Gilda

The Cinema Forum Group, a new group that aims to provoke film discussion in Malta, is presenting a tribute to Joseph Calleia with screening of the film noir Gilda starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford this Friday at the Old University Building Courtyard in Valletta:

Joseph Calleia (August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975), was a Maltese singer, composer, and actor, both on Broadway and in film. Calleia played against some Hollywood greats, including John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Mario Lanza, Charlton Heston and Anthony Quinn.

Joseph Calleia was born at Saqqajja Square, Rabat, Malta, to Pasquale and Elena Calleja. He left Malta in 1914, and began his career touring Europe as a teenage singer with a harmonica band, appearing in the cafés and music halls of many war-torn and weary capital cities.

By 1931, Calleia had landed an MGM contract in Hollywood, where he successfully pursued a career in the film industry, appearing in a total of 57 movies between then and 1955, frequently playing cops or villains in gangster and western films. He made his screen debut in 1935 with appearances in two B-films: His Woman (1931) and The Girl in the Cab (1933). He very quickly made his mark, playing the role of a criminal in Public Hero No. 1, followed by Riff Raff (1935) in which he played a womanizer, co-starring with Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney.

A special tribute to Joseph Calleia by Justin Camilleri