Under the Southern Cross (1938 film)


Under the Southern Cross is a 1938 Italian drama film directed by Guido Brignone and starring Antonio Centa, Doris Duranti and Enrico Glori. The film is set in Italian-occupied Abyssinia following the recent Italian victory there. It was one of a sequence of eight films set in Italy's African Empire during the Fascist era that were released between 1936 and 1939. The film is a propaganda piece designed to support Fascist policy on empire and concerns about inter-racial romances.
It was shot at the Tirrenia Studios in Tuscany and on location in the Galla Territory of Italian Ethiopia.

Synopsis

Marco the owner of a coffee plantation in Abyssinia, is trying to play his part in building the new Italian Empire. He becomes concerned however that his Italian staff, in the absence of their wives and families, are becoming overly attracted to native woman. His junior partner Paolo has to resist the allures of Mailù, an attractive young Middle Eastern woman.

Main cast