Release Date

21 Apr, 1943

Runtime

01:53: (HH:MM)

Synopsis

This propaganda film was partly inspired by the story of the first Italian heavyweight champion Primo Carnera who, after winning the title with Al Capone’s help in 1933, was beaten the following year by the Jewish Max Bear and then again by the ‘Brown Bomber’ Detroit Joe Lewis in June 1935, on the eve of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. This match provoked numerous racial skirmishes on the streets of Harlem between the Black community and pro-Fascist Italian-Americans. The film overturns historical facts and here, obviously, it is the white boxer who wins in order to demonstrate the superiority of the “Aryan Italians” over the “sinister Jewish entrepreneurs” and the “savage Afro-American fans in Yankee Stadium”. In the film, these were played by South African prisoners-of-war interred in a work camp, which the German and Italian propaganda ministries had set up near Cinecittà “for cinematic purposes”.

Original Title

Harlem

Photos

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Actors

Massimo Girotti

Amedeo Nazzari

Vivi Gioi

Elisa Cegani

Osvaldo Valenti

Erminio Spalla

Crew

Italo Tomassi

Guido Angeli

Sergio Amidei

Guido Fiorini

Pietro Petroselli

Renzo Lucidi

Giuseppe Achille

Jacopo Comin

Willy Ferrero

Maria Rosada

Emilio Cecchi

Anchise Brizzi

Aldo Calvo

Carmine Gallone