Sabballera court scene
I just want to draw your attention to a remarkable scene which in my opinion deserves special mention. The central character of this scene is fantastically played by Frank Puglia (who was Sicilian, though the actors of the main characters of the film were not Italian, as stated in one of the commentaries).
In this scene, he plays an elderly store owner named Carlo Sabballera who has been faced with the demand for 1,000 dollars by the „Black Hand“. As he refuses to pay, they blow up his store the following night.
Only the blowing-up is shown in the movie. The rest of the story is told by Sabballera himself when giving evidence in the trial they have been able to establish for one of the „Black Hand“ men. But we should better say, Sabballera tries to give evidence.
The reason for this is what is shown in a deeply moving manner by this scene: Sabballera first seems to be an almost enthusiastic witness who wants the guys who ruined his trade to be punished. He even gives the impression of regarding the court as a kind of stage, displaying some joy about the applaus of large parts of the Italian audience and even using the trial as an opportunity for what could be called a kind of advertising. Then, by a simple sign of a „Black Hand“ man in the audience, he suddenly is changed into a pitifully and shockingly scared man nearly bursting into tears of fear and agony. The sign employed is the „death-sign“.
The witness, intimidated by the sign for the first time, undertakes a second attempt and tries to win back his dignity when persuaded by the police officer to be firm and, in this way, to save the image of the discredited American Italians, too. But as the prosecutor doesn’t repeat his question quickly enough, the „Black Hand“ men have time enough to show the sign a second time to Sabballera who is already trembling out of fear. He breaks down again quickly and refuses to testify against the defendant.
This moving show of emotions is as striking as is the realization that a simple motion of the hand, performed most calmly and easily by the criminals, has the power to break and humiliate a not particularly timid person like Sabballera so horribly and in the nastiest manner possible: by using his weakest point against him in the face of a watching public – and the fear of death is the weakest point of most human beings, I suppose. This is possible only in an atmosphere as created by the „Black Hand“ in this movie. The glaring discrepancy of means employed and effect achieved totally conveys the terror brought about by this organization.
Whatever people of more experience in commenting films may say about this movie as a whole, the Sabballera scene, in my opinion, is both: a great piece of the art of acting on the part of Frank Puglia and a vivid lesson about the atmosphere organized criminality is able to create.
I would appreciate much if somebody else were interested to share his or her impressions of this scene.