Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 357.
Rina De Liguoro (1892-1966) was the last diva of the Italian silent cinema of the 1920s. She had her breakthrough in 1924 as the sensual, untamed Roman empress Messalina, and the beautiful countess continued her glittering career in such epics as Quo Vadis (1924), Casanova (1927) and Cecil B. De Mille's notorious Madam Satan (1930).
Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 268. Photo: Films Paramount. Eddie Cantor in Kid Boots (Frank Tuttle, 1926), released in Italy as L'irresistibile.
Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) was an American actor, screenwriter, producer and songwriter, who, after a rich Broadway career in the late 1910s and 1920s, became a popular film musical star in the early 1930s.
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze Ed., no. 320. Photo: Massaglia, Torino.
Lydia Quaranta (1891-1928) was an actress of the Italian silent cinema, who had her breakthrough with the epic film Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone, 1914).
Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 641. Photo: Pittaluga Films.
Letizia Quaranta (1892–1977) was Lydia Quaranta's younger sister. She also peaked in the silent era, working for the Turinese companies Itala, Gloria, and Ambrosio, and for the company of her husband, director Carlo Campogalliani.
Italian postcard by Fotocelere, Torino, no. 251.
Hesperia (1885-1959) was one of the greatest divas of the Italian silent screen. She often worked with director Baldassarre Negroni, who later became her husband.
Italian postcard. Foto: Ebany. Jean Angelo and Francesca Bertini in La fin de Monte-Carlo (Henri Étiévant, Mario Nalpas, 1927).
In the late silent film La fin de Monte-Carlo, Bertini plays Cora, a woman who suspects Jacques (Angelo) of having killed her husband. Still, she falls in love with him and they live their romance in Monte-Carlo. When Cora's father (Victor Vina) is desperately in need of money, Jacques takes over a battleship and threatens to bomb Monte-Carlo if the casino doesn't give him money...
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze Ed., no. 267. Amleto Novelli as the aristocrat Barbo and Niny Dinelli as his wife Clemenza in Il fornaretto di Venezia (Mario Almirante, 1923). Caption: The nobleman Barbo accuses his wife (of adultery) and makes it clear he has avenged himself. (Yet, he has no problem with the fact that an innocent baker's son will be tortured and finally put to death for Barbo's murder of the wife's lover).
Amleto Novelli (1885-1924) was a famous actor in Italian silent cinema, at first a regular at the Cines studios, then the male star as well in epic and historical cinema, in particular those by Enrico Guazzoni (Quo vadis?, Marcantonio e Cleopatra, Caio Giulio Cesare, Fabiola, etc.) as in diva films with Lyda Borelli, Maria Jacobini, and others.
Italian postcard by IPA CT. Photo: Lux-Artis. Postcard for the Italian historical film Lorenzaccio (Giuseppe De Liguoro, 1918), based on the play by Alfred de Musset, and starring Countess Irene Saffo Momo as Lorenzaccio. Caption: Caterina, I'll confess to you, as if doing so before Christ. Tina Ceccacci Rinaldi played Caterina.
Young Lorenzo de Medici (Irene Saffo Momo), nicknamed Lorenzaccio, vows to restore the republic at Florence, but it is his own cousin Alessandro de' Medici (Camillo De Rossi), Duke of Florence, who rules as tyrant, helped by the Pope and the army of Emperor Charles V, who are the real powers. Lorenzaccio becomes a loyal servant to the Duke, helps him in his debaucheries, and abducts a girl under her brother's nose. Later, the duke sets his eyes on the pious and married marchioness Cibo (Lia Monesi-Passaro), who is warned by her brother-in-law, the cardinal Cibo (Alberto Castelli), but she has decided to sacrifice herself and try to mould the duke in the right direction by offering herself. Meanwhile, Luisa Strozzi (Sara Long), a member of the rival family to the Medici's, has an involuntary affair with Marquis Giuliano Salvati (Luigi Saltamerendo), a man in the duke's circle.
Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano, 487. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Films S.A.J., Rome.
American actress Dorothy Gish was the sister of silent film star Lilian Gish. D.W. Griffith discovered the two girls in 1912, and they starred in his epics Hearts of the World (1918) and Orphans of the Storm (1921). At MGM, she would act in just a few films, including Romola (1924).
Italian postcard by B.F.F. (Ballerini & Fratini Firenze Ed.), no. 692. Photo: Fox Film Corp. Rome. Tom Mix in Dick Turpin (John G. Blystone, 1925). The actress is Kathleen Myers. In this film, Mix departed from his usual Western roles to play a British historical figure, the highwayman Dick Turpin, an 18th-century Robin Hood.
American film actor Tom Mix (1880–1940) was the star of many early Westerns between 1909 and 1935. Mix appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent movies. He was Hollywood's first Western megastar and helped to define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed.
Italian postcard by B.F.F. (Ballerini & Fratini Firenze Ed.), no. 798. Photo: Fox Film Corp., Rome. Buck Jones and Helena d'Algy in The Cowboy and the Countess (Roy William Neill, 1926), released in Italy as La Principessa e il suo Cowboy. See also our card on Flickr.
American film star Buck Jones (1891–1942) starred in many popular B-Westerns of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Executive William Fox decided to use him as a backup to Tom Mix. This led to his first starring role, The Last Straw (Denison Clift, Charles Swickard, 1920). With his famous horse Silver, Jones would make more than 160 films.
Helena D'Algy (1906-?) was a Portuguese-born actress who worked in Hollywood and European films during the silent and early sound era. She was the sister of actor-director Tony D'Algy.
Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 519. Photo: Universal. Hoot Gibson and Virginia Brown Faire (aka Virginia Browne Faire) in The Calgary Stampede (Herbert Blaché, 1925), released in Italy as Le belve strenate (The Wild Beasts). The card mentions Marie La Farge, but that is Virginia Brown Faire's character name in the film.
Hoot Gibson (1892-1962) was a pioneering cowboy star of silent and early talking Westerns, and one of the 1920s' most popular children's matinée heroes. In his real life, however, he had a rather painful rags-to-riches-and-back-to-rags career.
Italian postcard by B.F.F. (Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze Ed.), no. 771. Photo: SAJ Films Paramount, Rome. Noah Beery in The Spaniard (Raoul Walsh, 1925), released in Italy (as in France) as Matador. See also our card with Ricardo Cortez for The Spaniard on Flickr.
American actor Noah Beery, or Noah Beery Sr. (1882-1946), was the older brother of another famous actor, Oscar-winning Wallace Beery. His son, Noah Beery Jr., also pursued the same career, becoming a highly regarded character actor, especially on television.
American postcard by AGF. The backside of this card claims this is Margot Pellegrinetti, but this is Helena / Elena Makowska. She was photographed by Milanese studio photographer Emilio Sommariva in exactly the same clothes and hat, c. 1916-1919.
Polish singer and actress Helena Makowska (1893-1964) was a beautiful diva of the Italian silent cinema in the 1910s. During the 1920s, she moved to Berlin and also became a star of the German cinema.
Italian postcard by B.F.F. (Ballerini & Fratini Firenze Ed.), no. 2633.
Italian director Vittorio De Sica (1901-1974) was a leading figure in the neorealist movement. De Sica directed 34 feature films, for which he won numerous international prizes, including four Oscars. As an actor, he made more than 150 films and is best known for his bright and charming roles in earthy comedies opposite sex goddesses Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren. This postcard dates from the 1930s when De Sica acted in the White Telephone comedies of Mario Camerini and other directors.
If you like to read Ivo Blom's article on Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / The Last Days of Pompeii (Eleuterio Rodolfi, 1913), see the 2025 Giornate's festival catalogue (section The Canon Revisited).
No comments:
Post a Comment