Le Masque noir

Starring... no-one we've ever heard of before. Our hero Gérard Landry was born in argentina, and seems to have had a long, successful career in film. He's Osvaldo, who is instructed by the duke to go after "the black devil", as part of his plan to conquer the surrounding lands, to increase his own territory. Co-stars Maurizio Arena and Milly Vitale. Sadly, Arena died young at 45, heart attack. I saw the english language version on AMC, and the translation was a little hokey. So much threatening, posturing, yelling. Swordfights. Death by arrow. Produced by PO films... not much out there on them; looks like they made six films, all in the 1950s. Five of which were directed by italian Sergio Grieco. Only sixteen votes on this one currently, so it must not be shown often. Pretty low rating on imdb. I wish they listed some of the shooting locations. It's just okay.

This was one of a handful of films director Sergio Grieco made with producer Ottavio Poggi. Gerard Landry plays the masked hero, who wreaks devastation throughout Roccabruna, after a tyrant, Manfred (played by Andrea Aureli), has deposed and murdered the lawful duke. An incredibly low-budget film, this, however, has its appeal. It also features the lovely Leonora Ruffo in one of her nicest (although most obscure) roles, and ushers in some good performances by Maurizio Arena, Nadia Gray, and Milly Vitale. Giulio Battiferri also shows up, as does an uncredited Gino Scotti, who plays Manfred's deposed brother. Towards the end of the film, it is clear that Landry is running on low batteries, as he lets Arena take the spotlight, while together the two work to defeat the machinations of Manfred. The English version of this film is poorly dubbed, and any original Italian version is nowhere in sight. It displays many trademarks of the Italian adventure film, including the token buffoon (in this case played by Ughetto Bertucci), and the usual damsel-in-distress themes.