Mario Bonnard

Biography

Mario Bonnard (24 December 1889 – 22 March 1965) was an Italian actor and film director. Bonnard was born and died in Rome. He began his cinematic career as an actor becoming a popular romantic lead in numerous silent films made before World War I. In 1917, he ventured into film directing for the first time. Before the arrival of sound films he worked for a period in Germany in films directed by Luis Trenker. Back in Italy in 1932, he became a prolific director working with the major stars of the time as: Assia Noris, Elsa Merlini, Amedeo Nazzari, and Luisa Ferida. Il feroce Saladino (1937) was the most popular of his films of the 1930s. During the war he continued to work. In the post World War II period his films, ranging from comedies to period dramas enjoyed much success. However, today he's no longer well known. One of his last films was The Last Days of Pompeii (1959). An illness made him leave production early, so the film was completed by Sergio Leone. His brother was the composer Giulio Bonnard, who frequently wrote film scores for Mario's productions.

Directed

1. The Last Days of Pompeii (1959) — Director
2. The Rape of the Sabine (1945) — Director
3. The Peddler and the Lady (1943) — Director
4. Mi permette babbo! (1956) — Director
5. Gastone (1960) — Director
6. City of Pain (1949) — Director
7. The Son of the White Mountain (1930) — Director
8. The Betrothed (1922) — Director
9. Aphrodite, Goddess of Love (1958) — Director
10. I Don't Know You Anymore (1936) — Director
11. Margaret of Cortona (1950) — Director
12. Der Ruf des Nordens (1929) — Director
13. Night of Love (1954) — Director
14. The Fight for the Matterhorn (1928) — Director
15. The Promise (1950) — Director
16. There's Room Up Ahead (1942) — Director
17. Frine cortigiana d'Oriente (1953) — Director
18. No Women (1932) — Director
19. The Golden Abyss (1927) — Director
20. I, His Father (1939) — Director
21. L'albero di Adamo (1936) — Director
22. Cinque a zero (1932) — Director
23. I figli non si vendono (1952) — Director
24. Fra Diavolo (1931) — Director
25. La ladra (1955) — Director
26. Il conte di Bréchard (1938) — Director
27. L'uomo del romanzo (1940) — Director
28. Il milione (1920) — Director
29. Papà Lebonnard (1920) — Director
30. Milizia territoriale (1936) — Director
31. Frenesia (1939) — Director
32. Die heiligen drei Brunnen (1930) — Director
33. Rome, 1585 (1961) — Director
34. Che distinta famiglia! (1945) — Director
35. The King's Jester (1941) — Director
36. Rossini (1942) — Director
37. Stasera sciopero (1951) — Director
38. The Last Sentence (1951) — Director
39. Ève cherche un père (1933) — Director
40. Jeanne Doré (1938) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Love Everlasting (1913) — Prince Maximilien of Wallenstein
2. Parsifal (1912) — Amfortas
3. Nelly, the Tamer (1912) — Il Conte Vilhelm
4. Nero and Agrippina (1914) — Petronio
5. Satan (1912) — Satana
6. Othello (1909)
7. Il milione (1920)
8. La nave dei leoni (1912)
9. The Other Me (1917)
10. A Game of Chess (1912) — Internato
11. La memoria dell'altro (1913) — Mario
12. Treno di lusso (1917) — Ingegnere Walter
13. Le mannequin (1912)