''Red Moon'' (Italian: ''Luna rossa'') is a 1951 Italian

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 Armando Fizzarotti and starring

Renato Baldini Renato Baldini (18 December 1921 – 5 July 1995) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 87 films between 1950 and 1983. He was born in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''It's Forever Springtime'' (1950) - Un carabiniere al processo ...

Maria Frau Maria Frau (born 6 August 1930) is a retired Italian film actress.Ringgold & Bodeen p.167 She made her debut in 1950 when she played the title role in '' Margaret of Cortona''. After appearing in eighteen films she retired from acting in 1957, fo ...

and

Leda Gloria Leda Gloria (30 August 1908 – 16 March 1997) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 66 films between 1929 and 1965. During the expansion of Italian cinema of the Fascist era of the 1930s and early 1940s she appeared in starring roles, l ...

. It takes its title from a popular song.Marlow-Mann p.44 It was shot on location in

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 ...

Plot

Maria is engaged to Carlo, a handsome young man of large means, being the son of a well-known Naples merchant who owns a bar; Maria's brother, Paolo who emigrated to Argentina, is romantically linked to a very attractive young woman, Lucia, the daughter of an unscrupulous woman who manipulates her at will. Carlo meets Lucia and falls in love with her and Lucia's mother convinces her daughter to trick him to get money and gifts and both decide to keep it hidden from Carlo that Lucia is betrothed to the brother of her girlfriend. Maria, realizing that Carlo is no longer the same, asks him for explanations and Carlo confesses that he is in love with another woman whose identity, however, he is silent. Distraught Maria returns home and meets her doorkeeper who, having also lost a daughter seduced and abandoned by an unscrupulous man, decides to avenge Mary on her. Meanwhile, a stuttering man but good at singing wrote a letter to Paolo, about to return from Argentina, where he informs him of Lucia's betrayal; the man, however, regrets having written the letter and goes to the porter to be helped to repair the harm done. Meanwhile, Lucia, instructed by her mother, makes it clear to Carlo that she is willing to flee with him but before going to the hotel where Lucia is waiting for her, she learns that Maria has attempted suicide for him also because she is now dishonored and waiting for a son. Carlo rushes to Maria's house where he meets the janitor who has left the house just to kill Carlo but when the latter confesses that he is repentant and wants to ask for Mary's forgiveness, he accompanies him to the girl who forgives him. Meanwhile, Paolo has arrived and after reading the letter he meets Carlo at his home while he reconciles with his sister. The two have a clarification and Carlo tells him that Lucia never told him she was her girlfriend and that she was actually ready to run away with him. Paolo forces Carlo to reveal the meeting place and rushing to the hotel he finds Lucia and kills her blinded by her jealousy. The last shot shows the red moon which, as he himself said when getting off the ship, is a harbinger of bad luck and tragedy.

Cast

as Paolo Cassino *

as Maria Cassino * Aldo Landi as Carlo Sorrentino * Barbara Florian as Lucia Capuano *

Ugo D'Alessio Ugo D'Alessio (26 August 1909 – 16 February 1979) was an Italian film actor.Goble p.113 Selected filmography * '' Malaspina'' (1947) - Nicola * '' Madunnella'' (1948) - Il ragionere, padre di Maria * '' Assunta Spina'' (1948) - Epanimonda Pe ...

as Gesualdo * Franco Gargìa as The Scrivener *

as Donna Amalia * Diana Lante as The Hotel Owner * Beniamino Maggio as Beniamino * Gina Mascetti as Clementina * Natale Montillo as Cavalier Sorrentino * Emilio Petacci as The Baron * Isa Querio as Donna

References

Bibliography

* Marlow-Mann, Alex. ''The New Neapolitan Cinema''. Edinburgh University Press, 2011.

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0043764 1951 films 1950s Italian-language films Films directed by Armando Fizzarotti Italian drama films 1951 drama films Films shot in Naples 1950s melodrama films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films Italian-language drama films