Titina de Filippo Movies

If Hollywood could put the names of Abbott and Costello in the titles of the team's pictures, why couldn't Italy honor its favorite actors in a similar fashion. Toto, Vittorio e la Dotoressa stars that matchless Italian comic actor Toto, matinee idol/director Vittorio De Sica, and, as Dotoressa, sultry American songstress Abbe Lane. The plot concerns the misadventures of Dotoressa, a Neopolitan doctor who is pursued by a pair of her wackiest patients (DeSica and German Cobos). Frantically, Dotoressa turns to private detective Toto for help--and that's her first mistake. Adding to the general hilarity is up-and-coming slapstick comedian Darry Cowl in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sophia Loren was twenty-one years old when she starred in this lightly spicy comedy. Antoinette (Loren) is an attractive young woman who is adjusting her stockings one day when a passing news photographer snaps her picture. To Antoinette's shock, the picture appears on the front page of one of Rome's biggest newspapers, and she's angered and embarrassed by the attention; soon, she finds herself fighting off the lustful attentions of Corrado (Marcello Mastroianni), the photographer who turned her into an unwitting cheesecake star, and Count Gregorio (Charles Boyer), a nobleman who tells Antoinette that he can make her a movie star. However, while the Count's attentions have little to do with any real effort to bring her to stardom, in time Corrado finds himself genuinely falling in love with the beautiful Antoinette. Fortuna Di Essere Donna was released in the United States under the titles Lucky To Be A Woman and What A Woman! ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A stellar cast distinguishes the so-so seriocomedy Cinque Poveri in Automobile (Five Paupers in an Automobile). The story is set in motion by a winning raffle ticket, jointly held by four people. The first prize is an automobile, which the foursome intend to drive for a day of pleasure before selling the vehicle for cash. Complicating matters is a fifth party, a tramp who inveigles a piece of the action. Aldo Fabrizi heads the cast as a man who is inherently unfond of automobiles; Eduardo de Felippo plays a bricklayer who wants to show off the car to settle an old score; de Felippo's sister Titina portrays an elderly has-been actress who hopes to use the car to keep up a false front; and Walter Chiari is a busboy whose girlfriend won't have anything to do with him unless he wins the car. The screenplay was co-written by star Eduardo de Felippo and neorealism pioneer Cesare Zavattini, among others. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episodic Italian comedy follows the misadventures of housemaid Maria (Elsa Merlini). Her various employers include a salesman (Aldo Fabrizi) who values peace and quiet, but never gets it, and a vainglorious actor (Vittorio de Sica) with woman trouble. Through it all, Maria survives with a little help from her friends, including best pal Ermelinda, played by the future star of Stromboli and Juliet of the Spirits, Giulette Masina. Among the screenwriters for this film was Masina's husband Federico Fellini. Cameriera Bella, Presenza Offresi marked the return to the screen of Elsa Merlini, one of the most popular personalities of the prewar Italian cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Assunta Spina, the popular stage drama by Salvatore Di Giacomo, was first filmed in 1913. This pioneering Italian feature has been hailed as a precursor to the postwar neorealist movement, so it stands to reason that the 1947 remake would star the queen of neorealism, Anna Magnani. The original story about a young woman caught in the middle of a deadly Neapolitan vendetta had hardly dated one iota in the intervening three decades. Critics found fault only with leading man Eduardo Di Fillipo, who was considered too old for the part of Magnani's headstrong, hot-blooded lover. Assunta Spina was released in the U.S. as Scarred. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide