After the Feuillade serials, before Zorro and Superman, with their identities similarly hidden from their squeezes by soppy real life characters, we get this long forgotten post WW1 Turin proto super hero adventure.
Barrel chested Guaita-Ausonia, in a chain mail hood like Republic's Copperhead, defeats the working class nasties to win aristocratic Zara and protect her cursed brooch. We get cliff hangers, a comic reporter, the fire brigade to the rescue and a harlequin painting where the side kicks watch through the eyes.
The film lacks the surreal imagery of Fantômas and the stunts don't match the breath catching ones from the Fairbanks movies, but this is still something that lovers of the trashy end of the spectrum will find fascinating.
Film form is quite slick for the day - matching cuts closer and back, fades and dissolves all quite deft, along with relevant close ups - one of Guaita-Ausonia's bulging bicep.
Barrel chested Guaita-Ausonia, in a chain mail hood like Republic's Copperhead, defeats the working class nasties to win aristocratic Zara and protect her cursed brooch. We get cliff hangers, a comic reporter, the fire brigade to the rescue and a harlequin painting where the side kicks watch through the eyes.
The film lacks the surreal imagery of Fantômas and the stunts don't match the breath catching ones from the Fairbanks movies, but this is still something that lovers of the trashy end of the spectrum will find fascinating.
Film form is quite slick for the day - matching cuts closer and back, fades and dissolves all quite deft, along with relevant close ups - one of Guaita-Ausonia's bulging bicep.
