Director Riccardo Freda certainly covered a lot of ground and had a go at practically every genre, with markedly mixed results!
This film is indisputably one of his best and comes from his early 'historical costume drama' phase.
You certainly won't find this tale in the memoirs of that most extraordinary of beings Giacomo Casanova, as it is a purely fictional account of how he retrieves from Catherine the Great an incriminating letter that has been stolen by her agents from the Dogessa of Venice so as to be used as a political pawn. Rendering this great service to Venice will enable him to effect the release of his brother who has been wrongly accused of the theft. Casanova himself was of course a 'guest' of the Doge in the infamous Piombi before making his miraculous escape.
The Casanova here is the dashing Vittorio Gassman and I would have to say that apart from Ivan Mosjoukine, he is the most impressive I have seen. Gassman was not exactly renowned for his humility and he employs his innate arrogance here to great effect. He also brings bravura to the role and wears the costumes wonderfully.
The character here requires extreme cunning to achieve his task and calls to mind Casanova's own assertion that "the principle which forbids me to lie does not allow me to tell the truth."
We are also treated here to some splendid specimens of womanhood in the shape of Gianna Maria Canale, a former Miss Florence and the future Signora Freda, María Mercado, second wife of Vittorio de Sica and Alessandra Mamis whose only film this appears to be. Historically Casanova encountered the redoubtable Catherine the Great when trying, unsuccessfully, to sell her a lottery scheme but here their relationship is far more interesting and the Empress is given a suitably 'game' interpretation by the voluptuous Yvonne Sanson.
Freda's assured direction, the full-blooded performances, superlative art direction/costume design of Vittorio Nino Novarese and a thrilling score by Alessandro Cicognini all contribute to a thoroughy entertaining and absorbing piece.
Venice loomed large in Casanova's life and the marvellous shot of Gassman striding across the Piazza San Marco provides a fitting finale.
