A first "Aquila Nera" (=black eagle) was filmed in 1946;its screenplay was a Puschkin adaptation (William Dieterle remade it in 1959 as "Vendicatore Dubrowski")
So the black eagle returns ,with handsome Rossano Brazzi as a dashing hero,who is the sole survivor of the cast of the 1946 work. The screenplay was mostly Freda's work this time;his love for old French melodramas shows in the sequence of the inn where Wladimir comes to a poor brat's rescue,a male Cosette ,a la Jean Valjean;ditto for the hard labor !
Freda's screenplay is incredibly dense,there is never a dull moment ,and the director knows only one tempo:accelerated!So many things happen ,so many reversals of situation,that the viewer does not even notice the plot holes and the implausibilities that abound along a far-fetched (but thrilling) tale;one question though:why did nobody open the locket before? Tatiana could have done it ,before she bathed the boy!
But so what ? who cares? Freda is a master of melodrama and he follows the rules quite well .This is a black and white world,in which the hero is good and virtuous and the villain is more than nasty:he is sadistic;Tatiana 's brother is nothing but a puppet in Boris's hands .
Boris is given Carte Blanche by a lazy czar he fawns on and sets against the war hero ("everybody's talking of Dubrowsky and nobody thanks our czar for our victory against the Turks").Vittorio Sampoli portrays a sycophantic,treacherous,calculating and cruel villain:he's even more sadistic than the inn keeper who whips the boy (see the scene of the orange ).
Besides this really successful villain,we have the lost child (gone dumb,when he saw his mother and his nanny murdered );the beautiful heroine (played by Freda's wife,Gianna Maria Canale) the hero first treats as a servant before falling for her (but they wait for the last picture to kiss,no small feat!)
Great scenes:
-the shadow-graphs ,"my best allies" says the hero.
-Selim's attack against the Dubrowsky castle,as he forces his way into the bedroom where the terrified child is struck dumb with terror.
-The bear ,the viewer briefly saw at the beginning of the film,returns unexpectedly for a scene that predates Freda's future efforts in horror movies.
-the way the son recovers his speech: a psychological shock,and emotionally strong at that!
If you like action-packed movies,which will not make you yawn your head off,take Freda's cinema:a splendid time is guaranteed for you.
So the black eagle returns ,with handsome Rossano Brazzi as a dashing hero,who is the sole survivor of the cast of the 1946 work. The screenplay was mostly Freda's work this time;his love for old French melodramas shows in the sequence of the inn where Wladimir comes to a poor brat's rescue,a male Cosette ,a la Jean Valjean;ditto for the hard labor !
Freda's screenplay is incredibly dense,there is never a dull moment ,and the director knows only one tempo:accelerated!So many things happen ,so many reversals of situation,that the viewer does not even notice the plot holes and the implausibilities that abound along a far-fetched (but thrilling) tale;one question though:why did nobody open the locket before? Tatiana could have done it ,before she bathed the boy!
But so what ? who cares? Freda is a master of melodrama and he follows the rules quite well .This is a black and white world,in which the hero is good and virtuous and the villain is more than nasty:he is sadistic;Tatiana 's brother is nothing but a puppet in Boris's hands .
Boris is given Carte Blanche by a lazy czar he fawns on and sets against the war hero ("everybody's talking of Dubrowsky and nobody thanks our czar for our victory against the Turks").Vittorio Sampoli portrays a sycophantic,treacherous,calculating and cruel villain:he's even more sadistic than the inn keeper who whips the boy (see the scene of the orange ).
Besides this really successful villain,we have the lost child (gone dumb,when he saw his mother and his nanny murdered );the beautiful heroine (played by Freda's wife,Gianna Maria Canale) the hero first treats as a servant before falling for her (but they wait for the last picture to kiss,no small feat!)
Great scenes:
- the czar ,surrounded by women,under the influence of his smart "Principe"
-the shadow-graphs ,"my best allies" says the hero.
-Selim's attack against the Dubrowsky castle,as he forces his way into the bedroom where the terrified child is struck dumb with terror.
-The bear ,the viewer briefly saw at the beginning of the film,returns unexpectedly for a scene that predates Freda's future efforts in horror movies.
-the way the son recovers his speech: a psychological shock,and emotionally strong at that!
If you like action-packed movies,which will not make you yawn your head off,take Freda's cinema:a splendid time is guaranteed for you.
