Pina Menichelli
Encyclopedia
Giuseppa Iolanda Menichelli (10 January 1890 – 29 August 1984), known as Pina Menichelli, was an Italian actress and silent film star. After a career in theatre and a series of small film roles, Menichelli was launched as a film star when Giovanni Pastrone
gave her the lead role in Il Fuoco (1915). Over the next nine years, Menichelli made a series of films, often trading on her image as a diva and on her passionate, decadent eroticism. Menichelli became a global star, and one of the most appreciated actress in Italian cinema, before her retirement in 1924, aged 34.
Since her death, restorations of Menichelli's surviving films have been show at important film festivals, and her filmography has been re-assembled and re-evaluated by film historians.
, a small village in the province of Messina, Sicily
. Her parents, Cesare and Francesca Malvica, were both touring theatre actors, who performed in Sicilian dialect.. The Menichellis were part of a dynasty of performers, which included Nicola Menichelli, an important eighteenty century comedian
. Her older sister Lilla, younger sister Dora and brother Alfredo all became actors. Pina Menichelli was educated at the Sacre Cuore Catholic School in Bologna.
Being part of a family of touring actors, Menichelli started acting as child. Her first important role was in 1907 in a theatre company run by Irma Gramatica and Flavio Andò, which toured Argentina
in 1908. Menichelli married and took up residence in Buenos Aires in 1909.
in 1913–1915. Menichelli initially had parts in action-adventure films (Le mani ignote, Zuma and Il banchiere), before gaining supporting roles in several films based around famous actresses, such as Hesperia (Olga Mambelli), Soava Gallone and Gianna Terribili-Gonzales. Menichelli received positive reviews for her performances in In Contrasto (1913), Il siero del dottor Kean (1913) and La barca nuziale (1913). Menichelli played Cleopatra in Cajus Julius Caesar (1914), but all her scenes were cut from the final film.
In the Napoleonic war epic Scuola d'eroi (1914), Menichelli had a cameo
as a drummer girl. Legend has it that her performance struck Giovanni Pastrone
, the director of Cabiria
, who cut a frame from the film reel and ordered that the unknown actress be brought to Itala Films of Turin
. However, reviews of her last films at Cines suggest that Menichelli was well on her way to film stardom before her move to Itala Films. Menichelli had graduated to starring roles in feature films, and her performances were generally positively reviewed, earning her favourable comparisons with Lyda Borelli
and Francesca Bertini
, the two most famous Italian film actresses of the time. One reviewer noted Menichelli's, "uncommon talent," in Alla Deriva (1915). Commenting on La casa di nessuno (1915), another reviewer remarked, "The public like Menichelli, and that's enough. I could say that I like her too."
decided to launch Menichelli as a film star, and gave her the lead role in Il Fuoco (The Fire), which was a global popular and critical success. This acclaim catapulted Menichelli into the ranks of the lavishly-paid cinema divas, such as Francesca Bertini
and Lyda Borelli
. The film bore no formal relation to Gabriele d'Annunzio's
novel of the same name, and was developed from a screenplay by Febo Mari, Menichelli's co-star. However, the film was full of d'Annunzian themes of violent passion, power and decadence. The film is divided into three parts: La Favilla (the spark), La Vampa (the flame/blaze) and Il Cenere (the ashes), which correspond with the three phases of the relationship between Menichelli's aristocratic poet and Mari's impoverished painter. The original poster for Il Fuoco depicts a key moment in the film. Menichelli's character knocks over an oil lamp, and asks Mari's character to choose between love and all-consuming passion, and he chooses the latter. Menichelli's feathered hat, long capes and fierece gestures make her seem like an owl and reinforce one of the film's motifs; the link between the femme fatale
and birds of prey. Menichelli earned the nickname 'Our Lady of Spasms' for her abrupt gestures in this film.
