''Rita of Cascia'' (Italian: ''Rita da Cascia'') is a 1943 Italian

historical film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...

directed by

Antonio Leonviola Antonio Leonviola, sometimes Leon Viola (1913–1995), was an Italian screenwriter and film director and co-founder of the "Libera Università del Cinema di Roma". Life and career Leonviola was born in 1913 in Montagnana as Antonio Leone Viol ...

and starring Elena Zareschi,

Ugo Sasso Ugo Sasso, born Domenico Pasquale Giuseppe Sasso (23 March 1910 - 21 July 1981), was an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Turin, in the early 1930s Sasso moved to Rome to attend the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografi ...

and Beatrice Mancini.Nerenberg p. 85 It was made at the

Farnesina Studios Farnesina may refer to: Architecture * Casa della Farnesina, an historic building of the ancient Rome, in the neighborhood of Trastevere, Rome * Palazzo della Farnesina, the headquarters of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of the ...

Titanus Titanus is an Italian film production company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Via Tiburtina, 13 km from the centre of Rome. Lom ...

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 ...

. The film portrays the life of the Catholic saint

Rita of Cascia Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti (1381 – 22 May 1457), was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. After Rita's husband died, she joined an Augustinian community of religious sisters, whe ...

Cast

* Elena Zareschi as Rita da Cascia *

as Paolo di Ferdinando * Beatrice Mancini as Ada * Marcello Giorda as Antonio, il padre di Rita * Laura Nucci as Jacoviella *

Augusto Marcacci Augusto Marcacci (4 June 1892 – 7 December 1969) was an Italian actor and voice actor.Mancini p.229 Selected filmography * '' Dimmed Lights'' (1934) * '' Lady of Paradise'' (1934) * '' Golden Arrow'' (1935) * ''Condottieri'' (1937) * '' The Cuc ...

as Il barone di Collegiacone * Elodia Maresca as Amata *

Teresa Franchini Teresa Franchini (19 September 1877 – 11 August 1972) was an Italian stage and film actress. She was a leading lady of the theatre in her youth, appearing in the first Italian staging of Oscar Wilde's '' Lady Windermere's Fan'' in 1905. Beginni ...

as La madre superiore * Stefano Sciaccaluga as Il pellegrino *

Giulio Battiferri Giulio Battiferri (15 July 1893 – 22 January 1973) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1939 to 1972. He was married to the actress Pina Piovani. Life and career Born in Rome, Battiferri started his caree ...

as Lampo, il servo spia del barone * Gian Paolo Rosmino as Frate Remigio * Luigi Garrone as Il taverniere *

Umberto Spadaro Umberto Spadaro (8 November 1904 – 12 October 1981) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in around 95 films between 1940 and 1979. His brother Peppino Spadaro was also an actor. Selected filmography * ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (1939) – ...

as Il delatore nella taverna *

Giovanni Onorato Giovanni Onorato (February 7, 1910 - February 23, 1960) was an Italian film actor.Chiti & Poppi p.85 He was the father of the actor Glauco Onorato and the cinematographer Marco Onorato. Selected filmography * '' La stella del cinema'' (1931) * ' ...

as Un cliente nella taverna *

Amina Pirani Maggi Amina Pirani Maggi (January 15, 1892 – November 10, 1979) was an Italian stage and film actress.Waldman p.162 Selected filmography * ''Television'' (1931) * ''Seconda B'' (1934) * '' Dimmed Lights'' (1934) * '' Like the Leaves'' (1935) * ''Depa ...

as Una suora * Nera Bruni as Un'altra suora *

Vittoria Mongardi Vittoria Mongardi (26 February 1926 – 26 November 1975) was an Italian singer and actress, mainly successful between the second half of the 1940s and the 1950s. Life and career Born in Bologna, after starting out as a model and appearing in min ...

as Una conversa *

Elio Marcuzzo Elio is an Italian male given name. Origin A name of dual origin, Elio is primarily a revival of it, Elio, label=none ( Helios), the Greek god of the Sun. it, Elio, label=none derives, through the Latin ''Helius'', from the Ancient Greek � ...

as Gian Giacomo * Aleardo Ward as Paolo Maria * Umberto Leurini as Gian Giacomo da bambino * Amedeo Leurini as Paolo Maria da bambino *

Adele Garavaglia Adele Garavaglia (1869–1944) was an Italian stage and film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media su ...

* Lamberto Picasso

References

Bibliography

* Nerenberg, Ellen Victoria. ''Prison Terms: Representing Confinement During and After Italian Fascism''. University of Toronto Press, 2001.

External links

* 1943 films Italian historical films 1940s historical films 1940s Italian-language films Films directed by Antonio Leonviola Films set in the 14th century Films set in the 15th century Italian black-and-white films 1940s Italian films {{1940s-Italy-film-stub