07 January 2023

ASER: 15 rediscovered Italian actresses

Aldo Scarmiglia created popular collector cards and postcards of Italian stars of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Scarmiglia published them under the abbreviation ASER (A. Scarmiglia Edizioni, Roma). Ivo Blom likes to collect these cards and here are 15 new finds of ASER cards with mostly forgotten Italian actresses.

Leda Gloria
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 40. Photo: Venturini.

Leda Gloria (1912-1997) was one of Federico Fellini’s favourite film actresses, having a prolific career in the 1930s and 1940s but is also remembered as the wife of Peppone in the Don Camillo films.

Isa Miranda
Italian postcard by ASER (Aldo Scarmiglia Edizioni, Roma), no. 47. Photo: Pesce / Scalera Film.

Isa Miranda (1905–1982) was the only international film star produced by the Italian fascist cinema. In Hollywood, she was billed as the ‘Italian Marlene Dietrich’ and played femme fatale roles. Later she became one of the most significant European film actresses during the 1940s and early 1950s.

Vivi Gioi
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 57. Photo: De Antonis.

Vivi Gioi (1917–1975) was an Italian actress, who first excelled in the 'Telefoni Bianchi' comedies, later on in dramatic films during the war and the late 1940s. Her best-known role is in Giuseppe De Santis' Neorealist drama Caccia tragica/Tragic Hunt (1947). In the late 1940s, she was also a major stage actress under the direction of Luchino Visconti and others.

Anita Farra
Italian postcard by ASER (Aldo Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 90. Photo: Pesce / Scalera Film.

Anita Farra (1905–1979) was an Italian actress and scriptwriter, who also worked in Spain.

Assia Noris
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 135. Photo: Vaselli.

Assia Noris (1912-1998) is best remembered as the star of several 1930s romantic comedies, directed by Mario Camerini and co-starring Vittorio De Sica.

Laura Solari
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 195. Photo: Ciolfi / ACi Film.

Laura Solari (1913–1984) was an Italian film actress, who also appeared in German films. She appeared in 30 films between 1936 and 1969.

Elli Parvo
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 209. Photo: Pesce / Scalera Film.

Elli Parvo (1914–2010) was an Italian screen actress between the mid-1930s and 1960 and known as the woman men fight over as in Desiderio (1943-45) or the femme fatale as in Il sole sorge ancora (1946). "Gorgeous, dark-haired, luscious-lipped, shapely-legged, not afraid of showing as much of her body as could be, Elli Parvo was THE femme fatale of post-war Italy." (Guy Bellinger on IMDb).

Dina Sassoli
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 212. Photo: Pesce / Scalera Film.

Dina Sassoli (1920-2008) was an Italian stage and screen actress, who broke through with I promessi sposi (Mario Camerini, 1941).

Nicoletta Parodi
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 299. Photo: Vaselli / Lux Film.

Nicoletta Parodi, born Maria Nicoletta Parodi (1920-2013), was an Italian actress of the 1940s.

Rina Morelli
Italian postcard by ASER (Aldo Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 215, Photo by Pesce / Scalera Film. Rina Morelli in Don Giovanni (Dino Falconi, 1942).

Italian actress and voice actor Rina Morelli (1908-1976), was the companion on stage and in the life of Paolo Stoppa. She played in Luchino Visconti's films Senso (1954), Il gattopardo (1963) and L'innocente (1976), as well as in many of his stage plays.

Dhia Cristiani
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia, Edizioni, Roma), no. 310. Photo: Vaselli / Europa Film. Dhia Cristiani in La statua vivente (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1943), starring Laura Solari and Fosco Giacchetti.

Dhia Cristiani (1921-1977) was an Italian actress and voice actor. From 1938 she played several supporting parts in such films as Mario Camerini's comedy I grandi magazzini (1939), as well as the chaste prostitute in Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943).

Chiaretta Gelli
Italian postcard by ASER (A. Scarmiglia Ed., Roma), no. 354. Photo: Luxardo / Lux Film.

Chiaretta Gelli, the stage name of Yvette Da Todi (1925-2007), was an Italian singer and actress. Some considered her to be the new Italian Deanna Durbin.


Catarinetta Lescano
Italian postcard by Aser, Roma, no. N 0019. Photo: E.I.A.R. / Romeo.

Trio Lescano or Lescano Trio was a trio of Dutch sisters singing Italian swing: Alexandra (1910-1987), Judith (1913-2007), and Kitty Leschan (1919-1965), whose names were Italianized into Alessandra, Giuditta and Caterinetta (Caterina) Lescano. Trio Lescano was an Italian version of such American groups as the Boswell Sisters and the Andrews Sisters and became extremely popular in Italy in the 1930s and 1940s. Their hits 'Tulipan' and 'Ciribiribin' became evergreens in Italy. In 1940 they performed a musical number, 'Oh! Ma-ma!', in the film Ecco la radio!/Here Is the Radio! (Giacomo Gentilomo, 1940) dedicated to EIAR. In 1943, the golden career of the Jewish girls suddenly halted, but after the war two of them continued their careers in Argentina.

Tomorrow, 'ASER: 15 rediscovered Italian actors'. And check out our earlier post on ASER.

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