L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano S uperheroes ar e ubiquitous in t o d a y ' s w o r l d : they are every- w h e r e , f r o m comics to movie franchises, from commercials to video games. Children dress up l i k e t h e m , a d u l t s e n j o y watching or reading about their struggle to defeat evil and let good triumph. The American superhero is a modern product. Many of them were created after the end of the Second World War, as an artistic answer to people's fear of uncontrol- lable evil taking the world by storm another time: it was, somehow, reassuring to think there was someone invincible on our side. But we shouldn't forget that the first superheroes are much older than that, b e c a u s e w h a t w a s G r e e k (and Roman) Heracles/ Hercules, if not a super- human of classical times? Today, however, we want to talk about another leg- endary strong man, one who was born, bred, and became popular in Italy in the years just before the First World W a r , a n d m a i n t a i n e d h i s status of icon in cinema and the popular imagination for decades. Today, we're meet- ing Maciste. M a n y o f u s I t a l i a n s b e l i e v e t h a t M a c i s t e i s a classical mythological fig- ure, but it isn't so. This gen- tle and courageous giant is, i n f a c t , t h e c r e a t i o n o f d i r e c t o r G i o v a n n i P a s - t r o n e a n d d e c a d e n t poet Gabriele d'Annun- z i o w h o , i n 1 9 1 4 , j o i n e d forces to produce Cabiria, a movie set during the years of the Punic Wars, filmed between Turin, the Pied- montese Alps, and Tunisia. The historical context, many believe, was chosen because I t a l y , e a g e r t o b e c o m e a colonial power, had invaded Libya just a year earlier. The film's plot is rather flimsy, but in line with the trend of those times: a damsel in dis- tress is saved from evil by a hero with strong arms and solid morals, Maciste. The first Maciste on the s i l v e r s c r e e n w a s B a r - t o l o m e o P a g a n o , w h o wasn't an actor by trade, but a dockworker from Genoa. A f t e r C a b i r i a h e w o u l d r e p r i s e h i s r o l e s e v e r a l times, in a series of movies with titles such as Maciste A l p i n o , M a c i s t e A t l e t a , M a c i s t e I n n a m o r a t o , Maciste Medium, Maciste Poliziotto and La Rivincita di Maciste, all the way to 1926, when he appeared as the hero for the last time i n M a c i s t e c o n t r o l o Sceicco. All films offered a similar plot, mirror to the s a m e t r o p e s e e n in Cabiria, which was, as we said, very much standard for the cinema of those years. The first to understand Maciste could turn into a cinematographic legend was Giovanni Pastrone himself, w h o h a d i n t r o d u c e d t h e c h a r a c t e r i n C a b i r i a a n d directed Pagano for the first t i m e . P a s t r o n e h a d a Maciste-centric script ready by the following year, 1915, and directed Pagano in two o t h e r M a c i s t e m o v i e s i n 1916 and 1918. M a c i s t e ' s p o p u l a r i t y made also Pagano's fortune. Born in Sant'Ilario Ligure ( t o d a y p a r t o f G e n o a ) i n 1878, he was chosen for the role among 50 other men, who came from all corners o f I t a l y t o t a k e p a r t i n a competition organized in Turin by Pastrone himself to f i n d t h e p r o t a g o n i s t o f his Cabiria. Another version of the story says that, in fact, it was actor Domenico Gam- bino who noticed the impos- i n g f i g u r e o f P a g a n o a n d mentioned him to Pastrone, w h o s i g n e d t h e G e n o e s e immediately. B u t t h e w a y P a g a n o ' s entered the world of cinema doesn't change the fact he became an icon and a true star of Italian cinema for a good number of years, his name inextricably tied to that of Maciste, a character he interpreted in more than a dozen movies, from 1915 t o 1 9 2 6 . A s M a c i s t e , h e b e c a m e f a m o u s a l s o i n France and Germany, where h e a l s o s t a r r e d i n s o m e films. Fascism wanted a piece of Maciste, too, because his physical strength and moral rectitude were considered t h e e p i t o m e o f t h e f a s c i s t Ü b e r m e n s c h . H i s f a m e r o s e e x p o n e n t i a l l y and, in the 1920s, Pagano was one of only a handful of actors to earn up to 600.000 l i r a s a y e a r ( t h a t ' s s o m e 7 0 0 . 0 0 0 U S D i n t o d a y ' s m o n e y ) . H i s c a r e e r w a s , h o w e v e r , q u i t e s h o r t : h e s t a r r e d i n h i s l a s t movie, Giuditta e Oloferne, in 1929. After that, physical problems forced him to quit the stage. He died in 1947, at 68. But the myth and popu- larity of Maciste continued even after Pagano's passing, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s , when the character became a s t a p l e o f t h e p o p u l a r "peplum" or "sword-and- sandals" genre, as a parallel figure to Hercules. Movie critics, however, were quick to dismiss Maciste's movies as a cheap version of Holly- wood masterpieces of the g e n r e l i k e B e n H u r , Q u o V a d i s , o r S a m s o n a n d Delilah. During its 1960s revival, t h e a c t o r w h o p l a y e d Maciste in more movies was t h i r d - g e n e r a t i o n I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n L o u Degni (known by the screen n a m e M a r k F o s t e r ) , w h o r e p r i s e d t h e r o l e s e v e n t i m e s . T h e l a s t M a c i s t e m o v i e , s h o t i n 1 9 6 5 , was Maciste il Vendicatore dei Mayas, a mash-up of o u t a k e s f r o m t w o o t h e r M a c i s t e m o v i e s , M a c i s t e contro i Mostri and Maciste c o n t r o i C a c c i a t o r i d i T e s t e . B e c a u s e o f i t , t h e main character is played by two different actors, Kirk Morris and Reg Lewis. Of low quality, it wasn't distrib- uted in the US and it never became available in English. But Maciste, in the 1960s, was still an iconic figure in the Italian imagination, if i t ' s t r u e t h a t e v e n l e g - e n d a r y T o t ò , i n 1 9 6 2 , starred along with Samson Burke in a hilarious take on the superhero legend,Totò contro Maciste. After the 1960s, Maciste retired for good. You could still see, now and then, old 1960s movies on TV back in the 80s. After that: silence. M a c i s t e , j u s t l i k e a l l t h e c l a s s i c a l h e r o e s o f t h o s e years, passed on the baton to more modern iterations of strength and power. GIULIA FRANCESCHINI Maciste was a symbol of strength and morals in early Italian cinema (Photo: Cm40digitalmedia/Dreamstime) Maciste, the Italian superhero LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE

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