The Mechanical Man
About The Mechanical Man
A scientist builds a remote-controlled mechanical man of more than human speed and strength. Mado (Valentina Frascaroli) leads a gang that kills him for the plans; the gang is caught, she escapes, and she forces his niece Elena to hand over the blueprints. Her machine robs and kills under her control until the scientist's brother, Professor D'Ara (Gabriel Moreau), builds a second one. The two machines fight in an opera house and wreck each other and the building. Saltarello (André Deed) shorts the controls, and Mado is electrocuted.
Cast & crew
More about The Mechanical Man
André Deed wrote and directed the film and plays the comic Saltarello, whose name in the story is Modestino D'Ara. Milano Films produced it in 1920 and released it in November 1921. Alberto Chentrens was the cinematographer. Mathilde Lambert plays Elena. Ferdinando Vivas-May plays Ramberti. Giulia Costa is also in the cast.
Themes
In film history
It is one of the first science-fiction films made in Italy, and the first film to show two robots fighting.
Reviews
Critic Christopher Workman has argued that the robot battle left a mark on Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927).
Preservation
The original was long treated as lost. The Cinemateca Brasileira in São Paulo holds 740 meters, 26 minutes, of a Portuguese version. The Cineteca di Bologna restored that material in 1992.
Notes
- The Italian title is L'uomo meccanico. Deed was already known in Italy as the comic Cretinetti.
- Italian Wikipedia gives the original length as an hour. English Wikipedia says 80 minutes.
- The reels found in Brazil are a Portuguese version. The opening scenes with the scientist are among what is missing.
- Alpha Video issued the incomplete Brazilian print on DVD with new English intertitles.
Scenes
- Mado's mechanical man turns a fancy-dress ball into a crime.
- The two machines fight inside an opera house until the building comes down.
Also available
- Alpha Video DVD
