Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. His films La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greatest films ever made. He was ranked by the BFI's Sight & Sound poll of critics in 2002 as the fourth greatest director of all time. Among numerous honours accrued during his lifetime, he received a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1975 for his contribution to the motion picture industry. Renoir was the son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the uncle of the cinematographer Claude Renoir. He was one of the first filmmakers to be known as an auteur.
Carl Koch or Karl Koch was a German art historian, film director and writer with many secondary credits including collaborations with his wife Lotte Reiniger, the animator of The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). In these collaborations, Koch often managed the camera work, which was mounted above Reiniger's animation table.
Rossano Brazzi was an Italian actor. He moved to Hollywood in 1948 and was propelled to international fame with his role in the English-language film Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), followed by the leading male role in David Lean's Summertime (1955), opposite Katharine Hepburn. In 1958, he played the lead as Frenchman Emile De Becque in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. His other notable English-language films include The Barefoot Contessa (1954), The Story of Esther Costello (1957), opposite Joan Crawford, Count Your Blessings (1959), Light in the Piazza (1962), and The Italian Job (1969).
Daria Nicolodi was an Italian television and film actress and screenwriter, and associated mostly with the films of director Dario Argento.
Michel Simon was a Swiss-French actor. He appeared in many notable French films, including La Chienne (1931), Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932), L'Atalante (1934), Port of Shadows (1938), The Head (1959), and The Train (1964).
Milady and the Musketeers is 1952 French-Italian historical adventure film directed by Vittorio Cottafavi and starring Rossano Brazzi, Yvette Lebon and Armando Francioli. It is based on the 1844 novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, and was a popular success.
The Woman Who Invented Love is a 1952 Italian historical melodrama film written and directed by Ferruccio Cerio and starring Silvana Pampanini, Rossano Brazzi and Mariella Lotti. It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome. The film's sets were designed by the art director Marcello Avenati.
They Were Three Hundred is a 1952 Italian historical drama film directed by Gian Paolo Callegari and starring Rossano Brazzi, Franca Marzi and Myriam Bru. It was shot at the Scalera Studios in Rome with location shooting on the Via Tiburtina. The film's sets were designed by the art director Virgilio Marchi.
The Mistress of Treves is a 1952 historical drama film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Rossano Brazzi, Anne Vernon and Gianni Santuccio. Made as a co-production between France, Italy and West Germany, it was filmed at the Icet Studios in Milan and on location in the Aosta Valley. It is based on the legend of Genevieve of Brabant and is set during the time of the Crusades.
A Woman Has Fallen is a 1941 Italian drama film directed by Alfredo Guarini and starring Isa Miranda, Rossano Brazzi, and Claudio Gora.
The King's Jester is a 1941 Italian historical drama film directed by Mario Bonnard and starring Michel Simon, María Mercader and Rossano Brazzi. The film is an adaptation of the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo and uses music from Verdi's later opera Rigoletto. It is set at the court of Francis I of France in the Sixteenth century.
Girl of the Golden West is a 1942 Italian western film directed by Carl Koch and starring Michel Simon, Isa Pola and Rossano Brazzi. It is based on the 1936 novel, La Dame de l'Ouest, by Pierre Benoit. It was made at the Scalera Studios in Rome, and on location in Lazio countryside. The film's title alludes to the opera The Girl of the Golden West by Giacomo Puccini, but is not an adaptation of it. It was one of only a handful of Westerns to be made during the silent and Fascist eras, in a genre in which Italy later became famous.
Bridge of Glass is a 1940 Italian drama film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and starring Isa Pola, Rossano Brazzi and Filippo Scelzo. It was shot at the Scalera Studios in Rome.
The Great Dawn is a 1947 Italian drama film directed by Giuseppe Maria Scotese and starring Renée Faure, Rossano Brazzi and Giovanni Grasso. The Greek actress and future star Yvonne Sanson made an early appearance in the film.
The Ten Commandments is a 1945 Italian drama film directed by Giorgio Walter Chili. It features an ensemble of Italian actors in episodes based on the Ten Commandments.
Kean is a 1940 Italian historical drama film directed by Guido Brignone and starring Rossano Brazzi, Germana Paolieri. and Sandro Salvini. It is based on the 1836 play Kean by Alexandre Dumas portraying the life of the English actor Edmund Kean.
The Gorgon is a 1942 Italian historical drama film directed by Guido Brignone and starring Mariella Lotti, Rossano Brazzi and Camillo Pilotto. It was adapted from the play by Sem Benelli and is set in the Republic of Pisa during the eleventh century.
Maria Malibran is a 1943 Italian historical drama film directed by Guido Brignone and starring Maria Cebotari, Rossano Brazzi, and Renato Cialente. It is based on the life of the Spanish singer Maria Malibran.
The Hero of Venice is a 1941 Italian historical adventure film directed by Carlo Campogalliani and starring Gustav Diessl, Paola Barbara, Rossano Brazzi and Valentina Cortese.
The White Devil is a 1947 Italian historical adventure film directed by Nunzio Malasomma and starring Rossano Brazzi, Annette Bach and Roldano Lupi. It is based on Leo Tolstoy's 1912 novella Hadji Murat.
