Fluidr / Truus, Bob & Jan too!'s "Itala Film" set

Cabiria (1914)

N 11 B 2.1K C 0 E Jun 5, 2022 F Jun 5, 2022

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Spanish minicard by Chocolate Amatller, Barcelona, no 3 in a series of 12 cards. Picture from the Italian silent mega-epic Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone, Itala Film 1914), starring Italia Almirante Manzini as Sophonisba, Umberto Mozzato as Fulvio Axilla, Lydia Quaranta as Cabiria and Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste. Here we see the giant entrance to the Temple of Moloch.

Tags: Vintage Cinema Carte Cine Card Celebrity Costume Cinema Italiano Collector's Collector's Card Mini-card Italian Italy Italia Italiano Italiana 1910s 1914 Itala Film Itala Cabiria Giovanni Pastrone Spanish Film Film Star Movies Movie Movie Star Muet Muto Screen Star Silent Stummfilm Schauspielerin SChauspieler Darstellerin Darsteller ACtress Actor Actrice Acteur Attrice Attore temple Moloch Amatller chocolat

Maria Jacobini in Addio giovinezza! (1918)

N 3 B 1.6K C 0 E Jul 13, 2023 F Jul 13, 2023

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Spanish postcard by Leonar. Union universal de correos. Photo: Itala Film. Maria Jacobini in Addio giovinezza!/Goodbye Youth (Augusto Genina, 1918), a silent film adaptation of the play by Sandro Camasio and Nino Oxilia.

Among the Italian divas, Maria Jacobini (1892-1944) was an island of serenity, as Vittorio Martinelli expressed it, the personification of goodness, of simple love. Her weapon was her sweet and gracious smile. In some Italian and later also some German films, however, she could play as well the vivacious lady, the femme fatale, the comedienne, the hysterical victim and the suffering mother or wife.

Tags: Addio giovinezza 1918 Maria Jacobini Augusto Genina Adaptation Itala Itala Film Vintage Vedette Postcard Postkarte POstale Postkaart Postal Italian Italy Italia Italiano Italiana Cinema Carte Cartolina Cine Card Carte Postale Celebrity Costume Cinema Italiano Film Film Star Movies Movie Movie Star Muet Muto Screen Star Silent Schauspielerin Stummfilm Darstellerin Ansichtkaart Ansichtskarte ACtress Actrice Attrice Diva Drama Spanish Leonar Addio giovinezza!

Maria Jacobini and Lido Manetti in Addio giovinezza! (1918)

N 3 B 1.5K C 0 E Aug 31, 2017 F Jul 13, 2023

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Italian postcard by Ed. G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 429. Photo: Itala Film. Maria Jacobini and Lido Manetti in Addio giovinezza!/Goodbye Youth (Augusto Genina, 1918), a silent film adaptation of the play by Sandro Camasio and Nino Oxilia.

Among the Italian divas, Maria Jacobini (1892-1944) was an island of serenity, as Vittorio Martinelli expressed it, the personification of goodness, of simple love. Her weapon was her sweet and gracious smile. In some Italian and later also some German films, however, she could play as well the vivacious lady, the femme fatale, the comedienne, the hysterical victim and the suffering mother or wife.

Italian actor Arnold Kent aka Lido Manetti (1899 - 1928) had a prolific career in the Italian silent cinema. He was then brought to Hollywood as a young leading man, but he died before living up to his promise.

Pina Menichelli in La passeggera (1918)

N 8 B 2.3K C 0 E Jan 28, 2023 F Jan 28, 2023

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Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, no. 6 of 9. Photo: Itala Film / Distr. J. Verdaguer, Barcelona. Pina Menichelli and possibly Luciano Molinari in La passeggera/The Passenger (Gero Zambuto, 1918), released in Spain as La pasajera, and based on a story 'La passagère' by Mme Guy de Chantepleure.

Fascinating and enigmatic Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale.

The beautiful, sheltered, and somewhat naïve Lucía/ Lucie Boijoli/Boisjoli (Menichelli) has been adopted by the millionaire Davrancai, a woman [a man, according to other sources] who spares no expense on her behalf and treats her like a princess. Davrancai is attacked and dies. It was her stated desire to make Lucía his heir, and she was preparing to legalize this, but the paperwork was not yet in place. Her fortune therefore passes to a distant cousin, Laura Arguin— a bitter but devout woman—who is unwilling to take Lucía in. Primary among Lucía’s court of admirers is the cynical fortune-hunter Fabricio de Mauve (Luciano Molinari), who drops her in order to marry the daughter of a millionaire industrialist.

