The Italian

To get a glimpse of the hardships that faced immigrants 100 years ago in the United States, June 1915's "The Italian" will give you one example of an aspiring and hardworking new arrival in New York City's Lower East Side. The movie follows a shoeshiner (played by actor George Beban) from Italy who soon is impoverished after leaving a gondolier job in his native country. Tragedy strikes when his sick infant son needs an expensive special milk to survive.

Thomas Ince produced this heart-tugging story, which he also co-wrote. Director Reginald Baker, whose studio was based on the West Coast, elected to shoot in the tenement quarter of San Francisco in lieu of the story's Manhattan Lower East Side setting. Baker is credited with giving "The Italian" a unique perspective for his audience by posting his camera in varying positions, combining wide, medium and tight shots (unusual for the time) which highlights the characters' progression throughout their ordeals. Embarking on this cinematic tact, Baker illustrates the actors' psychological reasoning for their actions rather than simply unfolding a straight line plot.

"The Italian" clearly was calling for social reform from the poverty so many deligent working immigrants were facing while attempting to making a living in their new country. The predatory politicians and criminals portrayed in the film make life impossible for those new arrivals. Actor Beban's portrayal of an Italian immigrant shows, as one critic wrote, "America is not a promised land paved with gold but a Darwinian jungle, where dreams meet dead ends."

This was Beban's film debut after spending years on vaudeville and in live theater. Typecast as Italian and French throughout his acting career, Beban was of Croatian/Irish mix. He also directed and wrote for film, but retired in the late 1920's upon his wife's death. He died at 54 in 1928 after being thrown off his horse vacationing at a California dude ranch.

This short American silent feature is a knockout. Made in 1915, it was lost for several decades. It is the story of an Italian immigrant and his wife who see in the United States a land of opportunity and happiness. Everything, instead, works against them. The film makes a very strong impression and has credible performances. The location shooting in the ghettos of the time give it a distinctly neo-realist feeling. It is said that Francis Ford Coppola watched it closely before shooting the Little Italy sequences of "The Godfather, Part II"

THE Italian (1915) tells the story of Beppo Donnetti (George Beban), a gondolier in Italy who journeys to America so that he can marry and provide a home for his love Annette (Clara Williams). America is thought to be the land of promise, but things happen in their new home that change their lives forever. Directed by Reginald Barker.

SCRIPT: THE Italian is a very warm and touching movie in many ways, and has moments of sadness and anguish as well. There is humor and joy, as well as heartbreak. In spite of some of the broken English Italian stereotypes, the movie shows genuine empathy to its characters. You can see Beppo's hope for a better life in America turn to despair when things don't go his way. There are wonderful details here, such as how Annette and her father laugh when a wealthy would-be suitor is forced to concede to the poor Beppo; how Beppo notices his son's sleeping with his hand under his chin, and other things. To its credit, the film doesn't conclude with a pat happy ending. SCORE: 9/10

ACTING: The acting is pretty naturalistic for its period, stopping short of the hammy antics usually practiced at the time. The actors are portraying Italians, whom have been commonly stereotyped as dramatically expressive; however, the actors don't treat their characters with mockery, but with affection. The cast overall conveys a wonderful sense of humanity. George Beban runs the gamut of emotions in his portrayal of Beppo and makes everything believable – his joys, his sorrows, his anger and resignation. Clara Williams also is very believable and lifelike in her portrayal of Annette. SCORE: 9/10

CINEMATOGRAPHY/PRODUCTION: The camera-work in this film is quite superb. There are some very expressive close-ups and moments where the camera either comes closer to or draws away from the actor in order to magnify the emotional reaction to the moment. The scenes in old Italy are particularly beautiful, with some wonderfully composed shots against the sunset and beautiful views of rivers and bridges. The editing is fairly smooth (there are a couple of choppy moments but they are most likely due to lost footage). Cross cutting is used quite frequently and there aren't very many long takes. Tinting is used to designate day and night scenes, and lends additional warmth and beauty to the sunset scenes. Incidentally, this movie came out before BIRTH OF A NATION but uses many of the same devices. Great work overall. SCORE: 9/10

SUMMARY: THE Italian is another definitive early feature film. The story is moving in many ways, heartfelt and empathetic toward its protagonists. The acting is naturalistic and shows affection for the characters being portrayed. The cinematography is always professional and in many cases quite excellent and beautiful. THE Italian is definitely worth seeing as an example of the emotional power of silent cinema. SCORE: 9/10

Thomas Ince always had a knack for bringing simple homespun stories to life with fullness and flair. "The Italian" is such a film. Solid acting, particularly by George Beban, father of silent child actor George Beban, Jr., and wonderful sets convey a realistic feeling of early immigrant tenements in New York. These give this 1915 film an authenticity which is unusual in features of this vintage.

The film begins with the modern day and a man (George Beban in modern clothes) reading a story about an Italian immigrant, and then we transition into the story with George playing the immigrant. He raises enough money to bring his fiancée from Italy to America, marries her, and has a son with her. But times are hard and the family struggles to survive. I found myself wondering why the mother didn't breastfeed her child, and avoid the complications with the dirty formula, but oh well, even the early Dream Factory was pushing political correct behaviour for women in 1915!

The best scene in the picture is when Beban has a chance to seek revenge on a crime boss who inadvertently put him in jail, and at the last minute he decides against his planned course of action. Very neat. I loved the curtain effect, it was great. Wonderful use of lighting in this film.

I give "The Italian" an 8 out of 10.

Well made silent melodrama, of some historic import.

The acting is generally quite good and understated for the time, the cinematography has some nice lighting effects, and moving shots (and one amazing close up, where the camera shakes with a character's anger).

On the other hand, the melodramatic story feels blandly predictable, along with having a giant plot hole at its center, and some other annoying, easily avoided contradictions and logic gaps.

Certainly this story -- a struggling Italian immigrant and his bride in the slums of New York, coming to America to fulfill their dreams, but finding disillusionment and despair -- must have resonated with a lot of people at the time. I just wish the story had the subtlety of the acting and images.

A good, solid, important early film.