Mussolini: The Untold Story Mussolini: The Untold Story Mussolini: The Untold Story is a television biographical miniseries drama that aired in November 1985. The series followed the rise, rule, and downfall of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini played by US actor George C. Scott. Similar to "", the miniseries is spoken in English instead of the titular character's native language. Mussolini's private life features prominently in the series, including his long-term romance with his mistress Clara Petacci (played by Virginia Madsen). The series begins in 1922, as Mussolini gathers his power through the use of his Black Shirt militia. Promoting himself as Julius Caesar reincarnate,
Benito Mussolini While Hitler cited Mussolini as an influence and privately expressed great admiration for him, Mussolini had little regard for Hitler, especially after the Nazis had assassinated his friend and ally, Engelbert Dollfuss, the Austrofascist dictator of Austria in 1934. With the assassination of Dollfuss, Mussolini attempted to distance himself from Hitler by rejecting much of the racialism (particularly Nordicism and Germanicism) and antisemitism espoused by the German radical. Mussolini during this period rejected biological racism, at least in the Nazi sense, and instead emphasized "Italianizing" the parts of the Italian Empire he had desired to build. He declared that the