Woman in the World”—which Lina wins with style and alacrity, embar- rassing her adversary further in the bargain. She is promptly awarded with a contract to headline at the Foliés Plastiques, which she accepts. Once she is established at the Foliés, Prince Sergei attends one of her perfor- mances with a group of roguish friends, one of whom bets his entire stable of horses against the Prince’s prize race horse that Sergei cannot add Lina to his list of conquests. Recog- nizing Lina, but not letting on, Sergei accepts the bet. The men extend an invitation to Lina to be the guest of honor at a private party, which—rec- ognizing the Prince, with whom she has always been in love—she accepts. Lina and Sergei dance into a private room and consummate their love, af- ter which the Prince proposes mar- riage. Their intimacy is interrupted by the drunken row of his friends down- stairs, and Sergei rushes downstairs to call off the bet . . . but it’s too late. Lina overhears the details of the gamble and storms out of the Prince’s life, heartbroken. Lina throws herself into her work,
with no thoughts of romance. One of Rome’s leading tenors, Sylvani (Gino Sinimberghi), befriends her and ex- presses his affection for her, but is con- tent to leave their future in her hands. It is decided that Lina’s voice is now ready to make the leap from popular music to classical opera, and Maestro Doria is engaged to conduct her in a performance of Puccini’s latest opera, Tosca. Disobeying the edicts of the Tsar, Sergei leaves a train in Paris to meet with Lina at the opera house; he finds her still upset, and to discourage him permanently, she agrees to become Sylvani’s wife. In anger, Sergei threat- ens the tenor’s life, and goes back to his train. Doria has overheard the an- nouncement and arranges for a crimi- nal marksman to fire a real bullet into Sylvani as he faces the firing squad at the end of Tosca’s third act. Her hands covered in blood, Lina believes that Prince Sergei has made good on his threat. (This dramatic crescendo
ITALIAN quattro-foglia depicting Lina’s appearance as Botticelli’s Venus on stage at the Foliès Plastiques—a great early showcase of Bavian fantasy.
