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The Great Appeal

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The Great Appeal
Directed byMario Camerini
Written by
Produced byRoberto Dandi
Starring
CinematographyMassimo Terzano
Edited byFernando Tropea
Music byAnnibale Bizzelli
Production
company
Artisti Associati
Distributed byArtisti Associati
Release date
  • November 1936 (1936-11)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian

The Great Appeal (Italian: Il Grande appello) is a 1936 Italian war film directed by Mario Camerini and starring Camillo Pilotto, Roberto Villa and Lina d'Acosta. It is sometimes known by the alternative title The Last Roll-Call.

Camerini was considered to have no sympathies with the Fascist regime of Italy, but he made this propaganda film that endorsed the colonial policies of the Italian government.[1] It was one of a number of African-set films made during the Fascist era including The White Squadron (1936), Sentinels of Bronze (1937) and Luciano Serra, Pilot (1938).[2] The film portrays the rediscovery of his patriotism of an Italian, who eventually dies for his country.

Synopsis

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Giovanni Bertani is a rootless Italian emigrant who is currently running a hotel in French Djibouti. Although his son Enrico is serving with the Italian forces in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War he sells arms to the Abyssinian forces fighting them. Following a journey to Abyssinia Giovanni regains his sense of Italian identity, and is fatally wounded blowing up the shipment of arms to the Abyssinians.[3]

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ Gundle p.31
  2. ^ Palumbo p.294
  3. ^ Ben-Ghiat p.134

Bibliography

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  • Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. Fascist Modernities: Italy, 1922-1945. University of California Press, 2004.
  • Gundle, Stephen. Mussolini's Dream Factory: Film Stardom in Fascist Italy. Berghahn Books, 2013.
  • Palumbo, Patrizia. A Place in the Sun: Africa in Italian Colonial Culture from Post-unification to the Present. University of California Press, 2003.
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