The Opium Den/Fumeria d’Oppio (1947)

Found in possession of some of the victim’s jewelry, a young man is arrested and charged with the murder of an innocent woman who was robbed and killed in broad daylight. Living at the same inn, Za-la-Mort becomes sympathetic to his sister’s passionate pleas and vows to help her clear her brother’s name. While searching through his belongings, she discovers the address of a villa belonging to some friends he had mentioned in passing. Hoping they can provide assistance, she goes there, only to find herself imprisoned in a drug den inhabited by opium users and traffickers. There, she discovers the identity of the real murderer—and learns who was responsible for falsely implicating her brother in the crime.

« After Emilio Ghione’s death in 1930, the Za-la-mort character was the subject of a revival in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Raffaele Matarazzo’s Fumeria D’Oppio, also known as Ritorna Za La Mort, was released in 1947 and starred Ghione’s son, Pierfrancesco Ghione, as Za La Mort. Around 1946-1947, a fumetto series was also published called Za La Mort, which bore no links to Matarazzo’s film. The film seems to have failed to re-ignite widespread interest in Za La Mort amongst the general public and, with Matarazzo’s attention turned towards other film projects and Pierfrancesco Ghione gradually moving into film production roles, Za La Mort vanished entirely from cinema screens. The Za La Mort fumetto died out after two series, with the name living on in the Bonelli comic series Za La Mort, which had no connection to Ghione’s apache beyond the name. After this date, the Za La Mort figure gradually disappeared from popular cultural memory, making its last appearance in the silent cinema parody, Cinema d’altri tempi. » [Joseph Albert North: Emilio Ghione and the Mask of Za La Mort / p122]