'' The Former Mattia Pascal'' (Italian: ''Il fu Mattia Pascal'') is a 1937 Italian

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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Pierre Chenal Pierre Chenal (; 5 December 1904 – 23 December 1990) was a French director and screenwriter who flourished in the 1930s. He was married to Czech-born French film actress Florence Marly from 1937 to 1955. Work Chenal was best known for film no ...

and starring Pierre Blanchar,

Isa Miranda Isa Miranda (born Ines Isabella Sampietro; 5 July 1909 – 8 July 1982) was an Italian actress with an international film career. Biography Miranda was born Ines Isabella Sampietro in Milan, the daughter of atreet car conductor in Mian. When ...

and

Irma Gramatica Irma Gramatica (pseudonym of Maria Francesca Gramatica; 25 November 1870 – 24 October 1962) was an Italian stage and film actress. Gramatica appeared in ten films during her career including '' The Materassi Sisters'' (1944).Landy p.285 Her sist ...

.Landy p.155 It is based on the 1904 novel '' Il fu Mattia Pascal'' by

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

. The film was shot at the

Cines Studios The Cines Studios were film production studios located in the Italian capital Rome. They were established on Via Veio in 1930 by Stefano Pittaluga, head of the Cines film company, at the beginning of the sound era. It produced Italy's first so ...

in Rome. A separate French-language version was also made, under the title '' The Man from Nowhere''. The film's

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

was by Guido Fiorini.

Cast

* Pierre Blanchar as Mattia Pascal *

as Luisa Paleari *

as La vedova Pescatore * Nella Maria Bonora as Romilda Pescatore Pascal * Olga Solbelli as Silvia Caporale *

Enrico Glori Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry ( English), Henri (French), E ...

as Il conte Papiano * Adele Garavaglia as Angelica Bonafede Pascal *

Silvio Bagolini Silvio Bagolini (4 August 1914 – 26 September 1976) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1936 and 1973. Life and career Born in Bologna, Bagolini studied architecture at the Bologna University, without g ...

as Il portiere dell'hotel Luxor * Pina Gallini as Zia Scolastica * Luigi Pralavorio as Pomino * Giuseppe Pierozzi as Il bibliotecario anziano * Luigi Zerbinati as L'idiota della pensione *

Cesare Zoppetti Cesare Zoppetti (January 1, 1876 – March 15, 1940) was an Italian stage and film actor. Zoppetti was a prolific film actor of the 1930s, appearing in nearly fifty productions between 1930 and his death in 1940 including the comedy ''What S ...

as Paleari *

Alberto Angelini Alberto Angelini (born 28 September 1974 in Savona) is a retired water polo player from Italy, who represented his native country at four consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996 (Atlanta, Georgia). He was a member of the Italy men's nation ...

* Guido Barbarisi * Ornella Da Vasto *

Fernando De Crucciati Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

Nino Eller Nino Eller was an Italian stage and film actor.Waldman p.162 Selected filmography * '' Television'' (1931) * ''The Phantom Gondola'' (1936) * ''The Former Mattia Pascal'' (1937) * ''Backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatr ...

* Claudio Ermelli as Il becchino *

Enzo Gainotti Enzo is an Italian given name derivative of the German name Heinz. It can be used also as the short form for Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Innocenzo, or Fiorenzo. It is most common in the Romance-speaking world, particularly in Italy and Latin America ...

Mario Gallina Mario Gallina (23 March 1889 – 26 September 1950) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Gallina was born in Trieste, which was then a possession of Austria-Hungary (now Italy). He was the son of theatre actors Enrico Gallina and ...

Luisa Garella Luisa Garella is an Italian former film actress who appeared in a number of films during the Fascist era.Goble p.179 Her birth year has been given as both 1913 and 1921. Selected filmography * ''The Matchmaker'' (1934) * ''The Man Who Smiles'' ...

* Fausto Guerzoni as Un cameriere *

Rita Livesi Rita Livesi (born 1915) is an Italian stage and film actress. She is known for Amore amaro (1974), Il berretto a sonagli (1985) and La ragazza del vagone letto (1979). Selected filmography * ''Cavalry'' (1936) * ''Adam's Tree'' (1936) * ''Th ...

* Achille Majeroni *

Nicola Maldacea Nicola Maldacea (29 October 1870 – 5 March 1945) was an Italian actor, comedian and singer.Cesare Polacco Cesare Polacco (14 May 1900 – 2 March 1986) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Venice, Polacco started his career in 1920 in the stage company of Emilio Zago, with whom he played most of the Goldoni's repertoir ...

as Un ospite della pensione * Giovanna Scotto *

Edda Soligo Edda Soligo (1905–1984) was an Italian film and television actress.Verdone p.111 Selected filmography * ''Adam's Tree'' (1936) * '' The Man from Nowhere'' (1937) * '' The Former Mattia Pascal'' (1937) * '' Il signor Max'' (1937) * '' To Live' ...

as Una signora al tavolo da giocco * Gino Viotti

References

Bibliography

* Landy, Marcia. ''Fascism in Film: The Italian Commercial Cinema, 1931-1943''. Princeton University Press, 2014.

External links

* 1937 films 1937 drama films Italian drama films 1930s Italian-language films Films based on works by Luigi Pirandello Films based on Italian novels Films directed by Pierre Chenal Italian multilingual films Cines Studios films Italian black-and-white films 1937 multilingual films 1930s Italian films {{1930s-Italy-film-stub