Fifty years of Italian cinema (1955)

19 editorially in its third issue, was «to popularize the cinema ». The following month, a regular department of film criticism was inaugurated. In the same year, another cinema review was founded in Milan by Pietro Tonini. The two novelties of the new age were launched — the film and the phonograph. Which was to last ? Which had the bigger future ? At any rate, from the start the public was avid for both. Although Pathe and Gaumont in France led the field, the Italian film industry was not far behind. Most of the films of this period were between 300 and 600 feet. The Luca Comerio enterprise in Milan, under the management of the brilliant journalist and comedy-writer, Mario Marais, soon was at the head of the cinema movement in Italy. Cafe-Chantant, another of the now mushrooming cinema reviews in Italy, lists some of the productions of the time, testifying at least to the multiplicity of tastes. Among the dramas were Per un gioiello (For a Jewel), II piccolo zampognaro (The Little Bagpiper), Cuor di soldato (A Soldier's Heart), La strega (The Witch), La ladra (The Girl Thief), Romanzo di un derelitto (The Romance of a Derelict), II cenciaiuolo (The Ragpicker), Cuore e patria (Heart and Fatherland), Vendetta nor manna (Norman Vengeance), La figlia del carceriere (The Jailer's Daughter), L'idiota (The Idiot), Povera madre (Poor Mother) / due fratelli (The Two Brothers), Dramma al Morocco (Drama in Morocco), La Sorella (The Sister), Bandito nero (The Black Bandit), La nipote del prete (The Priest's Niece). Historical dramas included : Garibaldi by Cines ; Isabella Orsini by Pinecchi ; Amleto (Hamlet) by Comerio ; Don Giovanni (Don Juan) by Pathe. Fantasies (in the sense of story films of the imagination) comprised : Amore di altri tempi (Love in Times Gone By) ; Natale (The Nativity) by Cines ; / sette castelli del diavolo (The Seven Castles of the Devil) by Melies ; Dadi magici (Magic Dice) ; Nel paese dell'oro (In the Land of Gold) by Pathe ; Nel regno dei sogni (In the Kingdom of Dreams) by Vitagraph. Comedies included Primi calori (Early Heat) and Vittima delta Fedeltd (Victim of Fidelity) by Ambrosio ; Serenata disastrosa (Disastrous Serenade) and Barbiere moderno (Modern Barber) by Cines ; II testamento dello zio (The Uncle's Will) by Rossi ; Facciamo divorzio (Let's Get a Divorce) ; La pi pa del nonno (Grandfather's Pipe) and Una dura lezione (A Hard Lesson) by Comerio ; La Scala (The Staircase) by Gaumont. Documentaries included : Incendio del Valentino (The Burning of Valentino), Sicilia Illustrata (Sicily in Pictures) ; Una settimana in Russia (A Week in Russia) ; / funerali di Bucconi (Funerals of Bucconi) ; Venezia a volo di uccello (A Bird's Eye View of Venice). These films ran from the 150 feet of Medoro al Telefono (Medoro at the Telephone) to the 1050 feet of Cenerentola (Cinderella), both by Pathe. Cafe-Chantant does not mention the activities at this time of the Partenope Film Company. Among the spectacles of the time was Cine's Pietro Micca, described by them as « a grandiose historical drama of 600 feet... portraying the dramatic and adventurous life of this glorious hero — one of the grandest pages in Italian history ! Exciting scenes of the deepest devotion and patriotism ! The action unfolds in five scenes, each based on a reconstruction of historical truth on a lavish scale ! » Both Pietro Micca and Comerio 's / Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) were typical successes of the time. 2* — Italian cinema.