''Harlem'' is a 1943 Italian

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Carmine Gallone Carmine Gallone (10 September 1885 – 11 March 1973) was an early Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, who was also controversial for his works of pro-Fascist propaganda and historical revisionism. Considered one of Itali ...

and starring

Massimo Girotti Massimo Girotti (18 May 1918 – 5 January 2003) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades. Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and playing polo. While studying eng ...

Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 in Cagliari – 5 November 1979 in Rome) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Al ...

and

Vivi Gioi Vivi Gioi, born Vivienne Trumpy (2 January 1917, Livorno – 12 July 1975, Fregene) was an Italian actress. Her alternative professional last name Diesca was an anagram of De Sica, the famous actor and director with whom she was in love. She i ...

. It was shot at the

Cinecittà Studios Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios wer ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Guido Fiorini Guido Fiorini (1897–1966) was an Italian engineer, architect and art director.Poretti p.128 He was associated with the futurist movement. Selected filmography * ''Loyalty of Love'' (1934) * ''Just Married'' (1934) * ''Red Passport'' (1935) * '' ...

. The former

world heavyweight champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

Primo Carnera Primo may refer to: People *DJ Premier (born 1966), hip-hop producer, sometimes goes by nickname Primo * Primo Carnera (1906–1967), Italian boxer, World Heavyweight champion 1933–1934 *Primo Cassarino (born 1956), enforcer for the Gambino cr ...

appears in a small role. It is also known by the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the t ...

of ''Knock Out''. It is noted for its

anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

at a time when the two countries were at war. In

postwar In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

re-releases, Amedeo's final line was redubbed with a more positive view on life in the United States.Bondanella & Pacchioni p.52

Synopsis

Tommaso Rossi, a young Italian goes to America to visit his elder brother Amedeo who has a business in the construction industry. He is discovered as a talented

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

after getting into a fight with a champion in a restaurant and flooring him. However his elder brother's business is wrecked and he is arrested for a crime he did not commit. Forced to fight in order to raise enough money to

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

his brother, Tommaso is then told by a dying Amedeo to return to Italy as the American dream holds nothing for

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

immigrants.

Cast

as Tommaso Rossi *

as Amedeo Rossi *

as Muriel *

Elisa Cegani Elisa Cegani (11 June 1911 – 23 February 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1935 and 1983. Partial filmography * ''Aldebaran'' (1935) - Nora Bandi * ''Cavalry'' (1936) - Speranza di Frassineto * ''The Countess ...

as La donna del gangster *

Osvaldo Valenti Osvaldo Valenti (17 February 1906 – 30 April 1945) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1928 and 1945. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey to a Sicilian carpet trader and a wealthy Lebanese woman of Greek descen ...

as Chris Sherman *

Erminio Spalla Erminio Spalla (7 July 1897 – 14 August 1971) was an Italian professional heavyweight Boxer (boxing), boxer, film actor and singer. Spalla studied fine arts in Brera (district of Milan), Brera, when in 1910 he saw film footage of the world box ...

as Franckie Battaglia, l'allenatore *

Enrico Glori Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri ( French), ...

as Ben Farrell * Lodovico Longo: as Charlie Lamb, a black boxer *

Gianni Musy Giovanni Musy (August 3, 1931 – October 7, 2011) was an Italian actor and dubbing artist. Biography Born in Milan, the son of actors Enrico Glori and Gianna Pacetti, he started his career as a child actor at eleven years old. He studied at th ...

as Il piccolo Tony Rossi *

Enrico Viarisio Enrico Viarisio (3 December 1897 – 1 November 1967) was an Italian theatre and cinema actor. Biography Equipped of a fine and elegant humour, Viarisio was discovered by actress Paola Pezzaglia Paolina Pezzaglia Greco (13 September 1886 &ndas ...

as Pat *

Luigi Almirante Luigi Almirante (30 September 1884 – 6 May 1963) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in 62 films between 1921 and 1955. Life and career The son of a stage actor, Almirante was born in Tunis, where the theatrical company of ...

as Barney Palmer *

Greta Gonda Greta Gonda (1917–1974) was an Austrian stage and film actress who emigrated to Italy where she worked as a leading lady.Gundle p. 267 She was born in Margarethe Tomicek Mondschein in Vienna, but left for Italy in the mid-1930s. In later life G ...

as Milena Zvetcovic *

Giuseppe Porelli Giuseppe Porelli (24 November 1897 – 5 March 1982) was an Italian stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born Giuseppe Porcelli in Naples, he graduated from the Istituto Tecnico and became an employee of Ferrovie dello Stato. Wh ...

as Il duca di Solimena *

Mino Doro Mino Doro (6 May 1903 – 13 April 1992) was an Italian actor who appeared in more than a hundred films between 1932 and 1970. Doro generally played supporting and character roles. He appeared as a blackshirt in the 1934 Fascist propaganda fi ...

as Bill Black *

Giovanni Grasso Giovanni Grasso (11 November 1888 – 30 April 1963) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1910 and 1955. He was born and died in Catania, Sicily, Italy. Born into a family of marionettists, he was ...

as Guardascione *

Luigi Pavese Luigi Pavese (25 October 1897 – 13 December 1969) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Asti, Pavese started his career in 1916 working as a silent film actor at 19 years of age. He then began his theatrical debut in 192 ...

as Joe Smith *

Guglielmo Sinaz Guglielmo Sinaz (20 November 1885 – 5 February 1947) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1935 and 1947. He was born and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''I Love You Only'' (1935) * '' The Grea ...

as Sinclair Roswell *

as Se stesso

References

Bibliography

* Peter Bondanella & Federico Pacchioni. ''A History of Italian Cinema''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.

External links

* {{Authority control 1943 films Italian crime films 1943 crime films 1940s sports films Italian boxing films 1940s Italian-language films Films directed by Carmine Gallone Italian black-and-white films Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Films set in New York City 1940s Italian films