Acting

Bartolomeo Pagano

Born 1878-09-27 · Genova, italy

Italian motion picture actor of the Silent Era. Before his cinema career, Pagano was a stevedore who worked at the port of Genoa. There, he was discovered and selected to play the role of Maciste, a muscular slave, in the silent movie classic Cabiria in 1914. As the originator of this role, he went on to play the character for the next 14 years in a series of sequels. Pagano became an international star. In the 1920s he was one of the most well paid actors in Italy, receiving up to 600.000 lire a year. The actor retired from films in 1929 to marry and raise a family in his home town of Genoa. He died there, aged 68, and is buried on the family estate in Italy.

Acting credits

Maciste the Sleepwalker poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Maciste the Sleepwalker

1918

Maciste in Hell poster
6.8

The devil takes Maciste down to hell in an attempt to corrupt and ruin his morality.

Maciste in Hell

1925

Cabiria poster
7.2

Young Cabiria is kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in Carthage. Just as she's to be sacrificed to Moloch, Cabiria is rescued by Fulvius Axilla, a good-hearted Roman spy, and his powerful slave, Maciste. The trio are broken up as Cabiria is entrusted to a woman of noble birth. With Cabiria's fate unknown, Maciste punished for his heroism, and Fulvius sent away to fight for Rome, is there any hope of our heroes reuniting?

Cabiria

1914

Maciste the Ranger poster
NR

Silent Maciste film from Italy.

Maciste the Ranger

1916

Maciste salvato dalle acque poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Maciste salvato dalle acque

1921

No artwork available
10.0

A young girl is abducted by her tutor, and they set off in a ship which has a sheik on board, who tries to molest her, but she is saved by a sailor. He and Maciste fight off the entire crew but the girl is captured again by the sheik and carried off to his harem, where Maciste and the sailor rescue her and take her back to Italy.

Maciste contro lo sceicco

1926

Maciste on His Vacation poster
NR

The most explosive and surreal episode of the Maciste series in which we see the hero up against the hardships of the average man: stress, women and cars. The Itala studios are in a disorderly state, the crew watches Maciste in the courtyard as he happily darts around in his new car, a single seater renamed Diattolina in honor of the car maker Diatto, the film’s “sponsor”. Maciste is happy; he caresses the car and talks about his vehicle as if it were his bride. The only thing missing is the honeymoon. But peace and tranquility are not easy to come by: in every corner of the country Maciste is recognized as a generous film star. Waiters, salesmen, passersby and little kids: everyone has a problem for him. Who said something about relaxing? An abandoned castle looks like a peaceful place, but Maciste has not met the wild American girl hiding in the cellar…

Maciste on His Vacation

1921

No artwork available
NR

A real anti-communist potboiler directer by Italian director Baldassarre Negroni.

Gli ultimi zar

1928

Maciste e il nipote d'America poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Maciste e il nipote d'America

1924

Maciste poster
5.8

A young girl, pursued by a band of conspirators, hides in a movie theatre where she watches the film Cabiria. She determines to seek the aid of that film's strongman, Maciste. When she locates him, he helps her overcome her enemies, but not without many thrilling and dangerous adventures.

Maciste

1915

Maciste und die chinesische Truhe poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Maciste und die chinesische Truhe

1923

Maciste Emperor poster
NR

Maciste takes advantage again of a break of acting in order to wash away injustice and castigate the wicked, this time in the name of dynastic legitimacy. Otis, the prince of Sirdagna kingdom, lives undercover in a foreign land, waiting to ascend the throne; Stanos the evil ruler though, is willing to do anything in order to prevent the legitimate prince installation. The court is a dangerous place, Otis is young and naïf: in order to solve the situation, Maciste, following the advice of his friend Saetta, temporarily takes Otis’s place, and presents himself as the legitimate prince. The crowd, enamored by his good looks, applauds him immediately as the emperor.

Maciste Emperor

1924

The Warrior poster
5.9

A soldier of near-superhuman strength fights battles in the First World War and wages a private war to rescue a young woman from the castle where she is imprisoned.

The Warrior

1916

Man soll es nicht für möglich halten ... poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Man soll es nicht für möglich halten ...

1922

Il gigante delle Dolomiti poster
9.0

The Giant of the Dolomites (Italian: Il gigante delle Dolomiti) is a 1927 Italian silent adventure film directed by Guido Brignone and starring Bartolomeo Pagano, Aldo Marus and Elena Lunda.[1] It was the last in a series of silent films featuring the peplum hero Maciste, but the character was later revived in the 1960s.

Il gigante delle Dolomiti

1927

No artwork available
8.0

Giuditta e Oloferne is a 1929 Italian silent historical film directed by Baldassarre Negroni and starring Bartolomeo Pagano, Jia Ruskaja and Franz Sala. It was the final film of Pagano, who had been famous during the silent era for his portrayals of Maciste. The film is based on the story of Judith Beheading Holofernes.

Judith and Holophernes

1929

La trilogia di Maciste poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

La trilogia di Maciste

1920

Maciste in Love poster
NR

Maciste, for the first time, suddenly discovers to be in love. The object of his love is Ada, the daughter of Thompson, an enlightened industrialist persecuted by Bethel, a competitor without scruples. He first makes use of a small group of agitators in order to foment the workers, then he tries to affect his loved ones, kidnapping his daughter. But he hasn’t squared things up with Maciste. In Maciste innamorato private and politic life interlace and condition each other. Maciste, a new popular hero, acts in advance of his time and sees himself as a media idol: after punishing the instigators, the crowd will recognize him as a movie star and promptly forget their claims carrying him shoulder-high. A hero, though, doomed to an unhappy love.

Maciste in Love

1919

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Maciste und der Sträfling Nr. 51

1923

No artwork available
9.0

A 1920 silent film directed by and starring Carlo Campogalliani who supports Bartolomeo Pagano in the role of Maciste.

Maciste's Testament

1920

Maciste poliziotto poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Maciste poliziotto

1918

Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni poster
7.8

Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste in Maciste in the Lions' Den. A Italian silent from 1926.

Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni

1926

No artwork available
8.0

Maciste is on the trail of a gang of criminals who have kidnapped the beautiful princess Maria Letícia de Livonia, traveling to Rome, and go to hide near a port. in this adventure, Maciste is helped by his friend, the journalist Tito Fabrizi, who was breastfed by the same woman.

Maciste Against Death

1920

La rivincita di Maciste poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

La rivincita di Maciste

1921