The Assassin of Rome

The Assassin of Rome (Italian: Girolimoni, il mostro di Roma) is a 1972 Italian historical drama directed by Damiano Damiani. Drawing on real events with some dramatic license, the film recounts the ordeal of Gino Girolimoni, a man wrongfully accused of a string of child murders committed in Rome between 1924 and 1928. Under pressure from public outrage, the press and the political climate of the Fascist era, Girolimoni becomes a convenient scapegoat, and the story follows how the machinery of justice and media sensationalism can destroy an innocent person. Nino Manfredi leads a cast that also includes Gabriele Lavia, Guido Leontini and Mario Carotenuto. The picture is regarded as a notable example of Italian cinema's tradition of social and political critique, revisiting a notorious miscarriage of justice from the country's past.