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Cavalleria Rusticana is adapted from the popular one-act play of the same name. Set in rural Sicily, the anecdotal story concerns a deserting soldier named Turiddu (Leonardo Cortese) who returns home to discover that his flirtatious sweetheart Lola (Doris Duranti) has married another. As consolation, Turiddu inaugurates a romance with Santuzza (Isa Pola), but before long he is carrying on an illicit relationship with Lola. The spurned Santuzza informs Lola's husband (Carlo Ninchi) of what's going on behind his back, and the result is a bloody duel. Written by Giovanni Verga, Cavalleria Rusticana had previously been transformed into an opera by Mascagni, whose music is absent from this adaptation.