Terzano, Massimo

(1892-1947)

   Cinematographer. Having begun in the industry as a cameraman in 1913, Terzano graduated to director of photography in the last generation of the Maciste films, most notably Maciste imperatore (Emperor Maciste, 1924) and Maciste all'inferno (Maciste in Hell, 1926). With the advent of the sound era, he worked as cinematographer on Goffredo Alessandrini's La segretaria privata (The Private Secretary, 1931) and then on several of Mario Camerini's most renowned films, including Gli uomini che mascalzoni (What Scoundrels Men Are! 1932) and Il cappello a trepunte (The Three-Cornered Hat, 1935). One of his greatest achievements during this period was his work on Walter Ruttman's Acciaio (Steel, 1933), much of which had to be shot under extremely difficult conditions inside a steel foundry. He subsequently served as director of photography on Carmine Gallone's Casta diva (1935) and Giuseppe Verdi (The Life of Giuseppe Verdi, 1938) and in the early 1940s became closely associated with so-called calligraphers such as Mario Soldati, for whom he produced the stunning photography of Malombra (1942) and La miserie del Signor Travet (His Young Wife, 1945), and Renato Castellani, with whom he worked on Un colpo dipistola (A Pistol Shot, 1941) and Zaza (1944).

   In the immediate postwar period he contributed to the ensemble partisan film Giorni di gloria (Days of Glory, 1945) and renewed his collaboration with Camerini as cinematographer for Due lettere anonime (Two Anonymous Letters, 1945) before his promising career was cut short by his untimely death in 1947.