81 - ALIDA VALLI AND FARLEY GRANGER

ALIDA VALLI AND FARLEY GRANGER Scene from Luchino Visconti’s film “Senso,” 1954. Photograph, silver print on vintage card stock, annotated on the back. 27 x 24.2 cm. Small tear along one edge. Note: Alida Valli plays Countess Livia Serpieri, an Italian aristocrat torn between her patriotic loyalties and her passion for Franz Mahler, an Austrian lieutenant played by Farley Granger. The story takes place in 1866, when Venice remained under Austrian rule and supporters of Italian unification were preparing their uprising. Blinded by love, Livia gradually sacrifices her convictions and her honor before discovering her lover’s cowardice. Adapted from the short story by Camillo Boito, *Senso* marks Visconti’s transition to lavish historical cinema, where the sets, costumes, and color lend the melodrama an almost operatic grandeur.