''The Thrill of the Skies'' (Italian: ''L'ebbrezza del cielo'') is a 1940 Italian

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by

Giorgio Ferroni Giorgio Ferroni (12 April 1908 – 1981) was an Italian film director. Life and career Giorgio Ferroni was born in Perugia on 12 April 1908. Ferroni began his career in film with short documentaries during World War II World War ...

and starring

Silvana Jachino Silvana Jachino (2 February 1916 – 28 August 2004) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 65 films between 1936 and 1970. She was born in Milan, Italy and died in Rimini, Italy. Partial filmography * ''Cuor di vagabondo'' (1936) * ...

, Mario Giannini and

Mario Ferrari Mario Ferrari (September 3, 1894 – June 28, 1974) was an Italian film actor. After making his debut in 1920, Ferrari became a mainstay of Italian cinema during the Fascist era appearing in a mixture of leading and supporting roles. He pla ...

. A group of aspiring young pilots in the city of

Asiago Asiago (; Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) in the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' or '' Altopiano dei Sette Comuni'', Asiago plateau) in th ...

construct a

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

. After service in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, they return to a heroic reception in their home city. Much of the film was shot on location around Asiago. Although mostly filmed in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, the last few minutes are in

Dufaycolor Dufaycolor is an early British additive colour photographic film process, introduced for motion picture use in 1932 and for still photography in 1935. It was derived from Louis Dufay's Dioptichrome plates, a glass-based product for colour sti ...

. Ferroni had recently returned from Spain, where he had directed pro-

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

.Brunetta p.93

Cast

as Maria * Mario Giannini as Vittorio *

as L'aviatore *

Aldo Fiorelli Aldo Fiorelli (1915–1983) was an Italian actor who appeared in around thirty films between 1938 and 1960. One of his final roles was Argos, the Shipbuilder in the 1958 film ''Hercules''Hughes p.2 and its 1959 sequel ''Hercules Unchained ''He ...

as Franco *

Fausto Guerzoni Fausto Guerzoni (1904–1967) was an Italian film actor.Freire-Medeiros p.193 A character actor, he appeared in Italian films in supporting roles from the mid-1930s. Selected filmography * ''Cavalry'' (1936) * '' The Former Mattia Pascal'' (1937) ...

as Fausto * Franco Brambilla as Il ragazzo * Adelmo Cocco as Il sacerdote

References

Bibliography

* Brunetta, Gian Piero. ''The History of Italian Cinema: A Guide to Italian Film from Its Origins to the Twenty-first Century''. Princeton University Press, 2009. *Raimondo-Souto, H. Mario. ''Motion Picture Photography: A History, 1891-1960''. McFarland, 2006.

External links

* 1940 films Italian war films 1940 war films 1940s Italian-language films Films directed by Giorgio Ferroni Films set in Italy Films shot in Italy Italian aviation films Films shot at Tirrenia Studios Italian black-and-white films 1940s Italian films {{1940s-Italy-film-stub