Also Directed by Luigi Maggi
Roman emperor Nero is used to getting what he wants. He has grown tired of his wife Octavia, and has become infatuated with Poppea. He succeeds in making Poppea the new empress, but soon he faces opposition from an outraged populace.
Robinet gets punched by a boxer in the ring and decides to challenge him for a match. To win, he needs to train as much as he can.
After seven years of travelling, Aeneas and the other Trojans are surprised by a storm that wrecks their ship on the African coast. Here they are captured by the Amazons of the Queen of Carthage, Dido, who gives order to kill them. But soon Dido falls in love with Aeneas; and when the King of Numidia, Iarbas, comes to marry Dido, she rejects him. But in the meantime Anchises appears Aeneas in dreams, and commands him to leave to found Rome. So, while Iarbas’army surrounds Carthage, Aeneas embarks secretly for Rome. As Dido notices Aeneas’ship in the distance, she throws herself into the fire that is destroying her palace.
Italian short drama directed by Luigi Maggi.
This short feature -- about three reels, which was a major production in 1913 -- of Beaumarchais' ribald work, shows most of the strengths and weaknesses of Italian film making in 1913. The technical values are exemplary. The backgrounds are fine, making use of the natural world and excellent sets. The costuming is on a par with that, and the camera-work, although stodgy to the modern eye -- it never moves and the cuts are all leisurely -- are handsomely chosen and get the job done.
Robinet, the lead in this Italian slapstick comedy, wants to be an aviator in the worst way, and this being an Italian slapstick, that's how he does it. Italian slapstick in this period was absolutely bone-breaking, so much so that it makes Keystone slapstick look like drawing-room comedy by contrast.
An adaptation of Balzac's La Grande Bretêche
This film shows the realistic battle scenes of the Siege of Moscow, with the sensational defeat of Napoleon, with the belching cannon, the battling soldiers, scenes of heroism and daring reproduced in the most exquisite photography.
Directed by Arturo Ambrosio and Luigi Maggi.
