Emma Gramatica – actress

Celebrating the long career of a seasoned stage and film performer

Emma Gramatica came from an acting 
background in the early 20th century

The theatre and cinema actress Emma Gramatica was born Aida Laura Argia Gramatica on this day in 1874 in Borgo San Donnino, which is today known as Fidenza, in the province of Parma in Emilia-Romagna.

Emma appeared in 29 films between 1919 and 1962 and was also a principal actress in the Italian theatre in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her sisters, Irma and Anna Gramatica, were also actresses. Anna, married the actor Ruggero Capodaglio and therefore became the sister-in-law of the famous actress, Wanda Capodaglio.

While still a teenager, Emma Gramatica made her stage debut next to the celebrated actress Eleonora Duse in La Gioconda by Gabriele D’Annunzio.

Emma became the primattrice (first actress) in the stage companies led by some of the most prestigious names in the Italian theatre of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Ermete Zacconi, Flavio Andò, Enrico Reinach, and Ermete Novelli.

In the early part of the 20th century, she formed the famous theatre company Gramatica-Carini-Piperno, employing leading performers such as Renzo Ricci and Lola Braccini.

Emma’s film debut came - in the silent era - in 1916 when she appeared as a marriage wrecker in Quando il canto si spegne (When the Song is Over) opposite Luigi Serventi. The press praised her for her stage qualities but criticised her looks and theatricality and said they couldn’t accept her in the part of a mistress for whom a man would break up his marriage. 

As a result, Emma was to stay away from films until the arrival of sound cinema in Italy.

In 1931, by which time she was 57, she appeared in the film La Vecchia Signora, playing the part of an impoverished old lady selling chestnuts in the streets to support her niece.

As an older actress, Gramatica was
able to earn extra cash

She appeared in Napoli d’altri tempi in 1938, which starred Vittorio De Sica, and in Mamma in 1941, playing the mother of the opera singer Mario Sarni, played by the famous tenor Beniamino Gigli. In the film Sorelle Matterassi in 1944, Emma and her sister, Irma, played the parts of two old spinsters.

Emma Gramatica was in her seventies when she achieved her most important film and television successes.

Her most famous film was Miracolo a Milano, a neorealist fable directed by Vittorio De Sica in 1951, when she played the part of old Lolotta, who finds a baby among the cauliflowers in her garden and names him Totò, the movie’s central character played by Francesco Golisano. She brings him up to be both optimistic and kind.

Emma also appeared in Don Camillo: Monsignor in 1961 starring Fernandel and Gino Cervi.

The Don Camillo stories, featuring the characters Don Camillo and Peppone - the parish priest and Communist mayor of a fictional town in rural post-World War Two Italy - were the creation of writer and journalist Giovannino Guareschi in the 1940s and 1950s. They were hugely popular and have been adapted many times for film, radio and TV.

Emma received many awards and honours in Italy during her career and the Legion of Honour in France. The sculptor Mario Rutelli celebrated Emma’s looks in 1905 by creating a bronze portrait bust of her. 

The actress died in Ostia, a town near the ancient port of Rome, at the age of 91 in 1965. She was laid to rest in her family tomb in the cemetery of Signa in Via Sorelle Gramatica in Florence, with her sister, Irma, and her parents.

Fidenza's Piazza Garibaldi is flanked by the
Palazzo Comunale, the town hall

Travel tip:

Fidenza, where Emma Gramatica was born, is an historic town of 27,000 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, about 30km (19 miles) northwest of Parma and 45km (28 miles) southeast of Piacenza along the ancient Via Emilia. Originally known as Fidentia during Roman times, the town was later called Borgo San Donnino, in honour of Saint Domninus, a Christian martyr. It was renamed Fidenza in 1927. The town’s attractions include a 12th–13th century Romanesque cathedral, dedicated to St Domninus, with a façade attributed to the sculptor Benedetto Antelami. The town’s central square, Piazza Garibaldi, flanked by the Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), is a lively civic space. Fidenza is close to Busseto - the birthplace of Verdi - the spa town of Salsomaggiore Terme, and the fortified village of Fontanellato. Fidenza had prominence in medieval times as a key stop along the Via Francigena, the pilgrimage route connecting Canterbury to Rome.