Desperate, Lucía eventually turns to Guillermo Kerjean (Alberto Nepoti), a friend who is a mechanical engineer in charge of the Petain aviation company. As he is only thirty years old, she cannot live with him without arousing suspicion and gossip, but she hits upon a solution: they will enter a marriage of convenience. Kerjean has spoken of how he does not wish to marry because it will interrupt his life of engineering productivity, Lucía will never love another man after the disappointment of Fabricio de Mauve: they can kill two birds with one stone and live together as affectionate companions. At first unconvinced, Kerjean comes around to the idea, and soon the strange marriage is formalised. Humour ensues as they have to prove their fake marriage, but eventually real love grows between the pair.

Kerjean’s engineering work has gone very well, and proud of his accomplishments, he decides that he will fly the machine himself, accompanied by a passenger, “to demonstrate the stability and capacity of the device for long voyages”. When the launch is imminent, the mechanic who was to be the passenger does not come to the airfield because of a sudden illness, and so Lucía, even knowing the risk, decides to accompany her husband and become … la passeggiera. She will “participate in his Victory or die with him”. Their love acknowledged, Lucía and Kerjean will soar together on the wings of the powerful biplane.

While the story was not too original, audiences and press loved the performance of the two main actors. Only a short fragment of the film survives, alas, preserved by the Filmoteca de Catalunya.

Source: Silents please.

Tags: PIna Menichelli Gero Zambuto Itala 1918 Verdaguer Chocolate Pi Spanish Collector's Card 1910s Italian Italy Italia Italiano Italiana Idol Diva vintage vedette Cinema Carte Cine Card Celebrity Costume Cinema Italiano Collector's Film Film Star Movies Movie Movie Star Muet Muto star screen silent colored coloured ACtress Actor Actrice Acteur Attrice Attore Darstellerin Darsteller Luciano Molinari La passeggera

Pina Menichelli in La passeggera (1918)

N 5 B 2.1K C 2 E Jan 28, 2023 F Jan 28, 2023

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Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, no. 5 of 9. Photo: Itala Film / Distr. J. Verdaguer, Barcelona. Pina Menichelli in La passeggera/The Passenger (Gero Zambuto, 1918), released in Spain as La pasajera, and based on a story 'La passagère' by Mme Guy de Chantepleure.

Fascinating and enigmatic Pina Menichelli (1890-1984) was the most bizarre Italian diva of the silent era. With her contorted postures and disdainful expression, she impersonated the striking femme fatale.

The beautiful, sheltered, and somewhat naïve Lucía/ Lucie Boijoli/Boisjoli (Menichelli) has been adopted by the millionaire Davrancai, a woman [a man, according to other sources] who spares no expense on her behalf and treats her like a princess. Davrancai is attacked and dies. It was her stated desire to make Lucía his heir, and she was preparing to legalize this, but the paperwork was not yet in place. Her fortune therefore passes to a distant cousin, Laura Arguin— a bitter but devout woman—who is unwilling to take Lucía in. Primary among Lucía’s court of admirers is the cynical fortune-hunter Fabricio de Mauve (Luciano Molinari), who drops her in order to marry the daughter of a millionaire industrialist.

Desperate, Lucía eventually turns to Guillermo Kerjean (Alberto Nepoti), a friend who is a mechanical engineer in charge of the Petain aviation company. As he is only thirty years old, she cannot live with him without arousing suspicion and gossip, but she hits upon a solution: they will enter a marriage of convenience. Kerjean has spoken of how he does not wish to marry because it will interrupt his life of engineering productivity, Lucía will never love another man after the disappointment of Fabricio de Mauve: they can kill two birds with one stone and live together as affectionate companions. At first unconvinced, Kerjean comes around to the idea, and soon the strange marriage is formalised. Humour ensues as they have to prove their fake marriage, but eventually real love grows between the pair.

Kerjean’s engineering work has gone very well, and proud of his accomplishments, he decides that he will fly the machine himself, accompanied by a passenger, “to demonstrate the stability and capacity of the device for long voyages”. When the launch is imminent, the mechanic who was to be the passenger does not come to the airfield because of a sudden illness, and so Lucía, even knowing the risk, decides to accompany her husband and become … la passeggiera. She will “participate in his Victory or die with him”. Their love acknowledged, Lucía and Kerjean will soar together on the wings of the powerful biplane.

While the story was not too original, audiences and press loved the performance of the two main actors. Only a short fragment of the film survives, alas, preserved by the Filmoteca de Catalunya.

Source: Silents please.