Elettra Raggio in Seduzione
Italian postcard. G.B. Falci, 1012. Fotolux. Elettra Raggio in the Italian silent film Seduzione (Seduction). This title does not exist in the reference works, only the title Le due seduzioni (The Two Seductions, Milano Film 1916) which Raggio directed and in which she had the female lead as well, opposite Giovanni Donadio and Felice Minotti. The title may also refer to a play or revue, or may simply be generic.
Elettra Raggio, pseudonym of Ginevra Francesca Rusconi (1887 – 1973), was an Italian film actress, director, scriptwriter and producer of the silent era. Raggio came from the theater where she was "first actress" in the company of Ermete Novelli. Of Genoese origin, she settled in Milan where she was hired in 1915 by the film production company Milano Films. There she acted in Verso l'arcobaleno (Towards the Rainbow, Eugenio Perego, 1916) - about a Belgian family menaced by the German invasion, the sensational film La cattiva stella (The Bad Star, Perego, 1916) about a millionnaire (Ugo Gracci) who trades identity with a drowned man. In the same year, as well as Raggio's first own direction at Milano: Le due seduzioni (The Two Seductions, 1916), which she also scripted and produced. Also in 1916, Raggio founded her own film company within the aegis of Milano Film, which operated as distributor for Raggio Film. First came the poetic phantasy Primavera (Spring, Achille Mauzan, 1916), and the romantic comedy Galeotto fu il mare... (The Sea was such a Lovemaker, Mauzan, 1916). Mauzan also designed the posters for both films. In 1917 Raggio acted in Il fango (The Mud, Adelardo Fernández Arias, 1917), produced by Arias Film and starring Aras himself, but in 1918 she was apparently away from the set.
In her book Streetwalking on a Ruined Map, Giuliana Bruno gives some information on Raggio's films, indicating that Elettra Raggio focused on female suffering. Raggio's script for La valanga (The Avalanche, Francesco Bertolini, 1919) deals with a woman who takes revenge after being betrayed but then encounters an avalanche of obstacles. With Ivo Illuminati as co-director (Martinelli in his Il cinema muto italiano ascribes direction to Illuminati only), Raggio wrote, produced and directed the Stella Dallas-like drama Automartirio (1917), about a mother giving away her son to get him a better future. The plot told by Martinelli is another one. A woman fallen from grace is saved by a count (Ermete Novelli) and marries him, but doesn't tell him she has a child, kept in a boarding school. She shoots a blackmailer who, dying, accuses of her illicit love. Years after, the count threatens to kill her when he thinks her child may be her lover, but all ends well. Raggio's daughter Maria, who often co-acted in Raggio's films, played the son's love interest. A highly artistic series of film posters by Carlo Nicco was designed for the film.
In 1918 Raggio did a sidestep as supporting actress in the forzuti film Maciste medium (Vincenzo Denizot, supervision Giovanni Pastrone, 1918), for which she was praised in the press. At Raggio film, she acted in La morte che assolve (Death Absolves, Alberto Carlo Lolli 1918). The film makes clear a man (Ermete Novelli) deserves to die, as he not only killed the woman he refused to marry and treated as a slave, but, moreover, tries to seduce her daughter (Raggio). The film was praised by critic Tito Alacci for its intelligent and expressive acting, its original script, but also the outdoor locations of Villa Borghese and the Tivolo based Villa d'Este.
After La valanga, which was praised by critic Aurelio Spada for its noble intentions and exquisite execution, Raggio's last film direction, co-directed with Emiio Roncarolo, was San-Zurka-San (1920), a story of intrigue and black magic, on a priestess (Raggio) in love with a doctor who works in the morgue (Lamberto Picasso). After that, Raggio only acted in one more film, Tempesta sul nido (Nino Valentini, Milano Film 1926), before fully retiring from the film world.
Sources: Italian Wikipedia; IMDB; Giuliana Bruno, Streetwalking on a Ruined Map; Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano.
Elettra Raggio in Seduzione
Italian postcard. G.B. Falci, 1012. Fotolux. Elettra Raggio in the Italian silent film Seduzione (Seduction). This title does not exist in the reference works, only the title Le due seduzioni (The Two Seductions, Milano Film 1916) which Raggio directed and in which she had the female lead as well, opposite Giovanni Donadio and Felice Minotti. The title may also refer to a play or revue, or may simply be generic.
Elettra Raggio, pseudonym of Ginevra Francesca Rusconi (1887 – 1973), was an Italian film actress, director, scriptwriter and producer of the silent era. Raggio came from the theater where she was "first actress" in the company of Ermete Novelli. Of Genoese origin, she settled in Milan where she was hired in 1915 by the film production company Milano Films. There she acted in Verso l'arcobaleno (Towards the Rainbow, Eugenio Perego, 1916) - about a Belgian family menaced by the German invasion, the sensational film La cattiva stella (The Bad Star, Perego, 1916) about a millionnaire (Ugo Gracci) who trades identity with a drowned man. In the same year, as well as Raggio's first own direction at Milano: Le due seduzioni (The Two Seductions, 1916), which she also scripted and produced. Also in 1916, Raggio founded her own film company within the aegis of Milano Film, which operated as distributor for Raggio Film. First came the poetic phantasy Primavera (Spring, Achille Mauzan, 1916), and the romantic comedy Galeotto fu il mare... (The Sea was such a Lovemaker, Mauzan, 1916). Mauzan also designed the posters for both films. In 1917 Raggio acted in Il fango (The Mud, Adelardo Fernández Arias, 1917), produced by Arias Film and starring Aras himself, but in 1918 she was apparently away from the set.
In her book Streetwalking on a Ruined Map, Giuliana Bruno gives some information on Raggio's films, indicating that Elettra Raggio focused on female suffering. Raggio's script for La valanga (The Avalanche, Francesco Bertolini, 1919) deals with a woman who takes revenge after being betrayed but then encounters an avalanche of obstacles. With Ivo Illuminati as co-director (Martinelli in his Il cinema muto italiano ascribes direction to Illuminati only), Raggio wrote, produced and directed the Stella Dallas-like drama Automartirio (1917), about a mother giving away her son to get him a better future. The plot told by Martinelli is another one. A woman fallen from grace is saved by a count (Ermete Novelli) and marries him, but doesn't tell him she has a child, kept in a boarding school. She shoots a blackmailer who, dying, accuses of her illicit love. Years after, the count threatens to kill her when he thinks her child may be her lover, but all ends well. Raggio's daughter Maria, who often co-acted in Raggio's films, played the son's love interest. A highly artistic series of film posters by Carlo Nicco was designed for the film.
In 1918 Raggio did a sidestep as supporting actress in the forzuti film Maciste medium (Vincenzo Denizot, supervision Giovanni Pastrone, 1918), for which she was praised in the press. At Raggio film, she acted in La morte che assolve (Death Absolves, Alberto Carlo Lolli 1918). The film makes clear a man (Ermete Novelli) deserves to die, as he not only killed the woman he refused to marry and treated as a slave, but, moreover, tries to seduce her daughter (Raggio). The film was praised by critic Tito Alacci for its intelligent and expressive acting, its original script, but also the outdoor locations of Villa Borghese and the Tivolo based Villa d'Este.
After La valanga, which was praised by critic Aurelio Spada for its noble intentions and exquisite execution, Raggio's last film direction, co-directed with Emiio Roncarolo, was San-Zurka-San (1920), a story of intrigue and black magic, on a priestess (Raggio) in love with a doctor who works in the morgue (Lamberto Picasso). After that, Raggio only acted in one more film, Tempesta sul nido (Nino Valentini, Milano Film 1926), before fully retiring from the film world.
Sources: Italian Wikipedia; IMDB; Giuliana Bruno, Streetwalking on a Ruined Map; Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano.