Luisa Rossi Movies
- 1945
One of the few Swiss-produced films of the 1940s to gain an international release, Last Chance was distributed in the US by MGM. The film stars E.G. Morrison, John Hoy and Ray Reagan as three American officers who come to the aid of a group of Italian refugees. Tension mounts as the officers do their utmost to see their charges safely over the Alps. If the names of the leading actors seem unfamiliar to you, that's because they weren't actors, but genuine Allied pilots who'd been shot down near Switzerland and who agreed to appear in this film before being mustered out. Similarly, the refugees are the genuine article. Last Chance's enthusiasm and sincerity compensates for any lack of polish or skill among the amateur performers. The dialogue is spoken in several languages, requiring the film to be subtitled in every country where it was released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hoy
- 1947
Anything for a Song exists primarily as a showcase for the miraculous singing talents of opera star Ferruccio Tagliavini. The nonsensical story casts Tagliavini as the son of a wealthy eggplant processor (no kidding!) who elects to foresake the family business and try his luck as a singer. His father does everything in his power to prevent our hero from succeeding in his chosen profession. Forced to return home to raise enough money for a blind girl's operation, Tagliavini may well have to marry a woman of his family's choosing to do so. But there's a happy ending, as if there was any doubt. By the time Anything for a Song was released in the US, Ferruccio Tagliavini was firmly entrenched at New York's Metropolitan Opera. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ferruccio Tagliavini, Luisa Rossi, (more)
- 1950
Surprisingly, the "Sardinian" protagonist of the Italian Faddija is played by an American actor. William C. Tubbs is cast as Pietro Atzeni, a bombastic landowner with three marriage-age daughters. Atzeni manages to squelch his daughters' romantic yearnings through his own greed, which consists of buying up any patch of land he decides he wants, by means both fair and foul. His avarice culminates in a deadly feud and a desperate elopement. Whenever the story flags in Faddija, the viewer can revel in its location photography and its colorful utilization of genuine Sardinian peasants and shepherds in minor roles.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Tubbs, Luisa Rossi, (more)
- 1950
Real-life beauty contest winner Gina Lollobrigida is appropriately cast in Miss Italia. The first half of the film is a dramatization of the events leading up to Italy's number-one beauty pageant. The final portion consists of footage from the actual event. Inevitably, the real thing is more fascinating than the soap-operalike plot, though Constance Dowling has some good moments as a prostitute who hopes to escape her sordid lifestyle by winning the Miss Italia crown. Filmed in 1949, Miss Italia made it to the U.S. in 1950, by which time Lollobrigida's star was on the ascent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Richard Ney, (more)
- 1952
The official credits for the Italian-made Stranger on the Prowl read: "written and directed by Andrea Forzano." In truth, Andrea Forzano was two people: screenwriter Ben Barzman and director Joseph Losey, both of whom had been blacklisted by Hollywood and were forced to work under pseudonyms. Essentially a two-person character study, the film stars Paul Muni as a down-and-out crook on the lam. Muni befriends a young street urchin (Vittorio Mazzunchelli, billed as "Manunta" in many prints) in an Italian port city. At first amused that the boy is a sneak thief, Muni tries to deflects the kid from a life of crime. Tipped off by a woman anxious to collect the reward for Muni (who is wanted for murder), the police pursue the two lost souls. Muni sees to it that the boy manages to escape, but is himself gunned down. A weak-tea imitation of the Italian neorealist movement, Stranger on the Prowl was cut by 18 minutes for its English-language release (in Britain it was titled Encounter). The full, original 100-minute Italian version, released in 1951, was known as Imbarco a Mezzanote. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Muni, Luisa Rossi, (more)
- 1958
Anna Magnani is a powerful actress who can rise above the sentimentality of this film and still give a heartwarming performance. When a child has been abandoned by his mother and her boyfriend and is placed in her care, a kindly nun finds that her love for the boy may be more powerful than her vows for the church, as she contemplates leaving the sisterhood to become his full-time Mother. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This non-narrative, sketch-based film is a non-stop feast of antic and black humor. The sketches are framed within the context of a Roman student's school year, which is disrupted by political and amorous misadventures. The title Ecce Bombo means "Behold the Bumblebee" and spoofs both the ancient biblical phrase (in English, "behold the man") and the then-current wave of terrorism and bombings. This was director Nanni Moretti's first full-length feature, shot with a small but significant budget of $350,000 and featuring a large number of young previously unknown talents. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nanni Moretti, Luisa Rossi, (more)
