The Merchant of Venice (1953 film)

The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
Directed by	Pierre Billon
Written by	Pierre Billon ; Louis Ducreux ; Cesare Lodovici ; Giuseppe Mangione ; Corrado Sofia ; Federico Zardi
Based on	The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Produced by	Giorgio Venturini ; Eugène Tucherer
Starring	Michel Simon ; Andrée Debar ; Massimo Serato
Cinematography	Arturo Gallea
Edited by	Loris Bellero
Music by	Giovanni Fusco
Production; companies	Élysée Films ; Venturini Film
Distributed by	DisCina ; Venturini Film
Release date	1 February 1953;
Running time	102 minutes
Countries	France; Italy
Language	French

The Merchant of Venice (French: Le marchand de Venise, Italian: Il mercante di Venezia) is a 1953 French-Italian drama film directed by Pierre Billon and starring Michel Simon, Andrée Debar and Massimo Serato. It is loosely based on William Shakespeare's Elizabethan play of the same name.^[1]^[2]

The film's sets were designed by the art director Giancarlo Bartolini Salimbeni.

Plot

In order to come to the aid of his friend Bassanio, the wealthy merchant Antonio, while awaiting the imminent arrival of his ships, is obliged to ask the usurer Shylock to advance him a sum of money. The latter accepts, on the condition that, if the loan is not returned on time, he will pay himself by taking a pound of flesh from his creditor.

Cast

Michel Simon as Shylock
Andrée Debar as Portia
Massimo Serato as Antonio
Armando Francioli as Bassanio
Giorgio Albertazzi as Lorenzo
Liliana Tellini as Jessica
Olga Solbelli as Bianca
Clara Auteri as Nerissa
Franco Balducci as Antonio's friend
Nerio Bernardi as Doge
Gualtiero Tumiati as Dr. Bellario

References

^ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 1991. ISBN 8876055487.
^ Jesús Angulo, José Enrique Monterde (1997). Cine francés 1945-1959: de la posguerra a la Nouvelle Vague. Donostia Kultura, 2005. ISBN 1557284539.

Bibliography

Burt, Richard. Shakespeares After Shakespeare: An Encyclopedia of the Bard in Mass Media and Popular Culture, Volume 1. Greenwood Press, 2007.

External links

The Merchant of Venice at IMDb

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[45-59-1] Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 1991. ISBN 8876055487.

[2] Jesús Angulo, José Enrique Monterde (1997). Cine francés 1945-1959: de la posguerra a la Nouvelle Vague. Donostia Kultura, 2005. ISBN 1557284539.

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