L'ebreo errante

The legend of the Jew condemned by Christ to wander the earth for centuries without ever finding peace has been brilliantly depicted in Eugéne Sue's monumental novel of 1845 but strangely enough this has never been given the cinematic treatment it deserves.

Maurice Elvey's remake in 1933 of his own silent version is a real chore to sit through and is only made bearable by the presence of the superlative Conrad Veidt in the title role.

Fast forward to 1948 and we have the bizarre but gripping 'L'Ebreo errante' of Goffredo Alessandrini starring the brilliant twenty-six year old Vittorio Gassman who had already built a reputation as a fine stage actor and whose breakthrough film role was to come the following year in 'Riso Amaro'. His performance in this is stunning and must surely have been informed by his half-Jewish parentage.

It is in the second half that the power of this film really lies as the title character, here personified as rich Jewish banker Matteo Blumenthal is packed off to a concentration camp where he is finally granted the chance to atone for his sin.

The cast is international which results in some rather dodgy dubbing but also some fascinating performances. The humanist Professor Epstein is played by Russian Petr Sharov whilst French Noelle Norman is an icy blonde Aryan and German Harry Heist an utterly obnoxious Nazi agent. Herr Heist is perfect casting as he had previously sent shivers down the spine as the monstrous Major Bergmann in 'Rome, open City'.

Even allowing for the mysteries of Italian post-synchronisation I was surprised to learn that both Gassman and Valentina Cortese as Esther have been dubbed although excellently so by Sandro Ruffini and Rina Morelli.

This is an early attempt to tackle the issues of the Holocaust and as such the scenes in the camp are deeply visceral. Interestingly the technical advisor is Alessandro Fersen who had endured a spell in Matthausen which no doubt explains the chilling words 'Arbeit macht frei' above the gates. Another advisor is Aldo Bizzari, a leading light of Italian-Jewish theatre, which gives authenticity to the earlier scenes of Jewish ritual.

Goffredo Alessandrini's strong visual sense is evident here and his participation in this film is particularly striking considering his renown as one of the finest directors of 'propogandist' films under Mussolini. It has been suggested by one film historian that in making this Alessandrini was 'exorcising his guilt'. Sounds plausible to me.

Directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and starring a young Vittorio Gassman long before he became internationally famous, this is a little-known adaptation of Eugene Sue's classic novel about a Jew who wanders the wold expiating his sins. In this version he is Mathieu Blumenthal, a banker, who is arrested with some friends and is sent to a Nazi concentration. He escapes from the camp with his girl, Ester (played by Valentina Cortese) but is later willing to put his own life on the line for the purpose of helping others.

According to the legend, the Jewish shoemaker of Jerusalem met Jesus on his way to Golgotha and refused him any rest on the way. As a punishment he was sentenced to go on wandering forever without any rest not even in any grave. The film begins in Frankfurt 1935, where the protagonist collapses by an old professor's house, and on quickening the professor urges him to tell his whole story. He tells his whole story and wanders off.

Five years later in Paris he is a well situated banker of great wealth giving parties and leading a gay life when the Germans enter Paris. The Jewish community appeals to him for help by the same professor Epstein of Frankfurt, who now is a refugee in France and who to his astonishment recognises his patient from Frankfurt. He has a lovely niece who supports him in the appeal, and when the Jewish community is rounded up, our protagonist is there among them and joins them in the concentration camp. This is among the first films after the war to screen a rebellion in a concentration camp, and it is always interesting to see how the Hebrews organise and realise it.

This is one of Vittorio Gassman's first great roles, he is quite young and dashing and handles his machine gun well, and this was long before he became famous.

It's a great story, the script writers deserve some applause, and the acting, as in general in Italian films, is superb, especially maybe Valentina Cortese, the niece of professor Blumenthal, playing a kind of parallel role to. Paulette Goddard in "The Great Dictator", the moods here very much resembling those of Chaplin's film, leading up to the same kind of redemption. This is not a great film though, although the story is great enough, but already Eugène Sue's underlying novel of 1845 has some great weaknesses, dealing mainly with the Jesuits. Many other authors have used the material for fiction purposes but few films were made of it. This should be one of the first and best.