A street in the well preserved 
Roman resort of Ostia, near Rome

Travel tip:

Ostia - Lido di Ostia, to give its full name - is a seaside escape popular with Romans, offering long stretches of sandy beaches, vibrant nightlife, and seafood restaurants. It is situated on the Tyrrhenian coast just 30km (18 miles) southwest of the capital and easily accessible by train from central Rome. It blends beach culture with history, thanks to its proximity to the ancient Roman city of Ostia Antica. Highlights include the scenic pier Pontile di Ostia and Borghetto dei Pescatori, a quaint fishing village that forms part of the resort.  Ostia Antica, founded in the 4th century BC, was the bustling port of ancient Rome. The remains offer a remarkably preserved glimpse into Roman urban life. The city was a hub for trade, grain storage, and maritime defense, reflecting Rome’s imperial might. Among the best preserved buildings are a Roman theatre, still used for performances today, a Forum and Baths and some apartment buildings that are rare examples of multi-story Roman housing.  Ostia Antica has the advantage for visitors of being quieter and less crowded, for example, than the world famous ruins at Pompeii, but is an equally important site. 

More reading:

Why Eleonora Duse is regarded as one of the greatest acting talents of all time

Vittorio De Sica and the golden age of neorealism in Italian cinema

Gino Cervi - from Don Camillo to Maigret

Also on this day:

1647: The death of scientist Evangelista Torricelli

1815: The birth of virtuoso violinist Camillo Sivori

1902: The birth of Carlo Gnocchi, chaplain to Italy’s WW2 alpine troops

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Francesca Bertini - silent movie actress

Diva described as Italy’s first film star

Francesca Bertini appeared in 
almost 150 movies in her career

The actress Francesca Bertini, one of the three so-called divas of Italy’s silent movie era, died on this day in 1985 in Rome at the age of 93.

Between her screen debut in 1907 and her effective retirement in 1935, Bertini appeared in 139 titles. Her last appearance came in 1976, at the age of 84, when the director Bernardo Bertolucci persuaded her to accept a cameo in his epic historical drama, Novecento (1900).

Bertini, Lyda Borelli and Pina Menichelli were regarded as Italy’s three biggest female stars of the silent movie years and though Borelli came to be seen as the most talented of the three, there is no doubt that Bertini was a woman of outstanding ability. She has been described as Italy's first film star.

Her most famous film, Assunta Spina, a 1915 production, not only saw her take the title role but write scripts and direct many of the scenes, introducing a level of realism into the performances that was ahead of its time.

Bertini’s birth was registered in 1892 at an orphanage in Florence as Elena Taddei, although it is unclear whether Taddei was the name of her father. Her mother was said to be Adelina di Venanzio Fratiglioni, an unmarried woman who was thought to have been an actress herself. After 1910, when her mother married Arturo Vitiello, she was known as Elena Seracini Vitiello.

Vitiello was thought to be a furniture dealer who had connections with the theatre in Naples as a propman and Bertini’s first experiences of acting came in the southern city. In fact, her debut came in a stage production of Assunta Spina, a short story that its Neapolitan author, Salvatore Di Giacomo, had turned into a play.

Francesca Bertini in a scene from her
most successful movie, Assunta Spina 

Her early film roles included Lucrezia Borgia, Cordelia in King Lear, Manon Lescaut in a screen adaptation of Puccini’s opera and by 1915 she had already clocked up 50 credits and was becoming known everywhere that silent films were taking off.

The success of such films as Histoire d’un Pierrot (1914), Sangue bleu (1914), Nelly la gigolette (1915) and La signora delle camelie (1915) saw Bertini able to negotiate substantial pay deals and significant artistic input.

In interviews later in life, Bertini declared her pride in Assunta Spina, claiming she was the first to suggest shooting scenes in the street rather than on stage sets and using members of the public as extras, to a degree that it should be seen as a forerunner of the Neorealism that put Italian cinema on the map in the postwar years.

Bertini had the opportunity to take her career to Hollywood in 1920 as the Fox Film Corporation offered her a contract. However, she turned it down. Recently married to Paul Cartier, a wealthy Swiss banker, she wanted to move with him to Switzerland. 

