MONTUORI, CARLO

(1883-1963)

Cinematographer. Active in the Italian film industry from its earliest days, Montuori began working as a camera operator in 1908 and by 1912 had developed an improved system of arc lighting for filming indoors. His skills as a cinematographer received international recognition when in 1925 he helped to film the American production ofBen-Hur, directed in Rome by Fred Niblo. He subsequently worked with many of the major Italian directors of the interwar period, includingAlessandro Blasetti, for whom he photographedSole(Sun, 1929),Resurrectio(Rebirth, 1931), andTerra madre(Earth Mother, 1931);Gennaro Righelli, with whom he made the aviation epicL'armata azzurra(The Blue Fleet, 1932); andCarlo Ludovico Bragaglia, for whom he created the remarkable expressionistic lighting ofO la borsa o la vita(Your Money or Your Life, 1933). In the immediate postwar period he collaborated withLuigi ZampaonVivere in pace(To Live in Peace, 1946) andAnni difficili(Difficult Years, 1948), with Blasetti again onAltri tempi(Times Gone By, 1952), withPietro GermionGioventu perduta(Lost Youth, 1947) andLa citta si difende(Four Ways Out, 1951), and withLuigi ComencinionPane, amore e gelosia(Bread, Love and Jealousy, 1954, also known asFrisky). He is best remembered during this period, however, for his cinematography on the films ofVittorio De Sica, in particularLadri di biciclette(Bicycle Thieves, 1948),L'oro di Napoli(The Gold of Naples, 1954), andIl tetto(The Roof, 1956).