Za La Mort (also written as Za-La-Mort) is a fictional character who featured in a number of Italian films. Along with characters such as

Maciste Maciste () is one of the oldest recurring characters of cinema, created by Gabriele d'Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone. He is featured throughout the history of the cinema of Italy from the 1910s to the mid-1960s. He is usually depicted as a Hercu ...

and Saetta, he was a

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material * ...

hero of the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. Ze La Mort was noted as a

gentleman thief A gentleman thief, gentleman burglar, lady thief, or phantom thief is a stock character in fiction. A gentleman or lady thief is characterised by impeccable manners, charm, courteousness, and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to ...

with an essentially honourable heart who often tackles those more villainous than himself. The character resembles other well-meaning criminals, particularly

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazi ...

and Raffles. He was played by the actor

Emilio Ghione Emilio Luigi Carlo Giuseppe Maria Ghione (30 July 1879 – 7 January 1930), known as Emilio Ghione, was an Italian silent film actor, director and screenwriter. Ghione was best known for writing, directing, and starring in the Za La Mort series ...

who became closely identified with the role. The original series began with the 1914 film ''

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

''. This was a commercial success, and a sequel '' Za La Mort'' was released in 1915 introducing a female sidekick Za La Vie (played by

Kally Sambucini Kally Sambucini (1892–1969) was an Italian film actress, known for playing the female sidekick Za La Vie in the Za La Mort series of action films alongside Emilio Ghione.Moliterno p.341 Selected filmography * '' The Rose of Granada'' (1916) ...

). The series continued until 1924 with Ghione directing as well as acting in the films. Ghione based the series on the French crime films by

Louis Feuillade Louis Feuillade (; 19 February 1873 – 25 February 1925) was a French filmmaker of the silent era. Between 1906 and 1924, he directed over 630 films. He is primarily known for the crime serials ''Fantômas'', ''Les Vampires'' and ''Judex'' ...

and Victorin Jasset. In 1947, the director

Raffaello Matarazzo Raffaello Matarazzo (17 August 1909 – 17 May 1966) was an Italian filmmaker. Life Matarazzo started writing film reviews for the Roman newspaper ''Il Tevere'' before re-editing scripts for the Italian film company Cines. His first films w ...

made an unsuccessful attempt to revive the character in ''

The Opium Den ''The Opium Den'' (Italian: ''Fumeria d'oppio'') is a 1947 Italian crime film directed by Raffaello Matarazzo and starring Emilio Ghione Jr., Mariella Lotti, and Emilio Cigoli. It was an unsuccessful attempt to revive the Za La Mort character, w ...

'', with the role now played by the former star's son Emilio Ghione Jr.Moliterno p.203

References

Bibliography

* Moliterno, Gino. ''The A to Z of Italian Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009. Italian film series Film characters introduced in 1914 {{film-char-stub