The Bagutta Prize is an Italian literary prize that is awarded annually to Italian writers. The prize originated among patrons of Milan's Bagutta Ristorante. The writer Riccardo Bacchelli discovered the restaurant and soon he regularly gathered numerous friends who would dine there together and discuss books. They began charging fines to the person who arrived last to an appointed meal, or who failed to appear.
Luisa Ferida, real surname Manfrini, was an Italian stage and film actress. She was one of divas in Italian cinema during decade 1935–1945 and she was the highest paid movie star of that period. The actress was famous as a films diva and she is remembered for her tragic death; in fact during the period of anti-fascist vendettas, immediately after Italian Civil War, she was assassinated, as was later proved by the Milan Court of Appeal, by shooting following a summary trial carried out by some partisans: she was shot with her lover, the actor and member of Decima Flottiglia MAS Osvaldo Valenti, as accused of alleged and hypothetical participation in war crimes and torture in connection with so-called Koch gang, facts of which she was then deemed innocent after the war. Therefore a war pension was allocated to the mother, who had no other source of income.
Andrea Checchi was a prolific Italian film actor.
Non me lo dire! is a 1940 Italian "white-telephones" comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Erminio Macario.
Silvana Jachino was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 65 films between 1936 and 1970.
Invisible Chains is a 1942 Italian drama film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Alida Valli, Carlo Ninchi and Giuditta Rissone. It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Ottavio Scotti and Mario Rappini.
The Valley of the Devil is a 1943 Italian historical drama film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Marina Berti, Carlo Ninchi and Andrea Checchi. It was shot at the Palatino Studios in Rome. The film's sets were designed by the art director Piero Filippone and Mario Rappini.
Osvaldo Valenti was an Italian film actor. Valenti starred in several successful Italian movies of the late 1930s and early 1940s, such as the famous The Iron Crown and The Jester's Supper. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1928 and 1945. He and his lover, Luisa Ferida, were executed by partisans in Milan, Italy, due to their links with Fascism. Their story was portrayed in the 2008 film Wild Blood.
The Private Secretary is a 1931 Italian "white-telephones" musical film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and starring Elsa Merlini, Nino Besozzi and Sergio Tofano. It was the Italian-language version of the German film Die Privatsekretärin.
Il processo di Verona is a 1963 Italian historical drama film directed by Carlo Lizzani. The film tells of the final phases of the Italian fascist regime, in particular the affair of the 1944 Verona trial, in which Galeazzo Ciano, Emilio De Bono, Giovanni Marinelli and other eminent Fascist officials were sentenced to death and almost immediately executed by a shooting detachment, while Tullio Cianetti was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.
Malombra is a 1942 Italian drama film directed by Mario Soldati and starring Isa Miranda, Andrea Checchi and Irasema Dilián. It is based on the novel Malombra by Antonio Fogazzaro, which had previously been adapted into a 1917 silent film of the same title. It was made at Cinecittà with sets designed by Gino Brosio. It was produced by Riccardo Gualino's Lux Film. It belongs to the movies of the calligrafismo style.
The Jester's Supper is a 1942 Italian historical film directed by Alessandro Blasetti and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Osvaldo Valenti and Clara Calamai. It was based on a play of the same title by Sem Benelli, which had later been turned into an opera by Umberto Giordano. Like the play, the film is set in the 15th century Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificent and portrays a rivalry that leads to a series of increasingly violent practical jokes.
Luisa Sanfelice is a 1942 Italian historical drama film directed by Leo Menardi and starring Laura Solari, Massimo Serato and Osvaldo Valenti. The film is an adaptation of a novel by Alexandre Dumas based on the story of Luisa Sanfelice (1764-1800) an Italian aristocrat executed in Naples by Ferdinand I for supporting a Republican attempt to overthrow him during the French Revolutionary Wars. Horatio Nelson and Lady Hamilton both feature prominently.
Boccaccio is a 1940 Italian operetta film directed by Marcello Albani and starring Clara Calamai, Osvaldo Valenti and Silvana Jachino. It is based on the 1879 operetta Boccaccio by Franz von Suppé. It was made at the Scalera Studios in Rome.
The Secret Lover is a 1941 Italian drama film directed by Carmine Gallone and starring Alida Valli, Fosco Giachetti and Vivi Gioi. It was made at Cinecittà in Rome.
Saint John, the Beheaded is a 1940 Italian comedy film directed by Amleto Palermi and Giorgio Bianchi and starring Totò, Titina De Filippo and Silvana Jachino. It was based on a play by Nino Martoglio. The film was made at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome.
Beatrice Cenci is a 1941 Italian historical drama film directed by Guido Brignone and starring Carola Höhn, Giulio Donadio and Tina Lattanzi. It is one of several films portraying the story of the sixteenth century Italian noblewoman Beatrice Cenci.
Without a Woman is a 1943 Italian "white-telephones" comedy film directed by Alfredo Guarini and starring Giuseppe Lugo, Silvana Jachino and Umberto Melnati.
The Woman of Monte Carlo is a 1938 Italian "white-telephones" drama film directed by André Berthomieu and Mario Soldati and starring Dita Parlo, Fosco Giachetti and Jules Berry. A separate French version Unknown of Monte Carlo was released the following year.
Fedora is a 1942 Italian historical drama film directed by Camillo Mastrocinque and starring Luisa Ferida, Amedeo Nazzari and Osvaldo Valenti. It is based on the 1882 play of the same title by Victorien Sardou.
