Cesare Zavattini Movies
Italian screenwriter and film theorist Cesare Zavattini started as a writer of traditionalist, commonplace short stories and novels. His first screenplay, Daro un Milione (1935), fell so comfortably into formula that it was easily adapted into the Hollywood film I'll Give a Million (1938). His sensibilities toughened by the war, Zavattini began formulating the theories which helped launch the Italian neorealist movement of the postwar era. Zavattini's script for The Children Are Watching Us (1943) was the first of 23 collaborations with director Vittorio De Sica, the most internationally famous of which included Shoeshine (1943), The Bicycle Thief (1948), and Umberto D (1952). When De Sica decided that neorealism was becoming a cliché, and thus went on to such sentimental, box-office-safe comedies as The Gold of Naples (1954) and Marriage Italian Style (1964), Zavattini obligingly altered his writing style. Any accusations that Zavattini had abandoned neorealism were quelled by his searing screenplay for De Sica's Two Women (1962). As European movie tastes veered more toward the French New Wave, Zavattini attempted to touch base with this school; but his work on such films as A Young World (1966) and Woman Times Seven (1967) was disappointingly derivative, obliging critics to label the once-progressive writer as an "Old Timer." Zavattini regained pride of place with his final collaboration with De Sica, Sunflower (1969), which succeeded despite the noncreative interference of producer Carlo Ponti (whose wife, Sophia Loren, was the star). Cesare Zavattini's final contribution to cinema was an acting assignment in 1989's Strand -- Under the Dark Cloth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1937
Daro un Milione (I'll Give A Million) was another felicitous collaboration between director Mario Camerini and his favorite star Vittorio de Sica. The story gets under way when a cynical millionaire announces that he intends to disguise himself as a hobo and given a million lire to anyone who treats him nicely. As a result, every bum in Rome is given the royal treatment on the off-chance that they're the millionaire. While the tramps revel in this sudden wave of good fortune, the real millionaire finds true love with a pretty circus performer who knows nothing about the "I'll Give a Million" campaign. Co-written by Cesare Zavattini and Giaci Mondani Daro un Milione was remade in Hollywood in 1938, with Warner Baxter as the millionaire, Marjorie Weaver as the heroine, and Peter Lorre and John Carradine as two of the happy hoboes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Assia Noris, (more)
- 1942
Originally released in 1942, Four Steps in the Clouds (Quattro Passi fra le Nuvole) was a major stepping stone in the starring career of Gino Cervi. The story begins as young unwed mother-to-be Maria (Adriana Benetti) desperately casts about for a means of avoiding disgrace. Making the acquaintance of good-natured Paolo Bianchi (Cervi), Maria persuades him to pose as her husband and meet her family. Immediately ingratiating himself with Maria's parents, Paolo plays his part so well that only a completely unforeseen disaster could spoil the charade. And when that disaster inevitably arrives, it is Paolo who comes to the rescue -- simply by telling the truth for the first time in the picture! Four Steps in the Clouds was superbly remade by Alfonso Arau in 1995 as A Walk in the Clouds, with Keanu Reeves in the Gino Cervi role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gino Cervi
A very early Vittorio De Sica effort, The Children Are Watching Us was originally released in Italy as I Bambini Ci Guardano. Director De Sica collaborated with another neorealist pioneer, Cesare Zavattini, on the screenplay. The film, a real tearjerker, concerns a young mother (Isa Pola) who can't stand the pressures exerted on her by family responsibilities. She deserts her husband (Emilio Cigoli) and her brood, permanently ruining the life of her four-year-old son, Prico (Luciano de Ambrosis). Avoiding the rococo gestures and dramatic overstatement that might have attended this film had it been made in Hollywood, De Sica fashions a subtle tale about real people caught up in a real situation. De Sica's sensitivity toward the younger cast members of The Children Are Watching Us would manifest itself in many of his formative films, notably Sciuscià and The Bicycle Thief. Made in 1942, the film was not released in Italy until 1944. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emilio Cigoli, Isa Pola, (more)
- 1947
Vittorio DeSica's Shoeshine (Sciuscia) is a must-see example of Italian neorealist cinema, ranking with such other neorealist classics as DeSica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) and Umberto D. (1952) and Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945). Using nonprofessional actors, DeSica and co-screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, also one of neorealism's leading figures, paint an uncompromising picture of the lives of Italian street children abandoned by their parents at the end of World War II. The film concentrates on two such children, Giuseppe (Rinaldo Smerdoni) and Pasquale (Franco Interlenghi). With no one else to turn to, the boys form a solid friendship, as well as a "corporation" of sorts: they eke out a living shining the boots of American GIs. The boys' hope for a rosier future is manifested in their dreams of owning a beautiful white horse. This, along with all their other aspirations, is eradicated when the boys are inadvertently shipped off to a reformatory. A failure in Italy (director DeSica noted that postwar Italian audiences preferred the glossy escapism emanating from Hollywood), Shoeshine was a huge success worldwide, as well as the winner of a special Academy Awards. Like Bicycle Thieves, it combines DeSica's frequent focus on children with his emphasis on post-war social problems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pacifico Astrologo, Franco Interlenghi, (more)
- 1948
Anna Magnani provides the box-office luster for this pedestrian wartime melodrama. Filmed on location in Milan, the story revolves around a jackbooted Nazi officer. A textbook study in sadism, the officer regains his humanity when he is nursed through a raging illness by peasant woman Magnani. The screenplay is by neorealism maven Cesar Zavattini, who'd certainly done better work than this. Filmed in 1946, Lo Sconosluto di San Marino (The Unknown of San Marino) was released in the U.S. in 1948, where it suffered in comparison to the onslaught of superior Italian productions of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Magnani
This landmark Italian neorealist drama became one of the best-known and most widely acclaimed European movies, including a special Academy Award as "most outstanding foreign film" seven years before that Oscar category existed. Written primarily by neorealist pioneer Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio DeSica, also one of the movement's main forces, the movie featured all the hallmarks of the neorealist style: a simple story about the lives of ordinary people, outdoor shooting and lighting, non-actors mixed together with actors, and a focus on social problems in the aftermath of World War II. Lamberto Maggiorani plays Antonio, an unemployed man who finds a coveted job that requires a bicycle. When it is stolen on his first day of work, Antonio and his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) begin a frantic search, learning valuable lessons along the way. The movie focuses on both the relationship between the father and the son and the larger framework of poverty and unemployment in postwar Italy. As in such other classic films as Shoeshine (1946), Umberto D. (1952), and his late masterpiece The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971), DeSica focuses on the ordinary details of ordinary lives as a way to dramatize wider social issues. As a result, The Bicycle Thief works as a sentimental study of a father and son, a historical document, a social statement, and a record of one of the century's most influential film movements. ~ Leo Charney, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lamberto Maggiorani, Lianella Carell, (more)
- 1948
French filmmaker Rene Clement's international reputation was secured with Au Dela des Grilles. A French-Italian production, the film sagaciously teamed the most popular stars of each nation: France's Jean Gabin and Italy's Isa Miranda. Gabin is cast as a murderer who escapes prosecution by stowing away on a ship. Suffering from a toothache, he disembarks in Italy in search of a dentist, only to have his few possessions stolen. This setback leads to an extended emotional interlude involving Gabin, a waitress (Miranda) and the waitress' daughter (Andrea Checchi). While keeping in line with the realistic nature of Clement's postwar films, Au Dela des Grilles harks back to the more lyrical style of his prewar efforts. Released in English-speaking countries as Behind the Barriers and The Walls of Malapaga, Au Dela des Grilles won the 1948 "Best Foreign Film" Academy Award, and also earned Clement the "Best Director" prize at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Isa Miranda, (more)
- 1949
The Italian The Sky is Red (Il Cielo e Rosso) details the romantic adventures of two postwar couples. Despite being confined to a quarantined zone (quarantined for political, rather than health reasons), love finds a way. The neorealistic elements are passable, but what really "sold" this film abroad was its graphic-for-its-times sexual content. The cast is headed by Jacques Sernas and Marina Berti, another step in the right direction box office-wise. One of the young romeos is played by Mischa Auer Jr., son of the famed Russian comic actor. Among the many screenwriters of The Sky is Red is frequent De Sica and Fellini collaborator Cesare Zavattini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marina Berti, Jacques Sernas, (more)
- 1949
This docu-drama offers glimpses from the lives of people enjoying a carefree Sunday afternoon upon a sunny Roman beach and features the film debut of Marcello Mastroianni. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Domenica D'Agosto was the first feature-length effort from Italian documentary filmmaker Luciano Emmeri. The film keeps within the accepted guidelines of Italian neorealism, albeit with a surfeit of warmth and humor. Emmeri details a typical midsummer Sunday in a seaside resort. A cast of professional actors mingles with carefully chosen nonprofessionals to illustrate a series of perceptive vignettes about big-city vacationers. Such is the consummate skill of the director and his screenwriters (including the ubiquitous Cesare Zavattini) that it's difficult for the audience to determine where the scripted scenes end and the "real" scenes begin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emilio Cigoli
- 1950
A father must find a communion dress for his daughter in this award- winning Italian comedy. As he looks throughout the city, he ends up suffering through a variety of mishaps. His is bothered by a cop, his car breaks down, and he can't seem to hail a cab. Eventually, he does find the perfect dress. As he starts home on the bus he gets into a fight and the dress is ruined. He then tries to buy the dress of a neighbor girl. In desperation, he then begins pleading to have the communion time rescheduled. The irony is that, unbeknownst to her devoted dad, the daughter already has a new dress. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aldo Fabrizi, Gaby Morlay, (more)
- 1951
Vittorio DeSica's follow-up to The Bicycle Thief documents the lives of the poverty-stricken in post-war Italy. Francesco Golisano is Good Toto, an orphan boy who begins living with a cluster of beggars. His organizational efforts bring some structure to the colony and engenders a sense of faint happiness among its morose dwellers. When Toto is given a magic dove by a fairy, he uses its wish-granting powers to whoever asks, but the dove is eventually stolen. As a result, the land on which the beggars live is taken over, and they are jailed. In his prison, however, the dove returns to Toto, and his wish for the freedom of his friends is granted. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, (more)
- 1951
This early Luchno Visconti drama stars Anna Magnani as an overbearing stage mother. Magnani's daughter (Tina Apicella) has zero talent, but Magnani raises such a ruckus at the studio after the girl's abortive screen test that the producers eventually find work for the girl. By this point, Magnani has renounced show business and, with daughter in tow, returns to her patient husband, who has been waiting for his wife to get her dreams of vicarious stardom out of her system. Based on a story by famed Italian scenarist (and frequent Fellini collaborator) Cesar Zavattini, Bellissima seems too trivial a story to be given the tender loving care provided by Visconti. Originally released at 130 minutes, the film was honed down to 90 minutes for American consumption. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Magnani, Walter Chiari, (more)
- 1952
It hardly takes a linguist to figure out that the title of this whimsical Italian comedy translates to Bonjour, Elephant! Vittorio de Sica plays Garetti, a Roman schoolteacher with nary a sous in his pocket. Nothing, however, dampens Garetti's joie de vivre. Eventually, the teacher's sunny disposition touches the heart of a visiting Indian Prince, played by the inimitable Sabu. Through the Prince's intervention, Garetti's fortunes take a huge shot upward. To say more would be to spoil this delightful film. One can't call Buongiorno, Elefante! an out-and-out fantasy, but it's hardly a slice of life, either. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Sabu, (more)
Frequently mentioned on lists of masterpieces of modern cinema, Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. transforms a simple character study into a painfully poignant drama. Umberto is an aging former civil servant, now retired on his scant government pension. He spends his time in his tiny room in Rome, with only his longtime pet dog for companionship. His lonely life only grows worse when his limited income forces him to fall behind on his rent, leading his landlady to threaten him with eviction. He makes a desperate attempt to raise the needed money and protest the unfair treatment of senior citizens to the government, but he receives little response. His one chance at human contact, through brief conversations with a pregnant servant, proves sadly disappointing. Indeed, Umberto slowly becomes convinced that the situation may be hopeless, and he ultimately considers committing suicide. Considered one of the high points of Italian neo-realist cinema, Umberto D. provides the ultimate example of the movement's unadorned, observational style, which emphasizes the reality of events without calling attention to their emotional or dramatic impact. The unschooled, natural performances also contribute to the film's feeling of verisimilitude, particularly the lead performance by non-actor Carlo Battisti. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, (more)
- 1952
The classic Nicolas Gogal fable The Overcoat is given a European flavor by Italian filmmaker Alberto Lattuada; some consider the film to be Lattuada's best "psychological study." Comedian Renato Rascel plays a nebbishy nobody who spends his life-savings on a fancy overcoat. Suddenly, the nobody becomes a somebody, proving beyond doubt that clothes make the man. And then one day, the overcoat is stolen...Fleshing out the short-but-bittersweet Gogol original are several colorful new characters, including a publicity-hungry small-town mayor, played by Giulio Stival. The background music was composed by director Lattuada's wife Felice. American prints of Il Cappato are missing a so-called "naughty" telephone exchange between the mayor and his silken mistress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renato Rascel, Yvonne Sanson, (more)
- 1952
A stellar cast distinguishes the so-so seriocomedy Cinque Poveri in Automobile (Five Paupers in an Automobile). The story is set in motion by a winning raffle ticket, jointly held by four people. The first prize is an automobile, which the foursome intend to drive for a day of pleasure before selling the vehicle for cash. Complicating matters is a fifth party, a tramp who inveigles a piece of the action. Aldo Fabrizi heads the cast as a man who is inherently unfond of automobiles; Eduardo de Felippo plays a bricklayer who wants to show off the car to settle an old score; de Felippo's sister Titina portrays an elderly has-been actress who hopes to use the car to keep up a false front; and Walter Chiari is a busboy whose girlfriend won't have anything to do with him unless he wins the car. The screenplay was co-written by star Eduardo de Felippo and neorealism pioneer Cesare Zavattini, among others. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aldo Fabrizi, Titina de Filippo, (more)
- 1953
In this Italian melodrama, three Roman prostitutes suddenly find themselves on the streets when the city informs them that their brothel is to be destroyed. The story chronicles what happens to each of them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Anna Zaccheo (Silvana Pampanini) is desperate for true love. Alas, Anna is so gorgeous that true love is the last thing most men have on their minds. She manages to get by with the help of several wealthy male friends, until finally she meets the man of her dreams -- a poverty-stricken sailor (Massimo Girotti). Their relationship goes along swimmingly (literally, at one point), until the sailor learns about Anna's checkered past. Just when it looks like a happy ending is on the horizon, a miracle (the sort that happens in movies) comes to pass. Un Marito per Anna Zaccheo is a rare exercise in pure romanticism from Bitter Rice director Giuseppe DeSantis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Pampanini, Amedeo Nazzari, (more)
- 1953
Seven top Italian filmmakers pooled their talents on the omnibus "reality" feature Amore in Citta (Love in the City). The film is divided into six separate episodes; the first of these, "Paid Love", is a straightforward study of prosititution written and directed by Carlo Lizzani. In the second, Michelangelo Antonioni's "Attempted Suicide", several would-be suicides discuss the reasons for their despair. Dino Risi's "Paradise for Four Hours" is a humorous glance at a provincial dance hall. Federico Fellini's "Marriage Agency" finds an investigative reporter posing as a husband-to-be. Cesara Zavattini and Umberto Maselli's "Story of Caterina" dramatizes the true story of a young unwed mother. And "Italians Stare", written and directed by Alberto Lattuada, illustrates the various "girl-watching" techniques of Italian males. Among the actors particpating in the six vignettes are Ugo Tognazzi, Maressa Gallo, and Caterina Riogoglioso. Originally intended as the first installment in a "movie magazine" titled "The Spectator", Amore in Citta was released at 110 minutes; most American prints are bereft of the opening "Paid Love" segment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Il Segno di Venera (The Sign of Venus) offers an earthier Sophia Loren than American audiences would later become accustomed to. Agnese (Loren) has no trouble attracting men, which is more than can be said for her plain-Jane friend Cesira (Franca Valeri). The two girls embark on a search for an appropriate mate for Cesira, despite the fact that all eligible males instantly gravitate to Agnese. Some of the choices -- petty thief Alberto Sordi, impecunious poet Vittorio De Sica -- are frankly not good enough for either girl. Alternating between humor and pathos, Il Segno di Venera is light, forgettable entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franca Valeri, Vittorio De Sica, (more)
