The Domestic Hearth
About The Domestic Hearth
Carlo Silvestri spends the family money on the courtesan Granata and forges his father's signature to borrow from the moneylender Mayer. To protect the family name, the father turns the ancestral house over to Mayer, and Carlo leaves to start again abroad. Granata, once she understands the harm, pretends to accept Mayer, gets the deed, and sends it back to the Silvestri in secret. Mayer realizes the trick, follows her, and kills her at the door. Carlo, home and reformed, is with her as she dies.
Cast & crew
More about The Domestic Hearth
Italian title Il focolare domestico. Nino Oxilia directed. A. Gera wrote the story. Savoia Film, Turin, produced it. Censorship visa 2230, dated 21 January 1914. A Finnish filmography gives a February 1914 opening and an original length of 762 metres. The Museo Nazionale del Cinema's English titles are Home, Sweet Home, Foyer domestique, and De slachtoffers van een woekeraar. On the museum's own caption Maria Jacobini plays Granata, Dillo Lombardi plays Carlo Silvestri, and Giovanni Spano plays Mayer. Alberto Nepoti and Piera de' Ferrari are also billed. A Finnish cast list assigns Carlo to Nepoti instead.
Themes
Making
Oxilia was near the start of his directing work. Savoia shot the story in Turin with Jacobini as the courtesan who repairs the debt and is killed for it.
Preservation
EYE restored the print. The Museo Nazionale del Cinema holds the 798-metre Desmetcolor copy with Dutch titles, timed at 39 minutes at 18 frames per second. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The museum print was preserved by the EYE Filmmuseum and is held in Turin: 35mm acetate, 798 metres, 39 minutes at 18 frames per second, Desmetcolor, Dutch intertitles.
- The European Film Gateway page for the same copy also lists a runtime of 41 minutes.
- Jacobini, Oxilia's partner, plays Granata.
- The forged signature is in the museum's Italian synopsis and is not in the shorter English paragraph.
Scenes
- Carlo's father gives Mayer the family house.
- Granata gets the deed by pretending to accept Mayer, and returns it.
- Mayer kills her on the threshold as Carlo comes back.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Il focolare domestico (1914).webm)
