Carlo Montuori

Carlo Montuori
Born(1885-08-03)3 August 1885
Casacalenda, Campobasso
Died4 March 1968(1968-03-04) (aged 82)
Rome

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]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Stefano Masi, Storie della luce: i film, la vita, le avventure, le idee di 200 operatori italiani, L'Aquila 1983, pp. 153-56.
  2. ^ Alberto Lorenzi, Milano, il nostro secolo: Letteratura, teatro, divertimenti e personaggi del '900 milanese, Bramante, 1969, p. 87.
  3. ^ Gianni Canova. Enciclopedia del cinema. Garzanti Libri, 2009. p. 831.
  4. ^ Enrico Lancia. I premi del cinema. Gremese Editore, 1998. p. 228.