SCREENPLAY The War of Lions, Reprisal of Lions, War & Stamps

(CONTINUED) The photographs above show victorious
troops of the brave Polish 2nd Corps taken 1945-46 in
Italy soon after the end of WWII, but prior to discovering
that Poland had been betrayed ... prior to learning that
they would not have the victorious homecoming which they
had rightfully earned ... Then, they will learn that their
families in Poland had also been betrayed!

CREDITS FOR THESE PHOTOS:
The Perantoni family collections (Orlando, Florida)
and the family of Robert Mrowiec (Warsaw, Poland)

The events depicted in these happy photos of triumphant
celebrations — and the events related to their sad
betrayal are treated in Act 3 of the script.

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SIX MALE PROTAGONISTS

Two close friends of our family appear in seven of the
above photos. Their names are Andrzej Frodel (André)
and Franciszek Mrowicki (Franki).

Franki is from Gdansk, Poland and prior to the war he's
a student at Lwów's Polytechnic University. Franki is the
age of Victor Perantoni and he's also a loyal patron of the
"Winiarnia Italia" wine and pasta tavern, where he eats
lunch daily between school hours, also where he enjoys
many pleasant evenings with Victor and family.

André is a stamp-collector and a passionate philatelist.
Although André is older than Victor they both share
an enthusiastic love for stamps and philately.

Together with Franki, the three of them organize weekly
card-gambling meetings at the "Winiarnia Italia tavern"
where they enjoy long evenings playing cards with local
stamp collectors. They gamble, not for money, but using
stamps like poker chips of various denominations.

The three are close friends, sharing their joy of precious
rare stamps and quality Italian wine as their bond. They
remain close friends, also during and after the war.

In 1947, however, Franki returns to his home in Gdansk
and soon after all communication with him ceases due to
Soviet censure and Stalin's tyrannical persecution.

For the same reason, neither Victor nor André are able to
return to Lwów. Nonetheless, they remain best friends for
the rest of their lives, even over three continents.

The other soldiers in the photos are mutual friends of André
and Franki from their service in the valiant Polish 2nd Corps.
Our family had also known some of them from Lwów.

These friends and the remaining noble warriors of Polish
General Władysław Anders, together with their sacrificed
heroes, had recently defeated Mussolini's Nazi-Fascist
alliance and had liberated the Kingdom of Italy.

After their triumphant victories they're in Italy with the
Perantoni family, just waiting and sharing our anxiety
to go back home to Poland after six long years of war.

André and Franki, together with Victor, Luigi, and
Carlo Perantoni, are five of our six protagonists.

theMOVIE/6MALEprotagonists.jpg

OUR MAIN PROTAGONISTS: Carlo Perantoni and his two
sons, Luigi and Victor — with André, Franki, and Padre.

The 6th male protagonist is the Vatican Emissary
to Eastern Poland, 'Padre' Michele Kolbuch.

Soon after Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, 'Padre'
Michele protects 203 Polish and Jewish orphans using
new documents falsified by the expert hands of André
and assisted by Franki with other philatelic artists from
the Lwów stamp club. The fake documents make the
Jewish orphans as Catholics.

Then, with Carlo's crafty planning and financial help,
Padre evacuates the children on 17 September 1939,
as the Soviet army is rolling into Lwów.

Padre registers all 203 as 'Catholic' orphans and he
places them with several Parishes in Central Italy.
Then Padre takes his place at the Vatican, waiting for
reassignment to Lwów when the war might end.

Four years later, near the end of the war, Padre escortes
André and Franki craftily across enemy lines on a furtive
visit to the Perantoni family ... amid uneasy Germans!

Victor & Carlo Perantoni are described in greater
detail on the next page (Mussolini in Poland)

THREE FEMALE PROTAGONISTS
Victor's girlfriends are 3 main female protagonists.

DANIELA (Dani) Daughter of a Jewish photography
shop merchant where Victor purchased his Zeiss-Iconta
fold-out camera and where he obtains his photo supplies.

STASIA (Stasi) Beautiful, talented young ballerina.
Daughter of a strict Polish Cavalry officer. He allows her
to date Victor but she's forbidden from stepping into the
Perantoni family's "Winiarnia Italia" wine & pasta tavern.

LARISA (Lari) Daughter of a Ukrainian farmer and
hunting guide who helps Carlo organize hunting tours
for Italian dignitaries. Lari is a country girl, part-time
student and casual merchant in Lwów.

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Lari, Stasi, and Dani share Victor's affections.
The four are close friends. Victor, however,
has a special affection for Stasia.

Lari, Stasi, and Dani have leading roles in
Acts 1+2. Act 3 appears Victor's newlywed
bride, Luigina. Victor's mother and his aunt
have minor supporting roles.

General Specs of the 90-page Feature Film/Pilot script.
(Does not apply to the 270-page Pilot & TV Mini-Series)

Victor appears in the majority of scenes. In comparison,
Carlo and André are about 40% each, followed by
Franki and Padre (in that order).

Luigi appears the least, about 15%. Victor's full character
is described in the next page, titled "Mussolini in Poland."

The storyline contains seven controversial subject-matters
which provide important background events as presented
through the dialogues of the protagonists, and by some
short newsreels, newsprints, and superscripts.

The exploits of the — FIGURATIVE ANTAGONISTS
(Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin)
are shown by short newsreels and images of original
newsprints, superscripts, voice-over narrations, and
mostly by the dialogues of protagonists.

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are not playacted.
Benito Mussolini is acted in the opening scene.
(See the next page: "Mussolini in Poland")

The acting REPRESENTATIVE ANTAGONISTS are:
Wehrmacht officers and soldiers - Gestapo and S.S.
other Nazi-Fascist authorities, including teams of
Italy's Fascist Party 'Black-Shirts'.

Soldiers in Italian uniforms are not antagonists. Instead,
they're depicted as prideful but unfortunate young men

who would become victimized by the same antagonists.

The 270-page Pilot & TV Mini-Series
greatly expands the above specs.