Pierrot the Prodigal
About Pierrot the Prodigal
Pierrot loves the seamstress Louisette and is too shy to say so. Julot courts her and she refuses him. Pochinet pushes Pierrot to speak. Louisette marries him. They are expecting a child. Julot steers Pierrot into drink and gambling. At a dance Pierrot takes up with Fifine, steals the money Louisette saved for the birth, and runs off. Six years later he is back, begging. Pochinet, now a tavern keeper, tries to bring him home. Louisette will not have him. Pochinet tells the child who the beggar is. The child leads Pierrot to the door. Louisette takes him back.
Cast & crew
More about Pierrot the Prodigal
Baldassarre Negroni directed. Tommaso Sillani wrote the script from Fernand Beissier's pantomime, first played on January 2, 1893, with music by Mario Costa. Costa's music is used again here. Giorgio Ricci photographed it. Celio Film, a Cines affiliate, made it in Rome for Italica Ars. English Wikipedia gives a release of February 11, 1914. The Italian article places the Rome premiere at the Teatro Apollo on March 12, 1914, then Milan and Turin on March 21. It runs about 50 minutes, 1,200 metres. Francesca Bertini plays Pierrot. Leda Gys plays Louisette. Emilio Ghione plays Pochinet.
Themes
Making
Negroni filmed Beissier's pantomime at Celio's Rome stages, with Bertini in the male role.
Look
Giorgio Ricci photographed the pantomime sets, including the dance where Pierrot meets Fifine.
Music
Mario Costa's 1893 pantomime score was the music written for the story.
Preservation
A print held by Goffredo Lombardo and a Library of Congress copy both survive. One is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Bertini plays Pierrot in the white costume. Leda Gys is Louisette. Elvira Radaelli plays Fifine. Amedeo Ciaffi plays Julot. A child billed as Ninne plays the son.
- Goffredo Lombardo, Leda Gys's son and the owner of Titanus, later held a print. A second copy is at the Library of Congress.
- A copy is on Wikimedia Commons under the French title.
- The English title is Pierrot the Prodigal. The original title is Histoire d'un Pierrot.
Scenes
- Pierrot steals Louisette's savings and leaves with Fifine.
- The child he has never met walks him back to the door.
Influenced by
- Fernand Beissier's pantomime Histoire d'un Pierrot (1893)
