Story of Rome Told In Films

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22628, 16 January 1937, Page 14 (Supplement)

Story of Rome Told In Films

AMBITIOUS ITALIAN PLAN Roman -history is about to lose all its terrors for the fortunate schoolboys of to-day if the Italian Government continues its present plan of translating the story of Rome into cinema films of .vivid and absorbing interest. Already the dramatic chapter of the Second Punic War i 3 nearly completed, and the exploits of Scipio Africanua in securing the ultimate defeat of Hannibal are being staged on a scale almost as grandiose as the events themselves* A reconstruction of the Roman Forums and the Temples of the Capitoline Hill has been erected in the Campagna Eomana between Rome and Frascati. Three thousand actors hare already taken part in scenes outside the Senate, and it- only remains to "shoot" the naval battles oS Sicily, the camp scenes in Tripoli, and the final conflict at Zama, "one of the decisive battles in •world history. For this battle-scene the Italian Armv is lending 12,000 foot soldiers and."3500. horsemen. Eighty elephants are also to be in the fight. The most expert Italian archaeologists in the sections of Roman history dealing with naval, military, architectural, and costume affairs are all employed in securing accuracy of detail, while the best men in the Italian cinema world are j Scarrying out imposing and realistic ensembles. The elephants have not yet been collected, and it is yet undecided whether the huge battle of Zama will he staged on Sicilian soil or in North Africa itself. The decision depends on question of light.