West German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 1317. Photo: NDF / Allianz / Brünjes. Anna Maria Sandri in Griff nach den Sternen / Reaching for the Stars (Carl-Heinz Schroth, 1955).
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 43. Photo: Klaus Collignon.
An adaptation of a brilliant but difficult novel
Anna-Maria Sandri was born Anna Maria Materzanini in 1936 in Rome, Italy. She was also credited under the name Maria Sandri. As a little girl, she already made her film debut as Maria Sandri at the age of 6 as Little Ada in La morte civile / Civil Death (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1942).
One of her first films as an adult was Capitan Fantasma / Captain Phantom (Primo Zeglio, 1953), with Frank Latimore. This was an adventure film situated in early 19th century Spain, in which she played the fair daughter of the governor of Cadiz, who is saved by the hero.
Soon followed roles in La Provinciale / The Wayward Wife (Mario Soldati, 1953) starring Gina Lollobrigida, and Terza liceo / Third Class (Luciano Emmer, 1954).
In 1954 Anna-Maria Sandri also appeared in an adaptation of Stendhal's brilliant but difficult novel 'Le Rouge et le Noir', the French-Italian historical drama Le rouge et le noir / The Red and the Black, adapted and directed by Claude Autant-Lara.
Gérard Philipe stars as a carpenter's son who becomes a tutor seduces his employer's wife and later becomes a priest. According to Hal Erickson at AllMovie, “The film manages to hold the audience in its thrall for 2 hours and 50 minutes”.
Spanish postcard by Soberanas (Sobe), no. 165.
Yugoslavian postcard by Sedmo Siljo. Photo: IOM, Beograd.
Retiring at 20
The following year Anna-Maria Sandri provided a dash of feminine interest in the adventure film Fortune Carree / Square Fortune (Bernard Borderie, 1955), based on a novel by Joseph Kessel.
Mexican filmstar Pedro Armendariz plays an undisciplined soldier who opts for the life of a mercenary in the North African desert.
In Germany, she appeared in the drama Griff nach den Sternen / Reaching for the Stars (Carl-Heinz Schroth, 1955) with Liselotte Pulver.
Her best-remembered role is Mabrouka ben Yussef, the daughter of a Bedouin Sheikh in the fanciful wartime drama The Black Tent (Brian Desmond Hurst, 1956). Anthony Steel stars as a British soldier stationed in Libya. When he is wounded, he takes shelter with a Bedouin tribe. He marries the sheikh's daughter, Anna Maria, before getting down to fending off the Nazis.
Then, the film career of Anna-Maria Sandri stopped abruptly. At 20, she married an American and is nowadays still married to him. They have three children.
West German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 1678. Photo: Brünjes / NDF-Film / Allianz-Film. Anna Maria Sandri in Griff nach den Sternen / Reaching for the Stars (Carl-Heinz Schroth, 1955).
West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 1383. Photo: NDF / Allianz / Brünjes. Anna Maria Sandri in Griff nach den Sternen / Reaching for the Stars (Carl-Heinz Schroth, 1955).
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 1505. Photo: NDF / Allianz / Brünjes. Anna Maria Sandri in Griff nach den Sternen / Reaching for the Stars (Carl-Heinz Schroth, 1955).
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie, page now defunct), CITWF (Page now defunct), IMDb, and Wikipedia (Italian and English).
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