Abstract

The written memories of authors, directors, actors, stars - published or not - are useful sources, that serve to clarify the obscure sides of cinema history. Autobiographies bring us to the middle of that world, re-constructed through the lens of the writers' ego, demonstrating that some protagonists are a primary historic source. Frames of a past to which we do not belong rise through the words of memories. Interviews with the actors of silent cinema are just as useful, as they carry facts that only witnesses could know, despite the difficulties arising from dialogical structure of interviews that differentiate them from written memories. This study examines, in particular, Italian sources from the silent cinema period.