MARTELLI, OTELLO

(1902-2000)

Cinematographer. Martelli began working as a cameraman at Caesar Film in 1916 and graduated to director of photography on a number of films directed by Roberto Roberti before joining the IstitutoLUCEin the mid-1920s. In 1928 he followed and recorded Umberto Nobile's hapless expedition to the North Pole in his feature-lengthdocumentaryLe gesta dell'Artide(Exploits in the Arctic Region, 1928). On his return, he joined the newly revivedCines, where he worked as cinematographer on a host of films that includedAlessandro Blasetti'sVecchia guardia(1933),Mario Camerini'sDaw un milione(I'll Give a Million, 1935), and the first film to star comic actorToto,Fermo con le mani(Hands Off Me!1936), directed by Gero Zambuto.

After the war he collaborated withRoberto RossellinionPaisa(Paisan, 1946),Stromboli, terra di Dio(Stromboli, 1949), andFrancesco, giullare di Dio(Francis, God's Jester, 1950), on many ofGiuseppe De Santis's films, including the extremely successfulRiso amaro(Bitter Rice, 1949), and withFederico FellinionI vitelloni(Spivs, 1953),La strada(1954),Il bidone(The Swindlers, 1955),Le notti di Cabiria(The Nights of Cabiria, 1957), andLa dolce vita(1960).Although not unduly enthusiastic about color, he photographedVittorio De Sica'sLa riffa(The Raffle) and Fellini'sLe tentazioni del dottor Antonio(The Temptations of Dottor Antonio), and two episodes ofBoccaccio '70(Boccaccio 70, 1962), as well as Abel Gance's final film,Cyrano et D'Artagnan(Cyrano and D'Artagnan, 1964), before retiring from the industry in 1966.