Pasquali Film was one of the pioneering Italian film companies. Pasquali had its golden years in the period 1912-1914, with a yearly large output in films. In 1912 it was the second biggest producer of feature-length films in Italy, after Cines. Stars were the comedian Polidor (Ferdinand Guillaume), strongman Mario Guaita aka Ausonia, and diva Diana Karenne. With the death of its founder Ernesto Maria Pasquali in 1919, Pasquali was integrated into the consortium Unione Cinematografica Italiana (UCI) which brought together the main Italian film companies at the time. Today, in a panel at the International film and media studies conference at the Sapientia University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Ivo Blom will discuss the work of Piero Marelli, cinematographer of countless travel films for Pasquali.
![Polidor]()
Italian postcard by La Rotofotografica / Unione Cinematografica Italiana, no. 137. Ferdinand Guillaume (1887-1977) was an Italian comical actor, famous in the 1910s as Tontolini and Polidor. After some 100 shorts as Tontolini and after the success of his first feature-length film, Pinocchio (Giulio Antamoro, 1911) at Cines, Ferdinand Guillaume moved to the Pasquali company. Here he created the character of Polidor, named after a horse in his previous circus shows. He continued his double profession of leading actor and director, being often the scriptwriter of his films too. In the years 1912-1914, he made some 100 films, up to four films a month. The Polidor films were distributed all over Europe and the US. Guillaume's output shrunk considerately from the outbreak of the First World War, although he still had a large output in 1916-1917.
![Spartaco]()
Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Mario Guaita aka Ausonia in Spartaco/Spartacus (Enrico Vidali, 1913). Caption: Crasso muove contro Spartaco fra i saluti del popolo festante (Crassus moves against Spartacus amongst the celebrating people). Eventually Spartacus (Mario Guaita-Ausonia) will beat Crassus (Enrico Bracci).
![Spartaco]()
Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Mario Guaita aka Ausonia in Spartaco/Spartacus (Enrico Vidali 1913). The Italian epic Spartaco - Il gladiatore della Tracia (Enrico Vidali, 1913) was based on a novel by Raffaello Giovagnoli. Caption: Il Senato vota solenni funerali a Silla (The Senate votes to hold a solemn funeral for Silla).
![Alberto Capozzi in I due sergenti]()
British postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Alberto Capozzi and Umberto Paradisi embrace in the Italian silent film I due sergenti/The Two Sergeants (Eugenio Perego, 1913).
Pasquali Film was founded in 1908 in Turin by the journalist and theatre critic Ernesto Maria Pasquali, in association with his friend, the pharmacist Giuseppe Tempo. Pasquali was already a collaborator at Ambrosio Film.
The new film company bore the name Pasquali & Tempo, but was renamed on 1 July 1910 as Pasquali & C. s.a.s. or in short Pasquali Film. During its first two to three years of existence, the company produced short films, mostly made by Pasquali himself. Most of these were historical films.
In 1909, the Pasquali Film had its first successes with Ettore Fieramosca (which was remade in 1915), Cirano de Bergerac, Capitan Fracassa, and Teodora Imperatrice di Bisanzio. Ernesto Pasquali flourished, paid back Tempo and exchanged him for two new investors, increasing his investments.
Thanks to this Pasquali built in 1911 a new, larger studio complex in Rome, luring the Ambrosio star couple Alberto Capozzi and Mary Cléo Tarlarini from Turin to Rome. In 1913 Pasquali hired the former Celio studio from Cines. Thus Pasquali really expanded, but also expanded genre wise, focusing more on modern subjects and crime films.
Between 1911 and 1914, the company produced the films of the hit crime series Raffles, directed and performed by Ubaldo Maria Del Colle. Also, Pasquali launched the production of comic films, first with Emile Vardannes (in the role of Totò) and then from 1912 with Ferdinand Guillaume (as Polidor), who previously had been a success at Cines as Tontolini. The Polidor comedies were numerous and an important backbone for Pasquali in the early 1910s.
The cameraman Piero Marelli shot several ‘dal vero’ travel films in Italy. In 1911-1912, he was sent on a long-lasting trip to Northern Europe (Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, etc.), to record the local landscape, cityscape, folklore, and native types. He often embellished his images with picturesque compositional strategies and subject matter but also with ingenious cinematic innovations such as split-screen effects.
![L'ultima danza (1914)]()
Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 5 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Conchita Ledesma and Gustavo Serena in L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (Umberto Paradisi, 1914).
![L'ultima danza (1914)]()
Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 6 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Conchita Ledesma and Gustavo Serena in L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (Umberto Paradisi, 1914).
