Ernesto Almirante Movies

This romantic Italian anthology film is comprised of six episodes that deal with a century of love. The first vignette, "Garibaldin," set in 1854, follows a rebellious priest who attempts to sway others to his beliefs. "Pendolin" examines a philandering wife's affair with a hotel porter who really only wanted to give her her lost earrings. "Purification" follows an honorable soldier who refuses to convey his commanding officer's last words to his unworthy girlfriend. In the fourth episode, "Golden Wedding," an elderly couple celebrate their wedding anniversary and discover mutual disillusionment. "The Last Ten Minutes" examines the efforts of a priest and a condemned man to conceal the truth about the man's crime from his wife. Finally, in "Amore," which is set in 1954, a father tries to persuade his daughter's husband to stay married to her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The White Sheik (Lo Sceicco Bianco), Fellini's first solo flight as director, is a gentle lampoon of the idolatry heaped upon movie stars. An impressionable young bride, Wanda (Brunella Bovo) accompanies her husband Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste) on a dull honeymoon, full of meetings with family members and the papal father. Bovo fantasizes over matinee idol Fernando Rivoli, AKA The White Sheik (Alberto Sordi), the hero of a photo strip comic. She repeatedly drifts away from her husband and back, in periodic attempts to find The Sheik, ultimately repairing to the location site where Sordi's latest film, The White Shiek, is in production. Her inevitable disillusionment with the vainglorious Sordi is intercut with her husband's comic (and desperate) attempts to explain his wife's absences at family gatherings to his disgruntled relatives. After a comically inept suicide attempt, Bovo and Trieste are reunited. Featured in the cast is Fellini's wife Giuletta Masina as a prostitute named Cabiria, who'd be given a vehicle of her own, Nights of Cabiria, in 1955. Based on "an idea" by Michelangelo Antonioni, The White Sheik was the main inspiration for Gene Wilder's The World's Greatest Lover (1977). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gina Lollobridgida was a virtual unknown in the U.S. when Campagne a Martello was released to English-speaking countries in 1950. Critics said then what they'd say later: as an actress, Gina was very pretty. The story concerns an Italian prostitute named Agostina (Lollobridgida) who is left without a steady source of income when the American GIs go home. Returning to her own island village, Agostina is secure in the knowledge that she has a sizeable financial nest egg waiting for her. Alas, the money has been rerouted to a home for orphaned and illegitimate children. Incurring the wrath of the locals by demanding that her money be returned, Agostina eventually sees the error of her ways. Director Luigi Zampa shot this film at the same time as an English version with different actors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

The White Line is a modest anti-war statement set in a tiny Italian village near Trieste. As the result of an International Peace Conference, the nearby borders are changed, with a white line drawn in the middle of the town. One half of the community belongs to the Italians, while the other half is controlled by Yugoslavia. The ramifications of this decision range from humorous to disastrous, with some consequences wandering to the realm of the surreal. In keeping with the Biblical phrase "And a child shall lead them," it is up to the kids in town to point up the absurdities of the new border. Alas, tragedy ensues, but out of hopelessness arises a new form of hope. Filmed in 1950 as Cuori senza Frontiere, The White Line attained bookings in the U.S. thanks to the presence of Gina Lollobrigida in a secondary role (Lollobrigida was afforded top billing in the American prints). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anna Magnani won Best Actress at the 1947 Venice Film Festival for her stirring comic performance in this charming film, which she co-wrote with director Luigi Zampa, [$Suso Cecchio D'Amico, and Piero Tellini. Magnani portrays Angelina, an impoverished housewife who begins a passionate battle to improve the standard of living in her slum neighborhood in the days following World War II. The problems of flooding, suitable housing and other hardships take a backseat to Magnani's whirlwind energy and courage, but she and Zampa never forget the warmth behind the humor. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide