Montuori, Carlo

(1883-1963)

   Cinematographer. Active in the Italian film industry from its earliest days, Montuori began working as a camera operator in 1908 and by 1912 had developed an improved system of arc lighting for filming indoors. His skills as a cinematographer received international recognition when in 1925 he helped to film the American production of Ben-Hur, directed in Rome by Fred Niblo. He subsequently worked with many of the major Italian directors of the interwar period, including Alessandro Blasetti, for whom he photographed Sole (Sun, 1929), Resurrectio (Rebirth, 1931), and Terra madre (Earth Mother, 1931); Gennaro Righelli, with whom he made the aviation epic L'armata azzurra (The Blue Fleet, 1932); and Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, for whom he created the remarkable expressionistic lighting of O la borsa o la vita (Your Money or Your Life, 1933). In the immediate postwar period he collaborated with Luigi Zampa on Vivere in pace (To Live in Peace, 1946) and Anni difficili (Difficult Years, 1948), with Blasetti again on Altri tempi (Times Gone By, 1952), with Pietro Germi on Gioventu perduta (Lost Youth, 1947) and La citta si difende (Four Ways Out, 1951), and with Luigi Comencini on Pane, amore e gelosia (Bread, Love and Jealousy, 1954, also known as Frisky). He is best remembered during this period, however, for his cinematography on the films of Vittorio De Sica, in particular Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), L'oro di Napoli (The Gold of Naples, 1954), and Il tetto (The Roof, 1956).

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira