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:

Was the first film to use a dolly-track system, the effects of which were pegged "Cabiria movements" in the industry.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Bellissimo: Immagini del cinema italiano (1985)

Remarkable Silent Italian Epic

Kidnapped by Phoenician pirates from her Sicilian home, the infant CABIRIA grows to become involved in Rome's conflict with Carthage during the Second Punic War.

Vast, intricate in plot & completely fascinating, here is one of the great silent epics which, fortunately, lives up to its legend. Full of daring rescues & breathless escapes, the film also features innovative camerawork & lighting techniques which would greatly influence D. W. Griffith & Cecil B. DeMille. (Some viewers may also see a strong resemblance between CABIRIA and the gigantic sets & bravado action highlighted in the Douglas Fairbanks swashbucklers of the 1920's.)

Prolific director Giovanni Pastrone (1883-1959), using the pseudonym Piero Fosco, wrote the script and helped design the huge, elaborate sets, wanting to make his film the biggest, most thrilling epic ever produced. A million lira was budgeted for CABIRIA, a tremendous sum then, and location shooting was extended to Tunisia, Sicily & the Alps. The result was a tremendous success and ensured Pastrone's name would be enshrined in the history of world cinema. A true Renaissance Man, Pastrone left films in 1923 to devote himself to medical research.

The acting is often rather ripe & sensationalized, but that was the prevailing style in Italian epics, which were doubtless influenced by Grand Opera's florid stage mannerisms. Special mention should be made of Umberto Mozzato as a heroic Roman spy, Bartolomeo Pagano as the muscular Maciste & Italia Almirante-Manzini playing a wicked Carthaginian queen.

Sequences remain in the viewer's mind: the destructive eruption of Mount Etna; the truly terrifying scenes in the vile Temple of Moloch, with tiny naked children being thrown into the flames; and Hannibal's march - with elephants - over the mountains. Ancient Archimedes setting fire to the Roman fleet attacking Syracuse is unexpectedly amusing, while the movie climaxes with one of the most ostentatious suicides ever filmed.

******************************

There were three Punic Wars, which kept the ancient world embroiled from 264 BC until 146 BC while Rome & Carthage engaged in a death struggle to see who would emerge as the master of the Mediterranean. Battles raged in Europe & Africa, as well as on the Sea, but the last War ultimately ended with Rome's total victory and the complete & utter destruction of Carthage. The innocents sacrificed to the hideous Moloch were finally avenged.