Steno (director)
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Steno | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stefano Vanzina 19 January 1917 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 13 March 1988 (aged 71) Rome, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1949–1988 |
| Children | Carlo Vanzina |
Steno, the artistic name of Stefano Vanzina (19 January 1917 – 13 March 1988), was an Italian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer.
Early Life
[edit]Steno's father, Alberto Vanzina was a journalist from Piedmont working for Corriere della Sera. He emigrated to South America in 1930, founding a newspaper in Venezuela. He met Steno's mother, Giulia Boggio on the ship on the journey over there.[1] Steno was born in Rome, and spent his childhood in Arona.[2]
He studied at the Accademia di Scenografia e Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Academy of Set Design and Centre for Experimental Cinematography) in Rome, where he started to draw caricatures and write humorous articles, adopting the pseudonym "Steno", as an homage to the novels of Francesca Steno.[3][4]
Work
[edit]Steno started working with Mario Mattioli in 1939, as set designer and writer. Steno's first film credit was with Mattioli for Defendant, Stand Up! (Italian: Imputato, alzatetvi). His first credit as director came in 1949 alongside Mario Monicelli, with A Night of Fame (Italian: Al diavolo la celebrità).[5]
From 1952 onwards Steno directed solo. He directed primarily comedy films, working with some of the great names in Italian cinema, such as Totò and Alberto Sordi, in films including Toto and the King of Rome (Italian: Totò e I re di Roma) An American in Rome (Italian: Un americano a Roma).[6]
Two of his films, Un giorno in pretura (1954) and Febbre da cavallo (1976), were shown in a retrospective section on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.[7]
Selected filmography
[edit]- Abandonment (1940)
- Fourth Page (1942)
- Sealed Lips (1942)
- In High Places (1943)
- Two Hearts Among the Beasts (1943)
- Annabella's Adventure (1943)
- Black Eagle (1946)
- The Courier of the King (1947)
- The Captain's Daughter (1947)
- Fear and Sand (1948)
- The Wolf of the Sila (1949)
- Toto Looks for a House (1949)
- A Night of Fame (1949)
- A Dog's Life (with Mario Monicelli, 1950)
- The Knight Has Arrived! (with Mario Monicelli, 1950)
- Her Favourite Husband (1950)
- I'm in the Revue (1950)
- The Elusive Twelve (1950)
- The Ungrateful Heart (1951)
- Cops and Robbers (with Mario Monicelli, 1951)
- Totò in Color (1952)
- Le infedeli (1953)
- Man, Beast and Virtue (1953)
- Un americano a Roma (1954)
- A Day in Court (1954)
- Le avventure di Giacomo Casanova (1955)
- Nero's Weekend (1956)
- Totò nella luna (1958)
- I Tartassati (1959)
- Tempi duri per i vampiri (1959)
- Totò, Eva e il pennello proibito (1959)
- Letto a tre piazze (1960)
- The Two Colonels (1962)
- Copacabana Palace (1962)
- Totò Diabolicus (1963)
- Toto vs the Four (1963)
- Letti sbagliati (1965)
- Caprice Italian Style (1968)
- Execution Squad (1972)
- Flatfoot (1973)
- Policewoman (1974)
- Febbre da cavallo (1976)
- Double Murder (1977)
- Amori miei (1978)
- La patata bollente (1979)
- Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot (1979)
- Quando la coppia scoppia (1981)
- Banana Joe (1982)
- An Ideal Adventure (1982)
References
[edit]- ^ "Fratelli Vanzina, ciak in piazza San Carlo". Archivio - la Repubblica.it (in Italian). 1 July 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "Steno Biografia". MyMovies (in Italian). Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "Steno (Stefano Vanzina)". Rubbettino editore (in Italian). Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ Ventavoli, Bruno (1999). Al diavolo la celebrità: Steno dal Marc'Aurelio alla televisione : 50 anni di cinema e spettacolo in Italia (in Italian). Lindau. ISBN 978-88-7180-280-0. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ "Steno". film.it (in Italian). Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ Raccosta, Miriam. "Steno". www.cinematografo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ "Italian Comedy - The State of Things". labiennale.org. Archived from the original on 1 August 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
External links
[edit]
- 1917 births
- 1988 deaths
- Film directors from Rome
- 20th-century Italian screenwriters
- Italian male screenwriters
- Italian cinematographers
- Writers from Rome
- Poliziotteschi directors
- Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio
- 20th-century Italian male writers
- Italian comedy film directors
- Italian parodists
- Parody film directors