I topi grigi 8: Mezza Quaresima

The Grey Mice 8: Midland. IT 1918. D+starring Emilio Ghione. 874 m /16 fps/ 48 min. Grand piano: Gabriel Thibaudeau. Viewed in Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, 5 July 2008. - The final episode of the morning serial. Za la Mort's strangeness almost makes him lose a trial. Masked men cut the switches of the electric power station. Grigione steals the box with the million from the stash and hides it in his own hiding place, a secret well shaft. With the handwriting and the paper stock Za la Mort proves to the district attorney that the Countess is behind the inheritance fraud and the murder frame-up. Grigione´s bloody hand print leads Za and his gang on his trail. They meet him in the wild Folies Dramatiques masked ball. The "mummies" in their caskets are awakened by the best kissers. Grigione's masked lady companion is switched with Za la Vie. His stash is finally discovered in the climax, where the crook falls into the shaft and Za la Mort and Za la Vie decide to dedicate the inheritance to the abandoned ones. (Leo has perished in the shipwreck.) - Certainly a wild and weird serial.

I topi grigi 7: 6.000 volts

The Grey Mice 7: 6.000 Volts. IT 1918. D+starring Emilio Ghione. 760 m /16 fps/ 42 min. Grand piano: Donald Sosin. Viewed in Bologna, Cinema Lumière 1, 4 July 2008. - Za la Mort rescued on a cannibal island, becoming the witch doctor. The evil countess's henchmen disguised as old people steal the address of the million lira cache. But there is the deadly electric shock of 6.000 volts. The corpse of Musoduro is staged as a victim of Za la Mort. He is arrested on arrival to the railway station.

I topi grigi 6: Aristocrazia canaglia

The Grey Mice 6: Rogue Aristocracy. IT 1918. D+starring Emilio Ghione. 826 m /16 fps/ 46 min. Grand piano: Antonio Coppola. Viewed in Bologna, Cinema Lumière 1, 3 July 2008. - Full speed ahead in the action serial. Za la Mort and Leo learn to wear a tail suit for the reception at the Countess Giovanna di Saint Valentin. As a result of her poison cigarettes the two wake up in a nailed box in the bowels of a cargo boat to Singapore. However, a submarine crosses their way, and the episode ends in a shipwreck. Meanwhile, Za la Vie contacts the underworld and cashes at Crédit Lyonnais the million franc cheque, and in the last minute rescue the evil Countess's car is stopped by broken glass planted on the road by our friends.

I topi grigi 5: Corsa al milione

The Grey Mice 5: The Race to the Millions. IT 1918. D+starring Emilio Ghione. 762 m /16 fps/ 42 min. Grand piano: Maud Nelissen. Viewed in Bologna, Cinema Lumière 1, 2 July 2008. Believed dead, Za la Mort meets his family after a long break, and the reception is strange because of the romance between Za la Vie and Leo. The shock is almost fatal for Za la Vie, but Za la Mort is ready to face the reality. After the death of Saint Valentin the last will with the huge inheritance for Leo is burned by the evil countess. Ingenuously Za la Mort gets to meet her, and Za la Vie gets a job as the chambermaid in the mansion. - There is a special visual intensity in this episode, and a true strangeness in Emilio Ghione's star persona.

I topi grigi 4: La rete di corda

IT 1918. D+starring: Emilio Ghione. 48 min. With earphone commentary in English. Grand piano: Alain Baents. - I saw the beginning only of this episode. It takes place in America, in Diamond City, in the Wild West.

I topi grigi 3: Il covo

The Grey Mice 3: The Den. IT 1918. D+starring Emilio Ghione. Cineteca di Bologna / Fondazione Cineteca Italiana / Cinémathèque Royale: Lumière Project 1994 print. Viewed in Bologna, Cinema Lumière 1, 30 June 2008. Earphone translation in English. Piano: Neil Brand. - The family escapes the bandits by the river. The police catches the gang in the sewers. There is a new branch in the adventure in America, under disguise. - Fairly interesting and stylish progress of the serial.

I topi grigi 2: La tortura

The Grey Mice 2: The Torture. IT 1918. D+starring Emilio Ghione. 743 m /16 fps/ 41 min. Grand piano: Alain Baents. Viewed in Bologna, Cinema Lumière 1, 29 June 2008. - The Grey Mice catch Za la Mort and put him in a torturous trap where he cannot move his head. A lady saves Za. A bomb destroys the building. The crooks capture the black envelope.

I topi grigi 1: La busta nera

The Grey Mice 1: The Black Envelope. IT 1918. PC: Tiber-Film. D+starring Emilio Ghione (Za la Mort) with Kally Sambucini (Za la Vie), Alfredo Martinelli (Pierino), Alberto Francis Bertone (Grigione), Nello Carotenuto (Muso Doro), Ida Carloni Talli (La duchessa Giovanna). Restored print with the camera negative as starting point: Lumière Project 1994. 632 m /16 fps/ 35 min. Presenta Denis Lotti. Grand piano: Antonio Coppola. Viewed in Bologna, Cinema Lumière 1, 28 June 2008. - Za la Mort steals the black envelope from the Grey Mice gang in the sewers (of Paris?). Za la Mort's adopted son Leo is revealed to be the inheritor of an immense fortune.