Film, Roma, 41.
Fascinating and enigmatic Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale.
In 1920, after her years at at Cines and Itala, and fed up with her femme fatale typecasting after the success of her Itala films Il fuoco (1915) and Tigre reale (1916), Pina Menichelli moved to Rinascimento Film. This company was founded in 1918 and run by producer Baron Carlo D'Amato, with whom Menichelli would have a long relationship before marrying him in 1930. Rinascimento Film produced several films with Menichelli in the early 1920s including Il romanzo di un giovane povero, La seconda moglie, Malafemmina, La donna e l'uomo, and La dame de Chez Maxim. In 1924 Menichelli withdrew from cinema and held back any attempt to interview her. Amato was Menichelli's second husband. With her first husband, Libero Pica, married in 1909, she had two children.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 253. Pina Menichelli and Marcel Levesque in La dama de Chez Maxim (Amleto Palermi, 1923). Menichelli played the legendary Môme Crevette in one of the many film adaptations of Georges Feydeau's classic boulevard comedy.
With this film and with Occupati d'Amelia (Telemaco Ruggeri 1925), another Feydeau adaptation, Menichelli proved she was well able to do comedy and not only melodramatic and 'vampy' films. In both films one of her co-stars was the French comedian Marcel Levésque. The films were well received. From 1920 Menichelli, after her years at Itala, moved to Rinascimento Film, founded in 1918 and run by producer Baron Carlo D'Amato, with whom she would have a long relationship before marrying him in 1930. Rinascimento Film produced several films with Menichelli in the early 1920s including Il romanzo di un giovane povero, La seconda moglie, Malafemmina, La donna e l'uomo, and La dame de Chez Maxim. In 1924 Menichelli withdrew from cinema and held back any attempt to interview her. Amato was Menichelli's second husband. With her first husband, Libero Pica, married in 1909, she had two children.
Fascinating and enigmatic Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 189. Pina Menichelli and Giovanni Grasso in Malafemmina, a film unknown to IMDb, but it was the alternative title of L' ospite sconosciuta/The Unknown Guest (Telemaco Ruggeri, 1923).
The plot (written by future director Amleto Palermi) deals with a young provincial who falls into the clutches of a mundane adventuress and spends his father's money on her. The father pushes the woman to convince the son she never loved him and enforces this by having his son discovering the two of them in a restaurant. The son shoots the woman, while the father takes the blame.
Source: Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano, 1923-1931.
Italian postcard, no. 604. Photo: Sciutto.
Giovanni Grasso (1873-1930) was an Italian stage and screen actor. While he goes as the best Sicilian tragic actor and one of the best in Italy, he also had a limited but important career in Italian silent cinema.
Giovanni Grasso was born in Catania, Sicily, on December 19, 1873, as the son of puppet master Angelo Grasso and Ciccia (Francesca) Tudisco, his second wife and puppet master too. Angelo Grasso’s father supposedly had introduced the puppet theatre in Catania, from Naples. In Catania Angelo opened a small puppet theatre, entitled Teatro Machiavelli, which at his death, in order to survive, turned into a vaudeville theatre. Small provincial companies stopped there, alternating edifying dramas with farces and subject performances ("scenoni"), inspired by news events. In this eclectic environment of the 1890s, young Giovanni Grasso was trained as a man of the theatre. He decided to brush up his paternal puppets, presenting – successful - shows. Among his greatest admirers was the playwright and journalist Nino Martoglio, who led the famous actor Ernesto Rossi to the Machiavelli. At the end of the show, Rossi, dazed by the expressive power of the puppeteer, urged him to become an actor.
This was the first of the "revelation meetings" – with a.o. people like D'Annunzio, Babel, and Mejerchol'd - that punctuated Grasso’s life, whose art was perhaps greater and, above all, more meaningful than he was aware of. At Rossi's requests Grasso rearranged the auditorium and increasingly alternated written texts with crime scenes, thus beginning to define his own dramaturgical repertory that clung to Sicilian texts but renewed by his interventions and his acting. Among his battle horses we must remember I mafiusi di La Vicaria di Palermo, by G. Mosca & G. Rizzotto; La zolfara, by G. Giusti Sinopoli; and Cavalleria rusticana, by Giovanni Verga. I mafiusi (1863), was based on the stories of an authentic mafioso, a certain Gioacchino D'Angelo (Jachinu Funciazza, in theatrical fiction), just out of jail. The drama had an immediate and lasting success, especially when Grasso began to interpret it. Zolfara, based on the big upheaval of the strikes of the Sicilian miners, did not gain much recognition when premiered in 1895, but thanks to Grasso’s version in dialect, became a triumph. Instead, Cavalleria rusticana, following Grasso’s often used practice, was represented in the Sicilian translation of Martoglio.
In 1901 Grasso formed his own company Città di Catania, with Angelo Musco as ‘brilliante’ and Carmelina Tria as first actress (later replaced by Mimì Aguglia and after her by Marinella Bragaglia). He did his first world tour, starting at the Politeama in Salerno (with La zolfara), on initiative of the capocomico (company manager) Mimì de Cesare, who sensed Grasso’s great talent. The tour subsequently touched Avellino and Naples, with a good artistic success but failed economic results. The real consecration of Grasso, however, took place in Rome, where he was called for some charity performances organized for the victims of the Modica flood (September 1902). On 30th November 1901 Grasso made his debut in Argentina with Cavalleria rusticana and I mafiusi. When asked about Grasso, Martoglio answered: "His mirror is nature"; this axiom, together with his powerful vigor, instinctive to the limit of violence, remained the trademark of the actor and his company. Always on the occasion of the Argentine Luigi Capuana, who had assisted, offered him the reworking in dialect of his play Malia, while G., prevented from returning to Catania because of the illness of his brother Micio, continued with resounding success his performances in Rome at the Teatro Metastasio.
Back in Catania, the Macchiavelli burned down in 1903. The same year Martoglio wrote for Grasso a new text, Nica, and together with him he raised the first Sicilian dialectal drama company, which included Musco, Bragaglia, Lo Turco, Totò Majorana , Micio Grasso, and the families Spadaro and Balistrieri. The repertory included, in addition to the dramas already mentioned, La lupa and Caccia al lupo by Verga; San Giuvanni addicullatu by Martoglio; Mastru Libertu l’armeri by F. Marchese; La festa di Adernò by Grasso himself. After performances in Catania and Naples, the company set off for a new tour. While La zolfara played without great success in Milan, Gabriele DÁnnunzio, present, was was struck by the expressive power. Nica and Cavalleria rusticana went better, even if critics condemned the interventions in the latter. After Milan, the tour continued touching Florence, Palermo, Messina and, again, Naples. Returned to Catania in August 1903, Grasso had to accept again the economic failure of the tour, and dedicated himself to the reconstruction of the Teatro Machiavelli. Meanwhile, urged by V. Ferraù, administrator of the company - who, however, mindful of past experiences, asked free hand in commercial management -, Martoglio gave life to the second Sicilian dialectal drama company, which, in 1904, set off for a new tour, ending in Turin. However, this time a novelty among the repertory became the hit of the season: 'A figghia di Joriu, G. Borgese’s Sicilian version of D'Annunzio's tragedy La figlia di Jorio, performed at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 17th September 1904.
At the end of 1906, the company departed for Spain, the initial stage of the long season of the big tours abroad, starting on 8 January 1907 at the Novedades theater in Barcelona, continued in Portugal, and from there to South America. After reprisals in Buenos Aires, the famous French actor A. Lugné Poe, impresario of Eleonora Duse, hired the Sicilian actors for one of their most important international impact: a tour in France. Here they arrived in January 1908. After the Parisian debut with Malia at the Marigny Theater, critics wrote: "No convention, no tradition: nature, life". The realism of the actors was compared to that of the "Japanese", the recitation was defined as "of an infinitely accurate and precise accuracy". Grasso’s repertory was classic: 'A figghia di Joriu, Cavalleria rusticana and La morte civile by P. Giacometti, already known to the Parisian public. Great appreciation was also obtained for La lupa, La zolfara, and Rusidda, by critics such as C. Mendès and by actors like Mounet-Sully. The usual appreciation for the "naturalness" of acting was now joined by the recognition for the great technical expertise of Grasso and his companions.
While Verga withdrew his texts for the changes made arbitrarily by Grasso (his also happened afterwards with Capuana and even with Martoglio), Grasso on February 3, 1908, preceded by the echo of French success, debuted in London, again with Malia. Here he saw the excellent criticisms repeated that praised his realism as "amazing, fulminant, colossal" and, again, his great acting technique. In October the company made its debut in Berlin and, after a fleeting episode in Hungary, moved to Russia, at the time one of the most vital centres of the European theatre. The debut was in St. Petersburg, with Malia, Feudalism (a Sicilian version of A. Campagna di Terra baixa, by A. Guimerà and another pillar of the repertoire of Grasso after his South American tour,), Stone between stones of H. Sudermann, The zolfara and 'A figghia di Joriu. Subsequent shows were given in Moscow and Odessa, both very important for the construction of the "fame" of Grasso and for the definition of his artistic figure. In Moscow, personalities of the caliber of K.S. Stanislavski, V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and N. Craig attended his shows, while Grasso, at the height of his success, was received at court. In Odessa he saw a fourteen-year-old Babel, who would later write on it in one of his Stories of Odessa (1931). In Babel's stunned words, Grasso’s performance of Grasso in Feudalism, already famous, exploded to theoretical attention, the famous anecdote for the way in which the pastor, played by Grasso, kills his rival by biting him in the throat, after having literally "flown" across the whole scene. In this respect, Mejerchol'd wrote: "I realized numerous laws of the biomechanics when I saw the acting of the magnificent Sicilian tragic actor Grasso". By identifying the biomechanical roots in the movement of the whole body, regardless of the part directly affected, Mejerchol'd was the first in succeeding to clarify that "expressive power", which many had only intuitively perceived. With Grasso it was always the whole body that acted, spoke, or simply, was present, that is: to be perceived, on stage.
In 1909, after the Russia tour, the company returned to England. Particularly significant, this time, was Grasso’s interpretation of Othello, one of Grasso’s earliest roles but one he had always refused to represent outside his Catania. The success was, as usual, amazing, while critics spoke now openly of self-restraint, while for Feudalism they defined Grasso "a physical obsession", but a controlled obsession and guided by technique. In April 1910, the company embarked on a second eight-month tour to South America, touching Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Peru. Back in Catania, after a new stop in England, Grasso married singer Concetta Silvia Carducci, with whom he had lived from the times of the Machiavelli variety, and with whom he had four children. He then dissolved the company for a long period of rest. More or less since this time Grasso, now in a declining phase, threw off his theatrical activity, although never interrupted and even if the repertoire was enriched with new texts, including Il berretto a sonagli by Luigi Pirandello. In 1913 he played Cavalleria rusticana in Rome; in 1916 he was in Messina; in 1917 in Palermo and in 1919 in Rome, at the Teatro Eliseo. In 1921, with first actress Carolina Balistrieri Bragaglia, he left for a tour in the United States, debuting on September 8th in New York, at the Major Royal Theatre, in the heart of the Italian quarter, with Feudalism. The performances lasted for five months, with traditional battle horses like Malia and Cavalleria rusticana, but also with novelties by young authors. Success continued to be great, but at the end of this tour his voice showed the first signs of hoarseness worsened over time. In 1923, G. formed a new company with his brother Micio, his cousin Giovanni junior (who eventually would become a famous sound film actor too), and Virginia Balistrieri, junior’s wife. In 1927-28 Grasso did his last tour in America. In his last years, with a by now almost extinct voice, he gradually lost the public’s favor.
Giovanni Grasso was also a popular cinema actor. Already in 1910, during his second South American tour, he had shot, directed by Mario Gallo, two films taken from his famous theatrical interpretations: La morte civile/Muerte civil and Cavalleria rusticana. But it was, as usual, Martoglio to offer him the most significant occasions. In fact, the latter, at the end of 1913, had been appointed artistic director of the Rome based company Morgana films. It was this production house that made the trilogy, also directed by Martoglio: Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914), starring Grasso and Virginia Balestrieri and based on the drama Capitan Matteo Blanco by the same Martoglio; Sperduti nel buio (Lost in the dark, Martoglio 1914), with Grasso, Balestrieri and Maria Carmi and after the drama by Roberto Bracco; and Teresa Raquin, with Maria Carmi and Dillo Lombardo but without Grasso, and after Émile Zola’s famous novel. In Sperduti nel buio, of 1914, which is Grasso’s most famous film and was considered almost an incunabulum of pre-Neorealist cinema, Grasso interpreted the blind Nunzio. In a review, Bracco underlined the "expressive" contrast between the grace of the character and the power of the actor. In the early 1940s Sperduti nel buio was hailed as precursor of what would become Italian Neorealism, but during the war the Germans took the print from the Roman archive and it never resurfaced; neither other prints of the film, raising its mythology.
The cinematographic activity of Grasso continued until 1926. Between 1919 and 1926 he was highly active and performed in some nine films, including Mala Pasqua (Ignazio Lupi, 1919) with Linda Pini, L’ospite sconosciuta/ Malafemmina (Telemaco Ruggeri, 1923) with Pina Menichelli, and Cavalleria rusticana (Mario Gargiulo, 1924) with Grasso as Alfio, Mary Cléo Tarlarini as Nunzia, Tina Xeo as Santuzza and Livio Pavanelli as Turiddu. Twice Grasso had the lead in Balzac adaptations Vautrin (Alexandre Davrennes, 1919) and Tromp-la-Mort (Devarennes, 1920). Amleto Palermi directed Grasso in three films: Dopo il peccato (1920) with Bella Starace Sainati, Il dramma dell’amore (1920) with Claretta Sabatelli, and La casa degli scapoli (1923) with Diomira Jacobini and Livio Pavanelli. Grosso’s last part was in the Capuana adaptation Il cavalier Petagna (Mario Gargiulo, 1926), with Soava Gallone. Giovanni Grasso died in Catania on 14 October 1930.
Unfortunately, almost all of his films have been lost. With particular reference to Sperduti nel buio, one of the most sought films in the world of film archives and film history, we can only talk about it on the basis of the screenplay, photos and reviews. A booklet with 24 photos has been put online on the website www.ilcinemamuto.it/betatest/sperduti-nel-buio/. But sometimes fortune smiles at us. In 2005, at the Dutch EYE Filmmuseum, a tinted print of the short film Un amore selvaggio (Cines 1912, director unknown) was found, restored and relaunched internationally. It was not only the only film with the Southern actors Raffaele and Luisella Viviani, but it is now also the only surviving film with Giovanni Grasso (even if his part is unmentioned in Bernardini&Martinell’s famous filmography Il cinema muto italiano). When in 2011 the film was shown in Sicily before the heirs of Grasso and Viviani’s son, they immediately recognized the actors. It was in 1912 that Cines shot 3 films with Viviani (his only ones) and that also famous plays in which Grasso where filmed: Malia and Feudalismo, were filmed. Un amore selvaggio, is a rural drama, clearly influenced by the literary works of Verga and Capuana. On a Sicilian farm, brother Giuseppe (Viviani) and Carmela (Luisella Viviani), sister, both work. The rebel and violent Giuseppe is fired for offending his master, and would like to take his sister with him, but she refuses because she desperately loves the owner’ son Alessandro (Grasso), who rejects her and is already engaged. The woman then tries to poison her rival in love, but is discovered and in turn cast out. In order to take revenge, she tells Giuseppe that she has been seduced and asks his brother to kill Alessandro, but while she spies the rival's house she rolls into an embankment and is cared for by Alexander's good and kind girlfriend. Repentant, Carmela confesses Giuseppe she lied, just as he is about to hit Alessandro with a sickle. He forgives her and the two leave together. The brutal and tragic character of Giuseppe reminds of Grasso’s expressive parts, so it is remarkable Viviani plays that part and Grasso has a more moderate role.
Source: www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovanni-grasso_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ Franco Ruffini - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 58 (2002); ipercultura.com/grasso-amore-selvaggio.htm. See also Italian Wikipedia and IMDB.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 241. Pina Menichelli and Giovanni Grasso in Malafemmina, a film unknown to IMDb, but it was the alternative title of L' ospite sconosciuta/ The Unknown Guest (Telemaco Ruggeri, 1923).
The plot (written by future director Amleto Palermi) deals with Pietro, a young provincial (Andrea Conigliaro) who falls into the clutches of Stasia, a mundane adventuress (Menichelli) and spends his father's money on her. Di Scenta, the father (Grasso), pushes the woman to convince the son she never loved him and enforces this by having his son discovering the two of them in a restaurant. The son shoots the woman, while the father takes the blame.
The Italian censorship was so heavy in its cuts that the film became incomprehensible to Italian audiences. Italian critics didn't like it therefore. The censor didn't allow the representation nor even the suggestion that the son thinks he has to compete with his father in the love for Stasia. So all the scenes in which the father pretends his love for the woman in order to save his son were cut, as well as intertitles explaining this situation.
Source: Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano, 1923-1931.
Sometimes, remaining postcards of a lost film may help in getting an idea of why certain films were so cherished in their time, or afterwards.
Vintage Italian postcard. Ed. Danesi, Roma. Series of 18 unnumbered postcards for the famous - lost - Italian film, Capitan Blanco/ Il Capitan Blanco (1914), directed by Nino Martoglio, possibly in co-direction with Roberto Danesi, for their joint production company Morgana Film. Capitan Blanco was the first production by Morgana Film, founded in January 1914, and based on Martoglio's stage play Capitan Blanco/ U paliu (1906). Martoglio also wrote the script.
Morgana used the Roman studios of the company Savoia for interiors, but exteriors for this film were first shot in the newly conquered Tripolitania (part of Libya and Italian since 1912), so the crew had to be guarded while working there. Later shots were taken in Sicily at Aci Castello, Aci Trezza, and Catania. Cinematography was by Danesi. The three leading actors were the Sicilians Giovanni Grasso as Capitan Blanco, Virginia Balistrieri as Marta and Totò Majorana as Mauro. By then, Grasso was one of the most acclaimed Italian stage actors. The film was first released in Rome on 24 May 1914.
Plot: Matteo Blanco is a mighty sea wolf, a man of great courage, who has left the village some thirty years ago in search of adventures. After many narrow escapes in Africa, he returns a rich man to his village Aci Castello. There, old Zia Betta matches him with the local young beauty, the flirtatious Marta, who has had many lovers. One of her lovers, Mauro, is desperate and wants to throw himself off the local castle but Blanco saves him. After their marriage, Marta doesn't give up flirting and tries to lure Mauro, but he is faithful to his savior. She then takes a customs officer as lover, but Blanco is warned about this. The fierceful husband takes revenge by blowing up the castle where the lovers secretly meet. The customs officer is killed but Marta survives. One year after, Blanco and Marta make peace, but he takes her away, far from the village.
Reception-wise, Pier da Castello in the Turinese trade journal La Vita Cinematografica, was quite critical, feeling the lack of Grasso's potent voice and thought that his masterful Sicilian exuberance could have been exploited better. Also, the Arabian adventures were considered unnecessary, and the plot wasn't very special or subtle. Yet, Keraban in the Neapolitan journal La Cine-Fono judged that possible flaws of e.g. a rather rigid plot were unimportant, compared to the tour-de-force performance of Grasso, Balistrieri's acting, and the direction by Martoglio, favouring the great outdoors scenery, the liveliness, the massive crowds of farmers and fishermen, the Arabs and 'predators', etc. Indeed, looking at our cards, it is clear that the use of real locations and local extras was an important asset of this film, understanding why critics of the 1940s referred to Martoglio's films when looking for predecessors of Italian Neorealism.
Giovanni Grasso (1873-1930) was an Italian stage and screen actor. While he goes as the best Sicilian tragic actor and one of the best in Italy, he also had a limited but very important career in Italian silent cinema. Though best known for two lost films, Nino Martoglio's films Capitan Blanco (1914) and Sperduti nel buio (1914), In 1919-26 Grasso performed in some nine films, including L’ospite sconosciuta/ Malafemmina (1923) with Pina Menichelli and Cavalleria rusticana (1924) with Tina Xeo and Livio Pavanelli.
Totò Majorana (1874–1944), originally Salvatore Maria Majorana, was an Italian stage and screen actor, famous for his co-acting on stage with fellow Sicilian actor Giovanni Grasso, in and outside of Italy. After film acting at Savoia in 1913, he went to Rome to act opposite Grasso in two famous lost films in realist style, Capitan Blanco (1914) and Sperduti nel buio (1914), both by Nino Martoglio. Between 1919-23 he acted in a large string of films, often starring Nerio Bernardi and directed by Mario Caserini.
Virginia Balistrieri, aka Virginia Balestrieri (1888-1960), was an Italian stage and screen actress, who after her silent film parts opposite Giovanni Grasso in Capitan Blanco (914) and Sperduti nel buio (1914), both by Nino Martoglio, acted in many supporting parts in Italian sound cinema of the late 1940s and 1950s. She was married to a nephew of Grasso, called Giovanni Grasso jr. (1888-1963).
Roberto Danesi (1882-1914) was an Italian film producer, director, screenwriter, operator and set photographer, based in Rome. In 1912 he debuted with a series of films borrowing actors from the Turin company Savoia. In 1913 he was camera operator and set photographer at Cines and in the same year he became manager of Savoia's Roman studio, while parallel being active as theater director. In addition to dramas, Danesi also did science-fiction, and in hindsight actor Gian Paolo Rosmino praised his mastery of special effects. Nino Oxilia was his assistant for some films at Savoia and learned the trade from him. End of 1913, Danesi, with Archita Valente, directed the Napoleonic historical film I cento giorni for Vera Film. In 1914 he shot films at his studio on behalf of Milano Films. He then left Savoia and founded with Nino Martoglio the company Morgana Films, which used the Roman studio of Savoia. With Martoglio, Danesi collaborated on two important, lost films: Capitan Blanco and Sperduti nel buio. November 1914 his death (due to illness) and the end of his company were announced. Danesi was only 32.
Sources: Italian Wikipedia, Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano 1914, Vol. 1.
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Italian postcard in the series Gli Artisti di Napoli.
Italian comic actor Peppino De Filippo (1903-1980) was a star of theatre, television and cinema in his country. He started his career on stage with his brother Eduardo and their sister Titina. In the 1950s and 1960s he became the partner of Totó in very popular comedy films and he appeared in two classics by Federico Fellini.
Peppino De Filippo was born Giuseppe De Filippo in Naples, Italy in 1893. He came from a typical stage family. His father was the playwright Eduardo Scarpetta and his mother Luisa De Filippo. His brother was actor and dramatist Eduardo De Filippo and his sister actress Titina De Filippo. His half-brother are the actors Vincenzo Scarpetta, Eduardo Passarelli and Pasquale De Filippo. Peppino made his stage debut at the age of six in Scarpetta's play Miseria e Nobilta. He studied the piano and went away to college for two years. During WWI, back in Naples, he joined Scarpetta's company Molinari, and it was here that he met Totò. At 22, he joined the company of Salvatore De Muto, but had to return to the Scarpetta company after his estranged father, Eduardo Scarpetta, passed away. Thus he, his brother Eduardo and their sister Titina, started to work together. After several attempts with different acting companies, they founded the Compagnia Teatro Umoristico: i De Filippo in 1931. The three staged their own brand of comedy and worked alongside the likes of Tina Pica, Carlo Pisacane, Agostino Salvietti and Giovanni Berardi. It was a very successful experience, featuring tours all over Italy, new comedies, enthusiastic ratings by critics, and sold out theaters. Peppino De Filippo played in several Italian films. He made his screen debut in the French-Italian comedy Tre uomini in frack/Three Lucky Fools (Mario Bonnard, 1933) starring Tito Schipa and his brother Eduardo. It was followed by Quei due/Those Two (Gennaro Righelli, 1935) with Eduardo and Assia Noris. In campagna è caduta una stella/In the Country Fell a Star (Eduardo De Filippo, 1939) was based on a play written by Peppino De Filippo. Peppino and Eduardo play two peasant brothers who become obsessed with an American film starlet (Rosina Lawrence) who visits their small town and they neglect their fiancées. However, in 1944, due to a controversy with his brother, Peppino abandoned the company.
