Isa Miranda: Famous international actress of Bergamasque descent - Part II

 

Borrowed from MidnightPalace.com:

'Isa Miranda – La signora di tutti'

This article on Isa Miranda was written by Chiara Ricci, author of the newly released book “Anna Magnani. Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore.” It has been translated from Italian.

Trying to explain what Isa Miranda means to Italian cinema is not easy because of her life-long sensibility, her professional choices, and her unique and rare gift of versatility and being able to adapt under every circumstance.

Isa Miranda worked in Italy, in Switzerland, in France, in the United Kingdom, and in the USA. She is the first Italian actress – after Rodolfo Valentino and Francesca Bertini – to be called to Hollywood to sign a contract with Paramount.

Isa Miranda was born in Milan as Ines Isabella Sampietro, a humble peasants’ daughter. She managed, only with her strength and her ambition for a better life, to become one of the most important actresses during the period 1934–1944. In 1934, her true entrance in the world of cinema came with her performance in La signora di tutti, directed by Max Ophüls, where she is Gaby, a young femme fatale. After becoming a star of Italian cinema, Isa made her way to Hollywood.

In 1937, with producer Alfredo Guarini (who she will marry in 1939 in Tucson, Arizona) Isa traveled to the USA to get away from a fascist cinema. She was considered an antagonist of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. The star system worked on her image and attitude, creating the appearance of an unattainable woman, much like the other female stars of the day.

Miranda does not consider herself a diva, but an actress. In the USA, she takes part in two films: Hotel Imperial (1939) directed by Robert Florey with Ray Milland, and Adventures in Diamonds (1940) directed by George Fitzmaurice, the same director of Mata Hari. But these films are not successful. The relationship between Miranda and the American star system is not idyllic. Adding to this stress is the outbreak of the war, and more importantly, the illness of Isa’s mother. This brings an end to Isa’s American adventure, and in 1940, she returns to Italy where she finds many surprises. Because of her antifascist opinions, Isa runs into a lot of problems with the regime and with other actresses. The press receives orders from higher-ups, forbidding them to talk to, write about, or advertise Miranda. In fact, her return to Italy is completely unpublicized and her career comes to a halt. Her husband tries to help by producing and directing three of her films between 1940 and 1942, without success: Senza cielo, E’ caduta una donna and Documento Z3.

Finally, things begin to turn around. It is 1942 and Mario Soldati wants Isa Miranda to be Marina in Malombra, a film inspired by Antonio Fogazzaro’s novel of the same name. This is a great success! The same year, Renato Castellani chooses her for the title role in Zazà. In this film, a singer falls in love with a married man, so she decides to leave him to his family, sacrificing her love. This is another success and the public discovers a new Isa Miranda.

These films are two gems in Miranda’s filmography where she is in her maturity as an actress, finding the perfect balance between herself and her characters. In fact, she loves to study, to create her roles, but she wants to live them, to have them, to build them, and to cry and to laugh with them, too! She wants to be the character, and she wants to give it life by inserting her vitality and her temper.

Then Miranda divides herself between Italy and France where she makes other films, though they pass almost unseen: La carne e l’anima by Wladimiro Strichewsky (1943), Lo sbaglio di essere vivo by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (1945) and L’avventura comincia domani by Richard Pottier (1947). But in 1949, things change. René Clément directs her with Jean Gabin in Le mura di Malapaga. In this film, she is Marta, a hostess who falls in love to a man who is wanted by the police for homicide. She hides him, but in the end, he is arrested. Thanks to this part, Miranda wins the International Gran Prix as Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and the New York filmgoers vote her the Best Foreign Actress of 1949–1950.

In 1950, she again works in France with director Max Ophüls. She takes part in La ronde, inspired by the namesake piece written by Arthur Schnitzler. It is a choral film and tells how love is like a merry-go-round. After this film Miranda will have only little parts, short presences in film that are unimpressive, for example: Cameriera bella presenza offresi (1951) directed by Giorgio Pàstina, I sette peccati capitali directed by Eduardo De Filippo (1952) in the episode Avarizia e ira and in the forth episode of Donne where she is directed by Luigi Zampa. This last performance is one of her most intense; she tells about the pain of not having children and her deep feeling of motherhood.

Miranda is almost completely forgotten in Italy and decides to work abroad: in France with Prima del diluvio (1954) directed by André Cayatte, Il tradimento di Elena Marimon (1954) directed by Georges Combret; in the USA she takes a part alongside Katherine Hepburn in Summertime (1955), directed by David Lean.

In Italy, she has only a few short roles in Arrivano i dollari! (1957) directed by Mario Costa with Alberto Sordi, Nino Taranto, Riccardo Billi, Mario Riva and in Gli sbandati directed by Mario Costa.

It is hard to understand and to explain why her career is so varied. She is not stereotypical because she gives life to so many different women; to think differently would be to misunderstand her work. But it is true that she chose to play all these women after 1946, to help her husband following a financial breakdown. So she appears in La corruzione by Mauro Bolognini (1963), La noia by Damiano Damiani (1963), Lo chiameremo Andrea by Vittorio De Sica (1972) and Il portiere di notte by Liliana Cavani (1974). These are Miranda’s last performances and we see the same professionalism and seriousness as she had at the beginning of her career.

Finally, she decides to live in England. It is difficult for her because she has to start over with nothing. She works as babysitter and as secretary. But she has no regrets; she has a perfect inner-balance, and she is happy about what life has given her. Even today, Isa Miranda is the representation of Italian (and international) cinema and of an era. She is the girl from Milan and the perfect diva; she is the femme fatale, and the mother she never became in real life; she is the secretary and the muse of the most important painters of last century. She is Isa Miranda. She is always Ines Isabella Sampietro, La signora di tutti.

I would like to thank Chiara Ricci for the hard work that went into writing this article. Please take a moment to visit Chiara’s website at www.riccichiara.com and purchase a copy of her new book!






Hotel Imperial 1939 - Ray Milland - Isa Miranda - Gene Lockhart

ClassicMovieShop

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IMDB Mini Bio

Isa Miranda was one of the most significant actresses in Europe from the 1930s-'50s. Her remarkable talent expressed itself both in cinema and theater. She reached international popularity in the 1930s, especially in France, Germany and Austria, and became the only international movie star produced by the fascist cinema. In the 1950s, when her film career began declining, she played on stage in Italy, the US ("Mike McCauley", 1951), France ("Le serpent à sonettes", 1953) and England ("Orpheus Descending" by Tennessee Williams, 1959), receiving positive reviews everywhere. In the 1960s she started a TV career in England, appearing in many made-for-TV movies. She was a versatile actress, exceedingly sensible, a charming woman, and unjustly forgotten at the end of her life even by those who should have remembered her.

-- Giuseppe Alessi

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The Maypole and May Day - Part 1

May 1 marks the ancient northern folk festival of "May Day." Part of the festiveness of this European celebration is centered around the Maypole. 

May Day on May 1 is an ancient Northern Hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. Dances, singing, and cake are usually part of the celebrations that the day includes.

A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on May Day or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer. In some cases the maypole is a permanent feature that is only utilized during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose before being taken down again.

Primarily found within the nations of Germanic Europe and the neighboring areas which they have influenced, its origins remain unknown, although it has been speculated that it originally had some importance in the Germanic paganism of Iron Age and early Medieval cultures, and that the tradition survived Christianization, albeit losing any original meaning that it had. It has been a recorded practice in many parts of Europe throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods, although became less popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, the tradition is still observed in some parts of Europe and among European communities in North America.

Like so many aspects of ancient European folk traditions, May Day was co-opted by Christian denominations and political extremists. Still, it remains a powerful symbol of how ancient peoples related to the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the seasons, their harvests, and each other. May Day--although more Germanic in tradition--was also celebrated by the Romans.

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the Floralia, festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, held April 27 during the Roman Republic era, and with the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane, most commonly held on April 30. The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer.

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The Arctic Home in the Vedas: Part 19 - "Sun vs. Saturn"

In the very ancient world, largely in the Middle East, there were two major competing religious cults. This would have been from about 15,000 years ago to the time of the Sumerian civilization (today Iraq), and up to the time of the Aryan civilization (today Iran). Prior to about 15,000 years ago, there were literally two stars in our sky: The Sun and Saturn. Saturn was apparently the closer and brighter of the two, and lit up the northern sky, and the Earth's North Pole was not only habitable, but light twenty-four hours a day during the "Golden Age." I suspect that Saturn, which is today a dwarf star, was only brighter from the perspective of northern peoples; and was probably a bit hazy.

As discussed before, both the six-pointed Hexagram (today, the "Star of David) and the Pentagram (today used as the symbol of Wicca and other similar groups) were symbols representing Saturn then. Both symbols were Sumerian, and both are literally found on Saturn itself! How that could be is one of the great questions of human existence, and speculating would take away from the facts here. The "Talisman of Saturn" and other similar coin-like artifacts feature the Pentagram on one side and the six-pointed Hexagram on the other. The Aryan civilization was a "Sun cult," and used symbols of the Sun.. such as Swastikas and the Black Sun. The National Socialists were aware of this, and adopted some of this symbolism. As stated many times here, the real "Aryans" were a mix of true-Mediterranean and pure Teutonic; which would make them Indo-European, but not Germanic, Indian, Iranian, etc. This is about ancient cults, not necessarily racial or ethnic types.

There were sixteen Sun-cults in that general region over thousands of years that we know of, all with the same astrotheological/mythological theme. The ancient Egyptian religion was number fifteen, with the god Horace representing the Sun; and number sixteen was Christianity, with Jesus ("the Son"; "the light of the world") allegorically representing the Sun.

Judaism actually began as an ancient Hebrew Saturn-cult, and the six-pointed Hexagram wasn't chosen as its symbol a millennium ago by accident. There are some very negative things written in the Talmud regarding Jesus, but that didn't have anything to do with any man. It was common lashing out against a rival Sun-cult. The Christian Sun-cult lashed back with a depiction of "Satan," which was just another name for "Saturn." Most Christians and Jews today know nothing about this. It wasn't Christians vs. Jews, it was Sun-cult vs. Saturn cult. Naturally Satanism is a Saturn-cult, and Satanic groups use an inverted Pentagram.

Islam developed later, and clearly originated as a Saturn-cult. The Islamic black cube is a Saturnian-Hexagram, and the six-pointed Hexagram as-well-as the Pentagram are used. The Islamic state of Morocco features a Pentagram on its national flag. There are even Mosques with the "Star of David" featured on the outside front. When looking at all of these institutions, and how they've interacted over history, you can get a glimpse of the Sun-cult vs. Saturn-cult phenomenon. Saturday and Sunday? Yes, they mean "Saturn's Day" and "Sun's Day."

The pre-Roman Italian peninsula was known as "Saturnia." Not surprisingly, one of the main Roman festivals was "Saturnalia," which was three days to honor the deity Saturn from Roman mythology. Part of the celebration was a human sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn. Wikipedia: "In Roman mythology, Saturn was an agricultural deity who was said to have reigned over the world in the Golden Age...." Bingo! That's it. The ancient legends, such as that of "Hyperborea," were based on reality. See thunderbolts.info and 'Symbols of an Alien Sky' for the scientific proof. The Roman Catholic Church has maintained its Saturnian roots; while Protestants broke away as Sun-cults.

The old saying "old legends die hard" couldn't be more applicable than with the Sun vs. Saturn rivalry. These ancient cults and mystery schools are so ingrained in the world that they refuse to bury the hatchet! The "cult of Saturn" wishes to return to the "Golden Age," which sounds more like an excuse to take over. We're just expected to go along with all of this nonsense. The dramatic role of Saturn in human history has been kept a secret for a long time. The Sun-cults apparently want to make the Book of Revelation come true; while the Saturn-cults apparently want to make the Golden Age come true. How do we know that this isn't all a role-playing charade, with all the main players just play-acting their parts?


Saturn vs the Sun, Black Cube and the Saturnian Cult – Santos Bonnaci

Zen Gardner - ZenGardner.com - August 1, 2013

Here’s some terrific information you won’t come across as well strung together and condensed as this. The remarkable Santos Bonacci has many youtube clips to enjoy and learn from. That he can reel off such in depth, perceptive and detailed information is a real testament to the power of researching with a passion for Truth in full-on conscious awareness. It’s there for the having, and people like this give us all a head start in the many amazing fields of knowledge we need to become familiar with in order to better understand and heal the world we’re living in. – Zen



 

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Centurion (movie review)

I viewed the movie 'Centurion' (2010) last evening, and thought there were enough cultural tie-ins to put a review here. The movie was from the UK, and I think they did a pretty good job with it. The movie, set about 2,000 years ago in what is now the Scottish Highlands, was similar to "a Roman versus Pictish Braveheart." The one big difference was that there was no effort to turn either side into either protagonists or antagonists. It was chiefly from a Roman perspective.