After 10 films in 1920 alone, Bertini significantly reduced her output once married, winding down her career further once Mussolini’s Fascists began to introduce censorship.  After the third of three adaptations of Odette, based upon the play by Victorien Sardou, in 1935, she went 15 years without making another screen appearance.

When Bertolucci invited Bertini to appear in Novecento, part of a cast that included Robert De Niro, Gerard Depardieu, Donald Sutherland, Laura Betti, Stefania Sandrelli, Alida Valli and Burt Lancaster, it was taken as a tribute to her own talent and to the stars of the silent movie era.

Bertini returned to Rome after the death of her husband and spent her final years in the Italian capital.

The Florence duomo dominates the skyline of
Italy's beautiful Renaissance city

Travel tip:

Florence, Bertini’s birthplace, remains one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, largely on account of its wealth of art and architecture, the visible legacy of its history as the cradle of the Renaissance. Its duomo - the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore - with its enormous dome by Filippo Brunelleschi and campanile by Giotto, towers above the city and is the dominant feature of almost every cityscape. The focal point of the city is the Piazza della Signoria, which contains several important sculptures and statues, including a copy of Michelangelo's David - the original is in the Galleria dell'Accademia - outside the Palazzo Vecchio, Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus, just to the right of the David, and the Nettuno by Ammannati.   Under the Loggia dei Lanzi, to the right of Palazzo Vecchio, the statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head, by Benvenuto Cellini, alongside Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines.

A reconstruction of ancient Rome is part of
the Cinecittà complex in the south of the city

Travel tip:

The centre of the movie industry in Rome is Cinecittà, the largest film studio in Europe, spreading over an area of 100 acres with  22 stages and 300 dressing rooms. Situated six miles south of the city centre, it is the hub of the Italian film industry. Built during the Fascist era under the personal direction of Benito Mussolini and his son, Vittorio, the studios were bombed by the Allies in the Second World War but were rebuilt and used again in the 1950s for large productions, such as Ben Hur. These days a range of productions, from television drama to music videos, are filmed there.

Also on this day:

54: The death of Claudius, Roman emperor

1815: The execution of Napoleon’s chief aide in Italy, Joachim Murat

1884: The birth of anarchist Mario Buda

1899: The birth of sportsman and entrepreneur Piero Dusio

(Florence picture by Andrea Spallanzani from Pixabay)

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Pina Menichelli – silent movie star

Screen diva who enjoyed worldwide fame

Pina Menichelli in one of the extravagant
costumes she wore in Il Fuoco

The actress Pina Menichelli, who became one of the most celebrated female stars of the silent movie era, was born on this day in 1890 in Castroreale, a village in northeast Sicily.

Menichelli’s career was brief – she retired at the age of just 34 – but in her last eight or nine years on screen she enjoyed such popularity that her films played to packed houses and she commanded a salary that was the equivalent of millions of euros in today’s money.

Without words, actors had to use facial expressions and body movements to create character in the parts they were playing and Menichelli, a naturally beautiful woman, exploited her elegance and sensuality to the full, at times pushing the limits of what was acceptable on screen.

In fact, one of her films, La Moglie di Claudio (Claudio’s Wife) was banned by the censors for fear it would offend sensitivities, particularly those of the Catholic Church.

Generally cast in the role of femme fatale, Menichelli thus became something of a sex symbol in the years after the First World War and there was considerable shock when she announced abruptly in 1924 that she was quitting the film industry for good.

Born Giuseppa Iolanda Menichelli, she came from a theatrical background.  Her parents, Cesare and Francesca, were touring theatre actors, part of a dynasty of performers that included Nicola Menichelli, an 18^th century comedian. Two sisters and a brother also became actors.

Menichelli and Amleto Novelli in the film Padrone
delle Ferriere directed by Eugenio Perego

She grew up on the road. She went to school in Bologna in northern Italy and joined a theatre company to tour Argentina as a teenager in 1908.

While she was living in Buenos Aires she met and married Libero Pica, an Italian journalist who was based there, and had two sons, the first of whom, sadly, survived only a few days.

