''Casta Diva'' is a 1935 Italian

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Carmine Gallone Carmine Gallone (10 September 1885 – 11 March 1973) was an early Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, who was also controversial for his works of pro-Fascist propaganda and historical revisionism. Considered one of Itali ...

and starring

Mártha Eggerth Marta Eggerth (17 April 1912 – 26 December 2013) was a Hungarian actress and singer from "The Silver Age of Operetta". Many of the 20th century's most famous operetta composers, including Franz Lehár, Fritz Kreisler, Robert Stolz, Oscar Str ...

Lamberto Picasso Lamberto Picasso (21 October 1880 – 17 September 1962) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1914 and 1953. Life and career Born in La Spezia, Picasso studied at the Istituto Tecnico in Genoa, and made his acting debu ...

and

Gualtiero Tumiati Gualtiero Tumiati ( 8 May 1876 – 23 April 1971) was an Italian actor and stage director. Life and career Born in Ferrara, Tumiati studied at the College of the Oaks in Florence and there he attended the acting courses held by Luigi Rasi. He ...

. The film won Best Italian Film at the 1935 Venice International Film Festival. An English-language version ''

The Divine Spark ''The Divine Spark'' is a 1935 British musical film directed by Carmine Gallone and starring Marta Eggerth, Phillips Holmes, Benita Hume and Donald Calthrop. An Italian-language version ''Casta Diva (1935 film), Casta Diva'' was shot simultaneou ...

'' was made at the same time, also directed by Gallone and starring Eggerth. Gallone remade the film in 1954 in Technicolor. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Werner Schlichting Werner Schlichting (1904–1996) was a German art director who worked on over a hundred films during a lengthy career. He worked on a number of Austrian films including '' The Congress Dances'' and '' The Last Ten Days'' (1955).Fritsche p.253 Sel ...

and Enrico Verdozzi.

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

took place around

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. In Bellini's opera, ''Norma'', the soprano's plea to the moon goddess in Act I begins ''Casta diva'', and the aria is well known by that name.

Plot

The film concerns Italian composer

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only ...

and his problems with his opera ''

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

'' (1831), which itself tells the passionate love story of a Gallican priestess of the local Celtic religion and a Roman

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

(governor of a province). The film is unique because it uses abstract paintings-in-motion to express the passion between the two main characters.

Cast

as Maddelena Fumarol * Sandro Palmieri as

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...

as Fumaroli *

Achille Majeroni Achille Majeroni (24 August 1881 – 12 October 1964) was an Italian film actor. Born in Syracuse, Sicily, son of Achille Majeroni and his second wife Graziosa Bignetti, he made his stage debut at age twelve with the Marazzi-Diligenti c ...

Gioacchino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

Lina Marengo Lina Marengo (19 January 1911 – 6 February 1987) was an Italian character actress. She played in over 30 films, and was most active between 1938 and 1943. Biography Marengo was born in Rome and her film debut was in '' Casta Diva'' (1935), di ...

as a guest *

Giulio Donadio Giulio Donadio (5 July 1889 – 15 June 1951) was an Italian actor and film director. Donadio appeared in over forty films between 1912 and 1947, including the historical melodrama '' Red Passport'' (1935).Landy p.155 He also directed several film ...

as Felice Romani * Ennio Cerlesi as Ernesto Tosi *

Vasco Creti Vasco Creti (7 December 1874 – 16 October 1945) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1915 and 1944. He was married to actress Valeria Creti. Selected filmography * '' Maschiaccio'' (1917) * '' I ...

as Rettore del Conservatorio * Bruna Dragoni as Giuditta Pasta *

Maurizio D'Ancora Rodolfo Gucci (16 July 1912 – 15 May 1983), also known by his stage name Maurizio D'Ancora, was an Italian actor and entrepreneur, who appeared in more than 40 films between 1929 and 1946. He was a member of the Gucci family. His only child, M ...

as Saverio Mercadante *

Cesare Bettarini Cesare Bettarini (17 October 1901 – 19 October 1975) was an Italian film actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the tradit ...

as Francesco Fiorino * Alfredo Robert as

Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand I (Italian language, Italian: ''Ferdinando I''; 12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 until his death. Before that he had been, since 1759, King of Naples as Ferdinand I ...

Gino Viotti Gino Viotti (1875–1951) was an Italian film actor who appeared in more than forty films, mostly in supporting roles. He played the part of Chilone Chilonides in the 1924 epic ''Quo Vadis''.Wyke p.214 Selected filmography * ''Nemesis'' (1920) * ...

as Maestro Zingarelli

References

External links

* 1935 films 1930s musical drama films 1930s biographical drama films Italian musical drama films Italian biographical drama films 1930s Italian-language films Films directed by Carmine Gallone Italian multilingual films Films set in 1831 Films about composers Films about classical music and musicians Films about opera Italian black-and-white films Cultural depictions of Niccolò Paganini Italian historical musical films 1930s historical musical films Cultural depictions of classical musicians Cultural depictions of Italian people Films shot in Italy 1935 multilingual films 1935 drama films 1930s Italian films Films scored by Willy Schmidt-Gentner {{historic-musical-film-stub