''Prisoners of Darkness'' () is a 1952 Italian

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

melodrama film In film studies and criticism, melodrama may variously refer to a genre, mode, style or sensibility characterized by its emphasis on intense and exaggerated emotions and heightened dramatic situations. There is no fixed definition of the term an ...

directed by Enrico Bomba and starring

Milly Vitale Camilla "Milly" Vitale (16 July 1933 – 2 November 2006) was an Italian actress. She was the daughter of Riccardo Vitale (Rome Opera House Director, deceased 1979) and choreographer Natasha Shidlowski Vitale (deceased 1994). She appeared in nu ...

Folco Lulli Folco Lulli (3 July 1912 – 23 May 1970) was an Italian partisan and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1946 and 1970. Life and career Born in Florence, the son of the baritone Gino Lulli and the elder brother of actor ...

and

Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli (30 August 1888 – 8 October 1969) was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli. Early life Ciannelli ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Virgilio Marchi Virgilio Marchi (21 January 1895 – 30 April 1960) was an Italian architect and art director. He designed the sets for more than fifty films during his career. Marchi was stylistically identified with the Futurist movement.Sabatino, Michelangelo. ...

. It is based on the 1852 novel ''La cieca di Sorrento'' by Francesco Mastriani.

Plot

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon, a beer produced by Brasseries de Bourbon * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * Bourbon coffee, a type of coffee ma ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Oliviero Pisani is the son of Amedeo Pisani, who kills the Marchesa Rionero during a theft in the villa of the Rionero marquises. Oliviero goes to study in London and becomes a great ophthalmologist who will restore sight to the daughter of the marquise, Beatrice, who became blind due to Amedeo during the robbery in the villa.

Cast

as Beatrice Rionero *

as Amedeo Pisani *

as Marquis Rionero *

Lucien Gallas Lucien Gallas (March 23, 1904 – May 26, 1967) was a French stage and film actor.Waldman p.165 He was married to the actress Ginette Leclerc. Selected filmography * ''Holiday'' (1931) * '' Billeting Order'' (1932) * '' Little Jacques'' (193 ...

as Tommaso Basileo * Giulia Lazzarini as Tina * Franco Malavasi as Totonno * Roberto Bruni as Cav. Amadeo Checco *

Armando Francioli Armando Francioli (21 October 1919 – 6 April 2020) was an Italian actor. He appeared in over 50 films since 1942. Filmography References External links * 1919 births 2020 deaths Male actors from Rome Italian men centenarians I ...

as Oliviero Pisani *

Alberto Farnese Alberto Farnese (3 June 1926 – 2 June 1996) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows from 1951 to 1989. He starred in the film '' Whom God Forgives'', which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the ...

Franco Pesce Franco Pesce (11 August 1890 – 6 December 1975) was an Italian actor and cinematographer. Life and career Franco Pesce was born in Naples. He was the son of the actor Ettore. At a young age Pesce studied lyric singing with the intention of ...

References

Bibliography

* Chiti, Roberto & Poppi, Roberto. ''Dizionario del cinema italiano: Dal 1945 al 1959''. Gremese Editore, 1991.

External links

* 1952 films 1950s Italian-language films 1950s melodrama films Italian drama films 1952 drama films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films Films set in the 19th century Films set in Naples 1950s historical films Italian historical films Films based on Italian novels Films scored by Carlo Innocenzi Films based on works by Francesco Mastriani {{1950s-Italy-film-stub