Anita Garibaldi (1952)

CAMICIE ROSSE ("Red Shirts"),also known as ANITA GARIBALDI, is about Giuseppe Garibaldi's campaign in the north of Italy to oust the Austrians. Anna Magnani plays his firebrand wife, brandishing her sword and exhorting weary troops to acts of courage until she finally dies from the stress. The film has some nice battle scenes and the strong presence of Raf Vallone as Italy's George Washington but rates unfavorably alongside the other great Italian patriotic epics, Blasetti's "1860" and Rossellini's VIVA L'ITALIA. Francesco Rosi, assistant director, completed the film after Goffredo Alessandrini became ill. He would later become one of Italy's most renowned directors.