La dolce vita (1960)

La dolce vita / The Sweet Life (1960) is an Italian-French satirical comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film stars Marcello Mastroianni as Marcello Rubini, a tabloid journalist who, over seven days and nights, journeys through the 'sweet life' of Rome in a fruitless search for love and happiness. La dolce vita was both a scandal, a critical success and A worldwide commercial hit. The filmwon the Palme d'Or at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Costumes. It was nominated for three more Oscars, including Best Director for Federico Fellini and Best Original Screenplay. Today, La dolce vita is considered one of Fellini's masterpieces and one of the most famous films in cinema history.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Anita Ekberg in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 159. Anouk Aimée and Marcello Mastroianni in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1703. Photo: Cineriz. Magali Noël in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


French postcard in the Collection Magie Noire by Editions Hazan, Paris, no. 6323. Anita Ekberg in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Swiss postcard by News Productions. Photo: Cinémathèque Suisse. Yvonne Furneaux as Emma and Marcello Mastroianni as Marcello at the Via Colombo outside Rome, after Emma's suicide attempt, in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).

Swept away by the sweet life of high society.

La dolce vita marks the first of several acclaimed collaborations between director Federico Fellini and actor Marcello Mastroianni, who came to represent Fellini’s alter ego. Mastroianni plays Marcello Rubini, a reporter in Rome during the late 1950s who is always on the lookout for a scoop. He covers the gossip news of foreign movie stars, religious visions and the decadent aristocracy. That's why he spends his evenings among Rome's upper class. He tends to get quite close to his subjects, especially when they're beautiful women like the local heiress Maddalena (Anouk Aimée), and Swedish film star Sylvia (Anita Ekberg). He has affairs with both, although he is engaged to Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), a clingy, insecure woman. Rubini dreams of becoming a literary author, but he abandons those ideals for a career in the lucrative tabloid press. Although he recognises its superficiality and immorality, he allows himself to be swept away by the sweet life of high society. Fellini follows the handsome, weary, desperate Marcello during a week and reveals the emptiness, boredom and destructiveness of 'la dolce vita' while at the same time making it highly glamorous and seductive.

Dino De Laurentiis was the film's original producer. He wanted a famous American or French actor, such as Paul Newman or Gérard Philipe, to play Rubini to guarantee international marketability. According to rumours, Newman was keen to take part, but Fellini wanted an Italian actor. The rift between Fellini and De Laurentiis occurred precisely over the name of Marcello Mastroianni: unlike Fellini, De Laurentiis did not consider him suitable for the part. Another reason for the rift between De Laurentiis and Fellini was the screenplay, which the producer considered too chaotic. The screenplay was written by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, and Brunello Rondi.

The script was provisional, as was often the case with Fellini's productions. He stated that the film would only find its true form on the screen. During filming, the script underwent considerable changes. Two scenes, absent from the original screenplay, were completely 'improvised': the party of the nobles at the castle, filmed in the Giustiniani-Odescalchi palace in Bassano Romano in the province of Viterbo, and the 'miracle' that the two children claim to have witnessed, with the participation of a crowd of faithful, law enforcement officers and military personnel. The episode was inspired by a report by the Roman reporter Tazio Secchiaroli in June 1958: the subject of the report was the apparition of the Virgin Mary to two children in a farm at Maratta Alta, near Terni. Secchiaroli participated in the filming of the fake miracle scene and said that the atmosphere of the episode in the film was similar to what the photographer saw when he arrived in the small Umbrian town. The character of Paparazzo in the film was inspired by Tazio Secchiaroli.

Another choice made by Fellini was to hire Anita Ekberg for the part of Sylvia. The various changes in dates led to the withdrawal of many actors. Among them was Maurice Chevalier, who was to play the father of Marcello, a travelling salesman who joins Marcello on a tour of the night. After considering many names, Fellini eventually gave the part to Annibale Ninchi. The impressed Mastroianni found him very credible in the role of his father. The character of Steiner was given to Alain Cuny after about fifty actors were considered for the part. Steiner was to be played by Henry Fonda, but the actor dropped out, much to the disappointment of Fellini. Many names were mentioned, and auditions were held for Emma's part. Gina Lollobrigida stated that she was offered the part and that she would have gladly accepted, but that her husband, out of jealousy, hid the script that the production sent her, and so the offer fell through due to Lollobrigida's failure to respond, who in turn thought that the production had changed its mind. The director then opted for Yvonne Furneaux. The film also features young artists like Laura Betti in a vaguely autobiographical role, model and singer Nico (Christa Päffgen) and a very young Adriano Celentano performing Little Richard's 'Ready Teddy.

La dolce vita was shot between spring and summer 1959. Most of the film was shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome. Set designer Piero Gherardi created over eighty locations, including the Via Veneto, the dome of Saint Peter's with the staircase leading up to it, and various nightclubs. The structure of the film consists of a prologue, followed by seven chapters interrupted once by an intermezzo, and an epilogue. Throughout, seven dawn sequences, seven day sequences, and eight night sequences are interwoven. The relationship between Fellini and the new producers, Angelo Rizzoli and Giuseppe Amato, was relaxed and cordial, despite the budget being exceeded. One of the most substantial costs incurred in the production was that of reconstructing Via Veneto, the Roman street of nightclubs, sidewalk cafes and the parade of the night, in the studio. According to official sources, the film cost no more than 540 million lire, which was not an excessive amount for an ambitious production such as La dolce vita.