From the Centurion Wikipedia webpage:

Centurion is a 2010 British film directed by Neil Marshall. It centres on the supposed disappearance of the Ninth Legion in Caledonia. The movie stars Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko and Dominic West.

Plot

It is AD 117 and the Roman garrisons are struggling to contain the Picts, the original inhabitants of the Scottish Highlands. The Picts, under their king, Gorlacon, are perfecting guerrilla warfare and are eliminating Roman outposts one by one. Centurion Quintus Dias is the only survivor of a Pictish raid and is taken prisoner by Vortix. In the meantime, Agricola, the Roman governor of Britannia wants to obtain favour with the central administration, hoping to secure a transfer back to the comforts of Rome. He dispatches the Ninth Legion to the front under General Titus Flavius Virilus, with orders to eradicate the Pict threat, providing him with a Brigantian scout, a mute woman, Etain.

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One interesting parallel with our culture is that the Picts were not Gaels. They were not Celts, but from a people who predated the Gaels in Scotland. A very ancient Atlanto-Mediterranean people. The vast majority of Scotland--or as the Romans called it: "Caledonia"--was their domain at this point. Gaels, originally from Ireland, occupied the far west end of Caledonia. Therefore, there is an interesting parallel to our culture with the very ancient Euganei people, and the Celto-Gaulish people who arrived later; and with the Euganeians and the Cisalpine Gauls both opposing the Romans. So I suppose that a Scottish person could take pride in both their Pictish and Gaelic heritage in the same manner that we would take pride in both our Euganeian (ancient Camunnian) and Gaulish heritage.

Pict homeland in blue

I thought that the acting and cinematography were very good. It was a particularly violent movie, and the characters reflected a world in which life was not worth much. In other words, they appeared like people who knew that they could die at any time. There wasn't much time for sentiment as the mortal struggle continued right to the very end. The mountainous Caledonian landscape was portrayed as rugged and beautiful. I would guess more beautiful, just in terms of the landscape, than it is today. For one thing it was more forested in ancient times; and inhabited by an equally rugged people. Most of the scenery appeared to be of the Scottish Highlands, or at least was intended to be. It was wonderfully dark, gloomy, cold, and wet. I would say that the Picts reminded me of the ancient Camunni.

Arianne

With all the good acting and characters, one which stood out with me was the character of Arianne (Emogen Poots), an exiled Pictish woman, thought to be a witch, who risked her life to help several Roman soldiers. She reminded me, very plausibly, of a beautiful, rugged, and self-sufficient young woman; both dainty and tough. She seemed to have managed a positive outlook despite a very rough life; which I found inspirational. Arianne, with her dark green dress, somehow reminded me more of a Welsh woman; however, Emogen Poots is actually English. The Romans in her home seemed to be taken in with her self-determinism and hospitable manner, and showed a great respect for her. While I'm on the subject, the movie portrayed a couple of Pictish warrior women, which I believe is historically accurate. I'm not sure about the Norse or Germanic peoples, but Celts and other ancient cultures did have a few of the stronger females serving as warriors.

The movie is based on the true story of the disappearance of the Roman Ninth Legion. A legion recruited in Roman Hispania (modern Spain/Portugal), and sent to Roman Britannia. It should be noted that the Roman Empire never conquered Pictish Caledonia or Gaelic Hibernia (Ireland). In reality, the Picts were the protagonists. They had every right to defend their homeland. I definitely recommend this movie. By the way, a "Centurion" was a Roman officer.

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Trophy of Augustus and the Conquering of the Camunni

Wikipedia: "The Trophy of the Alps or Trophy of Augustus was built by the Roman emperor Augustus to celebrate his definitive victory over the ancient Celto-Ligurian tribes who populated the region and who had harassed merchants along Roman roads."

Of course, that was from the perspective of the Roman imperialists. They constructed roads into the Alpine regions and declared them "Roman roads." Defacto "Roman territory."

The Camunni were an Italic tribe who traced their culture back six to eight thousand years in the Camonica valley in northern Brescia (and a little part of Bergamo). They were one of the Alpine peoples who were conquered by Rome. Just like any other region in what became the Roman Empire.

For someone to say that "Italians" (via the Romans) conquered certain regions would be false. The Romans even destroyed their parent Etruscan civilization. Now, of course, they did a lot of good as well. They were a light in a very dark world. This issue is covered in more detail in 'The Celti and the Trophy of Augustus'. The Camunni were not Celti, like the Insubres in Western Lombardy, but were influenced by them in their latter history.

The Camunni were one of the "Alpine peoples" who are inscribed in the Trophy of Augustus. Make no mistake about it, this was like a boar head on the wall of a hunter. The city of Brescia (Brixia) was Romanized first, and there are still Roman ruins there. It is said that Brescia started as a Celtic settlement. After the defeat of the Camunni, Cividate Camuno was constructed as the capitol of the new Roman outpost.

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Trophy of Augustus (Wikipedia; see impressive images)

The Trophy of the Alps or Trophy of Augustus was built by the Roman emperor Augustus to celebrate his definitive victory over the ancient Celto-Ligurian tribes who populated the region and who had harassed merchants along Roman roads. Its remains may be seen in the Commune of La Turbie (Alpes-Maritimes), on the Grande Corniche, 6 km from Monaco, and is the principal tourist attraction for the Commune. There is also a small museum with a scale model of the Trophy.

Construction

The stone used to build the monument was originally extracted from the Roman quarry located about 500 meters away. Visitors to that site can still see the traces of sections of carved columns in the stone.

The monument as partially restored by archaeologists at the beginning of the 20th century, is 35 meters high. When built, according to the architect, the base measured 35 meters in length, the first platform 12 meters in height, and the rotunda of 24 columns with its statue of an enthroned Augustus is 49 meters high.

Inscription

One of the stones of the tower, which Pliny the Elder transcribed, contained the names of the tribes. It reads:

"To the emperor Caesar, son of the deified Caesar, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, hailed as Imperator for the 14th time, in his 17th year of tribunician power, the Senate and people of Rome [built this], in commemoration that, under his leadership and auspices, all the Alpine peoples, from the upper sea to the lower sea, were submitted to the Roman Empire. Conquered Alpine peoples:

"· The TRUMPILINI
· The CAMUNNI
· The VENOSTES
· The VENNONETES
· The ISARCI
· The BREUNI
· The GENAUNES
· The FOCUNATES
· The four VINDELICUS nations
· The COSUANETES
· The RUCINATES
· The LICATES

· The CATENATES
· The AMBISONTES
· The RUGUSCI
· The SUANETES
· The CALUCONES
· The BRIXENETES
· The LEPONTI
· The UBERI
· The NANTUATES
· The SEDUNI
· The VARAGRI
· The SALASSI

· The ACITAUONES
· The MEDULLI
· The UCENNI
· The CATURIGES
· The BRIGIANI
· The SOGIONTI
· The BRODIONTI
· The NEMALONI
· The EDENATES
· The VESUBIANI
· The VEAMINI
· The GALLITAE

· The TRIULLATI
· The ECDINI
· The VERGUNNI
· The EGUITURI
· The NEMATURI
· The ORATELLI
· The NERUSI
· The VELAUNI
· The SUETRI"

Later life

The monument originally served no military purpose and contained no fortress. Rather, it marked the boundary between Italy and Gallia Narbonensis, later pushed back to the Var. Between the 12th and 15th centuries, however, the Trophy did become a fortress, with locals building houses around its walls. In 1705, when war broke out between Savoy and France during the War of the Spanish Succession, Louis XIV ordered the destruction of all fortresses in the region, including this one. The partially destroyed Trophy then became a quarry and its stones were used, among other things, to build the nearby church of Saint-Michel.

Nearby Roman remains

The area surrounding the Trophy is rich with remnants of the Roman empire such as the famous Roman roads. The Trophy is situated on the Via Julia Augusta, named after the emperor Augustus, which is a continuation of the Via Aurelia which linked Vintimille to Cimiez (Nice). Various fountains within the territory of the communes of Beausoleil and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin are also said to be Roman.

Trophy of the Alps (more images)

Tropaeum Augusti (La Turbie)