The novel 'L'Escadron blanc' of Joseph Peyre was filmed in 1949 with its original Algerian setting. This earlier version is set in Libya with the intention of both justifying and glorifying Mussolini's ludicrous and misguided colonial pretensions.
In keeping with supremo Luigi Freddi's vision of Cinecitta studios making films in the Hollywood style he has given director Augusto Genina every possible technical resource and a budget of 5 million lire.
This is a far cry from Genina's sophisticated French films notably 'Miss Europe' and 'Paris-Beguin' but if there is one thing Genina has in spades it is a brilliant visual sense. This gift comes into play in the desert sequences which make up most of the film and in which Genina and cameraman Anchise Brizzi have captured extraordinarily haunting images, aided by the evocative score of Antonio Verretti.
Lodovico has been given the cold shoulder by Christiana, the woman he loves and joins the White Squadron to forget. He comes into conflict with his commanding officer but determines to gain his respect........
Lodovico is played by Antonio Centa and Christiana by Fulvia Lanzi. Centa was by all accounts popular with female cinema-goers so his success was assured. Signorina Lanzi was singled out for praise by Grahame Greene in his review of the film but personally I fail to share his enthusiasm as I find her exceedingly lifeless. She might have become less lifeless with more experience but that is purely academic as she never to my knowledge made another film! The performance to take out of this is Fosco Giachetti, certainly no stranger to Fascist propoganda fare, as the Captain. He is mucho macho but never one-dimensional.
Under Genina's stylish and understated direction this film succeeds in becoming more melodramatic than propogandist although some might say that he has simply made the propoganda element more subtle. Purely as a film it has a great deal to recommend it but viewers might feel the need to keep a moral compass handy.
The desert is the real star here and calls to mind Shelley's ''boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away.''
