Ever since the First World War Emilio Ghione has been better known as his famous character Za la Mort. In the guise of the Parisian apache (gangster, underworld inhabitant) the actor performed in sixteen films and serials in ten years. The actor’s complete filmography, however, covers a much wider variety of roles, starting with his debut at Itala- Film and Cines, where Guazzoni directed him in Il poverello di Assisi, at Celio-Film next to Francesca Bertini, where his career as floor manager took off, and at the Caesar. He then had a long period at Tiber in Rome until 1919, when he went back to Itala. During the 1920s he shared the lot of the rest of Italian cinema and constantly changed production companies, created one of his own (Ghione-Film) and immigrated to Germany. Once back in Italy he directed and acted in several films, the most notable of which were La cavalcata ardente and Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei. Ghione conceived of, wrote and directed films that are mostly escapist cinema, often using popular, populist or even racist themes. Nevertheless, the figure that dominates is the character who emerged from the common people, crushed Parisian apaches but could be more aristocratic than aristocrats themselves. Towards the end of the Great War production focused on Za serials, which were set in a place that could be France, America or a savage island in the Pacific. These were the locations of the eight episode serial I Topi Grigi. The adventurous plot underwent a number of snap changes: from bucolic settings to aristocratic palaces, from the dirty gutters where the Topi Grigi gang lives to a lavish costume party. The story involves a large inheritance that is foremost in the minds of Za and the courageous Za la Vie (Kally Sambucini), his companion in life and on the battlefield. Everyone wants to get their hands on the inheritance: Grigione and his accomplice Muso Duro, a wicked duchess and her superintendent. But who is the legitimate heir? Leo, a poor defenseless boy, who was kidnapped by the formidable Topi Grigi. Ghione’s famous “mask” encompasses his whole body, which is both thin and agile. His large bright eyes indicate the limits of his conversation. Ghione communicates in small fits, gnashing the teeth of his taut face and drawing his hand into a fist without even looking at it. He is unmistakably recognizable with his static pose, his facial expressions and his slow swaying motion before pouncing like a cat on the enemy. The black brimmed hat worn at a tilt, the slightly closed eyes showing lids darkened with make-up, the thin lips that widen into a sarcastic smile, the arm suspended in air that softly falls to his side or clutches his adversary’s throat. The basic idea of the Za la Mort films is actually quite modern: they reveal the unknown, the mysterious, exoticism and a frightful collateral reality of murders and burglary. The screen turns into a catalyst of dreams (or nightmares). The following quotation from Ghione’s autobiography Memorie e Confessioni (1928) demonstrates the intention behind creating Za la Mort and, simultaneously, a vision of cinema: “Film influencing the masses must be made with good sense and penetrate the mind of the viewer easily; it cannot be convoluted or irrational. A healthy work of cinematography should only intend to be understood immediately and thus loved. The exceptions like Sigfrido made for the intellect, in my opinion, confirm the rule of Za la Mort made for the audience.”

Denis Lotti