Mario Soldati (17 November 1906 – 19 June 1999) was an Italian writer and film director. In 1954, he won the Strega Prize for ''Lettere da Capri.'' He directed several works adapted from novels, and worked with leading Italian actresses, such as

Alida Valli Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (31 May 1921 – 22 April 2006), better known by her stage name Alida Valli, or simply Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, span ...

, Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida.

Biography

A native of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Soldati attended the ''Liceo Sociale'', a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

school, and finished secondary school at age 17. He then studied humanities at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

. At that time, the University was a hotbed of intellectual activity and the young Soldati met and befriended the likes of activist and writer

Carlo Levi Carlo Levi () (29 November 1902 – 4 January 1975) was an Italian painter, writer, activist, Independent Left (Italy), independent leftist politician, and doctor. He is best known for his book ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (novel), Cristo si è fe ...

and journalist Giacomo 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 with ''America primo amore'', published in 1935, a memoir of the time he spent teaching at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He won literary awards for his work, most notably the Strega Prize for ''Lettere da Capri'' in 1954. Also interested in film, Soldati began directing in 1938. His most well-known films are '' Piccolo mondo antico'' (1941) and ''Malombra'' (1942) with Isa Miranda, both based on novels by Antonio Fogazzaro. These two films belong to the early 1940s movement in

Italian cinema The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by List of Italian film directors, Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and ...

known as '' calligrafismo.'' Other popular films were ''Eugenie Grandet'', based on Balzac's novel, with

; ''Fuga in Francia'' (1948); ''The River Girl'' (starring Sophia Loren), and ''La provinciale'' (starring Gina Lollobrigida). Soldati also regularly published articles in Italian newspapers, including '' Il Mondo'', '' Il Corriere della Sera'', '' La Stampa, Avanti, L'Unità ''and '' Il Giorno''. Soldati died at Lerici in 1999. He was 92.

Legacy and honours

*1954, Strega Prize for ''Lettere da Capri'' *2010, his 1950 film '' I'm in the Revue'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.

Filmography

* '' The Table of the Poor'' (1932) * '' What Scoundrels Men Are!'' (1932) * '' The Opera Singer'' (1932) * ''

Steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

'' (1933) * '' Giallo'' (1933) * '' The Great Appeal'' (1936) * '' But It's Nothing Serious'' (1936) * ''

The Countess of Parma ''The Countess of Parma'' (Italian: ''La contessa di Parma'') is a 1937 Italian "Telefoni Bianchi, white-telephones" comedy film directed by Alessandro Blasetti and starring Elisa Cegani, Antonio Centa and María Denis. Marcella, a mannequin worki ...

'' (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 as ''Elena'') (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)

Bibliography

*'' 24 Hours in a Film Studio'' (1935 essay; as Franco Pallavera)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soldati, Mario 1906 births 1999 deaths Film people from Turin Italian film directors Italian male journalists Strega Prize winners University of Turin alumni Columbia University faculty Premio Campiello winners 20th-century Italian journalists Writers from Turin 20th-century Italian male writers