''The Dream of Butterfly'' (Italian: '' Il sogno di Butterfly'', German: ''Premiere der Butterfly'') is a 1939 musical drama film 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

Maria Cebotari Maria Cebotari (original name: Ciubotaru, 10 February 1910 – 9 June 1949) was a celebrated Bessarabian-born Romanian soprano and actress, and a significant opera and singing star of the 1930s and 1940s. Beniamino Gigli stated that Cebotari ...

Fosco Giachetti Fosco Giachetti (28 March 1900, in Sesto Fiorentino – 22 December 1974, in Rome) was an Italian actor. Fosco Giachetti was the protagonist of ''Lo squadrone bianco'' (1936), directed by Augusto Genina. He became the leading man in Fascist ...

and Germana Paolieri. It is an variation of the plot of the opera ''

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

''. A co-production between Italy and Germany, two separate versions were produced in the respective languages. It is also alternatively titled ''Madame Butterfly''. It was one of several opera-related films directed by Gallone following on from '' Casta Diva'' (1935) and '' Giuseppe Verdi'' (1938).Barron p.142-34 It was shot at the

Cinecittà Studios 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 ...

in Rome. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Ivo Battelli and

Guido Fiorini Guido Fiorini (1897–1966) was an Italian engineer, architect and art director.Poretti p.128 He was associated with the futurist movement. Selected filmography * ''Loyalty of Love'' (1934) * '' Just Married'' (1934) * ''Red Passport'' (1935) * ' ...

. It was shown at the 1939 Venice Film Festival.

Synopsis

In nineteenth-century Italy, promising singer Rosi Belloni meets American music student Harry Peters and the two become engaged and she falls pregnant by him. Before she can tell him this news he informs her he is returning to the United States for three years for further musical education. Unwilling to stand in the way of his future, she does not tell him about her pregnancy. Although he promises to be in contact within a year, she receives no word from him. Five years later Peters, now a conductor at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

in New York City, returns to Italy with his new American wife. In the meantime Rosi Belloni has risen to become a leading opera singer, and is chosen by

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

to sing the title role in his new opera ''Madame Butterfly'' at La Scala. Encountering the five-year old son who has been raised to honour the idea of his father, Peters comes to realise what he missed by not marrying Belloni. In turn she comes to appreciate how much her own life resembles that of Madame Butterfly.

Cast

Italian version

as Rosi Belloni/Madame Butterfly *

as Harry Peters * Lucie Englisch as Anna Ranieri * Germana Paolieri as Mary Peterson *

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 Riccardo Belli *

Angelo Ferrari Angelo Ferrari (14 August 1897 – 15 June 1945) was an Italian actor known for his work in German cinema. Selected filmography * '' The Nude Woman'' (1922) * '' The Green Manuela'' (1923) * ''Samson'' (1923) * '' The Faces of Love'' (1924) * ' ...

as Ispiziente *

Renato Cialente Renato Cialente (2 February 1897 – 25 November 1943) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1920 and 1943. His younger sister Fausta Cialente (1898-1994) was a novelist, journalist and political activist. Li ...

Guglielmo Barnabò Guglielmo Barnabò (11 May 1888 – 31 May 1954) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1926 and 1954. Life and career Born in Ancona, Barnabò made his stage debut in 1921 at the Greek Theatre of ...

* Carlo Lombardi * Miranda Bonansea *

Giuseppe Pierozzi Giuseppe Pierozzi (8 March 1883 – 22 April 1956) was an Italian stage and film actor.Goble p.349 Selected filmography * '' Maddalena Ferat'' (1920) * '' Through the Shadows'' (1923) * ''Samson'' (1923) * '' The Faces of Love'' (1924) * '' The ...

Paolo Stoppa Paolo Stoppa Knight Grand Cross (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor. Biography Born in Rome, he began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome and began acting in films in 1932. As a stage actor, his most celebrated ...

* Rio Nobile *

Gino Viotti Gino Viotti (1875–1951) was an Italian film actor who appeared in more than forty films, mostly in supporting roles. He played the part of Chilone Chilonides in the 1924 epic '' Quo Vadis''.Wyke p.214 Selected filmography * ''Nemesis'' (1920) ...

* Elena Ambrosetti * Carlo Bonansea *

Liana Del Balzo Liana Del Balzo (4 March 1899 – 26 March 1982) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 90 films between 1935 and 1979. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and died in Rome, Italy. Even making her film debut quite late, in her fort ...

* Gabriella Duda * Mary Dumont * Achille Majeroni *

Guido Notari Guido Notari (10 May 1893 - 21 January 1957) was an Italian actor and radio presenter. He appeared in more than fifty films from 1939 to 1956. Filmography References External links * 1893 births 1957 deaths Italian male film actors ...

Giovanni Stupin Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name) Giovanni is a male Italian given name (from Latin ''Ioannes''). It is the Italian equivalent of John. Giovanni is frequently contracted to Gianni, Gian, or Gio, particularly in the name Gianbattista, a ...

Saro Urzì Rosario "Saro" Urzì (24 February 1913 – 1 November 1979) was an Italian actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' In the Name of the Law'' (1949), '' The Railroad Man'' (1956), '' Seduced and Abandoned'' (1964), which earned him ...

German version

as Sängerin Rosi Belloni *

as Kapellmeister Harry Peterson * Lucie Englisch as Anni Eigner, Rosis Freundin * Paul Kemp as Richard Hell, Maler und Annis Bräutigam *

Joachim Pfaff Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocrypha ...

as Harry, Rosis Sohn * Luise Stranzinger as Mary Peterson, Harrys Frau *

Siegfried Schürenberg Siegfried Schürenberg (12 January 1900 – 31 August 1993) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1933 and 1974. He was born in Detmold, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany in 1993, at age 93. Although he never p ...

as Paul Fieri, Richards Freund *

Alfred Neugebauer Alfred Neugebauer (24 December 1888 – 14 September 1957) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * '' Money in the Streets'' (1922) * ''Money on the Street'' (1930) * '' Madame Bluebeard'' (1931) * '' Storm in a Water Glass'' (1931) * ...

as Camillo Chiosone, Puccinis Beauftragter * Heinrich Fuchs as Luigi Volegno, Theaterangestellter *

as Der Inspizient der Mailänder Scala * Walter Schramm-Duncker as Gast beim Silvester-Ball * Herbert Weißbach as Gast beim Silvester-Ball * Roma Bahn as Gast beim Silvester-Ball * Else Ehser as Eine Verehrerin von Harrys Klavierspiel *

Willi Schur Willi Schur (22 August 1888 – 1 November 1940) was a German actor and singer. He appeared in roughly ninety feature films in a variety of supporting roles. Selected filmography * '' Berlin-Alexanderplatz'' (1931) * ''Who Takes Love Seriously? ...

as Der "Weltuntergangsverkünder" * Klaus Pohl as Der schwerhörige Mann beim "Weltuntergang" * Egon Brosig as Der Ober im Restaurant * Hans Junkermann as Der Theaterdiener *

Gertrud de Lalsky Gertrud de Lalsky (27 January 1878 in Danzig – 16 September 1958 in Berlin) was a German actress. Selected filmography * ''Catherine the Great'' (1920) * ''Hypnosis'' (1920) * ''Fridericus Rex'' (1922) * ''The Island of Tears'' (1923) * ''Pra ...

as Rosis Garderobenfrau * Paul Schneider-Duncker as Der Direktor beim Empfang nach der Premiere * Max Wilmsen as Der Hotelportier in Neapel * Bobby Todd as Der Inspizient in der Oper von Bologna

References

Bibliography

* Bagnoli, Giorgio. ''The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera''. Simon and Schuster, 1993. * Waldman, Harry. ''Nazi Films in America, 1933–1942''. McFarland, 2008. * Barron, Emma. ''Popular High Culture in Italian Media, 1950–1970: Mona Lisa Covergirl''. Springer, 2018.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dream of Butterfly, The 1939 films Italian drama films German drama films 1939 drama films 1930s Italian-language films Films directed by Carmine Gallone Italian black-and-white films Films shot at Cinecittà Studios 1930s Italian films 1930s German films