Scipione l'africano (1937)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Carmine Gallone

Writers:

Carmine Gallone (story) &
Camillo Mariani Dell'Aguillara (story) ...

Release Date:

21 September 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

Mussolini's government, in addition to making the railroads run on time (and other items not so good)...

Plot Keywords:

Hannibal | Punic Wars | Elephant | Elephant Stampede | Propaganda

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Annibale Ninchi	...	Publius Cornelius Scipio
Camillo Pilotto	...	Hannibal
Fosco Giachetti	...	Captain Massinissa
Francesca Braggiotti	...	Queen Sophonisba
Marcello Giorda	...	King Syphace
Guglielmo Barnabò	...	Furius, fat Roman
Isa Miranda	...	Velia, a Roman woman
Memo Benassi	...	Cato
Franco Coop	...	Mezio, Roman soldier
Ciro Galvani	...	Quinto Fabio Massimo
Carlo Lombardi	...	Lucio
Marcello Spada	...	Arunte
Piero Carnabuci	...	Il Reduce della Battaglia
Carlo Ninchi	...	Lelius
Lamberto Picasso	...	Hasdrubal, advisor to Hannibal

Also Known As:

Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal (USA) (video title)
Scipio the African
The Defeat of Hannibal

Runtime:

USA:83 min | Italy:117 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Consorzione 'Scipio l'Africano'

Trivia:

This film was a project championed by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A string telephone poles are clearly discernable on the distant hills during the battle sequence.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Splendor (1989)

great battle scenes

in 1937, scipione l'africano was to be mussolini's propaganda masterpiece of nationalism. it turned out to be quite entertaining, and much less of a propaganda story that mussolini had hoped for. it was supposed to show the glory of battle & victory! in many scenes it shows clearly the barabrism of war and its aftermath. nothing was less gloryfying! the battle scenes are very realistic between scipione and his roman legions and hannibal & his carthagianians! the scenes are gory and noe for the squemish. animal lovers beware of the elephants being attacked by the romans. it is believed that during shooting of this battle scene, that two elephants had to be destroyed. for the true lover of correctly staged battle scenes, this is a must. if you prefer your battles cleansed, stick to the 60s muscleman epics! sasheegm!