Had things worked out differently, her big-screen career might never have happened, but after she became pregnant for a third time the couple separated and she returned to Italy. Her third child, a daughter, was born in Milan in 1912.

In 1913, with the Italian film industry still in its infancy, Menichelli signed up with the Rome studio Cines, and between 1913 and 1915 made 35 movies, graduating from small parts in short films to lead roles in features.

She was climbing the ladder towards fame, having earned favourable comparisons with Lydia Borelli and Francesca Bertini, the most famous Italian actresses of the day, when she moved to Itala Films of Turin, lured there by the director, Giovanni Pastrone, who saw in her the potential to become a star.

Giovanni Pastrone recognised Pina
Menichelli's star potential

He gave her the lead role in a film entitled Il Fuoco (The Fire), about the tempestuous love affair between an aristocratic poet (Menichelli) and an impoverished painter (Febo Mari), which was critically acclaimed and became a global success.

Her next role, as a glamorous Russian countess pursued by an amorous diplomat (Alberto Nepoti), in Pastrone’s Tigre Reale (Royal Tiger), had critics trying to outdo one another in the extravagance of their praise, referring to her “erotic charge, seductive glances and provocative body movements.”

One critic, noting Menichelli's propensity for writhing poses and sudden, dramatic movements, rather unflatteringly dubbed her "Our Lady of the Spasms."

It established Menichelli as the biggest star of all the divas of Italy’s silent movie scene and her salary catapulted almost overnight from around 12,000 lire per year working for Cines to move than 300,000 lire per year at Itala.

In 1919, she took the bold decision to leave Pastrone and Itala Films in order to sign up with Rinascimento Film of Rome, a company set up specifically for her by Baron Carlo d’Amato, who would later become her second husband.

The Italian film industry was beginning to struggle as the economic hardships of the 1920s began to take hold, yet by targeting foreign markets D’Amato was able to buck the trend and Menichelli continued to enjoy success.

La Storia di Una Donna won
critical acclaim for Menichelli

She was also given a platform to show off a different range of acting talents by a director willing to experiment.  His 1920 feature La Storia di Una Donna starred Menichelli as a mystery woman taken unconscious with gunshot wounds to a hospital, where a detective trying to identify her finds a diary telling the story of her life, which is then played out for the audience as a series of extended flashbacks, a technique at the time that was highly unusual.

Menichelli made a total of 13 films for D’Amato, rounding off with a couple of light-hearted comedies before the two were married in 1924, following the death of her first husband, who had always refused to allow their marriage to be annulled.

It was then that she announced she was not only retiring but turning her back on the cinema to the extent that she wished almost to erase it from her life, destroying every photograph, poster and programme she possessed and making it known that approaches from journalists, biographers or cinema historians who might wish to chronicle her career would not be welcome.

Wealthy enough never to have to worry about money, she seemingly wanted nothing but to resume the life of a housewife and mother that was denied to her when she parted acrimoniously from her first husband.  The image of a “vamp”, a femme-fatale, a sex symbol, she felt was incompatible with that of a good wife.

She lived the remainder of her life – another 60 years – out of the spotlight, outliving her husband and dying in relative obscurity in Milan in 1984 at the age of 94.

The hilltop town of Castroreale in Sicily

Travel tip:

Castroreale, where Pina Menichelli was born, is a hilltop village in northeast Sicily about 9km (5.5 miles) inland and 30km (19 miles) southwest of the city of Messina. It is notable for having 80 churches – roughly one for every 35 residents.  Notable among these are the 15^th century Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta, with its Mannerist façade with Baroque and classical decorations, the church of the Candelora on Via Umberto I, which contains a 17^th century wooden altar with carvings attributed to Giovanni Siracusa.  Two art collections, housed in the former church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, and in the Civic Museum, are worth a visit.

The Villa della Regina was a palace of the House of Savoy

Travel tip:

The studios of Itala Film, where Menichelli found fame, were in Via Luisa del Carretto, a street in Turin in the neighbourhood of Gran Madre, a quiet residential area across the Po river from the main part of the city yet only five or 10 minutes from the centre.  Nearby is the Villa della Regina, a 17^th century palace designed by Ascanio Vitozzi for the House of Savoy.

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