Release Anniversary: L’assedio dell’Alcazar — August 20, 1940
L’assedio dell’Alcazar, directed by Augusto Genina, reached Italian cinemas on 20 August 1940. Shot at Cinecittà and on location in Toledo, Spain, it told the story of the real siege of the Alcázar fortress during the Spanish Civil War, with Fosco Giachetti, Mireille Balin and Maria Denis. It went on to take the Coppa Mussolini for best Italian film at that year’s Venice Mostra — a prize the festival’s own later history would strike from the record, since the 1940 edition is counted as not having taken place.
Dates verified on Italian Wikipedia, voce del film (distribuzione italiana 20 agosto 1940); English Wikipedia, The Siege of the Alcazar.
Where to watch
The film that won the 1940 Coppa Mussolini — later struck from the festival’s own record — is still in print on DVD.
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