“Max Corvo For Freedom: The War of OSS in Italy, 1943-1945,” an award-winning documentary about a longtime Middletown resident, is screening at Middletown High School’s Santo Fragilio Performing Arts Center on Wednesday.
The documentary centers around Biagio Max Corvo, who came to Middletown from Sicily with his family in 1929 when he was 9 years old. His father had been persecuted by the Italian Fascist regime. After growing up in Connecticut, Corvo joined the U.S. Army and became Chief of Operations of Secret Intelligence of the American Office of Strategic Services in Italy during World War II while he was still in his early 20s. The OSS was a U.S. intelligence agency that conducted espionage and other campaigns to bring about the end of the war.
The Corvo family created a Middletown-based production company to make the film, which blends world history with family lore. The film is written and directed by Ezio Costanzo, whose previous film work includes the documentary “Phil Stern. Sicily 1943. The War and The Soul,” and who has also written books and curated photo exhibits on Sicily during the war.
Wednesday was selected as the date of the Middletown screening because it is the 81st anniversary of the invasion of Sicily. The film uses historical footage of the war and some dramatic recreations of Corvo in the Army.
The narration is based on first-person accounts by Corvo of his upbringing in a household that shaped his anti-Fascist views and his wartime endeavors. Corvo’s story is enhanced by interviews with his son William Corvo. The story of the Corvo family is also documented in the Max Corvo archive stored at Trinity College in Hartford. William Corvo also wrote about his family history in an article for the Courant in 2018.
A shorter version of the film was released in Italy in 2023. The screening in Middletown has been expanded to 98 minutes with its narration re-recorded in English. Many of the dramatized scenes are still in Italian with English subtitles. The film had an earlier private screening in June at Trinity College.
In the past week, “Max Corvo For Freedom: The War of OSS in Italy, 1943-1945” won the June 2024 “Best Documentary Feature” award from the New York International Film Awards and “Best Documentary” from the monthly Rome International Movie Awards.
The Corvo family are not the only ones representing Middletown in the documentary. Corvo recruited others from the city to work with him in the OSS, including local attorneys Vincent Scamporino and Emilio “Mim” Daddario, as well as Sebastian Passanisi, Frank Tarallo, Louis Fiorilla and Sam Fraulino. The documentary features vintage photos and film footage of Middletown in the early 20th century.
Admission to the film screening is free. A suggested donation of $5 will benefit the Greater Middletown Military Museum and the Middlesex County Historical Society, who are among the co-sponsors of the screening.
“Max Corvo For Freedom: The War of OSS in Italy, 1943-1945” will be screened Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Santo Fragilio Center for the Performing Arts at Middletown High School, 200 LaRosa Lane, Middletown.
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