Harlem poster
Basic Info
Release: April 21, 1943

Harlem

1943
Overview

This propaganda film was partly inspired by the story of the first Italian heavyweight champion Primo Carnera who, after winning the title with Al Capone’s help in 1933, was beaten the following year by the Jewish Max Bear and then again by the ‘Brown Bomber’ Detroit Joe Lewis in June 1935, on the eve of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. This match provoked numerous racial skirmishes on the streets of Harlem between the Black community and pro-Fascist Italian-Americans. The film overturns historical facts and here, obviously, it is the white boxer who wins in order to demonstrate the superiority of the “Aryan Italians” over the “sinister Jewish entrepreneurs” and the “savage Afro-American fans in Yankee Stadium”. In the film, these were played by South African prisoners-of-war interred in a work camp, which the German and Italian propaganda ministries had set up near Cinecittà “for cinematic purposes”.

Genres
Drama
Production Countries
  • Italy
Spoken Languages
  • Italian it

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Cast
Massimo Girotti
Massimo Girotti
Tommaso Rossi
Amedeo Nazzari
Amedeo Nazzari
Amedeo Rossi
Vivi Gioi
Vivi Gioi
Muriel
Elisa Cegani
Elisa Cegani
Gangster woman
Osvaldo Valenti
Osvaldo Valenti
Chris Sherman
Erminio Spalla
Franckie Battaglia, the coach
Crew
Guido Angeli
Screenplay
Sergio Amidei
Screenplay
Pietro Petroselli
Screenplay
Giuseppe Achille
Writer
Jacopo Comin
Producer
Willy Ferrero
Music
Emilio Cecchi
Screenplay
Carmine Gallone
Carmine Gallone
Director
Backdrops
backdrop
Posters
poster