Fifty years of Italian cinema (1955)

43 the Neapolitan dialect theatre had just begun to win great success on the stage in the large Italian cities. In 1935, production slowed down to twenty films of which at least three are worth remembering : Re Burlone (The Jester King), a delightful costume film, directed by Righelli ; Passaporto Rosso (The Red Passport) made by Brignone, and, reminiscent of today's neo-realistic vein of film-making, in the same genre is Blasetti's Vecchia Giiardia (The Old Guard). This latter is definitely worth comparing with Camicia nera (The Black Shirt), directed by Gioacchino Forzano. These are two typical, or rather the two most typical, fascist films, because each of them tried to exalt the fascist « revolution ». But if The Black Shirt is a miserable heap of celluloid, The Old Guard can be definitely classed as one of Blasetti's best films and, together with all his others, will one day help to explain the complex intellectual and moral character of this director. In 1936, production totalled thirty-six films, boasting only one exceptionally good one : Squadrone bianco (White Squadron), by Genina. The scene was Libya, but the location was much more suggestive of French Morocco and the Foreign Legion than of the empire of the « new Rome ». Nevertheless, this film by Genina was an almost violent departure from the customary films of the day in its assumption of a tone of epic exultation. White Squadron was a clear and eloquent example of the potential of the Italian film industry when it was able to break out of the bounds of empty and insignificant bourgeois narrative. In 1937, thirty-two films were launched. Remembered among them are / due misantropi (The Two Misanthropes) by Palermi ; and / fratelli Castiglioni (The Castiglioni Brothers) by Corrado d'Errico. With this film, his second feature film after many worthy documentaries and an apprenticeship as scenarist, dialogue writer and assistant director, d'Errico took his place in the ranks of those who were attempting to give Italian cinema a new direction. Meanwhile, the imperalistic euphoria of the Ethiopian conquest found an apotheosis worthy of the best tradition of the old Italian film in that cinematic colossus, Scipione V African*) (Scipio Africanus) by Gallone. Gallone's film may be considered a sort of link between the rhetoric of the old Italian cinema — theatrical, emphatic, impressive — and the new fascist imperial rhetoric. A costly and meaningless film, Scipio Africanus had a roster of top-flight Italian actors, including Isa Miranda and Memo Benassi. It was also distributed abroad, more for political reasons than for entertainment, and succeeded only in putting the Italian cinema in a very bad light. 1938 saw production soaring again to fifty-nine films. Fascism's assist to film-making began to pay off. Cinecitta had opened the year before, the Experimental Center was in full activity, and all the other film companies had been modernized. The Scalera financial group had begun to take an interest in the motion picture industry. Unfortunately, not one of the fifty-nine films has escaped merciful oblivion ! In 1939, production leaped again — the fifty-nine films of the previous year became eighty-seven. In this year, however, Blasetti made two of his best films : Un'avventura di Salvalor Rosa (An Adventure of Salvator Rosa) and Ettore Fieramosca. Blasetti moved at ease in the adventurous, chivalrous, braggadoccio atmosphere of these two films. This pair of films was further distinguished by the fact that Blasetti had a dialogue writer and assistant director