Leonie Laporte

In 1921, Titanus released a three-part serial based on a popular Italian novel from the turn of the 20th century: Nobody’s Children by Ruggero Rindi. The tale of lovers thwarted by class differences, of illegitimate children and parental recognition denied was a major success for producer Gustavo Lombardo and leading lady Leda Gys.

In a sleazy cigar and newspaper store in Rome, an old newsagent nicknamed "Papa Re" sells his wares, warmed only by an earthenware heater that his granddaughter brings him each evening. One day, the stove falls from his hand and breaks into a thousand pieces. The same evening, when he opens the kiosk, he finds inside a woman, huddled up, with her little daughter in her arms: it is Rosalba Vignas, a singer-songwriter who has been chased away by her lover, Cesare le Milanese, who fell in love with his younger colleague.