Riccardo Freda was born to Nea- politan parents in Alexandria, Egypt, on February 24, 1909. He attended school in Italy as a child, completing secondary school in Milan after the first World War. He planned to study writing at University, but his inter- est in literature was soon eclipsed by his passion for sculpture. He con- solidated his interests in writing and sculpture by working as an art critic, and his critical eye led him in turn to an increasing infatuation with the cinema. Freda entered Rome’s film school, the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, at the age of 24 and spent five years (1937–43) writing scripts for the likes of Gennaro Righelli, Giacomo Gentilomo, and Raffaello Matarazzo, before directing his first film, Don Cesare di Bazan (1942), at the age of 33. 1
He quickly
established himself as an expert at crafting swashbuckling romanzi such as Aquila nera/The Black Eagle (1946, the screen debut of Gina Lollobrigida), I miserabili/Les Miserables (1947, the debut of Marcello Mastroianni), Il cavaliere misterioso/The Gay Swordsman (1947, starring Vittorio Gassman as Casanova), and Il figlio di D’Artagnan/ Son of D’Artagnan (1950).
