The Warrior
About The Warrior
On 23 May 1915 an Itala troupe that includes Maciste is filming in an Austrian village on the Italian border. Told to go home as war starts, they keep shooting, are arrested, and Maciste gets them out. They reach the castle of the Count of Pratolungo as Giorgio Lanfranchi leaves his fiancée Giulietta to join the Italian army. Austrians surround the castle. Maciste draws them off so the others can cross the border, then enlists in the Alpini. The soldier Fritz Pluffer keeps laying traps for him. Austrians later seize the castle and the count, while Giulietta hides in a hut. Maciste and Lanfranchi return with the battalion. Maciste stops two officers from attacking Giulietta, frees the count, and reunites the couple.
Cast & crew
More about The Warrior
The Italian title is Maciste alpino. English and Italian Wikipedia credit Luigi Romano Borgnetto and Luigi Maggi as directors. Silent Era instead credits Giovanni Pastrone as director, with Borgnetto and Maggi as assistant directors and Pastrone as the scenarist. Bartolomeo Pagano plays Maciste, Valentina Frascaroli plays Giulietta, Enrico Gemelli the count, and Fido Schirru plays Fritz Pluffer. In the United States the film was called The Warrior.
Themes
Background
The story opens on 23 May 1915, the period of Italy's entry into the First World War, and sends Maciste into the Alpini. Jacqueline Reich calls this the best-known film of the Maciste series.
Look
Silent Era credits Giovanni Tomatis with the photography and Segundo de Chomón with the special effects.
Preservation
The Venice Biennale premiered a restoration on 26 August 2014, made with the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin.
Notes
- The plot summary used here follows the brochure of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema and the Cineteca del Friuli, which also names Giorgio Lanfranchi.
- Marussia Allesti plays the countess in the Silent Era cast list.
- Pagano had been a dockworker in Genoa before Cabiria.
- Gabriele D'Annunzio coined the name Maciste for that 1914 film.
- A restored print was shown at the Venice Biennale on 26 August 2014, restored with the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin.
- Italian Wikipedia says two prints and various reproductions can still be found.
Scenes
- Maciste breaks the arrested film troupe out of custody as Italy enters the war.
- He draws the Austrian soldiers away from the castle so the fugitives can reach the border.
- He reaches the castle in time to stop two officers attacking Giulietta and to free the count.
Influenced by
- Cabiria (1914)
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-the-warrior)
