“Tivoli Cinema, 19 Faubourg du Tem­ple, Friday 17 to Thursday 23 October 1913, matinée at 14.30, evening show at 20.30” announces a programme sheet from the M. Gianati collection (reprinted in “1895”, L’Année 1913 en France, hors série 1993, p. 174). The programme, in three parts with two intervals and accompanied by a symphony orchestra, consisted of eight films: four non-fiction, two comedies, a medium-length drama by Jean Durand and an epic set in antiquity. The running time of the films, which we have ascertained to be a total of 3700 m. in length, would have been three hours. Add in the six musical turns and the intervals and it would have been a minimum of three and a half hours. We have reconstructed the programme pre­cisely, using different films, as glamorous setting for two diva pictures of 1913, Amor di regina and Ma l’amor mio non muore!. Mary Cléo Tarlarini (1878-1954) made her film debut in 1909 and appeared in over sixty films for Ambrosio up to and includ­ing 1913. Volante’s Amor di regina is not just a star vehicle for this great diva: it is exemplary in its genre. Its essence is dis­tilled from the play of light and shadow, the refined décor, the richness of the imag­es and the length of time that we are given to contemplate them. The power of these films rests on the foundation, beneath the shimmering surface, of a restrained rhythm, drawing the audience into a long-lost mood of aesthetic perception. The stage actress Lyda Borelli (1884­1959) worked for six years (1913-1918) in the medium of film, appearing in a total of fifteen films. The cinema offers great careers to beautiful women and good ac­tresses: Borelli was both and her rise was meteoric. Today we can see at a glance that she was not just one of many, just an­other beautiful actress. She was unique in her experimental approach to expressivity.