Sacco & Vanzetti

Giuliano Montaldo in a recent interview declared that the first shot of the Gian Maria Volontè monologue was cut, even if perfect, because one of the smaller players started crying due to the convincing performance.

The English-language prints begin with the following text crawl: "On January 2, 1920, U.S. Attorney General Mitchell A. Palmer, together with an army of government agents and anyone else who wanted to take part in "Palmer's Red Raids," launched simultaneous attacks in thirty-three cities across the country. The targets were radical and anarchist headquarters. Windows were smashed, property wrecked and resisters beaten. On the east coast, the raids were centered mostly in Massachusetts and New York. Thousands of chained aliens were marched through the streets of Boston and New York City on their way to Deer Island and Ellis Island for deportation."

The English version tones down some of the pro-anarchy sentiments of the Italian dub, most notably Bartolomeo Vanzetti's final words. In the English version, he simply says "I am innocent", which the real Vanzetti stated in his speech prior to his execution. In the Italian version, he states "Viva l'anarchia" ("Long live anarchy"), which was in fact spoken by Nicola Sacco.

Edited into Appunti per un viaggio alle radici dell'emigrazione vista al cinema... (2010)