Rossano Brazzi Movies
Bologna-born Rosanno Brazzi abandoned his law studies at San Marco University when his parents were killed by fascists. Becoming an actor, Brazzi rapidly rose to matinee-idol status after his film debut in 1939; but while making faces before the Mussolini-controlled cameras by day, he was tirelessly active in the Resistance by night. He made his first Hollywood film, Little Women, in 1949, but it was his multi-hued portrayal of the impotent Count Vincenzo Toriato-Faurini in The Barefoot Contessa (1954) that won him international stardom. He went on to play such suave Europeans as Renato di Rossi in Summertime (1955) and Emile DeBecque in South Pacific (1958), after which his film roles tended to become routine and repetitive. An occasional visitor to television after his first small-screen appearance on a 1960 episode of The June Allyson Show, Brazzi was a regular on the Harold Robbins-created series The Survivors (1969), playing Onassis clone Antaeus Riakos. Turning to directing in the mid-1960s (sometimes under the nom de film of Edward Ross), Brazzi's best-known effort in this capacity was the modest family-oriented film The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (1966). From 1940 to 1981, Rosanno Brazzi was the husband of actress Lidia Bartalini; after her death, he married another actress, Ilse Fischer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
In this spooky political thriller, the world seems on the brink of a nuclear holocaust when an old agreement between the Kremlin and the Vatican comes to light. It is an American tourist (at least he seems like a tourist) who exposes the potentially deadly "Third Solution," and now only one diplomat can save the world from destruction. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, F. Murray Abraham, (more)
- 1985
Leading man Gabriel Byrne adds a "Harlequin Romance" dash to the two-part, six-hour TV movie Christopher Columbus. Seeking out a swifter route to the lucrative Indies, Genoa-born Columbus begs King John of Portugal (Max Von Sydow) to finance a westbound expedition. Failing this, he turns to Spain's Queen Isabella (Faye Dunaway), who is entranced by Columbus' near-religious fervor. After the famous 1492 expedition, Columbus is bankrolled for future forays into the New World, which win him both adulation and vilification. Originally telecast May 19 and 20, 1985, Christopher Columbus was filmed on location in Spain, Malta and the Dominican Republic, making full use of a $15 million budget. It isn't an earth-shattering cinematic experience, but is lots more worthwhile (and less ponderous) than the brace of Columbus biopics inflicted upon movie audiences in 1992. Those concerned with political correctness should be satisfied with the film's second half, which explores the more sinister elements of chauvinistic colonization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
This horror film takes place in Boston at the home of Joanna, a paraplegic (Christina Nagy). The wealthy Joanna lives with a companion, Ruth (Carroll Blumenberg), who helps take care of her needs. When young Craig (David Warbeck) comes in to help train Joanna to enter a special athletic competition for the wheelchair-bound, the two of them fall in love and make plans to marry. Craig knows that Joanna lost the use of her legs when she fell down the stairs, chased by a rapist who disguised himself as a priest. So when he starts dressing up as a priest and scaring her, the story takes a sinister turn for the worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Nagy, David Warbeck, (more)
To paraphrase 1930s wit Wilson Mizner, Fear City is like a trip through a sewer in a glass-bottom boat. In exploitation-flick fashion, the film exposes the seedy "nether world" of contemporary Manhattan. Unsavory Matt (Tom Berenger) and Nick (Jack Scalia) run a topless bar/booking agency, in direct competition with equally scuzzy Goldstein (Jan Murray). It's hard to imagine anyone lower than these low-lives until we're apprised of a serial killer who dutifully keeps a record of his murders in a diary. The killer's victims are all exotic dancers and hookers, prompting Matt to suspect that Goldstein is behind the crimes, and vice versa. Once they've decided that it's better to unite against a common enemy than to throw volleys at each other, Matt and Goldstein arrange between themselves to insure the safety of the women in their employ. Meanwhile, Matt's ex-girlfriend Loretta (Melanie Griffith), saddened by the murder of her lesbian lover Leila (Rae Dawn Chong), resumes her drug habit, while a dispirited Matt begins harking back to his own sordid past. The one redeeming aspect of Fear City is the ultimate triumph over the odds by Loretta, who by process of elimination emerges as the most likeable character in the bunch. For a film of this nature, Fear City boasts an unexpectedly strong cast, including the aforementioned actors and Billy Dee Williams, Rosanno Brazzi, Joe Santos and Michael V. Gazzo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
Cycle-flick habitue Greydon Clark warmed the director's chair for Final Justice. Joe Don Baker stars as a Texas sheriff attempting to stem corruption in his own community. Failing this, the sheriff (Baker) is compelled to follow the mob perpetrators all the way to Italy. It is hardly uplifting entertainment, but it certainly delivers the goods in terms of bloody action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Don Baker, Venantino Venantini, (more)
The lavishly produced three-part telemovie The Far Pavilions was adapted from the best-selling novel by M.M. Kaye. Set in colonial India during the second Afghan war, the film concerns the exploits of Ashton Pelham-Martyn (Ben Cross), a British officer. Born and raised in India, Pelham-Martyn finds himself a victim of his own divided loyalties as he leads a campaign against the rebellious tribal leaders on the northwestern frontier. The meat of the drama is Pelham-Martyn's "forbidden" romance with his lifelong friend, half-caste Hindu princess Anjuli (Amy Irving). The supporting cast includes the illustrious likes of Omar Sharif and Christopher Lee. Filmed on location on a budget of $12 million (the most costly made-for-cable movie up to 1984), The Far Pavilions originally aired over the HBO service on April 22, 23 and 24, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Mario (Enrico Montesano) works as a hospital orderly whose lucky win in a lottery for a new luxury car turns out to be his greatest misfortune. His first mistake was to hide the car from his wife (Edwige Fenech) in an effort to hang on to it, rather than sell it off for the money as she would want. His next mistake was to inadvertently pose as a doctor when seen with the car. And from that point onward, the mistakes multiply until he is even accused of terrorist activities and brought into the police station, where he is led in confusion through a bureaucratic labyrinth. By now, Mario's four-wheeled conveyance has lost a lot of its original sheen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Enrico Montesano, Edwige Fenech, (more)
- 1982
This biographical essay tackles the early life of Mother Teresa in her Yugoslavian homeland (she was born at Skopje in 1910). Her mother sent her to care for an aunt who was suffering from tuberculosis, a disease that young Agnes Gongia (Mother Teresa) contracted as a result of her exposure. She angrily turned against her mother for sending her to care for the aunt, but her mother was also responsible for her cure. She put Gongia in a convent in the mountains where she was cloistered with the rest of the nuns, and although she was healed in the process, she came away hating a cloistered life. Until that time, her career prospects had tended toward professional singing -- she had a striking voice and actually sang for awhile with an orchestra conducted by her cousin, someone that aroused her romantic interest. Her true vocation did not come to the fore until she talked to a priest (Rossano Brazzi) who had just returned from India, and she realized that she wanted to help others as a nun, but in a very practical way -- perhaps by handling cases that no one else wanted (not unlike caring for her sick aunt). It would not be long then, before Calcutta was to benefit from young Gongia's calling. (Mother Teresa) died in India on Friday, Sept. 5, 1997. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marisa Belli, Bekim Fehmiu, (more)
The second sequel to the 1976 horror hit The Omen finds Damien Thorn assuming the full mantle of the Antichrist and preparing for a final, all-out battle with "the Nazarene." Now in his thirties, Damien (Sam Neill) has elevated the family business, Thorn Industries, into the world's biggest multinational corporation. A little bit of black magic paves the way for Damien to become ambassador to England and the head of an international youth council. He soon uses this platform to amass an army of followers to do his bidding. But when Damien notices the confluence of three stars in the sky on March 24, he gets worried about the second coming of Christ. So he orders his minions to kill all the babies born on that day, warning them: "Fail, and you will be condemned to a numbing eternity in the flaccid bosom of Christ." Damien even orders his faithful private secretary, Harvey Dean (Don Gordon), to commit infanticide on his own kid, just because the guy's wife gave birth on the wrong day; a nasty incident involving laundry-room implements soon follows. Meanwhile, Damien romances Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow), a beautiful television anchorwoman who feels like a moth drawn to Damien's charismatic flame -- even after he brutally sodomizes her to show her how the world looks through his eyes. Things come to a head when Brother DeCarlo (Rossano Brazzi), one of a secret cabal of monks who have assembled the seven Daggers of Meggido in hopes of assassinating Damien, reveals to Kate that the Antichrist has taken her son (Barnaby Holm) under his wing. Although The Final Conflict was the final theatrical installment of the Omen series, the made-for-TV Omen IV: The Awakening appeared a decade later. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi, (more)
- 1981
Alberto Sordi directs this light comedy, and also stars as its mechanically challenged hero, a wealthy male chauvinist named Enrico who deals in wine better than he handles women. On a trip to the great land of America, Enrico discovers the wonders of a trained household robot named Catherine who outperforms any of the disgruntled women back at his home. When these women -- his wife (Valeria Valeri), his mistress (Catherine Spaak), and his maid -- decide to dump him, he immediately thinks of the marvelous robot he saw on his trip. Before anyone has time to plug in a battery, Enrico has acquired his own robot, named her Catherine, and is on his way to serious trouble. The metallic Catherine may be made of steel, but her robotic interior takes a shine to Enrico. Little does he know that a robot scorned hath more fury than any woman, and when he brings home Elisabetta (Edwige Fenech) for a romp in his cavernous bedroom, the clanking Catherine loses it. Enrico's problems with women were nothing by comparison. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Edwige Fenech, (more)
- 1980
This drama chronicles the real-life story of Native America's first declared saint, Elizabeth Bayley Seton. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1979
This animated presentation features a circus poodle and his 400-pound Bengal tiger when they escape from the circus. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
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Another horrible horror from Italy, which undoubtedly marked the absolute nadir of Rossano Brazzi's career in the wake of South Pacific. Brazzi plays the deranged Dr. Frankenstein (the credits list him as a Count -- someone must have gotten their monsters mixed) who, like many Frankensteins of yore, endeavors to build an enormous humanoid monster; this one has been given the more biblical name "Goliath." Again, as is the case with so many of his mad-doc brethren, Frank has failed to plan ahead and secure a proper brain for the creature's empty cranium (finding one for the director might have been a better idea). He assigns this task to his somewhat less-than-competent servants, including a dwarf named Genz (Michael Dunn). Believe it or not, the operation does not come off as smoothly as planned, and Genz is exiled from the castle. Miffed, the disgruntled fellow plots revenge against his ex-boss, enlisting the aid of a Neanderthal man named "Ook" (credited under the quaint pseudonym "Boris Lugosi"), who likes to wear jogging shorts. None of this really makes any sense, as it serves only as a vehicle for abundant female nudity and plentiful gore. Also known as House of Freaks and released to video as Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1972
The romantic and professional life of composer Johann Strauss Jr. provides the basis of this colorful remake of the 1938 version. Highlights include the location shots in Austria and the soundtrack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
In this drama set in Guatemala, the leader of a revolution kills a general and hides out in the Mexican embassy and is protected by a highly principled ambassador who stands face in the face of police pressure. Later the diplomat arranges safe passage out of the country for the rebel, despite the fact that the fellow had an affair with his wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rossano Brazzi, Cameron Mitchell, (more)
- 1971
- R
Sexual situations abound throughout this Italian/English language film, which uses many quickly shown images (montage) to further the mood and the story. Nino Castelnuovo is Mario, the boyfriend from hell, who consigns his girlfriend Licia (Adrienne La Russa) to a whorehouse for an evening in order to get the photographic goods with which to blackmail her father (Rossano Brazzi). To get her out of the way, Licia is then consigned to a mental hospital by her father. When she goes genuinely insane, she is released. Revenge for all this mistreatment is the order of the day. No one escapes Licia's tricks as she uses sex, psychological torture and murder to get even. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Hardin is out for revenge after his wife and child are killed and he locates and eliminates the six man gang led by villain Brazzi. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1971
When the Italian and British armies are fighting in Africa at the beginning of World War II, a game warden and his wife have their hands full trying to defend the wildlife of Africa against the encroachments of the war. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The lives of many are in the hands of Italian Police Commissioner Castroni, who is challenged by four young terrorists who are wreaking havoc upon the entire community. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1971
Skin Game was historically significant as the 2000th film produced by Warner Bros. studios. The film is a comedy western starring James Garner and Louis Gossett Jr. as a pair of clever Antebellum con men. Garner regularly "sells" the black Gossett into slavery for an exalted price, then "liberates" Gossett so that they can move on to the next sucker. Unfortunately, they outsmart themselves, and before long Gossett seems doomed to a lifetime of forced servitude. They are rescued by pretty pickpocket Susan Clark, who has a few surprises in store for them. Skin Game was supposed to be spun off into a TV series, but the project never got any farther than the 1974 pilot film Sidekicks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on Harold Robbins' bestseller, The Adventurers stars Yugoslav heartthrob Bekim Fehmiu as Porfirio Rubirosa clone Dax Xenos. Having suffered mightily as a child in a fictional South American country due to the political activities of his parents, Xenos grows up to become a sleazy, sexually manipulative playboy. He romances middle-aged widow Olivia de Havilland, then dumps her after he's run through her fortune. He then takes up with heiress Candice Bergen, who bears his child. When the kid is killed and Xenos turns his back on her, Bergen finds solace in lesbianism. All the while, Xenos is fomenting revolutions aimed at toppling the Trujillo-like despot (Alan Badel) responsible for the death of his father. The Adventurers received a lot of magazine coverage due to a poolside nude scene and the "guess who this is supposed to be?" nature of the cast of characters. But it failed to establish Bekim Fehmiu as an international star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bekim Fehmiu, Charles Aznavour, (more)
Volcano is the reissue title of the muddled disaster flick Krakatoa: East of Java. The name change was reportedly put into effect after thousands of filmgoers noted publicly that Krakatoa is west of Java. As might be expected, the story takes place in 1883, when the long-dormant volcano at Krakatoa erupted with A-bomb force. Since everyone knows what's coming, the filmmakers try to stir up suspense with a gratuitous subplot involving ship's-captain Maximilian Schell and his mutinous crew (a similar plot device had been used in a previous dramatization of the Krakatoa incident, 1953's Fair Wind to Java). The climactic special effects are spectacular enough to make the script, and the all-star cast (including Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Rossano Brazzi, and Sal Mineo), seem utterly superfluous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Diane Baker, (more)
- 1969
Filmed in Spain, this TV movie stars Janet Leigh as an American woman honeymooning with her new husband. She awakens after the wedding night, only to be confronted with a stranger who insists that he's her husband. Leigh goes to the authorities, who unfortunately believe the ersatz husband's story. Or perhaps it's not as unfortunate as it seems...because Leigh herself is not all she seems. The central plot twist in Honeymoon With a Stranger was reworked into several subsequent TV-movies, until overuse robbed the twist of any surprise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
