''Messalina'' or ''The Affairs of Messalina'' is a 1951 historical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Carmine Gallone Carmine Gallone (10 September 1885 – 11 March 1973) was an early Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, who was also controversial for his works of pro-Fascist propaganda and historical revisionism. Considered one of Itali ...

and starring

María Félix María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (; 8 April 1914 – 8 April 2002) was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s and ...

Georges Marchal Georges Marchal (10 January 1920 – 28 November 1997) was a French actor. Born Georges Louis Lucot in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, the strikingly handsome Marchal was discovered in the early-1940s by director Jean Grémillon. By the ear ...

and

Memo Benassi Domenico "Memo" Benassi (21 June 1886 – 24 February 1957) was an Italian film actor who appeared in more than forty films in a mixture of leading and supporting roles. He played the composer Beethoven in the 1942 film ''Rossini''.Mathew & Walto ...

.Winkler p.232-33 It was a co-production between France, Italy and Spain. It was shot at the

Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...

studios in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with sets designed by Gastone Medin and

Vittorio Nino Novarese Vittorio Nino Novarese (May 15, 1907 in Rome, Italy – October 17, 1983 in Los Angeles, United States) was an Italian costume designer who found great success in Hollywood after decamping there in 1949. In his first year there he scored an Oscar ...

. It was part of a growing trend of epic historical films of 1950s. The film portrays the story of the

Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputatio ...

, the third wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius.

Main cast

as Caio Silio /

Gaius Silius Gaius Silius (died AD 24) was a Roman senator who achieved successes as a general over German barbarians following the disaster of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. For this achievement he was appointed consul in AD 13 with Lucius Munatius Pla ...

as Claudio / Claudius *

Delia Scala Delia Scala (born Odette Bedogni; 25 September 1929 – 15 January 2004) was an Italian ballerina, actress and singer who played a leading role in the nascent ''commedia musicale''. Career Scala was born as Odette Bedogni in Bracciano, Lazi ...

as Cinzia *

Erno Crisa Erno Crisa (10 March 1914 – 4 April 1968) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1944 and 1968. His last film was the spaghetti western ''Sugar Colt''. Partial filmography * ''Croisières sidérales'' (1942) ...

as Timo / Timus *

Carlo Ninchi Carlo Ninchi (31 May 1896 – 27 April 1974) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1963. He was born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, and died on 27 April 1974 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Selected filmogra ...

as Tauro / Taurus *

Camillo Pilotto Camillo Pilotto (6 February 1888 Birth name: Camillo Raul Vittorio Pilotto. – 27 May 1963) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 101 films between 1916 and 1963. He was born and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''The Song ...

as Ottavio / Octave * Jean Tissier as Mnester *

Jean Chevrier Jean Chevrier (25 April 1915 – 13 December 1975) was a French film actor and member of the Comédie-Française. He appeared in 50 films between 1936 and 1972. He was married to actress Marie Bell. At the end of his life, he was known as ...

as Valerio / Valerius Asiaticus * Germaine Kerjean as Ismene *

Ave Ninchi Ave Maria Ninchi (14 December 1914 – 10 November 1997) was an Italian supporting actress who played character roles on stage, television, and in over 98 feature films that included ''Tomorrow Is Too Late'' (1949) and Louis Malle's ''Murmur ...

as Locusta / Locuste * Michel Vitold as Narciso / Narcissus *

Giuseppe Varni Giuseppe Varni (born Józef Bruno Winawer) (1902-1965) was a Polish-born Italian stage and film actor.Anile p.135 Selected filmography * ''Oltre l'amore'' (1940) - Il commissario * ''Amami Alfredo'' (1940) - (uncredited) * ''Eternal Melodies' ...

as Pallante *

Luigi Almirante Luigi Almirante (30 September 1884 – 6 May 1963) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in 62 films between 1921 and 1955. Life and career The son of a stage actor, Almirante was born in Tunis, where the theatrical company of ...

as the jeweler * Lamberto Picasso as the astrologer *

Gino Saltamerenda Gino may refer to: * Gino (given name) * Gino (surname) * ''Gino'' (film), a 1993 Australian film * ''Gino the Chicken'', Italian TV series See also * *Geno (disambiguation) *Gino's (disambiguation), various restaurants and fast-food chains *Gi ...

as the brothel's manager *

Cesare Barbetti Cesare Barbetti (29 September 1930 – 13 September 2006) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Barbetti began his career as a child actor in films during the Fascist era. He also worked as a voice actor, dubbing foreign-language films for th ...

as Lucio / Lucius * Achille Majeroni as Appolonio / Appolonius *

Giovanna Galletti Giovanna Galletti (27 June 1916 - 21 April 1992) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than forty films from 1938 to 1986. Life and career Galletti began her career on stage at a young age, in the early 1930s, and later attended the Centro ...

as the Christian woman

References

Bibliography

* Winkler, Martin N. ''Cinema and Classical Texts: Apollo's New Light''. Cambridge University Press, 2009.

External links

* 1951 films 1950s historical films 1950s biographical films Italian biographical films French biographical films Peplum films 1950s French-language films 1950s Italian-language films Films directed by Carmine Gallone Films set in ancient Rome Films set in the Roman Empire Films set in the 1st century Biographical films about Roman emperors Cultural depictions of Claudius Cultural depictions of Messalina Films produced by Cesáreo González Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Sword and sandal films Films scored by Renzo Rossellini Italian black-and-white films Spanish black-and-white films French black-and-white films 1950s Italian films 1950s French films {{historic-film-stub