It was not purely by chance that be­tween 1923 and 1927 at least ten films about the Risorgimento were made in It­aly, and that three of them – La cavalcata ardente by Gallone, Anita (1927) by De Benedetti and Garibaldi e i suoi tempi (1926) by Laurenti Rosa – emphatically depicted the feats of the Thousand and the iconic figure of their commander. In fact, it is well known that the Fascist regime’s plan to claim the Risorgimento as its pre­cursor found the perfect vehicle in cinema.

In the film written and directed by Gallone, when Neapolitan patriots march holding a sign that says “Long Live the Duce, the liberator”, it seems obvious that the reference is not only to Garibaldi. And the appearance of the Hero of Two Worlds waving to cheering crowds from a balcony in Piazza del Plebiscito deftly alludes to other mass gatherings at the feet of another leader, or would-be leader.

To confine the film to its undeniable ideological framework and refuse to look beyond that, however, would be doing it a disservice. Despite some stiffness (“commendatore” Gallone was never known for his light touch), La cavalcata ardente has a solid, engaging narrative rhythm and a strong sense of the spec­tacular (for example, the striking garden fountains of the Royal Palace of Caserta) and a few visually rich moments with the right dose of energy (such as the fren­zied night-time torchlight procession that gives the film its title).

What I especially like are Soava Gal­lone’s impossible skirts and the band of gentlemen brigands who live in the rugged mountains, venerate the Vir­gin Mary, set a building on fire for the sole purpose of reuniting two lovers and whose source of livelihood is not alto­gether clear (when they rob passersby, they reimburse them for the horses they take). Above all else, I like Emilio Gh­ione in his final flourish, fresh from his disappointing experience in Germany with Za la Mort (1924): the essence of pure cruelty.

As Vittorio Martinelli reminds us, it was a much-loved film, screened for years on patriotic occasions, especially in schools and parishes. In the early 1930s, a sound version was even in circulation.

Andrea Meneghelli