''The Phantom Gondola'' (Italian: ''La gondola delle chimere'') is a 1936 French-Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Augusto Genina and starring

Marcelle Chantal Marcelle Chantal (1901–1960) was a French stage and film actress. Chantal appeared in a number of leading roles in films such as Maurice Tourneur's '' In the Name of the Law'' (1932). Early in her career she married British banker Jefferson ...

Henri Rollan Henri Rollan (23 March 1888 – 23 June 1967) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1910 and 1962. Selected filmography * '' De afwezige'' (1913) * '' Les Trois Mousquetaires'' (1921) * '' The Three Masks'' (19 ...

and Paul Bernard. The film was a co-production between the two countries shot at the Cines Studios in

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 ...

and based on a 1926 novel by

Maurice Dekobra Maurice Dekobra (26 May 1885, Paris – 1 June 1973, Paris) was a French writer. His real name was Ernest-Maurice Tessier.

Synopsis

A British aristocrat falls in love with a Venetian Count, without realising that he is a spy against the Turks. When she discovers that he has been captured by the notorious Sélim Pacha she does everything she can to save him.

Cast

Reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' in 1936,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

gave the film a poor review, characterizing it as "a cheap, trivial and pretentious story by a popular writer of rather low reputation." While acknowledging that "it is one of the only two films this last year I have found myself unable to endure till the end," and that he had not therefore completed the entire film, Greene explained his action "for never has a melodrama proceeded so slowly, with such a saga-like tread". (reprinted in: )

References

Bibliography

* Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey & Hay, James & Volpi, Gianni. ''The Companion to Italian Cinema''. Cassell, 1996.

External links