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
- 1954
Gabriele Ferzetti essays the amorous title character in Le Avventure di Giacomo Casanova. While incarcerated in a Spanish jail, the famed 18th-century lover remembers some of his more formidable conquests. Though many women have thrown themselves at Casanova's feet, the true love of his life was a Venetian lovely (Corinne Calvert) who steadfastly resisted his charms. Virtually plotless, the film is essentially an unending parade of feminine pulchritude, attractively garbed in revealing period costumes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriele Ferzetti
- 1953
Le Infedeli is graced by two internationally popular leading ladies: Italy's Gina Lollobrigida and Sweden's Mai Britt. The two actresses are but small portions of a larger plot mosaic, all about keeping up appearances no matter what the provocation. A group of "respectable" people are all partly responsible for the suicide of a servant girl. They are pounced upon by a wily blackmailer (Pierre Cressoy), who knows that these people will pay dearly rather than inform on themselves or others. The villain's comeuppance may seem a bit extreme, but it's undeniably satisfying. This Carlo Ponti-Dino DeLaurentiis production also features Irene Papas and Marina Vlady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, May Britt, (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)
- 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)
- 1951
Guardie e Ladri (Cops and Robbers) is buoyed by the combined comic talents of Aldo Fabrizi and Toto. Toto plays Ferdinando Esposito, a thief who has successfully eluded the law for many years. Fabrizi plays Bottoni, a detective who has been given three months to bring Esposito to justice. Deciding to bore from within, Bottoni ingratiates himself with Esposito's warm-hearted family. He finally meets his prey at a colorful family get-together. The men discover that they're kindred spirits. But this does not dissuade Bottoni's determination that the law must take its course. Amazingly, Cops and Robbers has yet to be remade as an American film: this would have been an ideal vehicle for the likes of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Tubbs
- 1951
Amedeo Nazzari stars as Peppe Musolino, a good-natured woodcutter wrongly accused of murder. Sentenced to 20 years in prison, Musolino escapes to wreak vengeance upon the actual culprit. In the process, he develops a reputation as a bloodthirsty bandit, knocking off the witnesses who perjured themselves on behalf of the real murderer. Filmed on location in the Calabrian Hills, Il Briganto Musolino is nothing if not exciting, thanks to the directorial know-how of veteran helmsman Mario Camerini. The film served to introduce American audiences to formidable Italian leading lady Silvana Mangano. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1946
Before turning to horror pictures, Italian filmmaker Riccardo Freda directed some of the finest costume epics of the postwar era. Filmed in 1946 as Aquila Nera, Freda's Return of the Black Eagle made it to American screens in 1949. Based on a story by Alexander Pushkin, the film concerns the exploits of a Russian soldier who wreaks vengeance against an evil landowner by assuming the guise of a masked bandit. Rossano Brazzi stars as Vladimir Dubrowski, aka the Black Eagle, while Irasema Dilian is his beloved Masha, daughter of his bitter enemy Kirila (Gino Cervi, cast in an uncharacteristically unsympathetic role). The swashbuckling and derring-do is leavened by a few welcome moments of humor, especially when Brazzi disguises himself as a wimpy French tutor. Return of the Black Eagle could have benefited from Technicolor, though the black-and-white photography of Rodolfo Lombardi is fine in its own way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rossano Brazzi, Irasema Dilian, (more)
