The Phantom Gondola (Italian: La gondola delle chimere) is a 1936 French-Italian drama film directed by Augusto Genina and starring Marcelle Chantal, Henri Rollan and Paul Bernard.[1] The film was a co-production between the two countries shot at the Cines Studios in Rome and based on a 1926 novel by Maurice Dekobra.

The Phantom Gondola
Directed byAugusto Genina
Written by
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byFernando Tropea
Music by
Production
companies
  • Hélianthe-Film
  • Tiberia Film
Distributed byGrandi Film (Italy)
Release date
  • March 1936 (1936-03)
Running time
85 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Italy
LanguageItalian

Synopsis

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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

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Reception

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Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene 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".[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Nowell-Smith p.60
  2. ^ Greene, Graham (10 July 1936). "One Rainy Afternoon/Janosik/The Phantom Gondola". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. p. 87. ISBN 0192812866.)

Bibliography

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