Harlem (film)

Harlem
Directed byCarmine Gallone
Written by
Starring
CinematographyAnchise Brizzi
Edited by
Music byWilly Ferrero
Production
company
Distributed byENIC
Release date
  • 24 April 1943 (1943-04-24)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian

Harlem is a 1943 Italian sports crime film directed by Carmine Gallone and starring Massimo Girotti, Amedeo Nazzari and Vivi Gioi.[1] It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome. The film's sets were designed by the art director Guido Fiorini. The former world heavyweight champion Primo Carnera appears in a small role. It is also known by the alternative title of Knock Out.

It is noted for its anti-Americanism at a time when the two countries were at war. In postwar re-releases, Amedeo's final line was redubbed with a more positive view on life in the United States.[2]

Synopsis

Tommaso Rossi, a young Italian goes to America to visit his elder brother Amedeo who has a business in the construction industry. He is discovered as a talented boxer after getting into a fight with a champion in a restaurant and flooring him. However his elder brother's business is wrecked and he is arrested for a crime he did not commit. Forced to fight in order to raise enough money to bail his brother, Tommaso is then told by a dying Amedeo to return to Italy as the American dream holds nothing for Italian American immigrants.

Cast

Massimo Girotti as Tommaso Rossi

References

  1. ^ Bondanella & Pacchioni p.52
  2. ^ Bondanella & Pacchioni p.52

Bibliography

  • Peter Bondanella & Federico Pacchioni. A History of Italian Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.