Photo by Pinto

All the stars of the silent Italian cinema seemed to visit Studio Pinto in Rome. Their portraits by Pinto graced many postcards by Ed. A. Traldi in Italy, but can also be found on several Ross Verlag postcards. Little is known about the studio.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 306. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, Francesca Bertini (1892-1985) was a majestic diva of Italian silent cinema. She often played the 'femme fatale', with men devouring eyes, glamorous attire, clenched fists, and in opulent settings...


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 5. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Livio Pavanelli (1881-1958) was an Italian actor in Italian and in particular German silent cinema. He also worked in Italian sound cinema as an actor and as a production manager. He directed four Italian films, both in the silent and the sound era.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 6?. Photo: Pinto, Roma. Habay's first name is misspelt on this card.

André Habay aka Andrea Habay (1883-1941) was an actor in Italian silent cinema He played mainly in modern dramas and diva films such as Sangue blu (1914) and Rapsodia satanica (1917), but also in epics such as Quo vadis? (1925).


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 35. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Mario Parpagnoli (?-?) was an Italian actor and director, whose career peaked in the Italian silent cinema of the late 1910s and early 1920s.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 313. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Tilde Kassay (1887-1964), was an Italian silent film actress. Between 1915 and 1921 she played in 17 films directed by the greatest directors of the time, in particular Camillo De Riso, Gustavo Serena, and Giulio Antamoro.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 314, Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Claretta Rosaj aka Clarette Rosaj and Claretta Rosay (1893-?) was an Italian actress, who peaked in Italian silent cinema between 1918 and 1923.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 318. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Bianca Stagno Bellincioni (1888-1980) was an Italian actress and soprano.


Italian postcard by Edizione A. Traldi, Milano, no. 321. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Vera Vergani (1894-1989) was an Italian stage and film actress. She not only performed in the first stagings of Luigi Pirandello’s plays but in 1916-1921 she also knew a career as an actress in the Italian silent cinema.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 336. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Mina d'Orvella (?-?) is a little-known actress who had a short but intense career in Italian silent cinema in the years 1919-1921.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 337. Photo: Pinto, Rome.

Polish singer and actress Helena Makowska (1893-1964) was a beautiful diva of Italian silent cinema in the 1910s. During the 1920s she moved to Berlin and also became a star of German cinema.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 377. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

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 Ed. A Traldi, Milano, no. 399. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Cecyl Tryan (1897-?) had a prolific career in Italian silent cinema, from 1913 until the late 1920s. She first starred at Cines, later also at companies like Gladiator Film and Fert.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 409. Photo: Pinto, Roma.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 410. Photo: Pinto.

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 Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 437. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Elena Sangro (1896-1969) was one of the main actresses of the Italian cinema of the 1920s. In spite of the general film crisis then, she made one film after another. She was also one of the first female directors and she had a famous affair with the poet and writer Gabriele D'Annunzio.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 609. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Edy Darclea (1895-?) was an Italian actress who was active in Italian and foreign silent cinema in the late 1920s and early 1920s.


Italian postcard by Ed. Traldi, no. 634. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Maria Roasio (?-?) was an Italian actress, who acted in the late 1910s and early 1920s in Italian silent cinema, particular at Ambrosio.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 865. Photo: Pinto, Roma. Rina De Liguoro as Anita Garibaldi in Anita/Il romanzo d'amore dell'eroe dei due mondi (Aldo De Benedetti, 1926).


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 882. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Rina De Liguoro (1892-1966) had her breakthrough with the epic Messalina (1924). It was the start of a prolific career in Italian silent cinema in the 1920s with Quo vadis? (1924) and Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii (1926). In the late 1920s, she also performed in Germany and France, e.g. in Casanova (1927). Invited to Hollywood in 1930, she had only minor parts there, but she pursued a career as a piano player. She returned to Italy in 1939. Her last role was that of Burt Lancaster's table companion at the ball in Luchino Visconti's  Il Gattopardo (1963).


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Roma. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Hesperia (1885-1959), was one of the Italian divas of the silent screen. She often worked with director Baldassarre Negroni, who later became her husband.


Italian postcard by Ed. Traldi, Milano. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Alfonso Cassini (1858-1921) was an Italian actor in theatre and silent cinema.


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 352. Photo Pinto, Roma. André Habay is misspelt here as 'Kabaj'.

André Habay aka Andrea Habay (1883-1941) was an actor in Italian silent cinema, mainly in modern dramas and diva films such as Sangue blu (1914) and Rapsodia satanica (1917), but also in epics such as Quo vadis? (1925).


Italian postcard by Ed. Vettori, Bologna, no. 402bis. Foto: Pinto, Roma.

Leda Gys (1892-1957) was an Italian actress on the silent screen. Often she played the pathetic roles of the romantic and innocent young woman, the victim of loose mothers, unfaithful husbands, adventurers, etc. Her claim to fame came in particular with the film Christus (Giulio Antamoro, 1916), shot in Egypt and Palestine, where Gys performed the Madonna.


Italian postcard by Ed. G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 505. Photo: Pinto, Roma.

Olga Benetti (?-1958) was an Italian actress who acted in many films of the Roman film companies Cines, Celio and Caesar in the 1910s and early 1920s. She often performed opposite Francesca Bertini, Gustavo Serena and her husband Carlo Benetti (1885-1949).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3902/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Pinto, Rome.

Rina De Liguoro (1892-1966) had her breakthrough with the epic Messalina (1924). It was the start of a prolific career in Italian silent cinema in the 1920s with Quo vadis? (1924) and Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii (1926). In the late 1920s, she also performed in Germany and France, e.g. in Casanova (1927).

This post was last updated on 10 October 2022.