Un turco napoletano

Un Turco Napoletano benefits from two well worked plot devices.The first is that Toto's new gig as a guardian of women for several Sorrento households is based on the fact, he is unaware of, that the real Turk he impersonates is a eunuch. (Meanwhile as the men laugh at him behind his back for being castrated, he has a whale of a time fondling ,kissing, and disrobing the women.) The second is that he has unusually strong hands and arms and can rip wood and metal apart. The production skirted possible censorship by being staged as if a play at a turn of the century Naples stage house. Veteran comedy director Mario Mattoli avoids close shots, reaction cutaways or shot/countershot cutting but instead plays out most of the action in theatrical style long takes.An added benefit is the stylized Ferraniacolor, a monopack process adapted from the 1940s German Agfacolor,and the look is aided by the craftsmanship of Hollywood cameraman Karl Struss (Sunrise) who happened to be working in Europe at the time. These factors combine to make Un Turco one of the absolute delights in the rich filmography of Italy's greatest comedian.