Leda Gloria Movies
- 1965
Don Camillo (Fernandel) is a priest who travels to Moscow in this comedy culture clash. Don accompanies his archival communist mayor Peppone (Gino Cervi) and his wife (Leda Gloria) on a goodwill trip to the Soviet Union, and the priest is helped by the beautiful guide Nadia (Graziella Granata). Faithful fans of Fernandel and the Don Camillo series should not be disappointed. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Gino Cervi, (more)
- 1958
Fernandel plays a French customs sergeant who conducts an ongoing war of nerves with Italian smuggler Toto on the Franco-Italian border. The French sergeant discovers that, through a long-ago hospital mix-up, he is actually an Italian citizen. Now Fernandel is legally prevented from arresting Toto--and to make matters worse, he is the lawbreaker in Italian eyes because of his divorce and remarriage! The publicity attending the long-anticipated teaming of France's favorite funnyman Fernandel (born Fernand Joseph Desire Contandin) and his Italian counterpart Toto (born Antonio de Curtis Gagliardi Ducas Comneno di Bisanzio) helped to make The Law Is the Law one of the most successful films in both comedians' careers. The film, incidentally, was a French production (originally titled La Loi c'est la Loi), so in fact it was Toto, not Fernandel, who was the "alien." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Il Cocco di Mamma translates to "Mamma's Boy," a more than adequate description of protagonist Maurizio Arena. On the verge of achieving success as a prizefighter, Arena loses because he's afraid his face will be permanently damaged. Branded a coward by his friends and family, our hero is finally able to find inner reserves of strength through the love of a good woman (Inge Schoener). No longer frightened of facial disfigurement, Arena at last emerges victorious. The story is nothing special, but the handling of the material, combined with the film's realistic depiction of life in working-class Rome, is first rate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurizio Arena, Edoardo Nevola, (more)
- 1955
Don Camillo e l'on Peppone was the third in a series of film comedies based on characters created by Giovanni Gareschi. Fernandel and Gino Cervi return as, repectively, resourceful Italian village priest Don Camillo and his friendly enemy, Communist mayor Peppone. This time, the two adversaries are pitted against each other in a local election, even though neither one wants to win. Don Camillo comes out on top by promising to help Peppone pass an important qualifying exam, in exchange for a new church construction project. Most slapsticky than previous "Don Camillo" entries, the highlight of Don Camillo e l'on Peppone is a zany runaway-tank sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Gino Cervi, (more)
- 1954
Villa Borghese is Grand Hotel with trees and shrubbery. Set in the famed Roman city park of Villa Borghese, the film offers pithy character vignettes of the various people from various walks of life who stroll through the park in the course of a day. The all-star cast includes Vittorio De Sica as an aging playboy, Eduardo de Fillipo as a father arranging a wealthy marriage for his crippled daughter, Michele Presle and Gerard Philipe as a pair of illicit lovers, and Anna Maria Ferrero as a good-hearted prostitute. Six top Italian writers collaborated on the screenplay of this entertaining mosaic. TV prints of Villa Borghese retain the photographic slickness of the original, though the dubbing is rather crude. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Eduardo de Filippo, (more)
- 1953
Based on a Time Magazine article by William Rospigliosi, Ring Around the Clock effectively combines neorealism with humor. When the town clock in a tiny Italian fishing community needs repair, what starts out as a solvable problem blossoms into a cause celebre. The mayor wants to form a committee to handle the repairs. The local communists demand that the labor be handled within "party lines". And the village priest, a socialist, insists that things be done according to church edicts. In a gentle, nonaggressive manner, all the interested parties are presented as recognizable human beings -- warts and all -- rather than "types." The American version of Ring Around the Clock was reassembled to conform to censorship and time strictures by Walter Klee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrizia Mangano, Lauro Gazzolo, (more)
- 1952
Ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is better known by its English-language title Three Little Girls from Rome. The girls in question are Marisa, Elena and Lucia, played respectively by Lucia Bose, Cosetta Greco and Liliana Bonfatti. All three work in a fancy Roman house of fashion, and all three have aspirations beyond the confines of their current work. Eventually Marisa becomes a top fashion model, but at the expense of her personal happiness. Elena has her heart broken by her bookkeeper boyfriend. And Lucia flits from romance to romance, eventually "landing" on a race-horse jockey. There's more to the story than this, of course, but to reveal more would spoil the viewer's enjoyment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucia Bosé, Cosetta Greco, (more)
- 1951
Orson Welles provides the voice of God in this farce starring Fernandel as Don Camillo, a vicar who causes trouble for the town's communist-leaning mayor. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Gino Cervi, (more)
- 1949
Il Mulino del Po was based on a novel by Riccardo Baccheli. Essentially an elaborate retelling of the old one about a pair of young lovers kept separated by family rivalries, the film is distinguished by its evocative location photography and tight, mathematically precise editing. Director Alberto Lattuada also manages to insert what one historian has labelled his "progressive ideology" into the proceedings. The romantic plotline is placed in context within the events leading up to the famous Po Valley farmers' strike of 1876; characteristically, Lattuada offers a topical political slant to the facts at hand. As in his other neorealist exercises, Lattuada manages to bridge the gap between "art" and box-office appeal in Il Mulino del Po. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carla Del Poggio, Jacques Sernas, (more)
- 1938
Nerio Bernardi plays the title character in the stagebound Italian historical drama Giacomo Casanova. Apparently the son of legendary lover Casanova, Giacomo tries to emulate his father's sexual shenanigans. Instead he gets involved in robbery and murder, of which he is wholly innocent. Playing detective on his own, Giacomo exposes the actual culprit, thereby winning a place of honor in Italian high society. He makes up for lost time by romancing everything in skirts, from an innkeeper's daughter to a very married Duchess. Though tame by today's standards, Giacomo Casanova ran into considerable censorship trouble when released in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leda Gloria, Tina Lattanzi, (more)
- 1936
Prolific filmmaker Mario Bonnard's only 1935 effort was Milizia Territoriale (Territorial Militia). Based on a novel by A. DeBenedetti, the film stars G. Bolognesi as Ciccio, a meek, browbeaten shoe clerk. Hoping to escape his domineering family, employers and customers, Ciccio joins the army at the outbreak of WWI. He is swiftly promoted to the rank of Major, allowing him to assert himself for the first time in his life -- and now his former tormentors bow and toady whenever he strolls into view. Alas, when the war is over, so is Ciccio's brief moment in the sun, and he returns to his humble clerical job. The worm finally and permanently turns when Ciccio falls in love with a gorgeous war widow (Leda Gloria), insisting upon marrying her despite the protests of his hateful family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leda Gloria
- 1936
Also known as Three-Cornered Hat, this Italian comedy is based on a Spanish folk tale, which had previously been adapted as a ballet by Manuel de Filla. Director Mario Camerini and his team of screenwriters have refashioned the material as a vehicle for the popular De Filipo brothers, Peppino and Eduardo. The story is a mistaken-identity affair, predicated on the fact that a pompous governor is the exact look-alike of a poor miller. Much of the fun is derived from the efforts to pass off the miller's homely wife as the governor's gorgeous spouse. Described by one Mario Camerini devotee as "pretty, noisy and accomplished," 'Il Cappell a Tre Punte= was filmed in 1934, and released in the U.S. two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leda Gloria, Peppino De Filippo, (more)
- 1933
The fun begins when a travelling opera company ends up in a tiny provincial Italian village. Insulted by their tacky surroundings, the troupe's leading man and leading lady leave in a huff (a small blue huff, actually). Two talented locals -- a male music teacher and his star female pupil -- step into their parts, and the show goes on. The girl's jealous sweetheart tries to sabotage the production, leading to a hilarious slapstick climax reminiscent of The Marx Bros.' A Night at the Opera (still two years in the future). Mozart's original score from The Marriage of Figaro is played "straight," even if the story itself isn't. Filmed in 1931, Figaro Gran Giornata (Figaro's Great Day) showed up in the U.S. two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leda Gloria, Maurizio D'Ancora, (more)
- 1931
Though it was only his fourth film, Terra Madre demonstrated beyond question that director Allesandro Blassetti was in full control of his craft. Set several centuries back, the story concerns a feudal Duke who returns to his "terra madre" ("mother land," or homeland) to survey his property. The local peasantry welcome his arrival, little suspecting that the Duke has sold the land to another less-benign nobleman. The new owner forces the tenants off his land, whereupon they respond by setting fire to his palace. This prompts the Duke to come back, help extinguish the fire, and try to establish peace between the two warring factions. As long as he's back, the Duke also finds time to fall in love with a caretaker's daughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leda Gloria, Isa Pola, (more)
