Mario Soldati

Mario Soldati
Born	(1906-11-17)17 November 1906 Turin,Kingdom of Italy
Died	19 June 1999(1999-06-19)(aged 92) Lerici,Italy
Occupation(s)	Writer, film director

Mario Soldati(17 November 1906 – 19 June 1999) was an Italian writer and film director. In 1954, he won theStrega PrizeforLettere da Capri.He directed several works adapted from novels, and worked with leading Italian actresses, such asSophia LorenandGina Lollobrigida.

Biography

A native ofTurin,Soldati attended theLiceo Sociale,aJesuitschool, and finished secondary school at age 17. He then studied humanities at theUniversity of Turin.At that time, the University was a hotbed of intellectual activity and the young Soldati met and befriended the likes of activist and writerCarlo Leviand journalistGiacomo Debenedetti,who were his seniors. He later studied History of Art at the University of Rome. He started publishing novels in 1929. He achieved the widest notice withAmerica primo amore,published in 1935, a memoir of the time he spent teaching atColumbia University.He won literary awards for his work, most notably theStrega PrizeforLettere da Capriin 1954.

Also interested in film, Soldati began directing in 1938. His most well-known films arePiccolo mondo antico(1941) andMalombra(1942) withIsa Miranda,both based on novels byAntonio Fogazzaro.These two films belong to the early 1940s movement inItalian cinemaknown ascalligrafismo.Other popular films wereEugenie Grandet,based onBalzac's novel, withAlida Valli;Fuga in Francia(1948);The River Girl(starringSophia Loren), andLa provinciale(starringGina Lollobrigida). Soldati also regularly published articles in Italian newspapers, includingIl Mondo,Il Corriere della Sera,La Stampa,Avanti,L'UnitàandIl Giorno.

Soldati died atLericiin 1999. He was 92.

Legacy and honours

• 1954,Strega PrizeforLettere da Capri
• 2010, his 1950 filmI'm in the Revuewas shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the67th Venice International Film Festival.

Filmography

• The Table of the Poor(1932)
• What Scoundrels Men Are!(1932)
• The Opera Singer(1932)
• Steel(1933)
• Giallo(1933)
• The Great Appeal(1936)
• But It's Nothing Serious(1936)
• The Countess of Parma(1936)
• The Woman of Monte Carlo(La signora di Montecarlo) (1938)
• Princess Tarakanova(1938)
• Tonight at Eleven(1938)
• I Want to Live with Letizia(1938)
• The Cuckoo Clock(1938)
• Two Million for a Smile(1939)
• The Document(1939)
• Castles in the Air(1939)
• Dora Nelson(1939)
• A Romantic Adventure(1940)
• Tutto per la donna(1940)
• Saint Rogelia(1940)
• The Sin of Rogelia Sanchez(1940)
• Piccolo mondo antico(1941)
• A Pistol Shot(1942)
• Tragic Night(1942)
• Malombra(1942)
• In High Places(Quartieri alti) (1945)
• His Young Wife(Le miserie del Signor Travet) (1945)
• Daniele Cortis(also known asElena) (1947)
• Eugenie Grandet(Eugenia Grandet) (1947)
• Flight Into France(Fuga in Francia) (1948)
• Chi è Dio(1948)
• I'm in the Revue(Botta e risposta) (1950)
• Her Favourite Husband(The Taming of Dorothy;Quel bandito sono io) (1950)
• Women and Brigands(1950)
• O.K. Nero(O.K. Nerone) (1951)
• È l'amor che mi rovina(1951)
• Three Corsairs(I tre corsari) (1952)
• Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair,a.k.a.Yolanda(Jolanda, la figlia del corsaro nero) (1952)
• The Adventures of Mandrin(1952)
• The Dream of Zorro(1952)
• The Wayward Wife(La provinciale) (1953)
• Of Life and Love(Questa è la vita) (1954)
• The Stranger's Hand(1954)
• The River Girl(La donna del fiume) (1955)
• The Virtuous Bigamist(Sous le ciel de Provence) (1956)
• Italia piccola(1957)
• Count Max(1957)
• Policarpo(Policarpo, ufficiale di scrittura) (1959)

External links

• Mario SoldatiatIMDb
• Mario Soldati mostra virtuale(in Italian)