Gennaro Righelli

Early career

Salvatore Gennaro Righelli was born in Salerno on 12 December 1886 to the Neapolitan actor Angelo Righelli and Maria Galassi. After working as a stage actor in his youth, he started his career at the production company Cines, initially as a screenwriter and then as a director. His debut film was La fidanzata di Messina (1911), in which he played the lead role. He then moved to Vesuvio Films, where he directed several films with his wife, Maria Mauro, until 1913. In 1916, he began working for Tiber Film, before moving to Fert in 1920. Righelli drew inspiration for most of his films from great works of literature. Examples include Il Decamerone (1912), inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio's collection of short stories The Decameron, and The Voyage (1921), based on Luigi Pirandello's novel of the same title.

In Germany

Due to the crisis that affected the Italian film industry in the 1920s, Righelli moved to Germany, where he worked as a director from 1923 to 1929. Initially hired by Berlin producer Jakob Karol, he then founded the film company Maria Jacobini-Film GmbH with Maria Jacobini, whom he married in 1925. During his time in Germany, Righelli directed over fifteen films, including La Boheme (1923) and Rudderless (1924), which are widely considered among the finest works of his career and enjoyed success throughout Europe.

Back in Italy

Back in Italy, Righelli was hired by Stefano Pittaluga, the head of Cines, to direct the first Italian sound film, The Song of Love (1930), starring Dria Paola, Isa Pola, and Elio Steiner. Based on Luigi Pirandello's novella In silenzio, the film was a huge success with critics and audiences alike, and was distributed in France and Germany.

Following the comedy Patatrac (1931) starring Armando Falconi, and the subsequent L'aria del continente (1935) – based on a play by Nino Martoglio – starring Angelo Musco. In 1935, he directed with Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo in the comedy Quei due, a farce based on Eduardo's one-act play Sik Sik l'artefice magico. Righelli also directed the sentimental comedies Mr. Desire (1933) and They've Kidnapped a Man (1938), starring Vittorio De Sica. After the war, he directed Down with Misery (1945) and Peddlin' in Society (1946). Despite their evidently populist tone, these films are marked by neorealist traits in their depiction of the hardships and economic difficulties faced by the country in the aftermath of World War II. In 1947, he directed his final film, the drama The Courier of the King, based on Stendhal's novel The Red and the Black.

Silent films

Sound films