Francesca Braggiotti
Italian postcard by Rizzoli & C., Milano, 1937. Photo: Pesce. Francesca Braggiotti in Scipione l'Africano (Carmine Gallone, 1937).
Francesca Braggiotti (Florence, 17 October 1902 - Marbella, 25 February 1998) was an Italian dancer and actress. Married to John Davis Lodge, she left her artistic career after her husband, also an actor, embarked on a political career that led him to become governor and then ambassador.
Daughter of an Italian tenor born in Smyrna and a mezzo soprano from Boston, both converted to Buddhism, she was the second daughter of eight brothers and sisters, all destined for success in the artistic field. She began her career as a dancer, forming the duo "Braggiotti Sisters" together with her sister Berta. The duo had an overwhelming success in post-WWI Boston; here are some reviews: "Two extraordinarily attractive and talented polyglot sisters, named Berta and Francesca Braggiotti, were the greatest event of the Bostonian society since Jack Gardner smoked a cigarette in public and built the Fenway Court". Francesca and her sister Berta opened a dance studio above the Brooklyn Fire Station. For a public performance, sponsored by the exclusive "Vincent Club", the mayor was asked about the limits of public decency, as he had authorized their costumes for artistic purposes, even though they were too small to be admitted to a public beach. Amy Lowell was so enchanted that she composed a poetic ode in honor of Francesca; Isabella Steward Gardner signed them for a private performance at Fenway Court. The Braggiotti Sisters dance school, in addition to being the most expensive and requested of the time, was the first to introduce the expressionist movement in dance and a new vision of health and beauty to Boston.
After the untimely death of her older sister (1928), Francesca moved on to the cinema and dubbing. On July 6, 1929, she married American actor John Lodge, with whom she would have two daughters. To make ends meet she went to Culver City to start dubbing Greta Garbo's voice in Italian, for the Italian distribution of Garbo's films of 1931-1932. She acted in an unknown, uncredited part in Rasputin and the Empress (Richard Boleslawski, Charles Brabin, 1932), and as a dancing teacher in Little Women (George Cukor, 1933), in which her husband played the part of Brooke. Lodge, who had obtained a contract with Paramount, did minor films there, but after a loan to RKO for Little Women, had two strikes with Josef von Sternberg's The Scarlet Empress (1934) for Paramount, and The Little Colonel (1937) at 20th Century Fox. From the mid-1930s, the couple resided in Europe to do various films.
In 1937 Francesca Braggiotti got the role she became known for, performing the proud and seductive Queen of Carthage, Sofonisba, opposite Fosco Giachetti as Massinissa and Annibale Ninchi as Scipio. This was in the prestigious Italian period piece Scipione l'africano/ Scipione the African (Carmine Gallone 1937), one of the first productions to come out of the new Cinecittà studios, and backed by the fascist regime. The historical film was a clear alibi for Italy's colonial aspirations in Africa, with impressive sets, battle scenes, and mass figuration, but also artistic chiaroscuro lighting, as in Sofonisba's death scene, drinking poison. Braggiotti's last film part was in the Italian film Stasera alle undici/Tonight at Eleven (Oreste Biancoli, 1938), in which she starred opposite her husband John Lodge. Returned to the US, Lodge first returned to Broadway in 1941, and then became a naval officer in 1942, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After the war, he went into politics, with Francesca supporting him, and becoming an arts patron. In 1946 Lodge got into the House of Representatives,in 1951 he became governor of Connecticut, and in 1955-1961 he was ambassador in Spain. Under Nixon, Lodge was ambassador in Argentina in 1969-1974, and under Reagon ambasador in Switzerland 1983-85. John Lodge died in 1985, Francesca Lodge Braggiotti in 1998, at the high age of 95 years.
Sources: IMDB, Italian and English Wikipedia.
Francesca Braggiotti
Italian postcard by Rizzoli & C., Milano, 1937. Photo: Pesce. Francesca Braggiotti in Scipione l'Africano (Carmine Gallone, 1937).
Francesca Braggiotti (Florence, 17 October 1902 - Marbella, 25 February 1998) was an Italian dancer and actress. Married to John Davis Lodge, she left her artistic career after her husband, also an actor, embarked on a political career that led him to become governor and then ambassador.
Daughter of an Italian tenor born in Smyrna and a mezzo soprano from Boston, both converted to Buddhism, she was the second daughter of eight brothers and sisters, all destined for success in the artistic field. She began her career as a dancer, forming the duo "Braggiotti Sisters" together with her sister Berta. The duo had an overwhelming success in post-WWI Boston; here are some reviews: "Two extraordinarily attractive and talented polyglot sisters, named Berta and Francesca Braggiotti, were the greatest event of the Bostonian society since Jack Gardner smoked a cigarette in public and built the Fenway Court". Francesca and her sister Berta opened a dance studio above the Brooklyn Fire Station. For a public performance, sponsored by the exclusive "Vincent Club", the mayor was asked about the limits of public decency, as he had authorized their costumes for artistic purposes, even though they were too small to be admitted to a public beach. Amy Lowell was so enchanted that she composed a poetic ode in honor of Francesca; Isabella Steward Gardner signed them for a private performance at Fenway Court. The Braggiotti Sisters dance school, in addition to being the most expensive and requested of the time, was the first to introduce the expressionist movement in dance and a new vision of health and beauty to Boston.
After the untimely death of her older sister (1928), Francesca moved on to the cinema and dubbing. On July 6, 1929, she married American actor John Lodge, with whom she would have two daughters. To make ends meet she went to Culver City to start dubbing Greta Garbo's voice in Italian, for the Italian distribution of Garbo's films of 1931-1932. She acted in an unknown, uncredited part in Rasputin and the Empress (Richard Boleslawski, Charles Brabin, 1932), and as a dancing teacher in Little Women (George Cukor, 1933), in which her husband played the part of Brooke. Lodge, who had obtained a contract with Paramount, did minor films there, but after a loan to RKO for Little Women, had two strikes with Josef von Sternberg's The Scarlet Empress (1934) for Paramount, and The Little Colonel (1937) at 20th Century Fox. From the mid-1930s, the couple resided in Europe to do various films.
In 1937 Francesca Braggiotti got the role she became known for, performing the proud and seductive Queen of Carthage, Sofonisba, opposite Fosco Giachetti as Massinissa and Annibale Ninchi as Scipio. This was in the prestigious Italian period piece Scipione l'africano/ Scipione the African (Carmine Gallone 1937), one of the first productions to come out of the new Cinecittà studios, and backed by the fascist regime. The historical film was a clear alibi for Italy's colonial aspirations in Africa, with impressive sets, battle scenes, and mass figuration, but also artistic chiaroscuro lighting, as in Sofonisba's death scene, drinking poison. Braggiotti's last film part was in the Italian film Stasera alle undici/Tonight at Eleven (Oreste Biancoli, 1938), in which she starred opposite her husband John Lodge. Returned to the US, Lodge first returned to Broadway in 1941, and then became a naval officer in 1942, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After the war, he went into politics, with Francesca supporting him, and becoming an arts patron. In 1946 Lodge got into the House of Representatives,in 1951 he became governor of Connecticut, and in 1955-1961 he was ambassador in Spain. Under Nixon, Lodge was ambassador in Argentina in 1969-1974, and under Reagon ambasador in Switzerland 1983-85. John Lodge died in 1985, Francesca Lodge Braggiotti in 1998, at the high age of 95 years.
Sources: IMDB, Italian and English Wikipedia.