The Last Days of Pompeii (1926 film)
| The Last Days of Pompei | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Carmine Gallone Amleto Palermi |
| Written by | Alfredo Panzini (titles) |
| Based on | The Last Days of Pompeii 1834 novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton |
| Starring | Victor Varconi |
| Cinematography | Alfredo Donelli |
| Color process | Pathechrome |
| Distributed by | Società Italiana Grandi Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 181 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Languages | silent Italian intertitles |
The Last Days of Pompeii (Italian: Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) is a 1926 Italian historical silent drama film. Original release prints of the film were entirely colorized by the Pathechrome stencil color process. It was an unexpected financial disaster following a string of films by the same title that were highly successful.[1]
Plot summary
The film and its predecessors were based on Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1834 novel The Last Days of Pompeii.[2] The following summary is based on a version from the Harvard Film Archive.[3]Glaucus, a young man, falls in love with Ione. Arbaces, an Egyptian priest, also loves her. He tries to convert Ione's brother Apaecides to his religion, and when that fails he kills him. He then tries to pin the murder on Nydia, Glaucus's enslaved servant woman who is also blind. The drama is interrupted by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which kills the evil Arbaces. As the city collapses, Nydia guides Ione and Glaucus safely out of the city.
Earlier versions by the same title
It was the third Italian movie of the same title, beginning with a 1908 version by Arturo Ambrosio (producer) and Luigi Maggi (director).[4] Sylvie Magerstädt analyzes the 1926 version as a surprise stumble after a string of hits: "Two more film versions followed in 1913, Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei and Jone ovvero gli ultimi giorni di Pompei, before Carmine Gallone and Amleto Pelermi’s 1926 attempt put a temporary stop to the genre."[5] Jon Solomon says it "was spectacular in more than the long-running, multi-extra, history-sweeping cinematic sense. It was a spectacular financial disaster as well, and it can fairly be blamed for the demise of “ancient” film in Italy."[1]
Cast
- Victor Varconi as Glauco
- Rina De Liguoro as Ione
- María Corda as Nydia, the blind flower seller
- Bernhard Goetzke as Arbace
- Emilio Ghione as Caleno
- Lia Maris as Julia
- Gildo Bocci as Diomede
- Enrica Fantis as Julia's friend
- Vittorio Evangelisti as Apecide
- Ferruccio Biancini as Olinto
- Carlo Gualandri as Clodio
- Vasco Creti as Sallustius
- Alfredo Martinelli as Lepidus
- Giuseppe Pierozzi as Josio
- Enrico Monti as Lidone
- Enrico Palermi as Medone
- Carlo Reiter as Pansa
- Carlo Duse as Burbo
See also
References
- ^ a b Solomon, Jon (2001). The Ancient World in the Cinema. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-300-08337-8.
- ^ Bonsaver, Guido (2019). "Turin between French and US Culture: The Film and Car Industries in 1904–1914". In Bonsaver, Guido; Carlucci, Alessandro; Reza, Matthew (eds.). Italy and the USA: Cultural Change Through Language and Narrative. Modern Humanities Research Association. p. 108.
- ^ "The Last Days of Pompeii". Harvard Film Archive. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
- ^ Gianetto, Claudia; Bertellini, Giorgio (2000). "The Giant Ambrosio, or Italy's Most Prolific Silent Film Company". Film History. 12 (3): 242. ISSN 0892-2160 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Magerstädt, Sylvie (2019). "The Last Days of Pompeii (1984)". TV Antiquity: Swords, Sandals, Blood and Sand. Manchester University Press. p. 116 – via JSTOR.