East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2869. Retail price: 0,20 MDN.

Seductive Italian actress Virna Lisi (1936) appeared in more than 100 film and TV productions and is internationally best known as a tempting blue-eyed blonde in Hollywood productions of the 1960’s. But she proved to be more than a pretty face. Later she had a career Renaissance with three-dimensional character parts in a wide variety of Italian and French. A triumph was her portrayal of a malevolent Catherine de Medici in La Reine Margot (1994) for which she won both the David di Donatello and the César awards.

Virna Lisi was born as Virna Lisa Pieralisi in Ancona, Italy in 1936. Her brother, Ubaldo, will become a talent agent. Her sister is actress Esperia Pieralisi. Virna began her film career as a teenager. She was discovered by two Neapolitan producers (Antonio Ferrigno and Ettore Pesce) in Paris. Her debut was in La corda d'acciaio/The line of steel (1953-1958, Carlo Borghesio). Initially, she did musical films, like in E Napoli canta/Napoli sings (1953, Armando Grottini) and the successful four-episode film Questa è la vita/Such is life (1954, Luigi Zampa a.o.), with the popular Totò. Her looks were more valued than her talent in some of her early films, like in Le diciottenni/Eighteen Year Olds (1955, Mario Mattoli) with Marisa Allasio, and Lo scapolo/The Bachelor (1955, Antonio Pietrangeli) with Alberto Sordi. She incarnated more demanding roles in Il cardinale Lambertini/Cardinal Lambertini (1954, Giorgio Pastina) opposite Gino Cervi, La Donna del Giorno/The Doll That Took the Town (1956, Francesco Maselli), the peplum Romolo e Remo/Duel of the Titans (1961, Sergio Corbucci) featuring musclemen Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott as the two legendary brothers, and Eva/Eve (1962, Joseph Losey) starring Jeanne Moreau. In the late 1950’s, Lisi played on stage at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, and appeared in I giacobini by Federico Zardi, under the direction of Giorgio Strehler. During the 1960’s, Lisi played in stage comedies and she also participated in some very popular dramatic television productions. On TV she also promoted a toothpaste brand, with a slogan which would become a catchphrase amongst the Italians: "con quella bocca può dire ciò che vuole" (with such a mouth, she can say whatever she wants).

In the 1960’s, Hollywood producers were looking for a successor to Marilyn Monroe and so Virna Lisi made a dent in Hollywood comedies as a tempting blue-eyed blonde. She first starred opposite Jack Lemmon in George Axelrod’s satirical How to Murder Your Wife (1965, Richard Quine). At IMDb reviewer Mdantonio takes hit hat off for her performance: “What most everyone fails to mention in the comments is the incredible skill of Virna Lisi. She is a natural mixing it up with Lemmon, (Claire) Trevor and the other veterans like she had been making movies for years. I have watched many movies in my day and I must say that Virna Lisi is right at the top, not only in beauty and sexuality but in carrying her role as good as anyone else could have. Ms. Lisi, my hat is off to you.” She also gained attention with the March 1965 cover of Esquire magazine on which she was shaving her face. The following year she appeared in another comedy, Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966, Norman Panama) now with Tony Curtis. She also starred with Frank Sinatra in Assault on a Queen (1966, Jack Donohue), with Rod Steiger in La Ragazza e il Generale/The Girl and the General (1967, Pasquale Festa Campanile), and twice with Anthony Quinn, in the war drama La vingt-cinquième heure/The 25th Hour (1967, Henri Verneuil), and in The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969, Stanley Kramer). To overcome her typecasting as a sexy, seductive woman, Lisi sought new types of roles, and found these in such Italian comedies as Le bambole/Four Kinds of Love (1965, Dino Risi a.o.), Signore & signori/The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966, Pietro Germi) and Le dolci signore (1968), and Roma bene (1971, Carlo Lizzani) with Senta Berger. At Rovi, Robert Firsching reviews Signore & signori: “Pietro Germi's funny anthology combines the standard sex comedy format with some unexpectedly subtle observations about village life. The film centers on three stories exposing the sexual secrets of the Italian town of Treviso. (...) Signore e Signori won the Best Film award at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.”

