Fifty years of Italian cinema (1955)

40 moved to the banks of the Tiber. The mediocre showing made by Cines, and the unhappy experience of Scalera (the greatest concentration of film-making energy born in the sunny climate of the Fascist cinema) gave convincing proof that the Italian film industry could never be organized along the « super-colossal » lines of its North American counterpart. The years from 1930 to 1942 must be considered, them, as a period of preparation, or better still, of incubation for the new Italian cinema. Directors, script-writers, cameramen, set designers, actors, costume designers and cutters practiced their craft in the only effective way (a way strongly advised by Rene Clair) — shooting , literally, miles and miles of film. During those dozen years, film technicians kept a close watch on the developments in filmmaking throughout the world. Their undeniable capacity for meeting any emergency with the most ingenious expedients, their specialization, the excellent dubbing techniques they utilized, and above all, the solid preparation of the young directors soon to blossom forth — ■ these were all positive aspects of the heritage of those dozen years. During those years more than five hundred feature films were made, not counting documentaries and newsreels. Yet not even this expensive but indispensable method of educating film producing personnel, technically and artistically, would have resulted in success if, parallel with these productions, another event of importance had not taken place. Italian culture, for the first time, turned its attention seriously during those years to the meaning of the cinema and began to consider its nature critically ; its component elements, its various aspects, its methods, its aesthetic, educational and social relationships. For the first time (in Italy), literary reviews began to publish articles on the cinema — timidly at first, then with growing interest. For the first time, along with columns of musical, theatre and art criticism, columns of film criticism began to appear in the newspapers. This was an unmistakable sign that motion pictures were no longer considered merely children's entertainment or a pastime for the lower and unlettered classes. Finally the cinema had begun to take account of its own value. As a universal phenomenon, it had to manifest itself in Italy, too. For the first time in Italy, that popular pastime called « the movies » rose to the level of artistic, social and educational dignity. For the first time the cinema and its nature became a subject for study. Could a film aspire to be a work of art ? What was the relationship between the author and the director, the producer, the scenario writer, the dialogue writers, actors, cameramen and other collaborators ? If a film was to be considered a collective product, how was it to be assembled into a homogeneous unit derived from the contributions of diverse personalities ? With the posing of these problems, then, this work of inquiry began some twenty-four years ago. It continues today and will always continue, since all problems of culture are vitally linked with those of art and of the civilization in which they manifest themselves. During the ten years following the First World War the cinema had become the third most important industry in the United States, and, with an irresistible and well-coordinated policy, took control of the major European and worldwide circuits. While the American film industry was becoming the powerful pivot of worldwide film-making economy, shrewd publicity succeeded in generating an overpowering flood of curiosity among millions and millions of people. The creators of « phantom fame » and the masters of « ballyhoo » invented the