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Carlo Ponti

February 17, 2023

For other uses, see Carlo Ponti (disambiguation).

Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr. Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (11 December 1912 – 10 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit. Along with Dino De Laurentiis, he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cinema post-World War II,[1] producing some of the country's most acclaimed and financially-successful films of the 1950s and 1960s.

Carlo Ponti

Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI
Ponti in 1951
Born
Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti

(1912-12-11)11 December 1912
Magenta, Lombardy, Kingdom of Italy
Died10 January 2007(2007-01-10) (aged 94)
Geneva, Switzerland
Alma materUniversity of Milan
Spouses
Giuliana Fiastri
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1965)​
​
​
(m. 1957; annulled 1962)​
  • ​
​
(m. 1966)​
Children4; including Carlo Jr. and Edoardo
Honours Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1st Class)

Ponti worked with many of the most important directors of Italian cinema of the era, including Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Vittorio De Sica, as well as many international directors. He helped launch the career of his wife, international film star Sophia Loren. He won the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film for La Strada (1954) and was nominated for Best Picture for producing Doctor Zhivago (1965). In 1996, he was ascended as a Knight Grand Cross to the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.[2]

Career

Ponti was born in Magenta, Lombardy, where his grandfather had been mayor of the city. Ponti studied law at the University of Milan. He joined his father's law firm in Milan and became involved in the film business through negotiating contracts.[3] Ponti attempted to establish a film industry in Milan in 1940 and produced Mario Soldati's Piccolo Mondo Antico there, starring Alida Valli, in her first notable role. The film dealt with the Italian struggle against the Austrians for the inclusion of northeastern Italy into the Kingdom of Italy during the Risorgimento. The film was successful, because it was easy to see "the Austrians as Germans" during World War II.[4] As a result, he was briefly jailed for undermining relations with Nazi Germany.[5]

Ponti accepted an offer from Riccardo Gualino's Lux Film in Rome in 1941, where he produced a series of commercially successful films featuring the comedian Totò.[6] In 1954 he had his greatest artistic success with the production of Federico Fellini's La strada. However, Fellini denied Ponti's role in its success and said that "La Strada was made in spite of Ponti and De Laurentiis".[6] Ponti produced Boccaccio '70 in 1962, Marriage Italian Style in 1964, and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow in 1965. He produced his most popular and financially successful film, Doctor Zhivago, in 1965; the movie was directed by David Lean. He subsequently produced three notable films with Michelangelo Antonioni, Blowup in 1966, Zabriskie Point in 1970 and The Passenger in 1974.

Personal life

Marriages

In 1946, he married Giuliana Fiastri with whom he had a daughter, Guendalina,[7] in 1951, and a son, Alex,[8] in 1953.[9] While serving as a judge in a beauty contest in 1951, Ponti met a minor actress named Sofia Lazzaro (real name Sofia Villani Scicolone). He subsequently cast her in films such as Anna (1951). In 1952, his friend Goffredo Lombardo, head of production at Titanus, changed Lazzaro's name to Sophia Loren.

Five years later, Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce from his first wife and married Sophia Loren by proxy. Divorce was still forbidden in Italy, and he was informed that were he to return there, he would be charged with bigamy, and Loren would be charged with "concubinage".

Ponti co-produced several films in Hollywood starring Loren, establishing her fame. In 1960, he and Loren returned to Italy and when summoned to court, denied being married. In 1962, they had the marriage annulled, after which Ponti arranged with his first wife, Giuliana, that the three of them move to France (which at that time allowed divorce) and become French citizens. In 1965, Giuliana Ponti divorced her husband, allowing Ponti to marry Loren in 1966 in a civil wedding in Sèvres.[3][10][11] They later became French citizens after their application was approved by then-French President Georges Pompidou.[12]

Ponti and Loren had two sons:

Their daughters-in-law are Sasha Alexander and Andrea Meszaros.[13][14] They have four grandchildren.

Loren remained married to Ponti until his death on 10 January 2007 of pulmonary complications.[15]

Kidnapping attempts

Two unsuccessful attempts were made to kidnap Ponti in 1975, including one involving an attack on his car with gunfire.[3]

Smuggling charges

He was tried in absentia in 1979 for smuggling money and works of art abroad, fined 22 billion lire, and sentenced to four years in prison. Ponti did not attend the hearing, as his French nationality made him immune from extradition. He was finally cleared of the charges in 1990.[3]

