The Lady of the Camellias
About The Lady of the Camellias
In nineteenth-century Paris, Margherita Gautier (Francesca Bertini) is a kept woman. She and Armando Duval (Gustavo Serena) fall in love and move to a villa outside the city. His father asks her to leave, for the son's future. She agrees, tells Armando she is tired of him, and he humiliates her at a party. Already ill, she goes back to that life, then dies of tuberculosis in his arms after he learns why she left.
Cast & crew
More about The Lady of the Camellias
Gustavo Serena directed and played Armando. Renzo Chiosso adapted Alexandre Dumas fils's 1848 novel. Alberto G. Carta photographed. Alfredo Manzi was art director. Caesar Film produced and released it on 22 November 1915. Italian intertitles. 53 minutes. Olga Benetti plays Madame Duvernoy. Antonio Cruichi is Duval's father. Also billed are Carlo Benetti, Camillo De Riso, and Tina Ceccaci Renaldi.
Themes
Making
Serena staged Dumas's story with himself as Armando opposite Bertini, Caesar's star, and Manzi's sets for the Paris rooms and the country villa.
Look
Alberto G. Carta photographed Bertini in the Paris interiors and the villa. Alfredo Manzi designed the sets.
Music
The 1915 release is silent. Ennio Morricone composed a score used when the film was presented in 1992.
Preservation
A 53-minute copy survives and is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Bertini's character is Margherita Gauthier. The French novel's spelling is Marguerite Gautier.
- Two other 1915 versions exist: Baldassarre Negroni's with Hesperia, and Albert Capellani's American Camille with Clara Kimball Young. This is the Caesar Film picture.
- Ennio Morricone wrote music for a 1992 presentation of the silent film.
Scenes
- Armando's father visits Margherita at the villa and asks her to give his son up.
- She tells Armando she is tired of him. He makes a scene at a party.
- She dies of tuberculosis in his arms once he knows the reason.
Influenced by
- The Lady of the Camellias (novel)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (La signora delle camelie (1915).webm)
