Showing this Saturday at the Hellenic Museum is the 1954 cinema classic Madame X.
Starring Cybele Andrianou, Giorgos Pappas, Lambros Konstadaras, the film follows the story of a woman who has been thrown out on to street without any money by her jealous husband.
The film is based on the 1908 play by the French playwright Alexandre Bission.
The American adaptation starred Lana Turner, but the Greek version, screening this Saturday night, stars the legendary Cybele Andrianou.
Born in 1888 in Smyrna, Cybele spent the first two years of her life in an Athens orphanage. Adopted by a famous Athenian lawyer and his wife, who had recently lost their only child, Cybele received her first award for stage performance at the age of 13.
Cybele was one of the main actresses of Nea Skini from 1901 to 1906. There, she had the chance to perform the only roles of her life based on ancient Greek tragedy: Euripides’ Alcestis and Sophocles’ Antigone. She later became known for her performances in plays of Leo Tolstoy, Carlo Goldoni and Henrik Ibsen.
During the war she fled, along with her husband George Papandreou and the Greek government and royal family, to the Middle East.
After the war, she returned to Greece and performed various roles with the National Theatre, accompanied by Ellie Lambeti, Dimitris Horn, Mitsos Myrat and other famous actors and actresses.
In the summer of 1951 she made her only appearance in an ancient Greek comedy, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata.
Cybele died in 1978 in Athens.
You can see Cybele Andrianou light up the silver screen this weekend at the Hellenic Museum’s Summer Cinema screening of the classic film Madame X.
Summer Cinema runs across February and into March in the courtyard of the Hellenic Museum and includes an eclectic lineup of Greek cinema classics.
In true outdoor cinema style, film-goers will also be able to casually dine before and during the screening.
The Museum’s courtyard will be open from 6pm and the screening commences at sunset.
The Hellenic Museum encourages all filmgoers to pre-book their tickets on line at:
https://www.hellenic.org.au/summer-cinema-2019 as screenings are expected to sell-out quickly.
