On the last two Thursdays, we did posts on Naufragio / Shipwreck (Umberto Paradisi, 1915) and Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino / The Little Scribe from Florence (Leopoldo Carlucci, 1915). Both belonged to a series of films based on the stories in Cuore (1886) by Edmondo De Amicis. The series was produced by Gloria, the film company in Turin that also produced the first films of diva Lyda Borelli. Child star Ermanno Roveri acted in many of these films, but in Il tamburino sardo / The Little Drummer Boy (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915), the boy of the title is played by Luigi Petrungaro.
Italian postcard for Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915), with Luigi Petrungaro as the boy and Telemaco Ruggeri as the captain. Caption: The captain wrote with a pencil on a paper, leaning onto the little window.
Italian postcard for Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Caption: And, holding on to the rope, in a few moments, the drummer was on the ground.
Italian postcard for Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Caption: Not taking care of his wound, which caused him very severe pain, he continued to run.
Italian postcard for Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Caption: Killed! the captain whispered, biting his fist.
Il tamburino sardo / The Little Drummer Boy (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915) is based on the 1889 story of the same name of the series Cuore (Heart) by Edmondo De Amicis.
During the Italian Risorgimento, in the countryside of Verona, a Sardinian boy meets Italian soldiers and becomes their mascot (the little drummer boy). It happens just before a big battle with the Austrian army.
During the battle, the Italian soldiers are surrounded by the Austrian enemy and trapped in an abandoned house. The captain sends the drummer boy, small and agile, across the enemy lines to get help. The boy succeeds with great difficulty, despite being shot by the enemy.
Afterwards, the captain visits a hospital and notices the boy's leg has been amputated. A doctor tells his leg could have been saved if he hadn't run like a madman. The captain realises that the boy has been a hero. Luigi Petrungaro played the boy and Telemaco Ruggeri the captain.
In 2011, the Milanese cinematheque Cineteca Italiana restored a tinted print of Il tamburino sardo (1915). Besides this version by Gloria Film, there is another film version of Il tamburino sardo, made by Cines in 1911. A century later, the archives of Rome and Turin jointly restored that version in 2011, on the basis of a nitrate print in the Roman archive. This took place to mark the 150th anniversary of Italy's founding in 1861.
Italian postcard for the film Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Captain: He managed to pass unobserved behind the Austrians.
Italian postcard for the film Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Caption: The walls and the floor were splattered with blood, and corpses lay through the doors.
Italian postcard for the film Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Captain: It was then that this rude soldier exclaimed with a sweet and affectionate voice: I am just a captain, but you are a hero.
Sources: European Film Gateway (Now defunct) and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 22 May 2026.
Italian postcard for Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915), with Luigi Petrungaro as the boy and Telemaco Ruggeri as the captain. Caption: The captain wrote with a pencil on a paper, leaning onto the little window.
Italian postcard for Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Caption: And, holding on to the rope, in a few moments, the drummer was on the ground.
Italian postcard for Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Caption: Not taking care of his wound, which caused him very severe pain, he continued to run.
Italian postcard for Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Caption: Killed! the captain whispered, biting his fist.
The little drummer boy
Il tamburino sardo / The Little Drummer Boy (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915) is based on the 1889 story of the same name of the series Cuore (Heart) by Edmondo De Amicis.
During the Italian Risorgimento, in the countryside of Verona, a Sardinian boy meets Italian soldiers and becomes their mascot (the little drummer boy). It happens just before a big battle with the Austrian army.
During the battle, the Italian soldiers are surrounded by the Austrian enemy and trapped in an abandoned house. The captain sends the drummer boy, small and agile, across the enemy lines to get help. The boy succeeds with great difficulty, despite being shot by the enemy.
Afterwards, the captain visits a hospital and notices the boy's leg has been amputated. A doctor tells his leg could have been saved if he hadn't run like a madman. The captain realises that the boy has been a hero. Luigi Petrungaro played the boy and Telemaco Ruggeri the captain.
In 2011, the Milanese cinematheque Cineteca Italiana restored a tinted print of Il tamburino sardo (1915). Besides this version by Gloria Film, there is another film version of Il tamburino sardo, made by Cines in 1911. A century later, the archives of Rome and Turin jointly restored that version in 2011, on the basis of a nitrate print in the Roman archive. This took place to mark the 150th anniversary of Italy's founding in 1861.
Italian postcard for the film Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Captain: He managed to pass unobserved behind the Austrians.
Italian postcard for the film Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Caption: The walls and the floor were splattered with blood, and corpses lay through the doors.
Italian postcard for the film Il tamburino sardo (Vittorio Rossi Pianelli, 1915). Captain: It was then that this rude soldier exclaimed with a sweet and affectionate voice: I am just a captain, but you are a hero.
Sources: European Film Gateway (Now defunct) and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 22 May 2026.
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