Francisci, Pietro

(1906-1977)

   Director. Although a lawyer by training, Francisci embarked on a career in cinema in the mid-1930s with Rapsodie di Roma (Roman Rhapsodies, 1934), the first of many quality documentaries that he would make on commission for the Istituto LUCE. In the postwar period he chose to devote himself to fiction, beginning with the melodrama Io ti ho incontrato a Napoli (I Met You in Naples, 1945). There followed Natale al campo 119 (Christmas in Camp 119, 1947), a sentimental musical comedy set in a prisoner-of-war camp in California where Italians, waiting to be repatriated, reminisce about life at home. After a fictional biography of Saint Anthony of Padua (Antonio di Padova, 1949), he began to specialize in historical adventure fantasies such as Il leone di Amalfi (The Lion of Amalfi, 1950) and Orlando e i paladini di Francia (Roland the Mighty, 1956). Then in 1957 he made Le fatiche di Ercole (Hercules, 1957), the film by which he is generally credited with initiating the peplum genre and launching the film career of American bodybuilder Steve Reeves. The film was hugely successful, both in Italy and abroad. After making what are regarded by aficionados as several other classics of the genre, such as Ercole e la regina di Lidia (Hercules Unchained, 1958) and Ercole sfida Sansone (Hercules, Samson and Ulysses, 1963)—and with the genre itself now definitely on the wane—Francisci tried his hand at science fiction with the oddly titled and minibudgeted 2+5: Missione Hydra (2+5: Mission Hydra, 1967), which, however, failed to stir much interest or acclaim. His last film was the Oriental adventure Simbad e il califfo di Bagdad (Sinbad and the Caliph of Bagdad, 1973).