Art collection

Ponti owned works by, among others, Picasso, Georges Braque, Renoir, René Magritte (including his Lumière du pole from 1927), Salvador Dalí, Henry Moore (including his Figure from 1933), Barbara Hepworth, Giorgio de Chirico and Canaletto. His collection was renowned for containing ten works by Francis Bacon. These included examples from his early Van Gogh series, triptychs, self-portraits and pope paintings, which were rarely publicised or lent to public exhibitions. In 1977 the Bacon paintings, then valued at an estimated $6.7 million, were seized and turned over by the Italian government to the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan; thirty-three sketches by George Grosz went to a museum in Caserta.[16] When Ponti reached a deal with the Italian government and was cleared of the charges brought against him in 1990, he regained possession of 230 confiscated paintings.[17] At some point, the collection is said to have been split between Ponti and Loren.[18]

Over the years, several works have been sold privately. In 2006 two Bacon paintings that had previously been in the Ponti collection were exhibited in an exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in London. One, a vertical composition of four self-portraits, had already been sold to the American collector Steven A. Cohen. In 2007 another pope painting by Bacon, sold by Ponti in 1991, was sold in a private deal brokered by Acquavella Galleries in New York for more than £15 million. That same year, Study for Portrait II (1956) was consigned by Loren at Christie's;[18] it was auctioned for the record price of £14.2 million ($27.5 million).[19]

Death

Ponti died in Geneva, Switzerland, from pulmonary complications on 10 January 2007.[4][20] He was survived by his daughter Guendalina (b. 1951), and his son Alessandro (b. 1953) from his first marriage; and by his second wife, Sophia Loren, and their sons Carlo (b. 1968) and Edoardo Ponti (b. 1973).[21]

His body rests in the family tomb in Magenta, Lombardy.[22]

Filmography

Notes

  1. ^ Lyman,AP, Eric J.; Lyman, Eric J.; AP (2007-01-11). "Italian producer Carlo Ponti dies at 94". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  2. ^ "Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana". www.quirinale.it. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  3. ^ a b c d Exshaw, John (12 January 2007). . The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
  4. ^ a b Martin, Douglas (11 January 2007). "Carlo Ponti". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
  5. ^ "Movie Producer Carlo Ponti Dies". Kansas City Star. 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
  6. ^ a b Lane, John Francis (11 January 2007). "Carlo Ponti". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
  7. ^ "Guendalina Ponti". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  8. ^ "Alex Ponti". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  9. ^ "Carlo Ponti". The Times. London. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
  10. ^ Sheri & Bob Stritof. "Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti Marriage Profile". About.
  11. ^ "Italian Producer Carlo Ponti". Associated Press. January 2007. archived at TV Fan Forums
  12. ^ . Fox News. January 10, 2007. Archived from the original on 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  13. ^ Davies, Lizzy (October 24, 2013). "Sophia Loren wins tax case after 40 years". The Guardian.
  14. ^ . Life. September 18, 2004. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  15. ^ "Sophia Loren's Husband Carlo Ponti Passes Away". Hello. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  16. ^ Sam Kashner (March 2012), Sophia’s Choices Vanity Fair.
  17. ^ Nancy Collins (January 1991), Sophia Vanity Fair.
  18. ^ a b Colin Gleadell (January 30, 2007), Art sales: Sophia Loren's slice of Bacon The Daily Telegraph.
  19. ^ Modern Art Sales Fetch European Record ARTINFO, November 30, 2007.
  20. ^ "Carlo Ponti". The Independent. 11 January 2007.
  21. ^ "Obituary: Carlo Ponti". TheGuardian.com. 11 January 2007.
  22. ^ "Italian producer Carlo Ponti buried". wistv.com.

References

February 17, 2023
carlo, ponti, other, uses, disambiguation, carlo, fortunato, pietro, ponti, cavaliere, gran, croce, omri, december, 1912, january, 2007, italian, film, producer, with, more, than, productions, credit, along, with, dino, laurentiis, credited, with, reinvigorati. For other uses see Carlo Ponti disambiguation Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI 11 December 1912 10 January 2007 was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit Along with Dino De Laurentiis he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cinema post World War II 1 producing some of the country s most acclaimed and financially successful films of the 1950s and 1960s Carlo PontiCavaliere di Gran Croce OMRIPonti in 1951BornCarlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti 1912 12 11 11 December 1912Magenta Lombardy Kingdom of ItalyDied10 January 2007 2007 01 10 aged 94 Geneva SwitzerlandAlma materUniversity of MilanSpousesGiuliana Fiastri m 1946 div 1965 wbr Sophia Loren m 1957 annulled 1962 wbr m 1966 wbr Children4 including Carlo Jr and EdoardoHonoursOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic 1st Class Ponti worked with many of the most important directors of Italian cinema of the era including Federico Fellini Michelangelo Antonioni and Vittorio De Sica as well as many international directors He helped launch the career of his wife international film star Sophia Loren He won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for La Strada 1954 and was nominated for Best Picture for producing Doctor Zhivago 1965 In 1996 he was ascended as a Knight Grand Cross to the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 2 Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 2 1 Marriages 2 2 Kidnapping attempts 2 3 Smuggling charges 3 Art collection 4 Death 5 Filmography 6 Notes 7 ReferencesCareer EditPonti was born in Magenta Lombardy where his grandfather had been mayor of the city Ponti studied law at the University of Milan He joined his father s law firm in Milan and became involved in the film business through negotiating contracts 3 Ponti attempted to establish a film industry in Milan in 1940 and produced Mario Soldati s Piccolo Mondo Antico there starring Alida Valli in her first notable role The film dealt with the Italian struggle against the Austrians for the inclusion of northeastern Italy into the Kingdom of Italy during the Risorgimento The film was successful because it was easy to see the Austrians as Germans during World War II 4 As a result he was briefly jailed for undermining relations with Nazi Germany 5 Ponti accepted an offer from Riccardo Gualino s Lux Film in Rome in 1941 where he produced a series of commercially successful films featuring the comedian Toto 6 In 1954 he had his greatest artistic success with the production of Federico Fellini s La strada However Fellini denied Ponti s role in its success and said that La Strada was made in spite of Ponti and De Laurentiis 6 Ponti produced Boccaccio 70 in 1962 Marriage Italian Style in 1964 and Yesterday Today and Tomorrow in 1965 He produced his most popular and financially successful film Doctor Zhivago in 1965 the movie was directed by David Lean He subsequently produced three notable films with Michelangelo Antonioni Blowup in 1966 Zabriskie Point in 1970 and The Passenger in 1974 Personal life EditMarriages Edit In 1946 he married Giuliana Fiastri with whom he had a daughter Guendalina 7 in 1951 and a son Alex 8 in 1953 9 While serving as a judge in a beauty contest in 1951 Ponti met a minor actress named Sofia Lazzaro real name Sofia Villani Scicolone He subsequently cast her in films such as Anna 1951 In 1952 his friend Goffredo Lombardo head of production at Titanus changed Lazzaro s name to Sophia Loren Five years later Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce from his first wife and married Sophia Loren by proxy Divorce was still forbidden in Italy and he was informed that were he to return there he would be charged with bigamy and Loren would be charged with concubinage Ponti co produced several films in Hollywood starring Loren establishing her fame In 1960 he and Loren returned to Italy and when summoned to court denied being married In 1962 they had the marriage annulled after which Ponti arranged with his first wife Giuliana that the three of them move to France which at that time allowed divorce and become French citizens In 1965 Giuliana Ponti divorced her husband allowing Ponti to marry Loren in 1966 in a civil wedding in Sevres 3 10 11 They later became French citizens after their application was approved by then French President Georges Pompidou 12 Ponti and Loren had two sons Carlo Ponti Jr born 29 December 1968 Edoardo Ponti born 6 January 1973 Their daughters in law are Sasha Alexander and Andrea Meszaros 13 14 They have four grandchildren Loren remained married to Ponti until his death on 10 January 2007 of pulmonary complications 15 Kidnapping attempts Edit Two unsuccessful attempts were made to kidnap Ponti in 1975 including one involving an attack on his car with gunfire 3 Smuggling charges Edit He was tried in absentia in 1979 for smuggling money and works of art abroad fined 22 billion lire and sentenced to four years in prison Ponti did not attend the hearing as his French nationality made him immune from extradition He was finally cleared of the charges in 1990 3 Art collection EditPonti owned works by among others Picasso Georges Braque Renoir Rene Magritte including his Lumiere du pole from 1927 Salvador Dali Henry Moore including his Figure from 1933 Barbara Hepworth Giorgio de Chirico and Canaletto His collection was renowned for containing ten works by Francis Bacon These included examples from his early Van Gogh series triptychs self portraits and pope paintings which were rarely publicised or lent to public exhibitions In 1977 the Bacon paintings then valued at an estimated 6 7 million were seized and turned over by the Italian government to the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan thirty three sketches by George Grosz went to a museum in Caserta 16 When Ponti reached a deal with the Italian government and was cleared of the charges brought against him in 1990 he regained possession of 230 confiscated paintings 17 At some point the collection is said to have been split between Ponti and Loren 18 Over the years several works have been sold privately In 2006 two Bacon paintings that had previously been in the Ponti collection were exhibited in an exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in London One a vertical composition of four self portraits had already been sold to the American collector Steven A Cohen In 2007 another pope painting by Bacon sold by Ponti in 1991 was sold in a private deal brokered by Acquavella Galleries in New York for more than 15 million That same year Study for Portrait II 1956 was consigned by Loren at Christie s 18 it was auctioned for the record price of 14 2 million 27 5 million 19 Death EditPonti died in Geneva Switzerland from pulmonary complications on 10 January 2007 4 20 He was survived by his daughter Guendalina b 1951 and his son Alessandro b 1953 from his first marriage and by his second wife Sophia Loren and their sons Carlo b 1968 and Edoardo Ponti b 1973 21 His body rests in the family tomb in Magenta Lombardy 22 Filmography EditPiccolo mondo antico 1940 Giacomo the Idealist 1943 A Yank in Rome 1946 To Live in Peace 1947 The White Primrose 1947 Prelude to Madness 1948 Hey Boy 1948 Alarm Bells 1949 The White Line 1950 Her Favourite Husband 1950 Figaro Here Figaro There 1950 A Dog s Life 1950 The Knight Has Arrived 1950 Toto the Third Man 1951 The Steamship Owner 1951 Europa 51 1952 Brothers of Italy 1952 The Piano Tuner Has Arrived 1952 Toto in Color 1952 Lieutenant Giorgio 1952 Easy Years 1953 Le infedeli 1953 Carosello napoletano 1954 La strada 1954 The Doctor of the Mad 1954 Mambo 1954 Un americano a Roma 1954 L oro di Napoli 1954 Attila 1954 The Miller s Beautiful Wife 1955 War and Peace 1956 Il ferroviere 1956 Guendalina 1957 The Black Orchid 1958 That Kind of Woman 1959 Heller in Pink Tights 1960 A Breath of Scandal 1960 Two Women 1960 Lola 1961 A Woman Is a Woman 1961 Leon Morin pretre 1961 Cleo from 5 to 7 1962 Boccaccio 70 1962 Le Doulos 1962 L isola di Arturo 1962 Redhead 1962 The Empty Canvas 1963 Landru 1963 Les Carabiniers 1963 Contempt 1963 Yesterday Today and Tomorrow 1963 Marriage Italian Style 1964 Break Up 1965 Operation Crossbow 1965 The 10th Victim 1965 Doctor Zhivago 1965 Closely Watched Trains 1965 uncredited Blowup 1966 The Firemen s Ball 1967 uncredited Smashing Time 1967 uncredited La Ragazza e il Generale 1967 Ghosts Italian Style 1968 Diamonds for Breakfast 1968 Zabriskie Point 1970 The Priest s Wife 1971 What 1972 Giordano Bruno 1973 Torso 1973 Dirty Weekend 1973 Mr Hercules Against Karate 1973 Flesh for Frankenstein 1973 Gawain and the Green Knight 1973 The Voyage 1974 The Passenger 1974 Sex Pot 1975 L infermiera 1975 Brutti sporchi e cattivi 1976 The Cassandra Crossing 1976 A Special Day 1977 Notes Edit Lyman AP Eric J Lyman Eric J AP 2007 01 11 Italian producer Carlo Ponti dies at 94 The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2021 10 27 Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana www quirinale it Retrieved 2021 10 27 a b c d Exshaw John 12 January 2007 Carlo Ponti The Independent Archived from the original on 19 February 2007 Retrieved 2007 01 12 a b Martin Douglas 11 January 2007 Carlo Ponti The New York Times Retrieved 2007 01 14 Movie Producer Carlo Ponti Dies Kansas City Star 2007 01 10 Retrieved 2007 01 14 a b Lane John Francis 11 January 2007 Carlo Ponti The Guardian Retrieved 2007 01 14 Guendalina Ponti IMDb Retrieved 2020 03 21 Alex Ponti IMDb Retrieved 2020 03 21 Carlo Ponti The Times London 11 January 2007 Retrieved 2007 01 12 Sheri amp Bob Stritof Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti Marriage Profile About Italian Producer Carlo Ponti Associated Press January 2007 archived at TV Fan Forums Carlo Ponti Husband to Sophia Loren Dead at 94 Fox News January 10 2007 Archived from the original on 2013 09 04 Retrieved 2010 10 07 Davies Lizzy October 24 2013 Sophia Loren wins tax case after 40 years The Guardian Carlo Ponti Jr Weds in St Stephen s Basilica Life September 18 2004 Archived from the original on June 10 2011 Retrieved December 10 2010 Sophia Loren s Husband Carlo Ponti Passes Away Hello 10 January 2007 Retrieved 10 December 2010 Sam Kashner March 2012 Sophia s Choices Vanity Fair Nancy Collins January 1991 Sophia Vanity Fair a b Colin Gleadell January 30 2007 Art sales Sophia Loren s slice of Bacon The Daily Telegraph Modern Art Sales Fetch European Record ARTINFO November 30 2007 Carlo Ponti The Independent 11 January 2007 Obituary Carlo Ponti TheGuardian com 11 January 2007 Italian producer Carlo Ponti buried wistv com References EditCarlo Ponti at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Carlo Ponti amp oldid 1136354385, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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