Capitan Blanco (1914)

For Ivo Blom's 65th birthday, EFSP presents a very special find. At the last Cinema Ritrovato film market, Ivo found a complete series of 18 vintage postcards for the famous but lost Italian film Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco / Captain Blanco (1914). The film was directed by Nino Martoglio, possibly in co-direction with Roberto Danesi, for their joint production company, Morgana Film. Capitan Blanco was the first production by Morgana, founded in January 1914, and it was based on Martoglio's stage play 'Capitan Blanco / U paliu' (1906). Martoglio also wrote the script for the film. Ivo: "Sometimes, remaining postcards of a lost film may help in getting an idea of why certain films were so cherished in their time, or afterwards."


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Giovanni Grasso in Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Giovanni Grasso in Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Giovanni Grasso in Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).

A mighty sea wolf

For the shooting of Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914), production company Morgana Film used the Roman studios of the company Savoia for interiors. The exteriors were first shot in the newly conquered Tripolitania, a part of Libya and Italian since 1912, so the crew had to be guarded while working there. Later shots were taken in Sicily at Aci Castello, Aci Trezza, and Catania. The cinematography was done by Danesi.

The three leading actors were the Sicilians Giovanni Grasso as Capitan Blanco, Virginia Balistrieri in her film debut as Marta and Totò Majorana as Mauro. By then, Grasso was one of the most acclaimed Italian stage actors. The film was first released in Rome on 24 May 1914.

Giovanni Grasso is Matteo Blanco, a mighty sea wolf, known as 'Capitan Blanco'. Blanco is a man of great courage, who has left his village, Aci Castello, some thirty years ago in search of adventures. After many narrow escapes in Africa, he returns a rich man to his village.

There, old Zia Betta matches him with the local young beauty, the flirtatious Marta, who has had many lovers. One of her lovers, Mauro, is desperate and wants to throw himself off the local castle, but Blanco saves him. After their marriage, Marta doesn't give up flirting and tries to lure Mauro, but he is faithful to his saviour.

She then takes a customs officer as a lover, but Blanco is warned about this. The fierce husband takes revenge by blowing up the castle where the lovers secretly meet. The customs officer is killed, but Marta survives. One year later, Blanco and Marta make peace, but he takes her away, far from the village.


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914). The rocks in the back are the so-called Faraglioni of Aci Trezza (Sicily). 


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).

Who is who?

Roberto Danesi (1882-1914), who published these postcards, was an Italian film producer, director, screenwriter, operator and set photographer, based in Rome. In 1912, he debuted with a series of films borrowing actors from the Turin company Savoia. In 1913, he was a camera operator and set photographer at Cines. That same year, he became manager of Savoia's Roman studio, while he was also active as theatre director. In addition to dramas, Danesi also did science fiction, and in hindsight, actor Gian Paolo Rosmino praised his mastery of special effects. Nino Oxilia was his assistant for some films at Savoia and learned the trade from him. At the end of 1913, Danesi, with Archita Valente, directed the Napoleonic historical film I cento giorni di Napoleone / The Hundred Days of Napoleon (Roberto Danesi, Archita Valente, 1914) for Vera Film. In 1914, he shot films at his studio on behalf of Milano Films. He then left Savoia and founded with Nino Martoglio the company Morgana Films, which used the Roman studio of Savoia. With Martoglio, Danesi collaborated on two important, lost films: Capitan Blanco and Sperduti nel buio. After an illness, Danesi died in 1914. He was only 32. It was also the end for Morgana Films.

Giovanni Grasso (1873-1930) is considered the best Sicilian tragic actor and one of the best in Italy. He had a limited but very important career in Italian silent cinema. He is best known for two lost films, Nino Martoglio's Capitan Blanco (1914) and Sperduti nel buio (1914). In 1919-1926, Grasso performed in some nine films, including L’ospite sconosciuta / Malafemmina (1923) with Pina Menichelli and Cavalleria rusticana (1924) with Tina Xeo and Livio Pavanelli.

Totò Majorana (1874–1944), originally Salvatore Maria Majorana, was famous as Giovanni Grasso's co-star on stage, in and outside of Italy. After acting in some films at Savoia in 1913, he went to Rome to act opposite Grasso in two famous films in realist style, Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, 1914) and Sperduti nel buio (Nino Martoglio, 1914). Between 1919 and 1923, he acted in a large string of films, often starring Nerio Bernardi and directed by Mario Caserini.

Virginia Balistrieri, aka Virginia Balestrieri (1888-1960), was an Italian stage and screen actress. After her parts opposite Giovanni Grasso in the silent films Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, 1914) and Sperduti nel buio (Nino Martoglio, 1914), she played many supporting parts in Italian sound cinema of the late 1940s and 1950s. She was married to a nephew of Grasso, called Giovanni Grasso jr. (1888-1963).

And how did the critics respond to Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco? Pier da Castello in the Turinese trade journal La Vita Cinematografica was quite critical. He missed Grasso's potent voice and thought that his masterful Sicilian exuberance could have been exploited better. He also considered the Arabian adventures unnecessary, and he thought the plot wasn't very special or subtle. Yet, Keraban wrote in the Neapolitan journal La Cine-Fono that possible flaws, e.g. the rather rigid plot, were unimportant, compared to the tour-de-force performance of Grasso, Balistrieri's acting, and the direction by Martoglio. He admired the great outdoors scenery, the liveliness, the massive crowds of farmers and fishermen, the Arabs and 'predators', etc. Indeed, looking at our cards, it is clear that the use of real locations and local extras was an important asset of this film. It is clear why critics of the 1940s referred to Martoglio's films when they were looking for predecessors of Italian Neorealism.


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914). The castle at Aci Castello in Sicily, where the plot evolves too.


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).


Italian postcard by Ed. Danesi, Roma. Scene from Capitan Blanco / Il Capitan Blanco (Nino Martoglio, Roberto Danesi, 1914).

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano 1914, Vol. 1), Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb. Congratulations, Ivo!