French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris / Saint-Dié, no. CI 4. Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Vintage photo. Marcello Mastroianni in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Small Czechoslovakian card by Pressfoto, Praha (Prague), no. S 83/7, 1965. Retail price: 0,50 Kcs. Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Small Romanian collector card. Photo: Marcello Mastroianni and Anouk Aimée in La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Italian postcard by Modric, Editoria d'arte, Ancona, no. MX 099. Photo: Pierluigi Praturlon. Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni during the filming of La dolce vita / The Sweet Life (Federico Fellini, 1960).

Boos, insults and applause

Dino De Laurentiis described La dolce vita as ’incoherent, false and pessimistic' and predicted that it would prove to be a disaster. Four hours were edited and then reduced to three with cuts. On 5 February 1960, the national premiere took place at the Capitol cinema in Milan. The film was booed. Fellini was stopped by a woman who accused him of handing the country over to the Bolsheviks and was spat on for being a detractor of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy. Mastroianni was also insulted. It was reported that the film had been seized for reasons of public order. Fellini received 400 telegrams in a single day in Milan, accusing him of being a communist, a traitor and an atheist. The aristocracy had allowed Fellini to film in their homes and castles and then felt exposed.

Jean Toschi Marazzani Visconti, cousin of Luchino Visconti, was present at the Milan premiere and states that 'The boos and insults that evening made more news than the applause. In the event of the seizure, the next morning at the Capitol, there was already a queue at the box office. The appeal of the forbidden.‘ The Vatican saw the scene in which a statue of Christ is transported through the air by helicopter as a parody of the return of Christ. In Spain, La dolce vita was banned until the death of General Franco in 1975. However, after fifteen days of screening, the film had already covered the producer's expenses. Despite the claims of De Laurentiis, La dolce vita managed to recoup the budget in just the first fifteen days of screening. The film's commercial success was aided by an intense advertising campaign and the heated climate of criticism.

After three or four weeks, La dolce vita was on track to reach one billion lire, and after two months of screening, the box office takings exceeded one and a half billion. IMDb reports box office takings in the United States of $19,571,000 at the time, plus another $8,000,000 from rentals. At the end of the 1959-1960 film season, La dolce vita was the highest-grossing film of the year in Italy, with takings of 2,271,000,000 lire at the time. Currently, it ranks thirteenth in the list of the most watched Italian films of all time, with 13,617,148 paying viewers. Worldwide, the film has grossed over $82.5 million.

La dolce vita influenced customs and language. The scene at the Trevi Fountain with Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni has become a symbolic scene of 20th-century cinema. The title of the film itself has become a common expression used to describe a rich and luxurious lifestyle, often with excesses such as those shown in the film. The film also gave its name to an item of clothing, namely the high-necked jumper, known as the 'dolce vita' jumper, as worn by Mastroianni in the film. Thanks to this film, the term 'paparazzi' entered general usage. The word refers to the surname of the intrusive press photographer Paparazzo. The character of Paparazzo, the news photographer, is portrayed by Walter Santesso. Philip French writes in The Guardian that today the film has lost its ability to shock, but not its ability to fascinate, stimulate and provoke, and remains a work of great moral and visual impact. Bosley Crowther, in his review for The New York Times, writes that the modern lifestyle represented by Fellini, hallucinatory and almost circus-like in style, is the first to have earned the adjective 'Fellinian'.

Roger Ebert stated that if asked, 'What is your favourite film?', he would answer 'La dolce vita', adding that it is a film that never ages. In his 1961 review, he stated that the technical excellence with which the film was made surpassed any production he had seen before, except for a few classics by Ingmar Bergman, and that the cinematography and soundtrack are as important as the dialogue in bringing the attack on 'La dolce vita' to life. This attack is also created by the frequent symbolism, although it becomes too obvious to fit into the fluidity of the plot. Ebert surmised that it was precisely the film's very understandable symbolism that contributed to its success. "The movie is made with boundless energy. Fellini stood here at the dividing point between the neorealism of his earlier films (like La Strada) and the carnival visuals of his extravagant later ones (Juliet of the Spirits, Amarcord). His autobiographical 8 1/2, made three years after La dolce vita, is a companion-piece, but more knowing: There the hero is already a filmmaker, but here he is a young newspaperman on the make." In 2010, a new restoration of La dolce vita was carried out with the collaboration of Ennio Guarneri, assistant to Otello Martelli, director of photography at the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna.


Italian postcard by Modric, Editoria d'arte, Ancona, no. MX 103. Photo: Pierluigi Praturlon. Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg during the filming of La dolce vita / The Sweet Life (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Italian postcard by Modric, Editoria d'arte, Ancona, no. MX 104. Photo: Pierluigi Praturlon. Marcello Mastroianni during the filming of La dolce vita / The Sweet Life (Federico Fellini, 1960).


Vintage poster postcard, no. XX 900 / 34. Italian poster by Cineriz for La dolce vita / The Sweet Life (Federico Fellini, 1960), starring Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni. Design: Giorgio Olivetti.


