La Gerusalemme liberata (1918)

La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders/Jerusalem Liberated (1918) was an Italian silent period piece directed and produced by Enrico Guazzoni. It was an adaptation of an epic poem by Torquato Tasso from 1581 in the late Renaissance. It tells of Christian knights battling Muslims during the First Crusade of 1096 in the Middle Ages, to retake the holy city of Jerusalem. EFSP presents two series of vintage cards made for the film adaptation. Six Spanish cromos in colour were made by Chocolate Imperial when the film was distributed in Spain by José Montañola under the Spanish title 'Jerusalén Libertada'. The other series is a complete set of 12 original Italian postcards by IPA CT Duplex.


Spanish cromo (collector card) by Chocolate Imperial, no. 1 of 6 cards. Photo: Exclusiva José Montañola / Guazzoni Film. Edy Darclea as Armida and Beppo Corradi as Rinaldo in La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders/Jerusalem Liberated (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918).


Spanish cromo (collector card) by Chocolate Imperial, no. 2 of 6. The attack on Jerusalem in La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918).


Spanish cromo (collector card) by Chocolate Imperial, no. 3 of 6 cards. The Crusaders' camp in La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918).


Spanish cromo (collector card) by Chocolate Imperial, no. 4 of 6 cards. Amleto Novelli as Tancredi and Olga Benetti as Clorinda in La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918).


Spanish cromo (collector card) by Chocolate Imperial, no. 5 of 6 cards. Amleto Novelli as Tancredi in La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918).


Spanish cromo (collector card) by Chocolate Imperial, no. 6 of 6 cards. Amleto Novelli as Tancredi and Olga Benetti as Clorinda in La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918).

The master of the revocation of famous historical events

In 1096 Godfrey of Bouillon (Eduardo Monteneve) heads a crusade against the Turks and Aladdin (Ljubomir Stanojevick), the cruel king of Jerusalem. His captains are Tancredi (Amleto Novelli) from Taranto and Rinaldo from Este. Aladin appoints Clorinda (Olga Benetti), an intrepid Persian, to head the troupes defending the city, together with the valiant Argante (Aristide Garbini).

After having saved the lives of Olindo (Rinaldo Rinaldi) and Sofronia, two young Christians condemned to death by the ruthless Aladdin for stealing a sacred image from the mosque, Clorinda fights a duel with Tancredi (Amleto Novelli), one of Godfrey's captains. He has fallen in love with her but doesn't want to fight her on the battlefield. Because of her armour and the darkness, he is ignorant of who he is his adversary. So, he kills his beloved, who converts to Christianity while dying.

Meanwhile, the beautiful magician Armida (Edy Darclea) has enchanted Rinaldo (Beppo Corradi), another crusader, who has fallen in love with her, in her magical garden. Once he re-awakes from the spell, despite the pleas of Armida, he returns to the Christian camp to participate in the assault of Jerusalem, which is conquered after a long and strenuous battle.

The British film journal The Bioscope wrote in 1919 that Gerusalemme liberata confirmed director Enrico Guazzoni's talent after his Quo vadis?. The Bioscope considered Guazzoni the master of the revocation of such famous historical events, even more than D.W. Griffith. While most attention went to the mass scenes, individual praise was for Novelli and Benetti. The triumphant entry into Jerusalem was equaled to the victorious entry of the Allies, 800 years after.

In 1911 Enrico Guazzoni already made an earlier version, again with Amleto Novelli in the lead as Tancredi, but this time also with Gianna Terribili Gonzales as Clorinda, instead of Olga Benetti. In this version, Emilio Ghione played Rinaldo, and Fernanda Negri-Pouget was Armida. Wikipedia mixes up these two versions and mistakes its production year. The 1911 version was well received, nationally and internationally, and considered the second Italian 'feat' after La caduta di Troia/The Fall Of Troy (Giovanni Pastrone, 1911), the first two-reeler epic film. In 1934, Guazzoni re-issued his 1918 version in a 'spoken' and re-cut version with scenes added. The dialogues were written by Fausto Salvadori and an introductory commentary was done by Adolfo Geri who played Torquato Tasso. The version lasted about twenty minutes longer than the silent version and the music was by Luigi Avitabile.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 1 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders/Jerusalem Liberated (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: The archangel Gabriel incites Godfrey to go on a crusade. Eduardo Monteneve plays Godfrey of Bouillon, while Gabriel might have been played by the actress Fernanda Negri Pouget.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 2 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: In the presence of Peter the Hermite, Godfrey incites the Christian knights to join the Crusade. Godfrey of Bouillon was performed by Eduardo Monteneve.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 3 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: Episode of Olindo and Sofronia. The virgin Sofronia before the tyrant Aladin. Ljubomir Stanojevic played Aladin, and Rinaldo Rinaldi played Olindo, but it isn't clear who played Sofronia.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 4 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: The King of Tripoli sends gifts and supplies to Goffredo.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 5 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: Tancredi reveals his love for Clorinda. Tancredi was played by Amleto Novelli and Clorinda by Olga Benetti.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 6 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: The mortally wounded Clorinda is baptised by Tancredi. Olga Benetti played Clorinda and Amleto Novelli Tancredi.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 7 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/ The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: Erminia wears the armour of Clorinda before going to the wounded Tancredi. Elena Sangro played Erminia.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 8 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/ The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: The loves of Rinaldo and Armida. Beppo Corradi plays Rinaldo, Edy Darclea Armida.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 9 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: Ubaldo liberates Rinaldo from the spells of Armida. Of the stairs, Edy Darclea as Armida and Beppo Corradi as Rinaldo. The man gesticulating in the middle is Amleto Novelli, who plays Tancredi.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 10 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: The Christians attack Jerusalem with their siege machinery.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, card 11 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from the Italian silent film La Gerusalemme liberata/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: Thus Godfrey wins. Goffredo di Buglione/Godfrey of Bouillon was performed by Eduardo Monteneve.


Italian postcard by IPA CT Duplex, no. 12 of a series of 12. Photo: Guazzoni Film, Roma. Scene from the Italian silent film La Gerusalemme liberata/Jerusalem liberated/The Crusaders (Enrico Guazzoni, 1918). Caption: The Allied armies enter Jerusalem (during WW I).

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano, Vol. 1918 (1991), and Vol. 1911, I (1995)), Wikipedia (English and Italian) and IMDb.