FILIBUS (1915) dir. Mario Roncoroni Baroness Troixmonde, infamously known as Filibus, the mysterious air pirate, commits her thefts then retreats to the safety of her zeppelin. Filibus’ airship is manned by a staff of mask-wearing lackeys who instantly obey her every command. The esteemed detective Hardy sets out on her trail, and Filibus attempts to frame him as the daring villain– all the while slipping in between male and female disguises to romance the detective’s sister. (link in title)

I liked the part with the cat statue.

A wonderfully creative and fun cat-and-mouse detective story. The basic premise is that a rich baroness is secretly a sky pirate who uses her futuristic airship to rob people. It's as awesome as it sounds.

Valeria Creti plays the infamous jewel thief Filibus, bringing a mischievous charm to the role. Her plan to frame the investigating detective for the crimes doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and is really just something she did for the hell of it, making it all the more amusing.

Likewise, her efforts to seduce his sister while disguised as a man seemed to serve no purpose in her plan, instead being done solely for the sake of wooing a pretty lady, which I can certainly respect.

The story and the sci-fi elements like the airship, miniature camera, and fingerprint trickery, all made the movie feel far ahead of its time. I almost can't believe what I just watched was 107 years old. Some of the action scenes were a little subdued, but that hardly detracted from the experience.

An excellent movie, very fun and well ahead of its time. Highly recommended.

Filibus (Mario Roncoroni, 1915)

FIlibus (1915) [also known as Filibus: The Mysterious Air Pirate].  dir. Mario Roncoroni, starring Valeria Creti.  

A restored version of the film by Milestone Films, with English intertitles, is available on Kanopy.  The restoration was expertly done and looks amazing for such an old film.

heads up, that last pic of the reblogged Valeria Creti propaganda isn't Creti. it's Cristina Ruspoli, who for decades was thought to be the actress playing Filibus. I only mention it because it's an interesting story, more here: silentsplease . wordpress . com/2019/05/31/valeria-creti-unmasked-as-filibus/

Oh wow! Thanks for pointing this out.

Filibus is a 1915 Italian silent adventure film directed by Mario Roncoroni and written by the future science fiction author Giovanni Bertinetti. It features Valeria Creti as the title character, a mysterious sky pirate who makes daring heists with her technologically advanced airship. When an esteemed detective sets out on her trail, she begins an elaborate game of cat and mouse with him, slipping between various male and female identities to romance the detective's sister and stage a midnight theft of a pair of valuable diamonds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibus

I need tumblr to learn about Filibus (1915) so people can go crazy about it with me

FROM THE B-MOVIE BADLANDS...

...images from the lost continent of cult films, b-movies and celluloid dreamscapes

Pirates and smugglers in SF films

Captain, I claim this starship under the Galactic Law of salvage.

But - but this ship is completely operable -

Just give me a minute...

Filibus (1915) Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) Space Raiders (1983) The Ice Pirates (1984) Space Truckers (1996) Treasure Planet (2002) Harlock: Space Pirate (2013) Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Filibus (1915) Movie Posters

Filibus è un ladro che commette furti calandosi dal suo dirigibile e celandosi dietro una maschera. Il detective Kutt-Hendy si mette sulle sue tracce e Filibus, che in realtà è la baronessa di Troixmonde, alias conte de la Brive, escogita un piano diabolico per far credere che sia il detective il misterioso ladro. Pellicola prodotta dalla Corona Film, che affida la regia a Mario Roncoroni, ex attore, che avrebbe in seguito diretto La Nave, in collaborazione con Gabriele D'Annunzio; mentre per la sceneggiatura collaborava già con la casa Giovanni Bertinetti, scrittore poliedrico torinese che lavorò, come la sua eroina, sotto diversi pseudonimi, per trattare argomenti che spaziano dalla letteratura per ragazzi alla fantascienza; dalla filosofia a manuali d'economia domestica; dalla drammaturgia in dialetto torinese ai romanzi apocrifi salgariani. Per il personaggio di Filibus, Bertinetti si ispirò a personaggi della letteratura popolare francese molto in voga in quegli anni, ovvero i ladri gentiluomini quali Arsenio Lupin, Fantomas e Rocambole. Ma anche ad una figura nota alle cronache italiane : Rosina Ferrario, la prima donna in Italia ad ottenere, nel 1913, un brevetto di pilota, che sfruttò subito con una ascensione in aerostato. L'eroina Filibus, è donna audace e intraprendente, a suo agio sia nelle vesti maschili di conte, corteggiatore della sorella del detective; sia nell'uso di marchingegni tecnologici come la mini camera, la rilevazione di impronte digitali, l'eliografo, l'areostato. La critica dell'epoca fu negativa, forse imputabile ad un maschilismo imperante nel paese, adducendo pretesti quali storia scopiazzata ed effetti speciali infantili. Il finale presuppone un seguito, ma pochi mesi dopo l'uscita del film, l'Italia entrò in guerra. La pellicola, come la maggior parte delle pellicole del cinema muto, fragili, facilmente deperibili, andò perduta; fu poi ritrovata in Olanda, nella collezione Desmet e successivamente restaurata.

What is something underrated or unknown about where you are from?

The most underestimated thing is obviously Torino fc 😂

Not everyone knows that the first movie with a gender fluid heroine was shot in Turin in 1915. The title is Filibus 🛩🥷

Valeria Creti in Filibus, 1915.

‘Filibus’ by Mario Roncoroni, Italy, 1915 - Poster by C. Parvopassa.

(Source: museocinema.it)

My top 12 movies of 2021. Yes, some of these are OVA's, but I'm counting them. It's a very vibes-based list this year, I'd recommend all of them.

Stalker (1979)

World on a Wire (1973)

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Neo Tokyo (1987)

No Such Thing (2001)

Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990)

Twilight Q (1987)

Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968)

The Psychic (1977)

Killer's Kiss (1955)

Streets of Fire (1984)

Filibus (1915)

Filibus (1915)  italy steam punk