The Two Sergeants (1936)

two sergeants of the napoleonic army, working under the italian army, fraternal friends, are assigned to the sanitary cord that isolates a smallpox-infested village. moved by the pain of a poor mother, they break the rules, letting the woman pass; however they are discovered and sentenced to death. but, given the motive for their crime, only one will suffer the penalty: the sergeant who was once official, degraded because he was wrongly accused of spying, is designated. during the night the condemned man manages to get a permit to visit his family, leaving his faithful companion as a hostage. the return is hampered by various accidents, the hostage friend is about to be shot, but the spy that caused all the trouble to the degraded officer is discovered. the sentence is suspended and the emperor, with great magnanimity, grants grace to both young people.