Alida Valli: Timeless Talent

Alida Valli was born Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg in Pola, Istria, on April 29, 1921. Christened a baroness, she became a movie star at 15.

Valli made her screen debut as a lead in Mario Bonnard’s 1937 comedy “Il feroce Saladino.”  In an interview featured in Mimmo Verdesca's 2020 documentary, “Alida Valli: In Her Own Words,” she explained how her last name was changed to Valli. “The writer Amedeo Castellazzi and the director Mario Bonnard found it (Valli) in the phone book. Because Altenburger was a foreign name, it was a bit too long, and so Alida Altenburger didn’t sound right,” she explained.

Valli entered the film industry during a period when Italy’s Fascist government was constructing Cinecittà while producing its own propaganda films. Known as Telefoni Bianchi (White Telephones), the films of this era imitated American comedies and featured upper-class families, opulent Art Deco sets, and the namesake telephones, which symbolized the well-to-do.

 

A fair-skinned girl with bright green eyes, Valli was a perfect fit for the genre, and her talents as an actress made her an instant star and a household name. Although she was on top of the world in the years leading up to World War II, heartbreak was waiting in the wings. 

 

When her first love, Turin aviator Carlo Cugnasca, was sent off to Africa at the beginning of the war, the couple exchanged dozens of love letters. In their writings, they confided their fears and dreams along with the hopes of seeing each other again soon. Sadly, that reunion would never happen. Cugnasca was killed in 1941. The death of her young love had a lasting impact on Valli, and she never forgot him. In 1968, she named her firstborn Carlo.

 

After signing a contract with American filmmaker David Selznick, Valli appeared in several successful international films during the ’40s. Among them were Alfred Hitchcock’s 1947 murder mystery “The Paradine Case”; Irving Pichel’s 1948 drama “The Miracle of the Bells,” in which she starred opposite Frank Sinatra; and the one she’s probably best known for internationally, Carol Reed’s 1949 film noir classic “The Third Man.”

 

Considered the greatest British film of all time, “The Third Man” is based on true stories about the black market in Vienna during the period preceding the Cold War. The storyline tracks American novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), who arrives in Vienna to meet his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Martins is informed that Lime was hit by a car and died on the scene. Sensing that something is not right in the witness accounts, Martins begins his own investigation, which leads him to Lime’s former lover, Anna Schmidt, portrayed by Valli.

The chief investigator presents Martins with proof of Lime’s shady dealings. This includes having sold diluted penicillin on the black market, which led to the death or serious illnesses of children. Shortly thereafter, Martins finds out that Lime’s death was staged and begins to work with the police to bring him to justice.

 

Anna was in love with Lime. Although she learns about his nefarious dealings at the same time as Martins, her feelings don’t change, and she tries to discourage Martins from working against Lime. Anna feigns indifference, but you can see the pain in her eyes as she ponders tender memories of Lime. While Valli comfortably inhabits the film noir genre, her performance is very contemporary and might have been delivered by any of today’s great actresses.

 

Upon returning to Italy in the ’50s, Valli was cast in Luchino Visconti’s 1954 “Senso,” a tragic story of unrequited love set in the 19th century during the Italian-Austrian war of unification.

 

Countess Livia Serpieri (Valli) is unhappily married to an older aristocrat. When she meets the young, handsome Austrian officer Franz Mahler (Farley Granger), she immediately becomes infatuated, and the two engage in a secret love affair. Before long, it becomes clear that Franz is only using her for her money. The affair is abruptly halted by the war, but that doesn’t stop Franz from hustling one last payout to bribe army doctors into keeping him from battle. Livia relents and gives him a sum of money meant for the Italian partisans fighting the Austrians, with dire consequences.

When Livia meets up with Franz again, she finds him drunk in the company of a young prostitute. Valli is a wonder to behold in this scene. Her heartbreak is palpable as she sits across from this young woman in Franz’s apartment, both of which were paid for with her money. The expressions of disbelief and horror on her face as the scene unfolds are the marks of a true artist. The lush technicolor cinematography, complemented by Valli’s long red hair and green eyes, at times seems like a painting. Visconti’s assistants on this masterpiece were artists in their own right: Franco Zeffirelli and Francesco Rosi, with Giuseppe Rotunno working the camera.

 

From the 1940s through the ’70s, Valli had her share of personal travails. She married, filed for divorce and reconciled with Oscar de Mejo. The couple had two sons before calling it quits in the 1950s. She rebounded with jazz musician and composer Piero Piccinio, best known for the lively soundtracks that accompanied Alberto Sordi’s films in the ’60s. That relationship brought years of torment after Piccioni was named as a suspect and later acquitted in the mysterious 1953 death of a young woman on the outskirts of Rome. Valli then married director Giancarlo Zagni in the ’60s, but they were divorced by 1970.

 

In the following decades, she worked with many of Italy’s cinematic auteurs, including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento. She also enjoyed a standout career on the stage.

In 1995, Valli co-starred in John Irvin’s comedy “A Month by the Lake,” a sort of coming-of-age story for older adults. Valli embraces the role of Signora Fascioli, the proprietor of a luxury hotel on Lake Como frequented by wealthy tourists during the summer just before World War II. Signora Fascioli is a vivacious, warm caregiver who makes sure everyone is safe and taken care of, and celebrates their comings and goings. It was a natural role for her in a period of her life when she was considered both a role model and an artist with experience and wisdom. The perfectly cast film co-stars Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Fox, with Alessandro Gassman and Uma Thurman in strong supporting roles.

 

Valli worked right up until her death in 2006, making 10 films in the ’90s and early 2000s. Her timeless performances in so many different genres stand the test of time. It was her versatility that kept her relevant through so many decades of cinema. Her grandson, Pierpaolo De Mejo, is carrying on her acting legacy with his stage career in Italy.

- Written by Jeannine Guilyard for the November 2021 issue of Fra Noi Magazine. Click here to subscribe.