L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (1914) deals with Jean (Serena), a poor artist smitten with a successful Spanish dancer Conchita (Ledesma), and in vain hoping to paint her. His poor girlfriend Ninon (Laura Darville) sacrifices herself and begs the dancer to pose once for him, so he can paint his portrait. Conchita dances before him while he sleeps. The painting is a success, but the romance with the dancer finishes when she has finished his fortune. He returns to poverty, attended by his girlfriend. When he is about to die, Ninon desperately asks Conchita once more to dance for him. Jean dies in her arms after which the dancer prefers to follow him. Apparently, Conchita Ledesma was a popular Spanish dancer in real life, so the Italian press was eager to finally see her perform. Gustavo Serena played at Pasquali in the years 1914-1915, after which he returned to Rome to continue his career there.
![Salambò (1914)]()
Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 1 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Suzanne De Labroy in Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914), very freely adapted from Gustave Flaubert's classic novel.
![Salambò (1914)]()
Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 5 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Suzanne De Labroy and Mario Guaita-Ausonia in Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914). The picture shows Matho and Salambò in his tent.
Suzanne De Labroy plays the title role of the Carthaginian princess, keeper of the sacred veil of the goddess Tanit and daughter of general Amilcar. When Matho (Mario Guaita-Ausonia), head of the mercenaries, steals the veil, Salambò is ordered to get it back. By doing so she falls in love and loses her dignity. Prince Narr Havas helps Amilcar conquer Matho's army and the latter is caught and destined to die. While in the book he is killed by Salambò after which she commits suicide, in the film there is a happy end, when Matho's aid Spendius pretends to be the Voice of Tanit, ordering marriage between Matho and Salambò.
Pasquali had its golden years in the period 1912-1914, with a yearly large output in films. In 1912 Pasquali was the biggest producer of feature-length films, after Cines.
In 1911-1912 a third studio was opened which was fully closed and equipped for artificial lighting. In 1913 Pasquali was the fourth largest Italian film company but again the second in the output of long films. The company now also opened various offices abroad.
Pasquali made its mark by impressive spectacular period pieces such as I promessi sposi (1913) and Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1913). Both films were produced in competition with rival versions by Ambrosio. Pasquali also presented two Antiquity films with Mario Guaita-Ausonia: Spartaco (Enrico Vidali, 1913) and Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914).
The only diva, Ernesto Maria Pasquali really launched was the Polish actress Diana Karenne. He presented her in Passione tzigana/Gypsy Passion (Umberto Paradisi, 1916), and immediately she became a star. Between 1916 and 1920, Karenne fascinated audiences with her eccentric dresses and make-up, and with her primadonna behaviour.
With the outbreak of the First World War, the Pasquali company experienced for the first time a decline in production because of a lack of raw film stock and bank loans. The modernisations undertaken did not allow the company to face the increasing competition, particularly from the United States. Production numbers went down fast.
With the death of its founder Ernesto Maria Pasquali in 1919 (who was only 36 years old), the house was integrated into the consortium Unione Cinematografica Italiana (UCI) which brought together the main Italian film companies, even if Pasquali still kept its name on the outside.
Pasquali's last successful production was the historical episode film Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domeno Gambino, 1921), starring Luciano Albertini, Antonietta Calderari, Garaveo Onorato and Carolina White, and set in Venice.
![Diana Karenne in Sofia di Kravonia]()
Spanish postcard for Chocolat Imperiale by Tip. Lit. Aubery, card no. 6 of a series of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Diana Karenne in the title role in Sofia di Kravonia (Ernesto Maria Pasquali, 1916).
![La disfida di Barletta/ Ettore Fieramosca (1915)]()
Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Scene from La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Caption: Zoraide saves Fieramosca, sucking the venom of the wound and dies.
![La disfida di Barletta/ Ettore Fieramosca (1915)]()
Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Scene from La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Caption: Valentino Borgia's local cronies press the sacristan to leave the door of the church open.
La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915) is an adaptation of the classic, nationalistic novel Ettore Fieramosca by Massimo D'Azeglio. The scenography was done by Domenico Gaido, according to film historian Vittorio Martinelli, while IMDb claims Gaido was co-director with Paradisi. Acclaimed actors Gustavo Serena and Domenico Gambino had supporting parts in the film. While already produced in 1915, Ettore Fieramosca was released late. When the film premiered in 1917 in Turin, Turinese critics claimed that the film would have been lauded before the First World War, but now looked old style, for instance in its performances, despite the tasteful sets and shots on location.
![Il ponte dei sospiri]()
Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido 1921). Caption: Imperia tries to seduce Rolando (Luciano Albertini), but she is rejected, and will vilely take revenge.
![Il ponte dei sospiri (1921)]()
Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido, 1921). Caption: Altieri stops Dandolo for a duel. Luigi Stinchi played Altieri, one of the conspirators, while Dandolo, Leonora's father, was played by Bonaventura Ibanez.
