The Fear of Zeppelins
About The Fear of Zeppelins
On his wedding day Cretinetti (André Deed) walks the party along a street in Turin and reads a poster on what to do if Zeppelins bomb the city. He tears the sheet down and obeys it past the letter: sandbags, buckets, and a bathtub full of water shoved into the parlor. The flat is wrecked, and the wedding night is a room of basins. Two gendarmes then hand him a call-up and drag him off in front of his bride Dulcinea.
Cast & crew
More about The Fear of Zeppelins
André Deed wrote and directed the comedy and plays Cretinetti. Itala Film produced it. Wikidata credits Segundo de Chomón as cinematographer. Felice Minotti and Domenico Gambino are in the cast. The Italian title is La paura degli aeromobili nemici. The European Film Gateway times a copy at 16 minutes.
Themes
Background
The gag is built on civil-defense instructions posted in Italian cities in 1915, the first summer of Italy's war, when Zeppelin raids were a public fear.
Notes
- Italy had entered the war against Austria in May 1915. The Giornate del Cinema Muto note places the release later that year.
- The poster Cretinetti steals tells householders to keep sandbags and buckets of water ready for incendiary bombs.
- The bride is called Dulcinea in the Giornate program.
Scenes
- Cretinetti pulls the air-raid notice off a Turin wall and carries it home.
- He rolls a full bathtub into the parlor during the wedding lunch.
- Gendarmes take him for the army while Dulcinea watches.
