This is the original 1942 Fascist film poster for Alessandrini's curious  Noi Vivi (We the Living)  which was based on the novel by the Russian ex-Bolshevik Jewess 'Ayn/Ain  Rand'      (born  Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum), and which the 1942 Italian criitcs at the Venice Film Festival thought most impressive, although, as is pointed out by Italian film historian Maria Stone, the Bolshevism shown in the film "is oppressive, but one could have followed it for the right reasons." (Reich, J. & Garofalo, P; Re-Viewing Fascism, Italian Cinema 1922–1943, Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press, 2002, pg.308).

Noi Vivi was the first half of the story, with the second half entitled Addio, Kira! released the same yeasr as a second feature film. The Italians had not sought permission from Rand to film her novel, so changed the plot to include many secondary characters and a sub–plot, and introduced stronger anti–Communist dialogue and scenes to the film. After WWII ended, and a twenty year effort to obtain a negative of the film, the Rand organisation removed over 49 minutes from the two combined feature films, including the most hard–hitting anti–Bolshevik propaganda, when releasing the film with English subtitles under the title We the Living. Scenes eliminated included the sub–plot love affair and tragic ending in Siberia of the lovers Sasha and Irina following their betrayal and arrest, along with their father, by the Soviet GPU ( thanks to Irina's own Communist brother) , the anti–Semitic scene between Tischenko and Morozov in a night club (Tischenko's name misspelled as "Timoschenko" in the We the Living version), the murder of GPU agent Andrei Taganov by his GPU "comrades," and Kira's murder at the end of Addtio, Kira! when she is shot trying to cross the Soviet border. Needless to say, without these dramatic and memorable scenes, the American post–war censored version of the story is far less compelling and not much more than a melodrama. The William Gillespie Collection contains the original Italian Scalera studio press book for both films, and the plot summary –  as  actually filmed and released –  provided in Italian, German and French language summaries. 

The Spanish colour handbill on the film from WWII showed the poster which was released in Spain at the time. This handbill is also in our Collection:

Two film stills from our Collection: