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“Here she is… Here she is! Papà, Papà! The Rex, the Rex!” The central scene of Amarcord, Fellini’s Oscar-winning film, opens with this phrase. The characters have embarked on several small boats to spend the night at sea off the coast of Rimini, awaiting the passage of the almost mythical liner: through the dark night, the Rex appears, glittering with lights, and then, like some constellation or like a dream, she is gone. This celebrated Italian vessel had entered the collective imagination as a symbol of the glamorous liners of the ‘Thirties; her fame had already begun in 1929 when the announcement was made of her building. The financial crisis had brought to a standstill the construction of several liners and the news that Italy intended to build one of the largest, most modern, speediest and most luxurious ships ever planned seized the headlines across the World.