Enzo Cerusico Movies

An all-star cast graces this Italian "omnibus" feature. The film consists of eight short stories, each based on nostalgic literary efforts. Linking the various stories is bookseller Aldo Fabrizi, who passes the time by reading the works dramatized herein. In "The Excelsior Ball," dancer Alba Arnova arouses the libido of several observers. In "Less Than a Day," a three-hour train delay wreaks havoc on the romance between Arnova and Andrea Checchi. In "Sardinian Drummer Boy," the title character (Enzo Cerusico) becomes an unexpected hero on the battlefield. In "Matter of Interest," two farmers (Arnoldo Foa and Folco Lulli) quarrel over a compost pile. In "The Idyll," two very young people (Maurizio Di Nardo and Geraldina Pariniello) fall in love. "Potpourri of Songs" delivers on its title through the musical versatility of Barbara Florian and Elio Pandolfi. "The Trial of Frine" finds accused murderess Gina Lollobrigida being defended by colorful lawyer Vittorio De Sica. And in "The Trap," an accusatory husband (Amedeo Nazzari) drives his far-from-innocent wife (Elis Cegani) into an act of extreme desperation. Also known as In Olden Days, Altri Tempi was distributed worldwide by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Vittorio Gassman showcases his comic talents in this farce by director Dino Risi about the growing success of a con artist. Gerardo (Gassman) starts out as a vaudeville performer and noting that acting abilities can be used for less legit purposes, he creatively assumes different guises in order to con people out of anything from a pair of shoes to ultimately mucho lira. In one of his escapades he passes himself off as Greta Garbo, donning an appropriate disguise, and has all manner of paparazzi ready to take the bait. He did not learn all his inventive and often spontaneous tricks alone, his cellmate Chinotto (Peppino de Filippo) was a great mentor. But even his cellmate could not coach him on how to remain single after his girlfriend Annalise (Anna Maria Ferrero) sets her heart on matrimony. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In one of the most widely seen and acclaimed European movies of the 1960s, Federico Fellini featured Marcello Mastrioanni as gossip columnist Marcello Rubini. Having left his dreary provincial existence behind, Marcello wanders through an ultra-modern, ultra-sophisticated, ultra-decadent Rome. He yearns to write seriously, but his inconsequential newspaper pieces bring in more money, and he's too lazy to argue with this setup. He attaches himself to a bored socialite (Anouk Aimée), whose search for thrills brings them in contact with a bisexual prostitute. The next day, Marcello juggles a personal tragedy (the attempted suicide of his mistress (Yvonne Furneaux)) with the demands of his profession (an interview with none-too-deep film star Anita Ekberg). Throughout his adventures, Marcello's dreams, fantasies, and nightmares are mirrored by the hedonism around him. With a shrug, he concludes that, while his lifestyle is shallow and ultimately pointless, there's nothing he can do to change it and so he might as well enjoy it. Fellini's hallucinatory, circus-like depictions of modern life first earned the adjective "Felliniesque" in this celebrated movie, which also traded on the idea of Rome as a hotbed of sex and decadence. A huge worldwide success, La Dolce Vita won several awards, including a New York Film Critics CIrcle award for Best Foreign Film and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This unexceptional Duel of the Titans takes place on two different levels at once. The legendary brothers Romulus and Remus go at it to see who will ultimately survive and found the city of Caesars. And the slightly less legendary but still impressive Steve Reeves (Romulus) and Gordon Scott (Remus) are brought into a kind of body-building competition. Romulus and Remus are shown from their earliest beginnings as abandoned babes on the Tiber River, destined to face all sorts of challenges. First come their adventures after they are adopted by a female wolf as her own offspring. Then they later handle catastrophes like an erupting volcano or hand-to-paw combat with an irate bear. Once the two brothers have reached adulthood, they become enemies, as Remus seeks to aggrandize his power and Romulus seeks to cut him down to size. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a gang of drug smugglers kidnap the ex-girlfriend of a journalist. The journalist begins looking for her. When the woman is found dead, the journalist gets some help and eventually justice prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmed in 1969, Don't Push, I'll Charge When I'm Ready remained on the shelf until December 18, 1977. On that evening, it was discreetly offered as an NBC Sunday Night Movie presentation. If the film resembles an old Bob Hope comedy, it may be because it was put together by Hope's son-in-law, Nathaniel Lande. Italian actor Enzo Cerusio plays a POW who finds himself in an American uniform during World War 2. Cerusio's pacifistic sympathies are rather at odds with the gung-ho attitudes of his fellow GIs, notably sergeant Dwayne Hickman. The romantic element is handled by Sue Lyon, who obviously had a lot of trouble landing good parts after her spectacular screen debut in Lolita (1962). Saving the film from total boredom are such seasoned laughgetters as Jerry Colonna, Soupy Sales, Edward Andrews, Parley Baer and Avery Schreiber. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When the eyewitness to a brutal murder decides not to testify, the actual murderer chooses to finger him as the murderer and claim eyewitness status for himself. Through a series of blunders and accidents, the poor sap winds up with a life sentence. This film is in Italian. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The internationally produced Zorro is set in South America instead of the California locales of the series. Alain Delon stars as the newly appointed governor who immediately butts heads with corrupt Colonel Huerta (Stanley Baker). To rescue the peasants from Huerta's despotry, the governor becomes the caped-and-masked do-gooder Zorro. The film never really takes itself seriously, not even during the final, well-staged duel between Zorro and Huerta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide