In between the creation of the pioneering epics The Fall of Troy (1911) and Cabiria (1914), Giovanni Pastrone directed this reflexive comedy for Turin-based Itala Film. The burlesque performance of lead Enrico Vaser is typical of pre-World War I Italian cinema, but the emphasis on viewing positions and the cuts across the axis marked by the movie screen are characteristic of Pastrone's increasingly adventurous style. Presented in a new Desmetcolor restoration by the Eye Filmmuseum (Amsterdam) of a print from the Museuo Nazionale del Cinema (Turin).