Clara Calamai
Clara Calamai | |
---|---|
Calamai in The Jester's Supper (1942) | |
Born |
Prato, Italy | 7 September 1909
Died |
21 September 1998 89) Rimini, Italy | (aged
Other names | Clara Mais |
Spouse(s) | Leonardo Bonzi (19 May 1945 - 9 November 1959) (annulled) |
Clara Calamai (7 September 1909 – 21 September 1998) was an Italian actress.
She was one of the most famous and popular Italian actresses in the 1930s and 1940s, sharing the limelight with actresses such as Alida Valli, Valentina Cortese, and rivals, Doris Duranti, Luisa Ferida and Isa Miranda. She was a charming and versatile actress who starred in both dramas and comedies of the telefoni bianchi style.
Career
Calamai's first acting role was in the 1938 war film Pietro Micca, directed by Aldo Vergano.
In The Jester's Supper (1942) an adaptation of a Sem Benelli's work, directed by Alessandro Blasetti) Calamai caused a sensation by appearing in a very brief topless scene. The scene is commonly credited with being the first time that an actress had appeared topless in an Italian sound film,[1][2] although Vittoria Carpi showed a bare breast for a moment in the 1941 film La corona di ferro (The Iron Crown), which was also directed by Blasetti. Calamai stated in a later interview that the original script did not have the character revealing herself this way and did not want to do the scene, but felt compelled by the director to do it and gave in when she was promised a closed set.[2] Nevertheless, many people reportedly saw the film many times because of the topless scene.
Her most remembered role was in the film Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943), in which she played Giovanna, the ill-fated female protagonist.
Calamai was offered the role in L'adultera (The Adulteress, 1946, directed by Duilio Coletti), after Anna Magnani had to turn it down, and Calamai was awarded the Nastro d'Argento (Silver Ribbon) in 1946 for best actress for her performance in the film.
She played a prostitute in Luchino Visconti's Le notti bianche (1957) and appeared in Le streghe (1967).
After years of retirement, she returned in 1975 to appear in the horror film Profondo rosso (Deep Red, directed by Dario Argento) as the eccentric matriarch, Marta.
Personal life
On 19 May 1945 she married explorer, and documentary film maker Count Leonardo Bonzi with whom she had two daughters. The marriage was annulled in November 1959, and she lived with Captain of Aviation Valerio Andreoli.
Filmography
- Pietro Micca, directed by Aldo Vergano (1938)
- Hanno rapito un uomo, directed by Gennaro Righelli (1938)
- Il destino in tasca, directed by Gennaro Righelli (1938)
- Ettore Fieramosca, directed by Alessandro Blasetti (1938)
- Io, suo padre, directed by Mario Bonnard (1939)
- The Fornaretto of Venice (1939), directed by Duilio Coletti (1939), doppiata da Tina Lattanzi
- The Silent Partner, directed by Roberto Roberti (1939)
- L'eredità in corsa, directed by Oreste Biancoli (1939)
- Boccaccio, directed by Marcello Albani (1940)
- Le sorprese del vagone letto, directed by Gian Paolo Rosmino (1940)
- Captain Fracasse, directed by Duilio Coletti (1940), doppiata da Tina Lattanzi
- Manovre d'amore, directed by Gennaro Righelli (1940)
- Goodbye Youth (1940), directed by Ferdinando Maria Poggioli (1940)
- Caravaggio, directed by Goffredo Alessandrini (1941)
- Il re del circo, directed by Hans Hinrich (1941)
- I mariti - Tempesta d'amore, directed by Camillo Mastrocinque (1941)
- Luce nelle tenebre, directed by Mario Mattoli (1941)
- The Adventuress from the Floor Above, directed by Raffaello Matarazzo (1941)
- Pirates of Malaya, directed by Enrico Guazzoni (1941)
- Brivido, directed by Giacomo Gentilomo (1941)
- La guardia del corpo, directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (1942)
- The Queen of Navarre, directed by Carmine Gallone (1942)
- Le vie del cuore, directed by Camillo Mastrocinque (1942)
- The Jester's Supper directed by Alessandro Blasetti (1942)
- Ossessione, directed by Luchino Visconti (1943)
- Una piccola moglie, directed by Giorgio Bianchi (1943)
- Addio amore!, directed by Gianni Franciolini (1943)
- Enrico IV, directed by Giorgio Pàstina (1943)
- The Materassi Sisters, directed by Ferdinando Maria Poggioli (1944)
- Due lettere anonime, directed by Mario Camerini (1945)
- La resa di Titì, directed by Giorgio Bianchi (1945)
- Il mondo vuole così, directed by Giorgio Bianchi (1946)
- The Adulteress, directed by Duilio Coletti (1946)
- The Tyrant of Padua, directed by Max Neufeld (1946)
- Last Love, directed by Luigi Chiarini (1947)
- Amanti senza amore, directed by Gianni Franciolini (1947), doppiata da Lydia Simoneschi
- When the Angels Sleep, directed by Gilberto Gascon (1947)
- Sicilian Uprising, directed by Giorgio Pàstina (1949)
- Romanticismo, directed by Clemente Fracassi (1951)
- Il moschettiere fantasma, directed by Max Calandri (1952)
- Carne inquieta, directed by Silvestro Prestifilippo (1952)
- Le notti bianche, directed by Luchino Visconti (1957)
- Afrodite, dea dell'amore, directed by Mario Bonnard (1958)
- Tom Jones (1960, TV series)
- Le streghe, directed by Luchino Visconti (1967)
- La peccatrice, directed by Pier Luigi Pavoni (1975)
- Profondo rosso, directed by Dario Argento (1975)
References
- ↑ Il Mereghetti - Dizionario dei Film 2008, p. 556
- 1 2 Forgacs, David (2002). "Sex in the Cinema". In Reich, Jacqueline; Garofalo, Piero. Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943. Indiana University Press. pp. 159–61. ISBN 0-253-34045-4.
External links
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