Italian poster postcard in the Federico Fellini series by Gruppo Prospettive. Italian poster by Cineriz for La dolce vita / The Sweet Life (Federico Fellini, 1960), starring Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni. Design: Sandro Simeoni.


French postcard. Caption: Cannes 2014. 67e Festival de Cannes 14-25 Mai. Photo: Marcello Mastroianni in La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).

Sources: Roger Ebert (Rogerebert.com), Philip French (The Guardian), Bosley Crowther (The New York Times), Wikipedia (Italian, Dutch and English), Britannica and IMDb.

Celeste Holm

American actress Celeste Holm (1917-2012) won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1948 for her role in Elia Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement. She was also nominated for Oscars for her roles in the films Come to the Stable (1949) and All About Eve (1950).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 726. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


Dutch postcard presented by Kores 'Carboplan', no. 950. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Loretta Young and Celeste Holm in Come to the Stable (Henry Koster, 1949).

She loved the stage, so she left Hollywood

Celeste Holm was born in New York, N.Y., in 1917. She was an only child, born into a home where her mother was a painter and her father worked in insurance. She studied acting at the University of Chicago.

Her professional theatrical debut was at 19 in a production of 'Hamlet', with Leslie Howard. Her major Broadway debut followed in 'The Time of Your Life' (1940). She appeared in many successful plays, including 'The Women', 'Oklahoma!' and 'Bloomer Girl'. In the premiere production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Oklahoma!' (1943), Celeste sang as Ado Annie the showstopper, 'I Cain't Say No'. The demand for tickets was unprecedented as the show became more popular in the months that followed the opening. 'Oklahoma!' ran for over five years, a Broadway record.

Celeste Holm was signed by 20th Century Fox in 1946 and appeared in her first film, the musical Three Little Girls in Blue (John Brahm, H. Bruce Humberstone, 1946) opposite June Haver and Vivian Blaine.

With her third film, Gentleman's Agreement (Elia Kazan, 1947), starring Gregory Peck and John Garfield, she would win the Supporting Actress Oscar and a Golden Globe. Celeste Holm was nominated twice more for Academy Awards for Come to the Stable (Henry Koster, 1949) with Loretta Young, and All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950), starring Bette Davis.

She also appeared in the Best Picture nominee The Snake Pit (Anatole Litvak, 1948), starring Olivia De Havilland and had an uncredited voice-only role in another Best Picture nominee, A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1949). However, she loved the stage, so she left Hollywood.


Vintage postcard, no. 950. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


Belgian postcard, no. 980. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

A professor-turned-reporter in New York City

In the 1950s, Celeste Holm only returned to Hollywood for two MGM musicals, The Tender Trap (Charles Walters, 1955) starring Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds and High Society (Charles Walters, 1956) with Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby.

In addition to her stage career, Celeste appeared on television in her own series, Honestly, Celeste! (1954) as a professor-turned-reporter in New York City. She was also a panellist on Who Pays? (1959). In 1970, Holm returned to television as the chaperone to the president's daughter in Nancy (1970).

For the next two decades, she regularly appeared on television in series such as the Soap Opera Loving (1986, 1991-1992). She last appeared on television in the CBS series Promised Land (1996–1999). She also had roles in films such as Tom Sawyer (Don Taylor, 1973), starring a very young Jodie Foster as Becky Thatcher and the comedy Three Men and a Baby (Leonard Nimoy, 1987), starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson.

Celeste Holm was married five times. Her first marriage was to director Ralph Nelson from 1936 until their divorce in 1939. Together, they had one son, the internet pioneer Ted Nelson, who introduced the terms hypertext and hypermedia in the 1960s. Her second marriage was to Francis Emerson Harding Davies from 1940 until their divorce in 1945. Her third marriage was to A. Schuyler Dunning from 1946 until their divorce in 1953. Together, they had one child. Her fourth marriage was to actor Wesley Addy, from 1966 until he died in 1996. Her last marriage was to opera singer Frank Basile, from 2004 until she died in 2012.

In 2002, Celeste Holm was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In July 2012, she suffered a heart attack and, at her request, was taken to her own home in Manhattan, New York, where she spent her last moments with her husband and family and died at the age of 95.


Vintage postcard. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.

Andréa Parisy

Brunette French film actress Andréa Parisy (1935-2014) was best known as the leading lady opposite Louis de Funès in such comedies as Bébés à gogo / Babes a GoGo (Paul Mesnier, 1956), La grande vadrouille / Don't Look Now, We've Been Shot At (Gérard Oury, 1966), and Le Petit Baigneur / The Little Bather (Robert Dhéry, 1968), but she also appeared in the historical drama Mayerling (Terence Young, 1968), in which she played Princess Stéphanie of Belgium.


French postcard by Editions P.I., presented by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, no. 961. Photo: Sam Lévin.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, no. 736. Photo: Sam Lévin.

Capturing the spirit of the times

Andréa Parisy was born Andrée Marcelle Henriette Parisy in 1935 in Levallois-Perre on the right bank of the Seine, some 6 km (3.7 miles) from the centre of Paris. However, some sources mention that she was born in 1930. Her father was a furrier.

She began her career in 1953, initially playing minor roles in small films directed by Raph Habib, Yves Ciampi, and Carlo Rim. Parisy was overshadowed by Simone Signoret in Escalier de service / Service Entrance (Carlo Rim, 1954) and by Brigitte Bardot in Futures vedettes / Joy of Loving (Marc Allégret, 1955).

Then the elegant brunette had her breakthrough as the daughter of Jane Sourza and Raymond Souplex in the comedy Bébés à gogo / Babes a GoGo (Paul Mesnier, 1956), starring Louis de Funès. She then played a free-spirited young woman from a good family in the massive box office hit Les Tricheurs / Young Sinners (Marcel Carné, 1958), starring Jacques Charrier and Pascale Petit. The film captured the spirit of the times.

She then played the leading lady in the French-Australian film L'Ambitieuse / The Restless and the Damned (Yves Allégret, 1959), opposite Edmond O'Brien and Richard Basehart. The film was shot on location in Tahiti and the Tuamotu Islands in French and English-language versions, but was a financial failure. It was the last of three co-productions Australians Lee Robinson and Chips Rafferty did with French companies in the late 1950s and marked the end of Robinson's involvement in the film industry.

Parisy was the leading lady in the crime drama 125 Rue Montmartre (Gilles Grangier, 1959) starring Lino Ventura, and co-starred in the West German romantic comedy Stefanie in Rio (Curtis Bernhardt, 1960) starring Carlos Thompson and Sabine Sinjen. In these years, Andréa Parisy also had a brief singing career.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 114/70. Photo: Unifrance.


Romanian collector card.

The bourgeois wife of Louis de Funès

The Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave) missed out on Andréa Parisy. She was the star of B-movies or a prominent supporting actress in commercial productions. Then she was the leading lady in the French-Italian adventure film Cent mille dollars au soleil / Greed in the Sun (Henri Verneuil, 1964) with Lino Ventura and Jean-Paul Belmondo. The film was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival, was nominated for the Palme d'Or, and became a box-office hit in France.

She had another success when she played the resistance nun Marie-Odile at the Hospices de Beaune in the French-British comedy La Grande Vadrouille / Don't Look Now, We've Been Shot At (Gérard Oury, 1966), starring Bourvil, Louis de Funès and Terry-Thomas. She again co-starred with De Funès in Le Petit Baigneur / The Little Bather (Robert Dhéry, 1968) as his bourgeois wife.

She also played Archduchess Stéphanie in Mayerling (Terence Young, 1968), starring Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve. Then her career seemed to halt.

She played a supporting part in the satirical romantic comedy-drama Slogan (Pierre Grimblat, 1969), with Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin in their first film together, but from then on, her films appeared with long interludes. In 1979, she co-starred with Michel Serrault in the political satire La Gueule de l'autre (Pierre Tchernia, 1979). Ten years later, she had a supporting part in the Swiss-American historical drama The Favorite / Intimate Power (Jack Smight, 1989), based on a novel by Prince Michael of Greece.

Again, ten years later, she acted in the French drama Pas de scandale / No Scandal (Benoît Jacquot, 1999) as the mother of Fabrice Luchini. Her last screen appearance was in an episode of the TV series Navarro (2001) with Roger Hanin. Andréa Parisy died in 2014, at the age of 78, after a long illness. She is buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 801. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verlag. Photo: publicity still for Le Petit Baigneur / The Little Bather (Robert Dhéry, 1968) with Louis de Funès.

Sources: aVoir-aLire (French), Wikipedia (French and English) and IMDb.

Dennis Morgan

During the 1940s, for six consecutive years, Dennis Morgan (1908-1994) received more fan mail than any other star at Warner Brothers.


American card.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. B. 4. Photo: Warner.

A holiday favourite

Dennis Morgan was born Earl Stanley Morner in the small town of Prentice, Wisconsin, in 1908. His parents were Frank Edward Morner and Grace June Van Dusen. Earl attended Carroll College in Wisconsin and belonged to the college football team. Later, he studied voice at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee and the American Conservatory in Chicago.

He joined a troupe of performers at the State Lake Theatre in Chicago and toured the Midwest. He sang in productions of 'Faust' and 'Carmen'. In 1936, after relocating to Los Angeles, Morgan began appearing in films. He signed a contract with MGM as Stanley Morner.

His first jobs were mostly bit parts. He received his first musical film break singing 'A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody' in The Great Ziegfeld (Robert Z. Leonard, 1936). His voice, however, was dubbed by Allan Jones. Subsequently, he moved to Paramount and then Warner Bros., where he was billed as 'Dennis Morgan'.

He scored big after playing opposite Ginger Rogers in the big hit Kitty Foyle (Sam Wood, 1940) for RKO. He starred in films such as the war romance The Very Thought of You (Delmer Daves, 1944) with Eleanor Parker and Dane Clark, the action film God Is My Co-Pilot (Robert Florey, 1945), and the musical My Wild Irish Rose (David Butler, 1947).

His engaging performance as seaman Jefferson Jones, with Barbara Stanwyck and a wonderful supporting cast, including Sydney Greenstraat, S.Z. Szakall and Una O'Connor have made Christmas in Connecticut (Peter Godfrey, 1945) a holiday favourite.


Spanish postcard by Sobe, Barcelona, no. 222.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 315. Photo: Warner.

