| Frine, Courtesan of Orient | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Mario Bonnard |
| Written by | Nicola Manzari |
| Story by |
|
| Produced by | Alberto Manca |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Mario Albertelli |
| Music by | Giulio Bonnard |
Release date |
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| Language | Italian |
Frine, Courtesan of Orient (Italian : Frine, cortigiana d'Oriente) is a 1953 Italian epic adventure film directed by Mario Bonnard and starring Elena Kleus and Pierre Cressoy. [1] Sergio Leone served as assistant director. [2]
The film is based on the trial of the ancient Greek courtesan Phryne. [3] In the film a young woman, Afra, escapes imprisonment in Thebes before being brought to Athens as a slave; there she takes on the name Frine and becomes a courtesan. She falls in love with the orator Iperide. After Frine takes on the role of a goddess at the Eleusinian Mysteries she is charged with impiety; at the trial Iperide saves Frine. [4]
A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person.
Phryne was an ancient Greek hetaira (courtesan). Born Mnesarete, she was from Thespiae in Boeotia, but seems to have lived most of her life in Athens. Though she apparently grew up poor, she became one of the wealthiest women in Greece.
Edoardo Scarfoglio was an Italian author and journalist, one of the early practitioners in Italian fiction of realism, a style of writing that embraced direct, colloquial language and rejected the more ornate style of earlier Italian literature. His name is chiefly associated with the newspaper Il Mattino in Naples, which he owned and edited for many years, and still is the largest daily newspaper in the city.
Vittorio Duse was an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director.
Cesare Fantoni was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Roldano Lupi was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1942 and 1967. He was born in Milan, Italy and died in Rome, Italy.
Nico Pepe was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1936 and 1981.
Nicola Manzari was an Italian screenwriter and director. He wrote for 38 films between 1940 and 1975.
Mario Bonnard was an Italian actor and film director.
Francesco Vistarini, known professionally as Franco Silva, was an Italian actor.
Luisella Boni is an Italian actress.
Giuseppe Verdi, released theatrically in the US as The Life and Music of Giuseppe Verdi and on video as Verdi, the King of Melody, is a 1953 Italian biographical musical melodrama film starring Pierre Cressoy and directed by Raffaello Matarazzo. It is based on adult life events of the composer Giuseppe Verdi. The film was a commercial success, grossing over 957 million lire at the Italian box office.
Giulio Donnini was an Italian film actor.
The Shadow is a 1954 Italian melodrama film directed by Giorgio Bianchi and starring Märta Torén and Pierre Cressoy.
Lilia Landi is a retired Italian film actress.
Edda Soligo was an Italian film and television actress.
For You I Have Sinned is a 1953 Italian melodrama film directed by Mario Costa and starring Pierre Cressoy, Milly Vitale and Frank Latimore.
Phryne Before the Areopagus is an 1861 painting by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme. The subject matter is Phryne, an ancient Greek hetaira (courtesan) who was put on trial for impiety. Phryne was acquitted after her defender Hypereides removed her robe and exposed her naked bosom, "to excite the pity of her judges by the sight of her beauty."
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter.
The King's Prisoner is a 1954 Italian historical adventure film directed by Giorgio Venturini and starring Pierre Cressoy, Andrée Debar and Armando Francioli. It is based on the novel The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas.
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