Franz Sala

Franz Sala, aka Francesco Sala (1886-1952) was a prolific actor of the Italian silent cinema, mostly playing the evil antagonist, such as the devil Barbariccia in Maciste all’inferno (Guido Brigone, 1926). In the 1930s he was active as a make-up artist.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano. Franz Sala in Maciste all’inferno (Guido Brigone, 1926).

Almost always as the antagonist and often as evil characters

Francesco "Franz" Sala was born in Alessandria, in 1886. After 11 years at a seminary, he emigrated to South America in 1906, where he had various jobs such as journalist, teacher, salesman, and stage actor.

In 1912 he returned to Italy and debuted in the Ambrosio production Sigfrido/Siegfried (Mario Caserini, 1912) with Mario Voller-Buzzi in the title role.

Later on, Sala worked at Milano Films, in films such as La maschera dell’onestà (1914) and L’ereditiera (1914), both with Hesperia and Livio Pavanelli and directed by Baldassarre Negroni.

When Italy joined the Allies in the First World War, Sala was called to arms and became infantry lieutenant. In 1916 he lost his hearing during a battle at the front lines and was dismissed from the world war conflict.

He retook his work as a film actor, working for various film companies such as Medusa Film (La signorina Ciclone, 1916, with Suzanne Armelle), Milano (Primavera, 1916, with Elettra Raggio), Ambrosio (Lucciola, 1917, with Fernanda Negri-Pouget and Helena Makowska), Tiber-Film (Mademoiselle Pas-chic, 1918, with Diomira Jacobini).

During the 1910s, Franz Sala performed in countless films, almost always as the antagonist and often as evil characters, for which he was well-known and praised.


British postcard by T.L.C. Signed 1917.


Italian postcard. Photo: Fert. Italia Almirante Manzini, Alfonso Cassini and Franz Sala in Zingari (Mario Almirante, 1920). Caption: Jammadar forces Vielka to marry Gudlo.

A second job as a full-time professional makeup artist

In the 1920s Franz Sala worked often for Stefano Pitaluga’s company Fert Films.

In the early 1920s he appeared for Fert in a whole series of dramas with Italia Almirante Manzini such as L'innamorata (Gennaro Righelli, 1920), Zingari (Mario Almirante, 1920), Marthú che ha visto il diavolo (Almirante 1922), and La chiromante/La maschera del male (1922).

From about 1923 he acted in several adventure films with Domenico Gambino aka Saetta, and from 1924 with Bartolomeo Pagano better known as Maciste in such films as Maciste imperatore (1924), Maciste all’inferno (1926), Maciste contro lo sceicco (1926), Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni (1926), almost all at Fert.

In the late 1920s, Sala continued to act in the films produced by Pittaluga despite the dwindling down of Italian film production, e.g. in the historical productions Beatrice Cenci (1926) and Frate Francesco (1927).

With the advent of sound cinema, Franz Sala stopped acting after a few minor parts in 1930-1931. He became a full-time professional makeup artist. In the 1930s he started to call himself Francesco Sala. His last performance was in 1939 in the film Abuna Messias.

He continued his second job as a makeup artist until 1952. Franz Sala died in Rome in November 1952.


Italian postcard, no. 41. Photo: Fert. Italia Almirante Manzini and Franz Sala in La chiromante aka La maschera del male (Mario Almirante, 1922), starring Italia Almirante Manzini, Lido Manetti and Oreste Bilancia. Caption: The evil man and his stepdaughter.


Italian postcard, no. 442. Photo: S.A. Stefano Pittaluga. Elena Lunda, Franz Sala (the corpse on the ground), and Amilcare Taglienti in the Italian late silent film Gli ultimi zar (Baldassarre Negroni, 1928), starring Bartolomeo Pagano aka Maciste.

Sources: Aldo Bernardini/Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano, 1905-1930), Wikipedia (Italian), and IMDb.