Filibus
Entry updated 17 September 2024. Tagged: Film.
Italian silent film (1915). Corona Film. Directed by Mario Roncoroni. Written by Giovanni Bertinetti. Cast includes Valeria Creti, Cristina Ruspoli, Giovanni Spano and Filippo Vallino. 70 minutes, divided into five parts. Black and white.
When a reward is offered for the capture of Filibus the notorious bank robber, Baroness Troixmonde (Creti), identifying herself as an amateur detective, registers as one of the contenders; as she does so Hardy (Spano), the detective (see Crime and Punishment) in charge of the case, enters the notary's office: she declares him to be Filibus and says she will prove it. Departing the town, she uses a heliograph to contact the crew of her Airship, who lower a metal basket from its gondola so she can join them: for Baroness Troixmonde is Filibus.
Soon after Hardy, sister Leonora (Ruspoli) and friend Leo Sandy (Vallino) – who has unrequited love for Leonora – meet up at the former's residence; as Hardy reflects alone on a terrace, Filibus, masked, flat-capped and in male attire, has herself lowered in the basket to Drug him with a powder, then takes Hardy's handprint, from which a glove will be made. Several days later, Leonora is kidnapped by Filibus' henchmen – but saved by the moustachioed Comte de la Brive (Filibus in disguise). Leonora and Hardy are grateful. Now a guest, the Comte accompanies Hardy and Leonora to a party at Sandy's villa whose centrepiece is an Ancient Egyptian cat statue with diamond eyes; Sandy briefly turns off the lights so the party-goers can appreciate the twinkling of the eyes – enough time for a circular hole to be cut in the glass and a note left saying Filibus will steal the diamonds that night. Hardy says everyone must be searched for the glass disc: as a sign of good faith he goes first, and finds the disc in his pocket; he then checks the fingerprints, only to find they are his (we have seen the Comte surreptitiously remove a glove). Worried about his mental health, he consults a doctor, who assures him he is fine. Realizing he has been tricked, Hardy decides to set a trap for Filibus, replaces the diamond eyes with fakes and inserts a miniature camera – a cube about an inch in size (see Technology). Whilst this has been going on, the Comte has been courting Leonora.
That evening, Hardy and Sandy wait – but, not expecting an aerial arrival, are caught unawares, with Hardy drugged again and Sandy abducted. Filibus notices the camera and sees that the diamonds are fake: she finds and pockets the originals, then puts Hardy in front of the cat and triggers the camera (despite its size there is smoke from the flash powder). Filibus takes Hardy home, plants one of the diamonds on his desk and notifies the police: with fingerprints and the evidence of the camera, he is arrested. However, Sandy has escaped by grabbing a parachute and leaping from the airship: his testimony has a judge granting Hardy temporary freedom to capture Filibus. Learning of his release, Filibus decides to frame Hardy again, but now aware of the airship, the detective notices its approach and stuffs cotton wool up his nose: the powder now ineffectual, he captures Filibus and removes her mask – to see the Comte. Hardy leaves Filibus tied up, forgetting she has accomplices, so she duly escapes.
Sandy, pointing out her infatuation with the Comte is over, proposes to Leonora: she accepts. As Hardy congratulates the couple a message for him drops from the sky: it is from Filibus, suggesting they will meet again.
The film is still watchable, with a good performance from Creti as Filibus, though the plot relies on no one noticing the presence of an Airship at crucial times. The most interesting element is the character of the adventuress Filibus, who spends nearly all the movie in two different versions of male attire. It might be inferred she is a lesbian: we only see her and Leonora enjoying each other's company in one scene, but Filibus seems to have no ulterior motive, suggesting her romantic interest in Leonora was genuine. Though Filibus has male assistants they are very much support staff; there is no protective male hovering close; she is the boss, clearly the most intelligent person in any room she walks into (see Feminism, Women in SF) and excepting Time Travel has several characteristics of the Temporal Adventuress. [SP]
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