The last apche. Emilio Ghione. The life and films of an italian star

A tribute to actor and director Emilio Ghione, an important star of Italian silent films. He directed roughly fifty films, some of which were produced by the production company that bore his name (Ghione Film). As an actor, he struck a chord with the public: his dramatic strength shines through in the set photographs featured in the exhibit, in which the actor’s body is the focus of the spectator’s attention. Whether he was the mocking devil in Come fu che l’ingordigia rovinò il Natale a Cretinetti (1910) or the burglar in Triste fascino (1911), Ghione was the communicative focal point of the photographs. In particular, his character Za-la-Mort – Italy’s answer to the French gentleman thief Arsene Lupin – turned the Piemontese actor and director into an icon of the silver screen for his public.
The set photos and portraits on view belong to the National Cinema Museum. These precious images, some of which have never been seen before and were reproduced from the original negative plates, belong to the vast collection of photographs from the era of Italy’s silent films that are conserved at the Museum.

The exhibit is available to be set up in other locations.