User reviews

Somewhat odd (and off) movie about a man who goes back to Sicily after many years after his parents were killed in a freak accident (their horse went off a cliff! Oy!) When he come back, he finds the tensions between the locals and the bad guys who order people around to have reached a crescendo and stays to, uh, try to work things out. I guess. He doesn't really, the whole movie is just one big anticlimax. You think he'll rescue the girl but he doesn't, you think he'll get rid of the bad guys in the end but he doesn't etc etc. I mean, who IS the hero here? Oh that's right! It's the MAFIA! Silly me (face palm). This movie tries to get the viewer worked up about the goings on, but it's actually quite hard for the viewer, since there's no one to root for.

In this mean melodrama , one sees the mafia (!)come to the rescue of poor peasants oppressed by a wicked steward and his three sons ,eager to latch onto these lands owned by a ruined baron .A boy ,who saw his parents die in an awful accident caused by these unscrupulous scoundrels is protected by the local mafia's head (Charles Vanel ,in one of his poorest parts),sent to America where he becomes a wealthy man ;back in his native land,he becomes a dispenser of justice. and carries on with his "godfather's " work ; unfortunately , he falls in love with the steward 's daughter .Without a little help from the mafia, it would end as "Romeo and Juliet" .

The image of the mafia in the film is anything but realistic ; turning them into upholders of the law takes naiveté to new limits.

This movie received poor notices from USA and UK critics because the versions presented to them were much shortened and much of the intelligent drama content was lost. (for USA the time was 63 minutes and for Uk only 65 minutes. ) . To gain a full appreciation of this fine Italian movie it is essential to see the original Italian version of 97 minutes (or alternatively view the German version of 95 minutes or French version of 85 minutes) . That said, this film gives an accurate view of certain aspects of Italian life in the 1950,s ( particularly relating to the Mafia ). The acting of Rossano Brazzi and Milly Vitale is splendid. In all this film successfully. continues the tradition of Italian realism