SIN NOVEDAD EN EL ALCÁZAR
Spanish version of “L’assedio dell’Alcazar”
Scen.: Augusto Genina, Alessandro De Stefano, Ugo Betti (non accr.); F.: Jan Stallich, Francesco Izzarelli, Francesco Seratrice; M.: Fernando Tropea; Scgf.: Gastone Medin; Mu.: Antonio Veretti; Su.: Giacomo Pitzorno; Ass. R.: Primo Zeglio, Alberto Bargelesi, Edoardo Anton, F. Fernandez de Cordoba; Int.: Fosco Giachetti (Capitano Vela), Mireille Balin (Carmen Herrera), Maria Denis (Conchita Alvarez), Andrea Checchi (Pedro), Silvio Bagolini (Paolo Montez), Aldo Fiorelli (Francisco), Rafael Calvo (Colonnello Moscardò), Carlo Tamberlani (Capitano Vincenzo Alba), Adele Garavaglia (zia Dolores), Guido Notari (Maggiore Villanova), Carlos Muñoz (figlio di Moscardò), Giovanni Dal Cortivo (generale repubblicano), Carlo Duse (Maggiore Ratto), Guglielmo Sinaz (deputato repubblicano), Oreste Fares (sacerdote), Nino Crisman, Angelo Dessy, Cesare Polacco, Antonio Marietti, Eugenio Duse, Carlo Bressan, Ciro Berardi, Checco Rissone, Anita Farra, Aedo Galvani, Mario Ersanilli, Ugo Sasso, Vasco Creti, Felice Romano, Nino Marchesini, Giovanni Petti, Franco Barci, Alfredo Petroni, Luigi Pastore, Rolando Mazzotti, Giulio Tomassini, Iginia Armilli, Mario Colombassi, Enza Vasconi, Tullio Tomadoni, Enrico Gozzo; Prod.: Bassoli Film (Roma); 35mm. D.: 127’. Bn.
Film Notes
The film was made in dual versions, and two separate negatives were produced. The picture negative for the Spanish version was found in Italy and made available by the heirs of the producer; the soundtrack was recovered from two separate 16mm elements: a duplicate negative and a positive copy.
The film tells the story of one of the most well-known episodes from the Spanish Civil War: a group of soldiers, national guard members, and falangists barricaded themselves inside the Alcázar in Toledo, holding out for over two months until they were freed by Franco’s troops. The film was mostly shot in the Cinecittà studios, with the exception of some sequences filmed in Toledo during the early months of 1940. The film was made in two versions. Each shot was filmed twice, with Italian dialogues and with Spanish dialogues, to be dubbed later since direct sound recording was not used for either version. The negatives were developed in the Cinecittà laboratories. The fact that a version was filmed specifically for distribution in Spain reinforced the idea that the film was an Italian-Spanish co-production.
Ferrán Alberich, in “Archivos”, n. 35, 2000