Un'avventura di Salvator Rosa

Gino Cervi, Luisa Ferida, and Osvaldo Valenti star in this Italian swashbuckler which would have starred Errol Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks had it been made in Hollywood. Salvatore Rosa was a versatile poet and painter of landscapes and battles. His romantic life is the inspiration for this fictional tale of the masked hero, "The Ant", Rosa's alter-ego, a friend and defender of the poor citizens of the Naples area who are oppressed by the evil viceroy. This is "Robin Hood, Neapolitan Style", and great fun.

Although in black and white, this Italian costume drama of the 17th century is extremely colorful in marvelous settings around Naples and Rome, one of the best sequences being from the Tivoli gardens, with the dashing Gino Cervi as an Italian equivalent to Errol Flynn, Douglas Fairbanks and all those. The action is fast all the way, but the main character is that of comedy. Salvator Rosa was a renowned 17th century painter but also musician, comedian and multiple artist with many talents, causing his reputation to grow into legends. He is actually more known for his legendary character and legends than for his art. Even the famous E. T. A. Hoffmann contributed to his legends. In the film he is a kind of Robin Hood and Scaramouche type, like Scaramouche involved with two women that he occasionally manages in rescuing, holding prisoners, preventing from marriage, and so on. The music by. Alessandro Cicognini adds splendidly to the comic character of the play, and in brief, this is great entertainment with never a dull moment.

The ADVENTURES OF SALVATOR ROSA covers almost the same ground as Fox's MARK OF ZORRO made suspiciously close after - masked avenger, shielded by his secret identity, duels with the oppressive governor on behalf of the poor and down trodden - not exactly a novel concept but there are further parallels.

In place of back lot California however, this one has real palaces and gardens with the set piece being our hero, "Il Formico"in his black outfit, interrupting the execution by firing squad, using his sword to fend off waves of uniformed guards round the fountains and sculptures where court painter Gino Cervi had been at work on his canvas only a moment before.

As with most of these Italian period movies, the costuming and decoration are the film's most striking elements but this one is unusually sure in its handling - offsetting the spectacle of the banners and richly dressed courtiers of the Viceroy's palace with unexpected black comedy - the bound executioner revealed, strung up by the waist on his mass hanging machine, the girl fanning herself with the signal flag. There is an underlying vein of sadism - the ingenue's shoulder already bared for the lash when our hero intervenes - which marks this off from the American product, making it recognizably the work of it's under exported director.

You've got to wonder who was asleep at the switch when this one missed acknowledgment. WW2 is a bad excuse.