Although released anonymously, as was the custom with all films produced by the Italian Navy, La Nave Bianca is the first feature-length effort directed by Roberto Rossellini; it is also very much the work of its co-writer and supervisor Francesco De Robertis. The film combines a documentary look at the Italian Navy during World War II with newsreel combat footage and a scripted love story performed by non-professional actors.
Cosimo de' Bardi is assassinated by a gentleman called the Flemish. Time passes and at some point a masked knight wearing a red cloak enters the scene. He is the son of the killed. These and the Flemish are also rivals in love. In the final duel the Flemish will be eliminated.
Submarine disaster drama made under the auspices of Mussolini's department of defense. During maneuvers a submarine collides with a surface vessel and drops to the ocean floor. The crew have thirty hours' worth of air to get it back to the surface.
