The return of Frank Capra to Bisacquino

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LUCIA’S HOUSE – THE RETURN OF FRANK CAPRA TO BISACQUINO

In 1977, at almost 80 years old, Capra returned to his home country 74 years after emigrating to the United States. The Carter government, promoting the“American dream,” chose him to seduce Italy and set the initial stop of the tour in his hometown on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
His visit was enthusiastically welcomed by all the citizens of Bisacquino; the entire community participated in his triumphant reception.

He was the classic Sicilian from ‘America, short and with a black mustache. In clothes and mannerisms very simple, dressed in a checked jacket and matching hat. He looked good, honest and generous. He spoke an archaic early twentieth-century Sicilian and a stunted Italian.
On the day of his arrival he was very tired and did not feel well, we stayed and talked privately for some time and he told me about his childhood memories, the town square now totally transformed and about a neighbor, playmate, Aunt Lucia who used to tell him these words “Cicchiteddo ‘ncapo la vutte mangia, bive e si ni futte”; This is what Mr. Totuccio Salvaggio, one of the few who managed to have an interview with the teacher, tells us.

During his visit, Frank Capra was happy to be among his fellow citizens, and his presence was so strong that one of his nephews tore down a partition wall in the house to host him for lunch with the whole family. But Capra ate nothing because the attendants, concerned for his safety, had enjoined him not to taste anything.
After visiting the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Balzo, Capra unexpectedly went to the home of a woman named Lucia, where he stayed alone for forty minutes. The citizens of Bisacquino remember Capra as a humble and unassuming person who spoke in dialect and sounded like a true Sicilian. His visit left an indelible mark in the memory of the citizens of Bisacquino, who remember the famous American director with affection and gratitude.