Cabiria (1914)

Director:

Giovanni Pastrone

Writers:

Gabriele D'Annunzio (titles)
Titus Livus (book)
(more)

Release Date:

1 June 1914 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

1200 - Scenes - 1200 (original ad)

Plot:

Three centuries before Christus. Young Cabiria is kidnapped by some pirates during one eruption of the Etna...

Plot Keywords:

Carthage | Roman | Slave | Moloch | Punic Wars

Cast

Carolina Catena	...	Cabiria, as a Child (as Catena)
Lidia Quaranta	...	Cabiria, also called Elissa
Gina Marangoni	...	Croessa, Cabiria's Nurse
Dante Testa	...	Karthalo, the High Priest
Umberto Mozzato	...	Fulvio 'Fulvius' Axilla
Bartolomeo Pagano	...	Maciste, Axilla's Slave
Raffaele di Napoli	...	Bodastoret, the Innkeeper
Emilio Vardannes	...	Hannibal
Edoardo Davesnes	...	Hasdrubal
Italia Almirante-Manzini	...	Sophonisba, Hasdrubal's Daughter
Alessandro Bernard	...	Siface 'Syphax', King of Cirta
Luigi Chellini	...	Scipione 'Scipio', the Consul
Vitale Di Stefano	...	Massinissa, the Numidian King
Enrico Gemelli	...	Archimede
Ignazio Lupi	...	Arbace
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Francesca Bertini
Giuseppe Ferrari
Soava Gallone
Domenico Gambino
Pina Menichelli
Felice Minotti
Amedeo Mustacchi
Fido Schirru

Directed by
Giovanni Pastrone

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gabriele D'Annunzio		titles
Titus Livus		book
Giovanni Pastrone		writer
Emilio Salgari		novel

Produced by
Giovanni Pastrone	....	producer

Original Music by
Manlio Mazza
Ildebrando Pizzetti

Cinematography by
Augusto Battagliotti
Eugenio Bava
Natale Chiusano
Segundo de Chomón
Carlo Franzeri
Giovanni Tomatis

Special Effects by
Eugenio Bava	....	special effects technician
Segundo de Chomón	....	special effects

Music Department
Jacques Gauthier	....	musician: piano (1990 alternate version)

Other crew
Charles Affron	....	presenter (1990 alternate version)
Charles Affron	....	translator: intertitles (1990 alternate version)
Mirella Jona Affron	....	presenter (1990 alternate version)
Mirella Jona Affron	....	translator: intertitles (1990 alternate version)

Production Companies

• Itala Film

Distributors

• Kleine Optical Company (1915) (USA) (theatrical) (as George Kleine Attractions)
• Universum Film (UFA) (1920) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Facets Multimedia Distribution (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Cabiria, Visione Storica del Terzo Secolo A.C. (Italy) (long title)

Runtime:

148 min | 125 min (1990 alternate version) | USA:123 min (Kino Restored Print) | 162 min (1995 restoration) | 181 min (16 fps) (2006 restoration)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

FERT Studios, Turin, Piedmont, Italy

Company:

Itala Film

Trivia:

Celebrity writer Gabriele D'Annunzio was originally hired by Pastrone to write the screenplay. After long delays Pastrone and his assistant went to Paris, where D'Annunzio lived at the time, to excite him into action. More time passed, and the director's patience grew thinner and thinner, and in the end D'Annunzio merely rewrote in poetic prose the titles Pastrone prepared.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)

An Engrossing Historical Melodrama With All The Trimmings

An engrossing historical melodrama with all the trimmings, "Cabiria" would be rather impressive if it had been made in the mid- or late- 1920's, and the fact that it was made in 1914 is astounding. While it was widely known in its time, and apparently was once given full credit for its influence on other film-makers, it has been largely forgotten today, for no good reason. The story is involved and ambitious, the settings and scale are lavish and creative, and the historical scenario comes from the fascinating (if today little-known) period of the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. It's all very good in its own right, and it's even more of a success when you consider the new ground they had to break in bringing it all together so well.

The story blends together several fictional and several historical characters, centering on the adventures and misfortunes of the girl Cabiria. As in any melodrama, there are some implausible developments, yet it rarely seems overly forced. The historical setting is used creatively, both to drive the action and to provide interesting settings and characters. While it is clearly fiction, it takes fewer liberties with history than do many other movies with historical settings, since it is designed for entertainment rather than to promote a particular viewpoint.

And as entertainment, it delivers handsomely. This is well worth the trouble to find for anyone who enjoys watching silent movies. It is also worth seeing if you have even a passing interest in the development of cinema, because few movies have ever been so creative in using and improving upon the means available in their own era.