fra' diavolo (1942)

a handsome young man, who became a brigand of patriotism and was nicknamed 'fra' diavolo ', led a revolt in order to drive away foreign usurpers from the kingdom of naples. for this behavior he obtains, as a reward, the rank of the regular bourbon army and the appointment of a duke. accasatosi and married to a girl of good nature and of good family, little by little he gets tired of the idle life that leads and joins his men to the bush to reform a band of brigands with the purpose to fight the french. in a series of risky actions he manages to beat them, but he is taken prisoner and sentenced to be hanged; thanks to the intervention of another woman, a french woman in love with him, she manages to escape and repairs with her band in calabria, ready to resume the fight against the invaders.