![Il ponte dei sospiri (1921)]()
Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido 1921). Caption: The Conspiration of the young patricians in the crypt of San Marco. In the foreground one recognises Altieri (Luigi Stinchi).
Check out these two examples of the work of cameraman Piero Marelli: Le bellezze d’Italia. Trittico di visioni pittoresche and Vita d'Olanda. And also check out Ivo Blom's blog post on his lecture, ‘Dal vero’ in Cluj. New presentation & research coming up.
Sources: Wikipedia (Italian and French), and IMDb.
Italian postcard by La Rotofotografica / Unione Cinematografica Italiana, no. 137. Ferdinand Guillaume (1887-1977) was an Italian comical actor, famous in the 1910s as Tontolini and Polidor. After some 100 shorts as Tontolini and after the success of his first feature-length film, Pinocchio (Giulio Antamoro, 1911) at Cines, Ferdinand Guillaume moved to the Pasquali company. Here he created the character of Polidor, named after a horse in his previous circus shows. He continued his double profession of leading actor and director, being often the scriptwriter of his films too. In the years 1912-1914, he made some 100 films, up to four films a month. The Polidor films were distributed all over Europe and the US. Guillaume's output shrunk considerately from the outbreak of the First World War, although he still had a large output in 1916-1917.
Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Mario Guaita aka Ausonia in Spartaco/Spartacus (Enrico Vidali, 1913). Caption: Crasso muove contro Spartaco fra i saluti del popolo festante (Crassus moves against Spartacus amongst the celebrating people). Eventually Spartacus (Mario Guaita-Ausonia) will beat Crassus (Enrico Bracci).
Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Mario Guaita aka Ausonia in Spartaco/Spartacus (Enrico Vidali 1913). The Italian epic Spartaco - Il gladiatore della Tracia (Enrico Vidali, 1913) was based on a novel by Raffaello Giovagnoli. Caption: Il Senato vota solenni funerali a Silla (The Senate votes to hold a solemn funeral for Silla).
British postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Alberto Capozzi and Umberto Paradisi embrace in the Italian silent film I due sergenti/The Two Sergeants (Eugenio Perego, 1913).
The First Successes
Pasquali Film was founded in 1908 in Turin by the journalist and theatre critic Ernesto Maria Pasquali, in association with his friend, the pharmacist Giuseppe Tempo. Pasquali was already a collaborator at Ambrosio Film.
The new film company bore the name Pasquali & Tempo, but was renamed on 1 July 1910 as Pasquali & C. s.a.s. or in short Pasquali Film. During its first two to three years of existence, the company produced short films, mostly made by Pasquali himself. Most of these were historical films.
In 1909, the Pasquali Film had its first successes with Ettore Fieramosca (which was remade in 1915), Cirano de Bergerac, Capitan Fracassa, and Teodora Imperatrice di Bisanzio. Ernesto Pasquali flourished, paid back Tempo and exchanged him for two new investors, increasing his investments.
Thanks to this Pasquali built in 1911 a new, larger studio complex in Rome, luring the Ambrosio star couple Alberto Capozzi and Mary Cléo Tarlarini from Turin to Rome. In 1913 Pasquali hired the former Celio studio from Cines. Thus Pasquali really expanded, but also expanded genre wise, focusing more on modern subjects and crime films.
Between 1911 and 1914, the company produced the films of the hit crime series Raffles, directed and performed by Ubaldo Maria Del Colle. Also, Pasquali launched the production of comic films, first with Emile Vardannes (in the role of Totò) and then from 1912 with Ferdinand Guillaume (as Polidor), who previously had been a success at Cines as Tontolini. The Polidor comedies were numerous and an important backbone for Pasquali in the early 1910s.
The cameraman Piero Marelli shot several ‘dal vero’ travel films in Italy. In 1911-1912, he was sent on a long-lasting trip to Northern Europe (Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, etc.), to record the local landscape, cityscape, folklore, and native types. He often embellished his images with picturesque compositional strategies and subject matter but also with ingenious cinematic innovations such as split-screen effects.
Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 5 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Conchita Ledesma and Gustavo Serena in L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (Umberto Paradisi, 1914).
Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 6 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Conchita Ledesma and Gustavo Serena in L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (Umberto Paradisi, 1914).
L'ultima danza/The Last Dance (1914) deals with Jean (Serena), a poor artist smitten with a successful Spanish dancer Conchita (Ledesma), and in vain hoping to paint her. His poor girlfriend Ninon (Laura Darville) sacrifices herself and begs the dancer to pose once for him, so he can paint his portrait. Conchita dances before him while he sleeps. The painting is a success, but the romance with the dancer finishes when she has finished his fortune. He returns to poverty, attended by his girlfriend. When he is about to die, Ninon desperately asks Conchita once more to dance for him. Jean dies in her arms after which the dancer prefers to follow him. Apparently, Conchita Ledesma was a popular Spanish dancer in real life, so the Italian press was eager to finally see her perform. Gustavo Serena played at Pasquali in the years 1914-1915, after which he returned to Rome to continue his career there.
Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 1 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Suzanne De Labroy in Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914), very freely adapted from Gustave Flaubert's classic novel.
Spanish collectors card by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 5 of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Suzanne De Labroy and Mario Guaita-Ausonia in Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914). The picture shows Matho and Salambò in his tent.
Suzanne De Labroy plays the title role of the Carthaginian princess, keeper of the sacred veil of the goddess Tanit and daughter of general Amilcar. When Matho (Mario Guaita-Ausonia), head of the mercenaries, steals the veil, Salambò is ordered to get it back. By doing so she falls in love and loses her dignity. Prince Narr Havas helps Amilcar conquer Matho's army and the latter is caught and destined to die. While in the book he is killed by Salambò after which she commits suicide, in the film there is a happy end, when Matho's aid Spendius pretends to be the Voice of Tanit, ordering marriage between Matho and Salambò.
Golden Years
Pasquali had its golden years in the period 1912-1914, with a yearly large output in films. In 1912 Pasquali was the biggest producer of feature-length films, after Cines.
In 1911-1912 a third studio was opened which was fully closed and equipped for artificial lighting. In 1913 Pasquali was the fourth largest Italian film company but again the second in the output of long films. The company now also opened various offices abroad.
Pasquali made its mark by impressive spectacular period pieces such as I promessi sposi (1913) and Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1913). Both films were produced in competition with rival versions by Ambrosio. Pasquali also presented two Antiquity films with Mario Guaita-Ausonia: Spartaco (Enrico Vidali, 1913) and Salambò (Domenico Gaudo, 1914).
The only diva, Ernesto Maria Pasquali really launched was the Polish actress Diana Karenne. He presented her in Passione tzigana/Gypsy Passion (Umberto Paradisi, 1916), and immediately she became a star. Between 1916 and 1920, Karenne fascinated audiences with her eccentric dresses and make-up, and with her primadonna behaviour.
With the outbreak of the First World War, the Pasquali company experienced for the first time a decline in production because of a lack of raw film stock and bank loans. The modernisations undertaken did not allow the company to face the increasing competition, particularly from the United States. Production numbers went down fast.
With the death of its founder Ernesto Maria Pasquali in 1919 (who was only 36 years old), the house was integrated into the consortium Unione Cinematografica Italiana (UCI) which brought together the main Italian film companies, even if Pasquali still kept its name on the outside.
Pasquali's last successful production was the historical episode film Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domeno Gambino, 1921), starring Luciano Albertini, Antonietta Calderari, Garaveo Onorato and Carolina White, and set in Venice.
Spanish postcard for Chocolat Imperiale by Tip. Lit. Aubery, card no. 6 of a series of 6. Photo: Pasquali Film. Diana Karenne in the title role in Sofia di Kravonia (Ernesto Maria Pasquali, 1916).
Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Scene from La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Caption: Zoraide saves Fieramosca, sucking the venom of the wound and dies.
Italian postcard. Photo: Pasquali Film. Scene from La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915). Caption: Valentino Borgia's local cronies press the sacristan to leave the door of the church open.
La disfida di Barletta (Umberto Paradisi, 1915) is an adaptation of the classic, nationalistic novel Ettore Fieramosca by Massimo D'Azeglio. The scenography was done by Domenico Gaido, according to film historian Vittorio Martinelli, while IMDb claims Gaido was co-director with Paradisi. Acclaimed actors Gustavo Serena and Domenico Gambino had supporting parts in the film. While already produced in 1915, Ettore Fieramosca was released late. When the film premiered in 1917 in Turin, Turinese critics claimed that the film would have been lauded before the First World War, but now looked old style, for instance in its performances, despite the tasteful sets and shots on location.
Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido 1921). Caption: Imperia tries to seduce Rolando (Luciano Albertini), but she is rejected, and will vilely take revenge.
Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for the four-part serial Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido, 1921). Caption: Altieri stops Dandolo for a duel. Luigi Stinchi played Altieri, one of the conspirators, while Dandolo, Leonora's father, was played by Bonaventura Ibanez.
Italian postcard. Photo: Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Postcard for Il ponte dei sospiri/The Bridge of Sighs (Domenico Gaido 1921). Caption: The Conspiration of the young patricians in the crypt of San Marco. In the foreground one recognises Altieri (Luigi Stinchi).
Check out these two examples of the work of cameraman Piero Marelli: Le bellezze d’Italia. Trittico di visioni pittoresche and Vita d'Olanda. And also check out Ivo Blom's blog post on his lecture, ‘Dal vero’ in Cluj. New presentation & research coming up.
Sources: Wikipedia (Italian and French), and IMDb.