Piero Palermini Movies
- 1963
In this epic costumer, a christianized Roman centurion fights back against those who would slaughter his fellow believers. His odyssey begins when Emperor Constantine dies and is replaced by a new Christian-hating Emperor. The centurion takes refuge in a barbarian camp. Later he returns to Rome as a gladiator and wins freedom for the Christians by beating three foes in the arena. Following a devastating earthquake, he is again sent to fight. The new emperor and most of Rome is destroyed. The brave Christian soldier is then free to preach the gospel. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1961
In this Italian costume epic chronicles the exploits of an innocent maiden who lives near Thebes. She is in love with a sculptor but cannot marry him when a high-ranking reveals that he is her father and that she was betrothed at birth to a mentally ill prince slated to soon take over the country. The father then hands down a death sentence for the sculptor, but fortunately he escapes to find the prince, who happens to be a friend of his. There he asks for and is granted a pardon. Time passes and the prince becomes king; meanwhile, the maiden undergoes a ritual purification and changes her name to "Nefertiti." The sculptor is now with a gypsy. Unfortunately, he is again imprisoned by Nefertiti's father who threatens to kill him unless his unwilling daughter marries the new king. After the wedding, the sculptor does a bust of his beloved, and she tells him that while she still loves him, she fears for her husband's mind if she leaves. Her manipulative father is well aware of the king's instability and is hoping that eventually he will have all the power. To get closer, he kills the king's best friend, a rival priest, which pushes the king to suicide. Suddenly Nefertiti becomes queen. With the sculptor's help, she rallies the army and wins her power. In the end, the jilted gypsy gets her revenge by killing Nefertiti's father. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
War and Peace is a commendable attempt to boil down Tolstoy's long, difficult novel into 208 minutes' screen time. In recreating the the social and personal upheavals attending Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia, $6 million was shelled out by coproducers Carlo Ponti, Dino de Laurentiis and Paramount Pictures. Some of the panoramic battle sequences are so expertly handled by second-unit director Mario Soldati that they appear to be Technicolor-and-Vistavision newsreel footage of the actual events. Still, the film falters dramatically, principally because of a lumpy script and King Vidor's surprisingly lustreless direction. In addition, the casting is wildly consistent: for example, while Audrey Hepburn is flawless as Natasha, Henry Fonda is far too "Yankeefied" as the introspective Pierre. Proving too long and unwieldy for most audiences, War and Peace died at the box office; far more successful was the epic, scrupulously faithful 1968 version, filmed in the Soviet Union. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1950
Few Italian filmmakers turned out lavish costume dramas with as much panache as Riccardo Freda. In Il Figlio D'Artagnan, Piero Palmermini stars as Raul, the son of swashbuckler D'Artagnan of Three Musketeers fame. Unlike his famous father, Raul has no deep abiding love for swordplay, but before long he's fighting side-by-side with his dad against the foes of Cardinal Richelieu (a good guy this time out). D'Artagnan Junior also finds time for romance with several buxom wenches. The screenplay for Il Figlio D'Artagnan is credited to one "Dick Jordan," which sounds suspiciously like one of director Freda's many aliases. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gianna Maria Canale, Franca Marzi, (more)
- 1950
Surprisingly, the "Sardinian" protagonist of the Italian Faddija is played by an American actor. William C. Tubbs is cast as Pietro Atzeni, a bombastic landowner with three marriage-age daughters. Atzeni manages to squelch his daughters' romantic yearnings through his own greed, which consists of buying up any patch of land he decides he wants, by means both fair and foul. His avarice culminates in a deadly feud and a desperate elopement. Whenever the story flags in Faddija, the viewer can revel in its location photography and its colorful utilization of genuine Sardinian peasants and shepherds in minor roles.
~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Tubbs, Luisa Rossi, (more)
- 1949
Set in the 19th century, Buried Alive is placed in context with the struggles of Italian patriot Garibaldi to bring unity and equality to his land. The hero is Giorgio (Piero Palermini), a pro-Garibaldi activist. The villain, Federico (Paul Muller), is not only a despot, but an ungrateful son: he murders his stepmother and throws his stepsister into a dungeon (hence the film's English-language title). Will justice prevail? The film served as an important stepping-stone to stardom for Milly Vitale, cast as the woebegone prisoner. Buried Alive didn't make much of an impression when it was distributed theatrically in the U.S., though it did show up with great frequency on television in the 1950s and 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Milly Vitale, Paul Muller, (more)
- 1947
In this interesting Italian WW II comedy-drama, the residents of a remote Italian village find their lives forever changed when two American GIs break out of a German prison camp and hide out in their town. The fugitives are harbored by a local family. This divides the town into those wanting to protect them and those fearing German retribution. When a young German officer arrives to watch the town, tension mounts. One of the GIs is an African American and one night he gets terribly drunk and stumbles into the officer who is also rip-roaring drunk. The two end up continuing their bender together and no fighting erupts. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aldo Fabrizi, Gar Moore, (more)
