Renzo Cesana Movies

A baffling robbery at the Comus Towers art museum becomes a personal matter for Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) when his close friend, the museum owner, is murdered. Inasmuch as the crime took place in a high-rise building, it would seem that a "human fly" was the culprit. At least, that's what the police believe--but Ironside is becoming more and more certain that the robbery was an inside job, and that the criminal is still on the premises. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Artist Christopher Pride (Jerry Lewis) has just been commissioned to work in Paris. Wanting to kill two birds with one stone, he plans to bring his soon-to-be bride along to celebrate their honeymoon. Unfortunately, his girlfriend (Janet Leigh) is a psychiatrist trying to contend with a trio of young women who utterly despise men. These women are too unstable to leave alone. In hopes of hastening the women's treatment, Christopher impersonates three men in hopes of helping them realize that not all men are cads. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two bohemians come up with a get-rich-quick scheme that goes awray in this comedy scripted by Carl Reiner. Paul (Dick Van Dyke and Casey (James Garner) are two American expatriates living in Paris; Paul is an artist and Casey a writer. Both have been trying to make a career, but with little success; Paul's girlfriend Nikki (Angie Dickinson), who is still in America, believes in his work and pays his rent. But Paul has reached the end of his tether and wants to go back home; Casey is horrified at the prospect of losing a rent-free home, so he comes up with an idea to help Paul's career and make some money. Since works by dead artists tend to fetch higher price tags and command more interest than work by living painters, Paul will fake his death with Casey's help and they'll both clean up. The plan works at first, until Casey finds he's been accused of murdering Paul. Ethel Merman has a supporting role as a madam with a habit of bursting into song. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this occasionally amusing frolic, Gina Lollobrigida plays a sexy widow who returns to Italy from New York following the death of her husband. Her wealth and good looks entice all the men in her small village except for the one she really wants, the town blacksmith (Dale Robertson). Giuseppe Rotunno's warm cinematography and the irresistible Lollobrigida make this one worth seeing, while the screenplay (by Ettore Margadonna, Luciana Corda, and Joseph Stefano) manages to be clever without being smirky. Look for a funny bit by Vittorio DeSica, who supervised some scenes, as a loquacious priest. This film is also known as both Anna of Brooklyn and Fast and Sexy. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Prolific director Giorgio Bianchi comes off with another good comedy in Il Moralista, due in no small part to the talents of Alberto Sordi as Agostino, the de facto head of a censorship board whose double life as a nightclub owner might raise some questions as to his censorial judgment. The titular head of the organization (Vittorio De Sica) is not that interested in running it himself, being more interested in women. The censors must review everything from posters for a show to the costumes in a show, as well as a production's language and content. Given their predilections, Agostino and his boss are unlikely candidates for making others walk the straight and narrow path of socially acceptable fare. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

California Conquest is set in the early 19th century, when California was fighting for its independence from Mexico--and as such was up for grabs so far as several other nations were concerned. Wealthy landowner Fredo Brios (John Dehner) feverishly opposes all efforts by Californians seeking to become a part of the United States, and to that end Brios hires bandit Jose Martinez (Alfonso Bedoya) to help forge an alliance with Russia. But patriotic Don Arturo Bordega (Cornel Wilde) and his lady love Julia Lawrence (Teresa Wright) attempt to checkmate Brios by locating a cache of guns stolen by Martinez' men. Amusingly, the Russian characters in California Conquest spout Marxist-Leninist dogma nearly a century before the Revolution. Featured in the cast is Renzo Cesana, who in 1952 was immensely popular as TV's "Continental." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

MGM's Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse were loaned to Universal for the Technicolor period piece Mark of the Renegade. Set in 19th-century California, the film stars Montalban as Marcos, in league with a band of pirates. Marcos falls into the hands of Don Pedro Garcia (Gilbert Roland), a despot who hopes to become dictator of California. Planning to force the cooperation of benevolent politico Jose De Vasquez (Antonio Moreno), Garcia orders Marcos to court De Vasquez' comely daughter Anita (Cyd Charisse). It soon develops that Marcos is not the criminal he appears to be, and that he is dedicated to the vanquishing of the evil Garcia. Somehow, Mark of the Renegade finds an excuse for Cyd Charisse to perform a bewitching dance number. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Sound of Fury is better known by its general release title, Try and Get Me. Based on Jo Pagano's novel The Condemned, the film recreates a dismal chapter in American history. In 1933, the otherwise peace-loving citizens of San Jose, CA, were stirred up by blind hatred into forming a mob and lynching two accused kidnappers (this same incident was fictionalized in the 1935 Fritz Lang film Fury). Frank Lovejoy and Lloyd Bridges play a couple of down-and-outers who kidnap a wealthy youngster in hopes of getting a huge ransom. Things go terribly wrong, and the boy is killed. When the two kidnappers are arrested, a local journalist (Richard Carlson) inflames the populace with a series of hate-filled articles about the two prisoners. The journalist then stands by in mute horror as he watches the terrible results of his irresponsible print campaign. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Strong Man was the second starring feature of silent screen comedian Harry Langdon--not to mention first feature-length directorial effort of Frank Capra. Langdon plays a Belgian soldier who, during World War I, is captured by German conscript Arthur Thalasso. Almost immediately, the armistice is declared. Having nowhere else to go, Langdon sticks with Thalasso, who in civilian life is a popular circus strong man. When Thalasso gets the opportunity to tour the US, Langdon is delighted; at last he will meet minister's daughter Priscilla Bonner, with whom he has been carrying on a romance-by-correspondence. Arriving in New York, Harry wanders around the street with a photo of Bonner, asking passers-by if they know the girl. Jewel thief Gertrude Astor, hoping to use Langdon as a dupe in order to evade the cops, claims that she is the girl he's looking for. A marvelous comic set piece ensues, beginning with Langdon's clumsy efforts to carry the unconscious Astor up a long flight of stairs, and ending with Astor's athletic "seduction" of the confused little immigrant. When Langdon finally finds the real Bonner, he discovers she is blind--just as well, he reasons, since she regards him as something of a strong, strapping hero-type, which he most decidedly is not. Subsequent plot complications involve a corrupt element that has taken over Priscilla's town, and a wild climactic sequence wherein puny Langdon must try to pass himself off as strong man Thalasso...and through plain dumb luck, gets away with it! Far better seen than described, The Strong Man is one of the sweetest, funniest comedies of the 1920s. Harry Langdon would never again have a vehicle so perfectly suited to his "grown up baby" screen persona; if you've never seen this unique comedy genius in action, catch this film when the opportunity arises. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide