Alfonso Cassini

Alfonso Cassini (1858-1921) was an Italian actor of theatre and silent cinema. He appeared in more than 70 films, often as the father or partner of the silent divas of the Italian cinema.


Italian postcard by Ed. G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 558.


Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Torino, no. 95.


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

A bit-part or character actor

Alfonso Cassini was born in Bologna, Italy, in 1858. He began his stage career in 1876.

Over the years Cassini played as 'generico' (bit-part actor) or 'caratterista' (character actor) in the companies of Francesco Gervasi Benincasa, Ermete Novelli and Virgilio Talli.

In 1902, Cassini married actress-director Giulia Cassini-Rizzotto, daughter of a Sicilian stage playwright and actor. With Talli-Gramatica-Calabresi, the couple worked intensively until 1905 and played in numerous productions carried out by the distinguished company. From 1906 to 1912, they acted with the troupe belonging to Tina Di Lorenzo and Armando Falconi.

Between 1912 and 1913 the couple appeared in various heavily emotive melodramas at Latium Film in Rome, a company that had already hired numerous theatre actors. They then moved to Roma Film in 1913, and Etna Film in Catania, Sicily, in 1914, where Giulia became First Actress. Etna Film at the time was considered an excellent production company due to the quality of its equipment and its technical-artistic staff. In 1914 Giulia also opened an acting school in Rome, called Ars Film.

Alfonso Cassini played at Etna in such films as La danza del diavolo (Giuseppe De Liguoro, 1914) and Christus (Giuseppe De Liguoro, 1914) - not to be confused with the Cines production by Antamoro and Guazzzoni. In 1915, when Italy entered World War I, the couple returned to Rome and began to work for Tiber Film. In 1915, he also worked on stage at the Campioni-Baccani company. Until his death, Cassini worked for various film companies such as Cines, Italia Ars Film, Itala Film, and Fert.


Spanish collector's card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, series of 6 cards, card no. 4. Photo: J. Verdaguer / Tiber Film. Ignazio Lupi (left) and Alfonso Cassini as the Lord Chancellor (the blond, elder man right) in Il potere sovrano (Baldassarre Negroni, Percy Nash, 1916). The Spanish title on the cards is Poder Soberano. The man in the middle may be Orlando (as banker Jost).


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 153. Maria Jacobini and Alfonso Cassini in La preda/The Prey  (Guglielmo Zorzi, 1921).


Italian postcard. Photo: Fert. Italia Almirante Manzini and Alfonso Cassini in Zingari (Mario Almirante, 1920). Caption: Jammadar shouts to Vielka: I will crush you!

Father of the divas

Italian critics praised Alfonso Cassini for his masterful and effective performances, his versatility, and his excellent make-up. In 1918 he and his wife attempted to produce and direct films themselves with their own production company Cassini-Rizzotto. Giulia thus directed her own husband in Scugní, which was partly autobiographically based. Afterwards, the couple separated.

Alfonso Cassini then often played the father of the leading characters played by the Italian divas or their male partners. The actor also worked twice with Italia Almirante, in Femmina (Augusto Genina, 1918), and La statua di carne/The Statue of Flesh (Mario Almirante, 1921). With another diva, Hesperia, he appeared in La signora delle camelie/The Lady of the Camelias (Baldassarre Negroni, 1915) and La cuccagna/The Bonanza (Baldassarre Negroni, 1917).

Other diva films in which he acted were Christus (Giulio Antamoro, 1916) with Leda Gys, La falena (Carmine Gallone, 1916) with Lyda Borelli, L'onestà del peccato (Augusto Genina, 1918) with Maria Jacobini, Zoya (Giulio Antamoro, 1920) with Diana Karenne, and La preda/The prey (Guglielmo Zorzi, 1920) with Maria Jacobini.

He also played Diomira Jacobini's Robinson Crusoe-like father in L'isola della felicità/The Island of Happiness (Luciano Doria, 1921). Finally, he had a major part as the poor elderly newsagent 'Papa Re' in the Luigi Pirandello adaptation Lo scaldino (Augusto Genina, 1920), starring Kally Sambuccini in what she later remembered as her best film.

Alfonso Cassini died in Rome, in 1921. All in all, he acted in some 70 films. Cassini married actress-director Giulia Cassini-Rizzotto in 1902, and they had two children together.


Italian postcard. Caricature by Sandro Properzi for Le Maschere, Rome.


Spanish collectors card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 164.


Italian postcard. Sent by mail in Rome, Easter 1921.


Italian postcard. Photo: Fert Film. Diomira Jacobini and Alfonso Cassini in L'isola della felicità/The Island of Happiness (Luciano Doria, 1921). Caption: The happiness of a simple life. While the back of the card erroneously identifies the man as Alberto Collo, it is Alfonso Cassini whom we see here. He plays the father of the main character, the young woman Magala, who lives on a deserted island.

Sources: Alessandro Faccioli and Marzia Maino (Women Film Pioneers Project). Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb.