Benito Mussolini January 1945 by Madeleine Mollier, a few months before he was captured and executed by Italian anti-fascist partisans, he stated flatly: "Seven years ago, I was an interesting person. Now, I am little more than a corpse." He continued: On 25 April 1945, allied troops were advancing into northern Italy, and the collapse of the Salò Republic was imminent. Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci set out for Switzerland, intending to board a plane and escape to Spain. Two days later on 27 April, they were stopped near the village of Dongo (Lake Como) by communist partisans Valerio and Bellini
The Mistress of the World short openers to a feature film, each part of "The Mistress of the World" was shot over six reels, making them feature length. Another difference to the American serials was the lack of a cliffhanger ending. Each episode of "Mistress" was a self-contained story, but the end goal was still out of reach, drawing audiences back to find out how the story resolved rather than how the heroine escaped a dangerous situation. Normal prerelease hype for serials was often manufactured through movie tie-ins, serialization in other media and spot prizes given to audience members. May attempted a different approach for