''The Iron Crown'' () is a 1941 Italian adventure film written and directed by

Alessandro Blasetti Alessandro Blasetti (3 July 1900 – 1 February 1987) was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influenced Italian neorealism with the film ''Four Steps in the Clouds''. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during the ...

, starring

Massimo Girotti Massimo Girotti (18 May 1918 – 5 January 2003) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades. Biography Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and playing polo. While ...

and

Gino Cervi Luigi Cervi (3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974), better known as Gino Cervi (), was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character ''Don Camillo'' (1952–1965), and police detective Jul ...

. The narrative revolves a sacred iron crown and a king who is prophesied to lose his kingdom to his nephew. It blends motifs from several European myths, legends and modern works of popular fiction. The film won a Coppa Mussolini award, which is the ancestor to the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...

Plot

Upon the death of Licinio (

), his brother Sedemondo (

) succeeds him as king of Kindaor. A messenger bearing a crown made from a nail from the

true cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

requests permission to pass through the kingdom. The crown by legend will stay wherever injustice and corruption prevail. Sedemondo takes it to a gorge where it is swallowed by the earth. A wise woman prophesies to the king that his wife will bear a daughter and Licinio's widow (

Elisa Cegani Elisa Cegani (11 June 1911 – 23 February 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1935 and 1983. Partial filmography * '' Aldebaran'' (1935) - Nora Bandi * ''Cavalry'' (1936) - Speranza di Frassineto * '' The Counte ...

) a son, that the two will fall in love, and the son take the kingdom from Sedemondo. When he gets home, he is told that his wife has given birth to a boy (the daughter having been switched with the child of Licinio) and so believes the prophecy to be invalid. He raises both the boy Arminio and girl Elsa. After some strife between Sedemondo and Arminio, the king orders Arminio to be taken to the gorge and slain. Twenty years later, with Arminio (Massimo Girotti) having grown up in the forest, Sedemondo arranges a tournament to determine who will marry Elsa (Elisa Cegani). Tundra (Luisa Ferida) leads the resistance among the people against the king. The tournament, with various characters attending in disguise, sets up whether the prophecy will come to pass.

Cast

as the mother of Elsa & Elsa *

Luisa Ferida Luisa Ferida, real surname Manfrini (18 March 1914 – 30 April 1945), was an Italian stage and film actress. She was considered a diva in Italian cinema during 1935 to 1945 and was the highest paid movie star of that period. The actress was ...

as Kavaora, mother of Tundra & Tundra * Rina Morelli as the wise old woman *

as Sedemondo, the king of Kindaor *

as Licinio & Arminio, his son *

Osvaldo Valenti Osvaldo Valenti (17 February 1906 – 30 April 1945) was an Italian film actor. Valenti starred in several successful Italian movies of the late 1930s and early 1940s, such as the famous ''The Iron Crown'' and '' The Jester's Supper''. He ap ...

as Eriberto *

Paolo Stoppa Paolo Stoppa (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor. Biography Paolo Stoppa was born in Rome into a family of a ministerial official, Luigi Stoppa, and Adriana De Antonis. He began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome ...

as Trifilli *

Primo Carnera Primo Carnera (; 26 October 1906 – 29 June 1967) was an Italian professional boxer and wrestler who achieved international fame during the 1930s. He reigned as the boxing World Heavyweight Champion from 29 June 1933 to 14 June 1934. He won ...

as Klasa, the servant of Tundra *

Dina Perbellini Dina Perbellini (14 January 1901 – 2 April 1983) was an Italian actress. She appeared in over sixty films and television series between 1934 and 1969 and was also a leading voice actress, dubbing foreign films for release in Italy.Reich, Jacqu ...

as Elsa's nurse ;Dubbing *

Gualtiero De Angelis Gualtiero De Angelis (22 November 1899 – 6 June 1980) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He was best known for dubbing James Stewart in the Italian language releases of nearly all of his films. Biography Born in Rome, De Angelis began hi ...

... voice dubbing: Massimo Girotti, role of "Arminio" only (uncredited) *

Lauro Gazzolo Lauro Gazzolo (born Ilario Gazzolo; 15 October 1900 – 2 October 1970) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Nervi, Gazzolo began his career on screen in 1938 starring in the comedy film '' The Document'' and became mo ...

