''L'Armata Azzurra'' (English: ''The Blue Army'' or ''The Blue Fleet'' AKA ''The Winged Armada'' and ''Italy Speaks'') is a 1932 Italian

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

docu-drama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docum ...

and

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by

Gennaro Righelli Gennaro Righelli (12 December 1886 – 6 January 1949) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed more than 110 films in Italy and Germany between 1910 and 1947. In 1930, he directed the first Italian sound film, ''T ...

and starring

Germana Paolieri Germana Paolieri (29 August 1906 – 8 August 1998) was an Italian actress. During the 1930s she became a leading lady of Italian cinema appearing in major films such as the 1938 biopic ''Giuseppe Verdi''. Selected filmography * ''The Opera ...

and

Ennio Cerlesi Ennio Cerlesi (21 January 1901 – 20 September 1951) was an Italian film actor. He played the title role in the 1937 film '' Doctor Antonio''.Goble p.401 Cerlesi was also a leading voice actor, dubbing international films for release in Italy. H ...

. It was Italy's first

drama film, with a fictional story that celebrated the

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

.Moliterno 2009, p. 78.

Plot

Commander Mario Spada (Alfredo Moretti) and Carlo Banti

are pilots and best friends in the ''

Regia Aeronautica Italiana The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

'' (Italian Air Force). The air armadas that are flying on military exercises show off the air power of Italy. The two friends find that their minds are not on flying, they have something that comes between them – a woman. Spada's sister, Elena (

) is being pursued by Banti. Spada sees his friend as a womanizer and does not like the advances being made on his sister. Banti attempts an altitude record in an aircraft prepared by Spada. When he crashes in the mountains, Spada doesn't hesitate in flying to his friend's rescue. Spada, motivated by his sister's anguish, and releasing she loves Banti, manages to bring him back to the base where he is warmly greeted by Elena.

Cast

* Alfredo Moretti as Comandante Mario Spada *

as Elena, sua sorella *

as fidanzato di Elena as Carlo Banti *

Leda Gloria Leda may refer to: Mythology * Leda (mythology), queen of Sparta and mother of Helen of Troy in Greek mythology Places * Leda, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia * Leda makeshift settlement, Bangladesh, a refugee camp ...

as Olga Rosati *

Guido Celano Guido Celano (19 April 1904 – 7 March 1988) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988. He also directed two Spaghetti Westerns: '' Cold Killer'' and '' Gun Shy Piluk''. He was born ...

as Tenente (Lieutenant) Castelli * Giacomo Moschini as the orderly

Production

''L'Armata Azzurra'' is a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

effort, with obvious deference to the

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

government of Italy.Skogsberg 1987, p. 89. "Most of the aerial sequences were shot during the 1931 army manoeuvres and involved vast formations of aircraft. However, somewhat artificially, a narrative theme was introduced involving the friendship of two young pilots, a daring rescue and other melodramatic incidents." Upon completion, the production was released in 1932 although some sources have a 1935 release date.

Reception

Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) in his evaluation of the film, referred to the review from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "... a motion picture record of Italy's 1932 naval and airplane manoeuvres followed by a series of Sicilian folk songs and dances ..."Pendo 1985, p. 242. Aviation film historian Michael Paris in ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema'' (1995) considered "the expensive and prestigious production was made to promote Italian Air power."Paris 1995, p. 96.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Balbo, Italo. ''My Air Armada''. London: Hurst & Blackett, Ltd., 1934. * Moliterno, Gino. ''The A to Z of Italian Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2009. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Skogsberg, Bertil. ''Wings on the Screen: A Pictorial History of Air Movies''. London: Tantivy Press, 1987. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armata Azzurra 1932 films Italian adventure films 1932 adventure films 1930s Italian-language films Films directed by Gennaro Righelli Italian black-and-white films Italian aviation films Films about air forces Fascist propaganda