Eugenio Perego

The story of the film «La storia di una donna», in which Pina Menichelli played the main role, is typical for «divas-films» – it’s about beauty and weakness of a woman, insidiousness and cowardice of men, inevitable destiny and mad passion…

The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

To save her profligate brother from disgrace, Giulia (Leda Gys) gives herself to her husband’s best friend and finds herself pregnant; years later her children’s paternity is called into question.

The life and loves of Leda, from orphan in a convent boarding school to film star, narrated through the pages of her diary and her correspondence with her best friend. Leda falls in love with her friend’s fiancé, but a timely letter brings the situation to a satisfactory conclusion for everyone. (giornatedelcinemamuto.it)

Filippo Derblay, a young man of humble birth, became, thanks to his job, the owner of the ironworks. He is secretly in love with Clara, the daughter of the Marquis of Beaulieu, who lost all his fortune. Clara is engaged to the Duke of Bligny, a vain cousin of her. After learning of Clara’s financial disgrace, the Duke prefers to engage to Atenaide Moulinet, a social climber and daughter of the industrialist Moulinet, the “King of Cacao”. To get revenge, Clara agrees to marry Filippo Derblay, despite she considers him an upstart and she despises him. But Filippo, who loves her deeply, can’t tolerate to be humiliated, will prove how much her prejudice was wrong and, at the end, he will win her love. Among the most captivating aspects of the film, the intense performance of the great diva Pina Menichelli and the high level of the photography, that captures spaces from life as the remarkable images of the factory and the workers at the machinery.

A Neapolitan tailor, Nennella (Leda Gys), in love with a painter, who has a slender woman named Paquita (Pina Piovani) as a lover, decides to become, in turn, a diva of variety. One evening, he is on stage with his rival, while the painter is in the proscenium box. To disfigure the enemy, Paquita does not hesitate to resort to unfair means and hires a large claque to be applauded and whistled by her rival. A great commotion arises, in which the two women and their supporters take part. Screams, scratches, bites, seats. In the turmoil, the painter is wounded and, transported to Nennella's dressing room, as soon as he comes to, he seals the pact of love with a kiss.

An American director comes to Italy to shoot a film about the beautiful city of Naples, casting Pupatella (Leda Gys), a native of Santa Lucia, the sailors' neighborhood, in the movie. Eager to become a film star, Pupatella returns to America with Billy, but their relationship is destroyed by a misunderstanding.

A Neapolitan tailor, Nennella (Leda Gys), in love with a painter, who has a slender woman named Paquita (Pina Piovani) as a lover, decides to become, in turn, a diva of variety. One evening, he is on stage with his rival, while the painter is in the proscenium box. To disfigure the enemy, Paquita does not hesitate to resort to unfair means and hires a large claque to be applauded and whistled by her rival. A great commotion arises, in which the two women and their supporters take part. Screams, scratches, bites, seats. In the turmoil, the painter is wounded and, transported to Nennella's dressing room, as soon as he comes to, he seals the pact of love with a kiss.

This is a 1920s Italian military comedy directed by Eugenio Perego, starring Bartolomeo Pagano and set amid drills and humorous misunderstandings. The film plays on the trope of the naive hero in a farcical and patriotic setting.