Martha Eggerth heads the cast of Casta Diva, but the central character is famed Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini, here played by American actor Phillips Holmes. Paying but scant attention the facts, the film concentrates on Bellini's colorful love life. Evidently the film went through several rewriting processes, as witness the curious performances of Donald Calthrop and Arthur Margetson, whose characters do complete about-faces halfway through the story. Amidst so many British accents, Martha Eggerth's Polish intonations seem out of place, but she photographs beautifully and sings quite well. Casta Diva was attractively filmed on location in Naples. Not to be confused with the 1954 remake (by Gallone himself) or to the English language version "The Divine Spark" (also directed by Gallone and starred by Eggerth).
Cinematography
Glorious Naples locations that deserve better dialogue.
Costume
Eggerth looks absolutely stunning; that's the review.
Production
Four countries' talent colliding in one beautiful disaster.
Director
Carmine Gallone
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gallone remade this in 1954 with a different cast, apparently still not satisfied with historical accuracy.
This epitomizes 1930s 'international' cinema: multiple languages shot on one set, coherence optional.
IT
