From his first appearance in the legendary Cabiria (1915) the character of Maciste – played by Bartolomeo Pagano, previously a docker at the port of Genoa – obtained increasing success, leading him to face often improbable enemies, film after film: from Zorro to the Cyclopes, via the comedian Totò. They were not always memorable appearances, but in this varied film career Maciste alpino undoubtedly represents a fortunate exception. Maciste and his troupe, busy making a film in a small town on the border with Austria, are imprisoned by the Austrian guards, irritated by the enthusiasm with which they greet the news of Italy’s entry into the war. For Maciste it is an invitation to place his legendary force at the service of the weak: he frees his companions, defeats the Austrians and enrols in the Alpine troops to fight in the mountains 
It would be simplistic to dismiss Maciste alpino as a propaganda film, given both its ability to include the violence of the war within comic episodes and the liveliness of a story still capable of making the audience laugh today. The copy screened is the fruit of restoration concluded in 2014 by the Venice Biennial and the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin at the workshop L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna.