''Cardinal Messias'' (Italian: ''Abuna Messias'') is a 1939 Italian historical

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

Goffredo Alessandrini Goffredo Alessandrini (20 November 1904, in Cairo – 16 May 1978, in Rome) was an Italian scriptwriter and film director. He also acted, edited, and produced some films. He practiced athletics in his youth, and won a title of Italian champion ...

and starring

Camillo Pilotto Camillo Pilotto (6 February 1888 Birth name: Camillo Raul Vittorio Pilotto. – 27 May 1963) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 101 films between 1916 and 1963. He was born and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''The Song ...

, Enrico Glori 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 ...

.Moliterno p.313 The film was awarded the Mussolini Cup at the 1939 Venice film festival. It portrays the life of Guglielmo Massaia, a nineteenth-century Italian known for his missionary work in the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that histori ...

Cast

as il cardinale Guglielmo Massaia, detto Abuna Messias * Enrico Glori as il re Menelik *

as Abuna Atanasio *

Amedeo Trilli Amedeo Trilli (9 July 1906 – 30 November 1971) was an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Ronciglione, Viterbo, at very young age Trilli worked as a circus artist, then in 1922 he studied performance at the Accademia ...

as Ghebrà Selassié, il consigliere di Alem *Berché Zaitù Taclè as la principessa Alem *Ippolito Silvestri as il re Johannes * Francesco Sala as il marchese Antinori *Roberto Pasetti as padre Leone *Abd-el-Uad as il capo indigeno Abu Beker * Oscar Andriani as padre Reginaldo Giuliani *

Corrado Racca Corrado Racca (November 14, 1889 – May 12, 1950) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Corrado began his career on stage when he moved to Florence in 1908. He later worked alongside other stage actors such as Ruggero Ruggeri, Emma Gr ...

as Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour

References

Bibliography

* Moliterno, Gino. ''The A to Z of Italian Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1939 films Italian historical drama films 1930s historical drama films 1930s Italian-language films Films directed by Goffredo Alessandrini Films set in the 19th century Films set in Ethiopia Italian black-and-white films 1939 drama films 1930s Italian films {{1930s-Italy-film-stub