The Siege of the Alcazar
The Siege of the Alcazar or L'Assedio dell'Alcazar is a 1940 Italian war film directed by Augusto Genina about the famous siege of the Alcázar during the Spanish Civil War, set in Toledo, Spain. The film won the Mussolini Cup in Venice Film Festival for being the Best Italian Film. The film runs more in the Spanish dubbed version, it was restored by Filmoteca Española and released in DVD in Spain by Divisa Home Video. The film was shot in Cinecittà with Italian, French and Spanish actors. In the Italian version all three non-Italian actors (Mireille Balin, Rafael Calvo and Carlos Muñoz) spoke their lines in Italian. They were dubbed by Italian actors afterwards.
Plot
The Alcázar of Toledo is a historical fortification where the Spanish Infantry Academy was based and was held by Nationalists supporting the 18 July 1936 coup attempt against the Spanish Republic. The Republicans invested the Alcazar and besiege it for months against determined Nationalist resistance, before the siege was lifted by Franco forces with the Army of Africa under General José Enrique Varela.
Cast
- Adele Garavaglia
- Aldo Fiorelli
- Andrea Checchi
- Anita Farra
- Antonio Marietti
- Carlo Duse
- Carlo Tamberlani
- Cesare Polacco
- Checco Rissone
- Ciro Berardi
- Felice Romano
- Fosco Giachetti
- Guglielmo Sinaz
- Guido Notari
- María Denis
- Mireille Balin
- Nino Crisman
- Nino Marchetti
- Oreste Fares
- Pietro Pastore
- Rafael Luis Calvo
- Silvio Bagolini
- Ugo Sasso
More details
author | Alessandro De Stefani Augusto Genina |
---|---|
contentLocation | Toledo |
director | Augusto Genina |
editor | Fernando Tropea |
events | Spanish Civil War |
keywords | 18 july 1936 coup attempt alcázar of toledo army of africa josé enrique varela nationalist nationalist faction republican republican faction second spanish republic spanish coup of july 1936 spanish republic |
musicBy | Antonio Veretti |
theme | propaganda war |