In 1916, Menichelli's status as a screen diva
was cemented by Tigre Reale (Royal Tiger), directed by Giovanni Pastrone. The screenplay was loosely adapted from a novel by Giovanni Verga
, who refused to have his name appear on the poster or in the film's credits. The plot concerns a diplomat, La Ferlita (Alberto Nepoti), who falls in love with the Russian Countess Natka (Menichelli). Natka frequently encourages then rejects La Ferlita, and their love story is broken up by a long flashback
to Natka's previous relationship with a young revolutionary called Dolski (Febo Mari). Amid some beautfiul snow scenes, Countess Natka's chance encounter with Dolski leads to a passionate romance. Exiled to Siberia
, Dolski betrays Natka and kills himself when Natka finds him. After telling La Ferlita the story, Natka then disappears for several months, and La Ferlita is unable to find her. When the countess and the diplomat eventually meet, they are locked in a room in a huge theatre and hotel, which goes up in flames. The impressive scenes of the fire were made with the help of expert cinematographer Segundo de Chomon
. The film's structure demonstrates Pastrone's secure grasp of cinematic form. Pastrone made excellent use of extended flashbacks and highlighted the parallels in the narrative with an effective system of montage. Tigre Reale was a huge commercial success.
In Il Fuoco and Tigre Reale, Menichelli impressed cinema audiences with her, "...erotic charge, seductive glances and provocative body movements," and established herself as the femme fatale
of Italian silent cinema. Both Il Fuoco and Tigre Reale are perfect examples of what Aldo Bernardini defined as, "tailcoat
cinema." Both films allowed audiences a passport into the exciting lives of the upper-classes; an imaginary world of luxury where it was possible to transgress Italian society's strict moral codes. More widely, both films have also been mentioned as classics of the diva
genre, although Menichelli's acting style was far different to the more theatrical styles of Francesca Bertini
and Lyda Borelli
. While Bertini rejected close-ups in the early part of her career, Menichelli managed to express a lot of emotion in them. Unlike Bertini, Menichelli did not claim to be the 'creator' of her character, and worked under the orders of her directors.
In 1918, La moglie di Claudio (Claudio's wife) was banned from cinemas by the Italian censorship board
because Menichelli was "troppo...affascinante!" (too...fascinating!) in the film.. Una Sventella (1918) was released to moderate reviews.
In 1919, Menichelli starred in Il padrone delle ferriere (The boss of the ironworks) alongisde Amleto Novelli, one of the most famous Italian actors of the period. The film was a huge commercial and critical success.
for his permission to leave Itala Films. During her four years at Itala Films, Menichelli's career had reached great heights, and her salary had increased from 12,000 lira per year to 300,000 lira per year. Menichelli moved to Rinascimento Film of Rome, which had been founded specifically for her by Baron Carlo D'Amato, and made a total of thirteen films there between 1919 and 1923. Despite the deepening crisis in the Italian film industry during these years, Menichelli's films continued to do well commercially because of her enduring popularity in certain countries, such as Mexico, and Rinascimento Film's calculated appeal to export markets, which included adapting foreign texts and putting foreign co-stars alongside Menichelli.
In 1920, Menichelli starred in La Storia di Una Donna (The Story of a Woman), her first production at Rinascimento Film. Highly unusually for the time, the story of the protagonist is told through an extended flashback. An unconscious woman with gunshot wounds is brought into the city hospital. After conversing with her doctor, a detective finds the woman's diary, which is then used to tell the story of her life. At the end of the film, the unknown woman dies, having never regained consciousness, and the detective sets off to arrest her killer. The sets and interiors, extravagant in Menichelli's earlier films, were reduced to a bare minimum, and the film used low-key lighting
in a similar way to the German Expressionists
, creating large areas of shadow within the set.
In 1922, Rinascimento Film decided to adapt a play by English author Arthur Wing Piñero called The Second Wife. Menichelli travelled to London to shoot the exterior scenes. The resulting film, La Seconda Moglie (1922), was praised by English and Italian critics alike.
