Armando Trovajoli Movies

Originally released as Trattedella Blanche, Girls Marked Danger offers a voyeuristic glimpse at the subrosa world of 20th century white slavery. Veteran Hollywood heavy Marc Lawrence plays a vice lord who recruits innocent young Italian ladies for his nefarious purposes, on the pretext of hiring them to be cabaret dancers in South America. Despite the fact that none of Lawrence's "girls" ever return home, the new candidates suspect nothing as they sign up for the tour. Since the plot and outcome of Girls Marked Danger are predictable, the film justifies its 78-minute length by concentrating on the backgrounds of some of the unfortunate lasses. The most tragic of the ladies is played by Eleanora Rossi Drago, who is not only brutally beaten and mishandled, but ends up dying in childbirth. The nominal romantic lead is played by Sophia Loren, who tends to be upstaged on this occasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Italian bedroom farce, the lusty "Queen of the Nile" is determined to be with her lover, Marc Antony, before he heads off to war. Unfortunately, she has been assigned a new guard. She made love to her previous guard and he ended up executed as had several guards before him. Her new guard does not know this. To see Marc, she has a slave girl impersonate her while she sneaks out. Upon her surreptitious return, she sees the guard making love to her double. The other guards are surprised to see the fellow alive the next day. He proves a useful fellow by saving the queen from a killer. He then saves the queen's imposter from the dungeon. Though the queen tries to seduce him, the guard finds life more appealing than love and demures. Instead he and the slave escape together where they make happy love for many years. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sophia Loren was still in the "Anna Magnani" phase of her career when she starred in La Donna del Flume (The River Girl). Sophia is cast as Nives, the girlfriend of capricious cigarette smuggler Gino Lodi (Rik Battaglia). When Gino deserts her, the impregnated Nives is soured on all men, including the "right" one, a likeable police guard (Gerald Oury). The first half of the film plays for laughs, while the second half evolves into a lachrymose soap opera. Through it all, Sophia Loren looks like a million lire--and she even gets to sing and dance! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

This conventional, unimaginative drama is about a coterie of "ladies of the evening" who get themselves embroiled in a cover-up that results in murder and suicide. Life seems to be proceeding as normal until one of the hookers has an elderly client die on her. The women rightly deduce that if their already bad reputation is saddled with a distinction of being sexually lethal, business might deteriorate. And so they decide to hide the body, which starts off a set of circumstances that make matters much worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In the year 20,000 B.C., the continent of Atlantis is ruled by King Yotar (Roldano Lupi), who has set his people on a course of fantastic scientific development. The Atlanteans have dominated the Earth from their capitol city of Metropolis with their powers and technology, but they have also inflicted terrible cruelties on humanity. Yotar has begun experimenting with the powers of life and death on his young son, hoping to grant him immortality. The hero Obro (Gordon Mitchell) appears at the outskirts of Metropolis, leading a quest to stop the Atlanteans and their bloody reign over the Earth. Obro's brothers and allies are killed by the powerful rays dispatched by the Atlanteans, but he is strong enough to survive them -- he is captured, but rather than kill him, Yotar decides to see if Obro's super-strong physique would make him a better subject than his son for his experiments. Obro is put through various tortures, and set upon by menaces including a murderous giant and a horde of blood-thirsty dwarves, and is finally liberated by rebels against Yotar's rule, including Yotar's own daughter, Mesede (Bella Cortez). With their help, Obro begins killing the king's guards and retainers, terrorizing his underlings and eluding capture as he isolates Yotar; meanwhile, Yotar is becoming increasingly concerned not only with his experiment, which is about to reach its conclusion and which may kill his son in the process, but with the volcanic forces that seem to be building up beneath Metropolis. Finally, as if in rebellion against the king's profane use of science, an eruption ensues -- earthquakes rend the city and tidal waves threaten to engulf Atlantis, and amid the conflagration, Yotar is moved to pity by the pleadings of his son. He turns to Obro and Mesede to help save the boy from the doom that he has brought upon Atlantis, its people, and himself. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Hercules (Reg Park) and King Androcles (Ettore Manni) are on an ocean expedition when Androcles is washed overboard during a storm near a mysterious island. Making landfall, Hercules finds that the island is the kingdom of Atlantis, ruled by a beautiful, cruel, and ambitious queen, Antinea (Fay Spain), who controls a mysterious source of power. She has transformed her personal guard into super-strong warriors -- each nearly a match for Hercules, put Androcles under her spell, and inflicted terrible wounds on her people, all in preparation for her plan to conquer the world. Hercules finds that her power stems from a source older than the gods on Olympus, one over which he has virtually no power. He must save his friend, release Antinea's people, and prevent her from carrying out her plans. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A school for wayward girls is plagued by mysterious attacks by a strange beast. This low budget, melodramatic horror film has several shadowy characters who are suspected of being werewolves. The girls really are wayward as they wander off into the nearby forest every time the moon is full. A wolf, a girl, and three men meet their demise at the claws of the unknown throat ripper. Terror grips the campus as the search continues for the murderous monster. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Long before the Olympics became tarnished by the questionable way in which sites for the games were selected, this excellent sports documentary by director Romolo Marcellini and his crew reminds viewers of the games' ideals, true spirit, and emotional impact. Rome is the site of the 1960s summer games filmed here, and an introduction to the city and its history, as well as the history of the games opens the documentary. Stirring scenes of village crowds cheering on the Olympic torch bearer as the flame is carried to the stadium are quickly followed by the spectacular opening celebrations. Then Marcellini logically segues into the highlights of most competitions, from the javelin toss to the decathalon, and swimming to cycling and track. Capturing the emotions of the competitors as well as providing scenic shots of the environment, the documentary easily sustains interest throughout its more than two-hour running time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Released in the US by 20th Century-Fox, Boccaccio '70 is a compendium of short subjects directed by three of Italy's top filmmakers. Each story is written in the style of the famed Italian essayist Boccaccio, albeit told in contemporary terms. First up is "The Raffle", written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica: Sophia Loren (wife of Boccaccio '70 producer Carlo Ponti) plays the sexy operator of a shooting gallery, who offers herself as first prize to the best shot. In "The Job", written by Suso Cecchi D'Amico and directed by Luchino Visconti, Romy Schneider carries a torch for her philandering boss Tomas Milian. The final segment is "The Temptation of Dr. Antonio", directed by Federico Fellini and scripted by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli; in this one, Anita Ekberg is an image on a poster who comes to life for the benefit of a drooling middle-aged professor (Peppino De Filippo). A fourth episode, "Renzo and Luciana", directed by Mario Monicelli, was cut from U.S. release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This two hour film contains no less than twenty different vignettes. Traffic jams, a father passing on to his son the deceitful ways to survive everyday life, punch drunk ex-fighters, exploitation of a blind man are among the many stories. Vittorio Gassmann and Ugo Tognazzi lead the cast of actors in this film directed by Dino Risi. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Vittorio Gassman stars as different characters in each of the nine episodes of this unusual Italian comedy. Playing everything from a practical joker to a prisoner, he comments upon romance, love and women in general, as referred to by the title. Prior to this feature, Gassman had worked with both screenwriter Ruggero Maccari and Ettore Scola (who also co-wrote rather than directed) in the 1962 feature Il Sorpasso from director Dino Risi. It was Risi and Maccari's teamwork which helped Gassman win a "Best Actor" award at Cannes Film Festival in 1974 for Profumo di Donna/Scent of a Woman. Gassman would later work with Maccari and Ettore again in episodic fashion with Signore e Signori Buonanotte/Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen (1976) and yet again in the drama Famiglia (1987). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide