Carnevalesca (1918)
Spanish postcard by Amattler Marca Luna chocolate, series 7, no. 1. Photo: a scene from Carnevalesca (Amleto Palermi, 1918), after Lucio D'Ambra. Photography was by Giovanni Grimaldi. Here left of the marshall we see Livio Pavanelli and Augusto Poggioli, on the back in the flowery dress, Lyda Borelli, and right of her the unknown actor who plays Pietro.
Four carnivals take place at the castle of Malazia. The white carnival shows the young children of the sovereign and their little cousins, who enjoy themselves with merry games. By the help of a detective, the Court Marshall of the old King Luigi of Malazia discovers that the king's son, Luciano (Augusto Poggioli), heir to the throne, has an affair with young Ms Thea (the actress Thea); she is pregnant. After threats by the marshall, Luciano sacrifices the throne in order not to dishonour and abandon his mistress and flees with her. Who will be heir to the throne then? The blue carnival starts. At night, during a big ball, the king makes the first will in favour of his nephew Carlo (Pavanelli), of whom we already know he is vile and evil, winning a boat race by cheating. The king rethinks and instead selects Luciano's sister, Maria Teresa (Lyda Borelli), with her fiançe, Prince Pietro (actor unknown). Spies spread the two versions of the will. At last, the king decides to postpone his decision, so a third option arises. Everybody is confused during the ball, because of this. Beforehand, Pietro has demonstrated his prestigious dagger, with which he once had to kill a scoundrel. An unknown person steals the dagger and kills the king with it. The red carnival starts. According to the second will, Maria Teresa becomes queen, to Carlo's utmost jealousy. Luciano returns to the kingdom to avenge his father's death. Carlo more and more puts the suspicion on Pietro, right during the wedding day of Maria Teresa and Pietro. Vengeful, she fills Pietro with champagne, to confess his murder, but he only tells he once killed a man with it. That's enough for her, so she stabs him to death. Luciano, entering with Carlo, tells her she has made an atrocious mistake. She understands she has been misled by Carlo. Moreover, she presses him to confess the murder of her father. In shock, she leaves the castle and flees. It is the black carnival.
Scriptwriter/director Lucio d'Ambra remembered how Cines producer Baron Fassini, just like he had drilled sailors when in the navy, now drilled his crew, but treated his star Borelli with the highest regard. D'Ambra was commanded to write the script for Carnevalesca in ten days. He himself hoped to elevate the film by a score by Mascagni but nothing came of it, so the ordinary cinema music and Viennese waltz accompanied it. After the film came out, Puccini enthusiastically came to him announcing they had to collaborate on it, but, again, nothing came of it. In 1993 the film was restored by the Cineteca di Bologna. See also sempreinpenombra.com/2011/03/06/carnevalesca-cines-1918/. Clips from the film were used in Diva dolorosa by Peter Delpeut (1999). NB sources have been unclear about the actors, and also mixing up names. Also, plots giving in paper sources are making mistakes. By viewing the film, we recognized Augusto Poggioli as Prince Luciano and Thea as Ms Thea, but alas, we were not able to trace the actor who plays Pietro. It is for sure not Alberto Capozzi as some sources pretend.
At the time the journal Vita cinematografica considered the antinaturalistic, Symbolist film, not only because of its decadent visuals but also for its erudite, Dannunzian intertitles, as too excessive and artificial, fearing that soon the American realism, backed by their endless funding, would wipe away the Italians. The journal also blamed D'Ambra by starting the real drama too late, during the red carnival.
Lyda Borelli (1887-1959) was already an acclaimed stage actress before she became the first diva of the Italian silent cinema. The fascinating film star caused a craze among female fans called 'Borellismo'. Livio Pavanelli (1881-1958) was an Italian actor of the Italian and in particular German silent cinema. He also worked in Italian sound cinema as actor and as production manager. He directed four Italian films, both in the silent and the sound era.
Carnevalesca (1918)
Spanish postcard by Amattler Marca Luna chocolate, series 7, no. 1. Photo: a scene from Carnevalesca (Amleto Palermi, 1918), after Lucio D'Ambra. Photography was by Giovanni Grimaldi. Here left of the marshall we see Livio Pavanelli and Augusto Poggioli, on the back in the flowery dress, Lyda Borelli, and right of her the unknown actor who plays Pietro.
Four carnivals take place at the castle of Malazia. The white carnival shows the young children of the sovereign and their little cousins, who enjoy themselves with merry games. By the help of a detective, the Court Marshall of the old King Luigi of Malazia discovers that the king's son, Luciano (Augusto Poggioli), heir to the throne, has an affair with young Ms Thea (the actress Thea); she is pregnant. After threats by the marshall, Luciano sacrifices the throne in order not to dishonour and abandon his mistress and flees with her. Who will be heir to the throne then? The blue carnival starts. At night, during a big ball, the king makes the first will in favour of his nephew Carlo (Pavanelli), of whom we already know he is vile and evil, winning a boat race by cheating. The king rethinks and instead selects Luciano's sister, Maria Teresa (Lyda Borelli), with her fiançe, Prince Pietro (actor unknown). Spies spread the two versions of the will. At last, the king decides to postpone his decision, so a third option arises. Everybody is confused during the ball, because of this. Beforehand, Pietro has demonstrated his prestigious dagger, with which he once had to kill a scoundrel. An unknown person steals the dagger and kills the king with it. The red carnival starts. According to the second will, Maria Teresa becomes queen, to Carlo's utmost jealousy. Luciano returns to the kingdom to avenge his father's death. Carlo more and more puts the suspicion on Pietro, right during the wedding day of Maria Teresa and Pietro. Vengeful, she fills Pietro with champagne, to confess his murder, but he only tells he once killed a man with it. That's enough for her, so she stabs him to death. Luciano, entering with Carlo, tells her she has made an atrocious mistake. She understands she has been misled by Carlo. Moreover, she presses him to confess the murder of her father. In shock, she leaves the castle and flees. It is the black carnival.
Scriptwriter/director Lucio d'Ambra remembered how Cines producer Baron Fassini, just like he had drilled sailors when in the navy, now drilled his crew, but treated his star Borelli with the highest regard. D'Ambra was commanded to write the script for Carnevalesca in ten days. He himself hoped to elevate the film by a score by Mascagni but nothing came of it, so the ordinary cinema music and Viennese waltz accompanied it. After the film came out, Puccini enthusiastically came to him announcing they had to collaborate on it, but, again, nothing came of it. In 1993 the film was restored by the Cineteca di Bologna. See also sempreinpenombra.com/2011/03/06/carnevalesca-cines-1918/. Clips from the film were used in Diva dolorosa by Peter Delpeut (1999). NB sources have been unclear about the actors, and also mixing up names. Also, plots giving in paper sources are making mistakes. By viewing the film, we recognized Augusto Poggioli as Prince Luciano and Thea as Ms Thea, but alas, we were not able to trace the actor who plays Pietro. It is for sure not Alberto Capozzi as some sources pretend.
At the time the journal Vita cinematografica considered the antinaturalistic, Symbolist film, not only because of its decadent visuals but also for its erudite, Dannunzian intertitles, as too excessive and artificial, fearing that soon the American realism, backed by their endless funding, would wipe away the Italians. The journal also blamed D'Ambra by starting the real drama too late, during the red carnival.
Lyda Borelli (1887-1959) was already an acclaimed stage actress before she became the first diva of the Italian silent cinema. The fascinating film star caused a craze among female fans called 'Borellismo'. Livio Pavanelli (1881-1958) was an Italian actor of the Italian and in particular German silent cinema. He also worked in Italian sound cinema as actor and as production manager. He directed four Italian films, both in the silent and the sound era.