In 1945, Peppino De Filippo also separated from Adele Carloni, his wife of 16 years and he debuted with his new company with I Casi Sono Due at the Teatro Olimpia in Milan. The separation if his brother and sister would allow him to find his own stylistic footprint as an author, being easily distinguishable from Eduardo's: Peppino's comedies are usually easier and more elegant. In 1950, he starred in the film comedy Luci del varietà/Variety Lights, produced and directed by Federico Fellini and Alberto Lattuada and co-starring Carla Del Poggio and Giulietta Masina. This bittersweet drama is about a beautiful but ambitious young woman who joins a group of second-rate theatrical performers on tour and inadvertently causes jealousy and emotional crises. In Italy he is probably best remembered for his comedies with Totò, starting with Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956), Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956), and La banda degli onesti/The Band of Honest Men (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). These films obtained an outstanding success, and for Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge, De Filippo was awarded with a Silver Ribbon for best supporting actor. His other comedies include Signori, in carrozza!/Rome-Paris-Rome (Luigi Zampa, 1951) with Aldo Fabrizi, Un giorno in pretura/A Day in Court (Steno, 1954), La nonna Sabella/Oh! Sabella (Dino Risi, 1957) and Ferdinando I° re di Napoli/Ferdinand I, King of Naples (1959). From 1959 to 1969 he managed the Teatro delle Arti in Rome, and had worldwide success internationally during those years. Peppino repeatedly showed his extraordinary versatility; particularly noteworthy are his performance in Il Guardiano (The Caretaker) by Harold Pinter and as Harpagon in The Miser by Molière, where he proved to be a skillful actor whose ability had grown beyond Neapolitan comedies. In the cinema, he worked again with Federico Fellini, at Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio/The Temptation of Dr Antonio, a hilarious segment for the anthology film Boccaccio '70 (1962). De Filippo plays a drooling middle-aged professor who is fed up with too much immorality. His anger knows no bounds when a provocative billboard of Anita Ekberg advertising ‘Drink more milk’ is put up opposite his residence. The image begins to haunt him and in his hallucinations he is pursued and captured by a giant form of the buxom Swedish star in a deserted Rome. At one point, his umbrella falls between her breasts. For a TV show, De Filippo invented the character Pappagone. He represented a humble servant of Cummendatore Peppino De Filippo (the title of Commendatore is a public honor of the Italian Republic). He performed as a sort of usher, a typical character of the Neapolitan theatre, and coined many funny phrases and an own jargon, that would transform into popular sayings. Peppino De Filippo died in Rome in 1980 due to a tumor. He was 76. He married three times, and his first wife Adele Carloni gave him his son Luigi, who is successfully carrying on his father's work. He married his second wife, actress Lidia Martora, only a few hours before her death. In fact they have been partners for more than 25 years, but he was still married to his first wife (and divorce was not allowed in Italy at that time). In December 1970 divorce was sanctioned by law. De Filippo asked immediately for divorce, but Lidia Martora was already seriously ill, so their wedding was allowed - a tragic trick of chance - only on the same day in which she died. In 1977 he married Clelia Mangano, his business partner.
Sources: Rosaria DiNatale (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and Italian), and IMDb.
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msubirats: @vorovoro Si! 😄
malafemmina: This place is worse than my hospital!! 😂😂 I joke!!
nuriabarrasus: Por!
martali13: jo crec que sé on es aquest lloc de Masnou
msubirats: Si! Al Masnou, a l'edifici del centre on hi ha un munt d'empreses, escola de dansa, abans pizzeria, i un munt més :) @martali13
martali13: si,si ho sé.He anat varies vegades el vaig reconeixe al moment
msubirats: @martali13 Jo cada setmana i passo que tinc uns amics que hi treballen i sempre quedem per dinar :)
lprussack: Very creative.
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malafemmina: Bella!! ☺
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msubirats: @malafemmina Grazie!!!
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quimpb: Molt bona troballa
msubirats: @quimpb Gracies!!!