Italian

The mood is set with the opening with excerpts from the Excelsior Ball, a famous ballet at the turn of the century that heralded the advances of the upcoming century, for a book-dealer to introduce the various stories in this compilation film. The first story chosen is (English titles) “Less Than a Day”, a comedy of would-be lovers meeting in a country-side rendezvous; “A Question of Property” is a story of two men who fight over the ownership of a load of manure; “The Idyll” is the story of a well-to-do young boy who has a crush on the girl next door, and he has been told by his mother that babies are born when two people kiss. Read More »

During the winter of 1944, near Genoa, a group of Italian partisans embark on a mission to recover weaponry from a factory controlled by the Nazis. This is a gritty and gripping war drama starring Andrea Checchi and Gina Lollobrigida.
It is also the first feature film directed by Carlo Lizzani, who had spent the years up to this point making a series of short documentaries, as well as working as scriptwriter and assistant director to Roberto Rossellini, Alberto Lattuada and Giuseppe De Santis.Read More »

At the beginning of the twentieth century the noble and chaste Eugenia (L. Antonelli) and the enriched plebeian Raimondo (O. Lionello), Sicilians, come to learn by telegram on their wedding night to have the same father, but for social propriety, and economic reasons, they decide to play the comedy in front of the world by living in chaste marriage. According to the current morality, he can afford some escapade but the virginal wife, while eager to penetrate the mysteries of the flesh, must restrain herself. It will be the readings of D’Annunzio to dismantle her resistance.Read More »

Recently returned to Rome after a long imprisonment of war, doctor Paolo Marchini learns that his wife Patrizia was arrested for murder.
Three years before, not having money to treat her seriously ill child, she had consented to an appointment with a wealthy unknown gentleman, whom she had not met again ever since.
This man had showed up the night before, trying to draw on her again. Quarrel, gunshot…
Patrizia is acquitted at the trial. For the three, life begins anew.Read More »

Paolo Anselmi is a happily single man. He lives in a flat with a friend but is forced to leave when the friend gets married. He then goes to a boarding house where he flirts with a girl but ditches her when she proposes marriage. When he goes and visits his mother he finds out that she is also trying to find the right girl for him. Is he going to surrender this time?Read More »

Camilla, a middle-aged Venetian widow, arrives in Rome to take up service as a maid with the Rossetti family, made up of Mario, a doctor, his wife Giovanna and their children Andrea and Cristina. The economic conditions of the Rossetti are not flourishing and this causes tensions and disagreements.Read More »

This well-acted though conventional comedy-drama by director Luigi Comencini features comic Nino Manfredi in the title role of Giacinto, a father and husband who has been driven to steal in order to survive. His ineptitude lands him in jail where he meets up with slightly more hardened criminals, like Tagliabue (Mario Aldorf), a killer, and Il Sorcio (Raymond Bussieres), an experienced thief. Giacinto is anxious to escape and get back to his family but Tagliabue and the thief also want out as soon as possible. And even if Giacinto escapes, the challenges that wait for him on the other side of the bars may be more than he can handle.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie GuideRead More »

At the height of World War II in fascist Italy, spoiled young Carlo Caremoli enjoys a beach vacation with his friends, oblivious to world events due to the protection provided by his father, Ettore. When Carlo meets older widow and mother Roberta Parmesan, he is smitten despite her reluctance to get involved. Carlo persists, and just as he and Roberta find happiness, the brutal reality of the war crashes in upon them.Read More »

Jewel thief Rochard is savagely murdered while traveling across country on a train, but his murderer fails to find the diamonds Rochard has stolen. Cut to Paris, where Rochard’s daughter, Nicole, is being interrogated by the police. She insists she knows nothing about her father’s nocturnal affairs, but that doesn’t stop the killer, who believes she knows where the diamonds are, from leaving her threatening phone messages or breaking into her apartment to terrorize her. The killer sports bright blue eyes and a voice altered by an electrolarynx (a device used to help throat-cancer patients speak again). Read More »