Giuseppa Iolanda Menichelli was born on 10 January 1890 in Castroreale, a small village in the province of Messina, Sicily.

[4] Menichelli received positive reviews for her performances in In Contrasto (1913), Il siero del dottor Kean (1913) and La barca nuziale (1913).

"[9] In 1915, Giovanni Pastrone decided to launch Menichelli as a film star, and gave her the lead role in Il Fuoco (The Fire), which was a global popular and critical success.

[10] This acclaim catapulted Menichelli into the ranks of the lavishly-paid cinema divas, such as Francesca Bertini and Lyda Borelli.

[10] The film bore no formal relation to Gabriele d'Annunzio's novel of the same name, and was developed from a screenplay by Febo Mari, Menichelli's co-star.

[12] Menichelli's feathered hat, long capes and fierce gestures make her seem like an owl and reinforce one of the film's motifs; the link between the femme fatale and birds of prey.

[10] In 1916, Menichelli's status as a screen diva was cemented by Tigre Reale (Royal Tiger), directed by Giovanni Pastrone.

[13] The plot concerns a diplomat, La Ferlita (Alberto Nepoti), who falls in love with the Russian Countess Natka (Menichelli).

[14] Amid some beautiful snow scenes, Countess Natka's chance encounter with Dolski leads to a passionate romance.

"[13] Both films allowed audiences a passport into the exciting lives of the upper-classes; an imaginary world of luxury where it was possible to transgress Italian society's strict moral codes.

While Bertini rejected close-ups in the early part of her career, Menichelli managed to express a lot of emotion in them.

[21] In 1919, Menichelli starred in Il padrone delle ferriere (The boss of the ironworks) alongside Amleto Novelli, one of the most famous Italian actors of the period.

In 1920, Menichelli starred in La Storia di Una Donna (The Story of a Woman), her first production at Rinascimento Film.

[27] In 1922, Rinascimento Film decided to adapt a play by English author Arthur Wing Piñero called The Second Wife.

[28] In 1923, the final year of her career, Menichelli starred in two light-hearted romantic comedies, La Dama di chez Maxim and Occupati D'Aemilia.

[10] During a theatrical tour of Argentina in 1909, Pina Menichelli married an Italo-Argentine, Libero Pica, and the couple had three children.

[31] This contrasts with the likes of Emilio Ghione, one of the most famous Italian male film stars of the 1910s, who managed to hide his separated wife from public view.

[32] On the death of her first husband, who had always refused to annul their marriage, Menichelli married Baron Carlo D'Amato, founder of Rinascimento Film, in 1924.