BARATTOLO, GIUSEPPE

(1882-1949)

Lawyer, politician, financier, producer. An influential presence in the Italian film industry during the silent period, Barattolo began as a distributor but in 1913 founded the production company Caesar Film, which quickly succeeded in attracting rising star and soon-to-be divaFrancesca Bertiniinto its ranks, and went on to produce some of the most significant films of the silent period, including the first of theZa-la-Mortfilms,Nelly la gigolette(Nelly, 1914), andGustavo Serena'sAssunta Spina(1915). During the crisis that developed in the film industry in the period following World War I, Barattolo became one of the most enthusiastic promoters of the ill-fatedUnione Cinematografica Italiana(UCI, Italian Cinematographic Union), and his viability as a producer declined with its fading fortunes. Between 1931 and 1934 he tried, but ultimately failed, to reestablish Caesar Film as a force in Italian film production. In 1937 he joined the Scalera Film company and in 1942 was instrumental in setting up a branch of the Scalera studios in Venice. After the war, in partneship with his brother, Gaetano, he worked briefly as an independent producer.