OTELLO MARTELLI

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#1: With dir Alberto Lattuada [left]

OTELLO MARTELLI

Born: 19 May 1902, Rome, Italy.

Died: 20 February 2000, Rome, Italy.

Career: Entered film industry as c.asst with ph Alberto G. Carta in 1916. In the 1920s, he ph newsreels/doc's for the Istituto Luce, the state newsreel company.

Was a member of the AIC.

Appeared in the 4-part doc tv-series 'Fellini' [1960, André Delvaux].

Otello Martelli was one of those responsible for the drastic revision of what is considered appropriate cinematic imagery, when 'neo-realism' exploded on to the screen. Martelli appears to have been unenthusiastic when it came to availing himself of color film. And even after color films had become the semi-norm, Martelli still interspersed them with the traditional grainy, grubby look, e.g. in 'La ragazza in vetrina'. [J.C. Blake in 'Film Dope', #40, January 1989.]

Obituary: One of the great craftsmen of Italian cinematography, Otello Martelli, who has died aged 97, photographed some of the most famous postwar films, from Rossellini's 'Paisà' to De Santis's 'Riso amaro'. He worked on seven Fellini films, most notably 'La strada' and 'La dolce vita'.

Born in Rome, he became an assistant cameraman at 14, and worked on silent films. He was signed up as a cameraman by the state newsreel company Istituto Luce, and in 1928 was sent to film the tragic airship expedition to the North Pole by Umberto Nobile. After working as assistant cameraman, his first important credit was in 1933, for Alessandro Blasetti's 'Vecchia guardia', a blatantly fascist film which, however, was 'saved' for its plastic values even by leftwing critics of post-fascist Italy.

After the war, Martelli was chosen by Rossellini to join him on the adventurous journey up the Italian peninsula that resulted in 'Paisà'. His experience as a newsreel cameraman helped to give the film a feeling of authenticity in this reconstruction of the struggles for the liberation from the Nazi-Fascists, even in sequences that were not always filmed on the real locations [such as the opening episode in Sicily].

During the shooting in Florence, Martelli was a first-person witness to the debut of the future director with whom he would later work, Federico Fellini, who was then Rossellini's assistant and co-scriptwriter. One day, Rossellini was sick, and Fellini was instructed to shoot the scene in a country lane, where a wine cart trundles by under fire from snipers. 'Sor Otello', as Martelli was known [Sor being a respectful Roman term of address], had planned to shoot the scene from as high an angle as possible, but the brazen young assistant gave orders for the action to be filmed from ground level, which Martelli contemptuously called 'a mouse's point of view'. Fellini got his way, and was congratulated warmly by Rossellini when the rushes were seen.

Martelli photographed two of Rossellini's most famous films, the equally adventurous 'Stromboli', with Ingrid Bergman, and the film that François Truffaut once described as 'the most beautiful film ever seen', 'Francesco, giullare di Dio' - its exquisite visual aspect being very much to the credit of the cinematographer.

When, in 1950, Alberto Lattuada and Federico Fellini decided to produce, write and co-direct a film about Italian provincial music-halls, 'Luci del varietà', it was Fellini who suggested Martelli as cinematographer. And three years later, Fellini chose him to photograph his second feature, 'I vitelloni'. The two men continued to bicker affectionately, but when the first choice for cinematographer of 'La strada' had to pull out, it was Sor Otello who took over - and the world was to acclaim him as well as the director.

He worked again with Fellini on 'Il bidone' [1955], and, though uncredited, took over from Aldo Tonti to finish 'Le notti di Cabiria' in 1956. With Tonti, he went round the world scouting locations for René Clement's 'La diga sul Pacifico/The Sea Wall' [1957], for which, in the end, he, rather than Tonti, was cinematographer.

He photographed many of the great cinematic beauties of those years, among them Silvana Mangano, Sophia Loren and Melina Mercouri, but Martelli himself said that the most photogenic of all was Anita Ekberg, immortalized by Fellini [with Martelli's help] in 'La dolce vita'. Martelli's contribution to this film was his most creative achievement in later life. In spite of continuing disagreements with Fellini over camera angles, there was great mutual respect.

Martelli maintained that 'it was not true that Federico knew nothing about camera technique. He just had his own ideas. For example, he wanted to use a lens for panoramic shots which is normally used only for close-ups. I told him there was a risk of flickering, but he said it didn't matter. He was absolutely right.'

But after Fellini's episode of 'Boccaccio '70' [1961], 'Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio', the director said he was tired of hearing Sor Otello continuously complain, 'It can't be done.' For the film '8½', he entrusted the cinematography to a new emerging master of lighting, Gianni Di Venanzo. But Di Venanzo, like many other emerging cinematographers, admitted that Sor Otello had been their maestro. The chore which induced Martelli into retirement was working on one of the episodes of 'I tre volti' [1964], the film directed by Antonioni and others which producer Dino De Laurentiis had hoped would launch the then Empress Soraya of Iran as an actress.

He is survived by two daughters and a son, Luigi, who is a television director. [From obituary by John Francis Lane in 'The Guardian', Tuesday 29 February 2000.]

FILMS
1919	Oltre la legge/Il nodo/Più che la legge [Gaston Ravel] b&w
1919	La contessa Sara/The Countess Sara [Roberto Roberti] b&w; short/38m
1920	Liberazione [Jacques Creusy] b&w; 50m
1920	La giovinezza del diavolo [Roberto Roberti] b&w
1920	Anima selvaggia/Fatale bellezza [Gaston Ravel] b&w
1920	La ferita [Roberto Roberti] b&w
1921	Consuelita [Roberto Roberti] b&w
1921	Il farfallino [Camillo De Riso] b&w
1921	La donna, il diavolo, il tempo [Edoardo Bencivenga] b&w
1922	La donna nuda [Roberto Roberti] b&w
1925	Fior di levante [Roberto Roberti] b&w; cph: Alberto G. Carta
1925	Fra' Diavolo [Mario Gargiulo & Roberto Roberti] b&w; cph: Ferdinando Martini
1926	Garibaldi/Anita o il romanzo d'amore dell'eroe dei due mondi [Aldo De Benedetti] b&w; cph: Antonio Cafiero & Ferdinando Martini
1928	La gesta dell'Artide/Eroiche gesta dell'Artide [?] b&w; doc/?m; Umberto Nobile's expedition to the North Pole
1928	Documentario sulla Tenda Rossa [?] b&w
1933	Raid con idrovolante, Roma - New York - Roma [?] b&w; doc/?m (about the mass Atlantic crossing under the command of airman and fascist leader Italo Balbo); cph: Mario Craveri
1933	Vecchia guardia/Piccolo eroe [Alessandro Blasetti] b&w
1934	Il Cardinale Lambertini [Parsifal Bassi] b&w + color seq
1935	La mia vita sei tu [Pietro Francisci] b&w; 58m
1935	Darò un milione/I'll Give a Million [Mario Camerini] b&w; cph: Carlo Montuori
1935	Un bacio a fior d'acqua [Giuseppe Guarino] b&w
1936	Arma bianca [Ferdinando M. Poggioli] b&w
1936	L'ambasciatore [Baldassarre Negroni] b&w
1936	L'antenato/The Ancestor [Guido Brignone] b&w
1936	Vivere!/To Live [Guido Brignone] b&w
1936	Fermo con le mani!/Hands Off Me! [Gero Zambuto] b&w
1937	Marcella [Guido Brignone] b&w
1937	Allegri masnadieri/The Make Believe Pirates [Marco Elter] b&w
1937	La contessa di Parma/The Duchess of Parma [Alessandro Blasetti] b&w
1937	Chi è più felice di me!/Who Is Happier Than I? [Guido Brignone] b&w
1937	Gli uomini non sono ingrati [Guido Brignone] b&w
1938	Jeanne Dorè/Jeanne Doré, le roman d'une mère [Mario Bonnard] b&w; cph: Ubaldo Arata
1938	Io, suo padre [Mario Bonnard] b&w
1939	Papà per una notte [Mario Bonnard] b&w
1939	Follie del secolo [Amleto Palermi] b&w
1939	Il signore della taverna [Amleto Palermi] b&w
1940	Kean [- Gli amori di un' artista] [Guido Brignone] b&w; cph: Massimo Terzano
1940	Lucrezia Borgia [Hans Hinrich] b&w
1940	Miseria e nobiltà [Corrado D'Errico] b&w
1941	Il re del circo [Hans Hinrich & Tullio Covaz] b&w
1941	Il bravo di Venezia/The Hero of Venice [Carlo Campogalliani] b&w
1942	Tragica notte/Tragic Night [Mario Soldati] b&w; cph: Massimo Terzano
1942	Don Giovanni/Loves of Don Juan [Dino Falconi] b&w
1942	La Gorgona/The Gorgon [Guido Brignone] b&w
*1943*	La carica degli eroi [Anton Giulio Majano & Oreste Biancoli] prod abandoned because of the war
1943	Quartieri alti/In High Places [Mario Soldati] b&w; cph: Aldo Tonti; filming started in May 1943, but was interrupted by the war; filming resumed in June 1944
1944	Ultimo amore [Luigi Chiarini] b&w
1945	Paisà/Paisan [Roberto Rossellini] b&w; 6 seg; 125m & 134m (restored version)
1946	La grande aurora/The Great Dawn [Giuseppe Maria Scotese] b&w
1946	Il duomo di Milano [Alessandro Blasetti] b&w; doc/?m; cph: Mario Craveri; or ph Ubaldo Marelli
1946	Caccia tragica/The Tragic Hunt/The Tragic Pursuit [Giuseppe De Santis] b&w
1947	Black Magic/Cagliostro [Gregory Ratoff & (uncred) Orson Welles] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Ubaldo Arata & Anchise Brizzi
1948	The Glass Mountain [Henry Cass] b&w; Italian loc ph; ph: William McLeod
1948	La montagna di cristallo [Henry Cass & Edoardo Anton] b&w; Italian loc ph; ph: William McLeod; Italian-language version of 'The Glass Mountain'
1948	Riso amaro/Bitter Rice [Giuseppe De Santis] b&w
1948	The Golden Madonna [Ladislao Vajda] b&w; cph: Anchise Brizzi
1948	La madonnina d'oro [Luigi Carpentieri] b&w; cph: Anchise Brizzi; Italian-language version of 'The Golden Madonna'

1949	Stromboli - Terra di Dio [Roberto Rossellini] b&w
1950	Luci del varietà/Lights of Variety/Variety Lights [Alberto Lattuada & Federico Fellini] b&w
1950	Francesco, giullare di Dio/The Flowers of St. Francis/Francis, God's Jester [Roberto Rossellini] b&w
1950	Due mogli sono troppe/Honeymoon Deferred [Mario Camerini] b&w; cph: Geoffrey Faithfull (English version)
1951	Anna [Alberto Lattuada] b&w
1952	Roma ore 11/Rome 11:00 [Giuseppe De Santis] b&w
1952	Siamo donne/We, the Women/Of Life and Love [seg 'Emma Danieli e Anna Amendola' dir by Alfredo Guarini & 'Il pollo/Ingrid Bergman' dir by Roberto Rossellini] b&w; 5 seg; other ph: Gábor Pogány, Domenico Scala & Enzo Serafin
1952	Campione del mondo [Massimo Mida] ?; short/?m

1952	I Vitelloni/The Young and the Passionate [Federico Fellini] b&w; cph: Carlo Carlini & Luciano Trasatti
1953	Un marito per Anna Zaccheo/A Husband for Anna [Giuseppe De Santis] b&w-c
1953	Carne de horca/Sierra Morena/Il terrore dell'Andalusia [Ladislao Vajda] b&w; cph: Eloy Mella
1953	La strada [Federico Fellini] b&w; uncred cph: Carlo Carlini
1954	Giorni d'amore/Days of Love [Giuseppe De Santis] c
1954	L'oro di Napoli/The Gold of Naples/Every Day's a Holiday [Vittorio De Sica] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Carlo Montuori
1954	La donna del fiume/The River Girl [Mario Soldati] c; cph: Roberto Gerardi

1955	Il Bidone/The Swindle/The Swindlers [Federico Fellini] b&w
1955	La fortuna di essere donna/Lucky to Be a Woman/What a Woman! [Alessandro Blasetti] b&w
1956	Guendalina [Alberto Lattuada] b&w

With dir Federico Fellini [right] - "Le notti di Cabiria"

1956	Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria [Federico Fellini] b&w; uncred cph (took over from A. Tonti); ph: Aldo Tonti
1957	Vacanze a Ischia/Holiday Island [Mario Camerini] c
1957	La diga sul Pacifico/This Angry Age/The Sea Wall [René Clément] tr/c; Martelli & Aldo Tonti both scouted locations, but Martelli became the doph
1958	La legge/The Law/Where the Hot Wind Blows!/La loi [Jules Dassin] b&w
1959	La dolce vita/The Sweet Life [Federico Fellini] Totalscope/b&w
1960	Historias de la revolución/Stories of the Revolution [Tomás Gutiérrez Alea] b&w; 3 seg ('El herido', 'Rebeldes' & 'Santa Clara'); cph: Sergio Véjar; originally intended to comprise 4 seg, 2 by Alea and 2 by José Miguel García Ascot, all 4 ph by O. Martelli; the 2 seg by Ascot became part of 'Cuba '58'
1960	Cuba '58 [José Miguel García Ascot ('Un día de trabajo' [17m] & 'Los novios' [32m]) & Jorge Fraga ('Año nuevo' [29m])] b&w; 3 seg; other ph: José Tabio ('Año nuevo'); released in 1962
1960	La ragazza in vetrina/Woman in the Window [Luciano Emmer] b&w
1961	Boccaccio '70 [seg 'La riffa' dir by Vittorio De Sica & 'Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio' dir by Federico Fellini] c; 3 seg (originally 4 seg in Italy); other ph: Giuseppe Rotunno (seg dir by Luchino Visconti) & Armando Nannuzzi
1962	Die Rote/La rossa/Redhead [Helmut Käutner] b&w
1963	Il maestro di Vigevano [Elio Petri] b&w
1963	Sopraluoghi in Palestina per il vangelo secondo Matteo [Pier Paolo Pasolini] b&w; doc/55m; cph: Aldo Pinelli
1963	Cyrano et d'Artagnan [Abel Gance] c
1964	La donna è una cosa meravigliosa/Woman Is a Wonderful Thing [seg 'Una donna dolce, dolce...' dir by Mauro Bolognini] b&w-c; 4 seg; other ph: Gianni Di Venanzo
1964	La mia signora/My Wife [seg 'L'uccellino' dir by Tinto Brass, 'Eritrea' dir by Luigi Comencini, 'I miei cari' dir by Mauro Bolognini (MB) & 'Luciana' dir by MB] b&w; 5 seg; other ph: Bruno Barcarol
1964	I tre volti/Three Faces of a Woman [seg 'Latin Lover' dir by Franco Indovina & 'Gli amanti celebri/Famous Lovers' dir by Mauro Bolognini] ws/c; 3 seg; other ph: Carlo Di Palma
1965	Menage all'italiana/Menage Italian Style [Franco Indovina] c
1966	Tre pistole contro Cesare/Tre ragazzi d'oro/Three Golden Boys/Death Walks in Laredo [Enzo Peri] ts/c

NOTE: Some sources credit Otello Martelli with the ph of 'Capitan Tempesta/Captain Tempest' [1941, Corrado D'Errico; ph: Massimo Terzano; uncred cph], 'Amore/L'amore/Woman/Ways of Love' [1948, Roberto Rossellini; seg #1 'Una voce umana' ph by Robert Juillard (or O. Martelli), seg #2 'Il miracolo/The Miracle' ph by Aldo Tonti; other ph: Jean Bourgoin & Claude Renoir] & 'Melodie immortali' [1952, Giacomo Gentilomo; ph: Aldo Giordani].