Franco Sportelli Movies
- 1968
This romantic and sometimes ribald historical farce finds nobleman Guerrando (Tony Curtis) knighted in the days before the Crusades. He inherits a castle, tax-collecting rights, first choice of all the fair young maidens of the region, and a draft notice from the King. Boccadoro (Monica Vitti) is the liberal-minded forest woman who catches the eye of the young nobleman. Courtship, love and marriage follows, but the wedding night is interrupted by a call to arms. Guerrando and Boccadoro are unable to consummate the marriage, and a chastity belt is used to insure her virginal status. The young bride follows her husband's troop at a distance hoping to get her hand on the coveted key to the lock. Comedy ensues as the key changes hands several times before Guerrando ultimately regains possession and is able to unlock the passions of his love-starved wife. This overlong film can best described as a punchline in search of a joke. One gets the feeling that the producers had wanted to title the film A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Crusades. As it stood, On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... was too unwieldy for most theater marquees, necessitating the film's title-change to The Chastity Belt. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Monica Vitti, (more)
With Peter Sellers as star, Neil Simon as screenwriter, and Vittorio DeSica as director, how could After the Fox miss? Miss it did, however--though the film, patchy and inconsistent though it might be, definitely has its moments. Sellers plays an Italian master thief who can't seem to stay out of jail. His latest scheme involves moving $3 million worth of stolen gold bullion from Cairo to Rome. To cover his tracks, Sellers pretends to be a "nouvelle vague" movie director, filming a crime picture. Britt Ekland, Mrs. Sellers at the time, plays his movie-struck sister. The film is effortlessly stolen by Victor Mature, who is unbearably funny as a vainglorious hasbeen Hollywood star. Director DeSica shows up in the film as "himself"-at least until all his camera equipment is stolen by Sellers and his partner-in-crime Akim Tamiroff. Never as hilarious as it should have been, After the Fox nonetheless manages a few isolated belly laughs. Outside of Mature's performance, our favorite bit in the film is the final gag: "Ze wrong man has escaped!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, (more)
- 1962
This gripping, Oscar-nominated war drama is set in the fall of 1943 during the Nazi occupation of Italy when all the Neapolitan males from five to sixty are forced to work in slave camps. Tired of the cruelty and oppression, the people rise up and launch such a violent melee that they frighten the German invaders out of their city. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Regina Bianchi, Aldo Giuffré, (more)
- 1962
Excellently directed by Elio Petri, this psychological and social drama illustrates the contrast between an older man's humanity and the reality of the world around him. When Cesare (Salvo Randone) sees a man die of a heart attack while on a streetcar, he is shocked into changing his own lifestyle before it is too late. So he quits his job and careers around the city, visiting museums, cultural centers, and old friendships or passions that passed him by earlier when he was too busy to notice. But as he runs into a former friend who seems to be corrupted, an old flame which has long since fizzled, and other people with obvious clay feet his attitude toward what he has missed begins to change. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Salvo Randone, Franco Sportelli, (more)
- 1958
When a Roman plumber witnesses a man's fatal heart attack, he wonders if he himself might suffer the same fate. Looking back on his life, he decides he has not really experienced all there is to living. He quits his job and makes plans to broaden his life experience before he runs out of time. He goes out on the town at night, visits museums, reads books and catches up on technological advancements. After awhile, he laments that he might be too old to have started down a new path in life. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
