Serial Number: 20570
Title: Cabiria (1914)
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Country of Origin: US
Genre: Private Gallery - The 10's
Subject:
Size: 9.75x12.25 LOBBY CARD
Condition: VF/EX
Card Number: N/A
Price: $NOT FOR SALE
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| Actors/Actresses: Bartolomeo Pagano, Raffaele di Napoli |
| Notes: Director: Giovanni Pastrone; Writing credits are given to Gabriele D’Annunzio who wrote the intertitles. This fact is mentioned in connection with this movie because on some posters of the period D’Annunzio is the only name mentioned other than the title of the movie. Cabiria is one of the all-time classics of Italian cinema, and a standout in the history of world cinema in general. It is a spectacular historical epic, running over 3 hours. According to Martin Scorsese the epic genre was invented with this movie, and it influenced the works of D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille. It was the first movie shown at the White House. In a few early Italian silent movies we find the presence of anti-Semitic stereotyping, which probably is a reflection of Colonial attitudes in pre-World War I Italy. Cabiria is no exception. A case in point is the character of Bodastoret the innkeeper. His identity is not immediately revealed to us. It is done in stages. At first, he only looks strange and of unsavory appearance, with his torn cloths and quirky mannerism. He is dressed a striped garment, like the monkey that is carved outside his establishment, aptly named “The Striped Monkey”, or perhaps like Joseph of the Old Testament with his famous striped coat if you will. When the two Roman spies, the protagonists and heroes in this story, rescue the little girl Cabiria, which was kidnapped from her home in Sicily and brought to Carthage to be sacrificed to the barbarians’ god Moloch, they seek shelter for themselves and little Cabiria at Bodastoret’s inn. But the treacherous innkeeper betrays their whereabouts for a bagful of coins, reminiscent of the villainous Judas Iscariot. This is now a larger hint we are given as to the nature of Bodastoret. If all this wasn’t enough to help the viewer identify the ethnic identity the character, the next time he appears his Jewishness will be spelled out further. A decade later in the story, one of the Roman heroes returns to Carthage to look for Cabiria, but when retracing his steps to the Striped Monkey inn, he is confused. The establishment has undergone a complete renovation as befitting a prosperous business, and instead of the old monkey sign there is now an elegant stone plaque with Hebrew letters. Sneaking into the inns’ luxurious garden he sees Bodastoret, now the successful proprietor of this establishment. Now it is clear, the dirty, odious, and shifty character we met at the beginning of the story is indeed a Jew. This Lobby Card features Maciste, one of the two Roman protagonists, and Bodastoret, the innkeeper. Maciste, the powerful and muscular servant, is seen here in prison, wearing his trademark leopard skin, chained to a great millstone, doomed to a hopeless existence, trying with his last bit of strength to take a swipe at the despicable Bodastoret who, not content with betraying the hero and sending him to prison, came to taunt and mock the hero and revel in his time of misery. He’s seen here in his familiar striped garment evading Macistes grip. Maciste of course, is a mythical and popular Herculean figure of enormous strength, that appeared numerous times in Italian cinema. He makes his debut here, in this movie. The name Bodastoret is very unusual and this is its only appearance. As to its meaning we can possibly look to the Canaanite goddess of fertility Astarte, which if Hebrew is known as Ashtoret. Lastly, it should be noted that visually the scene in this Lobby Card is reminiscent of the way Samson was depicted in many classical paintings, toiling blind and chained behind the millstone after his betrayal by Delilah. A similar scene can be observed in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1949 Samson and Delilah. This card is slightly trimmed to a 9.75x12.25 size, but it’s hard to determine what the original dimensions were since a card like this rarely appears for sale. |
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