CARLO PONTI

'Carlo Ponti' (December 11, 1912 – January 9, 2007) was an Italian film producer with over 140 production credits.

Contents

Career

Personal life

Death

Filmography

Notes

References

Career

Ponti was born in Magenta, Italy and 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. Carlo Ponti John Exshaw 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. Carlo Ponti Douglas Martin As a result, he was briefly jailed for undermining relations with Nazi Germany. Movie Producer Carlo Ponti Dies
Ponti accepted an offer from Lux Film company in Rome in 1941, where he produced a series of commercially successful films featuring the comedian Totò. Carlo Ponti John Francis Lane 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." He produced Visconti's ''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, David Lean's ''Doctor Zhivago'' in 1965. He subsequently produced three notable films with Michelangelo Antonioni, ''Blowup'' in 1966, ''Zabriskie Point'' in 1970 and ''The Passenger'' in 1974.

Personal life

In 1946 he married Giuliana Fastri. Carlo Ponti Around 1950, Ponti, while serving as a judge in a beauty contest, met a minor actress named Sofia Lazzaro. He subsequenty 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. In 1957, 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 he would be charged with bigamy if he returned to Italy and Loren would be charged with "concubinage". Ponti co-produced several films in Hollywood starring Loren, and establishing her fame, although most were box-office failures. In 1960 Ponti and Loren returned to Italy and when summoned to court, denied being married. In 1965 the Pontis became French citizens and Giulana Ponti divorced her husband, allowing Ponti to marry Loren in 1966.
Two unsuccessful attempts were made to kidnap Ponti in 1975, including one involving an attack on his car with gunfire.
Ponti was tried in absentia in 1979 for smuggling money and works of art abroad and fined 22 billion lire and sentenced to four years in prison. He did not attend the hearing, as his French nationality made him immune from extradition. He was finally cleared of the charges in 1990.

Death

Ponti died in Geneva, Switzerland and was survived by Loren; his sons: Carlo — a former child actor now a music conductor and music director of the San Bernardino Symphony ("one of the oldest and most prestigious in the Inland Empire"),^[1] Alessandro Ponti — a film producer, and Edoardo Ponti — a film director; and a daughter, Guendolina.

Filmography

★ ''Piccolo mondo antico'' (1940)

★ ''Europa '51'' (1952)

★ ''Carosello napoletano (1954)

★ ''La strada'' (1954)

★ ''Mambo (film)'' (1954)

★ ''Un americano a Roma'' (1954)

★ ''L'oro di Napoli'' (1954)

★ ''Attila'' (1954)

★ ''War and Peace'' (1956)

★ ''Il ferroviere'' (1956)

★ ''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)

★ ''Léon Morin, prêtre'' (1961)

★ ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' (1962)

★ ''Boccaccio '70'' (1962)

★ ''Le Doulos'' (1962)

★ ''L'isola di Arturo'' (1962)

★ ''Les Carabiniers'' (1963)

★ ''Contempt'' (1963)

★ ''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' (1963)

★ ''Marriage Italian Style'' (1964)

★ ''Operation Crossbow (film)'' (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)

★ ''Zabriskie Point'' (1970)

★ ''What?'' (1972)

★ ''Flesh for Frankenstein'' (1973)

★ ''The Passenger'' (1974)

★ ''L'infermiera'' (1975)

★ ''Brutti, sporchi e cattivi'' (1976)

★ ''The Cassandra Crossing'' (1976)

★ ''A Special Day'' (1977)

Notes

1. San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra

References

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