Alberto Sordi Like You've Never Seen Him..

Twenty two-year-old Alberto Sordi on the set of "I tre aquilotti"

Directed by Mario Mattoli, the 1942 film"I tre aquilotti" (The Three Pilots) is set at the Royal Air Force Academy of Caserta where three students– Mario (Carlo Minello), Marco (Leonardo Cortese) and Filippo (Alberto Sordi) become close friends. Towards the end of his studies, Marco casually meets and falls in love with Mario's sister, Adriana (Michela Belmonte). Mario shows his opposition to Marco and this causes the end of their friendship. Due to an accident during a training flight, Marco is demoted from the sailors role to the service role, thus not getting the military pilot's license. After the end of the course, the three friends split up for various destinations but all three find themselves in Russia, with Mario and Filippo already decorated with medals of merit, while Marco is in charge of logistics services. During a war action Mario is hit in flight and is forced to land in enemy territory. Marco, having heard the news, accompanies the pilot in charge of the recovery of his colleague. During the overflight of the downed aircraft, the pilot is killed and it becomes Marco's task to complete the mission.

Noteworthy is "Il soggettista," the story's creator, listed in the credits as Tito Silvio Mursino when it was actually Vittorio Mussolini, the son of Benito Mussolini, a film critic and producer. According to an article by The Independent, “Vittorio made much of his contact and friendship with left-wing and Jewish directors, writers and film critics during the brief period in the late 1930s and early 1940s when he edited the journal ‘Cinema’. Openly left-of-centre critics such as Michelangelo Antonioni were published in the magazine.” Furthermore, Riccardo Fellini, brother of Federico, had a minor role in the film.

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