Cities of the World; Naples

Item Information

Title:
Cities of the World; Naples
Description:
Naples, begins the narrator, is one of Italys most beautiful in fact, one of the worlds most beautiful cities. It has been painted, photographed, described in glowing words. It has been the subject of hundreds of poems and songs. Part of its beauty comes from the fact that Naples is a city in the sun. And yet, under the boiling sunlight behind the beautiful facades are many thousands of people who live in darkness and squalor. This film is a vivid and tasteful report on that squalor and the many who live in it. Indicating that the poor are not at fault, the film describes, at the outset, the citys monarchist tradition and the reluctance of the wealthy to concern themselves with social and economic problems. By US standards, well over half of Naples population lives in abject poverty. Thousands of craftsmen, for example, work up to fourteen hours a day to bring home $70 a month. And in Naples that is considered quite good; for on $70 a month one can feed a family of eight. But only a minority of the Neapolitans work force is comprised of craftsmen. To stay alive, most Neapolitans must become sidewalk vendors. One, for example, tries selling balloons, another sells scrap paper, and a third tries to earn a days pay with a stock of seven pairs of shoe laces, while many families live off the proceeds of a barrel organ. There are those who do find work in industry but they are not many. To foster industrialization, the Italian government has appropriated millions of lire, only to have it siphoned off in graft. Consequently, there are still ten candidates for every job and the situation appears to be growing worse. The most poignant parts of the film deal with the scugnizzi the thousands of homeless, wandering youngsters who much borrow, connive, steal, and beg to survive the impoverished environment. The report tells how Father Mario Borelli, himself a former scugnizzo, works to rehabilitate these youngsters and make it possible for them to compete successfully in the Neapolitan job market. The program also explains why, despite the severe poverty, most Neapolitans have been reluctant to embrace communism. Cities of the World #3: Naples is a National Educational Television presentation, produced by North German Television. NET Executive producer: William Weston. Narrator: Richard McCutchen (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) In Cities of the World, media personalities such as author Mary McCarthy and the BBCs Alan Whicker, travel the world and give audiences a taste of life in cities including Budapest, Calcutta, Paris, Naples, Munich, and Peking. The series of 6 half-hour episodes was recorded in color.
Production company:
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Narrator:
McCutcheon, Richard
Producer:
Weston, William
Date:
April 14, 1968
Format:
Film/Video
Genre:
Documentary
Location:
Library of Congress
Collection (local):
American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
Series:
Library of Congress > Cities of the World
Subjects:
Economics
Social Issues
Employment
Travel
Extent:
00:29:39.136
Link to Item:
https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-8p5v699488
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Notes:
Episode Number: 3