Gigi Reder Movies
Italian character actor Gigi Reder was best known for playing Fillini opposite Paolo Villaggio's title character in the long-running Fantozzi series. Having spent over 50 years in the film industry, Reder worked under such directors as Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Alessandro Blasetti. Born and raised in Naples, Reder (born Luigi Schroeder) made his professional acting debut on-stage in 1950, performing alongside some of Italy's most famous stage actors, including Peppino de Filippo and Giorgio Albertazzi. He entered films opposite famed comedian Toto in Carlo Ludvico Brgaglia's 47 Morto Che Parla. Reder first teamed with Villaggio in Fantozzini (1975). Playing comically uneducated Fillini to Villaggio's domineering clerk made Reder a national star and led to the duo's appearing in eight more Fantozzi films through 1996. Villaggio and Reder would also work together on 34 other films, which included the series of Franchia comedies. In addition to the aforementioned films, two of Reder's more notable performances can be found in Luigi Comencini's Pane, Amore e Gelosia (1954) and Nanni Loy's Cafe Express (1980). Throughout his career, Reder continued to appear on-stage and occasionally performed on television, radio, and as a dubbing artist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1993
Ugo Fantozzi (Paolo Villagio) is a retired accountant who is stunningly ugly, and his ability to suffer having even the most innocent situations turn into unqualified disasters has made his name an Italian byword for a really luckless sad-sack. This is the seventh of the popular comedies depicting his adventures, and by rights should be the last. In it, he goes on a skiing weekend and finally gets his mitts on Signorina Silvani, the hard-bitten but sexy woman who tantalized him all during his working life. The story continues, showing the demise of his fellow office workers and then his own, but when he winds up in a Buddhist heaven instead of a Catholic one (typical sour luck, that) it begins to look as though he might get more chances to go through the whole darn thing again and again... ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Villaggio, Milena Vukotic, (more)
- 1988
For well over twenty years at the time of this film's release in 1988, the adventures of the hapless innocent Ugo Fantozzi (Paolo Villagio) have amused Italian audiences. In this latest installment of the Fantozzi series, he's about to retire from his job working in the hellish basement of a mortuary company. At a retirement ceremony he receives the obligatory gold watch, which, with his usual luck, has his name misspelled in the engraving. Energetic and capable of getting into more trouble in a few minutes than most of us manage in a whole lifetime, retirement is a daunting prospect for him. It proves to be an even more odious challenge to his wife Pina (Milena Vukotic), who soon takes a second job in order to pay her boss to hire Fantozzi for a make-believe job just to get him out of the house. When this fails, even more desperate measures are called for. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Villaggio, Milena Vukotic, (more)
- 1983
This is the fourth "Fantossi" comedy by director Neri Parenti and stars Paolo Villaggio again as the out-of-luck office clerk who is the butt of all jokes, the recipient of consistently bad fortune, and the father of an exceptionally ugly daughter. When Fantossi's daughter gets pregnant, he goes to the hospital to find out about an abortion for her but ends up on the operating table himself for a sex-change operation -- and as usual, no one pays any attention to his protests. Eventually he is put back together again, and by that time, his daughter has given birth to a strange-looking baby indeed -- much to the consternation of Fantossi's friends at the office who are forced to look at his baby pictures. Exaggerated episodes such as this characterize the humor in the film, humor that may be extreme but can be understood without subtitles. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Villaggio, Milena Vukotic, (more)
This entertaining, light comedy is carried on the shoulders of Nino Manfredi, who plays a gypsy coffee vendor illegally selling expresso on trains. Inventive, creative, and needing to stay several steps ahead of the conductors and other bureaucrats out to shut down his operation, the cafe artist often finds himself hiding out in the most unusual places. He needs the money because his young, asthmatic son needs medical attention. That fact casts no shadow on the comedy though, as the coffee vendor continues to dodge his pursuers toward what must surely be an upbeat ending for all concerned. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nino Manfredi, Adolfo Celi, (more)
- 1975
In a series of different stories, Fantozzi (Paolo Villaggio) is a stoical low-level office worker. He is beset by a world of difficulties which, despite his best efforts, he never overcomes. Villagio enacts these episodes, based on stories from his own book, in a manner which many compared to Buster Keaton. Given a low-budget production, this film was nonetheless extremely popular in its native Italy. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Villaggio
- 1961
An episodic, funny, though uneven spoof of human manners and foibles, this comedy by Vittorio de Sica begins in Naples when a disembodied voice announces to the city's residents "The Last Judgment will begin at 6:00 p.m." Naturally, not all are immediately willing to accept this statement -- but not for long. As comic vignettes unfold, the good citizens soon become even better as they try to undo past and present sins, just in case. There is a long list of top actors that show up briefly in the story, everyone from Alberto Sordi to Jimmy Durante, Melina Mercouri, Anouk Aimée, Vittorio Gassmann, and many, many others. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Renato Rascel, (more)
- 1960
In this occasionally amusing frolic, Gina Lollobrigida plays a sexy widow who returns to Italy from New York following the death of her husband. Her wealth and good looks entice all the men in her small village except for the one she really wants, the town blacksmith (Dale Robertson). Giuseppe Rotunno's warm cinematography and the irresistible Lollobrigida make this one worth seeing, while the screenplay (by Ettore Margadonna, Luciana Corda, and Joseph Stefano) manages to be clever without being smirky. Look for a funny bit by Vittorio DeSica, who supervised some scenes, as a loquacious priest. This film is also known as both Anna of Brooklyn and Fast and Sexy. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Dale Robertson, (more)
- 1955
Nannina (Silvana Pampanini) is planning to marry Mario (Antonio Cifariello), but the nuptials hit a snag when he's put in prison for hitting a policeman. She goes to work as a cashier in a bar owned by Oreste (Paolo Stoppa), an older man who falls in love with her. She wants to open a restaurant with him, but he severs contact with her once he realizes that she still loves Mario. Nevertheless, when Mario finally returns, Nannina is there as the proprietress of the restaurant. And she tells him that she sleeps safely at the convent until she's married! ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini, Alberto Sordi, (more)
- 1954
Legendary producer David O. Selznick teamed with Italian neorealist Vittorio De Sica (The Bicycle Thief) to bring audiences this heartfelt romantic drama concerning the pain of lost love and the difficulty of saying goodbye. When a beautiful but married American woman, Mary Forbes (Jennifer Jones), meets a handsome Italian, Giovanni Doria (Montgomery Clift), while on holiday in Rome, their forbidden affair soon develops into something more for the lovelorn Giovanni. As Mary bids her heartbroken lover farewell at the train station, Giovanni cannot repress his true feelings and begs her to remain with him in Italy. With a script that credits such writers as Truman Capote, Carson McCullers, Paul Gallico, and Alberto Moravia, Indiscretion of an American Wife has endured to become a true buried treasure of romantic cinema. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift, (more)