In 1923, the final year of her career, Menichelli starred in two light-hearted romantic comedies, La Dama di chez Maxim and Occupati D'Aemilia. Her co-star in both films was French actor Marcel Lévesque, best known for his comic roles in Louis Feuillade's
serial films Les Vampires
(1915) and Judex (1917). This marked a change from her usual serious roles, and both films were very popular with the public.
in 1909, Pina Menichelli married an Italo-Argentine, Libero Pica, and the couple had three children. One child, a boy, was born in 1909 and died shortly afterwards. The second, a son called Manolo, was born in 1910. The couple separated when Menichelli was pregnant with their third child, a daughter called Cesarina, who was born in Milan
in 1912.
The fact that Menichelli was a 'separated woman' was well-known to the Italian public. This contrasts with the likes of Emilio Ghione
, one of the most famous Italian male film stars of the 1910s, who managed to hide his separated wife from public view.
On the death of her first husband, who had always refused to annul their marriage, Menichelli married Baron Carlo D'Amato, founder of Rinascimento Film, in 1924. Menichelli retired from public life and refused all contact with film historians. Menichelli also destroyed all the documents and photographs relating to her film career which were in her possession.
Menichelli died in Milan on the 29th August 1984.
The following films are preserved in film archives:
Giovanni Pastrone
Giovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco , was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician.Pastrone was born in Montechiaro d'Asti...
gave her the lead role in Il Fuoco (1915). Over the next nine years, Menichelli made a series of films, often trading on her image as a diva and on her passionate, decadent eroticism. Menichelli became a global star, and one of the most appreciated actress in Italian cinema, before her retirement in 1924, aged 34.
Since her death, restorations of Menichelli's surviving films have been show at important film festivals, and her filmography has been re-assembled and re-evaluated by film historians.
Early Life
Giuseppa Iolanda Menichelli was born on 10 January 1890 in CastrorealeCastroreale
Castroreale is a village in the Province of Messina of Sicily, southern Italy.It has around 2,702 inhabitants but over 80 churches, and is architecturally interesting, with some houses dating to the 13th century...
, a small village in the province of Messina, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. Her parents, Cesare and Francesca Malvica, were both touring theatre actors, who performed in Sicilian dialect.. The Menichellis were part of a dynasty of performers, which included Nicola Menichelli, an important eighteenty century comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. Her older sister Lilla, younger sister Dora and brother Alfredo all became actors. Pina Menichelli was educated at the Sacre Cuore Catholic School in Bologna.
Being part of a family of touring actors, Menichelli started acting as child. Her first important role was in 1907 in a theatre company run by Irma Gramatica and Flavio Andò, which toured Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in 1908. Menichelli married and took up residence in Buenos Aires in 1909.
Start of film career
After her return to Italy in 1912, Menichelli acted in around thirty-five films made by Cines of RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1913–1915. Menichelli initially had parts in action-adventure films (Le mani ignote, Zuma and Il banchiere), before gaining supporting roles in several films based around famous actresses, such as Hesperia (Olga Mambelli), Soava Gallone and Gianna Terribili-Gonzales. Menichelli received positive reviews for her performances in In Contrasto (1913), Il siero del dottor Kean (1913) and La barca nuziale (1913). Menichelli played Cleopatra in Cajus Julius Caesar (1914), but all her scenes were cut from the final film.
In the Napoleonic war epic Scuola d'eroi (1914), Menichelli had a cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as a drummer girl. Legend has it that her performance struck Giovanni Pastrone
Giovanni Pastrone
Giovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco , was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician.Pastrone was born in Montechiaro d'Asti...
, the director of Cabiria
Cabiria
Cabiria is a silent movie from the early years of Italy's movie industry, directed by Giovanni Pastrone . The movie is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War . It follows a melodramatic main plot about an abducted little girl, Cabiria, and features...
