Gian Gaspare Napolitano

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gian Gaspare Napolitano (born April 30, 1907 in Palermo , † January 5, 1966 in Rome ) was an Italian journalist, writer and screenwriter .

Life

In 1913 Napolitano moved with his family from Sicily to Verona. After the death of his father in 1915, he went to military school in Milan. He enrolled in Rome to study political science and soon began working as a journalist. The cosmopolitan was a war correspondent , special correspondent, film critic , playwright and novelist . His debut novel La scoperta dell'America was published in 1930. For the Gazzetta del Popolo he toured Africa (especially the Congo , where his father died), Australia and Oceania for several months . Two thick volumes with stories and tales about this period appeared as Il giro del mondo . He first wrote for the film in 1935 when he was writing the screenplay for Passaporto rosso for Guido Brignone . In 1937/1938 Napolitano reported on the Spanish Civil War . In the following years he was not only responsible for the Italian versions of numerous foreign language films, but also wrote regularly for the screen, his preferred exotic subjects and commentaries for documentaries such as The Sixth Continent , L'impero del sole or Paradiso terrestre . After he had shot the medium-length La spia as a director in 1939 , he presented in 1952 with The Green Secret a long documentary about Central America, which was awarded at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953 as best documentary and received a silver ribbon from the Italian film critics; finally followed three years later with Bring him alive ...! a fictional film based in Africa based on its own story La mariposa . His experience as a liaison officer to the Scottish Black Watch during World War II first appeared in Switzerland in 1944. Even after the war he traveled to African, European and South American countries for his reports and stories that appeared in newspapers such as the Corriere della Sera or L'Illustrazione italiana .

Napolitano was a member of the jury at the 1961 Venice Film Festival .

Some of his works, such as Il venditore di fumo and Una missione fra i Seris , appeared posthumously.

Filmography (selection)

Director, screenplay
  • 1952: The Green Secret (Magia verde)
  • 1955: Bring him alive ...! (Tam Tam Mayumbe)
script
  • 1953: Bitter Love (Noi cannibali)
  • 1954: The sixth continent (Sesto continente)
  • 1956: War and Peace (War and Peace)

Works (selection)

  • 1930: La scoperta dell'America
  • 1933: Il giro del mondo
  • 1945: In guerra con gli scozzesi
  • 1958: Il figlio del capitano

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roberto Poppi: Dizionario del cinema italiano, I registi. Rome 2002, p. 305
  2. ↑ more detailed biography of Napolitanos (Italian)
personal data
SURNAME Napolitano, Gian Gaspare
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian journalist, writer and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Palermo
DATE OF DEATH 5th January 1966
Place of death Rome