Ettore Maria Margadonna Movies
- 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)
- 1959
Prolific director Giorgio Bianchi comes off with another good comedy in Il Moralista, due in no small part to the talents of Alberto Sordi as Agostino, the de facto head of a censorship board whose double life as a nightclub owner might raise some questions as to his censorial judgment. The titular head of the organization (Vittorio De Sica) is not that interested in running it himself, being more interested in women. The censors must review everything from posters for a show to the costumes in a show, as well as a production's language and content. Given their predilections, Agostino and his boss are unlikely candidates for making others walk the straight and narrow path of socially acceptable fare. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Vittorio De Sica, (more)
- 1958
Anna may be from Brooklyn, but this medium-budget domestic drama was filmed and financed in Italy. The title character, played by Gina Lollobrigida, returns from Flatbush to her small village in Italy in search of a husband. Among her suitors are Dale Robertson and Vittorio DeSica, indicating that the producers were hoping to "click" in box-offices on both sides of the Atlantic. Anna finally chooses the Right Man, with plenty of time for "sampling" along the way. The English-language scenes in Anna of Brooklyn were directed by Reginald Denham, while the Italian sequences were helmed by Carlo Lasticati. The film was distributed in the US by Columbia (who bought the picture from RKO) under the title Fast and Sexy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
In this Italian romantic comedy set in the town of Sorrento, on the beautiful Bay of Naples, a woman rents a home from a dashing womanizer. Unfortunately, after 30 years away, the man returns to become the town police chief and wants to reclaim his home. The woman refuses to leave. The man then attempts to use his many charms. The ploy works and the woman agrees to dump her fiancé and marry him instead. When the womanizer realizes what she is about to do, he jilts her instead and decides to woo his own landlady instead. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The third entry in the Italian "Bread, Love and. . ." series, Pane, Amore e. . . was directed by Dino Risi, taking over from the auteur of the first two films, Luigi Comencini. Likewise, Sophia Loren substitutes for Gina Lollobrigida, the female star of the earlier films; only Vittorio De Sica returns for the third time. De Sica plays a retired village marshal who returns to his home town of Sorrento, where much against his will he is appointed chief of police. His first job is to evict Sophia Loren, the sexy fish peddler who has been living in his old apartment. By and by, De Sica falls in love with Loren, never realizing (at least until the last reel) that landlady Lea Padovani is the "right" girl for him. In America, Pane, Amore E. . . was released as Scandal in Sorrento. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren, (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
In this sequel to Bread, Love, and Dreams a fortyish man gets himself in trouble with his wife who suspects him of messing around with a sexy woman. Unfortunately, he is innocent. His attempts to prove it form the basis for the story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Vittorio De Sica, (more)
- 1953
This film boasts clips of numerous acclaimed actors and actresses of Italy's silent cinema: Francesca Bertini, Lyda Borelli, Eleonora Duse, Antonio Gandusio, Elena Makowska (who also acts in this film), Pina Manichelli, Amleto Novelli, Bartolomeo Pagano, and Ermete Zacconi. They're glimpsed in footage from the collection of a former silent-film actor, Ettore Omeri (Umberto Melnati), who shows them at local schools. The performances of Bertini and Borelli draw laughter from some of the younger members of the audience, provoking an incident at the screening. A woman recognizes herself acting in one of the films Omeri exhibits and takes offense at the derisive reactions. She requests the clip from him and sends her son to obtain it, but while he's visiting the film archive, Omeri's secretary accidentally starts a fire. Omeri is arrested for mishandling dangerous materials, but freed by the help of the wealthy producer who is the husband of the silent-film actress; he gives Omeri work and helps endow his film museum. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Umberto Melnati, Maria Pia Casilio, (more)
Vittorio De Sica plays the middle-aged marshal of carabiniers in a remote Italian mountain village. He's anxious to marry, and selects young Gina Lollobrigida as his bride; but she is already in love with De Sica's shy subordinate Roberto Risso. Mistaking her headstrong behavior as promiscuity, De Sica makes advances towards her, but she spurns him. Forsaking the girl to the arms of Risso, De Sica decides to settle for village midwife Marisa Merlini. Originally titled Pane, Amore, e Fantasia when released in Italy, Bread, Love and Dreams contains what some regard as Gina Lollobrigida's best and most naturalistic performance. The film's popularity resulted in two sequels, both with Lollobrigida: Pane, Amore e Gelosia (US title: Frisky) and the open-ended Pane, Amore e... (released in the states as Scandal in Sorrento). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Gina Lollobrigida, (more)
