CABIRIA; Itala Film (Italy); 1914; dir: Giovanni Pastrone; cast: Carolina Catena, Lidia Quaranta, Gina Marangoni, Dante Testa, Umberto Mozzato, Bartolomeo Pagano. Vintage original 12 x 15.5 in. (30.5 x 39.4 cm.) Italian loby card, very fine condition. Set in ancient Carthage during the period of the Second Punic War, the image depicts a long shot of an exterior courtyard outside a temple. The sets from this renowned silent film epic were very ornate, especially by 1914 standards, and this scene features an Egyptian-themed design with intricate hieroglyphics of people, animals and winged creatures on the two outside columns, two large cat-god statues flanking the entrance and beautifully carved symbols above he doorway. In the foreground are upper-class people wearing period clothing as a servant girl stands to their left holding a platter. Various other people are seen in the background, including two slaves bowing and a group of soldiers in the lower left corner. This lobby card is a true "country of origin" lobby card printed in 1914 for the film's original Italian release and features credits from the film in the center of the bottom outer white border as well as the captions "Incavo Brunner" (in the lower left corner) and "Rappr: Ditta "Clamour" Via Bigli 7, Milano" (in the lower right corner). This lobby card is in very fine condition with a small area of discoloration about half the same of a dime on the center outer edge of the bottom border.
Original release Italian lobby cards from CABIRIA are truly scare and this particular example is in immaculate condition. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE IMAGE QUALITIY OF THE ACTUAL LOBBY CARD ITSELF IS MUCH SHARPER THAN IT APPEARS IN THESE EBAY PHOTOGRAPHS.
CABIRIA is based on Emilio Salgari's "Cartagine in fiamme" ("Carthage in Flames") and Gustave Flaubert's novel "Salammbo." Set in ancient Carthage during the period of the Second Punic War, it treats the conflict between Rome and Carthage through the eyes of the title character, who is kidnapped by pirates, sold as a slave in Carthage and rescued from being sacrificed to the god Moloch by a Roman nobleman and his muscular slave Maciste (who would later become the protagonist in a whole successful series of films on his own). Hannibal and his war elephants fit into the plot of this epic film.
Italian author Gabriele d'Annunzio contributed to the screenplay and wrote all of the intertitles. The film was a major influence on D.W. Griffith's INTOLERANCE, although film critic Roger Ebert said Griffith "moves the camera with greater freedom and has a headlong narrative and an exciting use of cross-cutting that Pastrone does not approach." The film also marked the debut of the Maciste character, who went on to have a long career in Italian sword and sandal films. A restored version of the film screened on May 27, 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival, featuring a filmed introduction by director Martin Scorsese.
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