This film is also known by the title L’ipocrita smascherato. In respect to other FAI films, it contains quite an innovative scene, in which the loan shark is on a train, looking out the window, made with a sort of «track after» shot. The camera was fixed on the outside of the train, and when the train started going, the camera filmed the moving landscape. Much of the footage was shot in exteriors. There are numerous views of Rome, including one of Castel Sant’Angelo, while several scenes are set on the beach, probably on the coast of Lazio.
The film was hailed by critics. «An exciting film: there are some beautiful scenes. The actors deserve heartfelt congratulations and praise.» (Lazzaro, «La Cine-Fono», Naples, 4/4/1914)

An offhand note: in the version distributed in Great Britain, the character played by Ettore Berti was called Giacomo Riva instead of Giacomo Arnaldi. The film was restored from an original nitrate negative found at the Cinémathèque Française. The print contained all sixty-six scenes indicated in the script. The intertitles were reconstructed starting from the censor approval of the film and from some non-filmic materials.

Alessia Navantieri, Michele Canosa