Francesco Golisano Movies
- 1951
Vittorio DeSica's follow-up to The Bicycle Thief documents the lives of the poverty-stricken in post-war Italy. Francesco Golisano is Good Toto, an orphan boy who begins living with a cluster of beggars. His organizational efforts bring some structure to the colony and engenders a sense of faint happiness among its morose dwellers. When Toto is given a magic dove by a fairy, he uses its wish-granting powers to whoever asks, but the dove is eventually stolen. As a result, the land on which the beggars live is taken over, and they are jailed. In his prison, however, the dove returns to Toto, and his wish for the freedom of his friends is granted. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, (more)
- 1946
Filmed in Italy in 1948 as Sotte il Sole de Roma, this Renato Castellani-directed effort reached American screens the following year through the good graces of United Artists. Adhering to the then-fashionable "neorealist" school, the film is gritty and uncompromising for the most part, though it manages to exude a sense of optimism by film's end. Told in episodic fashion, the story concentrates on the various ramifications of Italy's post-fascist reconstruction, as seen through the eyes of an orphan (Oscar Blando) who comes of age during WW II. Some of the best scenes concern the boy's tempestuous courtship of his long-suffering girlfriend (Liliana Mancini). Dismissed as "mediocre" in the American trade paper Variety, Under the Sun of Rome nevertheless won the "Best Italian Film" award at the 1948 Venice Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francesco Golisano
