Per amore di Jenny
R: Nino Oxilia. D: Pina Menichelli, Alberto Nepoti, Amleto Novelli. P: Società Italiana Cines. It 1915
Dutch titles

“Until his career was cut short by World War I, Nino Oxilia was one of the most promising Italian directors of the teens. Formerly a playwright, he entered the world of moving pictures in 1912 and trained in Turin under Ubaldo Maria Del Colle at Pasquali and Mario Caserini at Ambrosio, then directed for Savoia-Film before moving to Rome to work at Celio. He was considered a gifted director of sophisticated melodramas. (…) Oxilia also collaborated with the other member of the holy trinity of Italian film divas, Pina Menichelli. In 1914-15, Oxilia was working for Cines in Rome, both as a director and writer; Menichelli was one of the main actresses at the Cines studio during this period. In 1915, Oxilia directed Menichelli in three films: Papà; Per amore di Jenny; and Il sottomarino n. 27 (Submarine no. 27).
(…)
In Per amore di Jenny, Menichelli plays a noblewoman caught between the interest of several men: Baron Burg, who she loves; Baron Galdi, who desires her; and Mario, a blacksmith whose singing brings her pleasure, and whose hopes are dashed by her marriage to Baron Burg. (…) It’s not a case of star-crossed lovers, but the audience is left with the question of what could have been for the two of them, in different circumstances. Mario is heartbroken, while Jenny moves on without too much ado. Moving is the key word. Jenny focuses heavily on showcasing its locations: the beauty of the countryside estate, and the historical sites of Rome, where Jenny and Baron Burg spend their honeymoon. Some of the outdoor shots are stunning, and made even more spectacular by the use of bright tints and tones.”
Silents, Please!

Papà
R: Nino Oxilia. K: Giorgino Ricci. D: Ruggero Ruggeri, Pina Menichelli, Amleto Novelli, Suzanne Arduini, Giuseppe Piemontesi, Amerigo Tramonti. P: Cines, Roma. It 1915

“Papà is a more comedic film where Giorgetta (Menichelli) is caught between a father and son, and more broadly, two ways of life: the Count di Larzac, Parisian man of leisure, and his rustic son Giovanni, who has been living in the same rural village as Giorgetta. This film is an adaptation of a 1911 three-act stage comedy by Robert de Flers and Gaston Arman de Caillavet, also called Papa.”
Silents, Please!

>>> Oxilia’s Rapsodia Satanica on this site: Lyda Borelli