Roi d'un jour (1910) Online

Roi d'un jour (1910) Online

This subject deals with an episode of the Neapolitan revolution in 1647. The Duke of Arcos had imposed such drastic taxes upon the people that they rebelled, and when a proclamation of added imposition was posted in the town, under the leadership of Masaniello they tore it down and burned it. Marching to the palace, they presented an ultimatum to the Duke, who, in face of the tremendous odds, feigned to submit gracefully to the demands of the people. Carrying the deceit further, he appointed Masaniello captain-general, with royal powers. He then gave a banquet to which he invited Masaniello, and in a speech lauded the general to the skies. Responding to the toast, Masaniello drinks from a glass in which the Duke had placed a terrible poison which drives Masaniello to madness. Drawing his sword, he marches down the street, compelling all he met to do him homage. His mad deeds are brought to a climax when he attacks a statue of the Virgin, an object of veneration by the Neapolitans, in ...