CALAMAI, CLARA

(1915-1998)

Actress. One of the major Italian female film stars of the interwar period, Calamai first appeared (as Clara Mais) inAldo Vergano's historical costume dramaPietro Micca(1938). Her first major role was inFerdinando Maria Poggioli's elegiac melodrama about student life in turn-of-the-century Turin,Addio giovinezza(Goodbye Youth, 1940), where she played the part of the seductive older woman. She was again the temptress inRaffaele Matarazzoi'swhite telephonecomedyL'avventuriera del piano di sopra(The Adventuress from the Floor Above, 1941) but achieved national notoriety for a scene inAlessandro Blasetti'sLa cena delle beffe(The Jester's Supper, 1941) in which she appeared, for a moment, bare breasted.While this undoubtedly contributed to her erotic pinup image at the time, her real place in Italian film history was earned by her much more nuanced interpretation of the character of the adulteress wife, Giovanna, inLuchino Visconti'sOssessione(Obsession, 1943), a role that had been marked originally forAnna Magnani.

Although slightly compromised by association with the previous regime, Calamai's career continued into the immediate postwar period with very creditable performances inMario Camerini'sResistancedramaDue letter anonime(Two Anonymous Letters, 1945) and Duillio Coletti'sL'adultera(The Adulteress, 1945), for which she received theNastro d'argentofor Best Actress. From this point, however, her career quickly declined and she subsequently only appeared in a handful of minor films. Perhaps in homage to her brilliant work inOssessione, Visconti gave her cameo roles inLe notti bianche(White Nights, 1957), where she played the part of a passing prostitute, and as an ex-starlet inLa strega bruciata viva(The Witch Burned Alive), an episode Visconti made for the compilation filmLe streghe(The Witches, 1967). Ironically, for someone who had been regarded as one of the foremost beauties of the Italian screen, her very last appearance on film was as the old and crazed murderess inDario Argento'shorror filmclassic,Profondo rosso(Deep Red, 1975).