Maciste in vacanza Maciste on His Vacation(1921) Director: Romano Luigi Borgnetto –
Director of photography: Augusto Pedrini –
Production: Itala Film, Torino –
Original lenght: 1907 m –
Lenght: 1700 m –
Intertitles: Italian –
Censorship certificate: 16028, 1/5/1921 –
Cast: Bartolomeo Pagano (Maciste), Henriette Bonnard (Miss Edith Moak), Gemma De Sanctis (Miss Dolly), Mario Voller-Buzzi (Conte Baiardi), Felice Minotti (Fernando Perez), Derege Di Donato (poeta/poet Dasti)
The film:
The most explosive and surreal episode of the Maciste series in which we see the hero up against the hardships of the average man: stress, women and cars. The Itala studios are in a disorderly state, the crew watches Maciste in the courtyard as he happily darts around in his new car, a single seater renamed Diattolina in honor of the car maker Diatto, the film’s “sponsor”. Maciste is happy; he caresses the car and talks about his vehicle as if it were his bride. The only thing missing is the honeymoon. But peace and tranquility are not easy to come by: in every corner of the country Maciste is recognized as a generous film star. Waiters, salesmen, passersby and little kids: everyone has a problem for him. Who said something about relaxing? An abandoned castle looks like a peaceful place, but Maciste has not met the wild American girl hiding in the cellar…
The film restoration:
The restoration of Maciste in vacanza was conducted by the Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino in collaboration with the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna and the Cineteca Nazionale of Roma. The restoration was based on a tinted nitrate positive print with Italian intertitles preserved in Roma; on a two black and white sound positive copy - one nitrate and one safety - preserved in Filmoteca Española of Madrid and one black and white sound positive copy held in Torino.
The reintegration of lost intertitles, the individuation of lacunae and the reconstruction of colors were made possible thanks to the production's documents preserved in Torino.
The restoration was conducted out in 2008 at the L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna.
