SOLDATI, MARIO

(1906-1999)

Writer, director, screenwriter, literary critic, academic, actor. Perhaps better known as a writer than a filmmaker, Soldati always claimed to have become involved in cinema merely in order to make money. Nevertheless, he was obviously attracted by the medium and joined the revampedCinesstudios duringEmilio Cecchi's period as artistic director there in 1932. He began working as a screenwriter, collaborating on the screenplays of many ofMario Camerini's best-known films, includingGli uomini che mascalzoni(What Scoundrels Men Are, 1932),Il cappello a tre punte(The Three-Cornered Hat, 1935), andIl signor Max(Mister Max, 1940), as well as onAlessandro Blasetti'sContessa di Parma(The Countess of Parma, 1937) andRenato Castellani's debut feature,Un colpo di pistola(A Pistol Shot, 1942).From the late 1930s he tried his hand at directing, beginning withDora Nelson(1939), awhite telephonecomedy set in the film industry itself, which he followed with the two "calligraphic" films for which he would become best known:Piccolo mondo antico(Old-Fashioned World, 1941) andMalombra(1942), both elegant and atmospheric adaptations of novels by 19th-century writer Antonio Fogazzaro.

After the war, while intensifying his literary output, he also continued to direct films, moving effortlessly between stylish literary adaptations such asEugenia Grandet(Eugenie Grandet, 1946) andLa provinciale(The Wayward Wife, 1952) to swashbuckling adventure fantasies suchIl sogno di Zorro(Zorro's Dream, 1952) andJolanda la figlia del corsaro Nero(Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Pirate, 1953). After the erotic melodramaLa donna del fiume(The River Girl, 1955), which showcased both the body and the acting talents of a very youngSophia Loren, Soldati became intensely interested in television and produced a number of travel documentaries for the RAI, includingViaggio nella valle del Po(Travels along the Po Valley, 1957) andViaggio lungo il Tirreno(Travels along the Tyrrean Coast, 1961), which he made in collaboration withCesare Zavattini. The last film he directed, before devoting himself almost completely to writing, was the light ironic comedyPolicarpo, "ufficiale di scrittura" (Policarpo, 1959).