Over his over 40-year-long career as a filmmaker, Carlo Lucovico Bragaglia is most fondly remembered in his native Italy for a string of popular comedies starring Toto, including Toto le Moko (1949) and Le Sei Mogli di Barbalu (1950), but he also directed films of other genres including dramas, melodramas, and sword and sandal adventures. Some of his most well-known films include Casanova Farebbe Cosi (1942), La Vita e Bella (1943), and I Quattro Moschettieri (1963). Bragaglia was also known as a theatrical director. Having lived to the age of 103, he was a famed storyteller who provided a wealth of information and anecdotes concerning the early days of Italian cinema.
Before entering the film industry, Bragaglia fought in WWI. He was seriously wounded during battle and left in a morgue to die. When he survived, he received a medal. Upon his discharge, Bragaglia and his brother Arturo Bragaglia teamed up to experiment with photography. He later connected with Anton Giulio, another brother, to found the Casa d'arte Bragaglio. The establishment quickly became a hip spot for Rome artists. Bragaglio next founded the Teatro degli Indipendenti and launched his theatrical career. As with his earlier photography, he was primarily interested in the avant-garde. Bragaglia's father was the head of Cines Studios and in 1930, Bragaglia joined him and began learning all aspects of the filmmaking process. He made his directorial bow with a few documentaries and did not make his first feature film, the comedy O la Borsa o la Vita, until 1933. When Bragaglia turned 100 in 1994, that year's Locarno Film Festival honored him with a retrospective of his best films. After leaving films, Bragaglia became a published poet. In 1996, he penned his memoirs, Bragaglia Raconta Bragaglia. He died in a Rome Hospital after breaking a hip.
