‘The Iron Crown’ or — The Link between ‘Cabiria’ and the Peplum?
If I told you ‘The Iron Crown’ (1941) concerns a religious artefact forged from Roman swords and a nail from the true cross thus imbuing it with the power to bring peace to lands where injustice reigns then you might expect a sort of historical epic with biblical overtones, and that’s certainly what you get. The thing is co-writer/director Alessandro Blasetti also gives you a bucket-load more which includes everything from — (deep breath) — fairy-tales, fantasy stories, Disney princess fables, Tarzan romps, Greek tragedies, Arthurian legends, a dash of Robin Hood, Shakespearean romances, medieval combat, swashbuckling adventures and a mystical valley of lions. It’s a hell of a lot and when you cram all that into 97 minutes the result is one insanely fast-paced and entertaining movie.
Brutal King Sedemondo (Gino Cervi) has usurped his brother’s throne so throws the peace-providing iron crown into the depths of the earth so its magical properties can’t threaten his illegitimate reign. It is also prophesied that his brother’s son, Arminio, will one day, on reaching manhood, overthrow Sedemondo and claim the kingdom for himself so Sedemondo orders the young child taken into the forest and tossed into the valley of lions.
The lions raise Arminio (Massimo Girotti) as one of their own meaning as the years pass he becomes a fully-grown, strapping young man possessing incredible strength, cat-like agility and very little clothing so when Sedemondo announces a tournament with the hand of his daughter as the prize we’re not surprised when Arminio enters, although it’s not to claim the princess as his bride as he’s already in love with her lady in waiting. Or is he maybe in love with Tundra (Luisa Ferida), the Robin Hood-esque leader of the slave resistance As I said, there’s a lot going on here, and that’s not including the whole switched at birth and trapped-in-a-castle business.
Blasetti leans heavily into the action-adventure side of things so the films blasts along at a pretty furious rate of knots which gives ‘The Iron Crown’ the feel of something Curtiz or Mamoulian might’ve cooked-up in Hollywood. Yet what’s most striking about it all is the astonishing production and set-design (this movie doesn’t look cheap in the slightest) as we’re treated to ivy-covered towers, mysterious forests, lavish boudoirs, large-scale pageantry, lion-filled traps, slave barges, collapsing mountains, mystical gorges and dazzling costumes which all creates an otherworldly atmosphere that’s hard to find outside of animation.
Not that it’s all Hollywood style escapism as with its subject regarding usurpation of power and explicitly pacifist message you can understand why Goebbels wasn’t a fan, even if the film might also be saying that what Italy needs is a strong, brave leader to rise up and revitalise the nation. It’s also interesting to see Massimo Girotti as the handsome, dashing lead as it demonstrates why Visconti’s decision to cast him as the grubby drifter in ‘Ossessione’ (1943) was so ingenious.
There’s also plenty of humour with a few of the sneaky tricks played during the tournament being especially hilarious (it’s not quite “Hey! What’s that behind you?” — BASH! but it’s close).
If you’ve never encountered Italian cinema from the Fascist period then ‘The Iron Crown’ could be a good place to start but that’s less to do with any historical and cinematic importance or significance and more down to just how damned entertaining the bloody thing is.