- 1953
Il Segno di Venera (The Sign of Venus) offers an earthier Sophia Loren than American audiences would later become accustomed to. Agnese (Loren) has no trouble attracting men, which is more than can be said for her plain-Jane friend Cesira (Franca Valeri). The two girls embark on a search for an appropriate mate for Cesira, despite the fact that all eligible males instantly gravitate to Agnese. Some of the choices -- petty thief Alberto Sordi, impecunious poet Vittorio De Sica -- are frankly not good enough for either girl. Alternating between humor and pathos, Il Segno di Venera is light, forgettable entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franca Valeri, Vittorio De Sica, (more)
The White Sheik (Lo Sceicco Bianco), Fellini's first solo flight as director, is a gentle lampoon of the idolatry heaped upon movie stars. An impressionable young bride, Wanda (Brunella Bovo) accompanies her husband Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste) on a dull honeymoon, full of meetings with family members and the papal father. Bovo fantasizes over matinee idol Fernando Rivoli, AKA The White Sheik (Alberto Sordi), the hero of a photo strip comic. She repeatedly drifts away from her husband and back, in periodic attempts to find The Sheik, ultimately repairing to the location site where Sordi's latest film, The White Shiek, is in production. Her inevitable disillusionment with the vainglorious Sordi is intercut with her husband's comic (and desperate) attempts to explain his wife's absences at family gatherings to his disgruntled relatives. After a comically inept suicide attempt, Bovo and Trieste are reunited. Featured in the cast is Fellini's wife Giuletta Masina as a prostitute named Cabiria, who'd be given a vehicle of her own, Nights of Cabiria, in 1955. Based on "an idea" by Michelangelo Antonioni, The White Sheik was the main inspiration for Gene Wilder's The World's Greatest Lover (1977). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Brunella Bovo, (more)
- 1952
Due Soldi di Speranza is better known by its English-language titles Two Pennies of Hope and Two Cents Worth of Hope. The film was the third in director Renato Castellani's "young love" trilogy (the first two being Sotto il sole di Roma and E Primavera). Filmed on location near Naples, the story concerns the romance between Carmela (Maria Fiore) and Antonio (Vincenzo Musolino). The ardor is one-sided at first, but Carmela is a determined young woman, willing to scale and conquer any obstacle in pursuing her heart's desire. Once he's "hooked," Antonio scurries from job to job to prove his financial viability. Faced with the hostility of their parents, Carmela and Antonio symbolically shed themselves of all responsibilities to others in a climactic act of stark-naked bravado. Due Soldi di Speranza won the 1952 Best Film award at the Cannes Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Fiore
- 1949
Filmed in 1946 as Il Bandido, The Bandit came to the U.S. in 1949 on the strength of the worldwide popularity of star Anna Magnani. The title character is Ernesto (Amadeo Nazzari), who turns to crime after suffering shell shock during WW II. Magnani plays Ernesto's faithful girlfriend Lydia. Their relationship is as foredoomed as Ernesto himself, who comes to grief through an extreme act of self-sacrifice. The Bandit was the third directorial effort of Alberto Lattuada. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Magnani, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1947
Though Italian opera star Ferruccio Tagliavini had proven himself a pleasing screen personality, only his voice is heard in Return, Most Beloved. Miming to Tagliavini's prerecorded singing is Claudio Gora, cast as legendary 19th-century Italian songwriter Francesco Paola Tosti. The screenplay concentrates as much on Tosti's amorous conquest as his musical accomplishments. Special attention is lavished upon Tosti's affair with ill-fated Polish countess Maria Wernoska (Laura Adami), for whose sake the composer abandons his longtime mistress Dionisia Tesseri (Germana Paclieri). It is suggested that the dying countess' decision to send Tosti back to Dionisia prompted him to write his greatest and most heartfelt compositions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Adani
- 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
- 1938
L'Argine (The Dyke) was based on the stage play by Pino Alessi. Gino Cervi plays Zvani, a small-town rake of the "love 'em and leave 'em" school. Zvani meets his match when a beautiful, mysterious woman (Rubi D'Alma) from the city arrives at his mother's inn. Obsessed with the gorgeous stranger, Zvani descends into near-madness when she leaves him to return to her own people. He then follows her to the city, supporting himself as a restaurant musician. His reunion with the woman is a textbook example of disillusionment, driving Zvani back home and into the arms of his true love (Luisa Ferrida). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gino Cervi
