THE LION OF ST. MARK (1963)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

Unlike the majority of European "masked swashbuckler" flicks, LION OF ST. MARK benefits from what looks like a higher than average budget and more attention to the dramatic scenes by director/co-writer Luigi Capuano. Capuano had already worked once before with Gordon Scott in ZORRO AND THE THREE MUSKETEERS (which I tagged as a cheap Euro-adventure) and twice before with leading lady Gianna Maria Canale, who with Capuano made two female swashbuckler films in 1960 and 1962.

Set in Venice in the early 1600s, the city is under constant menace from pirates, led by their chief Titta (Alberto Farnese). For some reason Venice does not maintain its own standing army, but relies on a group of mercenaries who have proven utterly incompetent-- a state of affairs demonstrated when the pirates brazenly raid a fancy party given by the upper classes, and despoil many partygoers of their riches.

Attending the party is Manrico Masiero (Scott), a former soldier who's disgusted that the authorities don't defend their city with the native men of Venice. Manrico's father is grooming him for success in the diplomatic corps, and has tacitly arranged a marriage between Manrico and stuck-up rich girl Isabella, who boasts to her friends about how she's going to "change" her future husband. The raid emboldens Manrico to take a crucial step: since he can't fight pirates as himself without angering the authorities, he dons a black mask (and sometimes an all-black outfit) to do so (with the help of other young blades of similar sympathies). He takes the name "Lion of St. Mark" because this Christian icon was then the symbol for Venice.

To be sure, anger isn't the only thing that results from the party-raid. It's at this event that Manrico spots Titta's attractive henchwoman Rosanna (Canale), though she doesn't notice him. When the Lion and his accomplices make their first attack on one of Titta's ships, the masked hero ends up sword-dueling Rosanna, who gives a good account of herself before being disarmed. Interestingly, in contrast to most masked swashbuckler movies, the heroine never shows the slightest interest in the Zorro-like protagonist.

Though Rosanna and Titta escape capture, Rosanna is later taken prisoner by the mercenaries. Their leader shows his scurrilous nature by threatening to torture his prisoner, so Manrico uses his authority to intervene. He also stages her escape, which causes Rosanna to look at him with different eyes. The two of them meet on the sly a few more times, with Rosanna explaining that she was raised with pirates and has never known any other life. While the romance elements are nothing strikingly original here, they also don't feel as if the writers are trying to get them over with as quickly as possible.

The action-elements are well executed as well, particularly a scene wherein Manrico's warriors scale the wall of a pirate refuge, and Scott is good in both of his roles. The final battle gets rid of both the pirates and the incompetent mercenaries and Rosanna is pardoned for a happy ending with Manrico.