Baldassarre Negroni

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Baldassarre Negroni (1914)

Baldassarre Negroni (born January 21, 1877 in Rome , † July 18, 1948 there ) was an Italian silent film director .

Life

Negroni, son of Count Carlo Guidetti and his wife Costanza, studied at Mondragone University and, after studying law, worked as a stockbroker and lawyer in the Italian capital. As a passionate fan of photography, he began making short documentary films early on, so that in 1911 he was contracted by the film company Cines for the still young medium as a cameraman and later as a director. His first own film was the 300 m long comedic Primo bisticcio . In 1912, Negroni and Gioacchino Mecheri founded “Celio Film” as a stock company. As en vogue in aristocratic circles at that time, several counts became co-partners of the production company.

Negroni was part of the first big cinema boom in Italy and created structures in the emerging industry; he worked with the upcoming stars of silent film cinema such as Alberto Collo , Emilio Ghione and primarily Francesca Bertini , who starred in six of his films in 1912 and 1913, the most important of which was Histoire d'un pierrot (1913). In the main role of the male Pierrot, Bertini convinced after the pantomime Ferdinand Beissier on the musical background of Mario Pasquale Costa ; the film has been described as unique for its rhythm based on the sound of the music. During the same period, the film L'anima del demi-monde was made based on a book by Augusto Genina with Emilio Ghione in his first portrayal of "Apache", a role based on characters from crime fiction, which he later played with that of "Za-la -mort "should perfect.

In 1914 and 1915 Negroni worked in northern Italy for "Milano Film"; Until the outbreak of the First World War , in the course of which the land on which the studios were located was confiscated and production came to a standstill, he made 17 films, including Nel nido straniero , a war drama based on a material by Renato La Rocca . Back in Rome, at Mecheri's suggestion, he shot a version of The Lady of the Camellias , which was made in just 16 days with the same ensemble as that of his spy film Rugiada di sangue , which was produced at the same time , which competed directly with the version with Francesca Bertini and was a great success. The main role took on Olga Mambelli, who acted under the stage name Hesperia ; it was the beginning of a long artistic and private relationship - the latter confirmed by the marriage in 1923.

From 1915 to 1921 the "Tiber Film" in Rome was Negroni's employer. With a permanent team he made about six films a year, including Marcella based on Victorien Sardou , La cuccagna based on Émile Zola and Madame Flirt , which was scripted by Luciano Doria . Between 1918 and 1919 the contract with the Tiber was temporarily suspended when he directed for “Film d'Arte Italiana”. In the films of the time, Negroni proved to be an innovative user of technology; in particular, the use of close-up is ascribed to him. During this time he presented the best works according to the critics; so La fibra del dolore to a fabric of Gaetano Campanile Mancini , Il figlio di Madame Sans-Gêne by Sardou and Émile Moreau and La belle madame Hébert after the drama of Abel Hermant . The crisis in Italian cinema in the 1920s caused Negroni to switch to “Superfilms” and then to “Pittaluga”; However, contracts were only concluded for individual films. Three works with Bartolomeo Pagano stand out from this period, Il vetturale del Moncenisio , Gli ultimi zar and Giuditta e Oloferne .

He started the sound film tent with the short film Serenata tzigana , which was primarily produced as a test field for dealing with the new technology. In 1932, the musical comedy Due cuori felici with Vittorio De Sica , Rina Franchetti and Mimì Aylmer was a great success. Four years later, Negroni's last work as a director, L'ambasciatore , was based on the play by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne . From 1932 until 1945, three years before his death, he devoted himself to production management and supervised numerous films by colleagues such as Alessandro Blasetti , Carmine Gallone , Guido Brignone and Mario Camerini .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1911: Primo bisticchio
  • 1913: Histoire d'un Pierrot
  • 1915: La signora delle camelie
  • 1918: Madame Flirt
  • 1919: La fibra del dolore
  • 1921: Il figlio di Madame Sans-Gêne
  • 1922: La belle madame Hébert
  • 1929: Giuditta e Oloferne
  • 1932: Due cuori felici
  • 1936: L'ambasciatore

bibliography

  • Silvio D'Amico (Ed.): Enciclopedia dello Spettacolo. Volume 7: Mal - Perg.UNEDI - Unione Editoriale, Rome 1975.
  • Caterina Napoleone (ed.): Enciclopedia di Roma. Dalla origini all'anno Duemila. Franco Maria Ricci, Milan 1999, ISBN 88-216-0946-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gian Piero Brunetta: Storia del cinema italiano. Volume 1: Il cinema muto 1895-1929 (= I testi. Vol. 54). 2. edizione, riveduta e accresciuta. Riuniti, Rome 1993, ISBN 88-359-3723-X , p. 44.
  2. ^ Umberto Barbaro : L'Histoire d'un Pierrot di Baldassarre Negroni. In: Mario Verdone, Leonardo Autera (Ed.): Antalogia di Bianco e Nero 1937–1943. Volume 4: Leonardo Autera (Ed.): Sceneggiature. Edizioni di Bianco e Nero, Rome 1964, p. 702.
  3. ^ Umberto Barbaro: L'Histoire d'un Pierrot di Baldassarre Negroni. In: Mario Verdone, Leonardo Autera (Ed.): Antalogia di Bianco e Nero 1937–1943. Volume 4: Leonardo Autera (Ed.): Sceneggiature. Edizioni di Bianco e Nero, Rome 1964, p. 700.
  4. ^ Dizionario del cinema italiano. Testi e strumenti per la scuola e l'università. Volume 1: Roberto Poppi: I registi. Dal 1930 ai giorni nostri. Nuova edizione. Gremese, Rome 2002, ISBN 88-8440-171-2 , p. 307.
personal data
SURNAME Negroni, Baldassarre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian silent film director
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH July 18, 1948
Place of death Rome