, who cut a frame from the film reel and ordered that the unknown actress be brought to Itala Films of Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. However, reviews of her last films at Cines suggest that Menichelli was well on her way to film stardom before her move to Itala Films. Menichelli had graduated to starring roles in feature films, and her performances were generally positively reviewed, earning her favourable comparisons with Lyda Borelli
Lyda Borelli
Lyda Borelli was an Italian actress of cinema and theatre. She was born in Genoa, and died in Rome.-Filmography:* Ma l'amor mio non muore * La memoria dell'altro * La donna nuda...
and Francesca Bertini
Francesca Bertini
Francesca Bertini was an Italian silent film actress. She was one of the most successful silent film stars in the first quarter of the twentieth-century.-Biography:...
, the two most famous Italian film actresses of the time. One reviewer noted Menichelli's, "uncommon talent," in Alla Deriva (1915). Commenting on La casa di nessuno (1915), another reviewer remarked, "The public like Menichelli, and that's enough. I could say that I like her too."
Screen breakthrough: Il Fuoco and Tigre Reale
In 1915, Giovanni PastroneGiovanni Pastrone
Giovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco , was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician.Pastrone was born in Montechiaro d'Asti...
decided to launch Menichelli as a film star, and gave her the lead role in Il Fuoco (The Fire), which was a global popular and critical success. This acclaim catapulted Menichelli into the ranks of the lavishly-paid cinema divas, such as Francesca Bertini
Francesca Bertini
Francesca Bertini was an Italian silent film actress. She was one of the most successful silent film stars in the first quarter of the twentieth-century.-Biography:...
and Lyda Borelli
Lyda Borelli
Lyda Borelli was an Italian actress of cinema and theatre. She was born in Genoa, and died in Rome.-Filmography:* Ma l'amor mio non muore * La memoria dell'altro * La donna nuda...
. The film bore no formal relation to Gabriele d'Annunzio's
Gabriele D'Annunzio
Gabriele D'Annunzio or d'Annunzio was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist...
novel of the same name, and was developed from a screenplay by Febo Mari, Menichelli's co-star. However, the film was full of d'Annunzian themes of violent passion, power and decadence. The film is divided into three parts: La Favilla (the spark), La Vampa (the flame/blaze) and Il Cenere (the ashes), which correspond with the three phases of the relationship between Menichelli's aristocratic poet and Mari's impoverished painter. The original poster for Il Fuoco depicts a key moment in the film. Menichelli's character knocks over an oil lamp, and asks Mari's character to choose between love and all-consuming passion, and he chooses the latter. Menichelli's feathered hat, long capes and fierece gestures make her seem like an owl and reinforce one of the film's motifs; the link between the femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
and birds of prey. Menichelli earned the nickname 'Our Lady of Spasms' for her abrupt gestures in this film.
In 1916, Menichelli's status as a screen diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
was cemented by Tigre Reale (Royal Tiger), directed by Giovanni Pastrone. The screenplay was loosely adapted from a novel by Giovanni Verga
Giovanni Verga
Giovanni Carmelo Verga was an Italian realist writer, best known for his depictions of life in Sicily, and especially for the short story "Cavalleria Rusticana" and the novel I Malavoglia .-Life and career:The first son of Giovanni Battista Catalano Verga and Caterina Di Mauro,...
, who refused to have his name appear on the poster or in the film's credits. The plot concerns a diplomat, La Ferlita (Alberto Nepoti), who falls in love with the Russian Countess Natka (Menichelli). Natka frequently encourages then rejects La Ferlita, and their love story is broken up by a long flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
to Natka's previous relationship with a young revolutionary called Dolski (Febo Mari). Amid some beautfiul snow scenes, Countess Natka's chance encounter with Dolski leads to a passionate romance. Exiled to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, Dolski betrays Natka and kills himself when Natka finds him. After telling La Ferlita the story, Natka then disappears for several months, and La Ferlita is unable to find her. When the countess and the diplomat eventually meet, they are locked in a room in a huge theatre and hotel, which goes up in flames. The impressive scenes of the fire were made with the help of expert cinematographer Segundo de Chomon
Segundo de Chomón
Segundo Víctor Aurelio Chomón y Ruiz was a pioneering Spanish film director. He produced many short films in France while working for Pathé Frères and has been compared to Georges Méliès, due to his frequent camera tricks and optical illusions.-Selected filmography:*1902: Choque de trenes,...
