''Mussolini Speaks'' is a 1933

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

highlighting the first 10 years of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

’s rule as

Prime Minister of Italy The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...

. Produced and distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, includes Italian newsreel footage of the Fascists’

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, ...

in 1922, the

Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty ( it, Patti Lateranensi; la, Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle ...

between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

The Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic see, apostolic episcopal see of the ...

, engineering projects in Italy and North Africa, and excerpts of speeches by Mussolini. The film was narrated by U.S. radio broadcaster

Lowell Thomas Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen ...

. It was made with Mussolini's full co-operation, beginning with a caption stating: "This picture is dedicated to a man of the people whose deeds for his people will ever be an inspiration to all mankind". (Excerpted from Doherty's ''Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930–1934'', Columbia University Press, 1999) A contributor to ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' wrote: "Mussolini rises above personality. He is a great figure, perhaps one of the greatest in the world today", but the film showed "only a glorified Mussolini". Hearst columnist

Arthur Brisbane Arthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best known American newspaper editors of the 20th century as well as a real estate investor. He was also a speech writer, orator, and public relations professional who coach ...

wrote: "Nicholas Schenck said every intelligent man should see the Columbia Pictures film of Mussolini speaking and in action. He is right. In the faces of the crowds and in their frenzied applause you see Mussolini's absolute hold on the people of Italy." Brisbane thought it demonstrated the "role that talking pictures are destined to play in education". ''Mussolini Speaks'' grossed $1 million in the U.S. To date, ''Mussolini Speaks'' has not been released on DVD.

References

External links

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First ten minutes on Youtube
' 1933 documentary films 1933 films American black-and-white films American documentary films Documentary films about Benito Mussolini Columbia Pictures films 1930s American films {{war-documentary-film-stub