La Mannequin (COMING SOON)

Synopsis

Marcella, daughter of a laborer, employed as a model in an important fashion house, had awakened in the soul of Andrea, her employer, a deep but impure feeling of love. One day, while Marcella was in her dressing room, putting on a new outfit to show to the clientele, Andrea made advances toward her, forcing the young woman to reject him with impetuous violence. Andrea wanted revenge! Marcella’s rightful action had offended him. And after expelling the young woman from his atelier, he spread an endless number of false accusations about her, preventing her from finding work elsewhere. Marcella, who lived with her father, realizing that it was impossible for her to find work, moved to another city, where it would be easier for her to be hired. During the journey, she met Arturo in the buffet of a station, who felt an ardent sympathy for her; slowly but surely, love was born between them, gently penetrating their hearts. So great was the young man’s interest in Marcella that he eventually managed to get her hired as a typist. The young woman surrendered herself to this love. She was happy; nothing disturbed her well-being, except the painful thought of not being able to explain to her distant father the source of the money she sent him. Marcella’s happiness was short-lived. One evening, Arturo met Andrea in the foyer of a theater, who was also an old friend of his, and introduced Marcella to him, leaving her deeply shaken by the encounter. Andrea, upon seeing the young woman, felt himself imprisoned by his mad passion and, furious that the woman who had rejected him belonged to another, began to pursue her with vain declarations of love. Not achieving any results, Andrea entered the young woman’s house one day and insulted her, treating her like a loose woman; but Marcella, reaching the height of pain and despair, killed the man who had been the cause of her ruin.
Argumentos de peliculas – La figurin, “El Cine”, vol. 1, no. 2, 13 January 1912, p. 10. Also published, with a different translation, in Aldo Bernardini, Vittorio Martinelli, Il cinema muto italiano: i film degli anni d’oro, 1912, prima parte, Nuova ERI-Bianco & Nero, 1995, p. 312

Contemporary reviews

A beautiful film, in which the height of honor and the tragic simplicity of life are wonderfully intertwined. Everything relating to the story of a mannequin is gathered in a series of brief scenes with breadth and depth. It is a very good and recommendable work that we could never praise enough. Even in this case, Cines stands out among the many similar productions because it has managed to retain a certain distinctive character that brings it much honor.
S. Z., Proiezioni – Le Mannequin, della Cines, “L’Illustrazione Cinematografica”, vol. 1, no. 1, 15 January 1912, p. 31