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Entrepreneurs and the State in the Italian Film Industry, 1919–1935

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2012

Marina Nicoli
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Abstract

During its early years, entrepreneurs in the Italian film industry maintained a complicated relation with the state. The arrangements between the joint-stock company Società Anonima Stefano Pittaluga and the Italian government in the interwar period were typical. Initially, Italian banks financed productions, despite the difficulties entailed in assessing a film's potential profitability. Following the rise of Benito Mussolini, the state invested in the industry, viewing it as a means of building nationalism and shaping the country's culture. While the deal was disastrous for the quality of the films, it nevertheless enabled filmmakers to gain technical experience and acquire production facilities that they were later able to put to better use.

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Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , Winter 2011 , pp. 775 - 798
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 2011

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References

The author wishes to thank the anonymous referees for their valuable comments, which improved the article. For valued suggestions and informative discussions, the author is particularly indebted to Armando Cirrincione and Francesca Polese.

All currencies are expressed in contemporary values. Conversion is based on the real exchange rate. See Michele Fratianni and Franco Spinelli, “The Strong Lira Policy and Deflation in Italy's Interwar Period,” in Deflation: Current and Historical Perspective (Cambridge, U.K., 2004).

Translations from original Italian documents are the author's.

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32 Comunicati ufficio stampa 1927, Comunicato no. 5, 2 May 1927, Fund 201/2, AMC.

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72 Ibid.

73 SOF, Folder 309, file 1, ASI-BCI, Bank general report on the situation of Società Anonima Stefano Pittaluga from 1932 to 1934.

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89 “Lettera del 28 luglio 1933 da Segreteria Affari Finanziari a Solza (president of SASP),” SOF, folder 309, sf, ASI-BCI.

90 Description of Cines production plants and analysis of economic results of Società Anonima Stefano Pittaluga, SOF, folder 310, file 3, ASI-BCI.

91 Ibid.

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95 Law no. 1565, 18 Sept. 1934, Creazione della Direzione Generale per la Cinematografia. See also: “Freddi Luigi—Questione relativa all'attuazione di un suo progetto nell'interesse della cinematografia italiana maggio 1937,” Fondo PCM 1934–1936, fascicolo 3.2.3, protocollo 1397, ACS. Report by Luigi Freddi on his own project for the rebirth of the Italian film industry.

96 Law no. 1143, 13 June 1935, Concessione di anticipazioni a favore della produzione cinematografica nazionale.

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98 Ibid.

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101 Lo Spettacolo in Italia, 1924–1933.