Cinema
The Italian
Synopsis
Beppo Donnetti, a gondolier in Venice, loves Annette, daughter of Trudo Ancello, who prefers a rich merchant for her. The father gives him a year to earn enough to offer his daughter a home. Beppo leaves for New York, sets up a shoeshine stand on the Lower East Side and gathers the money for Annette's passage. They marry, and a son is born to them. A few months later, a heat wave strikes the neighbourhood; the child falls ill and the doctor demands pasteurised milk. Running to buy it, Beppo is robbed, fights his attackers, and it is he who is arrested.
Context
The film, first titled The Dago, is produced by the New York Motion Picture Corporation and distributed by Paramount; Ince and C. Gardner Sullivan wrote the story. Its lead, George Beban, a stage actor known for his roles as an Italian immigrant, plays his first film role in it. The story opens on the actor himself, who opens a book bearing the title of the film. Its plot takes up that of an earlier film, The Wop, released in 1913.
Who it is for
A silent film of about seventy-five minutes depending on the prints, in six reels, with English intertitles. A tinted print is available on DVD. The second half is much harsher than the first.
Prizes and reception
Inscribed in 1991 in the National Film Registry kept by the Library of Congress of the United States.
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