Renato Carosone with his sextet “’O Mafiuso” (The Mafia man) (Cinebox, 1958).

“’O Mafiuso” was one of the three music videos (the other two were “Atene” and “Torero”) that Carosone made for the Cinebox in December of 1958, just before he withdrew from the music scene on the 7th of September in 1959. The films appeared on the prototype of the Cinebox that was inaugurated at the Press Club in Rome, Italy and at the exposition stands of the SIF company (The International Company of Audiovisuals) at the fair in Milan, Italy respectively April and May of 1959.
The obligatory preceding official censure announcement by the Board of Censors of the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment was a huge hindrance to the development of the Cinebox enterprise. Censorship was the main culprit that delayed the commercialization of the Cinebox. The first No objections certifications, became effective only on the 15th of March 1961. In other words, when the Cinebox was finally allowed to go onto the market, the music video entitled “’O Mafiuso” (The Mafia man) was already three years old and the singer, Renato Carosone had already retired from the music business 18 months earlier.
Paolo Emilio Nistri, the managing director of the Ottica Meccanica Italiana (Italian Optical Mechanics) in Rome, recalls that his good friend Renato Carosone had stated that he would like to enter into a partnership of the OMI company.