Scalera Film was an Italian

film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

company which operated between 1938 and 1950. It had strong backing from the Italian state, as the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

government of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

was keen to build up and centralise the Italian film industry. It was founded by the brothers Michele and Salvatore Scalera, and primarily based at the

Scalera Studios Scalera is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Frederick Scalera, American politician * Giuseppe Scalera, Italian football player * Maria Antonia Scalera Stellini, Italian poet * Ralph Francis Scalera , American judge ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In 1943 during the German occupation of Rome, the studio was relocated to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

as part of a planned Cinevillaggio film complex developed by Mussolini loyalists.Brunetta p.103 Following the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the studio had some difficulties repossessing its Rome Studios as it was considered politically suspect due to its close links with the old regime. Eventually production was restarted with attempts to build co-production arrangements with film-makers in other countries. In late 1950 Scalera opened a distribution subsidiary in the United States, but then suddenly collapsed financially during the shooting of ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'', and the company was formally liquidated two years later; the American office, which had acquired reissue rights for 70 films formerly handled by Superfilm Distributing Corp., was closed before the end of 1951.

References

Bibliography

* Brunetta, Gian Piero. '' The History of Italian Cinema: A Guide to Italian Film from Its Origins to the Twenty-first Century''. Princeton University Press, 2009. * Ricci, Steven. ''Cinema and Fascism: Italian Film and Society, 1922–1943''. University of California Press, 2008. Film production companies of Italy Film distributors of Italy {{IT-film-company-stub