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08 April1947
Little Man
Author
Gioacchino Rossi
Format
9,5mm
Credits
Music by Mattis Appelquist Dalton. Mix audio Théophile Gagnard

Little boys play at being grown-ups, smoking, fighting for fun and above all posing for daddy's 9.5mm camera Gioacchino Rossini (sic). Will they be as tough as they have seen in the movies and dream of becoming? For the time being, in these magnificent portraits against an urban backdrop, the kids turn out to be big softies with mummy and daddy and dispensers of kisses. On this 9.5mm reel is written 'Virgin' and the date, 8 April 1947. We don't know much else. So let's try to imagine what the Rossinis must have just seen at the cinema. Leafing through that day's Corriere della sera, which reported the news of Henry Ford's death ('the creator of the utility car has died'), we come across the wide range of programming on offer in Milan's cinemas. As is well known, in the early post-war years, many Hollywood classics that had not passed through the theatres in the previous years were revived, such as The Path to Glory (Gentleman Jim), directed in 1942 by Raoul Walsh, the story of a boxer starring Errol Flynn, who also starred in The Sea Hawk (The Sea Hawk), a pirate film from 1940, directed by Michael Curtiz. But wouldn't the film for real tough guys with a heart of gold be Casablanca (1942), again by Curtiz? Humphrey's gaze is the most difficult to imitate and render on screen. Play it again, Gioacchino.

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