In 1991 two films of the series Seven Deadly Sins (1918-1919) starring Francesca Bertini were presented at Il Cinema Ritrovato, in newly restored black and white prints with authentic tinting and toning done by Jan Ledecký in collaboration with Blažena Urgosikowa. Vladimír Opěla, then director of the Prague archive, had asked them to recreate the original technique so as to achieve restorations that deserve the name. The results were wonderful. And they remain wonderful: after twenty-eight years the colours of the tinting and toning in the Ledecký Print of L’avarizia haven’t faded or changed, and the print does honour to the raison d’être of L’avarizia, Bertini’s gorgeous dresses.

Mariann Lewinsky

The entire series of Seven Deadly Sins was distributed in Czechoslovakia in the early Twenties and, judging from articles from that time, it was quite successful. Two versions existed: one with Czech intertitles, and the other with German intertitles destined for regions with linguistic minorities. In the Forties, the Prague archive obtained both versions from a private collector: 14 nitrate copies richly coloured with tinting and toning.

Blažena Urgosikova