GIANNA MARIA CANALE

Gianna Maria Canale contemplates the illusory youth and beauty of Giselle Du Grand in the landmark Italian horror classic, I VAMPIRI...



The spider and her prey...


According to the IMDB and some blogs Italian actress Gianna Maria Canale died in Florence, Italy on Feb. 13, 2009. There doesn't seem to be any official confirmation of this from Italy but it's a good excuse to remember and celebrate her career... and if she's still with us that would be wonderful. Just as long as she's not forgotten. There's no actress quite like her in contemporary cinema.

A stunning, imperious beauty, she appeared in about 50 films, from her first significant role in Riccardo Freda's AQUILA NERA/THE BLACK EAGLE (1946) to THE AVENGER OF VENICE (1964). She became the muse and lover of legendary Italian genre director Riccardo Freda, appearing in 13 of his films.

She had an onscreen erotic presence which seemed to overwhelm all the actors around her, tempered by a brittle romanticism along with a patrician grace. Perhaps not a great actress but a supremely compelling one.

Of her films with Freda my favorite GMC roles were in SPARTACO/SINS OF ROME (1953), as the woman who drove Spartacus (Massimo Girotti) to distraction, THEODORA, SLAVE EMPRESS (1954), in which the titular temptress drove Georges Marchal to more distraction, and as the self-obsessed Giselle/Duchess Du Grand in I VAMPIRI (1957), a financial flop at the time but the film which was handwriting on the wall that the Italian Golden Age of Horror was at hand.

Since reports of her death still seem to be unconfimed I'm leaving it as a bracketed question mark. In the meantime, discover or rediscover Gianna Maria Canale in any of these recommended films:

REVENGE OF THE BLACK EAGLE (1951)
SPARTACO/THE SINS OF ROME (1953)
TEODORA, SLAVE EMPRESS (1954)
I VAMPIRI (1957)
GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961)

Here's something interesting from the www.astrotheme.com astrology site:

Map of the Heavens, Planets, Astrological Chart, Horoscope
Gianna-Maria CANALE,
born September 12, 1927 at 12:00 PM (unknown) in Reggio di Calabria (Italie)
Sun in 18°41 Virgo, Moon in 1°43 Aries
Chinese Astrology: Fire Cat
Numerology: Birthpath 4