Carlo Vanzina Movies

This comedy connects three unrelated stories of gamblers as they seek their fortunes in the casinos of Monte Carlo. When Furio (Christian De Sica) wins big but has his money stolen, he is forced to spend the night with an unappealing millionairess. Gino (Massimo Boldi) and his brother are fleeced by the fortune-hunting female Silvia (Florence Guerin). Oscar (Ezio Greggio) is a predatory gambler who find himself devoured by a French card shark. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Carol Ault and Elliott Gould co-star with Jean Rochefort and Pierre Cosso in this softcore erotic drama. Marina (Ault) is a young woman from a wealthy family who graduates from affairs with her maid and a young count to favoring the brutish attention of domineering men. Although she is portrayed as an amoral heroine with liberal attitudes, Marina inexplicably does not seek an end to her degrading humiliation and abuse. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This is a specialized, standard teen comedy set in a fast-food joint in Milano, featuring a series of skits and characters. The manager of the burger place loses his ethnic cooks and decides to make do with his brother-in-law and the restroom attendant. How difficult can it be to flip hamburgers? Meanwhile the customers and the neighborhood have their own stories to tell: two gangs fight it out, a waitress has a few adventures with the man she marries, and a delivery boy is mistaken for a professional photographer and joyously snaps shots of gorgeous models. None of the stories are particularly relevant to each other but they are energetic and upbeat. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This clichéd view of the U.S. from the window of an Italian boys' academy tour bus is meant to be a comic romp of a travelogue with potential sexual situations -- but the sex and the comedy never quite materialize. A young priest (Christian De Sica) is chaperoning the tour, and he almost ends up in bed with Mrs. De Romanis (Edwige Fenech) -- by accident, Peo (Jerry Calà) almost ends up in bed with an American -- by intention, and Antonella (Antonella Interlenghi) almost beds down Alessio (Claudio Amendola), but not quite. These near-misses were meant to raise the rating out of "restricted to 18 and above." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this nostalgic look back at the 1960s through rose-colored glasses, a group of teens meet and frolic and experience their individual emotional maelstroms at a seaside resort one summer -- and then they meet again two decades later. Most of the film is spent on the teen summer, filled with characters such as the wealthy and weighty young man romancing a would-be socialite, and the intellectual fellow who turns from his steady girlfriend to hook up with a powerfully attractive older woman (Virna Lisi). When the teens come together as vintage adults 20 years later, their lives have all changed and the experiences that bonded them during that far away summer echo in everyone's mind. Director Carlo Vanzina treats the teens' relationships with an intentionally light hand, which might unexpectedly make that later "echo" less resounding than intended. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This take-off on the soccer mania that is a part of Italian life centers on the comic presence of its star Diego Abatantuono who plays three different lead roles in the three "acts" that make up the film. In the first story, Donato (Abatantuono) is an out-of-work southerner trying to find his way in the north when he gets into disagreements with a bunch of soccer fans that are against his own, native team. In the next skit, Franco Abatantuono deserts his family, his home, his wife -- everyone -- when he finds out he has won the soccer lottery (he guessed the winning team), and he goes to celebrate at the most expensive hotel he can find. His celebrations are cut short, however, when his friends show up with some unexpected news. In the last story, Abatantuono plays Tirzan, a truck driver who borrows a truck from a friend to be able to get to a big match in Belgium, and then his borrowed truck is stolen in Paris -- should he try to make the match anyway? With Abatantuono's natural ability to chew up northern Italian with a southern dialect, the comic characters take on additional comedic dimensions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

During World War II, American USO tours gave new life to Italy's native music-hall performers, as it gave them a livelier venue for entertaining both the local population and the incoming soldiers. This Italian film, starring Alberto Sordi and Monica Vitti, tells the story of two such performers, their ambitions and their struggles. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi