Vergano, Aldo

(1891-1957)

   Screenwriter and director. After fighting as a volunteer in World War I, Vergano became a militant left-wing journalist and wrote for a number of radical newspapers. In 1925 he was associated with the unsuccessful Zaniboni plot to kill Benito Mussolini but miraculously escaped prosecution. He became a traveling salesman for a period until he met Alessandro Blasetti and was drawn to writing for Blasetti's film journal, Cinematografo. He then worked with Blasetti on Sole (Sun, 1929), for which he wrote both the story and the screenplay, and soon followed Blasetti to the new Cines studios where he directed the documentary I fori imperiali (The Imperial Forums, 1932). Thereafter he worked extensively as writer, cowriter, and sometimes production manager on a wide variety of films including Goffredo Alessandrini's Don Bosco (1935) and Cavalleria (Cavalry, 1936) and Mario Bonnard's L'albero di Adamo (Adam's Tree, 1937) while also directing two features, Pietro Micca (1938) and Quelli della montagna (Mountain People, 1943).

   An active member of the Partito d'azione (Action Party), Vergano fought in the Resistance movement and in the immediate postwar period directed what is widely regarded as the great classic Resistance film, Il sole sorge ancora (Outcry, 1946), which was financed by the National Partisan Association (ANPI) and enlisted the collaboration of a number of later directors such as Carlo Lizzani, Giulio Pontecorvo, and Giuseppe De Santis in key acting roles. Although schematic and rather one sided, the film was widely praised, receiving the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia prize at the Venice Festival that year and earning Vergano a special Nastro d'argento in 1947 for his direction. However, none of the handful of films he made subsequently received any praise or critical attention and he is reputed to have died lonely and disappointed after having drafted his aptly titled memoirs, Cronache di anni perduti (Chronicles of Wasted Years), published posthumously in 1958.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira