Sacco And Vanzetti (1971)

The story of Nicola Sacco (Riccardo Cucciolla, whose performance won the best actor prize at the Cannes film festival) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (Gian Maria Volonte), two anarchists who were executed for the killing of two men during a robbery in 1920 Massachusetts. Directed by Giuliano Montaldo, as a propaganda piece, it's superb. As factual history, it leaves much to be desired. The film's premise that Sacco and Vanzetti were 100% innocent of the charges is dubious at best and not borne out by the facts. What is a fact, is that the evidence was inconclusive and certainly not solid enough for a conviction of any kind, that they were essentially executed for their political beliefs as xenophobia and the fear of radical movements gripped the country. The director stops at nothing to pull the audience into his political agenda, whether it's Sacco's wife (Rosanna Fratello) wiping the tears of their son in the courtroom or the performance of Geoffrey Keen as the snarling trial judge which wouldn't be out of place as Simon Legree in UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. Outside of Volonte's and Cucciolla's performances, there's little subtlety to be found. It's crude propaganda but on its own terms, quite powerful and yes, very effective. Still, the story of Sacco and Vanzetti is a shameful period in American history and deserves a more complex film than this. The film suffers from being filmed outside the U.S. with many Italian actors portraying Americans and that hollow indifferent dubbing. The excellent underscore is by Ennio Morricone with lyrics to Morricone's score by Joan Baez. With Milo O'Shea (particularly bad), Cyril Cusack and William Prince.