Alberto Sordi Movies

Unhappy neighbors hatch a homicidal scheme, then turn on each other in this Italian thriller similar to Strangers on a Train (1951). Vincenzo Persico (Rolando Ravello) is a miserable man. Despite graduating from college six years ago, he can't land a teaching position, so he's forced to live in humiliation with his mother, a pensioner. Vincenzo's neighbor, the 70-year-old Bartoloni (Alberto Sordi) is in a similar position. His wife, once a gorgeous artist, is now an obese, abusive alcoholic. One night Bartoloni gets Vincenzo drunk and makes him a proposition -- he'll pay him a large sum of money if the young man will kill his wife. The intoxicated Vincenzo doesn't agree, but the offer plagues his mind. Not long after, Mrs. Bartoloni is killed in a fall from her balcony. When her husband discovers his money missing, he assumes that Vincenzo is responsible. At the same time, Vincenzo claims to have landed a job, buying his mother gifts and taking his girlfriend out dancing. Bartoloni betrays Vincenzo, accusing him of murder. Arrested, Vincenzo unemotionally claims his innocence. The police investigation reveals Bartoloni's love for another woman, leaving them baffled over a case that had seemed to be an accident. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Emilio Garrone (Alberto Sordi) used to be a government functionary who supervised the leasing of broadcasting rights for the Italian government, but now he is retired. In this comedy, through a series of well-played scams, he winds up not only with the exclusive ownership of all broadcasting rights in Italy, but he soon takes over a big U.S. television network with money he doesn't have. At no point has he had two lira to rub together, but that doesn't stop him, because he wants to create something beautiful for his beloved granddaughter. This mild satire pokes fun at two very real figures in the Italian media business, Silvio Berusconi and Giancarlo Parretti. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Since Moliere's plays are national classics of France, an air of reverence surrounds them. However, they are for the most part comedies based on older commedia del'arte storylines and acting conventions (which most closely resemble the broad humor of the American vaudeville or the British music halls). Moliere's big innovation was to give the stock characters from these ancient themes an actual script to follow, rather than leaving them to improvise their own lines. His lines were usually much, much wittier. Otherwise, these tales are every bit as farcical (and sometimes slapstick) as anything from The Three Stooges or, for that matter, the classical farces of Plautus. However, when the actors ham it up in their parts too much, eyebrows are raised. This multinational production of Moliere's classic L'Avare, or The Miser is an excellent case in point. The lead role of Arpagone, the miser, is played exhuberantly by Alberto Sordi, who for years has traded (on and off the stage) on his pinched, miserly appearance and his romantic skittishness - somewhat akin to the shtik perfected by Jack Benny in the U.S. These characteristics also fit the role to a "T." In the story, the miserly widower is trying to arrange things for the maximum safety of his funds and to prevent his children from doing something stupid, like marrying poor people. In the meantime, his well-known wealth has made him the target of sinister matrimonial designs by the murderous sister of a powerful cardinal. He decides to find a suitable bride for himself to stave off this unhappy prospect, and at the same time arrange good marriages for his son and daughter (who have other people in mind). A triple wedding will cost little more than a single one, and will save him lots of money. Needless to say, everything goes wrong (and finally goes right) in this romantic farce. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Veteran actors Alberto Sordi and Bernard Blier play the earthy Battistini and shabby but elegant Mondardini, two older men abandoned by their families during the vacation months who decide to vacation together on the famed beaches of Cote d'Azur. The two bicker, quarrel and make up while they pursue various amorous dreams with the lovely women they encounter. Battistini runs into the man who stole his wife from him (Vittorio Caprioli) and is offered a chance to take her back. His own fortune depleted by his incessant pursuit of women, Mondardini begins a relationship with the ruined gambler Germaine (Andrea Ferreol). Misfortunes of all kinds appear ready to derail these two bon-vivants' good times, but they always manage to shrug them off and enjoy themselves. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this comedy/thriller, starring writer/director Alberto Sordi, Pietro (Sordi) and his wife (Anna Longhi) are Romans through-and-through. In their whole lives, they have never traveled far from their beloved city, though once they traveled to Bologna. Somehow, their son, the apple of their eye, has enrolled in New York University, in Manhattan. In this film, they decide to visit him there, and when Pietro witnesses a mafia killing, the police set him up in his own taxi and give him a phony identity. Since he doesn't know the city at all and doesn't speak English, this probably puts him an equal footing with a lot of other taxi drivers, so he fits right in. Eventually, in order to flush out the killers, the police use him as bait in a sting operation set in Miami. Meanwhile, the hapless fellow must cope with the peculiar culture he finds in America, (a country where everyone evidently speaks fluent Italian, as that is the language the film is shot in). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this take-off on Italian corruption, the indefatigable Alberto Sordi appears as Annibalo Salvemini, a morally upright and slightly eccentric judge determined to root out the causes of crime in his jurisdiction, even if the criminals lead all the way up to the highest echelons of political, corporate, and social power. His archenemy is Corrado Emilio Parisi (Joe Pesci), a crime boss who manipulates his minions and those who owe him favors like a puppeteer pulling the strings of his marionettes. Italian viewers will spot the many allusions to people in power and/or in the news with little difficulty, which may account for a twisted ending that lets most of the "accused" off the hook. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The real Marquis of Grillo lived in the early 18th century, but, for this take-off on the marquis' life, director Mario Monicelli) has changed the time period to the early 19th century when a lot more was going on in Rome. The marquis (Alberto Sordi) amuses himself by throwing red-hot coins to beggars, occasionally walling up the store entrance of an offending merchant and installing a urinal there instead, and generally making witty and broad comments on the life going on around him. His existence suddenly gets a lot more interesting when he discovers his physical (unrelated) twin in a Roman tavern (also Alberto Sordi) - a drunkard who works transporting coal when he is sober. As a joke, the marquis takes the passed-out drunk to his mansion and puts him in his bed -- fully intent on convincing the drunk and everyone else that this man is the real marquis. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Two men (Alberto Sordi and Carlo Verdone) representing two different generations of Italian comics team up to present a swinging father (Sordi) and naïve son (Verdone) on a trip to a seaside haven where the father's mistress awaits. The first stop on their itinerary is the mother's house, shared by her "significant other," a television scriptwriter. Continuing on through gorgeous seaside vistas and several minor adventures, the mismatched father-son pair finally reach the mistress's house. At that point, the father has just about given up trying to teach his innocent son about sex because he seems hopelessly disinterested -- or so it seems. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Argante (Alberto Sordi) is an eccentric recluse who suffers from a malady of real and imagined gastrointestinal difficulties in this tasteless, low-brow comedy. While his doctor (Bernard Blier) tries various cures, Argante exposes his unfaithful wife (Marina Vlady) and makes peace with his estranged daughter (Giuliana De Sio). The viewer is subjected to endless scenes of enemas as the film caters to the lowest levels of bathroom humor. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this anthology made up of three shorter comedies, Ugo Tognazzi, Paolo Villaggio and Alberto Sordi each bring their own special brand of humor to the screen. In "Saro Tutta Per Te" (I Will Be All Yours), Tognazzi is Enrico, a dentist who has agreed to vacation with his ex-wife at her lover's villa. All he really wants to do is take her to bed one more time, but he is consistently interrupted in his attempts by the arrival of yet more guests. In "Si Buana" (Yes, Buana), Villaggio is Wilson, a man in charge of a group of tourists in Kenya. One of this segment's highlights is the outspoken homesickness of his "native" black guide for the beauties of his homeland -- Rome. In the final episode, "La Vacanze Intelligenti" (Intelligent Vacation), Alberto Sordi is Remo, a greengrocer who, along with his wife, gets sent on a vacation by their well-meaning children who want to "improve" their parents' minds by sending them off to see Etruscan tombs, hear performances of atonal modern music, and appreciate the wonders of avant-garde modern art. In one of the most amusing vignettes, they see an art exhibit consisting of an enclosure filled with sheep with purple spots painted on their backs. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Antonio (Alberto Sordi) is an Italian art-restorer working at a cathedral in France. An old friend of his, Robert (Philippe Noiret), lives there. Robert is a banker who has married into money. A sexually adventurous young woman approaches Antonio, but he resists getting involved with her. When it is found that she was raped and murdered in a derelict house once inhabited by Robert's mother, Antonio is disturbed, for he recalls having seen his friend leaving the house at about the time of the murder. Meanwhile, the suspicions of the police have become centered on the two of them. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi