Vittorio De Sica leaving the Savoy Cinema, Cork
Dublin Core
Title
Vittorio De Sica leaving the Savoy Cinema, Cork
Subject
Cork Film Festival, Vittorio De Sica, Savoy Cinema, Cork
Description
This is a black and white photo of the Italian film director and actor Vittorio De Sica leaving the Savoy cinema, Cork. Above De Sica we see posters advertising the comedy film Cannon Serenade (Wolfgang Staudte, 1958) in which De Sica starred as the captain of a small coastal freighter fitted with a little cannon in case of enemy attack during World War II.
Born in Naples De Sica came from a poor family and as a young man worked as an actor. De Sica was considered a successful matinee idol of the Italian theatre and movies before turning to directing in 1940. His success with The Children Are Watching Us (De Sica, 1944), Shoeshine (De Sica, 1946) and Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948) established him as one of the great Italian directors of all time. In particular Bicycle Thieves - an neo-realist drama which considered the poverty of post-war Italy - won a special honorary Oscar before the foreign film category was officially established.
In this photo we also see a poster advertising his personal appearance at the Savoy that evening. Crowds gather around him on the right and left of the marble steps of the cinema. Sporting a dark mustache, De Sica is dressed in a dinner suit accessorised with a bow-tie and is looking down as he steps forward. To his front a cinema usher, wearing a two-piece suit with a long coat decorated with gilt buttons down its front, escorts the director down the steps.
Ushers were known as 'commisionaires' in the early days of the Savoy and while the usher in this photo is not identified, John McSweeney notes in his book on the Golden Age of Cork Cinemas (2013), that there was a well known head usher called John ('Johnno') O'Connell from Blarney Street in Cork who worked at the Savoy during the early days of its existence.
Born in Naples De Sica came from a poor family and as a young man worked as an actor. De Sica was considered a successful matinee idol of the Italian theatre and movies before turning to directing in 1940. His success with The Children Are Watching Us (De Sica, 1944), Shoeshine (De Sica, 1946) and Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948) established him as one of the great Italian directors of all time. In particular Bicycle Thieves - an neo-realist drama which considered the poverty of post-war Italy - won a special honorary Oscar before the foreign film category was officially established.
In this photo we also see a poster advertising his personal appearance at the Savoy that evening. Crowds gather around him on the right and left of the marble steps of the cinema. Sporting a dark mustache, De Sica is dressed in a dinner suit accessorised with a bow-tie and is looking down as he steps forward. To his front a cinema usher, wearing a two-piece suit with a long coat decorated with gilt buttons down its front, escorts the director down the steps.
Ushers were known as 'commisionaires' in the early days of the Savoy and while the usher in this photo is not identified, John McSweeney notes in his book on the Golden Age of Cork Cinemas (2013), that there was a well known head usher called John ('Johnno') O'Connell from Blarney Street in Cork who worked at the Savoy during the early days of its existence.
Creator
University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, RW Hammond
Source
Cork Film Festival Collection
Publisher
University College Cork
Date
1958
Contributor
RW Hammond
Rights
©RW Hammond. All rights reserved. Please credit Cork International Film Festival & provide a link back to this site.
Format
Photo
TIFF
JPEG
TIFF
JPEG
Language
English, eng
Coverage
1958
Cork, Ireland
Cork, Ireland
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Photo
Physical Dimensions
214 x 167mm
Collection
Citation
University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, RW Hammond , “Vittorio De Sica leaving the Savoy Cinema, Cork,” Cork International Film Festival Archive, accessed December 22, 2024, https://corkfilmfest.ucc.ie/items/show/105.