Steno Movies
Italian filmmaker and screenwriter Steno, born Stefano Vanzina in Rome, was a lawyer before enrolling in the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. For a while, he was a writer and a cartoonist. In 1939, he began working as a script collaborator and an assistant director. Sten launched his directorial career following WWII. At first he worked in collaboration with Mario Monicelli on eight comedy films starring slapstick funnyman Toto, but in 1953, he began working alone. He is best remembered for his comedies. In 1972, Steno scored a box-office smash with the thriller La Polizia Ringrazia. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1956
Mio Figlio Nero boasts one of the most eccentrically diverse casts in motion picture history. Silent movie queen Gloria Swanson hams it up as Agrippina, the mother of infamous 1st-century Roman emperor Nero. Her little boy grows up to become Alberto Sordi, who plays the notorious lyre-plucker and firebug for laughs. Nero's milk-bathing paramour Poppea is portrayed as a doe-eyed nymphet by Brigitte Bardot, while Roman statesman Seneca is given a satirical slant by Vittorio de Sica. It goes without saying that historical accuracy is not the strong suit of Mio Figlio Nero, which was released in the US as Nero's Big Weekend. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Gloria Swanson, (more)
- 1952
OK Nerone stars Italian film favorites Walter Chiari and Cario Capanine as a pair of fun-loving American sailors. While on a sightseeing tour of Rome, the two tars imagine themselves back to the days of Emperor Nero (Gino Cervi). The rest of the film is in the fine tradition of such Eddie Cantor comedies as Roman Scandals and Ali Baba Goes to Town, with Chiari and Capanine introducing 1st-century Rome to the pleasures of 20th-century America. The climax takes place in the Colosseum, as our heroes stage a football game to rescue the Christians from the lions. OK Nerone exists strictly for laughs, and in this respect it succeeds admirably. English-language prints were radically trimmed to satisfy the censors of the early 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Chiari, Silvana Pampanini, (more)
- 1978
Flatfoot was also released as The Knock-Out Cop. By any name, this Italian crime meller stars Baldwyn Dakile as Bodo, a tough, no-frills police officer. Determined to bring a gang of drug smugglers to justice, Bodo is ordered to lay off by his superiors. It's not likely that he will obey orders, of this one can be sure. The larger-than-life escapades of the "flatfoot" are made palatable by director Stefano Steno's tongue-in-cheek approach to the material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this Italian comedy, three unemployed actors are rehearsing for a crime scene in their boarding house unaware that they are being watched by a nosy neighbor who is convinced that they are professional assassins. He offers them money to kill his philandering wife, and the hungry thespians agree to do the deed. Of course, they don't plan on killing anyone. Meanwhile, the wife and her boy friend are cooking up their own plot. Real trouble ensues when all the different conspiracies get mixed up. As result, the husband has a fatal coronary, and to protect themselves, the woman and her lover lure into a sausage factory where they plan to throw the three into a meat grinder. Fortunately, the police arrive at the last minute and arrest the woman and her lover for the murder (even though they didn't really kill him) of her husband. The actors then attempt to resume their careers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
In this horror movie, the unwitting guests at a charming ancestral estate soon find themselves the main entree for the bloodsucking young proprietor's dinner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The English-language title of Toto a Colori is Toto in Color -- and it delivers on this promise. For the first time in his film career, that matchless Italian comedian Toto goes through his paces in living Ferraniacolor. There's not much of a plot: Toto performs several of his favorite stage routines before an enthusiastic audience. The best of these include a "human puppet" routine and a sketch involving a female pickpocket. While the color is pleasing to the eye, little is done to exploit its aesthetic value; one would have liked to see a few gags involving garish color schemes, colorful emotional mood-swings, and such. Supporting the star throughout the film's 100 minutes are Isa Barizza, Fulvia Franco, Franca Valeri and Galeazzo Benti. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Totò, Isa Barzizza, (more)
- 1958
In this Italian sci-fi comedy, Toto is not a little dog, but an enormously popular comedian. The story centers on him as he and another embark upon a space race. Their efforts are hampered by aliens who clone the heroes to keep them from exploring further. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Three episodes of slapstick sexual comedy comprise this film. In the first, a young priest is deserted by his flock until an American protestant minister comes to town with his lovely wife. When the parishioners are convinced that their priest has proved his manhood with the minister's wife, church attendance resumes. In the second episode, a travelling salesman is challenged by the nearly nude state of a lovely female hitchhiker. In the third episode, a woman trying to collect information on her philandering husband, in order to divorce him, is seated on an airplane next to a man who is deathly afraid of flying. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renato Pozzetto, Dalila di Lazzaro, (more)