. The film's structure demonstrates Pastrone's secure grasp of cinematic form. Pastrone made excellent use of extended flashbacks and highlighted the parallels in the narrative with an effective system of montage. Tigre Reale was a huge commercial success.
In Il Fuoco and Tigre Reale, Menichelli impressed cinema audiences with her, "...erotic charge, seductive glances and provocative body movements," and established herself as the femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
of Italian silent cinema. Both Il Fuoco and Tigre Reale are perfect examples of what Aldo Bernardini defined as, "tailcoat
Tailcoat
A tailcoat is a coat with the front of the skirt cut away, so as to leave only the rear section of the skirt, known as the tails. The historical reason coats were cut this way was to make it easier for the wearer to ride a horse, but over the years tailcoats of varying types have evolved into forms...
cinema." Both films allowed audiences a passport into the exciting lives of the upper-classes; an imaginary world of luxury where it was possible to transgress Italian society's strict moral codes. More widely, both films have also been mentioned as classics of the diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
genre, although Menichelli's acting style was far different to the more theatrical styles of Francesca Bertini
Francesca Bertini
Francesca Bertini was an Italian silent film actress. She was one of the most successful silent film stars in the first quarter of the twentieth-century.-Biography:...
and Lyda Borelli
Lyda Borelli
Lyda Borelli was an Italian actress of cinema and theatre. She was born in Genoa, and died in Rome.-Filmography:* Ma l'amor mio non muore * La memoria dell'altro * La donna nuda...
. While Bertini rejected close-ups in the early part of her career, Menichelli managed to express a lot of emotion in them. Unlike Bertini, Menichelli did not claim to be the 'creator' of her character, and worked under the orders of her directors.
Career at Itala Films
Only a brief fragment of Gemma di Sant'Eremo (1916) has survived, making any judgement of the film or Menichelli's performance difficult. The film was a success in Spain, France and Central America.In Italy, the film's ending was changed on the orders of the Italian censors, and the film was a commercial failure. A similar fate also awaited L'Olocausto, which had been made by Itala in 1915, and was only released in Italy in 1919, having been cut from 1400 to 955m. released as Golden Plait in England, France germany, big success. .In 1918, La moglie di Claudio (Claudio's wife) was banned from cinemas by the Italian censorship board
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
because Menichelli was "troppo...affascinante!" (too...fascinating!) in the film.. Una Sventella (1918) was released to moderate reviews.
In 1919, Menichelli starred in Il padrone delle ferriere (The boss of the ironworks) alongisde Amleto Novelli, one of the most famous Italian actors of the period. The film was a huge commercial and critical success.
Move to Rinascimento Film
In 1919, Menichelli broke down in tears when she asked Giovanni PastroneGiovanni Pastrone
Giovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco , was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician.Pastrone was born in Montechiaro d'Asti...
for his permission to leave Itala Films. During her four years at Itala Films, Menichelli's career had reached great heights, and her salary had increased from 12,000 lira per year to 300,000 lira per year. Menichelli moved to Rinascimento Film of Rome, which had been founded specifically for her by Baron Carlo D'Amato, and made a total of thirteen films there between 1919 and 1923. Despite the deepening crisis in the Italian film industry during these years, Menichelli's films continued to do well commercially because of her enduring popularity in certain countries, such as Mexico, and Rinascimento Film's calculated appeal to export markets, which included adapting foreign texts and putting foreign co-stars alongside Menichelli.
In 1920, Menichelli starred in La Storia di Una Donna (The Story of a Woman), her first production at Rinascimento Film. Highly unusually for the time, the story of the protagonist is told through an extended flashback. An unconscious woman with gunshot wounds is brought into the city hospital. After conversing with her doctor, a detective finds the woman's diary, which is then used to tell the story of her life. At the end of the film, the unknown woman dies, having never regained consciousness, and the detective sets off to arrest her killer. The sets and interiors, extravagant in Menichelli's earlier films, were reduced to a bare minimum, and the film used low-key lighting
Low-key lighting
Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for photography, film or television. It is a necessary element in creating a chiaroscuro effect. Traditional photographic lighting, three-point lighting uses a key light, a fill light, and a back light for illumination...
in a similar way to the German Expressionists
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
, creating large areas of shadow within the set.
In 1922, Rinascimento Film decided to adapt a play by English author Arthur Wing Piñero called The Second Wife. Menichelli travelled to London to shoot the exterior scenes. The resulting film, La Seconda Moglie (1922), was praised by English and Italian critics alike.
In 1923, the final year of her career, Menichelli starred in two light-hearted romantic comedies, La Dama di chez Maxim and Occupati D'Aemilia. Her co-star in both films was French actor Marcel Lévesque, best known for his comic roles in Louis Feuillade's
Louis Feuillade
Louis Feuillade was a prolific and prominent French film director from the silent era. Between 1906 and 1924 he directed over 630 films...
serial films Les Vampires
Les Vampires
Les Vampires is a 1915/1916 ten-part silent film serial. It was written and directed by Louis Feuillade and stars Musidora as "Irma Vep" a femme fatale whose name is a suspicious anagram of "vampire." The serial is set in Paris and follows the exploits of a gang of master criminals who call...
(1915) and Judex (1917). This marked a change from her usual serious roles, and both films were very popular with the public.
Personal Life and Family
During a theatrical tour of ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in 1909, Pina Menichelli married an Italo-Argentine, Libero Pica, and the couple had three children. One child, a boy, was born in 1909 and died shortly afterwards. The second, a son called Manolo, was born in 1910. The couple separated when Menichelli was pregnant with their third child, a daughter called Cesarina, who was born in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
in 1912.
The fact that Menichelli was a 'separated woman' was well-known to the Italian public. This contrasts with the likes of Emilio Ghione
Emilio Ghione
Emilio Luigi Carlo Giuseppe Maria Ghione , known as Emilio Ghione, was an Italian silent film actor, director and screenwriter...
, one of the most famous Italian male film stars of the 1910s, who managed to hide his separated wife from public view.
On the death of her first husband, who had always refused to annul their marriage, Menichelli married Baron Carlo D'Amato, founder of Rinascimento Film, in 1924. Menichelli retired from public life and refused all contact with film historians. Menichelli also destroyed all the documents and photographs relating to her film career which were in her possession.
Menichelli died in Milan on the 29th August 1984.
Filmography
- Le mani ignote, directed by Enrique Santos (1913)
- Zuma, directed by Baldassarre Negroni (1913)
- Il lettino vuoto, directed by Enrico Guazzoni (1913)
- Il romanzo, directed by Nino Martoglio (1913)
- La porta chiusa, directed by Baldassarre Negroni (1913)
- Retaggio d’odio, directed by Nino Oxilia (1914)
- Scuola d’eroi, directed by Enrico Guazzoni (1914)
- La parola che uccide, directed by Augusto GeninaAugusto GeninaAugusto Genina was an Italian film pioneer. He was a movie producer and director.Born in Rome, Genina was a drama critic and wrote comedies for the Il Mondo Magazine, under advise of Aldo de Benedetti switches to movies for the "Film d'Arte Italiana", that produces his first film "La moglie di sua...
(1914) - Il grido dell’innocenza, directed by Augusto Genina (1914)
- Giovinezza trionfa!, regia di Augusto Genina (1914)
- Lulù, directed by Augusto Genina (1914)
- I misteri del castello di Monroe, directed by Augusto Genina (1914)
- Ninna nanna, directed by Guglielmo Zorzi (1914)
- Cajus Julius Caesar, directed by Enrico Guazzoni (1914)
- La morta del lago, directed by Enrico Guazzoni (1915)
- Alla deriva, directed by Enrico Guazzoni (1915)
- Il sottomarino n. 27, directed by Nino Oxilia (1915)
- Alma mater, directed by Enrico Guazzoni (1915)
- Papà, directed by Nino Oxilia (1915)
- La casa di nessuno, directed by Enrico Guazzoni (1915)
- Il fuoco, directed by Giovanni PastroneGiovanni PastroneGiovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco , was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician.Pastrone was born in Montechiaro d'Asti...
(1915) - Tigre reale, directed by Giovanni Pastrone (1916)
- La trilogia di Dorina, directed by Gero Zambuto (1916)
- Gemma di Sant'Eremo, directed by Alfredo Robert (1916)
- Una sventatella, directed by Gero Zambuto (1916)
- La passeggera, directed by Gero Zambuto (1918)
- La moglie di Claudio, directed by Gero Zambuto (1918)
- L'olocausto, directed by Gero Zambuto (1918)
- Il giardino incantato, directed by Eugenio Perego (1918)
- Il padrone delle ferriere, directed by Eugenio Perego (1919)
- Noris, directed by Augusto Genina and Eugenio Perego (1919)
- La storia di una donna, directed by Eugenio Perego (1920)
- La disfatta dell’Erinni, directed by Eugenio Perego (1920)
- Il romanzo di un giovane povero, directed by Amleto PalermiAmleto PalermiAmleto Palermi was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 71 films between 1914 and 1942. He directed The Old Lady, which starred Vittorio De Sica in his first sound film.-Selected filmography:...
(1920) - La verità nuda, directed by Telemaco Ruggeri (1921)
- Le tre illusioni, directed by Eugenio Perego (1921)
- L'età critica, directed by Amleto Palermi (1921)
- La seconda moglie, directed by Amleto Palermi (1922)
- L'ospite sconosciuta, directed by Telemaco Ruggeri (1923)
- La donna e l'uomo, directed by Amleto Palermi (1923)
- La dama de Chez Maxim's, directed by Amleto Palermi (1923)
- Una pagina d’amore, directed by Telemaco Ruggeri (1923)
- La biondina, directed by Amleto Palermi (1923)
- Occupati d’Amelia, directed by Telemaco Ruggeri (1925)
Surviving Film Copies
Like many silent films, many of Menichelli's films have been lost because nitrate film was dangerous to store, and films were often projected until they were no longer watchable, then simply recycled. Restorations of Menichelli's films have been shown at important film festivals, including the New York Film Festival and the Pordenone Silent Film Festival.The following films are preserved in film archives:
- Zuma, directed by Baldassarre Negroni (1913), is preserved at the Cineteca Nazionale, Rome, Italy.
- Il fuoco, directed by Giovanni PastroneGiovanni PastroneGiovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco , was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician.Pastrone was born in Montechiaro d'Asti...
(1915), is preserved in the archives of the Italian National Cinema Museum, Turin, Italy. - Tigre reale, directed by Giovanni Pastrone (1916), is preserved in the archives of the Italian National Cinema Museum, Turin, Italy, and in the archives of the Cineteca Nazionale, Rome, Italy.
- Gemma di Sant'Eremo, directed by Alfredo Robert (1916), is preserved in the archives of the Cineteca Nazionale, Rome, Italy. Only a fragment of the film survives.
- Il padrone delle ferriere, directed by Eugenio Perego (1919) is preserved in the archives of the Italian National Cinema Museum, Turin, Italy.
- La storia di una donna, directed by Eugenio Perego (1920), is preserved at the Cineteca of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.