Lo spadaccino misterioso

This little-seen historical epic was the first of a number of low-budget adventures which director Grieco made with producer Ottavio Poggi. It was filmed when color had not completely come into vogue, as many epics continued to be filmed in black-and-white through the early sixties. It shows a remarkable vigor and is still enjoyable after the passage of many years, and is heightened by the performances of Frank Latimore and Gerard Landry. I've attempted to locate this film in Italian, but the only version available seems to be the one put out on Greek video during the early 1980's. The Greek version uses the American drive-in print released in 1962 for the American market, and thus, it is hard to assess how much of the film was butchered, re-arranged, and otherwise defaced. I suspect that some of the musical score may have been altered, and scenes trimmed here and there. I believe also that this was filmed at the castle of Balsorano. Regardless, it was filed at the same location as dozens of other Italian films of the period, and is the same locale used for Andrea Bianchi's 1980 film, "Burial Ground."