The easy-going singer who always got the girl

Dennis Morgan teamed up with fellow Wisconsinite Jack Carson in One More Tomorrow (1946). Warners liked them as a combination, seeing them as similar to Bing Crosby and Bob Hope at Paramount. Morgan was the easy-going singer who always got the girl, and Carson was the loud-mouthed but cowardly braggart-comic who was given the air.

The two buddies did 11 films together. These included Two Guys from Milwaukee (David Butler, 1946) with Joan Leslie, Two Guys from Texas (David Butler, Frank Tashlin, 1948) with Dorothy Malone, and It's a Great Feeling (David Butler, 1949), starring Doris Day. He made a Western Raton Pass (Edwin L. Marin, 1950) with Patricia Neal and Eddy Cochran, and a musical Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (David Butler, 1951) with Virginia Mayo.

He supported Joan Crawford in the Film Noir This Woman Is Dangerous (Felix E. Feist, 1952). Wikipedia: "Jack L. Warner wanted to terminate Dennis Morgan's expensive contract with Warner Bros., and assigned Morgan to Cattle Town (1952), a quickie western to be produced by B-movie specialist Bryan Foy. The director was silent-era veteran Noel M. Smith, known as a fast-and-cheap director who staged reckless action scenes.

Jack Warner was certain that Morgan would refuse the strenuous assignment and break the contract, but Morgan refused to forfeit his salary. He reported for work as scheduled, made the film for Smith, and collected his customary salary. After that, his contract with Warners ended. Morgan later said, 'My mistake was that I stayed at one studio too long. Another mistake: I turned down early television, believing then... that people should pay to see us.'

Dennis Morgan died in 1994 in Fresno, California, of respiratory failure. He and his wife, Lillian Mae Vedder, were married for 61 years. They had three children, Stanley Jr., Kristin and James. Kristin Morgan appeared with her father in My Wild Irish Rose (1947). She was 8 years old at the time. In 1983, Morgan, along with his film pal, Jack Carson, who had died in 1963, was inducted into the Wisconsin Performing Artists Hall of Fame.


Dutch postcard by Takken / 't Sticht, no. A.X. 405. Photo: Warner Bros.


Vintage postcard. Photo: Warner Bros.

Sources: Kay Peracca with James Turner (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Nils Chrisander

Swedish actor and film director Nils Chrisander (1884-1947) made his first screen appearances in German and Swedish silent films in the mid-1910s. In 1916, he was the first Phantom of the Opera on the screen. Later, he moved to Hollywood, where he also directed a few films.


German postcard by NPG, no. G 1056.


German postcard by NPG, no. 427. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 3125.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 7159.

The first phantom of the opera

Nils Chrisander or Nils Olaf Chrisander was born Nils Olaf Waldemar Chrisander in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1884. According to Chrisander himself, his uncle was the composer Nils Chrisander, and his great-aunt was the opera singer Jenny Lind. He claimed to have attended various secondary schools in Stockholm, Vienna, Paris and London. After graduating from school, he is said to have begun studying art history and philosophy at the beginning of the 20th century. He then tried his hand at painting. Chrisander took acting lessons at the Dramaten theatre school in Stockholm and then began acting in plays such as August Strindberg's 'Karl XII'. Through the actor and director Bjørn Bjørnson, Chrisander came into contact with cinematography in 1913.

Chrisander probably made his film debut in a supporting role in the Danish production Et Gensyn / A Reunion (N.N., 1914) for the Dania Biofilm Kompagni. He then moved to the film capital Berlin, where he mainly played leading roles. His first German film was probably the silent drama Die Flammentänzerin / The Flame Dancer (Georg Jacoby, 1914) opposite Norwegian actress Aud Egede-Nissen. In the following years, he played in the films Die Wellen schweigen / The Silent Waves (Rudolf Biebrach, 1915) with Henny Porten, and Um ein Weib / Because of a Woman (Carl Schönfeld, 1915) again opposite Aud Egede-Nissen.

As an actor, Chrisander is possibly best recalled for starring as Erik the Phantom in Das Phantom der Oper (Ernst Matray, 1916), the now-lost German adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Matray's version is the first film adaptation of Leroux's 1909-1910 serialised novel. Aud Egede-Nissen co-starred as Christine, and director Ernst Matray played The Persian.

That same year, Chrisander also appeared in such Swedish silent films as Svärmor på vift / Mother-in-law on the Loose (Georg af Klercker, 1916), Fången på Karlstens fästning / Prisoner of Karl's Fortress (Georg af Klercker, 1916) and Revelj / Reveille (Georg af Klercker, 1917) with Mary Johnson.

Back in Germany, Chrisander appeared in Nicht lange täuschte mich das Glück / Happiness did not deceive me for long (Kurt Matull, 1917) opposite Olga Engl and the popular Polish film actress Pola Negri in her first role in a German production. He also played leading roles in the melodramas Die Vergangenheit rächt sich / The Past Takes Revenge (Urban Gad, 1917) with Albert Paulig, Küsse, die man im Dunkeln stiehlt / Kisses That You Steal In The Dark (Kurt Matull, 1918) with Pola Negri and Ernst Hofmann, and Die neue Daliah / The New Daliah (Urban Gad, 1918) featuring Maria Widal.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 7460. Photo: Gerlach, Berlin.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 7642. Photo: Gerlach.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1641. Photo: Nicola Perscheid, Berlin.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1642. Photo: Nicola Perscheid, Berlin.

The Golem

Nils Chrisander repeatedly returned to his native Stockholm for film engagements. In 1918, he made his last Swedish appearance there in the leading role of surgeon Dr Henry Arel in Nobelpristagaren / Nobel Prize winners (1918). Like most of his Swedish films, the film was directed by Georg af Klercker. Chrisander played Dr. Henry Arel, who with his fiancee, Violet Starford (Mary Johnson), joins the war as paramedics. During a flight attack, Violet is badly hurt. The doctor makes a very bold intervention in the hope that Violet will survive.

In 1919, Nils Chrisander started to direct silent films for the Deutsche Bioscop GmbH. His first films were Olaf Bernadotte (1918) with Carl de Vogt, and Chrysanthéme / Chrysanthemum (1918) featuring Carola Toelle.

He co-directed the German silent film Alraune und der Golem / Alraune and the Golem with actor and director Paul Wegener. J Zsalsberg at IMDb: “No prints of the film are known to have survived. Nor have they any photographs, reviews, or even a decent credit listing. Poster artwork does exist, but German censorship/release records do not. Consequently, it is, indeed, possible that the film was never made at all, with the poster artwork having been created to advertise a 'possible' production. In any event, the story is alleged to be based on the novel 'Isabella of Egypt' by Ludwig Achim von Arnim, in which the 'Alraune' character is male, and the golem is female!”

That year, he played his favourite role in Germany, that of Prince Hochwald in his own production Die weißen Rosen von Ravensberg / The White Roses of Ravensberg (Nils Chrisander, 1919) with Uschi Elleot, for which he also co-wrote the screenplay. After performing in the film serial Die Jagd nach dem Tode / The Hunt for the Death (Karl Gerhardt, 1920) opposite actress Lil Dagover, Nils Chrisander continued his career in Germany as a director. In total, he directed ten films in Germany. At the beginning of the 1920s, Chrisander temporarily left the film business and went travelling, including to ‘secret studies in Egypt and Asia’, as he wrote vaguely. Back in Germany, he was documented as residing in Berlin-Friedenau until 1926, then in the same year Chrisander followed a call to Hollywood.

In Hollywood, he directed two dramatic, little-noticed films: Fighting Love (1927), starring Jetta Goudal, Victor Varconi and Henry B. Walthall for Cecil B. DeMille Pictures, and that same year, The Heart Thief (1927), starring Joseph Schildkraut and Lya De Putti. Although no further offers followed, Chrisander remained in Los Angeles. By 1930, he was living at S. Gramercy Place in Los Angeles, California. He later returned to his native Sweden, where he settled in Skivarp, a village near Skurup in the far south of the country. Nils Chrisander died there in 1947. He was 63.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 274/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin / Deutsche Bioscop.


German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 274/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin / Deutsche Bioscop.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 274/4, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin / Deutsche Bioscop.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3495/1, 1928-1929. Photo: LPG. Lya de Putti and Joseph Schildkraut in The Heart Thief (Nils Olaf Chrisander, 1927).

Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.

Pasquali Film

EFSP collaborator Ivo Blom is currently the co-investigator of the international research project Museum of Dream Worlds. Today, 9 May 2026, as part of the UCL200 programme to celebrate UCL's bicentenary, there will be a screening of the Italian silent film Jone o Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/ Jone, or The Last Days of Pompeii (Giovanni Enrico Vidali, 1913). This rare early Italian epic, starring Suzanne de Labroy as Nydia, Cristina Ruspoli as Jone, and Giovanni Enrico Vidali as Arbaces, vividly recreates the romance, intrigue and catastrophe of Pompeii's final days.

Jone o Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei/ Jone, or The Last Days of Pompeii, will be presented in a beautifully tinted digital print from the National Museum of Cinema in Turin, accompanied live by internationally acclaimed musicians John Sweeney (piano) and Jeff Davenport (percussion). The film will be introduced by the Museum of Dreamworlds research team (Maria Wyke, Ivo Blom, Bryony Dixon and Aylin Atacan) and followed by a Q&A. This special early evening event celebrates the power of silent cinema to bring the ancient world thrillingly to life. Date and time: Saturday 9 May 2026, 18:00–20:30. Venue: Bloomsbury Theatre, University College London (UCL), 15 Gordon St, London WC1H 0AH.

On this occasion, we have adapted and renewed our blog post on the company Pasquali Film and its films, actors and directors. Pasquali Film was one of the pioneering Italian film companies. The studio had its golden years in the period 1912-1914, with a yearly large output of films. In 1912, it was the second biggest producer of feature-length films in Italy, after Cines. Stars were the comedian Polidor (Ferdinand Guillaume), strongman Mario Guaita aka Ausonia, and diva Diana Karenne. With the death of its founder, Ernesto Maria Pasquali in 1919, Pasquali was integrated into the consortium Unione Cinematografica Italiana (UCI), which united the main Italian film companies at the time.


Page from Spanish film magazine Mundo Cinematográfico. Photos: Pasquali Film. Publicity for the Italian epic Jone, ovvero Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / Jone, or The Last Days of Pompeii (Giovanni Enrico Vidali, Ubaldo Maria Del Colle, 1913). The film was presented at the Teatro de la Gran Via cinema in Madrid, Spain. Two scenes of the film: on top, the blind Nydia (Suzanne De Labroy) at Arbaces' orgy, and down, Arbaces' pupil Apaecides (actor unknown), defending his sister Jone (Cristina Ruspoli) against the lustful and intrusive Arbaces (Giovanni Enrico Vidali). Arbaces will murder him and blame Glaucus, Jone's lover. The Teatro-Cine Gran Via, the oldest cinema on this street in Madrid (Gran Via 66), was already open in 1913, but sadly was demolished three years later to make way for the big avenue. In 1944, a new cinema opened as Teatro Compac Gran Vía, still existing, now as Teatro edp Gran Vía.


Spanish minicard. Photo: Pasquali & Cie. Suzanne de Labroy.


Spanish minicard. Photo: Pasquali & Cie. Cristina Ruspoli.


Spanish minicard. Photo: Pasquali & Cie. Giovanni Enrico Vidali, here presented as Giovanni Novelli.


Picture from the Spanish film magazine Mundo Cinematográfico. Photpo: Pasquali Film. Publicity for the Italian epic Jone, ovvero Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / Jone, or The Last Days of Pompeii (Giovanni Enrico Vidali, 1913). The film was presented at the Teatro de la Gran Via cinema in Madrid, Spain. Jone (Cristina Ruspoli) and Arbaces, high-priest of Isis (Giovanni Enrico Vidali), who is trying to seduce her. Part of the sets and props of this film were reused in Pasquali's subsequent epic, Spartaco (Giovanni Enrico Vidali, 1913).

The first successes

Pasquali Film was founded in 1908 in Turin by the journalist and theatre critic Ernesto Maria Pasquali, in association with his friend, the pharmacist Giuseppe Tempo. Pasquali was already a collaborator at Ambrosio Film. The new film company bore the name Pasquali & Tempo, but was renamed on 1 July 1910 as Pasquali & C. s.a.s. or in short, Pasquali Film. During its first two to three years of existence, the company produced short films, mostly made by Pasquali himself. Most of these were historical films.

In 1909, the Pasquali Film had its first successes with Ettore Fieramosca (which was remade in 1915), Cirano de Bergerac, Capitan Fracassa, and Teodora Imperatrice di Bisanzio. Ernesto Pasquali flourished, paid back Tempo and exchanged him for two new investors, increasing his investments.

Thanks to this, Pasquali built in 1911 a new, larger studio complex in Rome, luring the Ambrosio star couple Alberto Capozzi and Mary Cléo Tarlarini from Turin to Rome. In 1913, Pasquali hired the former Celio studio from Cines. Thus, Pasquali really expanded, but also expanded genre-wise, focusing more on modern subjects and crime films.

Between 1911 and 1914, the company produced the films of the hit crime series Raffles, directed and performed by Ubaldo Maria Del Colle. Also, Pasquali launched the production of comic films, first with Emile Vardannes (in the role of Totò) and then from 1912 with Ferdinand Guillaume (as Polidor), who previously had been a success at Cines as Tontolini. The Polidor comedies were numerous and an important backbone for Pasquali in the early 1910s.

The cameraman Piero Marelli shot several ‘dal vero’ travel films in Italy. In 1911-1912, he was sent on a long-lasting trip to Northern Europe (Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc.), to record the local landscape, cityscape, folklore, and native types. He often embellished his images with picturesque compositional strategies and subject matter, but also with ingenious cinematic innovations such as split-screen effects.


Italian postcard by La Rotofotografica / Unione Cinematografica Italiana, no. 137. Ferdinand Guillaume (1887-1977) was an Italian comical actor, famous in the 1910s as Tontolini and Polidor. After some 100 shorts as Tontolini and after the success of his first feature-length film, Pinocchio (Giulio Antamoro, 1911) at Cines, Ferdinand Guillaume moved to the Pasquali company. Here, he created the character of Polidor, named after a horse in his previous circus shows. He continued his double profession of leading actor and director, often being the scriptwriter of his films too. In the years 1912-1914, he made some 100 films, up to four films a month. The Polidor films were distributed all over Europe and the US. Guillaume's output shrunk considerately from the outbreak of the First World War, although he still had a large output in 1916-1917.


Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Mario Guaita aka Ausonia in Spartaco / Spartacus (Enrico Vidali, 1913). Caption: Crassus moves against Spartacus amongst the celebrating people. Eventually, Spartacus (Mario Guaita-Ausonia) will beat Crassus (Enrico Bracci).


Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Mario Guaita aka Ausonia in Spartaco / Spartacus (Enrico Vidali 1913). The Italian epic Spartaco - Il gladiatore della Tracia (Enrico Vidali, 1913) was based on a novel by Raffaello Giovagnoli. Caption: The Senate votes to hold a solemn funeral for Silla.


British postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Alberto Capozzi and Umberto Paradisi embrace in the Italian silent film I due sergenti / The Two Sergeants (Eugenio Perego, 1913).


Spanish collector card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 5 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Conchita Ledesma and Gustavo Serena in L'ultima danza / The Last Dance (Umberto Paradisi, 1914).


Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 6 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Conchita Ledesma and Gustavo Serena in L'ultima danza / The Last Dance (Umberto Paradisi, 1914).

L'ultima danza / The Last Dance (1914) deals with Jean (Serena), a poor artist smitten with a successful Spanish dancer, Conchita (Ledesma), and in vain hoping to paint her. His poor girlfriend, Ninon (Laura Darville), sacrifices herself and begs the dancer to pose once for him, so he can paint his portrait. Conchita dances before him while he sleeps. The painting is a success, but the romance with the dancer finishes when she has finished his fortune. He returns to poverty, attended by his girlfriend. When he is about to die, Ninon desperately asks Conchita once more to dance for him. Jean dies in her arms, after which the dancer prefers to follow him. Apparently, Conchita Ledesma was a popular Spanish dancer in real life, so the Italian press was eager to finally see her perform. Gustavo Serena played at Pasquali in the years 1914-1915, after which he returned to Rome to continue his career there.


Spanish collector card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 1 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Suzanne De Labroy in Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914), very freely adapted from Gustave Flaubert's classic novel.


Spanish collector card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 5 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Suzanne De Labroy and Mario Guaita-Ausonia in Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914). The picture shows Matho and Salambò in his tent.

Suzanne De Labroy plays the title role of the Carthaginian princess, keeper of the sacred veil of the goddess Tanit and daughter of general Amilcar. When Matho (Mario Guaita-Ausonia), head of the mercenaries, steals the veil, Salambò is ordered to get it back. By doing so, she falls in love and loses her dignity. Prince Narr Havas helps Amilcar conquer Matho's army, and the latter is caught and destined to die. While in the book he is killed by Salambò after which she commits suicide, in the film there is a happy end, when Matho's aid Spendius pretends to be the Voice of Tanit, ordering marriage between Matho and Salambò.

Golden years

Pasquali Film had its golden years in the period 1912-1914, with a yearly large output of films. In 1912, Pasquali was the biggest producer of feature-length films, after Cines. In 1911-1912, a third studio was opened, which was fully closed and equipped for artificial lighting. In 1913, Pasquali was the fourth largest Italian film company, but again the second in the output of long films. The company also opened various offices abroad.

Pasquali made its mark with impressive, spectacular period pieces such as I promessi sposi (1913) and Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1913). Both films were produced in competition with rival versions by Ambrosio. Pasquali also presented two Antiquity films with Mario Guaita-Ausonia: Spartaco (Enrico Vidali, 1913) and Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914).

The only diva Ernesto Maria Pasquali really launched was the Polish actress Diana Karenne. He presented her in Passione tzigana / Gypsy Passion (Umberto Paradisi, 1916), and immediately she became a star. Between 1916 and 1920, Karenne fascinated audiences with her eccentric dresses and make-up, and with her prima donna behaviour.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the Pasquali company experienced for the first time a decline in production because of a lack of raw film stock and bank loans. The modernisations undertaken did not allow the company to face the increasing competition, particularly from the United States. Production numbers went down fast.

With the death in 1919 of its founder Ernesto Maria Pasquali, who was only 36 years old, the studio was integrated into the consortium Unione Cinematografica Italiana (UCI), which brought together the main Italian film companies, even if Pasquali still kept its name on the outside. Pasquali's last successful production was the historical episode film Il ponte dei sospiri / The Bridge of Sighs (Domeno Gambino, 1921), starring Luciano Albertini, Antonietta Calderari, Garaveo Onorato and Carolina White, and set in Venice.


Spanish postcard for Chocolat Imperiale by Tip. Lit. Aubery, card no. 6 of a series of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Diana Karenne in the title role in Sofia di Kravonia (Ernesto Maria Pasquali, 1916).


Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Scene from La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Caption: Zoraide saves Fieramosca, sucking the venom of the wound and dies.


Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Scene from La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Caption: Valentino Borgia's local cronies press the sacristan to leave the door of the church open.

La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915) is an adaptation of the classic, nationalistic novel 'Ettore Fieramosca' by Massimo D'Azeglio. The scenography was done by Domenico Gaido, according to film historian Vittorio Martinelli, while IMDb claims Gaido was co-director with Paradisi. Acclaimed actors Gustavo Serena and Domenico Gambino had supporting parts in the film. While already produced in 1915, Ettore Fieramosca was released late. When the film premiered in 1917 in Turin, Turinese critics claimed that the film would have been lauded before the First World War, but now looked old-fashioned, for instance in its performances, despite the tasteful sets and shots on location.


Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il ponte dei sospiri / The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido 1921). Caption: Imperia tries to seduce Rolando (Luciano Albertini), but she is rejected and will take vile revenge.


Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il ponte dei sospiri / The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido, 1921). Caption: Altieri stops Dandolo for a duel. Luigi Stinchi played Altieri, one of the conspirators, while Dandolo, Leonora's father, was played by Bonaventura Ibanez.


Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for Il ponte dei sospiri / The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido 1921). Caption: The Conspiracy of the young patricians in the crypt of San Marco. In the foreground, one recognises Altieri (Luigi Stinchi).

Sources: Wikipedia (Italian and French), and IMDb.