Carlo Montuori | |
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Born | |
Died | 4 March 1968 | (aged 82)
Carlo Montuori (3 August 1885 - 4 March 1968) was an Italian cinematographer and cameraman.
Born in Casacalenda, Campobasso, at twelve Montuori moved to Milan to live with his uncle, a photographer and a painter; in Milan he attended the Polytechnic University and followed courses in painting at the Brera Academy. [1] He approached cinema in 1907 working in the production company "Comerio & C." and debuting as an operator in Dalla pietà all'amore, a 1909 Luca Comerio's documentary film about the 1908 Messina earthquake. [1] At the same time Montuori started working at the photo studio Ganzini, where he learned the basics in the field of the use of artificial lighting. [1] Starting from 1911 Montuori was among the first in Italy to test the application of these techniques in film, inventing a device based on rudimentary arc lamps, made of carbon bound with wire and connected to the electric current through resistors. [1] [2]
After collaborating with the Italian leading directors from the silent era such as Carmine Gallone and Augusto Genina, in 1925 he collaborated at the Fred Niblo's blockbuster Ben-Hur, and in 1929 he was the cinematographer of Sole, the directorial debut of Alessandro Blasetti, with whom he establishing a professional relationship that lasted for eight films. [3]
After the war, Montuori "had a major role in the figurative culture of first neo-realism", [1] often collaborating with Luigi Zampa and winning a silver ribbon for best cinematography for his work in Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves. [4] His son Mario was also a cinematographer. [1]