Post by Clouseau on Aug 11, 2007 1:49:08 GMT
www.euro2day.gr/articlesfna/40773535/
Fire hits Rome studios
By Paul Bompard
Published: 10/8/2007
Rome's famous Cittecittà film studios have been seriously damaged by a fire that broke out on Thursday night, burning for several hours. Particularly damaged were the permanent sets of ancient Rome, where epics such as Ben Hur, Cleopatra and Quo Vadis were filmed.
The blaze, which rose up to 40 metres, was put out by more than 100 firemen. They believe it began as an electrical fire in a props warehouse.
The fire also damaged part of the sets and equipment used to shoot the BBC-HBO production of the television series Rome, a popular historical drama about the Roman Empire. An official for Cinecittà said no filming was taking place at present and the studios would be functioning again soon.
Cinecittà, literally "Cinema City", is a vast area built under Benito Mussolini in 1937 on the eastern outskirts of Rome. Federico Fellini, Jean Renoir, David Lean, Carol Reed, John Huston and Roberto Rossellini are among the directors to have worked there.
Included among more than 1,000 films shot there are A Farewell to Arms, The Pink Panther, The Agony and the Ecstasy and The Bible. In the 1950s and early 1960s many US productions were made at Cinecittà because costs were lower than in Hollywood, and it became known as Hollywood by the Tiber.
By Paul Bompard
Published: 10/8/2007
Rome's famous Cittecittà film studios have been seriously damaged by a fire that broke out on Thursday night, burning for several hours. Particularly damaged were the permanent sets of ancient Rome, where epics such as Ben Hur, Cleopatra and Quo Vadis were filmed.
The blaze, which rose up to 40 metres, was put out by more than 100 firemen. They believe it began as an electrical fire in a props warehouse.
The fire also damaged part of the sets and equipment used to shoot the BBC-HBO production of the television series Rome, a popular historical drama about the Roman Empire. An official for Cinecittà said no filming was taking place at present and the studios would be functioning again soon.
Cinecittà, literally "Cinema City", is a vast area built under Benito Mussolini in 1937 on the eastern outskirts of Rome. Federico Fellini, Jean Renoir, David Lean, Carol Reed, John Huston and Roberto Rossellini are among the directors to have worked there.
Included among more than 1,000 films shot there are A Farewell to Arms, The Pink Panther, The Agony and the Ecstasy and The Bible. In the 1950s and early 1960s many US productions were made at Cinecittà because costs were lower than in Hollywood, and it became known as Hollywood by the Tiber.