Totò entusiasta della nuova moda
R: Emilio Vardannes. D: Emilio Vardannes. P: Itala Film. It 1911
Print: Museo Nazionale del Cinema / EYE collection
Dutch titles

La moda vuole l’ala larga
R: Ernesto Vaser. D: Ernesto Vaser. P: Itala Film. It 1912
Print: Museo Nazionale del Cinema / EYE collection
Dutch titles

“Fringuelli tries to fight against the hateful tyranny of fashion, but soon he must realize how many traps he is forced to face to achieve his goal. With his little narrow hat, Fringuelli is definitely out of fashion and everybody around makes fun of him. Eventually he surrenders to the whim of the moment, and gets himself a brand new hat with a wide brim. Unfortunately he exaggerates in the choice of the new hat, which has such a large and wide brim to cause a series of disasters…”
Vimeo

Totò senz’acqua
R: Emilio Vardannes. D: Emilio Vardannes. P: Itala Film. It 1911
Print: Museo Nazionale del Cinema / EYE collection
French titles

“There have been dozens of clowns who have called themselves Toto, the most famous being the Italian droll, Prince Antonio de Bizancio who claimed lineage from Emporer Constantine. Antonio was a revue favorite in the 1930s and made a number of popular films in Italy after the Second World War. Preceding him was Emilio Vardannes, another Italian comedian who came to the USA in the 1910s and made silent pictures under the name Totò.”
Frank Cullen: Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America. Routledge 2006, p. 1119/20

“Emilio Vardannes was born in 1868 in Paris, France. He is an actor and director, known for Bonafacio muratore (1912), Il carretto di Totò (1911) and Totò non ha fortuna (1912).”
IMDb

“Antonin Bénévent, dit Émile Vardannes (ou Emilio Vardannes en Italie), né à Paris le 13 janvier 1873 et mort à Paris le 13 décembre 1951, est un acteur et réalisateur français. Émile Vardannes a principalement été un acteur comique du cinéma muet italien. Il a commencé sa carrière à l’Itala Film où il s’est fait connaitre sous le pseudonyme de «Toto», puis a pris le pseudonyme de «Boniface» (Bonifacio en Italie), en passant à la Milano Film.”
Wikipedia France

In Cabiria, 1914, Vardannes performs as Hannibal.

>>> Vardannes in Il cavallo del reggimento

Totò entusiasta della nuova moda