Dispelling the Myth: The Popularity of American and Italian Cinema in Post-War Italy and the Response of the Catholic Church

The aim of this chapter is to explore the popularity of American fi lms in post-war Italy and to dispel the myth that the fl ood of Hollywood fi lms inhibited the national fi lm production from fl ourishing. In fact, box offi ce fi gures reveal that the Italian cinema was in a healthy, vibrant condition. And this did not only happen from 1961, as Maggie Gunsberg (2005) affi rms, thanks to the Spaghetti Western and the Peplum. The victory of indigenous cinema over Hollywood had started from the years before the Second World War and continued after the end of the confl ict.