Adolfo Celi Movies

When the story begins a young girl who has wandered away from her nanny at a French ski resort is abducted, killed, and buried in the snow. Later, in Venice, the young daughter of Franco (George Lazenby), a popular sculptor, is stalked by a woman in a black veil. Finally, after several near-chances, the girl is grabbed, only to be found later floating in a canal. The police are as arrogant as they are stumped, so Franco, accompanied by his estranged wife, Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg), investigates. As Franco begins uncovering clues, the people he talks to about the case begin to die gruesome deaths. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

American entrepreneur Jerry Warren is credited with the direction of Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why. Judging by Warren's cinematic track record, however, one comes to the conclusion that his "direction" consisted of re-editing the scenes and supervising the English-language dubbing. Filmed in Italy, the story revolves around the exploits of a brash young photographer. Catching a mob boss in the act of murder, the "hero" intends to blackmail the criminal. Whether or not he will stay alive long enough to collect is another matter. Lou Castel and Beba Loncar head the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Any 1972 film starring Richard Conte was like as not produced in Italy. Despite its title, 1931: Once Upon a Time in New York is no exception to this rule. Conte and Adolfo Celi play rival Chicago gangsters, fighting tooth and tommy-gun over territorial rights. Featured in the cast are gravel-voiced Lionel Stander and easily excitable Irene Papas. All the actors involved have been better served elsewhere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fourth film to explore Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale, this clever adaptation takes some rather broad liberties with the source material. A flamboyant Jason Robards plays Cesar Charron, owner of a Grand Guignol theatre in 19th-century Paris, who is launching a stage adaptation of "Murders in the Rue Morgue" -- much to the dismay of his young daughter Madeleine (Christine Kaufmann), who is tormented by nightmares filled with images from the play. A spate of gruesome murders among the theatre's regular stable of actors leads Charron to suspect the return of his deranged, disfigured former partner René Marot (Herbert Lom), who had been presumed dead after the murder of Charron's wife. Madeleine's nightmares eventually come true when Marot makes his presence known and reveals his intentions to her on the eve of the production's opening night. Director Gordon Hessler's creative handling of the dreams-vs.reality premise is rendered a bit confusing thanks to AIP's sloppy re-editing, but the overall production is still effectively chilling. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The movers and shakers of our industrial society replace vampires in this Italian allegorical drama. A young employee of a large conglomerate is called to a mysterious, brooding mansion to be told of his promotion to head of an auto company. He attempts to kill the Nosferatu-like being who informs him of this, but is unable to, so he returns to the plant and his new job. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this psychological drama, Catherine (Julie Christie) is an attractive young woman living in Rome who is infatuated with a man named Gregory, whom she's never actually met. When her father informs her that he intends to remarry, Catherine is not interested in attending the wedding until she learns that Gregory will also be a guest. She flies to Geneva for the ceremony and imagines Gregory to be an athlete in an advertising poster she sees at the airport; she's lost in fantasies about him, even as her brother Daniel (John Hurt), with whom she once had an incestuous relationship, attempts to seduce her. While she misses meeting Gregory, she does run into the sports star from the poster (Michael Sarrazin); they soon repair to a hotel where they make love. However, Catherine discovers that his chiseled looks don't match his drab personality, and she soon leaves him behind. Before returning to Rome, Catherine makes a last attempt at finding Gregory, whom she's been told is also looking for her. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A crackdown on drugs leads a burned out cop (Michel Bouquet) to take the law into his own hands and seek revenge against villainous drug dealers. Word comes down from above that the United States feels French authorities have been lax on their arrests of the dealers. A violent action feature finds the harried inspector battling his colleagues as much as the criminal element targeted for extermination. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A disgruntled British secret service officer and an aspiring author turn to crime when they are again passed over for prominent career advancements. John Pedley (Fred Astaire) is the agent who has been passed over for knighthood one too many times for his liking. He proposes a plan to university professor Mike Warden (Richard Crenna), who has been fired for taking part in a peace demonstration. With the help of Sylvia Giroux (Anne Heywood), they recruit a retired SS officer and a former Italian fascist as they attempt to hijack a fortune in gold bricks from the British crown. Pedley deals with double-crossing opportunists who covet the gold for themselves. Sir Ralph Richardson, Roddy McDowell and Cesar Romero also star in this engaging crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Diabolik (John Phillip Law) is the criminal mastermind who has just pulled off a huge heist. He spends most of his free time with his girlfriend, Eva (Marisa Mell), in fond embrace. The police minister (Terry-Thomas) is approached by Valmont (Adolfo Celi), a master criminal who proposes to use his underworld connections to catch Diabolik for the police. In between their gratuitous lovemaking, he and the exotic Eva are chased by police and the mob in this plodding crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A company specializing in international espionage turns a young man into a super hero and offers his services to the United Nations. For a hefty fee, the creation will supposedly become an international policeman who will fight crime and make the world safe from the machination of evil. When the super hero sees an old girlfriend, the lengthy brain operation that gave him is powers is rendered ineffective in this science fiction feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

It's Your Move (Uno Scacco Tutto Matto) stars Edward G. Robinson as MacDowell, a dilettante criminal who masterminds a fantastic bank heist. MacDowell exploits the fact that his butler's niece Monique (Maria Grazia Buccella) is the exact double of the bank president's secretary. Hiring three additional "doubles" for the bank's employees, MacDowell goes about the task of comically kidnapping the "originals" right under the noses of the bank directors. He then schemes to rob the joint while making it seem as though no money has changed hands. Confusing? Most American distributors thought so, which may explain why It's Your Move never received a US theatrical release. This French-Italian coproductions is also known as Mad Checkmate and Checkmate for McDowell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Sellers stars, as the tagline states, "as that cunning matador who flees from the bulls so that he may chase the chicks!" Juan Bautista (Peter Sellers) is an inept matador who wants to be a singer. Francisco Carbonell (Adolfo Celi), the owner of a local Barcelona night spot, offers Juan a singing contract for a week --the only stipulation being that he has three days to seduce Olimpia Segura (Britt Ekland), the "most desirable woman in Barcelona." The bumbling matador tries a series of half-baked lovemaking techniques that, amazingly, get Olimpia to come around. But when Olimpia discovers that Juan wanted to seduce her merely to get a singing job, Juan finds that avoiding charging bulls is a much safer vocation than dealing with an irate Olimpia. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide