Mario Bonnard

Bonnard was born and died in Rome. He began his cinematic career as an actor becoming a popular romantic lead in numerous silent films made before World War I. In 1917, he ventured into film directing for the first time. Before the arrival of sound films he worked for a period in Germany in films directed by Luis Trenker.

Back in Italy in 1932, he became a prolific director working with the major stars of the time as: Assia Noris, Elsa Merlini, Amedeo Nazzari, and Luisa Ferida. Il feroce Saladino (1937) was the most popular of his films of the 1930s.

During the war he continued to work. In the post World War II period his films, ranging from comedies to period dramas enjoyed much success. However, today he's no longer well known. One of his last films was The Last Days of Pompeii (1959). An illness made him leave production early, so the film was completed by Sergio Leone.

His brother was the composer Giulio Bonnard, who frequently wrote film scores for Mario's productions.