... voice dubbing: Osvaldo Valenti (uncredited) *

Augusto Marcacci Augusto Marcacci (4 June 1892 – 7 December 1969) was an Italian actor and voice actor.Mancini p.229 Selected filmography * '' Dimmed Lights'' (1934) * '' Lady of Paradise'' (1934) * '' Golden Arrow'' (1935) * ''Condottieri'' (1937) * '' The Cuc ...

... voice dubbing: Massimo Girotti, role of "Licinio" only (uncredited) *

Cesare Polacco Cesare Polacco (14 May 1900 – 2 March 1986) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Venice, Polacco started his career in 1920 in the stage company of Emilio Zago, with whom he played most of the Goldoni's repertoire. In 19 ...

... voice dubbing: Primo Carnera (uncredited) * Giovanna Scotto ... voice dubbing: Dina Perbellini (uncredited)

Production

The film had an unusually large budget and was filmed on elaborate sets at the newly built

Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City) is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios were constru ...

studios. It stands out in Blasetti's filmography, as several of his most famous films instead were shot on location and used non-professional actors, whereas this was instead a big budget, controlled, set structured production. ''The Iron Crown'' belongs to what is sometimes regarded as a tetralogy of films by Blasetti which deal with mythological themes. The other three films are ''

Ettore Fieramosca Ettore Fieramosca (born Ferramosca) (1476 in Capua – 20 January 1515 in Valladolid) was an Italian condottiero and nobleman during the Italian Wars. His father was Rainaldo, baron of Rocca d'Evandro, and it is thought that his mother was a no ...

'' from 1938, ''

Un'avventura di Salvator Rosa ''An Adventure of Salvator Rosa'' (Italian: ''Un'avventura di Salvator Rosa'') is a 1939 Italian historical adventure film directed by Alessandro Blasetti and starring Gino Cervi, Luisa Ferida and Rina Morelli. It is set in seventeenth century ...

'' from 1940 and '' The Jester's Supper'' from 1942. The Italian actress Vittoria Carpi in an uncredited role shows a bare breast for moments in the film, and may have been the first actress to do so in an Italian sound film. However, the credit for this is normally given to Clara Calamai in Blasetti's next film, ''La cena delle beffe'' (1941), probably because Calamai is the protagonist of that film.

Reception

H. H. T. of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote in 1949, when the film was released in the United States: "There's enough sound and fury in the Rialto's new tenant, a pre-war Italian film called ''The Iron Crown'', to blow the box-office clean across Times Square, if it hasn't done so already. For this adventure-spectacle of ancient times has recruited what seems to be about half the population of Italy, and they all manage to keep busy. ... But the film wastes no time in dropping all religious overtones and comfortably settling in the old boy meets girl rut. In fact, ''The Iron Crown'' is just another romance, played against some magnificent backgrounds with more violence and bloodshed than usual." The American film scholar

Peter Bondanella __NOTOC__ Peter Bondanella (1943–2017) was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Italian, Comparative Literature, and Film Studies at Indiana University, United States. Selected publications *''Federico Fellini: Essays in Criticism''. Ed. by P. Bon ...

wrote in his 2009 book ''A History of Italian Cinema'': "''The Iron Crown'' is an ambiguous work: while its message underlines a common sentiment among Italians at the time—the desire for peace and the cessation of hostilities during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

—the symbolic implications of the search for a charismatic leader who will restore a magic crown to its rightful place in Rome may also point to

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

, Il Duce of a newly revived Rome. Nonetheless, Blasetti unquestionably gave new life to the Italian treatment of heroic mythology born in the silent era with Pastrone's ''

Cabiria ''Cabiria'' is a 1914 Italian Epic film, epic silent film, directed by Giovanni Pastrone and shot in Turin. The film is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It follows the story o ...

'', and ''The Iron Crown'' is one of several important antecedents to the postwar genre of the peplum ('sword and sandal' epic) that would become such a cult favorite among film buffs."

Awards

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

: "Mussolini Cup" for Best Italian Film.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Crown, The 1941 films 1940s fantasy adventure films 1940s Italian-language films Sword and sorcery films Italian black-and-white films Films directed by Alessandro Blasetti Italian fantasy adventure films Films scored by Alessandro Cicognini 1940s Italian films