Three months after Curzio Malaparte's death, on the 10th of September 1957, the Pratese Alberto Casella died in Castelfusan (Rome) He was a scholar and a play writer who, like Malaparte, studied in the prestigious Cicognini College. Alberto Casella was born in Prato on the 1st of November 1891. His father Domenico was a lawyer, and was held in high regard both for his professional qualities and because of his innate passion for the theatre. For this reason he was called to make a speech for the opening night of the theatre Politeama Novelli, in via Cairoli (first called Eden Teatro). During his youth, the theatre was becoming very popular. Whilst Alberto Casella attended the Cicognini College, Sem Benelli's dramas were a big success. Alberto was performing in the Paolo Ferrari's recital of "Reduced for Men Only", in the theatre of the college. In 1921 he made his debut as a play writer with "Vautrin", and two years later with "Prometeo": both these works were appreciated by the audience and the critics. However the fame came to him for his tragic-satirical play "La morte in vacanza" (The Death in holiday). This play, which took place for the first time in Florence, was performed by the Talli's company. Later it was interpreted with extraordinary mastery by the great Italian actor Ruggero Ruggeri; and in 1934 a film version was made in Hollywood, directed by M. Leisen and staring F. March. In that same year, the film was presented at the "Festival Cinematografico" in Venice. Beyond Italy, "La morte in vacanza" had also been performed in the foreign countries: Prague, Warsaw and London. Amongst the performers of the USA production was the very young Katherine Hepburn. Besides his play writing activity, Alberto Casella was also a critic, a theatre director and a cinema scriptwriter. "L'imperatrice si diverte" (1934) and "Anche a Chicago nascono le violette" (1938), were the last two plays Alberto Casella left to us. They were written together with two other authors: Tatiana Pavlova and Mario Buzzichini. "Anche a Chicago cresceranno le violette" was first performed in Milan by the Tofano-Maltagliati company, and has been translated into many other languages. It is the story of Dolly Morton, the daughter of a pastry-cook, who falls in love with the gangster Jim Fremlin. As a drama critic he collaborated with the weekly journals "Il Giorno" and "Orizzonti", the daily "Il Buonsenso" and the periodicals "La Gazzetta delle Arti" and "Politeama". Amongst his cinema scripts we should mention "Il romanzo di un giovane povero" (1943), "Mater Dolorosa" (1943) and "La Fornarina" (1943-44).