Ambrosio e C.

I raggi “Z” has been irresistibly charming in every stage of its gradual rediscovery. A 15-minute fragment with lovely scenes of a snowy cityscape of Turin surfaced in the early 1990 at the CNC in Paris, and was then identified as Oca alla Colbert (Eleuterio Rodolfi, 1913), because of the seamstresses masquerading as geese. After additional discoveries we could screen 30 minutes of the same French version at the Cinema Ritrovato 2009, in the section dedicated to Gigetta and Rodolfi. The storyline gave away the correct identification of I raggi “Z”, a 1917 Ambrosio production, whose director remains unknown. But would any other Italian director than Rodolfi be able to create a comedy of such elegant, warm-hearted humour and enticing brio, and set the stage so well for Gigetta’s wonderful acting? (Mariann Lewinsky)

This one-reel documentary is pretty much what it says in the title. Cavalrymen ride their horses, first over low hedges, then over increasingly rough terrain, until by the end they are sliding down hills to cross a stream and going into caves. The horses don't seem terribly anixous to do these things. Occasionally a rider falls off and the horse walks away, as if to say "See! I told you this wasn't a good idea."

Riders at a cavalry school take the horses through their paces, jumping over fences and walls, descending steep slopes, and fording streams. Some horses balk, and riders occasionally fall off their steeds.