“In I figli di nessuno we witness an extraordinary symphonic and lyrical amplification of the themes and situations which are present throughout the series. Here they are pushed to the extreme limit of their intensity, to a point of baroque delirium, which will find its full blossoming in Torna, the fifth film in the series and the only one in colour. In contrast to the dramatic condensation of Catene, Time plays a manor role in I figli di nessuno, and the melodramatic force of the story progresses through a profusion of incidents which nourish it and give the film a truly romantic aspect. Nature has a great importance in the drama, and the mountains and caverns of Carrara enclose the action while conferring a kind of tragic scope. The theme of the separation of the protagonists (fundamental to the entire series) again finds a limited expression in I figli di nessuno since in most of the sequences the three heroes (the father, the mother and the child) each leads a separate life, crossing the path of the other two without recognising them or being recognised. (…) In the twenties, Titanus had already produced a successful adaptation of Ruggero Rindi’s novel I figli di nessuno (1921), directed by Ubal­do Maria Del Colle, with Leda Gys in the role of Luisa (…) The action of the 1951 film is quite close to this original version, but is masterfully tightened by Aldo De Benedetti and Matarazzo. In the silent version, Luisa dies at the end. Matarazzo and Aldo De Benedetti choose to let her live, no doubt so as not to kill off the actress as the heroine of the series. Yet another adaptation of Rindl’s novel, also produced by Titanus, L’angelo bianco (1943) was directed by Giulio Antamoro and Federico Sinibaldi”.

Jacques Lourcelles, Dictionnaire du cinéma, Laffont, Paris, 1992