Author: Luca Martera

Year: 2021

Pages: 345

Publisher: La nave di Teseo ; Roma : Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia

ISBN: 9788834605011

Series: I fari ; 92

Description

Thirty years before Rocky, Carmine Gallone’s film, which premiered at the end of April 1943 – two months before the Allied landings in Sicily and three months before the demise of Fascism – was one of the most blatant displays of mystification and propaganda the Fascist regime perpetrated. Its intended purpose was to inform the public about “State racism” and thereby establish the superiority of the Aryan race through the narrative device of a boxing match between an Italian-American and a black boxer. Harlem was the last costume blockbuster commissioned by Luigi Freddi, founder of Cinecittà, high priest of censorship and atypical “gerarca” figure, who miraculously survived the events of 25th July and 25th April. This well-documented and extensively illustrated book reveals for the first time the fascinating, dramatic and unexpected story of the most censored film in the history of Italian cinema.