Nino Taranto Movies
Italian performer Nino Taranto got his start in vaudeville and on-stage. In the 1940s, he began a 30-year film career. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1972
An Italian village is the site for a con game by 4 criminals who pretend to be friars. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1971
Turn-of-the-century Naples is the setting for this show-business comedy about a theatrical nobody who starts a popular dance craze based on the Can-Can. This film continues lead actress Monica Vitti's successful transition from doing critically acclaimed (but not awfully profitable) dramas to popular comedy. Her acting makes up for her minimal singing and dancing skills, and the film is assisted by a strong supporting cast, first-class production values and upbeat music. This film is also notable for its efforts to accurately show Neapolitan life of the period. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1963
In this Italian WW II comedy, an Italian colonel leads the invasion of Montegreco, a small town on the Greek-Albanian border. British troops also try to take over the village. The townsfolk are unconcerned as the two sides have "invaded" them more than threescore times already. The townies care nothing about the war and freely associate with soldiers from both sides. When the story begins, the Italians are currently holding the town. The trouble begins when the British colonel heads back to the pub to retrieve a forgotten pipe and ends up taken prisoner. His soldiers retaliate and take two Italians. They then trade hostages for two cases of whiskey. The two sides continue their little tug-of-war until the Nazis attack and order Montegreco destroyed. The Italian colonel attempts to arrest the German officer in charge, but he is captured by the SS who order his execution. Fortunately, the British officer again saves him and the two decide to join forces and stop the real invaders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Totò, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
- 1958
Told in anecdotal fashion, this lightweight comedy examines the amorous activities of husbands who remain in the city while the wives and kiddies are shipped off to summer vacation resorts (shades of The Seven Year Itch!) Most of the individual episodes are obvious in their humor and outcome. The best sequence involves a wandering husband, played by Renato Salvatori, who carries on a flirtation with shapely artist Giorgia Moll. Also good for laughs is the scene in which an errant hubby follows his wife to a seaside resort, convinced that she's been unfaithful. Mariti in Citta was released in English-speaking countries as Husbands in the City. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giorgia Moll, Nino Taranto, (more)
- 1957
This minor Italian comedy was released in the U.S. as Wives and Obscurities. Gino Cervi and Walter Chiari star as an American immigrant and his son who return to Cervi's Italian hometown after 35 years. While the girls in town are fascinated by Chiari's sophisticated veneer, the local males resent his Yankee behavior and target him for persecution and humiliation. Ultimately, Chiari is forced to stand up to his Italian tormentors and prove he's as good as any of them without hiding behind his fancy American convertible and flashy clothes. Some of the film's provincial humor is blunted by the English-language dubbing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gino Cervi, Walter Chiari, (more)
- 1953
Anni Facili (The Early Years) stars Nino Taranto as Sicilian professor De Francesco. On behalf of a friend who has developed a revolutionary new medicine, the professor seeks out government approval for the formula in Rome. Miles and miles of red tape later, De Francesco is virtually back where he started. The film not only pokes fun at postwar Italian bureaucracy, but also takes a few swipes at the neofascist movement (hardly a laughing matter in real life). Produced by Carlo Ponti and Dino de Laurentiis, Anni Facili was released outside Europe by Paramount Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nino Taranto, Clelia Matania, (more)
- 1949
I Pompieri di Viggiu draws its title from a popular Italian song of the era. The title translates literally to The Firemen of Viggiu, and indeed the film's comedy is totally reliant upon how amusing one finds a group of bumbling firemen. Heading the cast is Italy's number one comedy star Toto, here aided and abetted by expert impressionist Carlo Dapporto. Drawing its material from several Italian stage revues, the screenplay offers a minimum of plot and a maximum of underdressed chorus girls. So far as can be determined, I Pompieri di Viggiu never received an American theatrical release, though reportedly it showed up on New York television in the middle 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nino Taranto, Wanda Osiris, (more)
