La preda/The Prey (Guglielmo Zorzi, 1921) was an Italian silent melodrama starring diva Maria Jacobini, Amleto Novelli and the young Carmen Boni.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 33. Photo: Fotominio. Maria Jacobini and Carmela Bonicatti (Carmen Boni) in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 34. Photo: Maria Jacobini, Carmela Bonicatti (Carmen Boni) and Maria Moreno in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 46. Photo: Fotominio. Publicity still for La preda (1921) with Maria Jacobini and Amleto Novelli.
The script of La preda/The Prey (Guglielmo Zorzi, 1921) was written by French screen writer and film director Camille de Morlhon. From 1908 to 1912, he was a prolific director, making over a hundred films for the Pathé company. Pathé sent him to Algeria to shoot a few films, and when he returned to France in 1912, he founded his own production company, Les Films Valetta. He was one of the first directors to sign his films, and in 1917 he founded the Société des auteurs de films to defend authors.
Italian writer and film director Guglielmo Zorzi directed La preda/The Prey for the Fert company. He was one of the most important and active playwrights in the inter-war period. His comedies generally dealt with problems of morality and psychology, which was particularly evident in 'La vena d'oro' (1919), his most successful comedy. In 1914, he was hired by Milano Films as art director and director. He also worked for other film companies such as Cines, Silentium Film and Fert. Zorzi directed around thirty films in the silent period,
In La preda/The Prey, the explorer Cesare Colleoni (Amleto Novelli) returns to Italy after a long stay in Africa. At his father's place, he meets his three cousins Anna (Mara Cassano), Maria (Maria Jacobini) and Gioietta (Carmela Bonicatti aka Carmen Boni), whom he all courts at the same time.
He gets engaged with Anna, but right on the day before his wedding, he tries to seduce Maria. She resists, though. Afterwards, when Cesare has married Anna, Maria discovers he has managed her youngest sister Gioietta to hopefully fall in love with him and want to elope with him. Maria doesn't hesitate and kills Cesare.
Other cast members of La preda/The Prey were well-known Italian actors as Ida Carloni Talli, Alfonso Cassini, Lido Manetti and Augusto Mastripietri.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 51. Photo: Fotominio. Maria Jacobini, Carmen Boni and Maria Moreno in La preda/The Prey (Gugielmo Zorzi, 1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 51. Photo: Fotominio. Maria Jacobini and Amleto Novelli in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 153. Photo: Maria Jacobini and Alfonso Cassini in La preda (1921).
La preda/The Prey (Guglielmo Zorzi, 1921) was produced by Fert, a film studio founded in Turin by Enrico Fiori in 1919. The Fiori Enrico Roma Torino studio (hence the acronym Fert) was one of the most important Italian studios until the appearance of sound. The studio produced mostly B-films in the sound era. Till 1973, Fert produced 180 films.
In 1920, Fert had hired Maria Jacobini as ‘prima actress’. At Fert, she became professionally and emotionally bound to Gennaro Righelli, one of the most important Italian film directors of the time. With him she had a son Angelo Jacobini in 1921 and in 1925 they married. There were numerous films in which she was directed by Righelli, including Amore rosso/Red Love (1921), Il viaggio/The Voyage (1921) and L'isola e il continente/The Island And The Continent (1922).
La preda/The Prey premiered on 10 January 1922, in Rome. The Naples journal La Cine-fono praised Maria Jacobini's acting but the critic thought the characters were not individualised enough and the script had better be used for a stage play, where the interior dilemma of the female protagonist would have been expressed better.
Instead, the Turin journal La vita cinematografica praised both director and actors - Maria Jacobini in the first place - and thought that only the cinematography could have been better.
While film historian Vittorio Martinelli mentions Mara Cassano playing Anna, one postcard suggests this could have been Maria Moreno. Although both English Wikipedia and IMDb claim that La preda is a French-Italian coproduction, the production company, Fert was an Italian studio. Italian Wikipedia and Vittorio Martinelli write that it's an Italian production.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 154. Photo: Maria Jacobini and Carmela Bonicatti (Carmen Boni) in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 191. Photo: Amleto Novelli and Maria Moreno in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 315. Photo: Maria Jacobini in La preda (1921).
Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano: I film degli anni venti, 1921 - Italian), Wikipedia (English and Italian) and IMDb.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 33. Photo: Fotominio. Maria Jacobini and Carmela Bonicatti (Carmen Boni) in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 34. Photo: Maria Jacobini, Carmela Bonicatti (Carmen Boni) and Maria Moreno in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 46. Photo: Fotominio. Publicity still for La preda (1921) with Maria Jacobini and Amleto Novelli.
She doesn't hesitate and kills him
The script of La preda/The Prey (Guglielmo Zorzi, 1921) was written by French screen writer and film director Camille de Morlhon. From 1908 to 1912, he was a prolific director, making over a hundred films for the Pathé company. Pathé sent him to Algeria to shoot a few films, and when he returned to France in 1912, he founded his own production company, Les Films Valetta. He was one of the first directors to sign his films, and in 1917 he founded the Société des auteurs de films to defend authors.
Italian writer and film director Guglielmo Zorzi directed La preda/The Prey for the Fert company. He was one of the most important and active playwrights in the inter-war period. His comedies generally dealt with problems of morality and psychology, which was particularly evident in 'La vena d'oro' (1919), his most successful comedy. In 1914, he was hired by Milano Films as art director and director. He also worked for other film companies such as Cines, Silentium Film and Fert. Zorzi directed around thirty films in the silent period,
In La preda/The Prey, the explorer Cesare Colleoni (Amleto Novelli) returns to Italy after a long stay in Africa. At his father's place, he meets his three cousins Anna (Mara Cassano), Maria (Maria Jacobini) and Gioietta (Carmela Bonicatti aka Carmen Boni), whom he all courts at the same time.
He gets engaged with Anna, but right on the day before his wedding, he tries to seduce Maria. She resists, though. Afterwards, when Cesare has married Anna, Maria discovers he has managed her youngest sister Gioietta to hopefully fall in love with him and want to elope with him. Maria doesn't hesitate and kills Cesare.
Other cast members of La preda/The Prey were well-known Italian actors as Ida Carloni Talli, Alfonso Cassini, Lido Manetti and Augusto Mastripietri.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 51. Photo: Fotominio. Maria Jacobini, Carmen Boni and Maria Moreno in La preda/The Prey (Gugielmo Zorzi, 1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 51. Photo: Fotominio. Maria Jacobini and Amleto Novelli in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 153. Photo: Maria Jacobini and Alfonso Cassini in La preda (1921).
The interior dilemma of the female protagonist
La preda/The Prey (Guglielmo Zorzi, 1921) was produced by Fert, a film studio founded in Turin by Enrico Fiori in 1919. The Fiori Enrico Roma Torino studio (hence the acronym Fert) was one of the most important Italian studios until the appearance of sound. The studio produced mostly B-films in the sound era. Till 1973, Fert produced 180 films.
In 1920, Fert had hired Maria Jacobini as ‘prima actress’. At Fert, she became professionally and emotionally bound to Gennaro Righelli, one of the most important Italian film directors of the time. With him she had a son Angelo Jacobini in 1921 and in 1925 they married. There were numerous films in which she was directed by Righelli, including Amore rosso/Red Love (1921), Il viaggio/The Voyage (1921) and L'isola e il continente/The Island And The Continent (1922).
La preda/The Prey premiered on 10 January 1922, in Rome. The Naples journal La Cine-fono praised Maria Jacobini's acting but the critic thought the characters were not individualised enough and the script had better be used for a stage play, where the interior dilemma of the female protagonist would have been expressed better.
Instead, the Turin journal La vita cinematografica praised both director and actors - Maria Jacobini in the first place - and thought that only the cinematography could have been better.
While film historian Vittorio Martinelli mentions Mara Cassano playing Anna, one postcard suggests this could have been Maria Moreno. Although both English Wikipedia and IMDb claim that La preda is a French-Italian coproduction, the production company, Fert was an Italian studio. Italian Wikipedia and Vittorio Martinelli write that it's an Italian production.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 154. Photo: Maria Jacobini and Carmela Bonicatti (Carmen Boni) in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 191. Photo: Amleto Novelli and Maria Moreno in La preda (1921).
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 315. Photo: Maria Jacobini in La preda (1921).
Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano: I film degli anni venti, 1921 - Italian), Wikipedia (English and Italian) and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment