Nino Manfredi Movies

Just before he became an even greater movie star, Nino Manfredi starred in a number of less well-known films. Among his best efforts from the end of this period is this film, where he plays four different kinds of male scoundrels in a series of smaller stories, all written and directed by Lina Wertmuller. In the first, he plays a small businessman whose enterprise is on the rocks; luckily, his wife is a (skillful) kleptomaniac, and he takes advantage of that fact. In the next episode, he's a carnival knife-thrower who has been planning for years to "miss" and "accidentally kill his female assistant. The third episode finds him playing a professor who uses his position to enjoy more than his share of young female companionship. In the final episode, he is a country yokel with a knack for complaining about the smallest things -- even when nothing is happening. Witty dialogue and sight gags enliven this episodic starring vehicle. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Maruchelli (Amedeo Nazzari) is an Italian expatriate who has made his fortune in Argentina. When he throws a lavish party to impress his Italian guests, his stone-faced friend Stefano (Nino Manfredi) feels the sting of not being as successful as his host. Vittorio Gassman co-stars with Silvana Pampanini in this contrasting social comedy drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Catherine Spaak was only eighteen, yet already known, when she co-starred in this comedy-drama with Nino Manfredi. She plays naive young woman Dora, who heads for the big city and a lot of growing up. Her exploits are mainly centered on the men she meets as she flits from one to the next without a great deal of worry or regret. She does have one on-again, off-again steady relationship with Nino (Manfredi) and spends some time with a middle-aged couple, Scipio and Amneris. All told, her relationships and experiences, especially her last romantic encounter which is not at all the best, contribute to her coming-of-age.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Romance, sex, and marriage are the themes of this episodic Italian comedy. The first of the four vignettes, "The Women" tells the story of a bored adulterer who feels ignored by his gaggle of mistresses and decides to obsess upon seducing an old conquest one more time. He later inadvertently deflowers a virgin. In "The Serpent" an ignored wife endeavors to get her husband to pay attention to her while they are on a Sicilian holiday by faking an encounter with a poisonous snake. She later pretends that two helpful truck drivers, who picked her up after a breakdown, raped her causing their arrest. Later the husband arrives, explains his wife's behavior and promises to be more mindful of her. In "The Soldier" a soldier attempts to seduce a lovely widow during a train ride. She ignores him until all the other passengers leave then in utter silence makes passionate love. Later when the train reaches its destination, the soldier tries to follow her, but her relatives stop him. She gets into a car and disappears down the road. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When an insurance salesman comes to a small Italian town, he is mistaken for a Fascist official sent from Rome. He is greeted by town officials and has an audience with a man plotting a resistance movement. The innocent salesman is caught up in the political upheaval that swept Italy in the days leading up to World War II. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In spite of its title, this sex comedy by director Luciano Salce is not another mythic costume drama with Steve Reeves in the lead. Instead, those little pills mentioned in the title are Herculean in their impact on the sexual drives of anyone who takes them. According to this tale, long before Viagra became a household word, the Chinese had potent pills for the impotent of any age. The comedy follows the effects of this medicinal substance on the guests at an Italian hotel in a resort town. Up for special attention is a man, his French mistress Odette (Jeanne Valerie), and his wife Silvia (Sylvia Koscina). Nino Manfredi and Vittorio De Sica star as the principal male protagonists. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this comedy, a bungling gang leader and his henchmen attempt to swipe a suitcase full of loot from a soccer pool. The task seems simple enough, but the gang suffers a variety of zany mishaps before the leader finally gets hold of the money. Just as he gets it, he is arrested by the police for jaywalking. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Despite of (or perhaps because of ) its sparse production values and unpretentiousness, the Italian Gli Innamorati was feted at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. The bulk of the story takes place in a single Roman neighborhood. In the manner of the 1925 German classic A Joyless Street, director Mauro Bolognini studies the hopes, dreams, successes and failures of the neighborhood's various and sundry denizens. No one subplot dominates the proceedings, though a bit of extra time is afforded the story of a fickle seamstress and her seemingly meek-and-mild boyfriend. The cast is dotted with such reassuringly familiar faces as Nino Manfredi and Gino Cervi. Released in the US as Wild Love, Gli Innamorati was instrumental in bringing international fame to director Bolognini, whose career soon shifted into high drive. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A straight-laced father and his not-so-straight brother come together under strange circumstances in this comedy from Italy. Only a few days before his daughter Chiara (Elena D'Urso) is to be married, Nicolo Gammarota (Lino Banfi) gets the sad news that his mother has passed on. Now Nicolo must arrange a funeral just as he's putting the finishing touches on his daughter's wedding. Adding to his troubles is the arrival of his brother Francesco (Nino Manfredi) to pay his respects. Forty years before, Francesco came out of the closet with his homosexuality, causing a minor scandal in their community; Francesco moved away, leaving his family to deal with the gossip, and Nicolo hasn't spoken to him since. However, it was their mother's final wish that Nicolo and Francesco come together for her burial, so the brothers embark on an unexpectedly eventful trip through the countryside to grant her last request. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi