Plot summary
It's the year 1555: France is upset by religious and political struggles. At the court of Henry II, dominated by his wife, Caterina dei Medici, intrigue reigns. In the southern provinces the Huguenots try to undermine the King's authority by any means, pushing the nobles to escape central power. In the Dauphiné the Duke of Vars tries to draw from the situation to satisfy his ambitious aims: he would like to take over the region and marry Louise of Valency: But the girl hates him and when, after years of absence, Riccardo returns home, back from wars of Spain, she invites him to fight with her against the Duke. Riccardo returned to sell his lands, having decided to move to Paris; but the love for his old childhood companion distracts him from his purpose. To the power of the Duke he opposes his cunning and his courage: four comrades in arms help him in the fight against the tyrant, whom Riccardo eventually kills after a fierce duel.
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum, is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963). These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films.
Fra Diavolo, is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an "inspirational practitioner of popular insurrection". Pezza figures prominently in folk lore and fiction. He appears in several works of Alexandre Dumas, including The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-hermine in the Age of Napoleon, not published until 2007 and in Washington Irving's short story "The Inn at Terracina".
Paul Konrad Müller was a Swiss actor who appeared mostly in Italian films. His motion picture acting career in Europe spanned a period of 51 years.
Camilla "Milly" Vitale was an Italian actress. She was the daughter of Riccardo Vitale and choreographer Natasha Shidlowski Vitale.
Massimo Serato was an Italian film actor with a career spanning over 40 years.
Franklin Latimore was an American actor.
La tigre dei sette mari, internationally released as Tiger of the Seven Seas, is a 1962 Italian adventure film directed by Luigi Capuano.
The Lion of St. Mark is a 1963 Italian adventure film co-written and directed by Luigi Capuano.
The Black Duke is a 1963 Italian historical adventure film directed by Pino Mercanti.
The Gay Swordsman is a 1950 Italian historical adventure film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Carlo Ninchi, Gianna Maria Canale and Franca Marzi.
Captain Phantom is a 1953 Italian historical adventure film directed by Primo Zeglio and starring Frank Latimore, Anna Maria Sandri, Maxwell Reed and Paola Barbara. It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alberto Boccianti. It was distributed by the Italian subsidiary of the Rank Organisation.
Sins of Rome is a 1953 historical drama film directed by Riccardo Freda and loosely based on the life story of Spartacus. The rights of film's negatives and copies were bought by the producers of Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film Spartacus, as to prevent eventual new releases of the film that could have damaged the commercial outcome of Kubrick’s film; this resulted in Sins of Rome's withdrawal from market for about thirty years.
Double Cross is a 1951 Italian crime-melodrama film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Vittorio Gassman and Gianna Maria Canale.
The Iron Swordsman is a 1949 Italian historical drama film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Carlo Ninchi and Gianna Maria Canale. It is loosely based on real life events of Ugolino della Gherardesca.
Cavalier in Devil's Castle, also known as The Cavaliers of Devil's Castle, is a 1959 Italian swashbuckler film written and directed by Mario Costa and starring Massimo Serato, Irène Tunc and Luisella Boni.
Fortunato Arena was an Italian stuntman and actor who appeared in more than one hundred films from 1954 to 1989.
Riccardo Pizzuti is an Italian actor and stuntman. He is known for playing the role of gunfighter Morton Clayton in the 1972 film Man of the East. He appeared in They Call Me Trinity, and its sequel Trinity Is Still My Name. He often appeared in films featuring the actors Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, usually cast as a villain. He has also been credited as Rick Piper and Peter Whiteman.
The Legend of the Piave is a 1952 Italian war melodrama film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Gianna Maria Canale, Carlo Giustini and Renato Baldini. It takes its name from the 1918 patriotic song of the same name, although there is little connection between the song's lyrics and the plot of the film. It was filmed over four weeks, mostly at the Titanus Studios in Rome. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alfredo Montori.
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