In the early 1970’s, Virna Lisi decided to focus on her family, husband Franco Pesci and her son Corrado, born in 1962. In the later 1970’s she had a career renaissance with a series of major Italian films, including the Nietzsche biography Al di là del bene e del male/Beyond Good and Evil (1977, Liliana Cavani) starring Dominique Sanda, Ernesto (1979, Salvatore Samperi), La cicala/The Cricket (1980, Alberto Lattuada), and I ragazzi di via Panisperna/The Boys of the Via Panisperna (1989, Gianni Amelio) with Andrea Prodan and Mario Adorf. Prodan’s brother Luca is the singer of the Argentinean band later made a song for Lisi. A Brazilian rock band, Virna Lisi, is even named after her. Her greatest triumph was the French film La Reine Margot (1994, Patrice Chéreau) in which Lisi played a malevolent Catherine de Medici, ordering assaults, poisonings, and instigations to incest. Karl Williams writes at Rovi about the film: “The historical novel by Alexandre Dumas was adapted for the screen with this lavish French epic, winner of 5 Césars and a pair of awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Isabelle Adjani stars as Marguerite de Valois, better known as Margot, daughter of scheming Catholic power player Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi).” For her magnificent portrayal Lisi won not only the César and Best Actress award in Cannes, but also the David di Donatello award, the Italian equivalent of the Oscar. Since the late 1990’s, she did many successful dramatic TV productions, including L'onore e il rispetto/Honour and respect (2006, Salvatore Samperi) with Gabriel Garko and Giancarlo Giannini. In 2002, Lisi starred in her last film, Il più bel giorno della mia vita/The Best Day of My Life (2002, Cristina Comencini) with Margherita Buy, but a new film is in production: Boogie Woogie (2011, Andrea Frezza) with Paul Sorvino. Vira Lisi is still married to architect Franco Pesci and they live in five villas in Rome, the Italian countryside and the mountains. They have three grandchildren: Franco, Federico and Riccardo.

Sources: Hal Erickson (Rovi), Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Tags:   Virna Lisi Virna Lisi Italian Acress European Film Star Cinema Cine Kino Film Picture Screen Movie Movies Filmster Star Hollywood Vintage Postcard Postkarte Briefkarte Carte Postale Cartolina Tarjet Postkaart Ansichtkaart Progress

© All Rights Reserved

Yugoslavian postcard by Cik Razglednica.

One of Italy's best-loved artists, Adriano Celentano (1938) has been equally successful in film and music. Since starting his career as a rock ‘roll singer in 1957, Adriano Celentano has released 40 albums. This superstar of Italian pop music is also active as songwriter, comedian, film director and TV host.

For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano Italian Singer Actor European Film Star Film Cine Cinema Kino Picture Screen Movie Movies Filmster Pop Star Vintage Postcard Carte Postale Cartolina Postkarte Briefkarte Briefkaart Postkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Cik Razglednica

© All Rights Reserved

Italian card. Photo: Lux Film.

Handsome, manly Italian actor Massimo Girotti (1918-2003) had a career that spanned seven decades. He is best remembered for three roles: the young wanderer Gino in Luchino Visconti's Ossessione, the stern lover in Michelangelo Antonioni's Cronaca di un amore and the passionate patriot in Visconti's Senso.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Massimo Girotti Massimo Girotti Italian Actor Acteur European Film Star Cinema Cine Kino Film Picture Screen Movie Movies Star Filmster Vintage Postcard Cartolina Carte Postale Tarjet Postal Tarjet Carte Postkarte Postkaart Briefkarte Briefkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Lux

© All Rights Reserved

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano (Milan), no. 981. Photo: ENIC.

Italian actress Marina Berti (1924-2002) was a popular starlet in Italian films in the 1940s and early 1950s.

For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards Already over 3 million views! Or follow us at Tumblr or Pinterest.

Tags:   Marina Berti Marina Berti Maureen Melrose Maureen Melrose Italian Actress European Film Star Cine Kino Film Cinema Picture Screen Movie Movies Filmster Star Vintage Postcard Carte Postale Cartolina Tarjet Postal Postkarte Postkaart Briefkarte Briefkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Bromofoto ENIC

© All Rights Reserved

German postcard for Das Programm von Heute, Berlin, by Ross Verlag. Photo: Difu

Elisa Cegani (1911–1996) was one of the most representative actresses of Italian cinema of the thirties and forties.

Tags:   Elisa Cegani Italian Italy Italia Italiano Italiana Cinema Carte Cartolina Cine Carte Postale Card Celebrity Costume Cinema Italiano Vintage Vedette Postcard Postkarte POstale Postkaart Postal Picture Film Film Star Movies Movie Star 1930s Star Screen Schauspielerin Darstellerin Ansichtkaart Ansichtskarte ACtress Actrice Attrice Sound Sonore Sonoro Tonfilm Ross Difu Das Programm von heute

© All Rights Reserved