Joan of Arc at the Stake [Giovanna d'Arco al rogo]

Ingrid Bergman (starring)
Roberto Rossellini (director)

Rome: Produzioni Cinematografiche Associate, 1954. Vintage French program for the rarely seen 1954 Italian / French co-production "Giovanni d'Arco al rogo," here under the French title "Jeanne au bucher." Presumably programs were made for both French and Italian audiences.

In a rather bold film experiment for its time, Rossellini filmed a French stage production of the Joan of Arc story, with an Italian cast and actress Ingrid Bergman as Joan (in a strange reprisal of the character she played in the 1948 US film directed by Victor Fleming). Rossellini intended the film to transcend its stage trappings through careful use of the camera, and careful juxtaposition of silence with original music by modernist composer Arthur Honegger.

Some screenings were reportedly preceded by footage of the applauding opera house audience and a smiling Bergman in her dressing room, though the film has rarely seen the light of a repertory house since its original release, owing perhaps to the fact that Rossellini used Eastmancolor film stock that faded precipitously over time. The film is available in Japan on DVD, but has yet to be released to English-speaking countries.

10.75 x 8.5 inches. Oblong card wrappers in full-color, saddle-stapled with a green cloth tassle, 8 pages on thick two-color stock. Near Fine.


[Book #114987]