The new Italian film, "Tragic Hunt," is in the best tradition of recent importations from that country in its simplicity of plot, its relaxed realism, and its superior acting. It is not, however, precisely what the Kenmore management would have you believe a New York critic called it--"The best Italian film to reach this country." It can not stand up to "Open City" or "To Live in Peace," for example, as consistently successful cinema art. Still, there are some very fine moments of melodrama in "Tragic Hunt," that rate it well with the earlier films and make its director and co-author, Giuseppe De Santis, a promising new figure in his field.

I think that its main fault lies in the plot. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be that its main fault lies in the interpretation given its plot by this or, I believe, any non-Italian-speaking spectator. Some crucial situations in the film seemed incredible and several episodes were confusing to follow; when shown in its native country this would undoubtedly not be so. (There is a paradox in this--the half-a-dozen great Italian post-war films imported to America have had a larger audience here than in Italy. Since they have all dealt with the agonies of the present times, the Italians' preference for Miss Hayworth et al., is understandable.)

"Tragic Hunt" begins with some money being delivered by a government agent to a farming village in order that it may pay for harvesting equipment and rent. The money is stolen by a gang of desperate, unemployed Italians, one of whom happens to be a veteran of a German prison camp. The remainder of the film deals with the citizens' chase after the robbers for the subsidy money in an attempt to save their first post-war crop. The theme of the film is the plight of the unemployed veteran in a defeated, starving, and bankrupt country, and the ease of transition from soldier to gangster when the will-to-live exceeds respect for law and the rights of others. The theme itself is very effectively handled.

It is perhaps quibbling to pick at "Tragic Hunt" in the face of our Hollywood output: it is only the recent Italian standard of excellence that justifies this. At any rate, it shouldn't be missed by the connoisseur.