Vintage postcard. The Italian king Victor Emmanuel II and the princesses Jolanda and Giovanna visiting the shooting of the Italian silent epic Messalina (Enrico Guazzoni, 1923-24), starring (Countess) Rina De Liguoro in the title role as the notorious Roman Empress. G.B. Falci, Milano, La Fotominio, While he film was shot in 1923, its Roman premiere took place in March 1924, while foreign premieres (Finland, Austria) already took lace in January 1924.
Plot: Claudius (Augusto Mastripietri) is acclaimed emperor after the murder of Caligula (Nello Carotenuto) by the praetorians, whose leader, Marcus, is in love with his wife, the immoral Messalina (Rina De Liguoro). She often leaves the imperial palace to roam the infamous areas in search of fleeting adventures and, during a raid, is rescued by Ennius (Gino Talamo), a Persian slave, with whom she falls in love. She thus becomes the rival of Mirit (Gianna Terribili Gonzales), priestess of Isis, who blackmails the slave for her favours. Emperor Claudius, meanwhile, foils a plot to overthrow him hatched by Marcus, and has him killed. To gain his freedom, Ennius participates in a quadriga race, but Mirit, annoyed by his refusal, arranges to poison the precious horses he was counting on for victory. Without the trained animals, Ennius topples over during the race and risks being killed by the gladiators, and it is Messalina who intervenes and brings him to safety. Instead, Ennio loves Mirit's slave Egle (Lucia Zanussi), tortured by Mirit but at last saved by Ennio and his strongman friend Tigrane (Adolphe Trouché), who delivers Mirit to her own lions. The empress hatches a plot against her husband with the help of Caius SIlvius. When this is discovered, Silvius is publicly humiliated and chased, while Messalina prefers to kill herself before being reduced in chains by the praetorians.
La rivista cinematografica (10-6-1924) wrote at the time: "Excellent is the Countess Rina de Liguoro in the part of Messalina, a part so fit to her and cancelling the bad impression of her in a film some time ago of which we better don't speak anymore. For once the scissors of the censor has been mild towards the historical feats, so we can enjoy Messalina the corrupt, the depraved, the beautiful... we won't say more. Who hasn't gone yet, go and judge for yourself. Messalina is the triumph of the Italian cinematography, the pride of Enrico Guazzoni, and the Renaissance of our art." Indeed, despite the decadence of Italian cinema in the early 1920s, Messalina was well received in and outside of Italy. It was he only Italian silent film shown in the new Soviet Union. In the Anglosaxon world, the film was presented as The Fall of an Empress. Unfortunately, for a long time only a badly printed, sonorised version of the film was available.
Rina De Liguoro (1892-1966) had her breakthrough with the epic Messalina (1924). It was the start of a prolific career in Italian silent cinema in the 1920s with Quo vadis? (1924) and Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii (1926). In the late 1920s she also performed in Germany and France , e.g. in Casanova (1927). Invited to Hollywood in 1930, she had only minor parts in Spanish versions of American films there, but pursued a career as piano player. She returned to Italy in 1939. Her last role was that of Burt Lancaster's table companion at the ball in Il Gattopardo (1963).