It is extraordinary, in 2025, to look at this 1915 film about immigration, food safety, wealth inequality, and the ways in which political machinations affect people’s lives. The working title for the film (at least according to Wikipedia) was Dago, which was changed to the less charged The Italian at the behest of the film’s star (George Beban) – who was himself a very successful vaudevillian famous for his portrayal of ethnic stereoptypes. But this film’s portrayal of the title character, Pietro “Beppo” Donnetti, seems today the antithesis of a comic stereoptype. Instead, it portrays one passage in the life of Donetti and his family, not uncommon in the lot of immigrants but intimately, powerfully, universally human. It is a great film, chosen for the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1991. And we will be airing it this coming Sunday, April 27th.
For a link to the livestream and recording, please subscribe ($5 ticket/$10 subscription with access to all of our films). This is what sustains our series of fascinating silent films with Dr. Carli’s wonderful improvised accompaniments and commentary. We will stream this film live on Sunday, 4/27/25 at 2 pm; after the livestream the recording will remain available at the same link.
In case you are curious, here is an interesting article on the history of the pasteurization of milk. I remember as a child drinking goats milk – which I hated, since the goats ate quite a bit of wild garlic in their pasture. I loved the goats, though, and was fascinated by the pasteurizer that my parents bought to make sure it was safe for us children to drink. It was very 1950s modern in styling, a no-nonsense squat metal cylinder with, if I remember rightly, a bright red control box sticking out at one side.
