''Mussolini Speaks'' is a 1933

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

highlighting the first 10 years of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

’s rule as

Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

. Produced and distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, includes Italian newsreel footage of the Fascists’

March on Rome The March on Rome () was an organized mass demonstration in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (, PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fascist Party leaders planned a march ...

in 1922, the

Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty (; ) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between Italy under Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman question. The treaty and ass ...

between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

The Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the bishop of the apostolic episcopal see ...

, engineering projects in Italy and North Africa, and excerpts of speeches by Mussolini. The film was narrated by U.S. radio broadcaster

Lowell Thomas Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, Television presenter, broadcaster, and documentary filmmaker. He authored more than fifty non-fiction books, mostly travel narratives and popular biographies of ex ...

. It was made with Mussolini's full co-operation, beginning with a caption stating: "This picture is dedicated to a man of the people whose deeds for his people will ever be an inspiration to all mankind". (Excerpted from Doherty's ''Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930–1934'', Columbia University Press, 1999) A contributor to ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' wrote: "Mussolini rises above personality. He is a great figure, perhaps one of the greatest in the world today", but the film showed "only a glorified Mussolini". Hearst columnist

Arthur Brisbane Arthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best-known American newspaper editors of the 20th century, as well as a real estate investor. Biography Brisbane was born in Buffalo, New York, to Albert Brisbane (1809� ...

wrote: "Nicholas Schenck said every intelligent man should see the Columbia Pictures film of Mussolini speaking and in action. He is right. In the faces of the crowds and in their frenzied applause you see Mussolini's absolute hold on the people of Italy." Brisbane thought it demonstrated the "role that talking pictures are destined to play in education". ''Mussolini Speaks'' grossed $1 million in the U.S. To date, ''Mussolini Speaks'' has not been released on DVD.

References

External links

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First ten minutes on Youtube
' 1933 documentary films 1933 films American black-and-white films American documentary films Documentary films about Benito Mussolini Columbia Pictures films 1930s American films {{war-documentary-film-stub